Iranwire – Haider Fatahi, a Kurdish citizen from the city of Marivan, has been on hunger strike for nine days since his arrest by security forces last week. According to the human rights news agency HRANA, Fatahi is being held at the detention center of the Ministry of Intelligence in Marivan. Fatahi, a married resident of Hazarkhani village, was arrested …

Iranwire – Candidates in Iran’s presidential elections are striving to increase voter turnout by appealing to Iranians who have become disillusioned with the political system.  They are making various promises to bring these disheartened citizens back to the polls.  Since the 1979 revolution, women’s issues have been a persistent topic of discussion, with many voicing their demands through street protests …

VOA – At least nine patients died Tuesday when a fire tore through a hospital in Iran’s northern city of Rasht, state media said. The fire at Ghaem Hospital broke out at 1:30 a.m. Monday, state broadcaster IRIB said, adding that it had been put out and investigators were working to determine what had caused it. “Unfortunately, nine people lost …

VOA – Six presidential candidates on Monday discussed Iran’s economic problems in a four-hour live debate on state TV, ahead of the June 28 presidential election following a helicopter crash last month that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others. It was the first of five debates planned in the 10 days remaining before the vote in a shortened campaign …

iranintl – The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog says Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement to limit its nuclear program “exists only on paper and means nothing.” In an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia, the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said: “Nobody applies it, nobody follows it. There have been attempts to revive it here in Vienna. But unfortunately, …

iranintl – Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tobias Billstrom, has publicly acknowledged a significant oversight in travel advisories concerning Iran, following the recent controversial prisoner swap deal with Tehran. Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has publicly acknowledged a significant oversight in travel advisories concerning Iran, following the recent controversial prisoner swap deal between Iran and Sweden. The exchange involved a convicted war …

iranintl – A week after the start of the election campaign in Iran, almost no one speaks about three of the five hardliner candidates: Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, and former Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi. Nearly all of the official and unofficial polls are about the election chances of the other three: Majles Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, …

iranintl – Inmates in Ward Four of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison are suffering from severe overcrowding, abysmal hygiene, and hunger, according to a human rights monitoring group. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has detailed the conditions in which these prisoners live, most of whom are political detainees, in a report published on Friday. Here is an in-depth …

iranintl – Following Iran International’s report on a contaminated dialysis solution from a company linked to the Supreme Leader, Iran’s acting president has ordered an urgent investigation by the anti-corruption coordination head. Iranian state media has reported that Mohammad Mokhber called for a thorough inquiry into reports of adverse effects from the dialysis solution. On Tuesday, Iran International TV’s Titre Aval program (First Headline) …

iranintl – Iranians living in Sweden gathered outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday to protest the release of an Iranian official serving a life sentence for war crimes. Hamid Nouri was in prison for his involvement in the 1988 massacre of thousands of Iranian political prisoners, and was released over the weekend in exchange for two Swedish citizens, …