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

Al-monitor – As various international peace initiatives have sought a political solution to the Syrian crisis, the most recent tangible breakthrough came from someplace new. On July 9, the long-awaited meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States took place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, where the two sides reaffirmed a recently reached cease-fire for southern Syria. Author Hamidreza …

Al-monitor – When the arrest of Hossein Fereydoun, President Hassan Rouhani’s brother, was announced July 16 at a live recording for a video channel associated with conservative Fars News, the audience erupted in applause. Conservatives have long sought his arrest, and so it was natural they would be elated by this news. While questions remain about the charges, the arrest sends a political …

PayvandNews – President Rouhani has issued a statement praising Iranian math genius Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to win mathematics’ fields medal, who died at 40 on Saturday. Maryam Mirzakhani artwork by Firoozeh Mozaffari “The unparalleled brilliance of this creative scientist and yet humble person which made the name of Iran resonate in the world’s scientific community was a milestone in …

CHRI – The growing number of women refusing to cover their hair while driving in Iran, especially during the hot summer months, has resulted in renewed threats of arrests for violations of the country’s mandatory hijab law. A woman stopped for not observing proper hijab while driving (file photo) However, the hijab-the head-to-toe Islamic dress code that women in Iran …

PayavdNews – An audio version of the Shahnameh, the epic masterpiece of Persian poet Ferdowsi, has been released in English with an introduction by U.S. filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola in the United States. American voice actor Marc Thompson has narrated the stories based on the latest translation by Ahmad Sadri published by Quantuck Lane Press in 2013, Kingorama, the U.S.-based …