Iranwire – For the second year in a row, a French teacher incarcerated in Iran for more than 500 days has celebrated her birthday in Tehran’s Evin prison. Considered a state hostage by the French government, Cécile Kohler marked her 39th birthday on September 25. Noémie Kohler, president of the support committee Liberté pour Cécile, posted a photo of her …

Iranwire – Prominent Iranian lawyer Arash Keikhosravi was incarcerated on September 25 to serve a one-year prison term, according to his sister.  Azita Keikhosravi said on social media that her brother was arrested at the prosecutor’s office and subsequently taken to Tehran’s Evin prison. Keikhosravi has been sentenced to prison for endorsing a statement titled “The majority of Iranians no …

Iranwire – The family of Javad Heydari, a 39-year-old protester killed at a protest a year ago, is facing renewed pressure from the authorities, with his brother Morteza being forced into confessions and transferred to solitary confinement while on a hunger strike, his sister says. Fatemeh Heydari wrote in a post on X on September 25 that Morteza was transferred …

Iranwire – The spokesman for the Iranian Defense Ministry has used a ceremony to hail the capabilities of the locally-developed long-range surface-to-air system named Bavar-373, saying it has been primarily designed to hit Israeli targets over Palestinian territory. “Today, we possess missiles which we have facetiously named ‘Israel-hitting missiles’ as their primary target is the occupied territories,” spokesman Reza Talai-Nik …

VOA – The United States said Monday it refused a request by Iran’s foreign minister to visit Washington last week, pointing to concerns about Tehran’s record including past detentions of U.S. citizens. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian reportedly sought to travel to visit Iran’s consular interests section following the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “They did make that request …

VOA – One person is dead, and four others were injured in an incident at Iran’s southern refinery of Bandar Abbas last week, Iranian state media reported Monday. The Iranian Oil Ministry’s Shana news agency said the incident occurred late on September 22 during emergency repairs, adding that five maintenance workers were hurt, with one worker dying from the injuries. …

Al-Monitor – An American-Iranian dual national died in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison on Saturday due to lack of medical attention, according to reports. An anonymous source told BBC Persian that Faramarz Javidzad, 60, was taken to hospital after he suffered stomach bleeding, but he was later returned to the prison in the Iranian capital where he later died due to lack of …

iranintl – The latest trip of Iran’s president and his hijab-cladded wife to the UN in New York has seen the First Lady thrust into the limelight on a global media blitz. Jamileh Alamolhoda, wife of Ebrahim Raisi, spoke to some of the world’s top media, including ABC and Newsweek as the pair embarked on a prolific propaganda effort. To …

iranintl – Iran’s economic freedom ranking for 2023 has placed it at a dismal 160 out of 165 countries surveyed, Canada’s leading think tank said in its latest report.  The Fraser Institute, in its latest Economic Freedom of the World report, measured the extent to which a country’s policies and institutions support economic freedom, with data from 2021 serving as the …

Iranwire – was one of the bloodiest days of nationwide protests that followed the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini – a day during which between 45 to 55 people were killed by the security forces of the Islamic Republic. On the first anniversary of that bloody day, the Iranian government is systematically harassing the families of those victims …