Social and Political

RFL/RE – Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reiterated Iran’s “definite policy” that Washington must lift all sanctions if the United States and its allies want to see Tehran return to its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal.“Our position is clear and has not changed. All U.S. sanctions have to be lifted in accordance with the…agreement, and then we’ll return …

Iranwire – Twenty-eight Iranian political prisoners have announced in a letter that they will be on hunger strike for the first three days of the Iranian New Year (from March 20-22) in protest against repression and in solidarity with the suffering of the Iranian people. The letter, signed by prisoners of conscience currently held in Evin and Fashafouyeh Prisons in …

Iranwire – The father of one of the victims of the November 2019 protests has called the year 1400 the year of “No to the Islamic Republic” in a video message posted at the weekend. Manouchehr Bakhtiari’s 27-year-old son, Pouya, was shot in the head and killed on November 19, 2019 at a demonstration in Karaj. His family have since …

VOA – Iran has made threats against Fort McNair, an Army base in the nation’s capital, and against the Army’s vice chief of staff, two senior U.S. intelligence officials said.   They said communications intercepted by the National Security Agency in January showed that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard discussed mounting “USS Cole-style attacks” against the base, referring to the October 2000 …

RFL/RE – One person was killed and three were wounded in a bomb explosion in southeastern Iran, the state news agency IRNA reported, blaming a “terrorist group” linked to Tehran’s enemies.The attack reportedly occurred in the city of Saravan, the site of recent violence, in the restive Sistan-Baluchistan Province.A group “linked to global arrogance,” a phrase that in Iranian media …

gatestoneinstitute.org – “Muslims do not want democracy. Anyone who says democratic republic is an enemy of Islam. All our miseries are caused by those who demand freedom. They want to build a Western society for Muslims in which you are free and independent but without a God, a prophet, or Imam. Without prayers and without martyrdom which is the highest …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei welcomed the Persian New Year, predicting in a live televised speech on March 20 that it will be one of “production, support, and removal of barriers.” “There is good ground for a production leap,” Khamenei said, adding that the government needs to get rid of legal obstacles to higher output and growth …

RFL/RE – Akram Neghabi has been searching for her son for more than two decades, despite threats, state pressure, and numerous futile attempts to get information from Iranian officials. Neghabi’s son, computer science student Saeed Zeinali, was arrested at his home in the Iranian capital in July 1999, a few days after big student protests at Tehran University that were met with …

Iranwire – Four decades on from the 1979 Islamic Revolution, very few old Iranian traditions and symbols have escaped the Islamic Republic’s ridicule and hostility. From an unsuccessful attempt to destroy Persepolis to waging a war of profanities against historical and mythological Iranian heroes, Islamic Republic’s leaders have been consistent in their attacks on Persian heritage. Nevertheless, these leaders’ assault on the traditions and …

Iranwire – Earlier this week, Iran Human Rights shared the appalling news that a woman had been executed in Rasht Central Prison at the hands of her own daughter. Maryam (Masoumeh) Karimi was sentenced to qisas (retribution) more than 13 years ago for having killed her husband, who was reportedly abusive and had refused to separate from her. In accordance with the …