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

RFL/RE – Iran Human Rights Organization says Mohsen Safari, who was convicted on narcotics charges, has been executed despite a doctor’s diagnosis that he suffered from a mental disorder. The rights group quoted Safari’s relatives as saying on July 27 that he was executed at the request of the Counterintelligence Organization. Safari was arrested in 2009 after being caught with …

Iranwire – Sardar Pashaei, a former world wrestling champion and coach of Iran’s national wrestling teams, protested yesterday against the removal of Mahsa Ghorbani, Iran’s first female international football referee, from participating in the 2022 World Cup by publishing a photo of her on Twitter. Mr. Pashaei wrote in his tweet: “Mahsa Ghorbani, Iran’s first female international football referee, was …

Iranwire – On Thursday, 28 July, the US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt, protested against an antisemitic tweet published on the Twitter account of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, and demanded that such messages stop. Khamenei had called the “Western powers” a “mafia” with “Zionist merchants” at the top who give orders to elected politicians. …

Iranwire – On July 23, women’s rights activists raised the alarm that the actress Nazanin Bahrami had been arrested. It came shortly after she had signed an 800-strong statement denouncing sexual abuse and violence in the film industry. Reports have since circulated that Bahrami has been able to call her family, and that she was arrested by one of the …

gatestoneinstitute.org – The Iranian regime’s decision to give its backing to Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine… represents an alarming expansion in Iran’s military ambitions beyond the Middle East. Arguably Khamenei’s most revealing comment during the visit was his call for Iran and Russia to increase what he termed “reciprocal cooperation” between the two countries to counter the threat of Western …