iranintl – A former Iranian official, implicated in smuggling 2.4 tons of gold, returned from Canada where many individuals linked to the Islamic government have found refuge. Mostafa Niazazari, recently back in Iran, was a key figure in the Tabari network, named after Akbar Tabari, the Judiciary’s former Executive Vice President and Finance Director for over two decades. His network orchestrated a …

iranintl – Iran’s foreign ministry says there is “sufficient evidence” for the charge of espionage brought against a Swedish EU diplomat whose trial began in Tehran Saturday. Iran’s judiciary on Sunday accused Johan Niels Floderus, a 33-year-old Swedish citizen and EU diplomat of extensive intelligence collaboration with Israel against the Islamic Republic. The foreign ministry spokesman Naser Kanaani on Monday …

iranintl – The scale of the latest financial corruption case in Iran has been so huge that officials and media see no harm in revealing and discussing previous cases. Faraz daily and Rouydad24 are only two of the well-informed and well-connected Iranian news websites that have offered timelines and background on major cases of financial corruption in Iran since 1979. …

RFL/RE – Akbar Jafari, a professor at Tehran’s Sharif University, has resigned after being summoned and interrogated by security agents over his support for protests last year sparked by the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody. Ali Sharifi Zarchi, a faculty member at Sharif University who was previously dismissed for backing student demonstrators, confirmed the expulsion, noting that Jafari had …

Iranwire – Homa, 42, has experienced the hardships of refugees and asylum seekers in Türkiye, where she endured 10 years of exile without a work permit.  As she tried to reach Greece for a better life, she was raped by people in plainclothes while Greek border police were watching. Homa’s journey began when the Ministry of Intelligence raided her office …

Iranwire – A “bank guard” has been executed in Iran after being convicted of fatally shooting a senior cleric earlier this year, according to a news outlet affiliated with the judiciary. The man behind Abbas Ali Suleimani’s killing was executed in Babol in the presence of the victim’s family, the Mizan News Agency reported on December 13. The report said a court …

Iranwire – Prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and other Iranian activists marked International Human Rights Day with renewed calls for more freedoms, equality and justice in the country, despite the Islamic Republic’s ongoing brutal crackdown on any form of dissent. Sotoudeh participated online in a December 10 gathering organized by a coalition of human rights activists in the German …

Iranwire – In a major setback for the administration of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the parliament has rejected the budget bill for the next Persian year. The bill was voted down by 127 lawmakers on December 13, with 91 in favor and 10 abstentions. The government now has one week to amend the bill and resubmit it to the legislature.  …

Iranwire – Jailed Iranian activist Mahmoud Mehrabi has developed kidney failure during his 10-months incarceration and is experiencing severe swelling throughout his body, IranWire has learned. Despite Mehrabi’s deteriorating health, his repeated requests for medical leave have been left unanswered, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.  He is being denied adequate medical attention in prison as well …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities have postponed the execution of a victim of child marriage who had been sentenced to death for killing her husband, according to local human rights activists. Samira Sabzian was set to be hanged on December 13 in Qarchak prison, Tehran province, but the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group said that the execution was postponed for a …