Social and Political

Iranwire – Azerbaijan’s security forces have arrested 39 people suspected of being part of an Iranian spy network that carried out “acts of sabotage” and used religion to push pro-Iranian propaganda, local media reported. The government APA news agency reported on February 1 that the suspects were arrested as a result of an operation conducted by the Interior Ministry. The …

VOA – Iran’s atomic energy organization on Wednesday dismissed a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog that said Iran had made an undeclared change to uranium enriching equipment at its Fordow plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency said its inspectors found a modification to an interconnection between two clusters of centrifuges that was substantially different than what Iran had …

VOA – Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has vowed that WhatsApp and Instagram will remain blocked in the country, blaming the online platforms for stoking protests that started more than four months ago. The Islamic republic was rocked by major demonstrations after the mid-September death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, after her arrest for allegedly breaching the country’s dress …

jpost – The Turkish authorities plan to deport Iranian woman Maryam Ramezanpour who is seeking asylum in Eskisehir, Turkey back to the Islamic Republic, and she is currently on a hunger strike. The Jerusalem Post has secured information from Uzay Bulut, a Turkish political analyst and research fellow for the Philos Project, who is in contact with a close friend of Ramezanpour. …

Al-Arabia – An Iranian, sentenced to death for allegedly attacking security forces during protests triggered by last year’s death in custody of Mahsa Amini, has been given a stay of execution, the judiciary said Wednesday. Mohammad Ghobadlou was sentenced to death in November after being convicted of “corruption on earth for attacking police in Tehran with a car, resulting in …

Al-Arabia – French special forces recently intercepted a shipment of Iranian-supplied weapons and ammunition destined for the Tehran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing officials familiar with the operation. On January 15, a French warship stopped a suspicious vessel off the Yemeni coast and a French team boarded the ship, discovering over 3,000 assault …

Iranwire – Four days after a powerful earthquake devastated the northwestern Iranian city of Khoy and surround villages, the affected populations and volunteer groups say the situation remains critical due to the Islamic Republic’s mismanagement of relief efforts. Hundreds of people gathered outside the office building of the city’s governor on January 31 to demand emergency relief items such as tents, blankets …

Iranwire – Australia has imposed sanctions on Iranian law enforcement and military officials and entities linked to the suppression of protests and the export of military drones to Russia, amid increased parliamentary pressure on the Australian government to take a tougher stand against the “rogue” state. The Australian government said late on January 31 that travel bans and asset freezes …

VOA – Iran ranked 147th out of 180 countries in a global corruption perception index, a watchdog group said in a report released Tuesday. The Transparency International report also gave Iran a Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) score of 25. A country’s score is the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 …

VOA – The United States on Tuesday put new trade restrictions on seven Iranian entities for producing drones that Russia has used to attack Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Commerce said. The firms and other organizations were added to a U.S. export control list for those engaged in activities contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. The additions …