Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.

CHRI – Followers of imprisoned Iranian spiritual leader Mohammad Ali Taheri are being arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) while he awaits a verdict more than three weeks after he was retried for the charge of “corruption on earth.” “[Branch 26 of the Revolutionary] Court should have issued a ‘not guilty’ verdict by now, but I don’t know what’s …

CHRI – Former MP Urges Rouhani to “Expose” Human Rights Violators Iran’s Sunni Muslim community is “disappointed” by President Hassan Rouhani’s decision to exclude members of the minority religious group from his cabinet, two former Sunni members of Parliament told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). One MP said Rouhani should “expose” those who oppose the inclusion of Sunnis …

CHRI – Reformist members of Iran’s Parliament have established the Committee to Seek an End to House Arrests following the recent hospitalization of 79-year-old political opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi. “We want resolve this matter without any media sensationalism or political hype,” said Ghasem Mirzaei Nikoo, a member of the pro-Rouhani Hope Faction in Parliament, in an interview with the state-funded Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) on August 8, 2017. The reformist …

Al-Monitor — When Hamas’ politcal bureau member Izzat al-Rishq, heading a delegation from the movement, met with Iran’s supreme leader’s foreign policy adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, it was the first time the two men had met since 1991, when the former was still a junior member of Hamas and the latter was Iran’s foreign minister. The 1991 meeting gave Iran a strong ally …

Al-monitor  — Iranians who wish to travel to the European Union face myriad challenges, in particular obtaining visas. Indeed, the state of political relations between Tehran and the EU states has made the visa application process difficult for citizens of Iran. These difficulties have in turn led to the emergence of a “visa mafia” of sorts, in the form of travel agents who help Iranians obtain …