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

Iranwire – Orders targeting Iran’s Baha’i religious minority and instructing local security agencies and government departments to “conduct strict controls” on the Baha’is were revealed this week by two human rights groups. The directives were issued by a “high-level government commission” for the city of Sari, in the country’s northern Mazandaran province, and a copy was received by the League …

RFL/RE – Iran will hold a presidential election in less than three months amid speculation that a hard-liner and a “military man” could succeed Hassan Rohani, who is serving his final term and is under heavy pressure from his hard-line opponents who have consolidated power in the Islamic republic.As with all elections in Iran, potential candidates for the June 18 …

aa.com – The US said Tuesday it has not changed its judgment that there is a genocide against Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China’s northwestern Xinjiang autonomous region.  “We are unaware that these atrocities have ceased,” said State Department Spokesperson Ned Price at a press briefing. He recalled that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and incumbent Secretary …

Al-Arabia – The “ball is in Iran’s court,” and it is on Tehran to prove that it’s serious about re-engaging with the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. Washington has repeatedly expressed an interest and willingness to sit down with Iran for direct talks on the nuclear deal, which former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018. For all the latest headlines, …

RFL/RE – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has demanded the “immediate release” of aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other dual nationals detained in Iran. Johnson raised the case of Zaghari-Ratcliffe during a phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rohani, and said her “continued confinement remains completely unacceptable” and that she must be allowed to return to her family in Britain, …