Social and Political

VOA – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally notified the United Nations on Thursday that the United States is initiating a “snapback” of all international sanctions on Iran dating back to 2006.    “Our message is very, very simple,” Pompeo told reporters at the U.N. “The United States will never allow the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism to freely …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Europe’s leaders also did not support extending the arms embargo. They have been arguing that they want to preserve the nuclear deal. What deal? The deal that Iran never signed? The deal that Iran has been violating anyway? The European powers have also ignored a recent plea by Iran’s neighbors to extend the arms embargo, as well as …

Al-Monitor – Iran has unveiled two new missiles, state media reported Thursday, the same day Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to the United Nations to start the process of restoring international sanctions on Iran.  The missiles, which were revealed on state television on Iran’s National Defense Industry Day, included one named after the country’s slain commander, Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani, who …

Shabtabnews – In a statement The International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR) condemned the recent summoning, and detention of Ms. Mehraveh Khandan the daughter of Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh. The statement also drew attention to the Iranian regimes systematic methods of putting extra pressure on prisoners of conscience like “the blocking of Ms. Narges Mohammadi’s telephone contact with her children …

Radiofarda – Ahead of his planned U.N. visit on Thursday to trigger the mechanism for re-introduction of all U.N. sanctions on Iran, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened Iran’s allies Russia and China with sanctions if they refuse to endorse the U.S. move. When on Wednesday asked by Fox News if the United States would target Russia and China …

Radiofarda – The head of a wealthy, state-sponsored charity in Iran has apologized Wednesday for his controversial and revealing remarks earlier naming officials who received real estate holdings by orders of the Supreme Leader. The revelations by Parviz Fattah, appointed by Khamenei as head of the Mostazafan (oppressed) Foundation led to widespread public outcry about the inherently corrupt practice of …

Radiofarda – The Islamic Republic’s Court of Appeals recently upheld the sentences of Rev. Victor Bet-Tamraz and his wife Shamiram Issavi. They were sentenced to ten and five years in prison respectively Article 18 a website covering news on minority rights in Iran. The couple was charged with “evangelical activity,” “acting against national security by launching and running house churches.” …

(AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday slapped sanctions on two aviation companies in the United Arab Emirates over their work for an Iranian airline already under U.S. sanctions. At the same time, federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against one of the companies for violations of U.S. export control regulations. The Treasury Department announced it is imposing penalties on the …

RFL/RE -Thirty-seven-year-old Facebook engineer Behdad Esfahbod has made the same wintertime trip every year since 2015. Yet this past January, the 37-year-old programming whiz’s visit to Iran to see his family took a wildly different turn. Within days of his arrival, the Iranian-Canadian dual national and graduate of Tehran’s top Sharif University had been thrown in jail and was being …

RFL/RE – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will formally notify the UN Security Council on August 20 that the United States intends to begin the process of restoring UN sanctions on Iran. “The United States intends to restore virtually all of the previously suspended United Nations sanctions on Iran,” President Donald Trump said late on August 19. “It’s a …