Social and Political

As Iran has been put under economic sanctions by the US and West, they have wasted no time in building other paths of trade over the years. New trade routes to the Far East with Russia, China and India are generally well known but what many have failed to observe is their relations with African countries. Raisi in talks with …

Merchants and shopkeepers at bazaars have continued protests in more cities across Iran as the economy reels from U.S. sanctions and the rial weakens to historic lows against the dollar. The Hrana news agency reported on June 15 that mobile phone sellers in the city of Najafabad in Isfahan joined the protests, closing their shops over the instability of the currency and …

RFL/RE – In a dramatic move, Iran has removed 27 surveillance cameras installed at its nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It came after the UN nuclear watchdog adopted a resolution submitted by the West that criticized Iran for failing to fully cooperate with the body. The censure angered Tehran, which warned of retaliation. The monitoring equipment …

Iranwire – Three children, a boy and two girls, are being prosecuted for making “immoral clips” on Instagram, according to Iranian state media. The three youngsters had a shared channel in which they appeared in short videos together. In the clips, according to the IRGC-aligned Tasnim News Agency, “Two underage girls are disturbingly present as ‘his [the boy’s] beauty queens’. The dialogue …

Iranwire – Online celebrities Amir Tataloo, Donya Jahanbakht and Sasha Sobhani have been summoned by Branch 8 of Tehran Criminal Court over a series of gambling sites they operated from outside of Iran. The three controversial Instagram stars are all understood to be in Europe after the Islamic Republic put out Interpol red notices against them based on complaints by …

Iranwire – The death of an Iranian journalist who reportedly had a heart attack after his rent increased made headlines of many newspapers. Fereydoon Bahrami, a veteran member of the editorial team at Hamshahri, was said to have been in good health but died suddenly shortly after his landlord informed him his rent would be put up several times over, putting him …

Iran.hr – UN human rights experts* today expressed serious concerns about a violent crackdown against civil society in Iran, including members of workers’ unions and teachers arrested for protesting against their low salaries and poor working conditions, and urged those responsible for using excessive force to be held to account through comprehensive and independent investigations. “We are alarmed at the …

RFL/RE – Thousands of young women and girls in Iran continue to be subjected to “virginity tests” before marriage despite there being no medical basis for such examinations. Those who fail the tests can be forced to undergo hymen reconstruction or, in some cases, have been the subject of “honor killings.” https://www.rferl.org/a/young-iranian-women-still-being-forced-into-virginity-tests-ahead-of-marriage/31896130.html

RFL/RE – Pensioners and retired public employees have again taken to the streets in the southern city of Ahvaz amid growing discontent over living conditions in Iran and the government’s failure to address the problem.Videos released from the June 14 rally in front of the Ahvaz governor’s office showed demonstrators chanting against what they called the “lies” and “hypocrisy” of the Islamic …

Iranwire – One of the guerrilla hackers responsible for high-profile takedowns of municipal IT systems last year has reportedly been arrested in Iran. Fars News Agency, which is managed by the IRGC, reported on Tuesday that the unnamed “saboteur” had been “in contact with foreign services”. There were several high-profile hacks of Iranian state infrastructure over the past year. Digital …