Social and Political

VOA – Iran and the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog have agreed to extend an agreement for monitoring of Iran’s nuclear activities for one month.  “The equipment and the verification and the monitoring activities that we agreed will continue as they are now for one month expiring on June 24th, 2021,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi told reporters Monday.  The …

VOA – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Monday that the lifting of U.S. sanctions imposed under former President Donald Trump’s administration is “a legal and moral obligation,” not something to be used as leverage in negotiations as the two sides consider returning to an agreement involving Iran’s nuclear program.  “Didn’t work for Trump — won’t work for you,” Zarif tweeted.  …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – In a new trumped-up case, human rights defender Narges Mohammadi, who was released from prison in October, has been sentenced to a further 30 months’ imprisonment, 80 lashes and a fine. Iran Human Rights condemns the ruling in the strongest terms and calls on the international community to react and act. “Narges Mohammadi has continued …

gatestoneinstitute.org – With Iran arguably stuck in its deepest crisis in decades while economic meltdown, rampant corruption and Covid-19 chaos wreak havoc on an unprecedented scale, the Khomeinist regime is in dire need of reasserting its legitimacy. The terms “Russophile” and “Americanophile” may need to be explained. Neither means any actual sympathy for either Russian or American ways of life …

Al-Arabia – At least nine people were injured in a blast on Sunday at a plant producing explosive materials in Iran’s central province of Isfahan, ISNA news agency reported. The blast ocurred at Sepahan Nargostar Chemical Industries at 4:00 am local time (2330 GMT) due to “unclear reasons still being investigated,” said Mansour Shisheforoush, head of the province’s crisis management …

VOA – Iran’s parliament speaker said Sunday that international inspectors may no longer access surveillance images of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites, escalating tensions amid diplomatic efforts in Vienna to save Tehran’s atomic accord with world powers. The comments by Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, aired by state TV, further underscored the narrowing window for the U.S. and others …

Iran-HRM – Inhumane treatment and torture of political prisoners to put them under profound psychological pressure is a common practice in Iran’s prisons to extract forced confessions from prisoners against their will. Torture and other inhuman treatment of prisoners cause irreversible psychological and physical harms to their health. Prolonged interrogations, intimidation, sexual harassment, beatings of detainees during interrogation, long-term solitary …

RFL/RE – Less than a month before Iran’s June 18 presidential election, there are few signs of enthusiasm about the vote. For many Iranians, voting in the Islamic republic has often been a choice between bad or worse. Elections in Iran are tightly restricted, with candidates being preselected by hard-liners on the country’s unelected Guardians Council. Frustrated by the limited …

RFL/RE -Iran is using Bitcoin mining to evade crippling U.S. sanctions on its economy, according to a new study. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic estimates that around 4.5 percent of global Bitcoin mining takes place in Iran, allowing the country to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies that can be used to “purchase imports and bypass sanctions.” U.S. sanctions have …

Iranwire – A fake Persian-language driving licence app, concealing malicious software. A petrol bomb hurled onto a politician’s porch. The brazen kidnapping of an activist in exile. These are just some of the Islamic Republic’s attacks on Iranians in Sweden that have been exposed in the past 12 months. The multi-pronged threat the regime now poses to the 100,000 Iranians …