Social and Political

Al-Monitor – An influential committee in Iran’s hard-line parliament submitted a concluded investigation and formal lawsuit to the judiciary demanding former President Hassan Rouhani be put on trial. The parliamentarians advancing the complaint argued their probe had established Rouhani’s misconduct and failure to honor his presidential duties during his two consecutive terms (2013-2021). Deputy parliament speaker Abdolreza Mesri, who presided over the Oct. …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Army and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps kicked off an annual air defense exercise in the country’s central desert on Tuesday to demonstrate Tehran’s ability to defend “sensitive” sites, an Iranian commander said. The two-day exercise includes Iran’s Khordad air defense systems as well as unmanned drones, missiles, radars and electronic and cyber warfare systems, according to Iranian state news. …

Al-Arabia – Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s party was the biggest winner in an Iraqi election on Monday, increasing the number of seats he holds in parliament, according to initial results, officials and a spokesperson for the Sadrist Movement. Former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki looked set to have the next largest win among Shi’ite parties, the initial results showed. For …

RFL/RE – India’s biggest ports operator has announced that it will refuse containerized cargo from Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan after mid-November in a ban that is thought to stem for a major recent heroin seizure. Adani Ports said on October 11 that its “trade advisory” on such cargo would apply to all 10 of its ports as well as third-party …

RFL/RE – Amnesty International is urging Iran to stop the execution planned for later this week of a man arrested at aged 17 and sentenced to death following a “grossly unfair” trial. Arman Abdolali had been moved to solitary confinement in a prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, in preparation for his execution on October 13, the London-based human rights group said …

Iranwire – Two local journalists in the city of Paveh in Kermanshah province have been detained by the city’s intelligence department for publishing news of the rape of a seven-year-old girl. Earlier, the human rights website Hengaw had reported that on September 20, 2021, a young girl in Paveh was raped by a 43-year-old man identified as Nariman Ghafouri. The alleged perpetrator …

Iranwire – The new commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ expeditionary Quds Force has come to Baghdad on an unannounced visit, a source in the Iraqi parliament confirmed. Ismail Ghani arrived in the Iraqi capital at dawn on Monday, October 11 in the aftermath of the country’s first parliamentary election since mass protests in winter 2019. Initial results on …

CHRI – A bipartisan congressional group today urged U.S. President Joe Biden to support the free flow of information and internet freedom for civil society in Iran by clarifying and updating allowable activities under the U.S. Treasury’s General License D-1 (GL D-1), which exempts the sale of personal communications tools from sanctions on Iran. The bipartisan initiative follows a campaign by the Center …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO – Death row juvenile offender Arman Abdolali’s parents were summoned to Rajai Shahr Prison for their last visit with him hours ago. Arman is scheduled to be executed tomorrow morning. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Arman Abdolali’s parents were summoned to Rajai Shahr Prison for their last visit with their son hours ago. …

RFL/RE – Iran’s state electricity company has warned that illicit cryptocurrency miners in the country could cause new power cuts this winter.Illegal cryptocurrency mining will account for at least “10 percent of electricity outages this winter”, the power company said in an October 10 statement published by the official government news agency IRNA.Such illegal mining was responsible for 20 percent …