Social and Political

gatestoneinstitute.org – The recent upsurge in Iranian activity in Venezuela certainly needs to be taken seriously by the Trump administration if Tehran is to be prevented from strengthening its terrorist activities on America’s southern flank. To date Mr Trump, having last year threatened to launch military action in support of Juan Guaido, the country’s charismatic opposition leader, now appears to …

Al-Monitor – In today’s Iran media review, Iran’s supreme leader said the “cold-blooded” killing of George Floyd laid bare the true nature of the US government.  Iranians hold a vigil in for George Floyd in Mashhad, Iran, May 30, 2020. Photo by TWITTER. “It is no novelty. … It is what the US governments have been doing to the world,” said …

Radiofarda – The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament (Majles) is an IRGC brigadier general, some two thirds of the Majles Presidium members are IRGC and Basij militia commanders and so are many of the influential MPs. In all, at least 24 IRGC and Basij commanders, mainly colonels and brigadier generals are present inthe new Majles. What do we know about …

Radiofarda – A strong earthquake measuring around 5.0 magnitude shook Iran’s western province of Ilam near the Iraqi border on Wednesday, thought there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The tremor happened at 12:46 local time at a depth of 11.4 km near Saleh Abad which is about 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) from province capital Ilam and …

Radiofarda – A chess official in Iran says the Islamic Ministry of Sports has pressured him to resign from all his sports activities because his daughter “had not respected the so-called Islamic dress code”. Keyumars Bayat (L), was forced to resign as a chess official. FILE PHOTO Former owner of the Sepid Roud-i Rasht soccer club, Keyumars Bayat has been …

Radiofarda – In a thread of tweets on Tuesday, the Persian-language Twitter account of the U.S. Department of State refuted Iran’s accusations of suppressing protesters and preventing the media from reporting it. “The Iranian people dream of a day that they can have the same freedoms as the people of the United States when their country can finally achieve higher …

Radiofarda – According to the latest official statistics on Tuesday, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Iran has considerably increased to the highest level in the past two months prompting Health Minister Saeed Namaki to warn that “circumstances are not normal”. In his daily briefing on Tuesday, the Health Ministry Spokesman Dr. Kianoush Jahanpur said “on the basis of …

Iran-HRM – Nearly one month after the arrest of a woman in the northern Bushehr Province, Iranian authorities have refused to provide any information on her fate, leaving her family worried about her condition.Somayeh Ramouz was arrested on May 9, 2020 by officials from the ministry of intelligence in Bushehr. She has been apparently detained for her activities on social …

RFL/RE – Iran is using the killing in the United States of an African-American man at the hands of a white policeman and the angry wave of protests it has caused as a propaganda tool to settle scores with Washington, which has imposed a campaign of “maximum pressure” on Tehran that includes crippling economic sanctions. Iranian officials have denounced the …

Al-Monitor – The United States has returned an acquitted Iranian scientist to his home country after holding him for months in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. Both Washington and Tehran shot down rampant speculation that the United States had detained Sirous Asgari despite his acquittal on sanctions evasion charges in November to secure the release of Americans …