Social and Political

Radiofarda – The chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi, has branded the popular messaging application Telegram “a security threat” in an April 1 interview with the parliament’s news agency, ICANA.

Iran-HRM – The state-run Fars news agency cited Iran’s Police Chief on March 29, as saying that the internet should be managed inside the country.

townhall – Judging by the rhetoric coming out of Tehran, John Bolton’s appointment as America’s National Security Advisor is the worst thing that ever happened. 

Radiofarda – An unnamed source affiliated with the Russian Defense Ministry has denied a report by a Kuwaiti daily claiming two of Israel’s F-35 fighter jets flew over Syria and Iraq last week to reach Iranian airspace without being detected by Russian radars based in Syria.

Radiofarda – The United Nations Security Council condemned missile attacks on Saudi Arabia launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels last weekend and expressed “grave concern” at reports the Houthis obtained the weapons in violation of a UN arms embargo.

Radiofarda – A magnitude 5.3 earthquake has hit western Iran hours before a second quake shook Damavand Province near the capital Tehran, Iranian state media reported on March 31.

Radiofarda – A number of protests have broken out in Iran since the beginning of the year over water, a growing political concern due to a drought which residents of parched areas and analysts say has been exacerbated by mismanagement.

Radiofarda – Following several days of demonstrations in Iran’s Khouzestan Province by ethnic Arabs protesting against Iranian state TV for “ignoring Iranian Arabs,” a top cleric in the province’s capital city, Ahvaz, has warned demonstrators to “watch out for the enemy’s sedition and conspiracies.”

Radiofarda – Iran is likely to ban the popular messaging application Telegram by the end of the current Iranian month (April 20), the Iranian Parliament’s news agency, ICANA, quoted prominent MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi as saying on March 31.

Radiofarad – Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet on April 4 in Ankara in a summit of the three countries sponsoring a series of Syrian peace talks.