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

rferl.org – When Syria’s civil war erupted, Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) recruited, trained, and deployed thousands of Shi’ite fighters to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Among them was the Fatemiyoun Brigade, comprised mainly of Afghans from the country’s Shi’ite Hazara minority. From 2011, the IRGC recruited thousands of Afghan migrants and refugees within its …

rferl.org – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said Washington was “outraged” by violence against protesters in the Iraqi city of Najaf and he urged Baghdad to “immediately address legitimate grievances.” Pompeo’s statement on February 6 comes day after at least eight Iraqi protesters were killed when supporters of influential Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed an anti-government protest camp …

iran-hrm – Nearly three months past the November 2019 protests in Iran, civil activists and families of some of those arrested during the protests say of having absolutely no information on the fate of their arrested relatives. Many families are extremely concerned that their children might be among those killed in the protests since they have not contacted home since …

radiofarda – A Court of Appeals of Tehran has upheld prison sentences of three women for defying the forced veiling laws but reduced it to a combined 31 years and seven months from an earlier total of 55 years and six months. According to Amir Raeesian who represents Monireh Arabshahi and her daughter Yasamin Ariany, the Court of Appeal issued …

radiofarda – Iran’s Cyber Police officials on Thursday said two individuals who spread false news about coronavirus outbreak in Kurdestan and Hormozgan provinces have been arrested. According to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Ramin Pashaei, Social Deputy of Iran’s Cyber Police (also known as FATA), has said that an individual who claimed that a coronavirus victim was hospitalized in …