Social and Political

Iranwire – One of Iran’s most prominent actresses has posted a picture of herself on Instagram without a headscarf to express support for nationwide anti-government protests. Taraneh Alidoosti held a Kurdish-language slogan of the protest movement reading “Jin. Jiyan. Azadi.” (Woman. Life. Freedom.) in a picture she shared with her 7.8 million followers on Instagram. Alidoosti is one of the …

Iranwire – Parents have clashed with plainclothes officers outside schools in the western Iranian city of Saqqez, as security forces are cracking down on students protests in the hometown of Mahsa Amini, IranWire reports. The death last month of the 22-year-old Amini in the custody of Tehran’s morality police has triggered a wave of nationwide demonstrations against Iran’s clerical establishment. …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities are accusing a teenage girl and her older sister of involvement in the death of a member of the Basij paramilitary force in the northern city of Lahijan last week, IranWire reports. Atena Farahmand, a 15-year-old accounting student at Sheikh Fazlullah Nouri Lahijan School, was arrested along with two other school students during an anti-government protest …

Iranwire – The commander of the Iranian army’s ground forces has hinted that an ongoing wave of nationwide protests would be suppressed if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered a harsher clampdown. Calling the protesters “flies,” Brigadier General Kiumars Heydari said on November 9: “Should he decide to deal with them, rioters will no longer have a place in the country.” …

VOA – The U.S. midterm elections are likely to result in a continuity of bipartisan congressional support for the Iranian people’s aspirations for freedom from Islamist rule, but the impact on President Joe Biden’s Iran policy is unclear, according to some Iranian American observers. Majid Sadeghpour, policy director for the Organization of Iranian American Communities, told VOA that he foresees …

CHRI – Massacres of protesters by state security forces in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan have not stemmed protests that began there in late September over the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl by the police chief of the city of Chabahar, and which have since morphed into anti-state demonstrations. At least 16 people, including children and an individual with disabilities, were …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Minister of Intelligence Esmaeil Khatib said the government of the United Kingdom will be held responsible for hosting Persian-language channels he accused of encouraging protests in Iran. According to Khatib, the “biggest influence on the country for unrest and riots” is coming from the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The UK hosts both …

washingtonexaminer.com – The United States and its European allies (but the U.S. alone, if necessary) should warn that any successful Iranian assassination plot on their soil will result in military retaliation. Such strengthened deterrence is necessary in response to Iran’s escalating assassination threats. The latest incident disclosed on Monday involves independent Iranian journalists living in Britain. Iran International reports that two of its British-Iranian employees have been told …

RFL/RE – Toomaj Salehi’s lyrical support for protesters in Iran has landed him behind bars before, but this time the popular rapper’s fortune-telling has fans and family members fearing for his life. Just days before his September 30 arrest, the 32-year-old Salehi released his latest music video, in which he makes foreboding predictions about the future of Iran’s clerical regime …

Iranwire – Iranian teenager Abbas Rajabi Hossein-Abad was hospitalized in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province’s capital, after being hit by several pellets during an anti-government earlier this week, IranWire reports. According to evidence shared by a local source, the 17-year-old was mistakenly shot by security forces after being recruited to participate in the violent crackdown against the protesters. In recent weeks, images …