Social and Political

iranintl.com – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday endorsed the election—some say selection—of Ebrahim Raisi as his next president. In a traditional ceremony—the thirteenth such gathering under the Islamic Republic(link is external)—Khamenei was flanked by the heads of major branches of government—including Chairman of the Expediency Council Sadegh Larijani, Secretary of the Guardian Council Ahmad Jannati, outgoing President Hassan …

Iranwire – The number of reported coronavirus cases in Iran surpassed 4 million on August 4 amid a vicious wave of infections driven by the highly contagious delta variant.Iran registered 39,357 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total since the pandemic started to 4,019,084, the Health Ministry said.It recorded 409 deaths over the same period, bringing the …

Iranwire – In the wake of reports that the Iranian authorities have set extortionate bails for children arrested during protests in Khuzestan, Sadegh Moradi, head of the province’s Justice Department, reiterated on Wednesday, August 4 that many of the detainees had been released “unconditionally”. It came even as human rights activists in Khuzestan reported that more civilian protesters had been arrested and taken …

amnesty.org – Iranian authorities have secretly executed a young man who was a child at the time of his arrest and had spent nearly a decade on death row, Amnesty International has learned. Sajad Sanjari was hanged in Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah province at dawn on 2 August, but his family were not told until a prison official asked them …

Iran Human Rights (IHR)- Ebrahim Raeisi’s inauguration as the new President of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be take place tomorrow, August 5. Some countries have sent representatives to attend the ceremony. Recalling that Ebrahim Raeisi stands accused of crimes against humanity in the 1988 prison massacre and in gross of violation of human rights in the subsequent years, …

Al-Monitor – As he was officially endorsed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran Aug. 3, Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi pledged to get the country’s sanctions-stricken economy back on track and restore waning public trust. Under Iran’s constitution, elected presidents begin their tenure only after being officially mandated by the supreme leader. Raisi, an ultraconservative former judiciary chief, was elected following a contentious race back in June, after the ruling hard-liners removed potential centrist challengers from his path to victory.  Expressing his utmost loyalty to the …

Al-Monitor – The Pentagon has not ruled out playing a role in the “collective response” promised by the Biden administration to a drone attack on an Israeli-owned shipping vessel last week in the Gulf of Oman. The attack, which US, UK and Israeli officials have blamed on Iran, killed two people: the ship’s Romanian captain and a British crew member. “A coordinated response …

Al-Arabia – Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that Israel was capable of acting alone against Iran, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken predicted a “collective” response to an attack last week on an Israeli-managed tanker off the coast of Oman. “We are working to rally the world, but at the same time we also know to act alone,” Bennett …

RFL/RE – Qatar has condemned a deadly attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman that the West has blamed on Iran.The Qatari Foreign Ministry also called for resorting to international law to ensure that such attacks would not be repeated.The ministry said in a statement that Qatar totally rejects “actions that would disrupt the safety and security …

Iranwire – At an endorsement ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday morning, Ebrahim Raisi became the 13th president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The one-time chief justice, lifelong regime loyalist and hanging judge began his inaugural address by regretting he could not kiss the Supreme Leader’s hand due to coronavirus restrictions. Raisi won the June 18 presidential election with a majority of 62 …