Social and Political

Radiofarda – Germany on Tuesday detained a German-Afghan man on suspicion he was spying for Iran while working for the German army as a linguistic and cultural adviser.

Radiofarda – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran has lied when it claimed it is launching a satellite into orbit. The real aim was to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, he insisted.

Radiofarda – Iran’s general prosecutor has hit back at a labor leader for two days in a row, saying there was no torture during his detention and he has lied “to cover-up his crimes”.

Radiofarda – The prominent Iranian civil rights activists and lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh has once again been held incommunicado in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, her husband Reza Khandan disclosed in an interview with Radio Farda January 13.

Radiofarda – Iranian Quds Force Chief Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani has been on the receiving end of both comments by Israel and a critical letter by former Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

Shabtabnews – Recently, pictures of some Sufi dervishes reached the BBC when they arrived at the Fashafiyev Prison, based on these images and testimony of a number of Sufis, they were “beaten” during their arrest and transfer to jail.

RFL/RE – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the prison sentence recently imposed on Iranian journalist Hamed Aynehvand and urged the country’s authorities to “stop persecuting the media for doing their job.”

RFL/RE – Iran said it conducted a satellite launch but that the rocket failed to reach orbit.

Radiofarda – A top Iranian military official has said that as long as “Takfiri terrorists” operate in Syria and Damascus asks Iranian forces for help, “we will continue to support” Syria.

Radiofarda – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Saudi Arabia’s king and crown prince in Riyadh on Monday, but will cut short the rest of his Middle East trip to attend a family funeral, a State Department spokesman said.