Social and Political

Iranwire – The verdict in a massive corruption case involving the Iran Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC) was announced on September 5, 2021. But nearly three years after proceedings first got under way, the details remained shrouded in mystery. We were told at the time that 15 named defendants had been sentenced to a total of 180 years in prison, linked to the embezzlement of …

Iranwire – Following the brutal murder of 17-year-old Mona Heydari in the southern city of Ahvaz, rights activists have signed a petition to the UN Secretary-General and its affiliated institutions asking them to pressure the Islamic Republic to change its laws pertaining to women and the violence they face.  The petition, initiated by women’s rights activist Asieh Amini, highlights Mona Heydari’s murder by the hands of …

Iranwire – Iran’s Supreme Leader has called for a “combined offensive” against the country’s enemies just as nuclear talks are due to resume in Vienna. Speaking to a group of air force and air defense commanders on Tuesday, February 8, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The enemy front against Iran has launched a combined offensive, at the economic, political, security, media and diplomatic levels,” and …

Al-Monitor – The head of the aerospace unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brig. Gen. Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, said Tehran was planning to unveil a new “strategic missile” soon. The hard-line general told Iran’s state TV that the missile was already available and being kept in the IRGC warehouses. Hajizadeh did not specify the type of the projectile, which he …

Al-Monitor – Protests in late January along the border between Iran and Afghanistan over water resources show that one of the key issues between the two countries remains unsolved, even as cooperation between the two deepens. Photos were circulated of trucks with their windshields broken, reportedly by stones thrown by angry protesters just across the border from Afghanistan’s southwestern Nimroz …

Al-Arabia – The Iran-backed Houthi militia launched four ballistic missiles at the northern town of Harad in Yemen from the civilian port Hodeidah and Sanaa International Airport, the Arab Coalition announced on Monday. Fighting in the town has intensified as military forces from Yemen’s internationally-recognized government push to retake it from the Houthis. “The military use of Hodeidah port and …

RFL/RE – Talks to revive a landmark nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran are set to resume in Vienna on February 8 amid warnings from Tehran that the removal of U.S. sanctions was the “red line” to put the deal back on track. The United States has said an agreement was still possible with Iran on its nuclear program …

freebeacon – Biden administration Iran envoy Robert Malley is scheduled to brief House lawmakers for the first time in a classified setting on Tuesday following a pressure campaign from Republican foreign policy leaders, according to a copy of the hearing invitation obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. This will be the first time Malley has appeared before Congress since he took …

Iranwire – The verdict in a massive corruption case involving the Iran Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC) was announced on September 5, 2021. But nearly three years after proceedings first got under way, the details remained shrouded in mystery. We were told at the time that 15 named defendants had been sentenced to a total of 180 years in prison, linked to the embezzlement of …

Iranwire – Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a long-serving former MP and principlist member of the Expediency Council, has once again proposed Iran form a senate or upper house of the Iranian parliament. The argument is that the Iranian MPs are focusing more on local issues than national direction and senators could fill that legislative void. Bahonar first called for this major …