Iranwire – A resident of the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad who was arrested during last year’s nationwide protests has been sentenced to 16 years and 4 months in prison. Human rights sources say Judge Hossein Yazdankhah from Branch 5 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court handed down the sentence to Azam Gholami Zahab on August 23. The presiding judge, Hassan …

Iranwire – Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian woman who died in Tehran a year ago while in custody for an alleged hijab infraction, has been nominated for this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European Union’s top rights prize. Amini’s death sparked months of women-led protests across Iran demanding fundamental changes in the country, including gender equality and …

Iranwire – FIFA President Gianni Infantino says “it was great to meet” with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in New York, as the Islamic Republic is facing wide criticism over its ban on women attending stadiums, the arrest of football players deemed as critics of the government and the interference of its security institutions in sports matters. After the September 20 …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities canceled all flights to neighboring Azerbaijan and Armenia until further notice on the second day of a major flare-up in fighting over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Mohammad Mohammadi, the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, told ISNA news agency on September 20 that the measure was taken to “ensure passenger safety.”  As a result, passenger flights …

VOA – Two days after the U.S. and Iran began a prisoner exchange, VOA has learned that two of the three Iranians who remained in the U.S. after being granted clemency had conditions attached to their clemencies. The legal status of the third individual was unclear. Court filings seen by VOA show Kambiz Attar Kashani was released from a federal …

VOA – Relations between Russia and Iran have reached a new level despite opposition from much of the Western world, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday during his visit to Tehran. “We are aiming at an entire range of planned activities, despite opposition from the United States and its Western allies,” the Interfax news agency cited Shoigu as saying. …

Iran-HRM – Mohammad Reza Amouzad, a young judge known for issuing inhumane sentences and imposing heavy bails, has been stationed in Qarchak Prison since Tuesday, September 19, 2023, for prosecuting female prisoners in Qarchak involved in the uprising. On the anniversary of the tragic death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini and the beginning of nationwide protests in Iran on September 16, …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s parliament approved a bill Wednesday that would toughen penalties for women found to be violating the Islamic Republic’s dress code for a trial period of three years. The so-called “Bill to Support the Family by Promoting the Culture of Chastity and Hijab” passed with 152 votes in favor, 34 against and seven abstentions, according to the country’s judiciary. The …

Al-Arabia – US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday will hold their first face-to-face talks since Netanyahu took power in December, with topics expected to include a potential Israel-Saudi normalization deal and Iran. Biden had held off extending an invitation to Netanyahu out of concern about a judicial overhaul that curbs the power of judges undertaken by …

iranintl – Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations was the only diplomat to protest at President Ebrahim Raisi’s speech Tuesday but was escorted away by security.  While Ebrahim Raisi, the man known as the ‘Butcher Of Tehran’ for his history of gross human rights violations, was addressing the UN with an onslaught of regime propaganda including claiming the country is …