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

Iranwire – Close to 4,000 Iranian doctors applied for a Certificate of Good Standing in order to emigrate to and work in other countries last year, a spokesman for the Iranian Medical System Association has said. Dr. Reza Laripour, a clinician, vice-chancellor at the military’s AJA University of Medical Sciences and the Association’s head of PR, told reporters on Monday …

Iranwire – The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when the faithful in most Islamic countries keep a fast each day from dawn to dusk, began this year on Sunday, April 3. The very next day in Iran’s Lorestan province, it was reported that several businesses had been closed, and a handful of people arrested, for violating domestic fasting laws. Colonel …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wants more Iranians to memorize the Quran.  “We should be able to train 10 million Iranian people who have memorized the #Quran,” Khameini tweeted today in a reference to the Islamic holy book.  A hafiz or hafiza refers to a Muslim man or woman, respectively, who has memorized the Quran. Being a hafiz or hafiza …

RFL/RE – Iran says the United States is to blame for a delay in continuing talks to finalize a nuclear deal with world powers that is “very much within reach.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on April 4 that Tehran “won’t wait forever” after several last-minute snags threatened to derail months of efforts to revive the 2015 agreement, which …

gatestoneinstitute.org – “For China… the Ukrainian crisis provided a unique opportunity to increase its access to Russia’s natural resources, particularly gas, gain contracts for infrastructure projects and new markets for Chinese technology, and turn Russia into a junior partner in the relationship between the two countries.” — Report by the European Council on Foreign Relations, February 2015. In addition to …