Social and Political

Al-Monitor – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on the United Nations Security Council today to extend the conventional arms embargo on Iran indefinitely, only to face several harsh rebukes from allies and adversaries alike. While American allies in the Middle East have started to line up behind US threats to snap back multilateral sanctions on Iran should the UN …

Radiofarda – The governor of Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran on Tuesday denied any fatalities in an attack on three Revolutionary Guard vehicles in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan by the Baloch Justice Army (Jaish al-Adl) in the early hours of Tuesday. The road-side bomb attack took place near a village called Galougah on the way to …

Radiofarda – An Iranian journalist whose online work helped inspire nationwide economic protests in 2017 has been sentenced to death for his actions. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced Ruhollah Zam’s sentence on June 30. Zam’s website, AmadNews, and a channel he created on the popular messaging app Telegram had informed people on the timing of the protests and published embarrassing …

Radiofarda – While Iran’s official COVID-19 death toll stands at about 11,000, the country’s Civil Registration Organization (CRO) says the total number of deaths in the spring of 2020 is about 19,000 more than in the same period last year. Data provided by the CRO show that in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (beginning March 20), …

Radiofarda – The Trump administration is intent on killing the 2015 nuclear deal and ensuring that a future U.S. administration cannot resurrect it, irrespective of the consequences. The next step toward that goal appears to be extending UN restrictions on Iranian arms transfers by abusing the snapback mechanism outlined in Resolution 2231 to reimpose sanctions lifted or modified by the …

Radiofarda – On October 18, 2020, the international arms embargo on Iran under U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 will expire. This concession by the P5+1 was part of the broader negotiations that led to the inking of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The JCPOA was sold as a nuclear agreement—temporary restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for nuclear-related sanctions …

RFL/RE – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will address the United Nations Security Council on June 30 to argue in favor of an extension of a UN arms embargo on Iran that is due to expire in October. Pompeo will make remarks during a public briefing of the council at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT/UTC), the U.S. State Department said …

RFL/RE – An Iranian military prosecutor says there is no indication that the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet in Iran in January was due to a cyberattack on the country’s defense system.Speaking on June 29 to some of the families of the victims, Gholam Abbas Torki, the military prosecutor for Tehran Province, reiterated that human error was the cause …

RFL/RE – U.S. and Saudi officials say an expiring United Nations arms embargo on Iran must remain in place to prevent Tehran from acquiring and proliferating weapons across the Middle East.Speaking at a press conference in Riyadh on June 29 with the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, the U.S. special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, said …

CHRI — In an impassioned plea to top UN officials, the father of Pouya Bakhtiyari, who was one of hundreds of demonstrators shot and killed by Iranian security forces during the protests that swept through Iran in November 2019, called on the UN to end the “sterile exchanges” with the Iranian authorities and establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate and document the government’s …