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

Iranhumanrights.org – Intelligence Ministry Blocks Release of Maryam Akbari-Monfared Two years ago the family of political prisoner Maryam Akbari-Monfared posted an unusually high bail amount for her temporary release on furlough, but her husband says Iran’s Intelligence Ministry is blocking her release from Evin Prison’s Women’s Ward, where she has been held since 2009. “In 2014 they demanded 1.15 billion …

PayvandNews – Iran says its exports of hand-woven carpets to the United States have reached around $50 million since the removal of sanctions in January. Hamid Kargar, head of the Iran National Carpet Center, told Reuters that Iran was under pressure in the US market by rivals such as India, Pakistan and Turkey during the years that the sanctions were …

Al-monitor – Conditions seem to be moving toward the smooth re-election of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani after one of his main rivals, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, announced that he will not be running in the May 2017 vote. But will the Reformists, who were Rouhani’s key supporters and the reason for his victory in the 2013 election, continue backing him? …

RFL/RE – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been hosting talks in Moscow with his counterparts from Syria and Iran to discuss the security situation in Syria. Lavrov said the October 28 meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is an effort of “like-minded people” to “hammer out a constructive solution” to the Syrian …

Al-arabia – A Senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been killed in Syria, according to Iranian media. Major General Gholam Reza Smaiie died during an advisory mission to support Syrian forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on Wednesday, according to “Defense Press”, the official website of Iran’s army. Smaiie’s service dates back to the Iran-Iraq …