Social and Political

RFL/RE – An Iranian professional soccer player has been summoned to face a disciplinary committee and banned from participating in the country’s Premier League after he showed solidarity with protesters by not celebrating after scoring a goal. Reza Shekari, who plays with Golgohar FC, said in a post-game interview that he did not celebrate his goal after scoring “due to the conditions …

RFL/RE – Iran has charged 16 people, including several teenagers, in the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia for planning demonstrations and accusing them of espionage amid reports those detained gave confessions after being beaten. In November, 25 people were arrested for allegedly having connections with “spy organizations” and “attempted to deceive and incite youth and teenagers through social networks to …

Iranwire – The US administration’s special envoy for Iran says the United States will increase pressure on China to stop buying Iranian oil, as Washington seeks to enforce sanctions aimed at curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Robert Malley told Bloomberg Television on January 23 that China is “the main destination of illicit exports by Iran” and talks to dissuade …

Iranwire – The Islamic Republic of Iran has arrested three women journalists in Tehran in less than 48 hours, bringing the number of women journalists currently behind bars in the country to 16, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In a statement on January 23, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog said a total of 55 journalists, including 25 women, have …

Iranwire – Amid rising tensions between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the European and U.S. governments, officials in Tehran have threatened to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Tehran issued similar threats in the past, but this time the Iranian parliament entered the field, with an MP saying that the legislature was preparing a resolution to block transit through …

Iranwire – The British government has sanctioned more Iranian individuals and entities over the Islamic Republic’s “brutal repression” of Iran’s people, including a crackdown on anti-government protests and the recent execution of a British-Iranian dual national. “Those sanctioned today, from the judicial figures using the death penalty for political ends to the thugs beating protestors on the streets, are at …

Iran-HRM – Ebrahim Narouei is a 25-year-old Baluch citizen from Zahedan and was born on July 16, 1988. He was arrested by Iran’s plainclothes forces during nationwide protests on October 3, 2022, in Zahedan and sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary on the charge of Moharebeh (War on God). Ebrahim Narouei, son of Gol Khan and a resident of …

Al-Monitor – The United States and Israel are set to kick off the largest combined exercise ever held between the two nations’ militaries on Monday as the Biden administration’s attempts to negotiate a return to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement have faltered and Tehran has turned to Russia to shore up its own defense capabilities. Four nuclear-capable US B-52 bombers, F-35 stealth fighters, …

Iranwire – The European Union’s 27 foreign ministers have agreed on a new package of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran for its “brutal and disproportionate” crackdown on anti-government protests. “Ministers adopted a new package of sanctions against Iran, targeting those driving the repression,” the Swedish EU presidency said in a tweet on January 23, adding that the bloc “strongly condemns …

Iranwire – Thirty Iranian women incarcerated in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison have urged the Islamic Republic to stop jailing and executing protesters, amid an ongoing brutal crackdown on anti-government demonstrations. “We, the political and ideological prisoners in the women’s ward of Evin Prison, demand an end to the execution of protesters and an end to unjust sentences of prisoners in …