Social and Political

Al-Arabia – The Arab Coalition conducted 33 military operations in 24 hours targeting Iran-backed Houthi’s in the Yemeni province of Marib, killing more than 190 militia members, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

RFL/RE – China has repeated its opposition to U.S. sanctions against Iran while announcing that Beijing and Tehran have launched a 25-year cooperation deal aimed at bolstering economic and political ties. In a meeting on January 14 in the city of Wuxi, in Jiangsu Province, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also backed efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between …

Iranwire – At least 10 teachers were arrested for taking part in nationwide protests on January 13, including Pirooz Nami, the secretary of the Khuzestan Teachers’ Union. IranWire sources reported that the teachers had been arrested — many of them by plainclothes security agents — in Tehran, Shiraz and Ahvaz. This follows more than 100 teachers being summoned by security forces after four protests over …

Iranwire – “I’ve always said and I’ll say again, we justice-seekers and freedom-seekers shouldn’t make imprisonment a red line, and mustn’t be afraid of the detention of others. We shouldn’t make it a rule to protect workers’ rights only up until the point where we are not harmed. Do we wait for benefits without spending spending money? Whoever wants a …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Mehdi Salehi Ghaleh Shahrokhi suffered a stroke after he was wrongly injected in prison. Prison authorities delayed his transfere to the hospital, putting him at grave risk of death. He went to the prison health center on Tuesday, December 11, 2021, due to heart and head problems. He suffered a stroke the same day after being …

Al-Monitor – The buzz around the nuclear talks in Vienna among the parties to the Joint Comprehensive of Action (JCPOA), or Iran nuclear agreement, is around “progress.” The parties negotiating the agreement, which provides sanctions relief in return for constraints on Iran’s nuclear program, are the UK, France, Germany, the EU, Russia, China and Iran. US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in May 2018. But the road to a deal definitely runs through Tehran and Washington, with perhaps a …

Al-Arabia – At least four rockets targeted the US Embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Thursday, two Iraqi security officials said. The area is home to diplomatic missions and the seat of Iraq’s government. Three of the missiles struck within the parameters of the American Embassy, the officials said. Another hit a school located in a nearby residential …

Al-Arabia – The website of Iran’s supreme leader has showcased an animated video that appears to show a robot calling in a drone strike to assassinate former US President Donald Trump. The animated video was part of a contest to mark the January 3, 2020 killing of former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Qassem Soleimani, who was slain in …

Al-Monitor – Russia seems to be having a hard time finding a buyer for its most advanced weapons in the Middle East. In early January, there were reports that Algeria had rejected a deal to purchase Russian Su-35 fighter jets. According to Algerian defense analysts, Algiers came to the decision due to a lack of a modern on-board radar station, which does not …

Al-Monitor – A group of UN human rights experts urged Iran on Thursday to halt the execution of a young man arrested for murder as a minor.  Hossein Shahbazi was 17 years old when he was arrested for fatally stabbing a classmate during a fight between a group of four people in 2018. The UN-appointed experts, whose work addresses human rights …