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

RFL/RE – Two senior clerics, officially recognized as grand ayatollahs and sources of emulation by Iran, have compared dervishes to the so-called Islamic State (IS), Daesh militants. Ignoring a call for peace and restraint by the leader of the Gonabadi dervishes, Naser Makarem Shirazi and Hossein Noori-Hamadani have accused the Sufis of “false mysticism” and “deviation.” Meanwhile, elderly hardline cleric …

RFL/RE – The UN Human Rights Council is set to open its 37th annual session, which will include a speech by Iran’s justice minister, who has been sanctioned by the European Union and host Switzerland. The event, which will feature a three-day summit of top leaders from some 100 countries and international organizations, will begin on February 26 and run …

RFL/RE – Iran has arrested three more environmentalists on spying charges, the country’s powerful judiciary has said. The arrests on February 25 came weeks after a wave of detentions and the death of a well-known Iranian-Canadian environmentalist who died in Iranian custody. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, quoted by the semi-official Fars news agency, said on February 25 that three …

Al-Arabia – Francis Fukuyama’s lecture at the recent World Government Summit held in Dubai covered three major perspectives. The American political scientist of Japanese descent and director of the Center on Democracy Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University noted that Tunisia alone can be considered a positive outcome of what is known as the Arab Spring. Major …

Al-Arabia – Iran said attacks would continue on rebel-held areas near Damascus, where clashes were reported on Sunday between insurgents and government forces despite a UN resolution demanding a 30-day truce across Syria.