Social and Political

Radiofarda -The Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Sunday, June 7, that Iran was ready to swap “other prisoners” with the United States. Iran and the U.S., which were on the verge of a military confrontation in January last year after a U.S. drone killed Qods Force Chief-Commander Qassem Soleimani have exchanged two prisoners in recent days. …

Radiofarda – There are indications that Iran’s firebrand former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be willing and ready to run for president in 2021, less than a year from now. But are Iran and its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also ready for that? When Ahmadinejad started a new round of provincial visits during the year preceding the February 2020 parliamentary elections, …

Radiofarda – The former executive deputy of the Islamic Republic’s powerful Judiciary has gone on trial for large-scale corruption on Sunday, June 7 in Tehran. Akbar Tabari served under Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli-Larijani from 2009 to 2019, immediately before the dismissal of the influential cleric once thought to be the next Islamic Republic Supreme Leader. Amoli-Larijani’s tenure as the head of …

Iran-HRM – Zeinab Jalalian, a Kurdish political prisoner serving a life sentence, has contracted the coronavirus at Qarchak Prison in Varamin, her father told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network. The Ministry of Intelligence has not allowed her to be taken to a hospital outside the prison.Ali Jalalian said, “On Tuesday night, June 2, Zeinab Jalalian was transferred to the prison’s medical center …

RFL/RE – Iranian scientist Majid Taheri has returned home after his release from prison in the United States as part of a prisoner exchange, semiofficial Iranian news agency ISNA reported. Majid Taheri (left) speaks to reporters after his return to Iran on June 8. Taheri, who had been detained in the United States for 16 months, was freed on June …

Radiofarda – The head of Iran’s hardliner Judiciary issued a new directive June 6 advocating a separate treatment for “political crimes” by those who criticize the country’s clerical rulers from “security crimes” by those who question the very essence of the regime. In the new directive, the mid-ranking cleric Ebrahim Raeesi (Raisi) has stressed the need to investigate people accused …

(AFP) – At least 12 pro-Iranian fighters died in strikes by unidentified aircraft on eastern Syria late Saturday evening, a war monitor said. “Eight air strikes before midnight on Saturday night targeted a base of pro-Iranian forces in rural eastern Deir Ezzor (province), killing 12 Iraqi and Afghan fighters and destroying equipment and ammunition,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights …

Radiofarda – A senior Iranian intelligence official has claimed that freed U.S. citizen Michael White was “deported” on “humanitarian grounds” after the deterioration of his health. The director of counter-intelligence’s announcement was posted on the Islamic Republic Intelligence Ministry’s website, without naming him. This is the first time an Iranian government official has referred to the “expulsion” of the U.S. …

(AFP) -Protesters poured into the streets of the Lebanese capital Saturday to decry the collapse of the economy, as clashes erupted between supporters and opponents of the Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah. Hundreds filled the streets in and around the protest hub of Martyrs Square in the center of Beirut, blaming a lack of government reforms for the economic crisis. Debt-burdened …

Radiofarda – Brian Hook, U.S. Special Representative for Iran and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State on Friday called for the release of the remaining American prisoners in Iran while Iranian hardliners vehemently dismissed any negotiations with the United States. “The United States calls for the release of U.S. citizens Baqer Namazi, Siamak Namazi, and Morad Tahbaz, who have …