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VOA – The United States on Thursday slapped sanctions on five Iranian officials in charge of vetting candidates for the Islamic republic’s parliamentary elections, in which thousands, predominantly moderates, have been barred from running. The officials targeted ahead of Friday’s vote include Ahmad Jannati, a 92-year-old cleric who, according to the Treasury Department, oversaw the disqualification of nearly half the …

Al-Monitor – The elections for Iran’s 11th parliament since the 1979 Islamic Revolution will take place Feb. 21, a day when most people do not have to work. With many well-known Reformists barred from running, the vote will ultimately be a contest between conservative and hard-line candidates, both of whom will likely work overtime to undo the policies of moderate President Hassan Rouhani. Headlining the list …

Al-Monitor – Ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for Feb. 21, Iranian hard-liners find themselves facing an unprecedented challenge: the emergence of a group with left-leaning tendencies spawned inside its own conservative camp. The mostly young activists of the Justice Seekers current are practically communists in the eyes of their former friends on the far-right. In the latters’ eyes, the Justice Seekers represent a threat in their willingness to cross certain redlines. As a result of some of …

PayvandNews – The Iranian parliament has approved the details of a government bill to drop four zeros from the national currency rial. Reports in the local media on Wednesday said that the parliament’s economic committee had gone through all technical details of the bill which seeks to amend Article 1 of Iran’s Monetary and Banking Law to allow the government …

Radiofarda – First Vice-President of Iran on Wednesday said he was unaware of revelations about the torture an environmentalist in prison has suffered in the hands of her interrogators, but he said he will discuss it at the Cabinet meeting on Sunday. Es’haq Jahangiri made the comment in response to a reporter’s question at the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting …