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

Iranwire – An Iranian student who is serving a 10-month prison sentence has defended his doctoral thesis behind bars. Pictures posted on social media show Yashar Dar’al Shafa, a student at Tehran’s University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, defending his thesis in Rajai Shahr Prison, west of the capital. His supervisor and a three-member panel from the university were in attendance. …

Iranwire – The US administration’s special envoy for Iran says the United States will increase pressure on China to stop buying Iranian oil, as Washington seeks to enforce sanctions aimed at curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Robert Malley told Bloomberg Television on January 23 that China is “the main destination of illicit exports by Iran” and talks to dissuade …

Iranwire – The Islamic Republic of Iran has arrested three women journalists in Tehran in less than 48 hours, bringing the number of women journalists currently behind bars in the country to 16, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In a statement on January 23, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog said a total of 55 journalists, including 25 women, have …

Iranwire – Amid rising tensions between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the European and U.S. governments, officials in Tehran have threatened to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Tehran issued similar threats in the past, but this time the Iranian parliament entered the field, with an MP saying that the legislature was preparing a resolution to block transit through …

Iranwire – The British government has sanctioned more Iranian individuals and entities over the Islamic Republic’s “brutal repression” of Iran’s people, including a crackdown on anti-government protests and the recent execution of a British-Iranian dual national. “Those sanctioned today, from the judicial figures using the death penalty for political ends to the thugs beating protestors on the streets, are at …