iranintl – Documents filed by the son of Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker for immigration to Canada reveal that he has hundreds of thousands of dollars in Iranian and foreign banks, Iran International can exclusively reveal. “I declare that the Account Number 380.8000.13637806.2 (in Iran’s Pasargad Bank) is under my name… and I can spend or transfer 50% of the available balance (12,394,806,106 rials equivalent of $295,114) …

Iranwire – Over recent weeks, the United States and Israel have been conducting an undeclared war against Iranian assets in Syria. Amid growing tensions, however, both Washington and Tehran have stated their intention to avoid a full-scale conflict. Dozens of US and Israeli airstrikes have targeted senior Iranian-backed military leaders, heavy weapon storage locations and other Iranian interests in Syria …

Iranwire – US authorities have charged a leader of Japan’s Yakuza organized crime syndicate with conspiring to traffic nuclear materials from Burma to Iran. Takeshi Ebisawa, a 60, and his co-defendant Somphop Singhasiri, 61, “trafficked in drugs, weapons, and nuclear material – going so far as to offer uranium and weapons-grade plutonium fully expecting that Iran would use it for …

Iranwire – The Islamic Republic of Iran has provided Russia with around 400 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles since the beginning of the year, Reuters reported on February 21, amid a burgeoning military partnership between Moscow and Tehran. Many of the supplied missiles were from the Fateh-110 family of short-range ballistic weapons, such as the Zolfaghar, three Iranian sources told the news …

Iranwire – An Iranian court has sentenced a young man arrested during nationwide protests in 2019 to a total of 37 years in prison and 74 lashes.  According to the BBC’s Persian service, Branch 23 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court handed down the harsh sentences against Saeed Tamjidi after convicting him of “assembly and collusion with the intention of acting …

Iranwire – Prominent Iranian labor activist Nahid Khodajo was rearrested on February 21 at a friend’s home near Tehran, the Free Union of Iranian Workers (FUIW) reported.  Security forces reportedly searched the house for over two hours before apprehending Khodajo, a retired worker and FUIW board member. In 2018, the activist was incarcerated after being sentenced to five years in prison for …

Iranwire – An Iranian court has sentenced Ali Ramezani, a member of Iran’s Microelectronics Olympiad national team and an international Olympiad medalist, to three years and seven months in prison over his involvement in the 2022-23 nationwide protests. Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court handed down the sentence against Ramezani after convicting him of charges of “propaganda activities against …

Iranwire – Two Iranian Baha’is, Roha Imani and Firoozeh Sultan Mohammadi, were summoned to face new charges following their release from custody in December 2023. Reports say the Fifth Investigation Branch of Kerman informed both women on February 20 that they are accused of “promotion of the Baha’i faith” and activities deemed inconsistent with the Islamic Sharia law. Imani and …

RFL/RE -For decades, Iran’s clerical establishment has used voter turnout in elections as proof of its legitimacy, especially to the outside world.But with anti-establishment sentiment among the public rising and unprecedented protests erupting against the authorities in recent years, the legitimacy of Iran’s rulers has been severely undermined. That has coincided with record-low turnouts in recent presidential and parliamentary elections. …

VOA – Maritime security organizations said Thursday they received reports of a missile attack on a cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said two missiles were fired at the ship, resulting in a fire onboard. UKMTO said further that “coalition forces are responding” to the incident, which happened about 130 kilometers southeast …