Social and Political

RFL/RE – In the summer of 1988, thousands of political prisoners were secretly executed in Iran following a fatwa by the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. More than three decades later, for the first time, an Iranian national has been jailed for his suspected role in the estimated execution of at least 5,000 members of …

VOA – A former IAEA official says diplomats working with the U.N. nuclear agency do not believe Iran’s apparent explanation for the presence of manmade uranium particles at a site in southern Tehran. In a report published Monday, the IAEA said its inspectors monitoring Iranian compliance with commitments to curb potential weapons-related nuclear activities had “detected natural uranium particles of …

CHRI – A man claiming to be a reporter in a pseudo-documentary about Iran’s detained conservationists that was aired by the state-controlled Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) organization on national television has been recognized as an interrogator by one of his victims. Ramin Seyed-Emami—whose father Kavous Seyed-Emami, a sociologist and conservationist died under suspicious circumstances in Tehran’s Evin Prison in …

Al-Monitor – In the past four decades, Iran’s intelligence organizations and the like-minded state broadcaster have aired many “confessions” by individuals detained over “security” charges. One outspoken lawmaker is now pushing legislation that could abolish the controversial practice. The proposed legislation on the “prohibition of recording and airing of detainee confessions from the state broadcaster” was officially taken up by the Iranian parliament …

Al-Monitor – China’s special envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun, visited Iran recently to discuss key developments in the region with high-ranking Iranian officials. During the Oct. 21 trip, Iranian leaders described relations with China as strategic and called on Beijing to play a more prominent role in the Middle East. They also highlighted the achievements of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” (Iran, …

By Neda Bolourchi lobelog.com More than a month after protestors first took to the streets across Iraq, Adil Abdul Mahdi surprisingly remains the country’s prime minister. In what has been a movement against high unemployment, poor basic services, and state corruption, demonstrators insist on the removal of factions and political elites that came to power in the years after the …

Radiofarda – The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday added more than a dozen companies and individuals to its trade blacklist for allegedly providing material support to chemical and biological weapons activity in Syria and diverting U.S. items to Iran without authorization. The action from the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security bars the firms and individuals from buying components from …

Radiofarda – Iran’s capital Tehran has been blanketed by heavy smug this week, forcing schools to shut down and hospitals have admitted many more cases of heart and respiratory emergencies. The head of Environment and Sustainable Development at Municipality of Tehran says air pollution costs the capital of Iran up to $2.6 billion per year. But other major cities, specially …

Radiofarda – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi says his country believes “political negotiation is the only solution to the region’s problems,” and that Tehran will do its best to make that possible. Mousavi made the remark on Wednesday November 13 in response to a statement by a United Arab Emirates official who has called for reducing tensions in the …

Radiofarda – Iran’s Judiciary, which President Hassan Rouhani has accused of neglecting major corruption cases, announced that it has arrested a number of the employees of the Judiciary’s own Deeds and Properties Organization as well as the chairman of the City Council of Rudehen in Tehran Province on charges of “corruption and embezzlement”. Mizan Online, quoting a statement published by …