Social and Political

Radiofarda – Iranian state TV January 19 aired prison confessions of two labor activists and a civil activist who were arrested in November during labor protests in southwestern, oil-rich Khuzestan province.

Radiofarda – A member of Iranian parliament’s budget reconciliation committee says it has been decided to increase the country’s military budget by around $3 billion.

Al-Arabia – In Tehran on Jan. 8 during a meeting with European envoys, Iranian officials abruptly stood up, walked out and slammed the door in an extraordinary break with protocol.

CHRI – Former political prisoner Ali (Amir) Amirgholi has become the fourth journalist working for the Gamindependent online news outlet to be arrested in Iran in recent weeks.

aljazeera – The reports on the dramatic rise in the number of Iranians seeking asylum in Europe, especially unaccompanied children, are profoundly unsettling.

Radiofarda – Ahmad Tavakoli, an Expediency Discernment Council member in Tehran told reporters on Saturday that the EDC meeting on the bill for joining the UN Convention on Transnational Crime has remained inconclusive and the Council will meet once again next Saturday for the final review of the bill.

Radiofarda – A senior Republican senator on Saturday urged President Donald Trump to slow down the withdrawal of US ground troops from Syria until jihadists were defeated to avoid a “nightmare” for Washington’s allies.

Radiofarda – An American-born Iranian television anchor has been arrested as a material witness in an undisclosed U.S. federal investigation, according to a federal court order granted on Friday.

Radiofarda – Reports from Iran say that four political activists in the town of Songhor were taken to the intelligence ministry and questioned for their activities in cyberspace and one of them was arrested.

Radiofarda – In Tehran on Jan. 8 during a meeting with European envoys, Iranian officials abruptly stood up, walked out and slammed the door in an extraordinary break with protocol.