Social and Political

RFL/RE – The political bureau chief of the U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group Hamas is slated to visit Tehran on March 26 for high-level meetings with Iranian officials, according to local media. The official IRNA news agency said Ismail Haniyeh, who is based on Qatar, was scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, among a slew of other officials. The trip …

iranintl – Analysts in Iran are evaluating the country’s prospects for recovery and embarking on a path towards development after years of setbacks in domestic and foreign policy, and the economy. Reza Alijani, a reform-minded religious-nationalist political observer, penned a Persian article for Iran International suggesting that the new Iranian year, beginning on March 20, is poised to be characterized by “chaos …

iranintl – The serious corruption allegations against Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi, the ultra-hardliner Friday imam of Tehran, have further eroded trust in the Iranian system and its officials among the populace. Earlier this month, irrefutable evidence surfaced indicating Sedighi’s involvement in the appropriation of a valuable plot of land worth approximately $20 million in northern Tehran. The revelation, brought forth by …

Iranwire – A former minister has revealed that the administration of former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was not informed in advance of a retaliatory attack on an American base following the killing of Qasem Soleimani. Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has disclosed fresh insights into the day of the Ukrainian plane’s downing by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps …

Iranwire – An Iranian-Baluch fuel carrier was killed on March 21 after the Islamic Republic’s military forces opened fire on a vehicle in the southeastern Mirjaveh city. The victim has been identified as 25-year-old Hamidollah Brahui, according to the Haalvsh human rights organization, which monitors Sistan and Baluchistan. Three others were injured in the firing, but their identities have not …

Iranwire – Iranian MP Amirhossein Bankipour has said on a state TV program that the Islamic Republic is “resolute about penalizing those who do not adhere to the hijab.” “Regarding public spaces and individuals, those who violate hijab norms, whether intentionally or not, will face legal consequences,” he warned on March 24.  In a previous television interview, he proposed deducting …

iranintl – In late July 2020, a workshop belonging to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran was deliberately set on fire in the Shadabad area of TehranThe significance of the incident prompted officials to immediately notify Supreme Leader Ali KhameneiThe Iranian government has concealed this information until now, despite its belief that Israel was responsible for the incident, as indicated …

iranintl – The backlash by Iranians to a US State Department post on Instagram continued Saturday with 80 Iranian-American activists and citizens urging the Secretary of State to have it removed. “It is deeply concerning that the US State Department would endorse and promote an individual with such tainted history and character as a defender of Iranian women,” the signatories …

VOA – Iran’s currency fell to a record low on Sunday, plunging to 613,500 to the dollar, as its people celebrated the Persian New Year. On Sunday, people were trying to exchange rials for foreign currency at Tehran’s main hub of exchange shops in Ferdowsi Street, but most were closed due to the Nowruz holidays, which are run from March …

gatestoneinstitute.org – British and European Union leaders say the time has come to formally accept the creation of a Palestinian state. Meanwhile, Major-General Ismail Qaani, chief of the Quds Force of the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, promises to “rebuild Gaza stronger than before as an advance post against world Zionism.” Claiming to be a “freedom fighter” shouldn’t mean a …