Iranwire – More than 10 months after the start of what UN experts described as “targeted chemical attacks” against girls’ schools across Iran, the cause of the sudden illness of thousands of pupils still remains a mystery. In an attempt to shed light on the reasons for the chain poisonings, which broke out last year amid nationwide protests led by …

Iranwire – Heroo Ghadimi, a well-known civil activist from the mainly Kurdish city of Saqqez, has been held in custody for nearly one month. Ghadimi, 43, was arrested on September 12, just a few days before the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody.  According to information obtained by IranWire, she has been allowed to see her daughter just once, …

gatestoneinstitute.org – There should be little doubt that the war that began when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, actually originated in Iran. The multi-pronged, highly coordinated and murderous attacks could not have happened without Iranian government assistance and approval. Leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the Wall Street Journal, have acknowledged that the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps …

Al-Arabia – French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that Iran’s condoning of Hamas’ attack on Israel was unacceptable and that France was looking into establishing whether it was directly involved. “I have no comment to make about the direct involvement of Iran for which we have no formal proof, but it’s clear that the public comments by Iranian authorities were unacceptable …

iranintl – During the first three days of the attack on Israel by Hamas, Iranian officials and media have voiced slogans, wishful thinking, and disinformation in their rhetoric. However, the ordinary citizens swiftly made it evident that they were not inclined to accept the regime’s rhetoric. The public promptly ridiculed the government’s poorly constructed celebration of Hamas’s “victory” just hours …

iranintl – While the Islamic Republic is cheering about the war in Israel, Iranians’ reactions to the regime’s propaganda indicate a complex societal schism.  Iranian media and social media platforms are awash with posts and discussions about the ongoing conflict, but some clips are more telling than others to grasp people’s nuanced perspective on the war. The sentiments within Iran …

Iranwire – Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has claimed that the Islamic Republic had not been involved in the Palestinian group Hamas’s weekend surprise assault on Israel, but he hailed what he called the country’s “irreparable” military and intelligence defeat. “We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime,” Khamenei said on October 10 in …

Iranwire – Iranian security forces have arrested a rapper, Milad Rooh Bahrami, in the northwestern city of Malekan, according to the information received by IranWire. Operatives from the Iranian Intelligence Department apprehended Bahrami, 29, at his home on October 7 and took him to an undisclosed location, a source said. Malekan is located in East Azerbaijan province.  Many Iranian artists …

Iranwire – Branch 36 of the Court of Appeal in Tehran has upheld a five-year prison sentence for Shadi Shahidzadeh, a Baha’i citizen currently in detention in Evin Prison. Shahidzadeh was arrested on May 1 after attempting to address officials regarding the denial of the burial of her grandmother at the Behesht Zahra cemetery in Tehran. The cemetery has refused …

Iranwire – More than two-thirds of protesters killed worldwide by governments or their affiliated security forces over the past year have died in Iran, according to the collaborative initiative Iran Open Data. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group says at least 537 people, including 48 women and 68 under 18s, were killed during nationwide protests between September 2022 and March this …