VOA – An Iranian court has sentenced a man to death over the killing of renowned filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui and his wife months ago at their home near Tehran, the judiciary said Monday. Mehrjui, an 83-year-old director associated with the Iranian new wave of cinema, was stabbed to death along with his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, in October at their home …

Iran-HRM – The life of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a 28-year-old supporter of the PMOI and a prisoner of the 2019 uprising, is in danger after being previously sentenced to death by the regime’s revolutionary court in Mashhad. He was tortured for several months and detained in Mashhad’s Vakil Abad prison. He was eventually handed down an execution sentence for …

iranhumanrights.org – February 8, 2024 – Iranian authorities should immediately release Osman Esmaili, an unlawfully imprisoned labor and human rights activist who is suffering from serious and untreated health conditions in Saqqez Central Prison and has been deemed unfit for prison by a medical examiner, according to information provided to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). “Prison authorities …

iranintl.com – In an alarming development, Ali-Akbar Salehi, the former head of Iran’s nuclear agency has implied in remarks broadcast on Monday that Iran has everything it needs for an A-bomb. In a televised interview, Salehi, who was also foreign minister (2010-2013), was asked if Iran has achieved the capability of developing a nuclear bomb. Avoiding a direct answer he …

iranintl.com – Iran’s hardliners are incensed by the failure to prosecute Ali Daei’s teenage daughter for appearing without a hijab on an online football show where she surprised her father for his birthday. In a scathing critique published on Friday, Raja News, a website associated with the ultra-hardliner Paydari Party, expressed public outrage, questioning whether ordinary individuals would have faced …

iranintl.com – A Reformist politician in Tehran highlights a concerning trend where a hardliner minority wields disproportionate influence over the fate of the entire Iranian nation. Gholamreza Zarifian, a prominent political activist, underscored in an interview with Rouydad24 website that this authoritarian minority poses a significant political challenge by promoting radical agendas, ultimately undermining the government’s social capital. Zarifian asserted that …

voanews.com – The U.S. government has seized a Boeing 747 cargo plane that officials say was previously sold by a sanctioned Iranian airline to a state-owned Venezuelan firm in violation of American export control laws. The Justice Department said Monday that the American-built plane had arrived in Florida and would be disposed of. The plane had earlier been transferred from …

voanews.com – Israel freed two hostages held by Hamas militants in Rafah on Monday, but supporting airstrikes killed at least 67 Palestinians in the southern Gaza city where about 1 million displaced civilians have sought refuge from four months of bombardments. Israel’s military, the Shin Bet security service and a special police unit said they rescued two men — Fernando …

rferl.org – An uncle of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who died while in police custody for an alleged hijab infraction, has been handed a stiff prison sentence for comments he made about the protests sparked by his niece’s death that were critical of the Islamic regime. Safa Aeli, according to Hengaw, a group that closely tracks human rights violations …

iranintl.com – In the lead-up to the 45th anniversary of the 1979 revolution and the March 1 elections, Iranian officials have escalated their rhetoric, resorting to outrageous statements and unfounded claims. This surge in exaggeration and falsehoods appears directly correlated with the regime’s mounting desperation to achieve its short-term objectives. As the engineered parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections draw …