Social and Political

RFL/RE – A leaked audio recording in which two former senior officials of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) discuss corruption that helps fund the powerful force and its secretive military operations abroad has shed light on infighting and graft that extends to the hierarchy of the country’s clerical regime. The implication in the recording, published in a wide-ranging exposé by …

gatestoneinstitute.org – The administration, however, then made an astonishing announcement: that it is unfreezing $29 billion to the Iranian regime, despite that Iran is still, according to the State Department, an officially designated state sponsor of terrorism. The move is apparently part of a US effort to appease the mullahs into redoing the 2015 nuclear deal that gives Iran a …

Iranwire – Health officials believe the sixth wave of coronavirus infections in Iran is now close to reaching the peak. The Health Ministry anticipates the daily number of newly-detected cases will soon top 100,000, driven in large part by the Omicron variant; the dearth of testing in Iran means this is probably only the tip of the iceberg. As yet, however, the …

Iranwire – A few days ago, Saeed Morad Abdevali, a world wrestling champion, announced he was currently spending his time cultivating wheat. He had no intention of going back to wrestling, he said, not as a competitor or as a coach or manager, despite the fact that he practices four times a week. “This year I planted wheat and I am busy with …

VOA – Iran has ramped up its threats and harassment of journalists working for the BBC’s Persian language service and their families, the British broadcaster says. In a complaint filed with the United Nations this month, the BBC called on the U.N. and the international community to “condemn Iran for their unacceptable treatment” of its staff. The complaint cited “extra-territorial …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – The European Parliament resolution calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty is a step forward in the right direction. Welcoming the resolution, Iran Human Rights calls for the moratorium on the death penalty to be considered as one of the main provisions of any talks with the Islamic Republic. “This …

Iranwire – “We have been dealt more damage by Covid-19 than we were in eight years of war,” Iran’s deputy health minister has said. In a speech welcoming the new president of Gorgan University of Medical Sciences, Younes Panahi also issued a fresh call for people to stick to health protocols as Omicron sweeps through Iran. “We know we’ll reach …

CHRI– In a joint statement released today, nine human rights organizations, including the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), urged the governments negotiating a resumption of the nuclear agreement with Iran not to lift any human rights sanctions on the Islamic Republic, which includes maintaining human rights sanctions on Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi for his egregious human rights violations. “We …

gatestoneinstitute.org – According to Western security officials, the high level meetings between senior members of the Houthi terrorist organisation and Iran illustrate the close coordination that is taking place between Iran and the Houthis over the rebel group’s terrorist operations. “There has been mounting evidence of deepening cooperation between Iran and the Houthis, especially in terms of Iran supplying the …

Al-Monitor – House Republicans are warning the Biden administration against forging a renewed nuclear agreement with Iran, warning that a deal struck without congressional approval “will meet the same fate” as its Obama-era predecessor.  “We urge you to change course, learn from the first JCPOA’s failures, and work with Congress to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime,” wrote more …