Social and Political

Radiofarda – Iran social media users in the past few days have shared shocking images of bodies recovered from dams, reservoirs and rivers that allegedly belong to November protesters more than a month after the deadliest unrest in the history of the Islamic Republic. The images show swollen bodies, many of them with hands tied. Most of the mind-boggling images …

Radiofarda – The number of people visiting national health centers in Iran has dropped 30% in the last Iranian calendar year (ending March 21, 2019), says the deputy head of the Salamat (Health) Insurance and Health Services, Kourosh Farzin. “Health services’ costs have increased in Iran so significantly that they are not proportional to the families’ income,” Farzin noted, adding, …

Radiofarda – In a statement released today 150 Iranian Doctors condemned the security forces’ harsh suppression of popular protests in November.The statement also says the regime is responsible for “Iranophobia both in the region and internationally”. “Regular and disguised military, law enforcement and security forces opened fire on the people and used the destruction and rioting of a few opportunists …

Radiofarda – Spokesperson of Iran’s presidential administration denied reports about the First Vice President suggesting resignation to President Hassan Rouhani. “The resignation of the president and the government has in no way been suggested and has no proponents”, Ali Rabiei said on Monday, December 16. Some websites affiliated with Iran’s hardliners had reported in recent days that First Vice President …

RFL/RE – The U.S. State Department has issued a sanctions advisory that warns “entities and individuals” of transferring two crucial steel-making inputs to Iran in its pursuit to deprive Tehran of revenue that could be used to promote the “regime’s malign behavior.”Issued on December 16, the alert says parties who transfer or export graphite electrodes and needle coke to Iran run …

VOA – Amnesty International says its documented death toll from Iran’s recent anti-government protests will rise again from the group’s latest report that at least 304 demonstrators were killed by security forces. “That is not a final figure by any means,” said Amnesty’s Middle East research director Philip Luther in a VOA Persian interview on Monday. Hours earlier, the London-based rights …

VOA – Supporters of Lebanon’s two main Shi’ite groups Hezbollah and Amal clashed with security forces and set fires to cars in the capital early Tuesday, apparently angered by a video circulating online that showed a man insulting Shi’ite figures. Police used tear gas and water cannons trying to disperse them. It was the third consecutive night of violence, and …

CHRI — A coalition of international human rights organizations including the Center for Human Rights in Iran has called on the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to launch an independent inquiry and demand accountability for the Iranian government’s repression of last month’s street protests, which resulted in at least 304 deaths. Among the thousands who were detained since the protests …

Al-Monitor – Amnesty International has updated its death toll from the protests in Iran in November to 304. Iranian authorities so far have refused to issue any official numbers, causing frustration even from hard-line media. Abdullah Ganji, the managing editor of Javan, a newspaper linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, wrote an op-ed asking why the official figures have not yet been released. “The reasons for the human …

Al-Monitor – The Omani minister responsible for foreign affairs, Yusuf bin Alawi, visited Tehran on Dec. 2-3 on an unexpected trip. He held meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani. While officials have published no details about these meetings, the Hormuz Peace Endeavor (HOPE) initiative was suggested to have been one of the subjects discussed during the visit. Also, tensions between …