iranintl – Iran’s Statistical Center recently announced a decline in the country’s unemployment rate to 7.6 percent this fall from 10.6 in the same period in 2019. The report didn’t explain the reason for the decline, but, a comparison of the new numbers for the labor force (employed or seeking jobs) with four years ago indicates that in fact, 3.6 …

RFL/RE – A bombing attack in Iran claimed by the Islamic State extremist group has killed 91 people, state media said on January 6, raising an earlier toll after two victims died of their wounds. The two blasts in Kerman on January 3 hit crowds at a memorial ceremony near the tomb of Qasem Soleimani, a revolutionary guards general killed in a …

RFL/RE – The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps vowed on January 6 to reach “the enemy” far and near as tensions soar on key shipping routes where Tehran’s allies have been attacking vessels. “Today, we are facing an all-out battle with the enemy,” said Hossein Salami at a ceremony in the Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas, where the …

VOA – Iranian authorities said on Friday that security forces had arrested 11 people suspected of involvement in two bomb blasts that killed nearly 90 people at a memorial service for a slain military commander. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Kerman, southeastern Iran, on Wednesday. Iran’s intelligence ministry said in a statement that …

VOA – The Iraqi government is forming a committee to prepare the closing down of the U.S.-led international coalition’s mission in the country, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office said Friday. Sudani’s statement came a day after a U.S. strike killed a militia leader in Baghdad, prompting anger among Iran-aligned groups that demanded the government end the presence of the …

gatestoneinstitute.org – If the US fails to remove Iran’s nuclear capability — and not just (literally) buy time to enable it — the catastrophes that follow will surely go down as US President Joe Biden’s legacy, as well as the legacy of those around him. From the Iranian regime’s perspective, the failure of the Western powers to counter its nuclear …

Amnesty – Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkouri is at imminent risk of execution in relation to the September-December 2022 popular uprising. On 24 December, his family learned that Branch 39 of the Supreme Court upheld his conviction and death sentence. His sentence was sent for implementation, amid an ongoing spike in executions across the country. He is being held in solitary confinement …

Al-Arabia – Mourners wept over the coffins of victims of two deadly blasts in Iran as the interior minister said on Friday a number of suspects had been arrested over the attacks claimed by ISIS. Crowds chanted “revenge, revenge” in state TV footage of the funerals in the city of Kerman, the scene of Wednesday’s explosions, the bloodiest such attacks in …

iranintl – China’s oil trade with Iran has stalled as Tehran withholds shipments, demanding higher prices from its top client, Reuters quoted refinery and trade sources as saying.  The cutback in Iranian oil, which makes up some 10 percent of China’s crude imports and hit a record in October, could support global prices and squeeze profits at Chinese refiners. Early last month Iranian …

iranintl – Questions are being asked about the veracity of the claim that ISIS was behind the twin bombings in Kerman, Iran, which killed between 84-94 people on Wednesday. The bombing took place at an event commemorating Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC’s Quds force and Iran’s most powerful military figure, who was killed by a US drone strike …