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

Al-Monitor – With the protests sweeping Iran entering their third month, Iranian officials are now formally reaching out to Reformists in hopes of quelling the unrest.  According to Tasnim News Agency, Secretary General of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani held a meeting on Dec. 4 with various political figures in the country, including Reformist figures such as Behzad Nabavi, …

Al-Arabia – A sister of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has declared her opposition to her brother’s regime and called on military forces to join protesters “before it is too late,” according to a letter shared by her son on Wednesday. “I think it is appropriate now to declare that I oppose my brother’s actions and I express my sympathy …

RFL/RE – A member of the Iranian parliament has unveiled the government’s plan for alternative punishments — including financial ones — to try and force women to wear a hijab in public despite massive protests across the country over the issue. Hossein Jalali, a member of the Cultural Commission of the Iranian parliament, said that under the new plan, the actions of …

RFL/RE – Iran’s top Sunni cleric, a vocal critic of the government, says he has received reports of sexual assaults on female prisoners in Iranian prisons.Molavi Abdolhamid wrote on his Twitter account on December 6 that the assaults on female prisoners were being committed with the intention of humiliating, suppressing, and obtaining forced confessions from them.“If proven, the real corrupters on earth …

RFL/RE – Iranian state television has aired for the second time the “confessions” of four Kurdish political prisoners — admissions their families and supporters say were coerced — raising fears that they may have been executed.Pejman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar, Mohsen Mazloum, and Hajir Faramarzi have been detained for four months and are thought to be part of a group of …