Social and Political

Al-Monitor -The Biden administration unveiled new economic sanctions on Tuesday targeting companies and individuals in China and Iran for facilitating procurements for Tehran’s ballistic missile program. The US Treasury Department designated six entities and seven individuals in Iran, Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China in the latest attempt at deploying economic weapons to clamp down on Tehran’s conventional arms program. …

i24news – A new unit of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been revealed. According to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, Unit 700 is headed by Gal Farsat, a former Al-Quds Force official with extensive connections to senior officials in Iran, Syria and Lebanon. Unit 700 was reported to be in charge of smuggling supplies and logistics for the Al-Quds …

RFL/RE – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on June 5 reiterated the U.S. administration’s firm stance that Iran is Israel’s top threat and will never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. “If Iran rejects the path of diplomacy, then, as President [Joe] Biden has repeatedly made clear, all options are on the table to ensure that Iran does …

RFL/RE – Eight independent labor organizations in Iran have called for the expulsion of the country from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and its session in Switzerland that starts on June 5. The organizations, including the Organizing Council of Oil Contract Workers’ Protests and the Iran Retirees Council, urged representative delegations from countries around the world to kick Iran out of the …

Iranwire – Iranian officials have presented what they described as the Islamic Republic’s first domestically produced hypersonic ballistic missile, capable of traveling at 15 times the speed of sound, amid heightened Western concerns about Tehran’s missile capabilities and nuclear program. Iranian state media published pictures of the missile named Fattah, or “Conqueror” in Persian, at a ceremony on June 6 …

Al-Monitor – Tensions have escalated between Tehran and the Taliban regime in Kabul over the distribution of their shared waters. As Iran faces increasing water scarcity issues, Afghanistan is trying to dam water sources as much as possible to generate electricity and irrigate agricultural land.  Originating in the Afghan Hindu Kush mountain range, the Helmand River is Afghanistan’s longest river that …

RFL/RE – The U.S. Navy said on June 5 that its sailors and the U.K. Royal Navy came to the aid of a ship in the crucial Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards “harassed” it. Three fast-attack vessels with armed troops aboard approached the merchant ship at a close distance in the afternoon on June 4, the U.S. Navy …

RFL/RE – Iran will reopen its embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital on June 6, Iranian sources told the semiofficial Fars news agency, months after Tehran and Riyadh agreed to end years of hostility. In March, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish relations after years of hostility between the regional rivals that had threatened stability and security in the Middle …

Iranwire – The café that was the workplace of Nika Shakarami, a 16-year-old victim of the bloody crackdown on last year’s nationwide protests, was shut down for a second time for catering to women without hijab. Mohammad Nabi Mousavi-Fard, the Friday Imam of Ahvaz, has supported the closure of all businesses that provide services to women without hijab. Civil resistance …

Iranwire – Psychological warfare, known by a number of names including psychological operations and “psy ops,” is one of the oldest tactics employed in wars. Such tactics are aimed at undermining the enemy’s morale and its will to fight or resist and, sometimes, at persuading the enemy to change its position. Another kind of psy-ops is propaganda aimed at strengthening …