Social and Political

VOA – An Iranian-flagged tanker seized by Indonesia in January over the suspected illegal transfer of oil has been released, an Indonesian official and Iranian state media said on Saturday. Wisnu Pramandita, a spokesman for the Indonesian coastguard, said the Iranian-flagged tanker, the MT Horse, was released on Friday after a court decision earlier in the week. The court ruled …

timesofisrael – The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has said Iran is enriching uranium to levels that only countries seeking to make atomic weapons reach, and that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program can no longer be returned to where it stood when a landmark 2015 deal was struck with world powers. “A country enriching at 60 percent is …

VOA – The Biden administration has responded to Iran’s mass disqualification of candidates for its upcoming presidential election by saying Iranians should be free to choose their own leaders. The White House statement coincides with sharp criticism of Iran’s electoral system from Iranian rights activists and U.S. conservatives as neither free nor fair. Iran’s Guardian Council, which vets election candidates, …

Radiozmaneh – In recent months, several assailants belonging to the Salafi fundamentalist groups in the Kurdistan province, Iran, have conducted several attacks against other citizens living in the province. According to the Hengaw News website, on the evening of Friday, 14 May 2021, a group of Salafi-jihadis attacked several citizens with knives in the city of Saqqez. The Salafis justified …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has expressed support for the Guardians Council’s disqualification of prominent moderate candidates seeking to run in the country’s June 18 presidential election.He also called on Iranians to vote in the election, which comes amid discontent over the economy crippled by U.S. sanctions and calls to boycott the vote due to tough vetting …

Iranwire – The years 1988 to 1994 witnessed the stratospheric rise of Ebrahim Raeesi from middling to senior member of the Iranian judiciary. His membership on Ayatollah Khomenei’s death panel, which sent thousands of political prisoner to their deaths in 1988, effectively turbo-charged the now-presidential frontrunner’s career. It appears, however, that Raeesi himself is conflicted about his decisive role in the massacre. The …

Iranwire – Sixteen political and civil activists who had previously been held in solitary confinement in prison have filed a lawsuit against Islamic Republic officials responsible for their treatment, the Center for Human Rights Defenders reported on Thursday, May 27. The case emphasizes that holding people in solitary confinement for prolonged periods is considered to be torture under international law, and …

AL-Arabia – Lebanon will never regain true sovereignty or regain its strength until Iran-backed Hezbollah is prevented from acquiring weapons and it changes its destabilizing behavior, the former number three diplomat at the US State Department said Wednesday. “The state of Lebanon will never regain strength or achieve true sovereignty, so long as one faction can accumulate dangerous weapons and undertake smuggling and other …

arabnews – Escalation of nuclear activity and other moves seen as part of strategy to get US sanctions removed Experts warn that a return to 2015 deal could give Iran a pathway toward developing atomic weapons WASHINGTON, DC: The ongoing parley in Vienna between Iran and five signatories of the 2015 nuclear accord has begun to look like the proverbial …

freebeacon – A measure in the Senate would require the Biden administration to obtain congressional approval before inking a deal with Iran, according to a copy of the draft amendment obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The amendment would establish a significant roadblock in the Biden administration’s bid to reenter the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. As negotiations in Vienna with …