Social and Political

Al-Monitor – Alexander Lavrentiev, President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Syria, traveled to Tehran July 18 to update the Iranians on the results of the much-publicized summit between the American and Russian presidents in Helsinki earlier in the week. Lavrentiev reportedly met for two hours with Saeed Irvanii, deputy for foreign policy and international security of the Supreme National Security …

Radiofarda – Tehran’s prosecutor Jafari Dolatabad says verdicts have been issued against 258 Iranian dervishes of the Gonabadi order, state-run news agency IRNA reported July 17.

Radiofarda – A U.S. delegation of Treasury and State Department officials will meet Turkish authorities on Friday to discuss sanctions targeting Iran, an official from Turkey’s foreign ministry said.

Radiofarda – US Ambassador Nikki Haley on Wednesday described the Human Rights Council as the “greatest failure” of the United Nations as she defended the US decision to quit the UN body.

Radiofarda – The small group of Iranian farmers gathered around their tractors — long idle, parked at the town entrance next to a canal that once irrigated their fields but has been dry for years — and they protested, pleading for help from the government. “We are the people,” shouted Mostafa Benvidi. “Help the people. At night they go to …

Radiofarda – Iran intends to manufacture or upgrade up to 800 tanks, the Tasnim news agency quoted Deputy Defense Minister Reza Mozaffarinia as saying on Wednesday.

Iran-HRM – The World Medical Association has condemned state-affiliated doctors in Iran for their complicity in the facilitation of child executions in the country. This follows the execution of Abolfazl Chezani Sharahi, 19, in June, who was sentenced to death in 2014 after the Legal Medicine Organisation in Iran gave their official medical opinion that he was mentally “mature” at …

RFL/RE – Iranian President Hassan Rohani’s chief of staff is claiming that U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly asked to meet with Rohani during his visit to New York for the UN General Assembly last year.

RFL/RE – Iran says it is continuing to acquire uranium and is close to finishing a plant where it can build more centrifuges to enrich uranium.

Al-Monitor – Hard-liners in Iran face the key challenge of a new generation questioning the approach being taken by the old guard. Members of the younger generation, unlike their older peers, are challenging anyone who acts against their expectations, even including when that person happens to be Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, the most …