iranintl – In what appears to be a coincidence, politicians representing opposite ends of the Islamic Republic’s political spectrum have recently brought up the issue of shadow governments. Iran stands out as one of the few countries, if not the only one, where shadow governments are established by allies of the ruling government rather than by its political adversaries. The …

iranintl – Once again, the hardline chancellor of Tehran University has denied allegations of purging academics based on their political beliefs, instead accusing those dismissed of “moral issues.” In an interview with the semi-official Mehr News Agency on Tuesday, Mohammad Moghimi asserted that not a single academic has been dismissed from Iran’s top state university on political grounds. “The ethical …

iranintl – Republican lawmakers are outraged by President Joe Biden’s decision to renew a US sanctions waiver that benefits Iran, despite the regime’s continued attacks on US interests. The waiver, signed and transmitted to the US Congress late Wednesday, allows Iraq to purchase electricity from Iran for billions of dollars and pay for it by transferring hard currencies to accounts in third …

Iranwire – In an exclusive audio file obtained by IranWire, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the former foreign minister of the Islamic Republic, reveals what he thinks of the hardliners who have “taken over” Iran in the past few years.  Zarif says two former top officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) orchestrated the March 1 elections, and the two main …

Iranwire – Iran’s economy has significantly fallen behind its regional competitors over the past half-century, according to a new report by the data analysis group Iran Open Data. The report highlights a stark contrast between Iran’s economic standing in the 1970s and its current position. Just seven years before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran boasted an economy twice the size …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities have arrested five Azeri activists amid a growing crackdown on ethnic minority rights.  Siamak Seifi, Milad Zeinolabedini, Samad Heydari, Amin Taghizadeh, and Amir Taghizadeh were arrested by security forces in northwestern Tabriz on March 13, according to the HRANA human rights activist news agency. They were detained upon leaving a football stadium, and the charges against …

Iranwire – A 21-year-old woman, Negar Karimian, was killed on March 9 after the Islamic Republic’s police forces opened fire on a civilian vehicle in western Lorestan province.  The incident occurred at approximately 1:00 am at an intersection in the Aligudarz district. Karimian, a resident of Isfahan, was returning home with her family from a funeral when their Peugeot 405 …

Iranwire – The wife of Mashallah Karami, imprisoned father of Mohammad Mehdi, a young protester executed in 2023, is suffering from significant mental and emotional distress, a lawyer said. According to Ali Ardakani, Karami’s representatives have requested Alborz province’s judicial officials to release their client on bail. Ardakani, along with his colleague Shahla Owji, said in an interview with the Emtedad news …

Iranwire – The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organization has prevented a woman referee from officiating a football match for the first time, IranWire reports.  Mahsa Ghorbani, an Iranian international football referee, was scheduled to serve as an assistant video referee (VAR) during the Tehran Derby on March 13.  However, just two days before the match, officials informed the Football Federation …

Iranwire – The United States has held secret talks with Iran in an attempt to leverage Tehran’s influence over Yemen’s Houthi rebels to stop attacks on ships in the Red Sea, according to a report by the Financial Times. These indirect negotiations, held in Oman in January, marked the first set of formal discussions between the two adversaries in ten months.  The …