Social and Political

Iranwire – A prominent Iranian sports journalist who has been sentenced to 18 years in prison was released from detention, his wife says. “Ehsan Pirbornash was released today, Wednesday…He could make it to Kyan’s birthday,” Behnaz Mirmotaharian tweeted, in reference to their son. She has also posted a video of Kyan waiting for his father. It was not immediately clear …

Iranwire – Despite threats and crackdowns by the government of the Islamic Republic in the 43 years since the 1979 revolution, protests by teachers and workers have never stopped, even though the authorities have prevented them from creating independent trade associations and pursuing their demands. Many labor activists and teachers have been sentenced to long prison terms, expulsion, exile and …

Iranwire – Iran and Russia have not been invited to send an official delegation to this year’s annual Munich Security Conference, which is to be attended by figures from the Iranian and Russian opposition instead. The event, a leading international forum for the discussion of global military and security issues, is set to take place in the German city on …

CHRI – More than four months into the Islamic Republic’s violent suppression of nationwide protests in Iran, in which hundreds have been killed in the streets by state security forces and scores sentenced to death, governments worldwide can and must take urgent actions to signal to the authorities in Iran that their violent repression will carry onerous costs, states a …

Al-Arabia – After the US foiled a 2021 plot by the Islamic Republic of Iran to kidnap dissident journalist Masih Alinejad from Brooklyn, New York, the regime has continued undeterred in its efforts to kill the US citizen of Iranian origin on American soil. On January 27, the US Department of Justice unsealed murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against three …

RFL/RE – A new novel by Salman Rushdie will be published on February 7, nearly six months after a man repeatedly stabbed the writer onstage during a lecture in New York state in what was widely condemned as an attack on freedom of expression. Rushdie, 75, was blinded in his right eye and his left hand was badly injured in …

RFL/RE – A leading jailed Iranian political activist says the time has come for the Islamic government to leave, even if it takes some reforms such as repealing the deeply divisive mandatory hijab law. In a letter written from the women’s ward of Evin prison imploring fellow rights activist Farhad Meysami to end his hunger strike, Bahareh Hedayat wrote that “our …

Iranwire – Iran’s health minister has warned that private health centers will lose their accreditation if women employees do not abide to the Islamic Republic’s mandatory hijab rules. Bahram Einullahi issued the warning in an interview with the semi-official Fars news agency on February 7, amid more than four months of nationwide protests demanding more freedoms and women’s rights. In …

Iranwire – The Islamic Republic of Iran has revealed an underground air force large enough to store and operate fighter jets, bombers and drones, official media reported on February 7. The Iranian air force has seen an increasing number of crashes and equipment failures in recent years as the Islamic Republic struggles to stay relevant with aging, outdated technology. Despite …

Iranwire – At least a dozen cities across Iran were again the scene of overnight protests, as the Islamic Republic is marking the 44th anniversary of the revolution that brought the country’s clerical rulers to power. Defying a brutal crackdown by security forces on more than four months of nationwide protests, hundreds of angry demonstrators took to the streets late …