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

Shabtabnews – Ambassador Sam Brownback , the US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom , yesterday expressed in a formal letter his condolences on the passing of the Gonabadi Sufi’s spiritual leader, Dr Noor Ali Tabandeh and the plight of the Sufis in Iran. In the latter he stated “Nobody should suffer abuse because of their faith. Dr Tabandeh’s steadfast advocacy …

Radiofarda – Iran’s conservative dominated Guardian Council has barred nearly one third of the current members of the Iranian Parliament (Majles) from running for the upcoming parliamentary elections, official news agency IRNA and semei-official agency ISNA reported Sunday January 12. Some 800 candidates were also disqualified by the Interior Ministry last month. However, the 80 or so MPs whose disqualification …

Radiofarda – In a new daring letter to the Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a top Iranian dissident politician Mehdi Karroubi has dismissed him as “unqualified” for running the country. Referring to the downing of Ukraine Airlines Boeing 737 that killed all 176 passengers and crew January 8, Karroubi has insisted in the letter that Khamenei has none of …

Radiofarda – Iran’s exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi says the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is responsible for the downing of a Ukraine Airlines Boeing, which killed all 176 people onboard. Three days after the airliner crashed on a flight from Tehran to Kyiv, the Islamic Republic admitted that it was “erroneously” shot down by an anti-aircraft missile. The …

RFL/RE – Britain’s ambassador to Tehran has said he was detained briefly by Iranian authorities as he attended a vigil for the victims of last week’s crash of a Ukrainian passenger jet. Iran’s Mehr news agency said Rob Macaire was arrested on January 11 for his alleged “involvement in provoking suspicious acts” at the gathering in front of Tehran’s Amir …