Social and Political

Al-Arabia – Iran is the “common enemy” of Ukraine and Israel, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Kyiv on Thursday, according to Israeli media. “We talked about deepening cooperation with Ukraine in the face of the Iranian threat in the international arena,” the Jerusalem Post quoted Cohen as telling Israeli reporters in …

Iranwire – Iran’s most prominent Sunni cleric has reiterated his call for a referendum to determine under which political system Iranians want to live. Molavi Abdolhamid, the Friday prayer leader of Zahedan, issued the call in his sermon on February 17, as anti-government protesters defied increased security measures to return to the streets of the southeastern restive city. Large crowds …

Iranwire – Since January 2020, Iran has made at least 15 attempts to kidnap or kill British nationals or individuals based in the United Kingdom considered by the Islamic Republic as a threat, the head of Britain’s counter-terrorism police says. Speaking at a briefing on February 16, Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes said his officers were facing “unprecedented” threats from hostile states …

Iranwire – An Iranian court has sentenced six men to death and six others to a total of 70 years in prison for their alleged involvement in the 2018 killing of four members of the security forces in the southern province of Khuzestan, activists say. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization reported that the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court handed capital punishment …

VOA – Videos posted on social media purport to show protesters marching in several cities in Iran on Friday. The videos, which could not be independently verified, purport to show protests in Iran’s capital, Tehran, and in the cities of Arak, Isfahan, the group Human Rights Activists in Iran said. The demonstrations would mark 40 days since Iran executed two …

VOA – Israel’s envoy in the United States has sought to clarify his nation’s red line on Iran’s nuclear program, telling VOA that Israel will prevent its main regional foe from acquiring a capability to become a nuclear-armed state. Last month in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken the policy of his …

Iranwire – As IranWire has reported, hundreds of Iranians have sustained severe eye injuries after being hit by pellets, tear gas cannisters, paintball bullets or other projectiles used by security forces amid a bloody crackdown on mainly peaceful demonstrations. Doctors say that, as of now, at least 580 protesters have lost one or both eyes in Tehran and in Kurdistan alone. …

Iranwire – Ali Daei, a former Iranian national team captain and the country’s record international goalscorer, will not be able to attend an annual FIFA ceremony later this month due to a travel ban imposed on him by the Islamic Republic’s security institutions, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. The football’s world body invited Daei to attend The Best FIFA …

VOA – The United States said Wednesday its assessment aligns with a United Nations report concluding that the new de facto head of the al-Qaida terror group, Saif al-Adel, is based in Iran. “When it comes to his presence there, offering safe haven to al-Qaida is just another example of Iran’s wide-ranging support for terrorism, its destabilizing activities in the …

Iran-HRM – IRGC military forces are targeting the eyes of the protesters in the street with their bullets Nearly 150 days have passed since the start of the nationwide protests in Iran. In these 5 months, more than 600 protesters have been injured and lost one or both eyes due to the deliberate shooting of the security forces. Hossein Nader …