Social and Political

Radiofarda – Almost five billion dollars of the Islamic Republic’s money is missing, says the Director of the Supreme Audit Court of Iran (SAC), Adel Azar. Based on the official rate of 42,000 rials for one dollar, the Islamic Republic government distributes billions of cheap dollars among local importers to buy essential goods from overseas. Many of these importers are …

Radiofarda – An official of Iran’s Judiciary on Tuesday said prison guards had been involved in the escape of prisoners from a jail in the northwestern city of Saqqez on March 27. In a radio program on Tuesday Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, Spokesman of the Judiciary, said the riot in Saqqez prison “was a unique incident” which had become possible with the …

Radiofarda – In its most recent report on the world economy, the International Monetary Fund has said Iran’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, will decline by about six percent in 2020. This would be the third consecutive annual decline of Iran’s GDP. In its report released on April 14, IMF put Iran’s GDP decline in 2019 at 7.6 percent and in …

Radiofarda – Radio Farda has learned that Iran is pushing Ukraine to sign a memorandum of understanding obliging Ukraine and the families of victims of flight 752, shot down over Tehran, to waive their right to pursue the matter any further through courts. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard fired two missiles at Ukraine’s flight 752 on January 8 in the wake of …

RFL/RE – Unidentified armed men have boarded a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker off the coast of Iran near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a British monitoring organization and a private intelligence firm reported. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said the vessel was boarded on April 14 while anchored just off the Iranian coast in the Sea of Oman, but added that …

Al-Monitor – “We are playing a chess game with the coronavirus,” said Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki, speaking on the complications Iran is facing in its ongoing fight against the virus. According to an updated government report, at least three of the 31 Iranian provinces — among them Qom, which served as the initial epicenter — are currently grappling with a resurgence of the …

Al-Arabia – Iran said on Tuesday that the number of lives lost in the country to the novel coronavirus dropped to double figures for the first time in one month. For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 98 deaths from the COVID-19 disease were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall toll …

Radiofarda – A Luxembourg court has blocked a long-running US request to transfer $1.6 billion of dollars in Iranian assets to victims of the September 11 attacks, an official statement said on Monday. The decision confirmed a claim by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani who on Sunday said the country had won a legal victory over the assets that had long …

VOA – An international organization representing Baha’is says it is extremely concerned about Iran’s ongoing detention of up to 100 Baha’is at risk of contracting the coronavirus in Iranian prisons.   In a VOA Persian interview on Monday, the Baha’i International Community’s chief representative to the U.N. in New York, Bani Dugal, said an estimated 50 to 100 Iranian Baha’is remain …

Radiofarda – Five thousand labor and civic activists in Iran have issued a statement demanding renegotiation over a minimum wage decision announced by the government on April 9. According to the law, a tripartite commission of government officials, employers and workers should negotiate the minimum wage for workers and laborers every year. This year, the government and employers agreed on …