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

RFL/RE – Baha’i poet Mahvash Sabet, who was jailed for nearly a decade in Iran, has been selected as the 2017 International Writer of Courage. Northern Ireland poet Michael Longley named Sabet at the PEN Pinter Prize ceremony at the British Library in London on October 10. Longley won the prize earlier this year. The award is shared with a writer who has …

VOA — President Donald Trump is expected to announce within days that he will no longer certify Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement, giving Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran. By law, the president has until October 15 to decide, but White House sources said the action might come sooner. “The president has reached a …

CHRI – Iranian Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi has vowed to block “anti-revolutionary channels” on the Telegram messaging application after the popular Amad News channel reported that a state official’s daughter was arrested for spying. “We are seriously seeking to derail channels that oppose the state,” said Jahromi, a former intelligence official, on October 8, 2017. Iranian officials often threaten to block access to Telegram channels that are critical of the …

Al-Monitor – In the wake of emerging reports that Washington is preparing to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the commander of the Guard Corps have adopted a unitary position, warning the White House over the possible consequences of such a move. In a meeting on the coordination for holding the 40th anniversary of …

Al-Monitor – In the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the country’s educational system all but collapsed. Illiteracy rates have exploded. Universities have turned into sectarian battlegrounds. Systemic violence — including beatings, rape and death threats — has forced students and faculty out of campuses. As state provision of higher education has receded, private donors have set up alternative …