Social and Political

Al-Monitor — Despite mediation efforts by Egypt and other regional players, fighting resumed Friday on the fourth day of Israel’s Shield and Arrow Operation against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip after a 13-hour lull.  The resumption of rockets fired at Israel and Israeli counterstrikes in Gaza dashed hopes of a cease-fire between the sides. Egyptian-mediated contacts between the parties …

RFL/RE – Human rights watchdog Hengaw says Saman Darvishi, a Kurdish prisoner held at Iran’s Evin prison, has died with the cause of death attributed to assault and torture by Iranian security forces. Darvishi’s death, which Hengaw said occurred on May 9, follows a year of reports that he suffered severe beatings and torture while incarcerated for theft and allegedly injuring …

Iranwire – A Iranian man who lost an eye in the security forces’ brutal clampdown on nationwide protests last year says the authorities are not allowing him to get treatment.   Hossein Hosseinpour is among hundreds of protesters who sustained severe eye injuries after being hit by pellets, paintball bullets or other projectiles used by security forces amid a bloody crackdown on …

VOA – German prosecutors on Thursday charged a German Iranian dual national in an attempted arson attack near a synagogue on the orders of the government in Tehran. Babak J. was instructed by an intermediary “acting on behalf of unknown Iranian state agencies” in November 2022 to carry out an arson attack on a synagogue in the region of North …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – More than a dozen rights organisations including Iran Human Rights condemned the appointment of the Islamic Republic as Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Social Forum of the Human Rights Council.  “We are also profoundly disappointed by other regional groups’ failure to offer alternatives to this nomination by proposing their own candidates.” The statement calls on the United …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Finance Minister Ehsan Khandouzi landed in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Thursday, two months into a Chinese-brokered deal that ended a seven-year hiatus in Tehran-Riyadh relations.   According to the state-run IRNA news agency, the minister will discuss bilateral trade while also delivering speeches at a summit of the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah.   As the first Iranian official …

Al-Monitor — The recent rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran hasn’t stopped Tehran from sending weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking said Thursday.  Tehran and Riyadh, which back opposing sides in Yemen’s civil war, agreed in March to resume diplomatic relations and reopen their respective embassies shuttered in 2016. Lenderking told reporters that the United States …

iranintl.com – The Swedish Parliament voted in favor of designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization today [May 10]. It followed the execution this week of Swedish-Iranian Habib Chaab (Asyud) which saw Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summon Iran’s charge d’affaires in protest of the execution, one of hundreds since the start of the year. Iran’s relations with Sweden …

RFL/RE – Tehran’s prosecutor has filed charges against the Jahan Sanat newspaper after it published a report on the increasing trade of body parts in Iran due to the deteriorating economic conditions hitting households across the country. The Judiciary Media Center on May 9 cited the reason for the charges as the newspaper’s failure to provide evidence and documentation regarding the “fabricated …

Iranwire – The number of suicide deaths has grown by more than 40 percent in Iran over a decade, according to officials statistics, as the Iranian people faced deepening economic, political and social upheaval. The 2022 report on “Social Justice Indicators” shows that law enforcement agencies recorded 5,085 suicide cases in 2021, compared to 3,559 in 2011, the collaborative initiative Iran …