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RFL/RE – Iran’s civil aviation organization has grounded ATR-72 planes belon ging to Aseman Airlines after one of them crashed this week with 65 people on board, state media reported on February 23. The regulator was reported as saying that the measure was temporary as authorities investigate the cause of the accident on February 18 in which an ATR-72 twin-engine …

Guardian – Conservationists sound alarm over unprecedented slaughter of rare and endangered species by hunters at three lagoons Robin McKie The Siberian crane is among species that inhabit or visit Iran’s Fereydunkenar wetlands, where as many as one half – a million birds – are now hunted every year. Photograph: Arterra/UIG via Getty Images A million wild birds a year …

RFL/RE – After days of bloody clashes between dervishes and security services, a dervish leader has implored his followers to remain calm despite continued threats from authorities.

RFL/RE – The protests of individual women in Iran against compulsory veil continues, as more women remove their head-scarfs in public as a sign of defiance. http://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-women-protesting-hijab-arrested/29058545.html Authorities also continue their crackdown against these protesters. Radio Farda has learned that from Wednesday to Thursday, two more women who have come to be known as “women of Revolution Street” were detained. …

Reuters – Oil that reached islands in southern Japan earlier this month is highly likely to have come from the sunken Iranian tanker Sanchi, the Japan Coast Guard said on Thursday.