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

Iranwire – An Iranian opposition activist who US authorities said was the target of two thwarted kidnapping or murder plots urged a federal judge in New York on Friday to hand a tough prison sentence to a woman who unwittingly funded one of the planned attacks. Masih Alinejad, a onetime Iranian journalist, said her sense of safety has been shattered …

Iranwire – The head of Iran’s judiciary has again threatened to punish women and girls who don’t abide to mandatory hijab rules, claiming that some of them cooperate foreign spy services. In a speech on April 6, chief justice Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei warned that measures will be implemented to “tackle social deviance.” However, he underscored “the importance of distinguishing between those …

Iranwire – France’s foreign minister has urged Iran to release French nationals ” arbitrarily” incarcerated in Iran during a rare face-to-face meeting with her Iranian counterpart in Beijing. Catherine Colonna, who traveled with President Emmanuel Macron on his state visit to China, met Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on April 6. Amir-Abdollohian was leading the Iranian delegation in reconciliation talks in the Chinese capital between …

Iranwire – Azerbaijan says it has declared four Iranian Embassy employees persona non grata, after announcing the arrest of six men allegedly linked to Iran’s secret services. Relations between the two neighbors have grown increasingly strained in recent months, with the dispute coming to a head last week, when Azerbaijan opened an embassy in Iran’s arch-foe Israel. In the latest …

Iranwire – Iran’s top Sunni cleric suggested that exaggerated and affected piety and religious zeal has led the country to an impasse, as hundreds of demonstrations returned to the streets of the restive city of Zahedan for weekly protests against the Islamic Republic. “Religiousism has led the country to a dead end,” Molavi, the Sunni Friday prayer leader of the …