Social and Political

Iran-HRM – On the evening of Friday, January 19, 2024, a 20-year-old woman named Anahita Amirpour was killed in the Nezamabad area of Borujerd as a result of direct gunfire by plainclothes officers of the Borujerd Intelligence Department. According to reports received by Iran Human Rights Monitor (IranHRM), Anahita Amirpour, a first-semester student of Physical Education at the Islamic Azad …

Iranwire – The Islamic Republic’s authorities have executed another young protester in connection with the Woman Life Freedom movement amid a spike in executions in the country.  The Mizan news agency, which is affiliated with the judiciary, announced the execution of Mohammad Ghobadlou on January 23. Ghobadlou’s execution was the ninth reported by the authorities since the nationwide protests started …

BBC – Videos of antisemitic speeches by Iranian generals, given to UK students, are being investigated by the Charity Commission. The regulator is also looking at footage of “death to Israel” chants at an Islamic charity’s UK premises. Verified by the BBC, two of the videos show talks by members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. One described an apocalyptic war …

RFL/RE – The U.S. and British militaries bombed multiple targets in eight locations used by the Iranian-backed Huthis in Yemen on the night of January 22, the second time the two allies have conducted coordinated retaliatory strikes on an array of the rebels’ missile-launching capabilities. Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands contributed to the mission, including with intelligence and surveillance. …

VOA – Iran is “very directly involved” in ship attacks that Yemen’s Houthi rebels have carried out during Israel’s war against Hamas, the U.S. Navy’s top Mideast commander told The Associated Press on Monday. Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of the Navy’s 5th Fleet, stopped short of saying Tehran directed individual attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea …

iranintl – With all the talk about Iran’s fate in a possible escalation of war in the region, the parliamentary election on March 1 is not the foremost concern for Iranians. Besides immediate fears of war and conflict, Iranian media also highlight expectations of a low turnout amid a general indifference to the regime’s highly manipulated elections. Nevertheless, Iranian media …

iranintl – Iran has imposed nationwide bread rations with penalties for bakers breaking the new rules amid the country’s worst economic crisis since the birth of the Islamic Republic. Eqtesad100, a prominent Iranian news website, scrutinized the contradictory statements from government officials and bakers in a detailed report on Sunday. The situation became more complex with reports circulating about a directive from …

iranintl – Israeli airstrikes in Syria that killed several IRGC generals have unleashed a barrage of “cutlet” photos online, a popular dish now symbolizing Iran’s slain Guards.  The association started with the targeted killing of former IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, whose body was so mutilated in a US drone strike in 2020 that people described him as a “cutlet,” a …

Iranwire – Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, a prominent voice in Iran’s 2022 uprising, now faces a total of 10 charges, his lawyer says. In a January 21 a post on the social media platform X, lawyer Amir Raisian said that the Supreme Court had rejected five of the eight charges previously filed against Salehi. However, a court in Isfahan maintained …

Iranwire – Controversial Iranian singer Amirhossein Maqsoodlou, better known as Amir Tataloo, has admitted to engaging in “anti-cultural and obscene” activities online, according to semi-official media. Authorities in Türkiye apprehended the tattoo-covered artist on December 2 following a complaint filed by the Iranian authorities, and handed him over to the Islamic Republic’s police on December 6, media outlets reported at …