Social and Political

Al-monitor The Biden administration is demanding Iran cease its “nuclear escalations,” warning that Tehran’s continued production of banned uranium metal will further undermine the diplomatic process as Washington seeks to revive the landmark nuclear agreement. Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog, reportedly told member countries on Monday that Iran has manufactured 200 grams …

Iran-HRM – Reliable sources say the protesters arrested during the protests in Khuzestan are detained under torture and pressure. An informed source said: “The intelligence services take the arrestees to an uncertain location. Those arrested say, ‘they cannot distinguish day from night.’ ” According to the same source, “To intimidate and terrorize the arrestees, the torturers and interrogators cover their …

gatestoneinstitute.org – As the great Iranian theologian Kazem Assar put it: “Monarchy and Shi’ism are the two wings with which the Iranian eagle can soar to unimaginable heights.” This time, however, things may turn out to be different as the Khomeinist regime has tried to clip off both wings of which Assar spoke. Over the years, rather than the clergy …

Iranwire – Iran will be in lockdown for five consecutive days from Monday, August 16, to Saturday, August 21, the National Coronavirus Taskforce announced on August 14. In a letter to the Supreme Leader Khamenei, Health Minister Saeed Namaki had asked for a two-week lockdown. But his request failed to attract so much as one vote at the meeting of …

gatestoneinstitute.org – While the Iranian mullahs have been busy breaching two critical international laws, the international community — especially the United States, EU and UN Security Council — have remained silent. If it were Israel that carried out such a deadly attack, the international community would be up in arms trying to take tough actions against the tiny state. Worse, …

RFL/RE – With a new victim of the coronavirus dying every two minutes, deaths are soaring in Iran, with infections from the new Delta variant skyrocketing and hospitals overfilled. There are also widespread shortages of oxygen cylinders and other materials as many Iranians are furious with their leaders over a vaccination campaign that lags far behind other countries. “The situation …

Iranwire – On August 6, just as friends and supporters of Shapour Bakhtiar, the last prime minister of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, were preparing to take part in ceremonies marking the 30th anniversary of his assassination, Dr. Bakhtiar’s killer was taken to the ICU at Tehran’s Khatam al-Anbia Hospital. Fereydoon Boyer-Ahmadi had all the symptoms of severe Covid-19. He later …

Iranwire – Two kolbars have been hospitalized after being shot on the Iran-Iraq border in the latest in a string of attacks this summer. Human rights organization Hengaw reports that on the morning of Friday, August 13, officers with Sardasht Border Regiment in Kurdistan opened fire on a group of kolbars carrying goods in the Bitoush area. One of the …

Iranwire – In one of Iran’s first official responses to the Taliban’s shock incursion into Afghanistan’s southern provinces, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh issued a plea for the country’s diplomatic staff to be kept safe. In a tweet on Friday, August 13, Khatibzadeh wrote: “The Islamic Republic of Iran, while expressing concern over the escalation of violence in Afghanistan given …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian and UK ambassadors in Tehran after a controversial photo showed the two sitting atop the steps of the Russian Embassy in central Tehran. While the photo might not at first sight appear particularly provocative, to many Iranians it was an “insult” that reopened old wounds and stirred up anti-Russian and anti-British sentiments.   The 2021 photo showed three …