Reports

A team of Canadian lawyers is suing the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Khamenei, and several high-ranking commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on behalf of the family members of Ukrainian plane crash victims. According to Reuters, the legal team has asked for $1.1 billion …

A leaked recording of an exchange between an Iranian air-traffic controller and an Iranian pilot purports to show that authorities immediately knew a missile had downed a Ukrainian jetliner after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard, despite days of denials by the Islamic Republic. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy …

US Treasury Department announced that it has added Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization and its president Ali Akbar Salehi to the list of sanctions on Thursday. According to Reuters, the sanctions will impact Iran’s nuclear program since the organization oversees the program’s operations including the purchase of parts and equipment. Russian, …

 Mahla Shahkhajeh, a Ph.D. student in industrial engineering, had planned to study at Iowa State University. She was deported to Iran in December. (CNN)They left Iran with valid visas in hand. But hours after landing in the US, they were forced to turn back on flights they never expected to …

Russia fears an escalation between Iran and Israel and wants to avoid it at any cost. On January 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Israel to attend the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp by Soviet forces. This was only his third official trip to the …

Authorities in the eastern province of Shandong have detained a Hui Muslim poet and author after he tweeted about the incarceration, surveillance and persecution of Chinese Muslims, both in Xinjiang and across China, RFA has learned. Poet Cui Haoxin—known by his pen name An Ran—was detained by state security police …

In the dusty suburbs of the Kyrghyz capital, Bishkek, hordes of shoppers are swarming over the wholesale market of Dordoy. To the outsider, this – the largest such market in Central Asia – may look like a chaotic maze of containers and shanties. Narrow alleys are hectic and bustling; access …

Dissatisfaction with reformists and mass disqualification of candidates could reduce voter turnout in February 21 vote.  Iranians protest to show their sympathy to victims of Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 in front of the Amir Kabir University in Tehran, Iran, January 11, 2020 [Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA] On February 21, Iranians will …

Student movement: Iranian Taekwondo athlete Kimia Alizadeh speaks to the media at a press conference in Luenen, Germany, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Iran’s only female Olympic medalist fled from the Islamic Republic and said she wants to compete for Germany. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) Iran’s only female Olympic medalist said Friday …

Europe says it wants to save the Iran nuclear deal but has set a mechanism in motion that could destroy it – or worse.  When President Donald Trump decided to unilaterally withdraw the United States from the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, and use sanctions to economically squeeze …