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RFL/RE – One of two reformists approved to run in Iran’s June 18 presidential election has withdrawn his candidacy. Iranian media report that Mohsen Mehralizadeh, a 64-year-old former vice president, withdrew on June 16 — the last day of the election campaign. He was one of only two reformists permitted to run in the election to replace President Hassan Rohani, …

Iranwire – On Friday, June 18 both the presidential “election” and municipal council elections are due to be held on the same day in Iran. Opposition members inside and outside the country have called on social media for a boycott of the vote. To try to gauge public mood on the ground, IranWire’s citizen journalist visited a park east of …

VOA – Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has made more detailed allegations about Iran’s secretive relationship with al-Qaida, rekindling a debate about how the United States should respond to the decades-old cooperation between its Mideast rival and the anti-American terrorist network.   In an interview that aired Friday on VOA Persian’s TV channel, the former top U.S. diplomat, who …

Iranwire – The beautiful port city of Abadan, southwest Iran, was once a beacon of modernity in both Iran and the Middle East. Its history goes back to the Seleucid Empire in around 300BC, with its city’s name changing several times down the centuries before acquiring its present one – by degrees –  some time after the advent of Islam. …

CHRI – World powers negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program should present a joint stance against Iran’s cruel and unlawful practice of jailing dual nationals to use as bargaining chips, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) urged ahead of more show trials of dual nationals scheduled for April 28, 2021. “No government should be allowed to play …

VOA – The son of Iran’s last monarch, exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, has for the first time called on Iranians to consider creating an elected monarch position as part of any system that replaces the Islamic republic, while downplaying the prospect that he would serve in such a role.     Iran’s largely exiled opposition groups have long been divided on …

Iran-HRM – A Baluch fuel trader who was caught at the zero point of the border of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan and Pakistan died of hunger and thirst yesterday. The man identified as Fazl Sabzel, was among hundreds of fuel carriers who are currently caught in the Zero Point of the border, without proper access to food and water, as …

Iranwire – A lot has been said about the unbelievable rates of drug addiction among different age groups and demographics in Iran. Numerous studies have been conducted into this social phenomenon, but in most of the published reports, the addicts themselves are notable for their absence. Do today’s drug users and addicts resemble those of times gone by? What socio-economic …

Al-Arabia – Iran-backed militia are using disguises to carry out their war of violence in Syria, local residents have told Al Arabiya as part of a new documentary. They plant sleeper cells and use bribery and brutal force to build their army and gain a further stronghold across the Middle Eastern war-torn country, according to sources. For all the latest …

RFL/RE – Iran says it has charged 10 officials over the crash of a Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) jet that was shot down last year, killing all 176 people on board. Gholam Abbas Torki, the former military prosecutor for Tehran Province, said on April 6 that the 10 have been “brought to responsibility” and will face trial to determine “the …