Social and Political

Radiofarda – The brother of Iranian President Hassan Rohani has begun serving a five-year prison sentence for corruption claiming his case was based on an “illegal” wiretap.A lawyer for Hossein Fereidoun said his client entered Tehran’s Evin prison on October 16 to serve his sentence, which was handed down 15 days earlier.In a text released as he began his sentence, Fereidoun, who …

CHRI – Move Would Limit Iranians to State-Controlled App Store, Vulnerable to State Surveillance, Malware A judicial order to block Google Play in Iran, which would deny millions of Iranians access to the world’s largest app store for Android devices, has been issued but not yet implemented, according to investigations by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). Blocking the Google apps store will directly endanger the security of Iranian users of Android devices, as it will limit Iranian users to …

Al-Monitor – Plans to make a movie about Rumi, a 13th-century Persian Sufi poet, have once again revived an old quarrel between two currents among Iranian clerics — one that celebrates him as a great mystic and another that opposes his teachings as deviation and heresy. Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, known in Iran as Mowlana, was born in 1207 in Balkh, which was …

Al-Monitor – “Universities should be a venue for dialogue. As student representatives, we are walking out of this venue in protest,” a union leader declared loudly, interrupting a speech by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during an Oct. 16 ceremony that marked a belated commencement of the academic year at the University of Tehran — the country’s largest higher education center. The union leaders …

PayvandNews – One Mideast player in particular looks likely to benefit from the travesty playing out between Turkey and the Syrian Kurds.  Because it has close ties to both Damascus and Ankara, Iran was in an awkward position when Turkish forces entered Syria last week to attack the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Ankara considers factions of the SDF to be affiliated with terrorists, though the SDF has …

PayvandNews – Reports in the Iranian media shows a female captain and her co-pilot have flown a passenger plane, a first in the history of the country’s aviation industry. The reports published on Tuesday showed photos of the two pilots taken from the social media showing them before and after the two-way flight between the capital Tehran and the second …

Radiofarda – Students at the University of Tehran today protested during a speech by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, demanding cancellation of prison terms for their peers. Students protest during Iranian President’s speech at Tehran University. October 16, 2019 Several university students have received a total of 100 years in prison for having participated in anti-government protests since 2017. Iranian universities, …

Reuters – (Exclusive)- The United States carried out a secret cyber operation against Iran in the wake of the Sept. 14 attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, which Washington and Riyadh blame on Tehran, two U.S. officials have told Reuters.The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the operation took place in late September and took aim at Tehran’s …

Radiofarda – The Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently proven how much damage it can cause without having access to high-tech military equipment and formal arms markets. The past few months are indeed instructive. Under a slashed defense budget and outmatched in terms of regional military spending, Iran still managed to turn-up the heat without inviting kinetic reprisal. Western powers and Saudi Arabia have …

Radiofarda – The Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic (SCI) has dismissed a lower court verdict against a conservative politician and former Islamic Revolution Guards Corps commander. Iranian MP Salman Khodadadi (L), who’s been accused of sexual misconduct, and one of his alleged victims Zahra Navidpour. Salman Khodadadi, 57, was sentenced to two years’ exile, a two-year ban on serving …