VOA – Iranian security forces reportedly arrested freelance investigative reporter Hasan Abbasi this week in response to a complaint filed by a provincial governor about his reporting, according to news reports and press freedom groups. Abbasi covers news in the southern city of Bandar Abbas, in Hormozgan province. Security forces arrested him Sunday. The specific charges against him were unknown. …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Jaber Aminifar, a Baluch man sentenced to death for drug-related charges, was executed in Birjand Central Prison. At least 14 Baluch people have been executed since 29 April. According to Hal Vash, a Baluch man was executed in Birjand Central Prison on 30 April. His identity has been reported as Jaber Aminifar from the village …

Al-Monitor— Israel is increasingly concerned over Iran’s advancement on its nuclear program, yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preventing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from travelling to the US for security consultations until he himself is invited to the White House. The frosty relations between the Israeli government and the White House affect both sides. The Americans are now concerned over Israel’s …

Al-Monitor — A senior official at Iran’s Labor Ministry was sacked after he drew the anger of his superiors with remarks on the severity of Iran’s economic crisis and how it may force the government to sell off valuable territory.   “We once lost 300,000 martyrs not to lose a handspan of our territory,” the official, Sajjad Padam, said in an interview published …

Iranwire – Iran’s minister of cultural heritage, tourism and handicrafts has suggested that the authorities’ crackdown on women without a mandatory headscarf in public places could be a “tourist attraction.” In an interview with ILNA news agency on May 3, Ezzatollah Zarghami dismissed the possibility that the brutal handling of women without hijab could deter foreigners from visiting Iran. “Anything …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities executed at least 10 people across the country on May 3, while seven others face imminent execution after being transferred to solitary confinement, according to human rights groups and media reports. The executions drew criticism from human rights activists, who called on the government to stop using the death penalty and focus instead on reforming the …

Iranwire – Dozens of human rights groups and activists have condemned the frequent internet outages imposed by the Iranian authorities on the south-eastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, saying the restrictions “not only violate freedom of expression but also serve to cover up human rights violations.”  “For more than three months, the people of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, particularly …

Iranwire – Officials in Iran have buried another deceased Baha’i citizen without notifying the family or allowing for a Baha’i religious ceremony. The body of Maryam Moinipour, a 92-year-old Baha’i citizen who passed away in Tehran on April 11, was buried in the Khavaran cemetery, southwest of the capital Tehran, by officials on Wednesday, May 3, after being kept in the morgue for three …

Iranwire – Detained dissident journalist Keyvan Samimi has been held at an undisclosed location, incommunicado, for 14 days, his daughter says. In a tweet on May 3, Adele Samimi said that the family has been denied information about the 74-year-old journalist’s whereabouts or his condition.  She expressed concern about her father’s health, saying he suffers from a heart condition. The …

Iranwire – Iranian families have to pay out of their own pockets for the treatment of their children who have been affected by chemical attacks on girls’ schools, IranWire has learned. Some victims of the attacks are not covered by social security or any health insurance, and their families are required to pay up to several million tomans (hundreds of …