Social and Political

Iranwire – Iran’s most prominent Sunni cleric again used his Friday sermon to criticize the Islamic Republic’s policies, saying that the intensifying economic crisis has impoverished many Iranians. “You have missed all opportunities to solve the nuclear crisis and have failed to address the issue of sanctions,” Molavi Abdulhamid, the Sunni Friday prayer leader of the south-eastern city of Zahedan, …

Al-Monitor— Israel is increasingly concerned over Iran’s advancement on its nuclear program, yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preventing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from travelling to the US for security consultations until he himself is invited to the White House. The frosty relations between the Israeli government and the White House affect both sides. The Americans are now concerned over Israel’s …

Al-Monitor — A senior official at Iran’s Labor Ministry was sacked after he drew the anger of his superiors with remarks on the severity of Iran’s economic crisis and how it may force the government to sell off valuable territory.   “We once lost 300,000 martyrs not to lose a handspan of our territory,” the official, Sajjad Padam, said in an interview published …

Iranwire – Dozens of human rights groups and activists have condemned the frequent internet outages imposed by the Iranian authorities on the south-eastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, saying the restrictions “not only violate freedom of expression but also serve to cover up human rights violations.”  “For more than three months, the people of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, particularly …

Iranwire – Iranian families have to pay out of their own pockets for the treatment of their children who have been affected by chemical attacks on girls’ schools, IranWire has learned. Some victims of the attacks are not covered by social security or any health insurance, and their families are required to pay up to several million tomans (hundreds of …

VOA – The presidents of Iran and Syria signed Wednesday a series of long-term cooperation agreements on oil and other sectors to bolster economic ties between the two allies. Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi, leading a large economic and political delegation, met with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, after landing in the war-torn country for a two-day visit—an Iranian president’s first visit …

Al-Monitor —  The families of three US citizens held by Iran appealed to President Joe Biden on Wednesday to strike what could be a politically costly deal to bring their loved ones home.  More than two years after the US and Iran began indirect talks over a possible prisoner swap, Tehran is still holding three Iranian-Americans — Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz …

iranintl.com – Iranian hunger striker Vahid Beheshti vowed not to give up his fight until the UK proscribes the IRGC. Beheshti’s comments came after the UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly urged him to end his hunger strike amidst fears for his health. Beheshti, 45, wants the UK to declare Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. After surviving on …

Iranwire – Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus during the first visit by an Iranian head of state to Syria in more than a decade, state media reported. Raisi arrived in Damascus on May 3, accompanied by a high-ranking political and economic delegation. During his two-day visit, the two allies are expected to sign …

Iranwire – “Iran is one of the top six countries in the world in the field of water science and technology,” Mohammad Hemmat, director of the president’s Water, Climate and Environment Headquarters, claimed in an interview with Tasnim news agency on April 26. “In 2021, Iran was among the top six countries in the field of water science and technology, and only …