Social and Political

RFL/RE – Residents of Tehran are reporting a fifth consecutive day of water cuts despite government claims that a shortage, which last year sparked demonstrations in many areas of the country, had been resolved. Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian said on June 13 that, while the issue had been taken care of, residents should conserve water as much as possible until levels …

Iranwire – Kian Pirfalak’s mother, Mahmonir Molaei, has been under house arrest since Sunday, June 11, IranWire reveals. Reliable sources confirmed that the Islamic Republic’s security forces have surrounded the residence of Kian Pirfalak’s parents and seized all their household belongings. Agents are also controlling nearby streets and have blocked any filming in the area. No information is available regarding …

Iranwire – Iran’s security agencies have banned Molavi Abdulhamid, the revered Sunni cleric, from leaving the country for a planned Hajj pilgrimage to Islam’s holy places in Saudi Arabia. A statement issued by Molavi Abdulhamid’s office revealed on June 14 that the prominent Friday prayer leader of Zahedan, in Iran’s Sistan and Baolichistan province, had already prepared for his pilgrimage …

VOA – The United States said Wednesday that reports of an interim nuclear deal with Iran “are false and misleading.” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters the United States remains committed to ensuring Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons and has been monitoring Iranian enrichment activities. Since the United States withdrew from the 2015 international agreement that restricted Iran’s …

VOA – An Iranian court has sentenced a man to death after convicting him of killing a powerful cleric in April, the judiciary said Wednesday, but the victim’s family may still spare his life. Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani, a member of the Assembly of Experts that selects the country’s supreme leader, was killed on April 26 inside a bank in …

Al-Monitor — Iran and the United States are close to finalizing a deal on the release of Americans held in Tehran, Oman’s foreign minister told Al-Monitor.  Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said in an interview Wednesday he senses “seriousness” on the part of both Washington and Tehran as their negotiators try to salvage what remains of the 2015 nuclear deal under which …

Iranwire – Pouya Molaei-Rad, 19, a cousin of Kian Pirfalak’s mother, Mahmonir Molaei, met a tragic fate on the evening of June 11.  Pouya was killed by gunfire from Iranian security forces, leaving family and friends devastated by the untimely loss. The incident was made all the worse because June 11 marked the tenth birthday of Kian Pirfalak, a young soul whose …

Iranwire – Iran’s hardline president Ebrahim Raisi has stopped in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, on the second day of his visit to Latin America, where he met with President Daniel Ortega on Tuesday. The meeting focused on opposition to US sanctions affecting both their countries. Raisi’s visit to Nicaragua follows his initial stop in Venezuela and is part of …

Iranwire – In a powerful statement from behind bars, Bahareh Hedayat, a prominent political prisoner, has addressed recent disagreements within the Iranian opposition through an exclusive letter to IranWire.  The letter strongly criticizes certain political factions, accusing them of fueling “pointless conflicts” with their “reckless” behavior. Hedayat, who was arrested at the beginning of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement and …

Al-Monitor — Tehran and Caracas signed 19 cooperation agreements during Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Venezuela to start a five-day tour that will take him to Nicaragua and Cuba as well.   At a press conference in Caracas late Monday, Raisi sat next to his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, and announced that the two sides had set a goal to push up their …