Social and Political

Iranwire – Iran’s security agencies have intensified a crackdown against workers in the oil production industry after thousands went on strike this week. Workers have warned there will be further industrial action if security forces do not release workers arrested during mass anti-government protests taking place across Iran since last month. Workers at the Hengam and Bushehr petrochemical facilities went on strike …

Iranwire – One month has passed since mass anti-government protests broke out across Iran in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. Dozens of protesters have since been killed, and hundreds arrested, including children. Despite the government’s crackdown on protesters, chants of “woman, life, freedom” can still be heard across Iran. As in previous protests over …

gatestoneinstitute.org – “While the majority of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Parliament chants ‘Death to America’ & supports the Khamenei loyal police for their barbaric actions the leader of the free world (Joe Biden) is silent. Why?” — Iranian Americans for Liberty, Twitter, October 2, 2022. Nika Shakarami, a 17-year-old girl, was one of the many women who was arrested for burning …

VOA – Iran has once again rejected allegations that it has supplied Russia with weapons “to be used in the war in Ukraine”, its foreign ministry said Saturday. Kyiv and many of its Western allies have accused Moscow of using Iranian-made drones in attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks. The topic is expected to be discussed by European Union foreign …

VOA – Demonstrators are expected to take to streets across Iran again Saturday over Mahsa Amini despite internet cuts, as the protest movement sparked by outrage over her death in custody enters a fifth week. Amini’s death on September 16, three days after she was arrested by Iran’s notorious morality police, has fueled the biggest wave of street protests and …

Al-Monitor – US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Oct. 12 that the nuclear talks are not the focus of US policy toward Iran, and that supporting the protesters is. Two days later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Iranian activists about what more the US can do to support the protests, including internet access.  The take here all along has been, and remains, …

Al-Monitor – The Supreme Leader of Iran lashed out today at Iranians living in the United Kingdom.  “I once referred to the British Shia. Some falsely said what we mean by British Shia is the Shia living in England. No, we mean the people who follow the British in creating discord, the conflict-inciting Shia,” said Ayatollah Ali Khameini on Twitter.  Khameini added that …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s government on Friday condemned French President Emmanuel Macron for remarks in which he expressed solidarity with protesters angry over the death of Mahsa Amini. Macron’s remarks were “meddlesome” and served to encourage “violent people and law breakers,” foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.

Al-Arabia – Russian forces took Iranian instructors to the occupied Kherson and Crimea regions to launch Shahed-136 kamikaze drones, the Ukrainian National Resistance Center reported. The Iranian nationals reportedly teach Russian forces on using and monitoring the launch of the drones, according to information published on the Ukrainian armed forces-run website on Wednesday. The Iranians are based in the Russian-administered …

RFL/RE – A massive billboard showing dozens of famous Iranian women wearing a hijab has been removed amid fierce criticism less than 24 hours after it appeared in central Tehran, which along with dozens of other cities has been in the grips of daily protests over the death of a young woman while in police custody for allegedly wearing the …