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

VOA — A cargo of sanctioned Iranian crude oil that was confiscated by the United States has been sitting off the Texas coast for eight weeks, unable to be unloaded because commercial agents fear any vessel that takes it will be shunned by customers, people familiar with the matter said. Suez Rajan, a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, has been anchored off …

VOA – Iranian authorities have arrested several followers of the Baha’i faith accused of spying for Tehran’s arch-foe Israel, local media in the Islamic republic reported on Tuesday. The Baha’is, Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, are not recognized by the state and often targeted over alleged ties to Israel — home to their most important shrines and world headquarters. “A …

Amnesty – The Iranian authorities are doubling down on their oppressive methods of policing and severely oppressing Iranian women and girls for defying degrading compulsory veiling laws, Amnesty International said today. In a detailed analysis published today, the organization exposes the authorities’ intensified nationwide crackdown on women and girls who choose not to wear headscarves in public. In the latest escalation on 16 July, the spokesperson of Iran’s police, Saeed Montazer-Almahdi, announced the return of police patrols to enforce compulsory veiling and threatened legal action against women and girls who defy forced veiling. This coincided with videos circulating on social media, depicting women being violently assaulted by officials in Tehran …

Al-Monitor – Iran topped the list of countries that imposed the highest number of internet restrictions in the first half of this year. Much of the disruption happens during protests, according to new data. According to figures from cyber security company Surfshark, Iran took the lead globally with 14 new restrictions, followed by India with nine and Pakistan with three. Protests were …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Defense Ministry said it had mass-produced the country’s first long-range naval ballistic missile with a host of new combat features, designed to “completely destroy” enemy carriers, state media outlets reported on Tuesday.  “We have employed artificial intelligence within the software of the naval missile’s trajectory planning,” Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani announced at a televised ceremony …