Social and Political

Al-Arabia – Iran’s US-sanctioned Mahan Air airline transferred “illicit cargo” to Syria using a civilian airliner with hundreds of passengers on board under slain commander Qassem Soleimani’s supervision, according to a Mahan Air pilot. Mahan Air pilot Amir Assadollahi told a website affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday that he once flew a passenger plane carrying …

Al-Monitor – According to Iranian Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, the coronavirus continues to spread across several Iranian provinces as normal life resumes in the country. Harirchi, who himself became famous across the world after displaying coronavirus symptoms during a press conference and who later tested positive, said June 17 during a visit to the Kurdistan province of Iran that in the last …

Al-Monitor – Wildfires broke out in southwestern Iran during the last week of May and clawed their path up north and west, spreading across much of the Zagros Mountains and leaving behind a trail of irreparable destruction to the already endangered environment. The flames have died down, but there is a heated debate among Iranians about the wildfires. Were they a natural disaster or the …

(AP) — Iran test fired cruise missiles in a naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman and northern Indian Ocean, state media reported Thursday . The report by the official IRNA news agency said the missiles destroyed targets at a distance of 280 kilometers (170 miles). It said the tests took place during a naval drill by Iran’s navy in …

Radiofarda -Another brutal “honor killing” has shaken Iran for the third time in less than a month, with the Islamic government trying to do damage control and avoiding blame for its policies of light punishment for the guilty perpetrators. Referring to the latest honor killing said to have been committed with an ax, Kerman province’s deputy police chief says, contrary …

Radiofarda – European diplomats want to find a way to reach a compromise between signatories of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal by proposing a limited extension of Iran’s arms embargo and save the agreement from total collapse, Wall Street Journal reported on June 17. Iran’s five-year arms embargo, one of the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or …

Radiofarda – For the fourth day in a row on Wednesday Iran’s coronavirus deaths that had held below 100 since April 14, went well above 100. Health officials are very concerned that a second peak may be imminent. On Wednesday the Health Ministry spokeswoman, Dr. Sima-Sadat Lari, said over the past 24 hours 120 lost their lives and more than …

Radiofarda – Thirty-nine Iranian and international human rights organizations have called for the term extension of the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights on Iran, voicing deep concern about serious violations in the country. In a joint letter to the UN Human Rights Council, the organizations accused Iran of “widespread and systematic violations of a large array of human rights,” …

VOA – An Iranian Christian rights activist whose 46-day detention earlier this year drew words of concern from U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has detained 15 other Christians as part of its long-running repression of the religious minority in the Islamic republic. Mary Mohammadi, a Tehran-based Christian convert in her early 20s, made the comments to VOA Persian in …

VOA – Turkey on Monday reiterated its opposition to U.S. sanctions on neighboring Iran, saying the coronavirus pandemic has shown that the world needs greater cooperation and solidarity.Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments in Istanbul during a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is the first dignitary to visit Turkey since its outbreak began …