Social and Political

Radiofarda – Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s order to treat those jailed for protests in Iran in November 2019, may in fact have been a call for maximum pressure on inmates in security prisons. The Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) on July 11 featured a letter by Hossein Reyhani, an Iranian who has been in jail since the …

Radiofarda – In Iran police is investigating the explosion of a gas tank and a fire at an industrial complex in the country’s northeast, local news agencies reported. There were several condensate gas tanks at the location. Javad Jahandoust, the fire chief at the Kavian Fariman industrial complex, some 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Iran’s second largest city, Mashhad, …

Al-Arabia- Iran has dramatically increased the depth, funding and sophistication of its propaganda and disinformation activities amid the coronavirus pandemic, a new report has found. Iranian authorities have repeatedly sought to pass blame for COVID-19 onto the United States, claiming coronavirus was a “biological weapon,” while simultaneously worked to preserve ties with its ally China. Iran quickly emerged as the …

Al-Arabia – An Iranian man frustrated by the economic hardships in Iran was seen angrily criticizing the government while lying on the ground in front of a vehicle in a video circulating on social media. https://vid.alarabiya.net/2020/07/13/iran8857c117/iran8857c117___iran8857c117_video.mp4 “Tell the Supreme Leader to come here,” the man is heard saying in the video. “They have been taking what is ours for 40 …

RFL/RE – Iran’s judiciary says a a former defense ministry worker convicted of selling information to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been executed. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said on July 14 that Reza Asgari had been in touch with the CIA during his last years serving at the Defense Ministry and sold the agency information about Iran’s missile …

VOA – A Lebanese businessman, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating U.S. sanctions, was released from U.S. federal prison last month and is now back in Lebanon, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons said in a report by Reuters.  Kassim Tajideen, 65, was accused of financing Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite group classified as a terrorist group by the U.S.   In 2009, Tajideen was designated an important financial supporter of Hezbollah — something he denies. He was extradited to …

Amnesty – Imprisoned Iranian human rights defender Narges Mohammadi, who suffers from serious pre-existing health conditions, is showing suspected COVID-19 symptoms. The authorities are putting her health and life at risk by denying her health care and holding her in inhumane conditions. She is held solely for her peaceful human rights work and must be released immediately and unconditionally. View …

Al-Monitor – Police in Iran are investigating the cause of a fire that broke out at an industrial complex in northeast Iran, state news reported on Monday. Citing the semi-official Mehr news agency, Reuters quoted Javad Jahandoust, fire chief at the Kavian Fariman industrial complex, who said the fire was under control after a storage tank exploded. He said the incident at the …

phmuseum.com – With her project, photojournalist Solmaz Daryani underlines the harsh effects of climate change on the landscape, people and their economy in the south-east region of Iran. Iran is suffering from a socio-economic drought, where water demand exceeds the natural water supply. My country is facing a severe and protracted water crisis, and desertification as lakes and rivers once-fertile …

Radiofarda – Iran’s currency took another big hit on Monday, falling to 230,000 rials against the U.S. dollar despite official promises to prevent the further devaluation of the national currency. The Iranian rial for the first time ever fell to 200,000 against the dollar on June 24 and the plunge has continued since. The rial is also traded at more …