July, 2020

• 13 July

  Iranian Currency Takes Big Hit, Falling To New Record Low

  

  Radiofarda – Iran’s currency took another big hit on Monday, falling to 230,000 rials against the U.S. dollar despite official promises to prevent the further devaluation of the national currency. The Iranian rial for the first time ever fell to 200,000 against the dollar on June 24 and the plunge has continued since. The rial is also traded at more …

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• 13 July

  Can Iran Boost Syria’s Air Defenses To The Detriment Of Israel?

  

  Radiofarda – Tehran’s new military agreement with Damascus has strengthened Syria’s chances of receiving Iranian designed and produced air defense systems to boost the war-torn country’s inefficient and weak anti-air networks. As a part of the new agreement, Tehran and Damascus confirmed that they have pledged to upgrade Syria’s air defenses. The confirmation was officially announced last week, when the …

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• 13 July

  Houthi Missiles, Drones Intercepted, Says Saudi-Led Coalition

  

  Reuters – Yemen’s Saudi-Led coalition said on Monday it intercepted and destroyed four missiles and six explosive drones launched overnight by Houthi forces towards the kingdom. Cross-border attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement have escalated since late May when a truce prompted by the novel coronavirus expired. In late June, missiles reached the Saudi capital Riyadh. The coalition, in a …

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• 13 July

  Zarif Dismisses Criticism Of China Pact As ‘Rumors’ By Ill-Wishers

  

  Radiofarda – A top lawmaker in Iran has said that foreign minister Javad Zarif defended the Iran-China cooperation pact proposed document and told parliament today that talk about selling an island and cheap oil to China are mere rumors. The spokesman of parliament’s national security commission, Abolfazl Amuee quoted Zarif as saying that “national interests” have been considered in drafting …

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• 13 July

  Khamenei Strikes A Balance, Telling Iran’s Parliament Not To Impeach Rouhani

  

  Radiofarda – In a rare address to the Iranian parliament (Majles), Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has made it clear that impeaching President Hassan Rouhani is out of the question. Speaking via video link on Sunday July 12, Khamenei said: “I strongly believe that governments should carry on doing their job until the last day of their term of …

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• 13 July

  Iranian British Engineer Jailed by Iran Since 2017 Becomes Human Rights Advocate

  

  VOA – A retired Iranian British engineer detained in Iran since 2017 on spying charges that he denies has decided to speak up for the first time about alleged human rights abuses at the Tehran jail where he is imprisoned. Anoosheh Ashoori is the latest of several individuals whose detentions in Iran under harsh conditions have pushed them into becoming …

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• 13 July

  Iranian Authorities Confirm Man Was Executed for Drinking Alcohol

  

  Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Iranian media confirm that a 51-year old man has been executed for drinking alcohol, asserting that his “repentance” had been rejected.  Noting this as one of the rare occasions that authorities have admitted to carrying out an execution for alcohol consumption in the last 40 years, the director of Iran Human Rights (IHR), Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, …

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• 13 July

  Iran offers unconditional support to Hamas, Islamic Jihad

  

  Al-Monitor , Gaza Strip — Since Hamas and Islamic Jihad remained on the sidelines in the Syrian civil war and left their respective offices in Damascus in 2012, Iran, a staunch ally of the Syrian regime, suspended its financial support to both movements, cutting off their largest sources of funding. The return of these relations, however, seems to be in the offing, especially with …

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• 12 July

  TV Interrogation Of Jailed Iran Dissident Facing Execution Amounts To ‘Torture’ – RSF

  

  Radiofarda – Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has lambasted the Islamic Republic of Iran for interrogating the jailed director of the now-defunct dissident website AMAD News on TV. Interrogating suspects on TV and airing it amounts to “torture” RSF says. In a tweet on Saturday, July 11, RSF asserted that Mr. Rouhollah Zam has been in “solitary confinement” and his …

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• 12 July

  Top Rouhani Aide Says Iran-China Pact Can Be Finalized By March 2021

  

  Radiofarda – President Hassan Rouhani’s chief of staff has said the coronavirus pandemic delayed negotiations on a proposed Iran-China 25-year pact, but probably a final agreement can be reached by March 2021, when the current Iranian calendar year ends. Mahmoud Vaezi who was speaking on state television July 11, also tried to deny rumors about some aspects of the deal, …

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• 12 July

  Official Says Cheap Drug Sold As Remdesivir In Iran At ‘Very High Prices’

  

  Radiofarda – Iran’s deputy health minister issued a warning Saturday that a cheap medication is mislabeled and sold as remdesivir in Iran at extremely high prices. Iraj Harirchi speaking in a television program said a 50-cent medication is relabeled as remdesivir and sold at 1,300 to 1,600 U.S. dollars on the black market. The prices quoted by the deputy minister …

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• 12 July

  Iran Guards Deny Suing Journalists For Army Interview Critical Of IRGC

  

  Radiofarda – Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has denied Sunday suing five IRNA directors and journalists for publishing an interview with a senior Army general criticizing the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, IRGC. IRNA is the Islamic Republic’s official news agency, run by President Hassan Rouhani’s administration. A pro-reformist journalist claimed Saturday that security agents confiscated some of the personal effects of the …

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• 12 July

  Iran’s National Oil Company Inks Deal With Outfit Controlled By Khamenei

  

  Radiofarda – An agreement between the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and an organization controlled by Iran’s Supreme Leader was signed today to develop and expand an exisiting oil field. Shana news agency connected with NIOC reported the deal, without mentioning that the contractor, Persia Oil and Gas Industry Development Company, belongs to Imam’s Executive Headquarters, an organization operating under …

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• 12 July

  How Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was tortured to death 17 years ago

  

  On this day 17 years ago, Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi died under suspicious circumstances after being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for more than two weeks. Kazemi died after being tortured and raped, a doctor who examined her body later revealed. Kazemi was arrested on June 23, 2003, while taking pictures of prisoners’ families outside of Iran’s Evin prison. …

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• 12 July

  Iran Says Misaligned Radar, Human Error To Blame For Downing Of Ukrainian Airliner

  

  RFL/RE – Iranian authorities say a misaligned missile battery and miscommunication between soldiers and superior officers were to blame for the January downing of a Ukrainian jetliner that killed 176 people.The conclusions by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization were detailed in a new report released late on July 11.Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 was struck by two missiles and crashed shortly …

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• 12 July

  As U.S. Moves To Exit Afghanistan, Rivals Prepare To Swoop In

  

  RFL/RE -The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was backed by most countries in the region, who shared the goal of ousting the extremist Taliban regime and eliminating the allied Al-Qaeda terrorist network.The governments in Tehran, Moscow, and Islamabad readily helped the United States fight the extremist groups.Iran provided crucial intelligence to support U.S. special forces and CIA teams orchestrating …

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• 12 July

  Man Could Face Death Penalty For Participating November Iran Protests

  

  Iran-HRM – Hossein Reyhani, a young man arrested during the November 2019 protests in Iran, has been sentenced for “corruption on earth”, a charge carrying the death sentence according to Iran’s Islamic Penal Code. Hossein Reyhani has been held in legal limbo at the Greater Tehran Penitentiary since he was arrested in December 2019. In a recent letter from prison, …

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• 12 July

  Rouhani: Despite Rise in Iran’s COVID-19 Cases, Economy Must Stay Open

  

  VOA – Iran’s economy must stay open despite a rise in the number of coronavirus infections, President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday. He called for a ban on large gatherings, such as at weddings and wakes, to limit the spread of the disease. Iran reported Saturday that in the previous 24 hours, there had been 2,397 new COVID-19 cases and 188 …

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• 11 July

  Radiofarda: Iran’s IRGC Trying Illegally To Take Ownership Of Major Steel Producer

  

  Radiofarda 0 Radio Farda has obtained a confidential letter that shows Iran’s IRGC, which holds 49 percent of Khuzestan Steel Mill Company, is attempting to “illegally acquire” the remaining shares belonging to workers. Meanwhile, reports say that the Revolutionary Guard financial holding involved in the case may be transferring its assets to Supreme Leader Khamenei’s office. The steel company is …

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• 11 July

  US Senior Diplomat Says Iran And Venezuela ‘Are Governed By Thieves’

  

  Radiofarda – U.S. Special Representative on Iran Brian Hook says that Washington’s sanctions have cut Iran’s oil exports from 2.5 million barrels a day in May 2018 to 70,000 barrels in 2020. Hook who was speaking at a video-seminar on Iran and Venezuela organized by the Hudson Institute in Washington D.C. said, “This is the price the regime pays for acting like …

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• 11 July

  Iran will develop oil industry despite US sanctions: Minister

  

  Al-Arabia – Iran is determined to develop its oil industry in spite of US sanctions imposed on the country, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said in a televised speech on Saturday. “We will not surrender under any circumstances … We have to increase our capacity so that when necessary with full strength we can enter the market and revive our market …

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• 11 July

  Funeral for Muslim Sect’s Spiritual Leader Draws Thousands to Sulaymaniyah

  

  VOA – Thousands of Sufi mourners attended the funeral of their spiritual leader, Sheikh Mohammad al-Kasnazani, Friday in Iraq’s northeastern city of Sulaymaniyah. Among the mourners were more than 500 Iranian Kurdish Sufis who forced their way through the Iran-Iraq border to participate in the funeral rituals. VOA’s Rebaz Majeed attended the funeral and filed this report narrated by Bezhan …

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• 11 July

  Iran: Death Penalty for Protest-Related Charges

  

  (HRW) – Iranian courts have reportedly issued or upheld at least four execution sentences since late June 2020 in connection to repeated protests against the deterioration of economic conditions and government corruption over the past two years, Human Rights Watch said today.These sentences have been issued on vaguely defined national security charges, and defendants have had restricted access to lawyers and alleged …

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• 11 July

  Iran: Man executed for drinking alcohol

  

  Amnesty – Following the Iranian judicial authorities’ confirmation that on 8 July, a man in the city of Mashhad was executed following repeated convictions for drinking alcohol, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director of Middle East and North Africa, said: “The Iranian authorities have once again laid bare the sheer cruelty and inhumanity of their judicial system by executing …

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• 11 July

  Iranian Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentences for Three Protestors

  

  Iran Human Rights (IHR) – The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentences of three detained protestors, Amirhossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi, and Mohammad Rajabi, arrested at the nationwide demonstrations last November. According to Iran Human Rights (IHR), the death sentences of Amirhossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi and Mohammad Rajabi, who have been held at the Greater Tehran Prison (Fashafuyeh), were upheld …

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• 11 July

  Iran government squeezed over ‘secretive’ deal with China

  

  Al-Monitor – “There is nothing to hide about the deal. Every stage has been transparent, and once it is finalized, the details will be made public,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told lawmakers last week as he was grilled over a controversial 25-year partnership deal with China. “The point that has to be taken into consideration in our foreign policy is …

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• 10 July

  USCIRF Applauds Global Magnitsky Sanctions Against Senior Chinese Officials

  

  Shabtabnews – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today applauded the U.S. Department of Treasury’s designations under the Global Magnitsky Act and the Department of State’s imposition of visa restrictions on senior Chinese officials responsible for egregious religious freedom violations against Uyghur and other Muslims in Xinjiang. “For years, USCIRF has called on the administration to impose targeted sanctions against Chen Quanguo, Zhu Hailun, …

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• 10 July

  Mullahs and the Chinese Communist Party, an unholy alliance

  

  christianpost.com – What has happened to Iran over the past four decades? Back in 1976, Iran was at the height of its glory after nearly two centuries. As a close ally of the U.S., the only friend of Israel in the region, and a prosperous nation with the eighth largest economy in the world, Iran was poised to surpass many …

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• 10 July

  Increasing Electricity Consumption In Iran Can Lead To Blackouts

  

  Radiofarda – Iran’s electricity management company, TAVANIR, says consumers in the country set a new record for electricity consumption in the past few days. According to TAVANIR, the “historical record” was set at 12:47, Wednesday, July 8, with 57,571 MW of instant electricity consumption. Meanwhile, the overnight electric power consumption in from Tuesday to Wednesday also registered an instant electricity …

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• 10 July

  US Is Committed To Defending Arab States In The Persian Gulf, Pompeo Says

  

  Radiofarda – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reiterated that Washington is committed to providing security help for the Persian Gulf Arab countries in the face of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s increasing missile capability. Responding to a question during a briefing for foreign reporters July 9, Pompeo stressed that Washington is working in “more than one way” with …

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