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VOA – The Taliban’s meeting last month with high-ranking Iranian officials in Tehran is seen by some experts as an effort by the Iranian regime to increase its leverage in negotiations with the Biden administration and maintain influence in Afghan politics. Iran hosted a Taliban delegation, led by its deputy leader, Mullah Baradar, for a week, saying it was “part …

VOA – Iran’s prolonged economic recession and increasing regional isolation as its Islamist rulers mark 42 years in power is largely a result of those rulers maintaining ideological adherence to their 1979 revolution through a discordant power structure, according to some Iranian analysts. Iranian authorities celebrated the anniversary of the revolution by mobilizing government supporters to stage a series of …

Iranwire – The lead protagonists in this film are Kurdistan and the kolbars of Kurdistan. In one of Iran’s most remote, deprived and little-understood regions, every day hundreds of people – from 12-year-old boys to men in their 70s – strap up to 50 kilos’ worth of goods to their backs and set out on foot, singing, on the days-long …

Iranwire – Massoud Kordpour, a human rights activist and editor-in-chief of Mokrian News Agency, describes new IranWire documentary They Shoot Kulbars, Don’t They? as a short but clever account of the history of poverty, deprivation, and discrimination in Kurdistan. *** Massoud Kordpour lives in Iran and currently resides in Bukan, in West Azerbaijan province. The new documentary They Shoot Kolbars, Don’t They? reminded him, he tells …

VOA – The pro-democracy group Freedom House has released a report detailing how countries such as China, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, and Turkey systematically employ violence and intimidation against exiles and diasporas to silence dissent beyond their borders. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.

VOA – Tehran said Monday that the impasse over the future of the Iran nuclear deal could be broken, suggesting that Europe help choreograph moves by Iran and the United States to return to the agreement. Henry Ridgwell looks at the future prospects for the 2015 accord.

Iranwire – Regular readers of IranWire will by now be well-versed in the calamitous approach of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the threat posed by coronavirus, and of the tragedy that has befallen the Iranian people as a consequence. From the very outset of the pandemic in January 2020, the regime’s official response to coronavirus was clouded by political …

VOA – The recent arrest by Turkish authorities of an alleged Iranian spy ring is seen as a sign of increasing rivalry between the two neighbors.  The arrest comes as Turkey seeks to expand its influence in the Caucasus, an area considered by Tehran as its backyard. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. 

VOA – Outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Iran is the new home base for the al-Qaida terrorist group.  Analysts paint a more complicated picture but agree Iran has long harbored senior al-Qaida members, noting that Iran will continue to pose a challenge for the incoming Biden administration. With VOA’s Persian Service contributing, VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports …

Radiozamaneh – At midnight on Friday, 15 November 2019, the price of fuel carriers in Iran increased by 200% without notice, and free petrol’s price increased from 10,000 rials (1000 tomans) to 30,000 rials (3000 tomans) per liter. This increase followed an extrajudicial decision by the Supreme Economic Coordination Council of the Heads of the Three Powers. This council, also known …