Social and Political

VOA – Iran’s Supreme Leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday told member of the country’s Assembly of Experts “not to be at each other’s throats over this or that convention or agreement.” Khamenei was most probably referring to international anti-money laundering and anti-corruption conventions demanded by the international watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a multilateral agency based in …

Radiozmaneh – Kazem Darabi, who was convicted of involvement in the Iranian state-sponsored assassinations of dissident Kurds on German soil, ended up serving 15 years behind German bars. Darabi has recently published a book denying his involvement and bringing the story of the Mykonos murders back to life. Plaque for the victims of the Mykonos assassination If you have been …

Radiofarda – A statement made by the National Iranian Petrochemical Industries Company (NIPIC) on Wednesday March 13, revealed that the Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC), the center-piece of a major financial scandal being investigated at a Tehran court, has failed to return 500 million euros of its debts since 2013. Reza Hamzelou the main figure in the huge petrochemicals exporting scandal …

RFL/RE – The United States wants to slash Iran’s crude-oil exports by some 20 percent beginning in May by demanding that importers reduce purchases or face U.S. sanctions, Reuters news agency reports.Reuters on March 13 quoted two sources familiar with the matter in its report, quoting one as saying the “goal right now is to reduce Iranian oil exports to …

VOA — Iran has lost $10 billion in revenue since U.S. sanctions in November have removed about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude from global markets, a U.S. State Department official said on Wednesday. Brian Hook, the State Department’s special representative on Iran, said in remarks at the CERAWeek energy conference that due to a global oil …

Radiozamaneh – Ibrahim Raisi, a former judge responsible for 1988 mass executions in Iran has emerged as one of the most powerful figures of Iranian politics in recent days. A failed hardliner candidate in previous presidential election, Raisi is now considered to be the main contender to replace supreme leader Ali Khamenei in future. Ibrahim Raisi (L) is thought to …

CHRI – Kavous Seyed-Emami’s widow, Maryam Mombeini, filed the suit on March 6, 2019, against Amir Nasseri, the judiciary’s security chief at Tehran’s Evin Prison where her husband died while held in solitary confinement there for interrogations in February 2018. “From now on, we are going to file objections everywhere we can against this unlawful travel ban so that eventually …

Radiofarda – Iran’s General Prosecutor says that Tehran has referred to Interpol the case of a woman in Canada accused in his country’s petrochemicals scandal and expects extradition. The news website of Iran’s Judiciary quotes Mohammad Jaafar Montazeri as saying that an arrest warrant for Marjan Sheikholeslami has been issued and sent to Interpol, and he hopes “they will cooperate”. …

Radiofarda – Thousands of Iranian actors, filmmakers, and other artists are on a secret blacklist banning them from performing or presenting their work publicly, a former director of Iran’s state-run radio and TV has revealed. Former Director-General of the Iranian State Radio & TV (IRIB), Mohammad Sarafraz, undated. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the state-run entity that monopolizes all …

Al-Arabia – Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has issued a statement after meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in which he said that Iraq hopes to “enhance relations with its neighbors on the basis of respecting the sovereignty of others” while stressing the need to keep arms under the control of the state. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani meets with Iranian President …