Social and Political

Radiofarda – Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani has tested positive for COVID-19, parliament’s department of public relations announced in a statement on Thursday, April 2. Responding to several members of parliament inquiring about Larijani’s health, the statement has affirmed that following the detection of some symptoms, Mr. Larijani was tested positive, and immediately quarantined. A former commander of the Islamic …

Radiofarda – The relatives of the 176 victims of the Ukrainian airliner shot down by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard over Tehran on January 8 have set up an association to seek justice for the death of their loved ones. In a video circulated on social media, Hamed Esmaeilion, a Canadian-Iranian dentist from Toronto, says members of the board of directors of the association …

Radiofarda – When it comes to the regime in Iran, the adage “old habits die hard” could not be truer. Even amid a negligent and botched response to the coronavirus pandemic, Tehran’s leaders are investing precious resources to further their nuclear program in violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal. Some of these violations, like Iran’s …

Radiofarda – President Hassan Rouhani says U.S. sanctions have not curbed Iran’s ability to cope with the COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, for the first time he acknowledged that there is no end in sight for the current crisis. The remark made at the cabinet’s economic meeting on Thursday April 2 contradicts Rouhnai and his Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s weeks-long propaganda campaign …

RRFL/RE – Across the globe, the number of reported confirmed cases of the coronavirus is always higher than the day before, topping 1 million as of April 2. But what if the true numbers are actually even higher? Experts say data — and how it is reported, or not reported — can give us an incomplete portrait of the problem. …

VOA – Recent intelligence suggesting Iranian-backed forces in Iraq are actively plotting to hit U.S. troops may have stirred a new war of words between Washington and Tehran on social media, but it has done little to shock U.S. defense officials.  U.S. President Donald Trump first shared word of the latest intelligence in a tweet Wednesday, warning of a “sneak …

CHRI – As inmates in Iran continue to be killed or injured in “prison disturbances” amid the country’s devastating COVID-19 outbreak, two defense attorneys in Tehran have joined the growing chorus of domestic and international voices that has been calling on Iranian authorities to release all eligible prisoners before it’s too late. The following statement was written by human rights lawyers Arash Keykhosravi and Saeid Dehghan, who both represented the family of Kavous Seyed-Emami, …

AP — A top Iranian general arrived in Baghdad this week to try and unify Iraq’s fractured political leaders, Iraqi officials said Wednesday, as stiff opposition by one major bloc thwarts chances the country’s latest prime minister-designate can form a government. Meanwhile, revenues from oil exports were slashed by nearly half due to plummeting oil prices in March, according to …

Reuters -In February, an Iraqi militia commander trained by Iran took over the empty office of his slain superior, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, killed weeks before alongside Iranian military mastermind Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike. Many pro-Iran militiamen hoped this was the answer to their problems: the experienced commander Abdul Aziz al-Mohammedawi might replace Muhandis as overall leader of …

RFL/RE – A senior U.S. official has told Reuters that Washington believes agents under the direction of Tehran were “directly involved” in the killing of an Iranian dissident in November in Turkey. Masud Molavi Vardanjani, a former intelligence operative for Iran before he began exposing corruption involving Iranian officials, was shot and killed in Istanbul on November 14.“Given Iran’s history …