Social and Political

Iranwire – Sepideh Gholian, a young civil rights activist jailed twice for her peaceful defense of Haft Tappeh Sugar Factory workers, has contracted Covid-19 in Evin Prison. According to news sources inside Iran, the prisoner of conscience has been unwell for more than two weeks, suffering from a fever, body aches and vomiting. She has also experienced diarrhoea, vomiting, kidney …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani will return to Vienna on Sunday evening for talks on resolving the remaining issues in indirect negotiations with the United States to revive a 2015 deal, the official IRNA news agency reported.Bagheri Kani, who flew to Tehran last week for consultations with Iranian officials, will “pursue the negotiations with a clear …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Initially, aware that he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] must cast himself as victim in order to win sympathy in Western public opinion that warms up to figures like Saddam Hussein or George Floyd, he presented Russia as a victim of NATO “expansion” and his saber rattling as an act of self-defense. Never mind that NATO is a defensive …

VOA — Iran is studying a rough draft of a deal to revive a 2015 nuclear agreement with major powers hammered out during talks in Vienna, its foreign minister said Saturday. All sides have said the talks on bringing the United States back into the agreement after then-President Donald Trump’s 2018 walkout have reached a critical stage, and Iran’s chief negotiator …

gatestoneinstitute.org – That the ruling mullahs are asking the Biden administration for guarantees that the US will never be able to leave the new nuclear deal, even after President Joe Biden leaves office, should signal that the mullahs want this deal badly and set off all sorts of alarms. It is worth noting that Iran’s ballistic missile capability is one …

Iranwire – The closest comparable experience Iranians have to what millions of besieged Ukrainians are currently dealing with is the eight-year war with Iraq, from 1980 to 1988. But many Iranians also harbor a historic fear of Russia: one largely not articulated by officials, except behind closed doors. Why has that fear been revived now, in light of a conflict …

VOA – Iran will continue to enrich uranium to 20% purity even after sanctions on it are lifted and a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers is revived, Iranian news agencies quoted the country’s nuclear chief as saying on Friday. “(Uranium) enrichment … continues with a maximum ceiling of 60%, which led Westerners to rush to negotiations, and it will …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – In a statement published today, Impact Iran which is a coalition of 14 human rights organisations, including Iran Human Rights, calls on the EU and the US to be consistent with its human rights values and policies while negotiating political deals with Iran, and warned against lifting any human rights related sanctions to secure a nuclear …

Al-Monitor – As negotiators in Vienna work to revive the landmark nuclear agreement, the US and Iran are also holding indirect discussions over the possible release of several Americans held by the Islamic Republic.  The Biden administration has stressed that the nuclear deal and prisoner issue are separate, but in January, US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley told Reuters it is …

Al-Monitor – Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi traveled to Islamabad last week to discuss a series of attacks on Pakistani security posts along the Pakistan-Iran border. The first attack happened Jan. 25 at Kech, not far from Gwadar port, followed by two more Feb. 2 at Panjgur and Noshki. As usual, the Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility. The insurgents were highly trained, …