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

CHRI – Freelance reporter Sepideh Qoliyan, issued a five-year sentence for reporting on a peaceful rally by sugar mill workers for unpaid wages, has had to report to prison to begin serving her sentence—even though some of her codefendants were pardoned—after refusing to sign a letter of apology to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Qoliyan, arrested in November 2018 in Shush, southwest Iran, for covering …

Al-Monitor – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says his country is properly handling its response to the coronavirus outbreak but is looking to make sure that people wear masks in public.  At a meeting of the National Headquarters for Combating the Coronavirus on June 25, Rouhani said that while some cities are seeing a spike in infections and deaths, “on the whole the …

csmonitor – Farmer Reza Ashrafi may have considered the death of his 14-year-old daughter Romina in the name of family honor inevitable. But its ability to spark an uproar that is challenging Iranian traditions of patriarchy and improving women’s and children’s rights had to appear unlikely. After all, hundreds of Iranian women die each year in so-called honor killings. Yet …

PayvandNews – An extensive dossier, which is an essential prerequisite for possible UNESCO inscription of a site, has almost been completed for the gigantic Tabas Geopark, which is situated in east-central Iran.  Tabas Geopark, which is situated in a vast county of the same name, has enormous potential to be registered as “the biggest geopark” [in West Asia region] and its trustees …

Variety – Taraneh Alidoosti, star of Asghar Farhadi’s “The Salesman” and one of Iran’s most popular female actors, is set to receive a five-month prison sentence on charges of anti-government activism, BBC Persia has reported. The BBC Persia report cited Alidoosti’s lawyer Kaveh Rad who tweeted that the sentence has been suspended for two years and would be officially announced in …