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

Al-monitor — Before being elected president of Iran in June 2013, Hassan Rouhani was known as a close friend and constant companion of Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Rouhani’s management of the initial round of nuclear negotiations with the West — the failed engagement with Britain, France and Germany over 2003-2005 — earned him the nickname “the …

VOA —Saudi Arabia and Iran on Tuesday dashed hopes that OPEC oil producers could clinch an output-limiting deal in Algeria this week as sources within the exporter group said the differences between the kingdom and Tehran remained too wide. “This is a consultative meeting… We will consult with everyone else, we will hear the views, we will hear the secretariat …

RFL/RE – Former Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad says he will not seek reelection in the country’s 2017 presidential vote, one day after media reported that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had told him not to run. Ahmadinejad made the announcement in a letter to Khamenei that was published by Iranian media on September 27. In the letter, he confirms that …

Iran Human Rights – Iran Human Rights has discovered that Iranian authorities executed 17 prisoners at Vakilabad Prison about two weeks ago on drug related charges. 17 prisoners sentenced to death on drug related charges were reportedly hanged at Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison (Razavi Khorasan province, northwestern Iran) on Sunday September 11, 2016. “There are currently about 400 prisoners in Vakilabad Prison …

Al-monitor – When Iran’s supreme leader cited on Sept. 18 what he described as US attempts to engage in talks with his country on regional issues, it appeared to be a confirmation of Sept. 14 media reports that Washington had approached Tehran via Oman suggesting that US-Iranian-Russian talks begin to discuss the crisis in Yemen. The report, first run by Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar and …