Social and Political

VOA – Iran Monday rejected a U.S. claim that a drone launched from Iran targeted a tanker off the coast of India last week. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani responded to a question about the incident by calling the U.S. claim “baseless.” The U.S. Defense Department said Saturday that “a one-way attack drone fired from Iran” struck the Liberia-flagged, …

VOA – Iranian-American activists seeking to oust former Iranian officials from U.S. academia to hold them accountable for the Islamic republic’s poor human rights record say a U.S. college that suspended one former official last month needs to do more. Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA) also tells VOA that the suspension of Mohammad Jafar Mahallati at Ohio’s …

iranintl – The UK foreign secretary summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires Friday, warning that Iran’s “malign” activities will not be tolerated on UK soil or in the Middle East. David Cameron’s action followed revelations that the Iranian regime planned to assassinate two Iran International news presenters, Sima Sabet and Fardad Farahzad, in London last year. The recently appointed foreign secretary said he wanted “to …

iranintl – Russia’s support for the United Arab Emirates in its dispute with Iran over the ownership of three Persian Gulf islands has turned into a controversy in Tehran. The Iranian leadership, typically reticent about Russia’s double standards, has, for the second time this year, heightened its response to Moscow’s stance. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s most senior foreign policy adviser, …

iranintl – In a major development, the Pentagon said that the kamikaze drone which struck an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean early Saturday was launched directly from Iran. The incident comes against a backdrop of Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, and may suggest an escalation of regional tensions that began with the Hamas rampage of Israel on …

iranintl – Insisting that there would be “dictatorship” in the absence of elections, Iran’s Supreme Leader Saturday urged Iranians to vote in the March parliamentary elections. Khamenei who was addressing a group of visitors from Kerman and Khuzestan provinces emphasized that the solution to the problems that Iran and Iranians are facing is participation in the elections, blaming the opposition …

RFL/RE – The United Nations on December 23 warned that an Iranian-Swedish citizen is facing imminent execution in Iran, after a Swedish court upheld the conviction of a former Iranian prison official. “Disturbing news that Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali could be shortly executed on charges of ‘enmity against God,'” the UN human rights office said. Djalali was sentenced to death in …

RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have seized the prestigious Sakharov Prize that was awarded by the European Parliament to honor Mahsa Amini, whose September 2022 death in custody sparked nationwide anti-government protests and who came to symbolize battle for human rights for Iranian women. The Norway-based Human rights organization Hengaw and the France-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network on December 23 said …

VOA – Iran’s navy on Sunday added domestically produced sophisticated cruise missiles to its arsenal, state TV reported. The TV said both Talaeieh and Nasir cruise missiles have arrived at a naval base near the Indian Ocean in the southern Iranian port of Konarak, some 1,400 kilometers (850 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran. Navy chief Adm. Shahram Irani said …

VOA — Iran summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires after Moscow and Arab countries released a joint statement earlier this week challenging Iran’s claim to disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, state media reported Sunday. Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the Russian envoy was summoned on Saturday and handed a note to deliver to Moscow in which Tehran protested the statement the …