Social and Political

iranintl – Videos have shown trucks around Lake Urmia allegedly carrying titanium, sparking fears its mining may be destroying the Middle East’s once largest lake. Iran Briefing, a group of investigative journalists, have speculated that authorities have been mining titanium, present in the northwestern lake, which could explain why the once thriving salt-lake has dried up.  Although there has been no official response …

iranintl – School teachers have claimed regime reforms have turned the country’s schools into “religious and military bases”. In an interview with Khabar online on Monday, teachers expressed concern about the plans to “shift schools away from their primary function”, resulting in a “dead end” for children. Teacher Mohammadreza Niknejad told Khabar Online that “authorities have failed in the education sector” as students do …

RFL/RE – Iran has executed four “saboteurs” linked to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, the Mizan news agency affiliated to the judiciary said on December 29. “Four members of a sabotage team associated with the Zionist regime, who had committed extensive actions against the country’s security under the guidance of Mossad officers, were executed this morning following legal procedures,” it said. …

VOA – Pro-Iran Shiite parties won the majority of council seats in most of Iraq’s provinces, according to the final results released on Thursday by the electoral commission. The December 18 vote was the first held in a decade and took place amid widespread political apathy in the oil-rich country, which is recovering from years of conflict and plagued by …

VOA – France, Germany, Britain and the United States on Thursday condemned Iran’s increase in its production rate of highly enriched uranium of up to 60% purity, close to the level used for nuclear weapons fuel. In a joint statement, the allies made no mention of any consequences Iran could face for the production hike but called for its reversal …

iranintl – Amid Mideast tensions, Senator Lindsey Graham called on Wednesday for a much harsher approach towards Tehran, suggesting that the US should bomb the IRGC inside Iran. “I’ve been saying [this] for six months now,” Graham said on Fox News, “hit Iran. They have oil fields out in the open. They have a Revolutionary Guard headquarters you can see from …

iranintl – Twenty years since a 6.6-magnitude earthquake shook Bam city in southeast Iran, killing 34,000, fears of a repeat loom large amid Iran’s dire corruption.  Earthquake mortality has been found to be higher in countries where corruption is high and in the past 30 years, 83% of all earthquake-related deaths have occurred in anomalously corrupt countries, according to a 2011 report. …

iranintl – Iran’s Supreme Leader has told an all female audience “you can play an important role in the elections” with voter turnout expected to be as low as 15 percent. In a direct appeal for the upcoming March elections, Ali Khamenei said, “In the home, you play the most important role. Mothers can play a role in educating their children and spouses …

RFL/RE – The death sentence for murder given to an Iranian man detained while taking part in last year’s anti-regime protests is “illegal,” a lawyer for victims’ families has said. Mujahed Korkor (also known as Abbas Korkori) was sentenced to death for the murder of Kian Pirfalak, a 9-year-old boy, and several other people killed in the southwestern city of …

VOA – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei led prayers on Thursday at the funeral of Sayyed Razi Mousavi, a senior Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) adviser killed in what Iran said was an Israeli air strike in Syria. State television said Khamenei paid tribute “to this martyr’s tireless struggle and called for his companionship with the guardians of God.” Mousavi was one …