Social and Political

CHRI – New Requirement Meant to Address Employment Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities

Al-Monitor – The upcoming battle in Syria in the province of Idlib has been described as the last major battle between the Syrian government and opposition forces. With approximately 3 million residents in the rural area and home to opposition groups, some of which have relocated to the province after having struck a deal with the government, Idlib will determine …

Al-Monitor – New cracks are starting to appear in Iran’s conservative and religious establishment. The past two weeks or so have seen several prominent clerics voicing harsh criticism at Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi, a key ideologist and theoretician of the hard-line camp during the last two decades.

bourseandbazaar – In recent months, longstanding social issues Iran have taken a back seat to major economic challenges such as a sliding national currency, rampant corruption, and the return of sanctions. But social inequality has an economic cost too as proven by the gender pay gap and disparity in work opportunities for men and women in Iran.

Radiofarda – When the presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran meet Friday in Tehran, all eyes will be on their diplomacy reaching a last-minute deal to avert a bloodbath in Idlib, Syria’s crowded northwestern province and last opposition stronghold.

Radiofarda -U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis were set to hold long-delayed talks Thursday with top Indian officials, looking to shore up the alliance with one of Washington’s top regional allies.

Radiofarda – The United States and India are engaged in “very detailed conversations” over Washington’s request to completely stop India’s oil imports from Iran, a senior U.S. State Department official told reporters on Thursday.

Al-Arabia – Among the hundreds of pages that Facebook has removed in its latest crackdown on political influence campaigns, there are at least two which were set up by Iran in order to promote Scottish independence and foment other forms of internal divisions within the UK: “Free Scotland 2014”, and “The British Left” – both dating back at least to 2014, to …

RFL/RE – Iran will relaunch its nuclear program and enrich uranium at a higher level than it has previously if Russia, China, and European powers follow the U.S. example and stop honoring Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran’s nuclear agency has warned.

RFL/RE – With four more Iranian human rights defenders arrested in Tehran since August 31, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the country’s authorities have “ramped up” their crackdown against activists.