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

Iranwire – “Jews have the same rights as Muslims in the Islamic Republic!” This was one of the many claims made by Homayoon Sameh Yeh Najafabadi, a Jewish MP and representative of the Jewish community in the Iranian parliament, in a recent interview with the state-controlled Young Journalists Club. During the discussion, the chair of the Tehran Jewish Committee insisted his community …

Iranwire – Two Baha’i citizens of Shiraz who were recently released from Adelabad Prison contracted COVID-19 while inside, with one now fighting for his life in hospital. Behrouz Farzandi Ardakani and Ghassem Masoumi were among seven Baha’is detained in the city in April in recent fresh crackdowns on the religious minority group. The group were variously held in solitary confinement …

iranwire – Iran’s Foreign Ministry has denied a published story about Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s wife being subjected to a travel ban. On Sunday, May 16, the Telegram channel Saham News, which is linked to house-arrested reformist cleric Mehdi Karroubi, said that Maryam Imaniyeh had been blocked from traveling abroad. The missive came weeks after a taped interview with Zarif …

amnesty – The horrifying murder of a 20-year-old gay man in Iran has shed new light on how the criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual conduct and gender non-conformity perpetuates systemic violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI), said Amnesty International in a detailed analysis issued to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersex-phobia and Transphobia. …

mei.edu – Iran will hold presidential elections on June 18 and despite considerable efforts by the authorities, the battle at the ballot box is set to be a lifeless affair. A solid majority of Iranian voters have by now entirely lost hope that voting makes any difference. Actual turnout could be as low as 20% as compared to the 73% recorded …