Social and Political

AL-monitor – On Dec. 22, 30 exiled Iranian dissidents penned an open letter to US President-elect Donald Trump, urging him to impose fresh sanctions on “the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the supreme leader’s financial empire and direct the US Treasury to strongly enforce them.” AUTHOR Rohollah Faghihi The dissidents further urged Trump to “form an international coalition to pressure …

PayvandNews – Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, leading a trade delegation, is due to visit Tehran in February 2017, Sweden’s ambassador in Iran, Helena Sangeland, said on Tuesday. In a meeting in Tehran with the chairman of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA), Gholam-Hossein Shafeie, the Swedish envoy expressed her country’s willingness to expand mutual cooperation with …

RFL/RE – Oman, Iran’s closest ally in the Persian Gulf region, has signaled that it may be changing course by joining a Saudi-led coalition of Muslim countries fighting terrorism. Arab news outlets said on December 28 that Oman’s defense minister sent a letter to Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announcing the decision to join the Islamic Military …

Al-Arabia – The Islamic Republic of Iran Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base, broadcasted on Tuesday morning, a video of the new “Zahra 3” air defense system. The Air Defense remained silent on the S 300 missile system that Tehran received from Moscow a month ago and has not been experimented yet, without giving any clarification on the reasons for the …

VOA – News reports out of Turkey say Ankara and Russia have prepared a cease-fire agreement for all of Syria, but Russia is refusing to comment on the reports and rebel groups say no such official truce has been agreed on. “There are two texts ready on a solution in Syria,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted Wednesday as …

Iranhumanrights.org – More than 70 people who were arrested in October 2016 at a peaceful gathering celebrating Cyrus the Great were tried in mid-December without legal council and sentenced to long prison terms by the Revolutionary Court in the city of Shiraz. “The exact number of those arrested is not known because the court has not publicized their cases and …

Al-monitor – On Dec. 27, Shahrvand daily ran an article that shocked ordinary Iranians and officials alike. The piece, titled “Living inside the grave,” reported on how a group of homeless people had taken shelter in a cemetery close to Shahriar, a town in Tehran province. AUTHOR Rohollah Faghihi “It’s been a month since the cold led the homeless to …

Al-monitor – The long-awaited Citizens’ Rights Charter promised by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was finally unveiled Dec. 19. After the signing ceremony of the charter, a text message from the president was sent to millions of cellphones in Iran. It read, “Noble people of Iran, let’s get more familiar with our rights and powerfully protect them.” AUTHOR Zahra Alipour The …

PayvandNews -Tehran’s wet streets provide temporary relief to millions who have been tolerating unbearable levels of pollution. In today’s Tehran, precipitation is associated with romanticism and blessings, washing away polluted skies briefly before reality sets in again. Pollution has plagued Iran’s capital for years, manifesting in various health problems amongst locals, closing of schools, and transforming daily activities into questions …

PayvandNews – India and South Korea have raised oil imports from Iran more than four times in a month which saw four major Asian buyers more than double their purchases from a year ago. China, India, South Korea and Japan imported 1.94 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, up 117 percent on a year earlier, government and ship-tracking data …