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

Radiofarda – “Not only those on board but they also hit us all on that plane, all of us; tired parents, a brother who was devastated and overnight grew old. There is no happiness left in our house,” says Arezoo Ghaffouri Azar, the sister of Siavash Ghaffouri Azar, who was killed along with his wife, Sara Mamani, when the Islamic …

VOA – Outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Iran is the new home base for the al-Qaida terrorist group.  Analysts paint a more complicated picture but agree Iran has long harbored senior al-Qaida members, noting that Iran will continue to pose a challenge for the incoming Biden administration. With VOA’s Persian Service contributing, VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports …

VOA – The United States has sanctioned two Iranian foundations controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the State Department said Wednesday, the latest move in a U.S. pressure campaign against Tehran in the last days of Donald Trump’s presidency. The Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO) and Astan Quds Razavi (AQR), allegedly enabled Iran’s elite to “control large portions …

(HRW) – Iranian authorities held a tight grip on peaceful activism during 2020, jailing lawyers, human rights defenders, and those who protested government corruption, mismanagement, and repression, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2021.As the country grapples with controlling the spread of Covid-19, judicial and intelligence authorities have excluded dozens of human rights defenders and political prisoners from temporary release measures to …

CHRI – On January 9, 2021, a press report was published in Iran about the imminent execution of 29-year-old wrestler Mehdi Ali-Hosseini for a murder he allegedly committed five years ago. He was scheduled to be executed on January 10 but was granted a week to seek a pardon from the victim’s family and escape the gallows, his brother Hamzeh Ali-Hosseini told the Iranian Students News …