Social and Political

RFL/RE – A homeless mother and her young child sleep on a night bus as it weaves through the empty streets of the Iranian capital, Tehran. The pair are among a growing number of Iranians who are resorting to sleeping in public buses out of economic desperation. Photos of the mother and daughter have gone viral on social media, serving …

RFL/RE – Two years after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane over Tehran, families of the victims are still searching for answers and seeking justice. Among them are Iranian university professors Mohsen Asadi-Lari and his wife, Zahra Majd, who lost two of their children in the crash. Mohammad Asadi-Lari, 23, and his 21-year-old sister, …

Iranwire – The Omicron Covid-19 variant is spreading at a rapid pace in the cities of Ahvaz and Qom, local health officials have warned. “The number of patients with coronavirus in the east has increased fivefold in the past week,” Amrollah Mardani, director of the East Ahvaz Health Center, told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Tuesday, January 11, adding that the spike in …

Iranwire – On Tuesday, November 11, the Iranian delegation to the swearing-in of Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua’s dictator-president since 2007, for a fourth term, was headed by a singularly divisive figure: Mohsen Rezaei, ex-IRGC commander and Ebrahim Raisi’s vice president in charge of economic affairs.  Rezaei is subject to an Interpol red notice and thus, an international arrest warrant for his alleged role in the July 1994 …

Iranwire – More than eight months ago, Mohammad Mokhber, head of the Executive Headquarters of Imam’s Directive (“Setad”) – the Supreme Leader-owned holdings company that developed the Barekat Covid-19 vaccine – promised that by now, all kinds of Covid-19 vaccines would be available to Iranians. The public, he posited, would be able to choose any vaccine they wanted, “just like …

Iranwire – Any Argentine who hears the phrases “national and popular” and “great homeland” in rapid succession will instantly think of Kirchnerismo: the populist-left political movement led by ex-President Cristina Kirchner (in office 2007-2015). Like other not dissimilar movements in Latin America, Kirchner’s ideology placed nationalism and anti-imperialism at its core. There, it found something in common with the Islamic Republic of …

CHRI – The life of veteran journalist and political activist Keyvan Samimi is in danger as he continues to be unlawfully kept behind bars in Tehran’s Evin Prison despite state officials’ recommendations that he be released to receive treatment for serious health problems. “We’re seeing a pattern of political prisoners being intentionally led to their deaths in Iran’s prisons,” said Hadi Ghaemi, …

Iranwire – On November 17, 2021, the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly passed a resolution expressing “serious concern” at the “continued imposition of the death penalty by the Islamic Republic of Iran against minors”. It went on to urge the Islamic Republic “to cease the imposition of the death penalty against minors, including persons who at the time of their …

Iranwire – Wang Qun, the Chinese negotiator and Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations, is not as well known to the public as his Russian counterpart, Mikhail Ulyanov. The latter tweets a lot and makes plenty of headlines. Qun, however, is best distinguished from other diplomats at official functions by the bow tie he regularly …

VOA – Afghanistan’s Taliban confirmed Monday their senior delegates met in neighboring Iran with self-exiled key Afghan opposition leaders to urge them to end resistance to the Islamist group’s nascent rule and assure them of security if they return home. Taliban Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi led his team in the meeting with Ahmad Massoud, who heads what is …