Social and Political

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 …

RFL/RE – President Donald Trump has warned Iran of a “heavy price” if it or its allies in Iraq attack U.S. troops or assets in Iraq. “Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq,” Trump tweeted on April 1. “If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!” …

gatestoneinstitute.org – The Iranian regime’s failure to grasp the significance of the outbreak in its own country has led 16 other countries in the region to claim that their own outbreaks originated in Iran. These include Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates. The European aid package, which is said to be worth $548,000, is the first …

theguardian.com – More than 130,000 Afghans have fled the coronavirus outbreak convulsing Iran to return home to Afghanistan amid fears they are bringing new infections with them to the conflict-ridden and impoverished country. The huge spike in Afghans crossing the porous border from Iran, in one of the biggest cross-border movements of the pandemic, has led to mounting fears in the humanitarian …