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

RFL/RE – Iran’s top Sunni cleric, Molavi Abdolhamid, denounced the deadly government crackdown on months-long anti-establishment protests during a December 30 sermon in Sistan-Baluchistan Province. The outspoken cleric said Iranians want “freedom and justice,” saying demonstrators were protesting against “discrimination, corruption, and lack of freedom.” Abdolhamid also criticized the repression of Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities, including Baha’is, who have …

RFL/RE – An Islamic revolutionary court in Tehran has sentenced civil and labor activist Neda Naji to a prison term and flogging for attending a protest in support of Mahsa Amini, who died while in police custody in September. Naji’s mother, Mehraneh Ghasemi, wrote on her Instagram account on January 3 that her daughter was sentenced to eight months in prison, 60 …

Iranwire – The Islamic Republic of Iran is increasingly holding online trials for demonstrators arrested during the ongoing nationwide protests, according to a group that tracks detentions in the country, raising concern over the defendants’ rights in the absence of an independent judicial system. Online trials have been held in Iran since the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in November …

Iranwire – At least 70 Iranian protesters have been accused of “waging war against God” and “corruption on Earth,” charges that carry a death sentence, human rights activists say. According to the Committee to Follow-Up on the Situation of Detainees, 64 people are facing the charge of “waging war against God” and nine others are accused of “corruption on Earth.” …

VOA – Iran’s statistics agency reported last month that inflation in December hit 48.5% compared to the same time a year earlier. With that figure, the Statistical Center of Iran put inflation for the first nine months of the year at 45% overall. According to World Bank data, the last time Iran had an inflation rate that high was in …