Social and Political

Amnesty – The international community must hold the Iranian authorities to account for the torrent of violence which their security forces unleashed on protesters in the south-west of Iran in May 2022 with complete impunity, Amnesty International said today.  The organization’s new research briefing “They are shooting brazenly”: Iran’s militarized response to May 2022 protests documents how Iran’s security forces unlawfully fired …

Al-Monitor – Spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanani criticized fresh American sanctions targeting his country’s economy, pledging “a decisive, firm and immediate response” from the Islamic Republic.   “Iran will adopt all necessary measures to neutralize those sanctions’ possible negative impacts on its trade,” Kanani said in a statement.   On Monday, the US Treasury announced new sanctions hitting some Chinese and Emirati companies facilitating …

Recently reports have emerged that Swedish-Iranian doctor Ahmadreza Djalali might be facing a release through prisoner exchange since Belgian parliament voted to sign a prisoner swap treaty with Iran (read more here https://english.shabtabnews.com/2022/07/04/iophr-urges-the-members-of-the-belgian-parliament-to-reconsider-and-prevent-a-judicial-cooperation-between-the-kingdom-of-belgium-and-the-islamic-republic-of-iran/). The prisoner swap agreement was signed by Belgium in the first place to secure the release of a Belgian aid worker, Olivier Vandecasteele, who was imprisoned in …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi plans to travel to New York for the UN General Assembly next month despite US sanctions against him, the government’s spokesman said on Tuesday.“The preliminary planning has been done for the president’s attendance at the UN General Assembly session,” Ali Bahadori-Jahromi told a weekly press briefing. Raisi, who has been under US sanctions since …

Iranwire – In a “cruel” escalation, according to the Baha’i International Community, and just two days after previous attacks on Baha’is across Iran, IranWire understands that up to 200 Iranian government and local agents have sealed off the village of Roushankouh, in Mazandaran province, where a large number of Baha’is live, and are using heavy earthmoving equipment to demolish their …

Iranwire – In a program that aired late on Saturday, Iranian state TV broadcast a “confession”  by Sepideh Rashnu, a 28-year-old writer, journalist and editor, and opponent of forced hijab. It is not clear when, where and in what circumstances the short film was recorded. Rashnu was arrested earlier this month, shortly after a video circulated online of her being accosted …

Al-Monitor – A few days after EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell presented the United States and Iran with a new proposal to salvage the tattered 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran appears ready to talk. “We shared our proposed ideas, both on substance & form, to pave the way for a swift …

RFL/RE – The head of Iran’s atomic energy organization, Mohammad Eslami, said on August 1 that the Islamic republic has the technical capability to produce a nuclear bomb but has no intention of doing so, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency. Eslami reiterated comments made last month by Kamal Kharrazi, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Iran …

Iranwire – Security agents raided and searched the homes of a number of Baha’i citizens across Iran yesterday, 31 July, during which three members of the Baha’i community’s former leadership were also arrested. IranWire first reported the raids and arrests yesterday. The homes and workplaces of several families, including that of Soha Sabeti (Rahmani) and Soraya Manouchehrzadeh (Mishaghi), were raided by agents …

Iranwire – A man with a loaded AK-47 assault rifle was arrested outside the home of well-known Iranian human rights activist Masih Alinejad in Brooklyn, New York. Khalid Mehdiyev, 23, is a professional judoka from Azerbaijan. Authorities in the city believe he was acting at the behest of the Islamic Republic of Iran, where the Ministry of Intelligence has previously sponsored a plot …