Iranwire – Belgium’s invitation to Alireza Zakani, Tehran’s mayor and the former chief of the paramilitary Student Basij Organization, to attend a mayors’ conference in June triggered a political controversy in Belgium that led to the resignation of the Brussels’ state secretary for urbanism and to calls for the Belgian foreign minister to step down for issuing a visa to …

Iranwire – Majid Khademi, a 32-year-old activist from Behbahan in Khuzestan Province, was sentenced to 10 years and three months in prison after entering a plea of no contest. The Mahshahr Revolutionary Court handed down the sentence on charges of “propaganda against the system,” “membership in hostile groups,” “disturbance of public order,” “damage to public property,” “acting against national security” …

Iranwire – Faezeh Hashemi, a political activist currently imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin prison, has urged reformists in Iran and all those “dedicated to preserving the system” not to participate in elections.  When “authoritarians justify their existence and function by changing, distorting and interpreting words, they render laws and institutions ineffective and they reinforce lies; dictatorships are dressed in the glorious …

VOA – Iran’s foreign ministry lambasted France on Monday for hosting a meeting of an exiled Iranian opposition group that Tehran considers a “terrorist” organization. On Saturday, the Albania-based People’s Mujahedin of Iran, or Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), held a meeting outside Paris as thousands of the group’s supporters held a rally in the center of the French capital. Former U.S. Vice …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – State media have reported the execution of three unnamed men for rape charges in Bandarabbas Central Prison. According to the Judiciary’s Mizan news agency, three men were executed in Bandarabbas Central Prison on 4 July. Quoting Mojtaba Ghahremani, the Hormozgan Chief Justice, the report states that the three unnamed men were sentenced to death for …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Afsaneh Shahiki, a Baluch woman sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed in Kerman Central Prison. According to Hal Vash, a Baluch woman was executed in Kerman Central Prison on 2 July. Her identity has been reported as 50-year-old Afsaneh Shahiki who was sentenced to qisas for murder. An informed source is quoted as saying: “Afsaneh was arrested …

Al-Monitor – The dispute between Kuwait and Iran over an offshore gas field that also involves Saudi Arabia escalated on Monday as Kuwait condemned purported Iranian drilling plans for the field. Kuwaiti Oil Minister Saad Al-Barrak said that the Gulf state “rejects” Iran’s planned drilling in the Dorra gas field. “We categorically and totally reject Iran’s planned activities around the premises of …

Al-Monitor – Three journalists are set to go on trial in Iran on Monday, leading to condemnation from an international human rights watchdog. Journalists Saeideh Shafiei, Mehrnoush Zarei Henzaki and Nasim Sultan Beigi face up to 10 years in prison on “vague” national security and propaganda charges under articles 500 and 610 of Iran’s penal code, according to Human Rights Watch. Shafiei, …

Al-Arabia – India on Tuesday hosts the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, with Iran expected to join the Asian grouping and Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing his first summit since a short-lived mutiny, officials said. Chinese state media reported President Xi Jinping will also attend the virtual summit of the eight-member SCO — headquartered in Beijing but hosted by India which holds the …

RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have stepped up their monitoring of commercial and recreational venues, shutting dozens of cafes, restaurants, and other businesses across the country they say were failing to comply with the mandatory head-scarf law. Anger over the hijab law has boiled over since the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 in police custody over an alleged hijab …