Social and Political

Al-Monitor – Europe has finally set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to bypass US sanctions on Iran in order to keep alive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which the United States unilaterally exited in May 2018. INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) was established by Germany, France and the United Kingdom, and will be used initially to sell food, medicine …

Radiofarda – Iran has unveiled a new missile, Ghassed 3(Messenger), on Thursday in a military exhibition in Tehran, Mehr news agency reports.

Radiofarda – The U.N. nuclear watchdog policing Iran’s deal with major powers said on Wednesday that attempts to pressure it on inspections were “counter-productive and extremely harmful”, though it stopped short of naming those responsible.

Radiofarda – The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, has said on Thrusday that if China does not help Iran with its Arak nuclear reactor, Iran will do it alone.

Radiofarda – President Hassan Rouhani delivered a speech on Wednesday saying that Iran is facing its toughest economic situation in 40 years, but he added that U.S. sanctions are to blame; not the Islamic Republic or the current government.

Radiofarda – Outspoken member of parliament from Tehran Mahmoud Sadeghi is once again taking aim at what he says is vast corruption in Iran’s government.

Radiofarda – Three suspects implicated in a criminal case against Sarmayeh Bank, including a former government minister, have been put behind bars with bail set at ten trillion rials (roughly $240,000).

Iran-HRM – A 27-year old man was sentenced to three years in prison and 74 lashes for “stealing a chicken” in Laly city in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.

Iran-HRM – A woman was hanged on Wednesday, January 30, 2019, in Nowshahr Prison, in the northern Iranian province of Mazandaran.

RFL/RE – Germany, France, and Britain are set to launch a mechanism to allow financial flows to be sent to Iran that would not violate U.S. sanctions in an attempt to keep alive the landmark 2015 nuclear deal.