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

RFL/RE – A shop owner in Iran has been sentenced to two years in prison after publishing photos without a hijab, or head scarf, the U.S.-based human rights network HRANA said on January 5. According to the activists, Zeinab Khenyabpour had already been sentenced to three months in prison in early December in another case for “propaganda against the state.” …

VOA – The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility Thursday for two suicide bombings that killed 84 people in Iran who had gathered for a memorial at the grave of Revolutionary Guards General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed four years ago by a U.S. drone strike. In a statement on social media, Islamic State said two “martyr brothers” headed to …

VOA – The leader of an Iranian-backed militia tied to repeated attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq is dead, killed in what American officials are describing as a precision airstrike in the heart of Baghdad. U.S. defense officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss details of the operation, said the midday strike targeted a vehicle outside …

Amnesty – Iranian Kurdish man Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei is at imminent risk of execution in relation to the September-December 2022 nationwide protests. On 16 December 2023, Branch 17 of the Supreme Court upheld his conviction and death sentence for “murder”, which were issued by a criminal court following a grossly unfair trial that admitted his torture-tainted forced “confessions” as “evidence”. …

Al-Arabia – Russia is planning to buy short-range ballistic missiles from Iran, a step that would enhance Moscow’s ability to target Ukraine’s infrastructure, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing US officials. Last year, the White House said it was seeing more indications that Russia and Iran were expanding an unprecedented defense partnership that would help Moscow prolong its …