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

VOA – Aficionados of Western classical music have carved out a niche for themselves in Iran, where cultural expression remains tightly controlled by strict rules imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. And perhaps surprisingly, musicians in their 20s and 30s perform for overwhelmingly young audiences. Last week, the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, including female musicians in burgundy headscarves on cello, horn …

gatestoneinstitute.org – US, British, French and other Western bases in the region are the most likely targets for future terrorist attacks, and a number of Western governments are understood to have responded by ordering their military and diplomatic missions in the region to upgrade security arrangements. The discovery of the African network follows recent revelations of Iran’s attempts to expand …

CHRI – One month after political prisoner Alireza Shirmohammadali was murdered in the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary (GTCP) after being unlawfully held in a ward with inmates convicted of violent crimes, two prison officials have been fired while the unofficial policy that precipitated the tragedy remains in place. The results of a judicial investigation into his death have not been made public. But …

After gunmen killed 12 staff members of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo for the paper’s content in 2015, Iranian-American comedian Maz Jobrani joined colleagues in a video produced by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) to express solidarity with the victims and defend free speech. Born in Iran seven years before a revolution turned his country into an Islamic Republic in …

Al-Monitor – In response to the United States’ withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran announced it has taken what it calls its “second step” away from the accord.  Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, told reporters July 8, “We waited two months, and Iran’s second countermeasures started …