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

Iranwire – An Iranian court has sentenced a medical couple to a total of 20 years in prison in connection to the alleged killing of a member of the paramilitary Basij force during protests, activists say.  The court in Karaj, near Tehran, sentenced Hamid Ghareh Hasanlou, a radiologist, to 15 years, while his wife Farzaneh, a lab technician, was handed …

VOA – Iran’s supreme leader on Tuesday ruled out the holding of popular referendums on state policies. Iran faced calls for a referendum on the Islamic Republic itself during anti-government protests last year, and a moderate former president recently suggested such votes should be held to decide major policies as a way of reducing divisions. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, …

gatestoneinstitute.org – In the absence of any desire on the part of the Biden administration to support the Saudis — for decades one of Washington’s most important allies in the region — China has moved quickly to fill the diplomatic vacuum to launch its own initiative to restore ties with Iran. [T]he fact that the Chinese can pull off a …

Al-Arabia – The UK government on Tuesday said it had imposed a full asset freeze on a Lebanese businessman suspected of financing Hezbollah. The Treasury action against Nazem Said Ahmad on national security grounds follows similar restrictions imposed in 2019 by the United States. “All assets and economic resources belonging to Ahmad in the UK have been frozen and no UK …

RFL/RE – An association representing the families of those killed in the downing of a Ukrainian commercial flight by Iran more than two years ago has criticized the verdicts issued in Iran against the alleged perpetrators as a “show trial.” Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 crashed on January 8, 2020, while en route to Kyiv, killing all 176 people on …