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

CHRI —In an open letter to the delegates at the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) 110th Session of the International Labour Conference, currently being held in Geneva, Switzerland, the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, Iran’s national teachers’ organization, has requested that the Islamic Republic’s representatives be removed from the governing board of the ILO. The open letter, which has garnered close to 2000 signatures …

Iran-HRM – A court in Iran has sentenced Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activist Hojjat Esmatzadeh to 50 lashes and two years and six months in prison. According to the verdict, issued in absentia by Branch 101 of the Criminal Court of Naghadeh, Hojjat Esmatzadeh was sentenced to 50 lashes and one year in prison for disturbing public order and 18 …

Iran-HRM – Former political prisoner Arash Sadeghi said that Iranian authorities amputated the fingers of a prisoner for theft in Tehran’s Evin Prison. In a tweet on June 2, Arash Sadeghi wrote: “Since one month ago, a device called a guillotine (for amputation) has been brought to a room in Evin Prison infirmary. On May 31, the four fingers of …

Al-Monitor – Two May 30 reports on Iran’s nuclear program by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) paint a dire picture. Iran has now produced over 43 kilograms of 60% highly enriched uranium (HEU). This is enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon if further enriched to 90%, a process that could take just a couple of weeks. Iran’s “breakout” time …

Al-Monitor – Iran, Iraq and Syria have pledged to work together on the sandstorms plaguing the region.  The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported yesterday that Iran’s Department of the Environment signed a memorandum of understanding on combating the storms with Syria. The department will sign another memorandum with Iraq in July, according to the agency.  The Middle East has been hit …