Social and Political

VOA – Iran’s government held rallies in cities across the country marking the 43rd anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. embassy in Iran and the Islamic revolution, which brought the current clerical government to power, while anti-government protests continue around the nation. In 1979, radical students cemented Iran’s Islamic Revolution by storming the U.S. Embassy soon after the fall …

gatestoneinstitute.org – In spite of US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley’s recently having said that the White House is not going to “waste our time” on the nuclear deal “if nothing’s going to happen,” he nevertheless stressed that the Biden administration is still committed to employing diplomacy, presumably to revive it at a later date. Pelosi might recall that …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday ridiculed a vow by US President Joe Biden to “free” Iran, as weeks of protests in the country show little sign of abating. Campaigning for mid-term elections in the US, Biden had on Friday said: “Don’t worry, we’re gonna free Iran. They’re gonna free themselves pretty soon.” Iran has for more than …

Al-Arabia – As a child in Iran, Shideh heard her parents warn her older siblings against taking part in anti-government demonstrations because of the bloody crackdown that would follow. But today, with protests raging across Iran, things have changed. Both Shideh – now a teenager – and her mother say they have joined seven weeks of demonstrations ignited by the …

RFL/RE – Iranian protesters have gathered in the city of Karaj, northwest of Tehran, to mark 40 days since the death of Hadis Najafi, a 20-year-old woman who was shot dead by Iranian security forces near Tehran.Videos posted on social media show a large number of protesters in Karaj chanting “Death to Khamenei,” a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali …

Iranwire – The top commander of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned that the clerical regime will respond decisively to any meddling by the country’s foreign foes, amid nationwide protests triggered by the September death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody. Major General Hossein Salami’s warning also came as the Islamic Republic marked the 1979 takeover …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities are putting strong pressure on the family of a 22-year-old woman who was killed during an anti-government protest in West Azerbaijan province to say she died in a car accident, IranWire reports. Yashar Hakakpour, director of the Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP), said that Nasim Sedghi, an ethnic Azeri, was …

Iranwire – A Shia cleric in the mostly Sunni Iranian city of Zahedan has been shot dead, officials say, threatening to enflame sectarian tensions following weeks of nationwide unrest. A “special task force” has been set up to identify and arrest those behind the killing of Sajjad Shahraki, the imam of Moulay Motaqian mosque, said Ahmad Taheri, police commander of …

Iranwire – Everything is changing rapidly. Autumn is half over but we are somehow stuck at the end of summer. One by one, ceremonies marking the 40th day since the victims’ deaths are approaching. It seems it was just yesterday when we heard the voice of a grieving mother shouting in a street while holding up her child’s portrait. “This …

CHRI – In a joint statement obtained by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) and translated into English below, 40 Iranian human rights lawyers from inside and outside the country have expressed strong support for Iran’s growing, anti-state movement, arguing that the “Iranian people’s uprising is for the restoration of the rule of law and to reach this goal “the legal …