Iranwire – Iranian authorities have sentenced the administrator of an Instagram page dedicated to supporting Azeri political prisoners to two years in prison over his alleged links to illegal groups, IranWire reports. In its July 15 ruling, Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court also barred Ali Razizadeh from traveling abroad and from having any activity with political parties and organizations …

VOA — A cargo of sanctioned Iranian crude oil that was confiscated by the United States has been sitting off the Texas coast for eight weeks, unable to be unloaded because commercial agents fear any vessel that takes it will be shunned by customers, people familiar with the matter said. Suez Rajan, a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, has been anchored off …

VOA – Iranian authorities have arrested several followers of the Baha’i faith accused of spying for Tehran’s arch-foe Israel, local media in the Islamic republic reported on Tuesday. The Baha’is, Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, are not recognized by the state and often targeted over alleged ties to Israel — home to their most important shrines and world headquarters. “A …

Amnesty – The Iranian authorities are doubling down on their oppressive methods of policing and severely oppressing Iranian women and girls for defying degrading compulsory veiling laws, Amnesty International said today. In a detailed analysis published today, the organization exposes the authorities’ intensified nationwide crackdown on women and girls who choose not to wear headscarves in public. In the latest escalation on 16 July, the spokesperson of Iran’s police, Saeed Montazer-Almahdi, announced the return of police patrols to enforce compulsory veiling and threatened legal action against women and girls who defy forced veiling. This coincided with videos circulating on social media, depicting women being violently assaulted by officials in Tehran …

Al-Monitor – Iran topped the list of countries that imposed the highest number of internet restrictions in the first half of this year. Much of the disruption happens during protests, according to new data. According to figures from cyber security company Surfshark, Iran took the lead globally with 14 new restrictions, followed by India with nine and Pakistan with three. Protests were …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Defense Ministry said it had mass-produced the country’s first long-range naval ballistic missile with a host of new combat features, designed to “completely destroy” enemy carriers, state media outlets reported on Tuesday.  “We have employed artificial intelligence within the software of the naval missile’s trajectory planning,” Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani announced at a televised ceremony …

Al-Arabia – Recently, Iran and Russia have been gradually strengthening their ties, forging a deeper strategic partnership that has implications not only for their bilateral relations but also for regional dynamics and international geopolitics. Several factors have contributed to the development of closer ties between the two nations. One significant factor is the shared interest in countering common adversaries and …

RFL/RE – Amateur video shows the moment Erfan Ramizipour was shot in the eyes by Iranian security forces as he took part in mass anti-regime protests in 2022. The 24-year-old is just one of many protesters who have been shot in the eyes, in what appears to have been a deliberate tactic. Now in Germany, he is receiving medical care …

Iranwire – The number of people living below the poverty line in Iran has reached 28 million, a lawmaker has said, warning that the continuous and rapid surge in poverty “may lead to social and political problems in the not too distant future.” Speaking on July 24, Mohsen Pirhadi, vice chairman of the 7th Development Plan Consolidation Commission, attributed the …

Iranwire – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has strongly condemned the continuation of the closed-door trials of two women journalists who have been imprisoned in Iran for 10 months for reporting on the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. “CPJ stands in solidarity with Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammdi, their families and all Iranian journalists who …