Social and Political

RFL/RE – Police in Tehran say three people have been arrested for attempting to sell newborn babies via the social-media site Instagram. Tehran police chief Hossein Rahimi said on June 23 that a 20-day-old and a 2-month-old baby were found with the three individuals, who claimed that they had taken them from poor families for a “small fee.” Police said …

RFL/RE – A fugitive Iranian judge facing possible extradition to his homeland on charges of corruption died at a hotel in Romania from a fall, a preliminary autopsy has concluded.Gholamreza Mansuri was found dead June 18 in the lobby of the Duke Hotel in the center of the Romanian capital, Bucharest.The autopsy said the 52-year-old judge and cleric died after …

Al-Monitor – For Israel, this coming November will be a turnaround month. With all due respect to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s West Bank annexation plans, Israel’s security forces are eyeing a far more distant issue, still the main strategic threat facing the country: The ayatollah regime in Iran. Israel is awaiting the US presidential elections, and so are the Iranians. The tense waiting period is …

Radiofarda – Referring to continued suppression of freedom of expression in the Islamic Republic, more than 300 Iranian writers, artists, academics, civil society activists, and journalists have warned that blocking all sorts of criticism and questioning the regime’s performance will lead to a “social collapse”. Given the inefficiency and corruption of the political system in Iran, a total social collapse …

Al-Arabia – The US has shared a draft resolution with members of the United Nations Security Council that would extend an arms embargo on Iran indefinitely, according to diplomats. With the ban on arms transactions with Iran set to expire in October under terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, the US draft calls on all countries to “prevent the direct …

Radiofarda – In its first statement since the Sunday arrest of its founder and two members, an independent charity in Iran on Tuesday said that they were arrested because the Revolutionary Guard has targeted the group with serious security accusations. According to the statement by Imam Ali’ Popular Students Relief Society, IRGC’s Sarallah Headquarters which deals with civil unrest and …

Radiofarda – Workers at one of Iran’s most restive industrial units, the Haft Tapeh sugarcane complex resumed their strike for the eighth consecutive day on Monday, June 22. They are demanding three-month overdue wages and protesting the non-renewal of their social welfare and medical insurance, as well as lack of job security. According to the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers’ Union, …

Radiofarda – Saudi Arabia announced early on Tuesday that Houthi rebels in Yemen unleashed a ballistic missile and bomb-laden drone attack on various targets in the kingdom, including the cities of Najran and Jizan. According the Saudi statement its air defenses intercepted three ballistic missiles, and eight booby-trapped drones fired from Yemen. It appears that not all drones were intercepted …

Radiofarda – The President of the Ukraine has threatened that if Iran does not fulfill its obligations regarding the Ukrainian airliner downed in January over Tehran, Kyiv will file a lawsuit against the Islamic Republic in international courts. Iran should respect all its obligations, including the delivery of the black boxes of the downed plane, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reiterated on …

Iran-HRM – New Covid-19 case has created greater risk of infection for political prisoners in Rajaei Shahr Prison, Karaj. Political prisoner Iraj Hatami who suffers symptoms similar to the Covid-19 disease, was sent to a civic hospital on Tuesday, June 16. Mr. Hatami is presently detained in the political prisoners’ ward in Rajaei Shahr Prison of Karaj. He had been …