In a joint statement, the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) have condemned the Iranian government’s efforts “to silence independent media in Iran.” In a statement released Saturday, the two media bodies point to the recent arrest of “several documentary makers on vague and unfounded accusations of collaborating with [...]

The United States will not “sit idly by” while its forces are harmed by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, the top U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, said on Thursday. Mullen and U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a Senate committee that while such attacks by groups linked to Iran had declined since the summer, the United [...]

Iran’s Parliament has summoned the Minister of Economy, Shamseddin Hosseiny, and Finance for questioning on the 3-billion-dollar fraud case involving the Central Bank. The Mehr News Agency reports that Parliament’s internal policy, finance and economic commissions are behind the summons, which follows a week of intense media coverage of the emerging scandal. “The public expects [...]

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that she was confident Iran would free two US hikers convicted of spying and rejected concerns about the delay in their release. “At this point we are not at all concerned because we have received word through a number of sources, publicly and privately, that the decision [...]

Abbas Ali Jannesari, the commander of artillery and air defence in Esfahan, has been killed in a battle with Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) forces. Fars reports that Jannesari, an artillery specialist, was in charge of the 15 Khordad air defence during the past five years. Two days ago, Iran announced that its forces [...]

Following is translation of an article by prominent human rights lawyer Mohamad Mostafaei who currently lives in exile in Norway on HARANA (Human Rights House of Iran). On September 4, 2011, Iranian news site ISNA reported 6 convicts were hanged in Ahvaz, Khozestan province. In that news article the charges of the men hanged were [...]

Iran’s first nuclear power plant has been hooked up to the national grid supplying 60 megawatts of its 1,000 megawatt capacity, the country’s Atomic Energy Organisation announced on Sunday. “Last night at 11:29 pm (1859 GMT), the Bushehr power plant was connected with 60 megawatts to the national grid,” the organisation’s spokesman Hamid Khadem Qaemi, [...]

The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency says it is becoming “increasingly concerned” that Iran is secretly developing a nuclear payload for a missile. The assessment is in an International Atomic Energy Agency report circulated to the media on Friday. The Associated Press says the agency cited “member states” that had provided credible and comprehensive information concerning [...]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that the potential recognition of a Palestinian state by the United Nations should only be a “step forward” for the “full liberation” of Palestine. His strong remarks calling for Israel’s “disappearance” came as tens of thousands marched in the capital at a “Quds Day” rally, an annual regime-sanctioned demonstration [...]

Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says moving Iran’s nuclear centrifuges from Natanz to the Ferdo underground nuclear installation near Qom is a “further deviation” from several Security Council resolutions, which have called for the suspension of all activities related to nuclear enrichment in Iran. Reuters reports that the IAEA is [...]