Social and Political

Radiofarda – Iran’s health minister has resigned over proposed budget cuts, the official news agency IRNA reported, amid an economic crisis wrought by the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

Radiofarda – The United States issued a pre-emptive warning to Iran on Thursday against pursuing three planned space rocket launches, which it said would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution related to its ballistic missile activity.

Radiofarda – Iran’s Police Chief Hosein Ashtari has told Palestinian Islamic Jihad Leader Ziad al-Nakhaleh that his forces are prepared to offer training to the “Palestinian Resistance Front,” ISNA reported on Wednesday January 2.

Radiofarda – The leader of Iran’s pro-reform “Green Movement” has challenged the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, by calling for the release of the uncensored video of their last meeting in 2009.

Radiofarda – Two female political prisoners in Iran in a joint letter have announced a three-day hunger strike in protest to being deprived of medical care.

Radiofarda – Iran’s foreign minister says that Oman had informed Iran about Israeli prime minister Benjanim Netanyahu’s visit to the Arab country in late October.

Radiofarda – Almost two years after the allegedly mysterious death of one of the shrewdest leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, his case has been shelved.

Al-Arabia – Residents of Tehran complained about the spread of “bad odors” in various parts of the Iranian capital even as authorities appealed to citizens to help them search for the source of smell, Iranian media reported.

Iran-HRM – A peaceful gathering of farmers in Isfahan Province turned violent after the state security forces attacked the protesters on Wednesday. 

RFL/RE – A senior Iranian official has said the country is prepared to block Instagram once authorities sign off, a move that would deny 24 million users — including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rohani — access to the popular social-media platform.