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Radiofarda – An outspoken Tehran lawmaker, Mahmoud Sadeghi has lambasted the Islamic Republic’s powerful Expediency Discernment Council (EDC) for its “boundless” expansion. Members of the Iranian parliament talking during a session in August 2017. Mahmoud Sadeghi is seen on the right. Speaking to pro-reform daily E’temad, Sadeghi said, “EDC was supposed to just hold meetings, but it has turned into …

Radiofarda – Western sanctions on Damascus and U.S. sanctions on Tehran have led to serious fuel shortages in Syria, which announced measures April 14 to deal with long lines at the pumps. Syrian authorities are seeking to “regulate the distribution at gas stations” and to ensure even deliveries across to country while “preventing waste and smuggling”, the official SANA news …

Radiofarda – Nearly nine million Iranians are suffering from “absolute illiteracy” a news report compiled by Majles (Iranian parliament) Research Center (MRC) says. Iran’s population has risen to 82 million from less than 40 million four decades ago, but the country’s economy is struggling with high rates of unemployment and poverty. Statistics compiled by international organizations, such as UNESCO show …

Radiofarda – An Iranian official announced April 13 that the country’s total exports of petrochemical products during the last fiscal year stood at 20 million tons, worth $10.645 billion. Iran’s fiscal year ended March 20. Taghi Sanei, the head of Nouri Petrochemical Company — majority owned by government– didn’t mention whether U.S. sanctions affected this sector or not, but according …

Radiofarda – The trial of a suspect charged with hiring gunmen to kill an exiled Iranian in the Netherlands is scheduled to be held sometime in May. The court found two men guilty of the murder and sentenced them to 20 and 25 years, respectively. Mohammad Reza Kolahi Samadi who escaped from Iran in 1981 and lived in the Netherlands …