Social and Political

Al-Arabia – The US-Iran tensions have now reached a new high. Following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, its imposing of harsh sanctions on Tehran, and deploying the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf region, the Islamic Republic has been isolated financially, militarily, and diplomatically. “Iran doesn’t have an economic, political, or diplomatic way to face the US or Europe, nor to …

RFL/RE = The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged authorities in Iran to lift the suspension of the reformist weekly magazine Seda and stop harassing critical media outlets. “Iranian authorities must allow Seda to resume its operation immediately and cease any more attempts to censor the media,” the New York-based media-freedom watchdog said in a statement on May 14, three days …

RFL/RE — Belarusian authorities have released from custody an Iranian man who has converted to Orthodox Christianity and is wanted by Tehran for alleged murder. Mehrdad Jamshidian (shown in December 2015) has lived in Belarus since 1993. However, the Department for Citizenship and Migration ruled on May 14 that Mehrdad Jamshidian must leave Belarus within three months. Jamshidian has lived …

VOA — The United States ordered its non-emergency employees to leave Iraq on Wednesday, a move that comes as the Trump administration warns of potential threats against American forces in the Middle East from Iran or Iranian-backed proxies. A statement posted by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said the order applied both to staff there and at the U.S. Consulate …

VOA — When a young Middle Eastern woman contacted Saudi dissident Ali AlAhmed over Twitter last November, he was immediately suspicious. AlAhmed’s radar was up because he had previously been targeted by hackers posing as a female journalist. But this turned out to be part of a different operation.  FILE – Ali AlAhmed poses for a photograph in his office …

VOA — Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday Tehran does not seek war with the United States despite mounting tensions between the two arch-enemies over Iranian nuclear capabilities and its missile program. In comments to senior officials carried by state television, Khamenei also reiterated that the Islamic Republic would not negotiate with the United States on another …

HRW – Iranian authorities are holding at least eight activists and journalists arrested during a Labor Day protest on May 1, 2019, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should immediately and unconditionally release all those detained for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly. Keyvan Samimi, Neda Naji, Hassan Saeedi Atefeh Rangriz, Marzieh Amiri, and Nahid Khodajoo. © Private Radio Farda, the …

Al-Monitor – The campus of Tehran University, Iran’s oldest modern educational center, had a tense dayMay 13 as hundreds of students held rallies against mandatory hijab regulations they said have become more restrictive than ever. The students argue that a set of new laws imposed by university officials are worsening the educational environment by pressuring female students and provoking unnecessary tension. Some of those …

RFE/RL: we’ve seen the initial reports from U.S. military intelligence saying that it might be Iranian or Iranian-backed proxies states attacks on these four ships anchored in the United Arab Emirates. can you can you confirm this? Can you expand on this a bit? I can’t confirm it. None of our ships were attacked. It was two Saudi vessels, a …

Radiofarda – U.S. President Donald Trump today warned that there will “be a bad problem for Iran if something happens”, in response to a reporter’s question in the White House about attacks on oil tankers in the territorial waters of United Arab Emirates. Early Sunday morning four commercial vessels, were targeted with “sabotage” as the UAE government later described by …