Social and Political

lobelog – In the Wall Street Journal last weekend, the paper’s chief foreign affairs reporter, Jay Solomon, unloaded a 2,500-word essay looking back at the Iran nuclear deal a little more than year after the accord was signed. Solomon, a measured and well-sourced reporter, examined how the deal had, after this short period of time, affected Iranian politics. The piece …

PayvandNews – Just one week after Russian bombers began flying missions over Syria out of an Iranian air base in Hamadan, Tehran has revoked its permission for Moscow to use the base. These missions never would have begun if Tehran had not agreed that they could take place. But Russia’s public declaration that they were occurring had a negative impact …

RFL/RE – Critics say proposed new legislation in Iran would mean an end to any form of independent journalism in the Islamic republic while playing into the hands of the country’s security organs and hard-line conservative judiciary, who would like to see even tighter state control of the media. cartoon by Ali Miraei, Iranian daily Ghanoon Journalists in Iran are sounding …

Al-monitor – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s surprise Aug. 12 visit to Turkey may always be remembered in Ankara, as well as in Tehran, for having opened a new chapter in regional cooperation between the two neighbors. The visit was the first by an Iranian official since the failed July 15 coup to overthrow Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. …

PayvandNews – Critics have often blamed President Rouhani of Iran for blindly following the neoclassical-neoliberal model of capitalism. The critical problem with Mr. Rouhani’s economic policies, however, is more than just following the dominant economic model of neoliberalism; more gravely, it is following the worst aspects of that model. One such disturbing aspect is the unregulated and out-of-control financialization of …

RFL/RE – Iran’s parliament speaker Ali Larijani says Russian warplanes are still using an Iranian military base to strike targets in Syria. Larijani made the comment a day after an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Russia’s use of an air base in Hamadan had ended “for now.” Speaking at a session of the parliament on August 23, Larijani suggested Russian …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Foreign Ministry says Russia’s use of a military base in Hamadan for striking targets in Syria has ended for now. Foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi made the announcement in an August 22 news briefing. “Russia has no base in Iran and is not stationed here. They conducted this [operation] and it is finished for now,” Ghasemi was …

Reuters – German exports to Iran, mostly machines and equipment, jumped in the first half of the year following the removal of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic, official trade data showed on Monday. Exports to Iran surged by 15 percent year-on-year in the first six months of 2016 to 1.13 billion euros ($1.3 billion), the Federal Statistics Office said. …

mehrnews – The Iranian sports caravan managed to collect eight medals in 2016 Rio Olympic Games in order to finish 25th in the final standings table. Having attracted more than 10 thousand athletes, the 31st edition of Summer Olympics was convened from August 05-21 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro while the closing ceremony was held on Monday morning …

HRANA News Agency – Forests of Marivan, close to De-Reh-Veh-Ran and He-Najiran villages are in fire since last Monday. The association of Sabz-Chiya has requested help to control the fire. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), around one thousand hectares of one the most un-touched areas of De-Reh-Veh-Ran and He-Najiran villages has turned to ashes …