Social and Political

Iranwire – Britain’s domestic intelligence agency has tracked more than 20 potentially lethal plots backed by Iran as Tehran works to silence critics abroad, the head of MI5 said on Thursday. Ken McCallum, director general of MI5, said Iran is “frantically” trying to target dissidents around the world and cited recent cases in Australia and the Netherlands. “In 2025, MI5 …

Iranwire – Iran’s former foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, accused Russia on Thursday of publicizing sensitive information about Iranian military activities. They include Qassem Soleimani’s visit to Moscow and the delivery of Iranian drones for use in Ukraine. Zarif spoke at a university alum gathering in Tehran, making rare public criticisms of Russia’s role during the nuclear negotiations he led …

Iranwire – Iran’s top security official met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and delivered a written message from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, traveled to Moscow on Thursday for the meeting. The two sides discussed expanding bilateral cooperation in economic, regional and international areas, Iranian media reported.  No details of …

RFL/RE –  Trackers On, Trackers Off: For the first time since 2018, dozens of Iranian oil tankers linked to the country’s sanctioned exports briefly activated their tracking systems on October 13 before many went dark again. Analysts are divided on whether the move was a calculated show of defiance, while in Iran some have hinted at possible “sabotage.” • More Women Shun …

iranintl – Iran is not considering leaving the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but faults the International Atomic Energy Agency for failing to condemn US and Israeli airstrikes on its nuclear facilities, Atomic Energy Organization chief Mohammad Eslami said on Wednesday. Eslami said any decision on withdrawal “would have to be made by the relevant authorities,” adding that “the overall conclusion is …

iranintl – An Iranian Sunni cleric and outspoken critic of the Islamic Republic was shot dead outside his home in Istanbul by unidentified gunmen, the Kurdish rights outlet Haalvsh reported on Wednesday. Masoud Nazari, a Kurdish religious and political activist from the city of Javanrud in Iran’s Kermanshah province, was shot several times late Tuesday as he returned from a …

iranintl – Australian authorities have charged a western Sydney man for allegedly sending about $650,000 to Iranian banks under sanctions, the Australian Federal Police said on Wednesday. The 34-year-old, a director of an Auburn-based remittance company, is accused of processing 543 international transfers worth $649,308 to sanctioned Iranian banks over a year, the AFP said in a joint statement with …

iranintl – US Senator John Hoeven, a Republican from North Dakota, told Iran International that building the Gaza ceasefire into a broader Mideast peace hinges on curbing Iran’s influence and reviving the Abraham Accords it opposes. “There’s a lot more work to be done on the overall peace agreement,” Hoeven said, referring to ongoing US-backed efforts to consolidate a regional …

iranintl – Iran’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that refugees can return to the country without facing legal consequences, as long as they have not committed offenses. “Conditions for the entry of Iranian refugees have been prepared … provided they have not committed other criminal acts,” Hossein Nooshabadi, the ministry’s director general for parliamentary and legal affairs, told the semi-official …

iranintl – Moscow was surprised by Iran’s agreement to the so-called UN snapback sanctions mechanism of a 2015 international nuclear deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, describing it as a legal trap for Tehran. “To be honest, we were surprised. But if our Iranian partners accepted this formulation – which, frankly, was a legal trap – we had no …