Social and Political

RFL/RE – October 18 marks the end of a decade-old United Nations arms embargo against Iran after the United States failed overcome opposition within the UN Security Council to get it extended — including opposition from Washington’s European allies.The expiration date for the embargo was agreed upon under the 2015 nuclear deal that Washington unilaterally withdrew from in 2018.In theory, …

Al-Monitor – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived last week with a major delegation in Tengchong, in southwest China’s Yunnan province, on the invitation of his counterpart Wang Yi. These talks, which were apparently putting finishing touches on the 25-year Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, were significant for both the countries. These talks, which took place on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic …

(AP) — Iran’s capital has run out of intensive care beds as the country confronts a new surge of infections that is filling hospitals and cemeteries alike. The single-day death toll hit a record high three times this week. Eight months after the pandemic first stormed Iran, pummeling its already weakened economy and sickening officials at the highest levels of …

Radiofarda – Iran’s financial status will face a challenging stretch leading up to the U.S. elections on November 3, says the Governor of Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Abdol Nasser Hemmati. “In the next three weeks, the pressure on Iran is to increase. We have informed Iranians that the risk in the domestic foreign exchange market is very high and …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization says it has been targeted by cyberattacks, after officials reported the hacking of two institutions in the country earlier this week.“Sworn enemies have been trying for some time to carry out cyberattacks,” the organization said in a statement on October 16, adding that “appropriate” measures had been taken to prevent an interruption of its missions.No …

RFL/RE – The founder and CEO of an Iranian financial-services firm has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for running a business that helped people in Iran evade U.S. sanctions, the Justice Department said. Seyed Sajjad Shahidian, 33, pleaded guilty to a charge related to running Payment24, an Internet-based company that the Justice Department said charged a fee …

Iran-HRM – No news is available on political prisoner Soheil Arabi, nearly one month after he was transferred from the Great Tehran Penitentiary to Rajaishahr Prison in Karaj. Political prisoner Soheil Arabi was reportedly transferred out of GTP in late September and taken to Rajaishahr Prison where he is being detained in the so-called “suites” which is the regime’s euphemism for solitary …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A prisoner sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed at Mashhad Central Prison on Sunday. IHR previously published news of the execution of a female prisoner at the same prison, on the same day, raising Mashhad Central Prison’s execution count to two for Sunday, October 11. According to the Khorasan newspaper website, on the …

(Reuters) – Hackers launched large-scale attacks on two Iranian government institutions this week, a senior official said on Thursday, without giving details on the targets or the suspected perpetrators. Some government bodies had since temporarily shut down internet services as a precaution, Abolghasem Sadeghi, from the government’s Information Technology Organization, told state TV. “The cyber attacks which happened on Monday …

Radiofarda – The Director-General of the state-run Endowment (Awqaf) Organization in Golestan province, Ruhollah Soleimani Fard, says that the coronavirus epidemic has sharply reduced donations to the imamzadehs, or mausoleums, attributed to the descendants of the Twelver-Shi’ite Imams. Translated as an offspring of an Imam, imamzadehs are the shrine-tombs of the descendants of Shi’ites Imams. Available data shows that the …