Social and Political

Iranwire – A full-scale Russian military invasion of Ukraine began at 4am local time this morning. Missile strikes struck the capital, Kyiv, military bases and other cities including Kharkiv. It came not 48 hours after President Vladimir Putin recognized the Russian-occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent “People’s Republics” and finally positioned close to 100 per cent of the …

Iranwire – On the morning of May 12, 1990, female students filing through the gates of Martyr Bahonar High School in Salehiye, Tehran province, discovered that everything was in turmoil. The classmates of Melody Jamali were in fits, shouting and screaming. They had just received news of her suicide. Melody was one of 1,400 students, but had incurred the special …

Al-Monitor – Iranian members of parliament have pushed ahead a controversial bill that would essentially cut off most Iranians from the internet and hand over the country’s internet infrastructure to the armed forces. On Feb. 22, a special parliamentary committee approved the general outline of the “Bill to Protect Users in Cyberspace,” first introduced three years ago. Last July, members of parliament …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bageri Kani, is leaving Vienna for Iran for what might be the final sign-off on a deal which would restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran has been negotiating in the Austrian capital with the other JCPOA signatories — the UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China — and indirectly the United States, …

Al-Arabia – While the world’s attention has been focused on Ukraine, the Biden administration also has been racing with world powers toward restoring the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran. After months of negotiations in Vienna, the various sides have indicated a new deal is close, perhaps in the coming days. But instead of the “longer, stronger” agreement originally promised by …

Iranwire – Three days ago members of the Iranian Shooting Federation elected Morteza Ghorbani, a long-standing commander and officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as its new president for the next four years. Ghorbani secured the top role with 32 of the 57 votes cast and is now set to head one of Iran’s most important sporting bodies until …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – The repression of civil society and human rights defenders has intensified with the revival of the JCPOA talks. Prominent human rights defender, Narges Mohammadi’s eight-year sentence has been upheld. Human rights defender, Zartosht Ahmadi-Ragheb has been arrested and his and at least one other family seeking justice’s homes have been raided and searched. Iran Human …

Iranwire – Two more horrific so-called “honor killings” of women and girls came to light this month. The patriarchal belief system that underpins these murders can sometimes be hard to unpack. But there are signs that it is beginning to lose its grip on the younger generation of men and boys in Iran. Two recent studies by Iranian universities found that male students in …

Iranwire – The mother of a young man killed in Iran’s 2009 pro-democracy protests has gone public about a recent raid on her home by as-yet unidentified security forces. Shahnaz Akmali, whose son Mostafa Karimbeigi was shot dead on the streets of Tehran on December 27 that year, said in a short video message that four male officers and one …

Iranwire – Thirteen years ago, a 24-year-old man appeared on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting’s Glass Triangle program alongside his father and talked about his work as a “freelance” professional. The young man in question was Hossein Shamkhani: his father, the Iranian military general, ex-IRGC naval commander and sitting secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani. In the same interview, …