iranintl – Stakeholders in the US continued to express dismay Wednesday, after Iran International and Semafor exposed an Iranian-backed influence operation in Washington. The report, published Tuesday, cites dozens of emails to show how (at least) three associates of former Iran envoy Robert Malley endeavored to promote the Islamic Republic’s line on its nuclear program, publishing op-eds, appearing on news channels, …

Iranwire – Security measures are being stepped up in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan ahead of the first anniversary of Zahedan’s Bloody Friday massacre.  Zahedan is the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan, which is home to Iran’s Sunni Baluch minority of up to 2 million people.  The restive city has seen protest rallies almost every Friday since …

Iranwire – Iranian state media have released a video purportedly showing a jet-powered version of the Shahed-series one-way attack drone, which Russia has used in its war in Ukraine. According to military analysts, the new version would be much faster and more difficult to intercept than the current Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drone, which is outfitted with a puttering piston engine. 🔥 …

Iranwire – Mohammad Mehdi Vosoghian, a student at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences who has been in jail for a week, is said to be in a “critical” health condition. Vosoghian, 20, was apprehended by the Islamic Republic’s security forces on September 20 and is held in Isfahan’s Dastgerd prison. Concerns about his well-being have escalated since September 27, when …

Iranwire – An Iranian court has sentenced 17 people to fines and flogging for protesting last year the management practices of their employer, state-owned Iran National Steel Industrial Group, and their employment status, local media report. The semi-official ILNA news agency reported that the Revolutionary Court of the southern city of Ahvaz ordered the workers to pay a fine of …

Iranwire – Iranian security forces have arrested four female members of the Baha’i religious minority in the southern city of Shiraz and transferred them to an undisclosed location. According to information received by IranWire, Sahar Mohebpour and Roksana Vejdani were arrested at their workplaces on September 26, while Bahareh Qaderi and Setareh Ta’ami were apprehended at their residences. Some of …

VOA – The United States and Iran are denying reports that the two sides are engaged in secret negotiations following a prisoner exchange deal earlier this month that included the unlocking of billions of dollars of frozen Iranian funds. There are no direct or indirect talks scheduled, including any involving Brett McGurk, White House coordinator for the Middle East and …

VOA – Iran claimed on Wednesday it successfully launched an imaging satellite into space, a move that could further ratchet up tensions with Western nations that fear its space technology could be used to develop nuclear weapons. Iranian Communication Minister Isa Zarepour said the Noor-3 satellite had been put in an orbit 450 kilometers (280 miles) above Earth’s surface, the …

Iran-HRM – On Wednesday, September 27, 2023, the Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office issued an indictment for Mahmoud Mehrabi, a resident of Isfahan detained in Dastgerd prison, on the charge of Corruption on Earth. In addition, this prisoner has also been accused of 186 other charges. The second investigation branch of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of Mobarakeh in Isfahan province …

CHRI – A year-long state crackdown on civil society and dissent in Iran has been corroding the country’s education system, resulting in the arrests or detentions of at least 97 teachers over the past 12 months, as revealed by research conducted by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). Additionally, there have been at least 24 convictions of teachers …