Social and Political

Radiofarda – After two people died of Coronavirus in Iran on Wednesday, officials hinted at more cases of infections, fueling an atmosphere of deep apprehension among the public and expressions of distrust toward the government. The revelation that the virus has reached Iran is taken by many as an admission that infections may had already spread in Qom, the religious …

Radiofarda – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, in his latest report has highlighted the mid-November anti-regime protests that shook the Islamic Republic for four days. Rehman has asserted in the report that he was “shocked” at the number of deaths, acute injuries, and stories of ill-treatment of persons detained during …

Al-Arabia – Iranians began voting on Friday in a parliamentary election unlikely to change the Islamic Republic’s troubled relations with the United States, after thousands of candidates were barred from the field in favor of hardliners. The disqualification of some 9,000 potential candidates, most of them reformists and moderates, raised the possibility of lower-than-usual turnout.State television reported that polling started at …

RFL/RE – Iraq and Kuwait have temporarily restricted the entry of Iranians into their countries in an effort to stem the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus following Iran’s announcement that two people there had died from the disease. The Iraqi Border Crossing Authority on February 20 said Iranian travelers will be denied entry to Iraq through shared border crossings for …

RFL/RE – Iran said on February 20 that three more people have tested positive for a new coronavirus in the holy Shi’ite city of Qom, where two people the previous day had died of the illness caused by the virus.The IRNA state news agency reported that all schools and universities, including religious Shi’ite seminaries, were closed in the holy Iranian …

VOA – The United States on Thursday slapped sanctions on five Iranian officials in charge of vetting candidates for the Islamic republic’s parliamentary elections, in which thousands, predominantly moderates, have been barred from running. The officials targeted ahead of Friday’s vote include Ahmad Jannati, a 92-year-old cleric who, according to the Treasury Department, oversaw the disqualification of nearly half the …

Al-Monitor – The elections for Iran’s 11th parliament since the 1979 Islamic Revolution will take place Feb. 21, a day when most people do not have to work. With many well-known Reformists barred from running, the vote will ultimately be a contest between conservative and hard-line candidates, both of whom will likely work overtime to undo the policies of moderate President Hassan Rouhani. Headlining the list …

Al-Monitor – Ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for Feb. 21, Iranian hard-liners find themselves facing an unprecedented challenge: the emergence of a group with left-leaning tendencies spawned inside its own conservative camp. The mostly young activists of the Justice Seekers current are practically communists in the eyes of their former friends on the far-right. In the latters’ eyes, the Justice Seekers represent a threat in their willingness to cross certain redlines. As a result of some of …

PayvandNews – The Iranian parliament has approved the details of a government bill to drop four zeros from the national currency rial. Reports in the local media on Wednesday said that the parliament’s economic committee had gone through all technical details of the bill which seeks to amend Article 1 of Iran’s Monetary and Banking Law to allow the government …

Radiofarda – First Vice-President of Iran on Wednesday said he was unaware of revelations about the torture an environmentalist in prison has suffered in the hands of her interrogators, but he said he will discuss it at the Cabinet meeting on Sunday. Es’haq Jahangiri made the comment in response to a reporter’s question at the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting …