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

RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have warned manufacturers and sellers of women’s clothing that they will shut down their businesses if they keep using “loud” colors in their products. In a statement to the Roydad24 website, Majid Emami, who heads Iran’s fashion and clothing organization, quoted the Ministry of Industry and Trade as saying that women’s clothing manufacturers could lose the right …

RFL/RE – Hundreds of civil activists in the western Lorestan Province have issued a statement calling on the Iranian authorities to release a woman who was arrested for protesting the mandatory head scarf and was apparently beaten to force a televised confession from her. The signatories of this letter described Sepideh Rashno’s “forced confessions” on state television as a “ridiculous display” and …

Iranwire – The past few days in Iran have been peppered by reports on contraceptive drugs apparently being blocked from sale due to an alarming combination of shortages, a new directive blocking over-the-counter sales, and the shadowy presence of the so-called “morality patrols”  trying hard to put buyers off. A spokesperson for Iran’s Food and Drug Administration has tried to dampen down the situation, …

Iranwire – Another 70 Iranian human rights activists have added their names to global condemnation of the ongoing state-backed wave of attacks on Iran’s Baha’i community. The country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority has come under increased pressure in recent weeks, with scores arbitrarily arrested, subjected to raids, or even made homeless overnight. The statement issued Wednesday, whose signatories included Nobel Peace Prize …

Iranwire – Aziz Jabbari, a former presenter with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in Ardebil, has been sentenced to an additional three years in prison over posts on Instagram despite his extremely poor health, IranWire understands. Jabbari was first arrested in the late spring 2018 by Ardebil’s Intelligence Bureau. He was later convicted of “insulting the sanctities” and “insulting …