Social and Political

gatestoneinstitute.org – The Biden administration… is also financing the ruling mullahs of Iran with billions of dollars to put the finishing touches on the country’s nuclear program and for delivering more weapons to Russia with which to attack Ukraine. “We’re sitting still, and the Chinese, the Russians, Iran, North Korea, and several others, are moving to shore up their relations …

Al-Monitor — Iran’s armed forces paraded multiple drones, missiles and other military hardware on Thursday, as the country marked the national Army Day that falls on the anniversary of its 1980s war with Iraq.    During the televised ceremony in Tehran, 16 different types of drones were paraded before President Ebrahim Raisi and Iran’s most senior men in uniform.   According to state …

RFL/RE – Plans to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of Nika Shakarami, a 16-year-old protester believed to have been killed by Iranian security forces during widespread protests last year, have been abruptly canceled amid an increased security presence around her grave site and the detention of several people who tried to come and pay their respects. Nasrin Shakarami, …

iranintl – The entourage of Iran’s president attacked, harassed and insulted Iran International journalists covering Ebrahim Raisi’s stay in New York. In the latest incident on Wednesday, an official from Raisi’s delegation attacked Iran International correspondent Kian Amani outside the Millenium Hilton New York One UN Plaza Hotel.  The official tried to grab Amini’s cellphone as he was capturing footage of them …

Iranwire – A “massive fire” hit a storage area of an Iranian Defense Ministry’s factory north of Tehran, local media reported on September 22. The fire happened in a storage area of plastic items in a battery factory north of Tehran, Fars news agency reported.  The Ministry of Defense confirmed that the fire happened in “warehouses of a battery manufacturing …

Iranwire – Iranian security forces detained at least 600 women in Tehran alone on the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death on September 16, according to the Committee to Follow-Up on the Status of Detainees. Citing information provided by the families of the detainees, the group said that the majority of those detained have since been released on bail.  However, …

Iranwire – The Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD) uncovered this week an Iranian cyberattack targeting Israeli jobseekers, local media report. The hackers are sending fake messages to users of job search websites pretending to be official messages from these websites, the Jerusalem Post cited the agency as saying on September 21.  The messages include a malicious link allowing the hackers …

Al-Monitor – The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, has visited Syria to oversee a joint military drill, media outlets in the Islamic republic said. Qaani, appointed Quds Force commander after a US drone strike on Baghdad killed its revered leader Qasem Soleimani in 2020, met senior Syrian officials in Damascus, Tasnim news agency reported late …

Al-Monitor — The diplomatic breakthrough that brought five wrongfully detained Americans home from Iran followed two years of quiet negotiations led by Qatar that could pave the way for future dialogue, a senior Qatari official told Al-Monitor.  On Tuesday, a US government plane carrying a group of Americans, including longtime prisoners Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi, arrived in the United States as …

iranintl – Faced with an apparent financial crunch to subsidize bread, the Iran is gradually raising prices, a move that can have both political and inflationary repercussion. To avoid public blame and anger the government is trying to redirect the responsibility to provincial officials, although the central government would remain the main decision maker. Iran’s economy minister Ehsan Khanzoudi said …