Social and Political

VOA – The German version of the television show The Voice had a special guest Saturday on its final episode of the season. Rana Mansour, an Iranian American singer, performed the protest song For, (Baraye) a song dedicated to Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian woman who died recently after being arrested by Iranian police. Amini was detained for wearing her headscarf “improperly.” Mansour performed …

Iranwire – The authorities in the western Iranian city of Saqqez were forced to organize annual ceremony marking the 1979 storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran indoors, after days of state-sponsored propaganda failed to bring residents out for the event. Saqqez is the hometown of Mahsa Amini, whose October 16 death in the custody of morality police sparked the …

gatestoneinstitute.org – By the time of this writing, we had the names of 385 protesters killed, including 40 women and 32 children, and 7 security men. A further 12,500 people have been arrested, according to statistics presented to the International Committee of the Red Cross. “People just don’t believe what our authorities say,” complains former Islamic Majlis (parliament) member Masud …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO)- At least 304 people, including 41 children and 24 women have been killed in the ongoing nationwide protests. Yesterday, security forces killed at least 16 people with live bullets in Khash in Sistan and Baluchistan province. Iran Human Rights calls on the international community to support the Iranian people’s uprising and take immediate action to end …

Al-Monitor — Iranian security forces have arrested popular singer and social activist Toomaj Salehi in the western province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari. The dissident rapper, who is commonly known by his first name, was reportedly taken along with a group of friends from the village of Gerd Bisheh to an unknown location. Toomaj had used his popular media platforms to speak against Iranian …

Al-Arabia – A White House official played down the potential for regime change in Iran on Friday, saying that US President Joe Biden was expressing solidarity with Iranian protesters after he said “we’re going to free Iran.” “The President was expressing our solidarity with the protesters as he’s been doing, quite frankly, from the very outset,” National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby …

Iranwire – Iranian officials say at least 620 Baluchis have been arrested during weeks of anti-government protests in Sistan and Baluchestan, as human rights activists fear a crackdown by security forces on demonstrators in the restive eastern province left up to 10 people dead on November 5. Armed forces fired shots and tear gas at protesters who had gathered in …

Iranwire – Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations have condemned Iran’s “brutal and disproportionate use of force” against largely peaceful nationwide protests sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody. “We, the G7 members, express our support for the fundamental aspiration of the people of Iran for a future where human security …

Iranwire – A leading Iranian Sunni cleric has called on the country’s Shia clerical leadership to organize a referendum, as security forces clashed with anti-government protesters in several mainly Sunni cities in the eastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan. “The majority of people aren’t happy,” Molavi Abdol Hamid said in his Friday sermon, adding: “Hold a referendum in the presence …

VOA – Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that his country has supplied Russia with drones, insisting the transfer came before Moscow’s war on Ukraine that has seen the Iranian-made drones divebombing Kyiv. The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian come after months of confusing messaging from Iran about the weapons shipment, as Russia sends …