Social and Political

Radiofarda – A prominent attorney, Hamid Hajian was shot dead with at least three bullets on Wednesday evening, April 24, in the garage of a building in Tehran’s affluent northern neighborhood of Kamranieh. Hossein Hedayati, a former Revolutionary Guard officer and a controversial business tycoon during his trial on March 04, 2019. Hajian 41 reportedly was once the attorney of …

Radiofarda – Iranian police are using text messaging to warn female drivers and passengers who take off their hijab (scarves) or ignore the Islamic dress code while driving or riding in cars. A female taxi driver fetches a passenger in Tehran, 21Aug2011 Hundreds of women in the capital city of Tehran recently received phone text messages, summoning them to the …

RFL/RE – Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Iranian President Hassan Rohani at a summit in Russia during August.Putin made the announcement to journalists in Beijing on April 26 after meeting with Aliyev on the sidelines of China’s so-called Belt and Road forum – an initiative aimed at building trade and transportation …

RFL/RE – Britain has rejected a prisoner-swap proposal by Iran’s foreign minister, calling it a “vile” diplomatic maneuver.British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on April 25 said “what is unacceptable about what Iran is doing is that they are putting innocent people in prison and using it as leverage.”The previous day, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested a swap between …

Al-Monitor – Mahmoud Sadeghi, an Iranian Reformist parliamentarian, has questioned the benefits of Iran staying in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear deal between Iran and five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany and the European Union, given the exit of the United States and Europe’s inability to provide the promised economic dividends under …

Al-Monitor – There is an Iranian proverb that goes, “You can tell a good year from its spring.” Judging from the massive damage caused by the recent floods in Iran, one has to conclude that the new Iranian year (beginning March 21) will be a bad one for the economy. The economic consequence of the recent floods will include a …

Radiofarda – Recent floods in Iran have killed dozens and displaced possibly millions of Iranians. Instead of helping them, most of the Islamic Republic’s time and energy has gone into sending foreign Hashd al Shaabi and Hezbollah fighters into Khuzestan. Iran – Iraqi militia entering Iran in April 2019 “to assist in flood relief”. These forces have engaged in light …

Radiofarda – A member of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in a shootout on April 24 in the Kurdistan province, Mehr news agency reported. Iran’s military often clashes with dissident Kurds in the west and northwest of the country. Several Kurdish armed groups, opposed to the Islamic Republic or advocating outright secession for Kurdish-populated areas, have sanctuaries …

Radiofarda – Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said during an interview in New York on Wednesday that Iran is ready to swap prisoners with the United States. “I put this offer on the table publicly now. [Let’s] Exchange them”, Zarif said during an interview at the Asia Society in New York, adding that he has the authority to …

Radiofarda – The Secretary-General of the influential Expediency Discernment Council (EDC) in Iran says the designation of Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist group by Washington has a significant impact on the fate of financial reform bills demanded by the West. The Paris based international watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has demanded that Iran should adopt anti-corruption, anti-money laundering …