Iranwire – Four protesters incarcerated in the western Iranian province of Ilam have reportedly gone on a hunger strike and resorted to sewing their lips shut to protest their dire conditions of detention. Vahid Chavaran, Naser Rezaei, Mohammad Hossein Haseli and Bakhtiar Mohammadzadeh initiated their hunger strike on September 3 and sewed their lips together the next day, according to …

gatestoneinstitute.org – “Iran stands by the Palestinian people and their resistance.” — Ali Akbar Velayati, senior Iranian official, to leaders of the Palestinian terror groups, almayadeen.net. August 22, 2023. “The victories that have been achieved are the result of the support of friendly peoples, especially Iran.” — Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, thanking senior Iranian official Velayati for Iran’s support for …

VOA – Iran has shuttered a water park for allowing women entry without the mandatory headscarf, local media reported on Monday. The closure is part of stepped-up measures by authorities over the past few months against women and businesses who fail to observe the Islamic republic’s strict dress code. “The Mojhaye Khoroushan water park has been closed” since Sunday evening, …

VOA – Sweden on Monday said a Swedish citizen in his 30s was arbitrarily detained in Iran last year and called for his immediate release. The Swedish government didn’t identify the man, but The New York Times said he was Johan Floderus, a Swede who had been working for the European Union’s diplomatic corps. Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper said Floderus was …

Al-Monitor – Over the past week alone, Iran came out with two major announcements, claiming what it sees as significant gains against Israel, as the two sides battle it out on the intelligence front.   “They were once again humiliated,” a state television report said, as it narrated in detail how the intelligence department of Iran’s Defense Ministry had thwarted a sabotage …

telegraph – For several years, British parliamentarians – myself included – have been calling for the proscription of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organisation. That call has now apparently been heeded by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who is concerned by intelligence reports that Iranian agents are increasing their activities in the UK and are working with criminal gangs to target …

Al-Arabia – The UN nuclear watchdog said Monday it regretted that “no progress” had been made by Iran on outstanding issues, including installing more cameras to monitor Tehran’s nuclear program. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Rafael Grossi “requests Iran to work with the agency in earnest and in a sustained way towards the fulfilment of the commitments,” the agency …

RFL/RE – An explosion at a coal mine in northern Iran has killed six workers, state media reported on September 4. The blast took place in a tunnel at a depth of 400 meters in the northern city of Damghan, said the official IRNA news agency. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion. “Six miners were trapped underground …

RFL/RE – Iran has slowed its enrichment of uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels, a report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog seen by the Associated Press said on September 4. The confidential report comes as Iran and the United States are negotiating a prisoner swap and the release of billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen in South Korea. Slowing …

iranintl – The Iranian government’s debt surged by 61% during the last budgetary cycle, amid a severe economic crisis, as reported by Parliament’s Research Center on Sunday. The huge jump occurred during the first full year of Ebrahim Raisi’s presidency, dominated by hardliners, who insisted on continuing their anti-Western foreign policy and claiming that economic sanctions imposed on Iran can …