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

Iran-HRM – Despite suffering from a heart condition, political prisoner Mehran Qarebaghi is deprived of urgently needed medical care. Reliable sources in the Prison of Behbahan, in the southwestern Khuzestan Province, reported that Mehran Qarebaghi, 29, is in tremendous pain because of a heart condition he has suffered due to stress and massive pressure under interrogation and during detention. Nevertheless, he …

Iran-HRM – Forty-seven political prisoners went on hunger strike in the Central Prison of Urmia in protest of being transferred to a high-security ward. A reliable source in the Central Prison of Urmia (CPU) said the CPU warden had ordered the transfer of the forty-seven political prisoners to the new high-security ward where there is not enough facilities and space. …

CHRI – The government of Iran should allow teachers to exercise their right to public protest without the threat of violence or arbitrary arrest, said the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) in a statement today. Teachers should be allowed to voice their legitimate demands for fair pay and the release of their unlawfully jailed colleagues. Teachers and supporters protested in …

RFL/RE – Saudi Arabia and Iran have held a new round of talks aimed at mending badly strained ties, the Jordanian state news agency reported on December 13, as the Saudi envoy to the United Nations accused Tehran of playing “games” in its dialogue with Riyadh.Shi’ite-led Iran and Sunni-controlled Saudi Arabia are bitter rivals in the struggle for influence in …

Iranwire – In recent weeks, the Ministry of Education has been trumpeting the proportion of vaccinated school pupils: a reported, underwhelming 35 percent. Concurrently, health officials are warning that Covid-19 cases among both students and their teachers are rising, while fears abound over the new, highly transmissible Omicron variant. Between September and November all schools across Iran gradually reopened, even …