VOA — The U.S. State Department has denounced as “abhorrent” Iran’s apparent coercion of its Jewish minority into staging an unprecedented series of anti-Israel rallies in five Iranian cities Oct. 30. In a Friday email to VOA, a State Department spokesperson said the Biden administration is aware of reports Iranian authorities “coerced Iranian Jewish leaders and their communities” to engage in …

VOA – Thousands of protesters rallied across Iran on Saturday against the United States and Israel and in support of Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip. “Down with USA” and “Down with Israel,” chanted demonstrators gathered in front of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran, an AFP journalist reported. Demonstrators set ablaze an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu …

iranintl – The scandal-plagued Iranian ex-ambassador to the UN, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, is being investigated for allegedly promoting Hamas and antisemitism at Oberlin College. The walls are closing in on the self-described “Professor of Peace,” Mahallati, who has faced accusations from Amnesty International in two reports for covering up the Iranian regime’s massacre of 5,000 dissidents while serving as ambassador to the UN …

iranintl – Friday Imams in Iran echoed Supreme Leader’s anti-US rhetoric in their sermons in a concerted move on the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran. On November 4, 1979, pro-Khomeini Islamist and leftist students occupied the US embassy and took hostage more than 50 US diplomats for 444 days. In their sermons, Iran’s Friday …

RFL/RE – In a significant expansion of dress-code enforcement, Tehran has seen the deployment of “hijab enforcers” within the grounds of Tehran University and the streets surrounding Amir Kabir University, as well as key areas in the city. The move coincides with disciplinary actions against students, notably more than 50 female students at Tehran University who have faced reprimands and suspensions for …

Iranwire – A year ago, Iranian security forces unleashed live bullets on largely peaceful protesters, bystanders and worshippers after Friday prayers in the city of Khash, southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province, killing at least 18 people, including children. The November 4, 2022, incidents occurred less than a month after Bloody Friday in the provincial capital, Zahedan, which claimed the lives …

Iranwire – The Court of Appeal in the northern province of Mazandaran has issued prison sentences and fines for 14 members of the Baha’i religious minority in the province. This follows their arrest on August 31, 2022, in the city of Qaemshahr. According to HRANA, the human rights news agency, Sanaz Hekmatshe’ar and Bita Haghighi, two Baha’i citizens, have each …

VOA – The United Nations Human Rights Committee on Friday expressed concern over Iran’s treatment of women and girls and called for the disbandment of the Islamic Republic’s morality police. In its review of Iran’s human rights record, the committee said Tehran should introduce legislation that protects women and girls from any form of violence. “The state party should adopt …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Iran has not only been threatening the US with attacks, it has attacked US assets in Syria and Iraq 83 times since Biden became president, and at least 24 times in the past two weeks. Iran also recently threatened again to annihilate Israel, and has reportedly begun ordering its elite militias based in Syria into southern Lebanon “to …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Shamsollah Banani, a man sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed in Ahar Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Ahar Prison on 29 October. His identity has been established as 42-year-old Shamsollah Banani from Takestan in Qazvin. He was sentenced to qisas for murder. An informed source told Iran Human …