Social and Political

CHRI – Advocates for the rights of people with disabilities in Iran have condemned the minimal budgetary allocation proposed by the government of President Hassan Rouhani to implement the country’s Law for the Protection of the Rights of Disabled Persons.

Al-Monitor – Ayatollah Ali Movahedi Kermani ascended the pulpit to lead the weekly Friday prayer session at the University of Tehran on Dec. 7. He chose to spend significant time reviewing and commenting on the ongoing negotiations over the fiscal budget of the next Iranian year (beginning March 21, 2019).

Al-Monitor – After failing to receive diplomatic support for exiting the nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the United States has used the most recent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting to ask other countries to apply pressure on Iran regarding its missiles programs. The Security Council meets every six months to discuss Iranian compliance with …

Radiofarda – One of the objectives of Iran’s annual budget for the next year is to decrease poverty, according to Iranian officials. This comes after news of the latest report by the parliament’s research center, which says 11 percent more people have fallen below the poverty line in the Tehran region as the national currency rial has lost value dramatically over the …

Radiofarda – President Hassan Rouhani’s budget for the next Iranian year (beginning March 21) will not be delivered to Iran’s parliament until amended on the basis of the Supreme Leader’s demands, reporters were told by a parliamentary leader, December 12.

Radiofarda – China-based Yantai Jereh Oilfield Services Group Co Ltd has agreed to pay more than $2.7 million to settle allegations it did business with Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

Radiofarda – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told the UN Security Council that Washington would seek to work with the 15-member body to reimpose ballistic missile restrictions on Iran.

VOA – A U.S. Republican lawmaker sponsoring a bill to support a democratic and secular Iran says Washington should provide Iranians with material support to help them “overcome” their Islamist rulers.

HRW– Iranian authorities have escalated their crackdown on lawyers, Human Rights Watch said today. Over the past month, revolutionary courts have sentenced at least three lawyers to long prison terms for their human rights activism and security forces have arrested another one.

Amnesty – Following the publication of its damning report on a three-decade long campaign of misinformation by the Iranian authorities about the mass prisoner killings of 1988, Amnesty International today published a videointerview from December 1988 showing Iran’s then prime minister, Mir Hossein Mousavi, denying and distorting the truth about these crimes against humanity.