Social and Political

Al-Monitor – Negotiations are set to resume Tuesday in Vienna to revive the nuclear deal between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. The deal aims to restore the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, under which Iran would roll back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief by the US, which …

Iranwire – A police officer told the Aban Tribunal he broke down in tears on a rooftop during the November 2019 protests, holding the Kalashnikov with which he had been instructed to shoot people. The final day of proceedings in London on Sunday saw a former senior IRGC official and two serving law enforcement officers testify to their own involvement in the bloody …

RFL/RE – The European Union says talks to revive a landmark nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran will resume in Vienna on February 8 as Tehran warned that the removal of U.S. sanctions was the “red line” to put the deal back on track. On February 7, the EU, which chairs the talks, announced the resumption of the negotiations, …

VOA — The alleged leader of the militant wing of a U.S.-based Iranian opposition group went on trial Sunday, state TV reported. He’s accused of planning a 2008 bombing at a mosque that killed 14 people and wounded over 200. In 2020, Iran’s intelligence service detained Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German national and U.S. resident. Iran said he is the leader …

Iran-HRM – A protester who lost his sight after being shot during the November 2019 protests, committed suicide. Mohsen Mahmoudi Kariani, 28, was immidiately after being shot by pellet gun on November 16, 2019, when the state security forces violently repressed protests in Kermanshah, west Iran. Kariani who hanged himself nine months ago, was detained for months after being shot. …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Seen from China and Russia, the nuclear issue is an effective means of preventing Iran from returning to its historic pro-West path. An isolated Iran has helped Russia to capture a good chunk of its oil market while preventing it from using its immense resources of natural gas, probably the largest in the world, to help Europe shake …

Iranwire – The penultimate day of the Aban Tribunal featured live testimonies from Iranian witnesses impacted by all aspects of the November 2019 atrocities. They included a serving member of the Basij, and a staff member at an eye hospital who said 50 percent of patients who had been hit with pellets that weekend lost their sight. Witness 436, speaking with his face and …

Iranwire – Politics and sports appear to have collided, squandering the chances for a rare opportunity of wrestling diplomacy between Iran and the United States. Athletes from the two countries, which haven’t had diplomatic relations for more than four decades, were supposed to square off in a wrestling match in Arlington, Texas, on February 12. But Iran’s Wrestling Federation announced …

Iranwire – “These people were treated like prisoners of war. Because they called them ‘rioters’ instead of protesters, it gave them the prerogative to do whatever they wanted with innocent people.” So said Witness 407, a former judicial official who heard from colleagues in Iran about the events of November 2019. He was speaking via videolink in London on Friday at …

VOA – The Biden administration on Friday restored some sanctions relief to Iran’s civil nuclear program as talks aimed at salvaging the languishing 2015 nuclear deal enter a critical phase. As U.S. negotiators head back to Vienna for what could be a make-or-break session, Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed several sanctions waivers related to Iran’s civilian nuclear activities. The …