Iran says the death toll from the new coronavirus has risen to 124 in the Islamic republic, including a former deputy foreign minister who reportedly died after being infected with the virus. Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpur said on March 6 that 17 people had died over the previous 24 hours, while more than 1,000 new cases were diagnosed as positive for the virus. 03/6/20

DESPITE A MASSIVE coronavirus-related public health crisis, an anti-Iran pressure group with close ties to the Trump administration is urging major pharmaceutical companies to "end their Iran business," focusing on companies with special licenses - most often under a broadly defined "humanitarian exemption" - to conduct trade with Iran. -Eli Clifton, Intercept 03/6/20

The families of eight conservationists imprisoned in Iran on trumped-up charges have called on Iranian Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi to release them on furlough along with the some 54,000 other prisoners who were released in March 2020 after rights organizations expressed serious concerns for their safety amid the country's deadly COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. 03/6/20

Several parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) have engaged in actions that threaten to undermine the agreement. The Iranians have now undertaken a series of calculated breaches of their commitments. In response, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (the European 3 or "E3") triggered the deal's dispute resolution mechanism (DRM) on 14 January 2020. The loss of trust between the three European states and Iran is very clear -Marc Finaud & Heinz Gartner, Responsible Statecraft 03/6/20

Iran's health ministry is taking the delivery of 14 new hospitals across the country amid a surge in coronavirus cases that has increased the need for treatment facilities. Iranian minister for Roads and Urban Development said on Wednesday that three out of the 14 new hospitals had already been handed over to the health ministry. 03/6/20

Iran says it will not allow Israeli allegations, which Tel Aviv claims are rooted in findings of a so-called secret operation, to form the basis of the Islamic Republic's cooperation with the United Nations nuclear agency. Iran's mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) made the remarks in a statement dated Thursday after the watchdog demanded "complementary" access to two sites that are alleged by the Israeli regime to host diversionary nuclear activities. -Press TV 03/6/20

Iran has one of the very best health care systems in the Middle East, a decentralized system with thousands of medical centers across the country that provide primary, secondary and tertiary care with an effective referral system. We worked as doctors in that system for years. Yet at least 107 people in Iran have been killed by the new coronavirus, the largest number of deaths outside of China. -Kamiar Alaei and Arash Alaei, New York Times 03/6/20

The recent elections highlight how the Iranian regime's usual tactic of muddling through crisis is insufficient to maintain domestic support. Electoral politics is delivering an increasingly hardened and narrowly conservative political elite that may be more uniformly opposed to engaging with the United States and to caving under President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure campaign," and it is unlikely to be able to effectively respond to popular discontent. -Vahid Abedini & Razieh Armin, MERIP 03/6/20

On February 29, 2020, President Trump signed a new Presidential Proclamation restricting the entry of individuals who have traveled to Iran in attempts to stymie the spread of the Coronavirus in the United States. These new restrictions go beyond the President's Muslim Ban and will further limit the entry of Iranians into the U.S. The Proclamation adds Iran onto a previous proclamation restricting travel to the United States from China and was put into effect on March 2nd at 5 P.M. EST. -NIAC 03/6/20

Iran has closed all schools and adopted a series of other new measures as it battles the worst outbreak of coronavirus outside of China. Health Minister Saeed Namaki told a news conference on March 5 that all schools and universities will remain closed until the end of the Iranian calendar year on March 20, and that checkpoints will be used to limit travel between major cities. 03/5/20

An official of a university in the Iranian capital Tehran has said that the Ministry of Science has ordered universities to form committees to prevent suicides and "harmful behaviors" in all universities. Gholamreza Latifi, Student Affairs Deputy of Allameh Tabatabai University told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) on Wednesday that his university has already formed such a committee. 03/5/20

The Iran I know and the Iran I see in the news have been stubborn puzzle pieces that simply refuse to fit together. The Iran I know is reaching under a bed for my grandfather's cane in Ahvaz at the age of four, one year before his death. The Iran I know is on the balcony of my mother's childhood home in Shiraz, sleeping under the stars with cousins in 2002. The Iran I know is jumping over beach bonfires late into the night for Nowruz, the Persian New Year. -Ida Mojadad, SF Weekly 03/5/20

The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) strongly condemns the Iranian judiciary's decision to put internationally acclaimed filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof in harm's way by summoning him to prison when thousands of prisoners are being released to prevent coronavirus transmissions. "Yet again we're witnessing the cruel lengths judicial officials will go to stifle peaceful criticism of state policies," said CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi. "Filmmakers and free speech advocates everywhere should loudly call for this absurd sentence to be rescinded." 03/5/20

Iran held its 11th parliamentary elections late last month, handing a resounding victory to hardline and conservative forces during perhaps Iran's most tumultuous few months since the 2009 Green Movement demonstrations. The elections were held after months of recession resulting from economic sanctions, the brutal November 2019 government crackdown that left hundreds dead, Iran moving to the brink of war following the U.S. assassination of Qassem Soleimani, and the public outrage at the government's attempt to cover up its involvement in a civilian plane downing. -Shervin Ghaffari, Responsible Statecraft 03/5/20

Iranian merchants plying the busy Strait of Hormuz between Dubai and Iran fear their next trip home will be a one-way trip after the United Arab Emirates banned ferry services to prevent the spread of coronavirus. -Reuters 03/5/20

Footage has appeared on social media of Iranian health workers dancing and singing in an effort to keep morale up as the country faces the worst coronavirus outbreak outside China. -Guardian 03/5/20

A compelling cultural, spiritual and literary memoir, THE RUMI PRESCRIPTION is inspired by and sprinkled with new original translations of one of the finest mystic poets of all time. It is at once a smart and tender father-daughter story, an intriguing tale of spiritual pilgrimage, a delightfully eccentric self-help manual, and an inspiring account of hope and survival through the healing power of love and poetry. 03/4/20

Iran will temporarily release 54,000 people from prisons and deploy hundreds of thousands of health workers as officials announced a slew of measures to contain the world's deadliest coronavirus outbreak outside China. Pressure has been mounting on Iranian officials to take action against the virus as the death toll and number of cases rapidly shoots up. -CNN 03/4/20

The South Khorasan Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department (SKCHTHD) has selected dotar maker Zolfaqar Beitaneh as a Living Human Treasure. The 58-year-old master, who lives in Ferdows, South Khorasan Province, has also skills in crafting a kind of reed flute, which is used in the folk music of Khorasan. 03/4/20

Today, the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC) proudly announces its support for a new slate of Iranian American candidates running for federal, state, and local office. The latest list of endorsements includes Alan Khazei and Sima Ladjevardian for U.S. Congress, Kimi Abernathy for Tennessee State Senate, Ahsha Safai for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC), and Nima Rahimi for San Francisco DCCC. 03/4/20

President Hassan Rouhani has rejected as insincere the United States' offer of help to Iran in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, saying Washington should first lift its sanctions on medical supplies if it really seeks to help the Islamic Republic. "Our people know well that you are lying, that you are not telling the truth," Rouhani said addressing the United States, during a cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday. -Press TV 03/4/20

The latest IAEA report on Iran noted that the uranium stockpile was at 1,500 kg, which is roughly five times the "cap" under the P5+1 nuclear deal. Iran has been deliberately flouting the cap in a reversible way to try to encourage negotiation on sanctions relief, which was promised but never given to them. While this is being hyped today because of the report, it's not really new. -Jason Ditz, Antiwar 03/4/20

When I was in Afghanistan, I often heard a Pashtun saying attributed to the Afghan Taliban strategy for war with the United States: "They have the watches, but we have the time". I do not know the provenance of this saying and I do not know if the saying exists in other Muslim or Asian societies, but it certainly has held true in warfare over the centuries whether you understand it in terms of the United States Revolution, the Vietnamese war for liberation against the French, Japanese and the US, or the decades long struggle against apartheid in South Africa. It is a saying that, if translated from Afghanistan's Pashto to Iran's Farsi, could be very applicable to Iran right now. -Matthew Hoh, counterpunch 03/4/20

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged Iranians to support the government in its battle against an outbreak of the coronavirus as the death toll rose to 77, the highest outside of China. "Don't violate the recommendations and instructions of the responsible authorities in terms of prevention, in terms of keeping hands, face, and living environment clean and not infecting these and preventing the infection of these," he said in a March 3 broadcast on state television. 03/3/20

The World Health Organization on Monday sent its first planeload of assistance to Iran to help fight coronavirus, dispatching six medics with tons of medical equipment and test kits aboard a UAE military aircraft. "Today's flight will carry 7.5 tons of medical equipment and supplies, primarily the critical items needed for infection prevention and control to support health care workers in Iran," said Robert Blanchard from the WHO in Dubai. -Iran Daily 03/3/20

Iranian-American model Megan Pormer, who made headlines after wearing a dress promoting peace between the US and Iran at the 2020 Grammys, is working with medical professionals and companies in Beverly Hills to send critical medicine and supplies to Iran. Over the past month, Iran has been ravaged by the coronavirus and the death toll continues to rise. -Clout 03/3/20

Iran's Judiciary Spokesman on Tuesday denied reports that some political prisoners including British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe have contracted coronavirus (COVID-19) in prison and said all of them are in "perfect health". In a live interview on the state-run television on Tuesday Gholam-Hossein Esmaili said Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliff and other political prisoners including Neda Naji, Hengameh Shahidi and Zia Nabavi are in perfect health despite some reports. 03/3/20

Iran's Art Bureau has launched an international cartoon contest with the motto of "We Defeat Coronavirus", the director of the Art Bureau's Visual Arts Office, Masud Shojaei-Tabatabai, announced on Monday. "The number of countries being contaminated by the new virus is increasing day by day and that is why the bureau decided to launch the contest," Shojaei-Tabatabai said. 03/3/20

Before I started reading more into Iran, all I heard about this country were stories about its politics. In the media, Iran seemed like a place where no one would ever want to visit. Can you imagine solo female travel in Iran? After my trip to Iran, I can tell you now that Iran has the most hospitable people and great architecture. Traveling to Iran as a solo female traveler has been safe, rewarding and fun. -Anna Karsten 03/3/20

As many as 53 companies have requested to invest in Chabahar, Iran's only oceanic port, a senior official says. Over the last 11 months, some 170 Iranian and foreign delegations have visited the port which Iran intends to develop by attracting private and public sector investments. 03/3/20

The strongest ever Paralympian, Siamand Rahman, passed away at the age of 32 on Sunday. Rahman died after suffering a heart attack at the Nabi-akram Hospital in Oshnavieh, West Azarbaijan province. Powerlifting superstar Rahman, a two-time gold medalist in London 2012 and Rio 2016, was preparing to win his third successive gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 03/2/20

As the new coronavirus spreads in Iran, many people have struggled to find medicine -- an issue linked to sanctions reinstated by the United States in 2018 after it withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal. -AFP 03/2/20

When Iranian-born Canadian citizen Farzad Alavi was denied entry to the U.S. on Jan. 10, he said a border officer told him the reason was his past mandatory military service in Iran - which the officer claimed effectively linked him with terrorists. "They're telling me I'm a member of a terrorist organization. It's very, very difficult for me to digest," said Alavi. -Sophia Harris, CBC News 03/2/20

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival for his film titled There Is No Evil, which he made despite being forbidden to do so by the government in Tehran. Rasoulof was not present at the February 29 ceremony to receive the Golden Bear award for the film, which tells four stories loosely connected to the use of the death penalty in Iran and dealing with personal freedom under tyranny. 03/1/20

The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) is extremely concerned by reports that prisoners in Iran lack access to medicines as well as hygiene and sanitary products amid a rapidly rising death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in the country. "We're receiving disturbing reports that Iranian authorities are neglecting their domestic and international legal obligations to protect prisoners from contracting COVID-19 during this health crisis," said CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi. -CHRI 03/1/20

The U.S. and the Taliban have struck a deal that paves the way for eventual peace in Afghanistan. U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad and the head of the militant Islamist group, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, signed the potentially historic agreement Saturday in Doha, Qatar, where the two sides spent months hashing out its details. -NPR 03/1/20

A new plan being hatched by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) two prominent Iran hawks, will supposedly kick-start the Iran diplomacy. Their plan foresees a path to a "new Iran deal" that would involve Iran and its Persian Gulf neighbors permanently forswearing enrichment of uranium in exchange for safeguarding their right to a peaceful nuclear program and limited sanctions relief for Iran... After years of piling up sanctions and "maximum pressure," any talk of diplomacy with Iran coming from Washington is welcome in Europe. However, judging by what has transpired in the media so far, the Europeans should discard the Graham-Menendez plan as unrealistic at best and malicious at worst. -Eldar Mamedov, Responsible Statecraft 02/28/20

Authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran have suspended all sports events except football and futsal (soccer) matches in the next ten days due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country. The suspension will start from next Monday, April 2, the authorities said. Meanwhile, it has been disclosed that a 22-year-old member of Iranian women's futsal national team, Elham Sheikhi, has died of Covid-19, or coronavirus. 02/28/20

New U.S.-imposed sanctions on Iran have become so recurrent nowadays that they've become a joke, even among hardline clerics. Soon after Brian Hook, the State Department's special representative for Iran, announced that five members of the government's Guardian Council were to be blacklisted ahead of the country's parliamentary elections last Friday, the Council's chief Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, whipped back: "They sanctioned me and I am wondering how I can access all my money in those American banks now?" he told reporters with a chuckle at a press conference in Tehran. "How can I go there for Christmas?". -Shenaz Kermalli, Responsible Statecraft 02/28/20

When Shokoofeh Azar was a teenager in Tehran she often dreamed about winning the Booker Prize. When the winning books were translated into Farsi, she would devour them. "I followed all of the Booker Prize winners," she says, "and always wanted to win the Booker one day." -Jason Steger, SMH 02/28/20

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, containment has been the default Iran policy of every US administration. Presidents, both Democrat and Republican, have pursued an ill-advised and barely disguised policy of regime change, through imposing harsh economic sanctions and political pressure. -Middle East Eye 02/28/20

Nearly a thousand of us were gathered in Chicago beneath the alarming edifice of Chicago's "Trump Tower." Iran's General Qassem Soleimani had been brutally murdered the day before in Iraq, with several of his associates; and the welcome surprise of Iran's relatively measured response was yet a few days off. A region-wide conflagration seemed just on the verge of engulfing perhaps millions of lives, and consuming, as well, much of the species' remaining time and attention needed to face our direst threats... -Sean Reynolds, Counterpunch 02/28/20

Reza Khandan, a women's rights activist and the husband of prominent imprisoned human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh, has called on Iranian authorities to release his wife and other prisoners to the extent possible to protect them from contracting the potentially deadly COVID-19 coronavirus in overcrowded prisons and detention centers. -CHRI 02/27/20

Five years ago, in an act of creative desperation, I decided to immerse myself in the classical Persian poetry I grew up taking for granted. I aimed to learn it by heart and under the expert tutelage of my father, a physician by trade and a connoisseur of Sufi poetry by tradition. For my father, nothing is more sacred than poetry - specifically the mystical poetry of Rumi. -Melody Moezzi, New York Times 02/27/20

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says Russia will keep objecting to the restoration of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against Iran, emphasizing that Moscow will not let the 15-member body turn into a "toy" in the hands of the US. Speaking after the 15th meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna on Wednesday, Ryabkov warned that the UNSC should not be manipulated by Washington, which scrapped the nuclear deal in May 2018 and has been pressing the remaining signatories to do so. -Press TV 02/27/20

Directors from Iran face strict state restrictions, but they nevertheless manage to creatively bypass them. These 10 filmmakers' works have obtained international critical acclaim despite the obstacles. -Deutsche Welle 02/27/20

As the Trump administration's term in office nears its end, U.S. hawks are gearing up for a final showdown in hopes of dealing a death blow to the remains of the JCPOA - the nuclear deal between the U.S., other major world powers, and Iran. News of agreement between Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) - both opponents of President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran - on a legislative vehicle that would craft the outlines of a "new" nuclear accord indicates that the showdown may well take in the halls of Congress. -Tyler Cullis, Responsible Statecraft 02/26/20

Six nations on Wednesday called for adherence to the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - better known as the Iran nuclear deal. The meeting in Brussels cited concerns over the impact of US sanctions imposed on Iran and the 2018 withdrawal from the agreement. -DW 02/26/20

In her latest body of work, the Iranian artist turns her lens to America, her host-country, offering a fantastical response to the tumult of the contemporary moment Shirin Neshat wanders across the upper floor of the Goodman Gallery in London, gesturing around her. Dozens of faces gaze down, staring out intently from the walls of the space... -Hannah Abel-Hirsch, British Journal of Photography 02/26/20

Iran is racing to curb the rapid, deadly spread of the new coronavirus, but these efforts are complicated by tight economic restrictions imposed by the United States and frustrations among an increasingly embattled population. Concerns that Iran is ill-equipped to handle the burgeoning health crisis have been compounded by Iran's trade isolation that has resulted from sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump's administration. -Tom O'Connor, Newsweek 02/25/20

As widely predicted, conservative and hardline forces made sweeping gains in Iran's parliamentary elections last week. Although divided into different factions, their combined lists will now control 76 percent of the seats in the Majles, with their reformist opponents reduced to only 7 percent, and independents another 12 percent. Massive disqualifications of mostly moderate and reformist candidates by the Council of Guardians, an unelected vetting body, raised doubts among the voters about the fairness of the process. -Eldar Mamedov, Responsible Statecraft 02/25/20

Iran has temporarily closed cultural heritage museums and historical sites in 15 provinces in a preventive measure amid fears of coronavirus outbreak. "Cultural heritage museums and historical sites will be closed (as of today) until the end of the week (February 28) in 15 provinces, which face the risk of virus outbreak" 02/25/20

Aged 49, Iranian diabetic Parviz Sadeghi appears closer to 70 with deep wrinkles surrounding his clear blue eyes and sunken cheeks testifying to shortages at a time of intensifying medical crisis. After a six-hour wait, he is relieved but exhausted as he emerges from a pharmacy in the capital Tehran with insulin -- an increasingly scarce necessity, as US sanctions bite. -Digital Journal 02/25/20

Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli announced on Sunday that turnout in the Friday parliamentary elections was around 42%. Rahmani Fazli said that more than 24 million people out of 58 million eligible voters participated in the election, Mehr reported. Rahmani Fazli also said turnout in Tehran Province was around 25%. 02/24/20

Iran's election on Friday was a blow to moderates, a disappointment for conservative rulers and bad news for the region too. The result was largely ordained before anyone could cast a ballot. Hardliners appear to have swept the parliamentary contest - taking all 30 seats in Tehran - because the authorities ensured that they would. -Guardian Editorial 02/24/20

Though Iran is a Muslim-majority country, it is home to ancient Zoroastrian sites still retaining otherworldly charm. Isfahan's Atashgah is one of those which is situated on a mountain of the same name in western site of the central Iranian city. Experts say the fire temple dates back Sassanid era (224-651). 02/24/20

Iranian society is physically and politically sick, the youngest son of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the principal architects of the Iranian revolution has said in a rare interview. Yasser Rafsanjani reflected on the sweeping gains made by the conservatives on a record low turnout of 42 % at the weekend's parliamentary elections. He said democracy in Iran had been made a eunuch, castrated by forces outside parliament, including the militia. -Patrick Wintour, Guardian 02/24/20

Since the US assassination in early January of Iran's Quds Force commander, Major General Qassem Soleimani, Washington and Tehran have intensified their efforts to try to outmaneuver each other for influence in Iraq. The United States keenly wants to remain militarily engaged in the country to prevent the resurgence of the so-called Islamic State (IS) and to serve as a check on Iranian influence. But the Soleimani killing spurred many Iraqi politicians, particularly from the Shia community, to call for the ouster of US troops from the country. -Gregory Aftandilian, Responsible Statecraft 02/24/20

Iran's conservatives are heading for a large overall majority in the country's parliamentary elections, according to preliminary results, an outcome that reflects frustration with collapsing living standards and the apparent dead end of engagement with the west. It means strong supporters of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will control all the main levers of power in Iran except for the presidency. -Patrick Wintour, Guardian 02/22/20

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Dutch counterpart, Stef Blok, have held discussions in Tehran about issues of mutual interest and the latest regional and international developments. Blok, who is in Tehran at the head of a delegation, held two rounds of talks with Zarif on Saturday and also held a separate meeting with Iran's President Hassan Rohani. -Press TV 02/22/20

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body that sets standards to combat money laundering and terrorist finance, has placed Iran back on its infamous "blacklist," following the failure of Iranian policymakers to enact two key bills in accordance with an action plan set in 2016. The FATF statement, issued on Friday at the conclusion of the body's latest plenary meeting, calls on members to "to apply effective countermeasures" following Iran's failure to implement "the Palermo and Terrorist Financing Conventions in line with the FATF Standards." -Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, Responsible Statecraft 02/22/20

For forty years, the U.S. has been exponentially more powerful than Iran on the global stage. But, economic and military superiority doesn't always guarantee that action won't provoke reaction. Other leaders also worry about looking tough and hold core interests that they are willing to defend with force. Ever since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001, and Iraq in 2003, hawks - both Republican and Democrat - have been saying we need to restore credibility, leverage, and deterrence against Iran to justify their militaristic politics. -Siamak Tundra Naficy, Responsible Statecraft 02/21/20

"I've stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you," US President Donald Trump said on Twitter in Farsi last month, presumably talking to the Iranian people. My reaction as an Iranian-American was one of sheer rage. This is a president who issued a ban targeting Iran and other Muslim countries, imposed devastating sanctions on the people of Iran, and threatened to bomb Iran's cultural sites. His administration has detained and deported Iranian students with valid visas, and treated Iranian-Americans, including US citizens, as suspects. -Azadeh Shahshahani, Middle East Eye 02/21/20

Now, the Trump administration - itself faced with growing public concern over the effect of U.S. sanctions on the Iranian people - is touting a humanitarian channel put in place through coordinated efforts with the Swiss government to ensure the Iranian people's access to humanitarian goods. However, a discerning look at this channel indicates that the net effect may well cause further distress to Iran's access to humanitarian items. -Tyler Cullis, Responsible Statecraft 02/21/20

In the latest article in a series on how some of the world's key emitters are responding to climate change, Carbon Brief profiles Iran, a major petrostate stricken by long-running droughts. -Josh Gabbatiss, Carbon Brief 02/21/20

Medical staff at Iran's top cancer hospital tell FRANCE 24 their patients are paying the price of geopolitical strategies as the country's health system struggles to cope under crippling US sanctions. The economy tops the agenda as Iran heads to the polls in Friday's general elections. -France 24 02/20/20

Popular anger at corruption, the slide in living standards and the political mistakes of the reformist government of President Hassan Rouhani is widespread in Iran, and fuels the conservatives' call for "a strong parliament" to be elected this Friday in nationwide elections. If the conservatives can take power, and appoint someone such as the former Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf as speaker, Rouhani can be kept on a tight leash in his final year of office before fresh presidential elections. -Patrick Wintour, Guadian 02/20/20

A female former UN Environment consultant's complaints of physical and psychological torture at the hands of her male interrogators were ignored by Iranian judicial officials, and forced "confessions" obtained as a result of torture were used to imprison her and seven fellow wildlife conservationists, according to her newly published letters from Tehran's Evin Prison. -CHRI 02/20/20

The Iranian parliament has approved the details of a government bill to drop four zeros from the national currency rial. Reports in the local media on Wednesday said that the parliament's economic committee had gone through all technical details of the bill which seeks to amend Article 1 of Iran's Monetary and Banking Law to allow the government to overhaul the currency. 02/20/20

Today, Pars Equality Center (Pars) announced its Write In Iranian campaign for the upcoming 2020 Census. Pars is partnering with the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) in an effort to increase awareness among the Iranian American community about the importance of participating in the upcoming census. 02/19/20

In a ceremony on Tuesday night, a projection mapping was carried out on the iconic Azadi Tower in Tehran to convey the message of sympathy with Chinese people fighting coronavirus. The ceremony was held in the presence of Chinese Ambassador to Iran Chang Hua, ISNA reported. 02/19/20

Iran's Foreign Ministry has said that a recent meeting between Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and an American senator in Munich took place within the framework of Iran's "general diplomacy." The ministry's spokesman Abbas Mousavi posted a tweet on Tuesday to comment on a Saturday meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference between Zarif and a delegation of Democratic congressmen headed by Connecticut's Senator Chris Murphy. -Press TV 02/19/20

The Iran Khodro Compnay (IKCO), the largest carmaker in Iran, has unveiled a first electric car that could reach mass production in two years time. A report by the IRNA agency on Tuesday said that the Electric RANA, a sedan which bears the name of one of the recent models of IKCO, is equipped with a special engine that is designed by a subsidiary of the company. 02/19/20

President Trump's signature foreign policy initiatives often bear the same hallmarks: economic coercion to extract maximalist concessions. From Iran to North Korea to Venezuela, the use of sanctions, normally a tactic employed as part of a broader strategy, have turned into a strategy unto themselves. Far from realizing the self-proclaimed goals of the Trump administration, the excessive use of sanctions has made them harder to achieve, caused immense human suffering, and risks the ability of future administrations to use sanctions as a tool in the foreign policy playbook. -Louie Reckford, Responsible Statecraft 02/19/20

Iran's judiciary says it has issued prison sentences for eight environmental activists, including an Iranian who also has British and U.S. citizenship, on charges of spying for the United States and acting against Iran's national security. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili says an Iranian appeals court issued "final verdicts" in their cases on February 18. -RFE/RL 02/18/20

Amid mounting tensions between the U.S. and Iran that have resulted in renewed discrimination of Iranian Americans, the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) today launched Iranian Americans Are American to reaffirm that Iranian Americans are, first and foremost, American. This campaign launches as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) admitted to inappropriately targeting Iranian Americans and breaching agency protocol last month when they detained hundreds of Iranian Americans at the U.S.-Canadian border simply because of their national origin. 02/18/20

team group presents an investigation into the ancestral architecture of the hot and dry regions of iran with the proposed 'sunken courtyard' or bagh chal. among the most powerful and significant elements of iranian architecture, the courtyard spatial type is reimagined as an introverted, brick monument which embraces its occupant below the level of the ground in coolness and shadows within a naturally desertous context. the envisioned project, programmed as a boutique restaurant, is integrated into the flat landscape and made up of zones organized with inverted symmetry. -designboom 02/18/20

Existing solutions for human resource management around the world are outdated. Qpage sees this as an opportunity and wants to shake the market with its comprehensive solution. -TechRasa 02/18/20

Farhang Foundation, USC Libraries, and USC Dornsife Department of Middle East Studies present an exhibition celebrating Iran's rich wedding traditions. 02/17/20

President Hassan Rouhani conferred awards on 15 selected projects at the 33rd Khwarizmi International Festival in Tehran on Monday. The annual festival is an opportunity for both Iranian and foreign participants to put their scientific achievements on display. Khwarizmi International Award is dedicated to recognizing outstanding scientific achievements made by researchers, inventors, and innovators from all over the world. 02/17/20

Iranian illustrator Mohamad-Hossein Mason) Matak has been selected as one of the 12 winners of the Illustrators of the Future Contest in the U.S. city of Los Angeles, the organizers announced last week. Matak has been selected for his illustrations for the book "Machucheh and Crow" written by Iranian writer Afsaneh Shaban-nejad. 02/17/20

In 1994, Mirzakhani became the first female Iranian student to win the gold medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad, scoring 41 out of 42 points, and in 2015 she returned to win with a perfect score. She earned her PhD from Harvard University and was a leading scholar on the dynamics and geometry of complex surfaces. In 2014, she became the first female winner of the Fields Medal, the most prestigious award in mathematics. -UN Women 02/16/20

The Mehrsun Art Gallery in Tehran is showcasing a collection of works by a group of prominent Iranian Armenian artists in an exhibition entitled "Iranahayer". Armenian Ambassador Artashes Tumanyan, Music Museum of Iran Managing Director Ali Moradkhani and Iranian Artists Forum director Majid Rajabi-Memar attended the opening ceremony of the exhibit on Friday. 02/16/20

A little over a decade ago, researchers at the University of Tehran introduced a rudimentary humanoid robot called Surena. An improved model capable of walking, Surena II, was announced not long after, followed by the more capable Surena III in 2015. Now the Iranian roboticists have unveiled Surena IV. The new robot is a major improvement over previous designs. A video highlighting its capabilities shows the robot mimicking a person's pose, grasping a water bottle, and writing its name on a whiteboard. -Erico Guizzo, IEEE Spectrum 02/14/20

As someone who has studied the lives of Iran's working classes, I know just how damaging economic warfare has been. It's hit young Iranians, who comprise a large portion of the population, particularly hard. High rates of inflation - on the order of 38.6% over the past 12 months - and a youth unemployment rate of 28.6% have drastically reduced their ability to purchase basic goods and feel any semblance of financial security. -Manata Hashemi, The Conversation 02/14/20

The production "The Story of Nowruz" describes the unique celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of the Persian new year. From exciting and ancient Zoroastrian soul-cleansing rituals, to the good luck charm and beauty of the "Table of the Seven S's," the performance depicts traditions of inspiration, rebirth, renewal, and hope through traditional choreography, original scoring performed by a live 22-piece orchestra, and professional actors in a first-of-its-kind stage production. 02/13/20

The clerical government in Iran celebrates another anniversary this week. It's both an occasion for critics to call attention to the Islamic Republic's perpetual legitimacy crisis, and for neutral observers to puzzle over the revolutionary government's tenacity. Tehran's opponents are correct in pointing out that its legitimacy crisis is at its deepest since 2009. Yet, there is little to indicate that the Islamic Republic is about to fall - or that it will be replaced with a democratic system if it does. -Trita Parsi, Middle East Eye 02/13/20

I was born and raised in the United States to Iranian parents and, like many children of immigrants, grew up with a sense of alienation from my fellow Americans. Though raised in the most populace location of the Iranian diaspora in Southern California, my hyphenated identity seemed to be in conflict with itself as Iran was consistently vilified in U.S. media and politics. But rather than attempt to hide my identity, I became determined to move beyond the surface politics to understand more about Iran and, ultimately, to try to bridge the divide between my country of heritage and the country I called home. -Assal Rad, Common Dreams 02/11/20

In a letter from Evin Prison in Tehran where he has been held since October 2015, Iranian American businessman Siamak Namazi asked Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi why his requests for furlough have been repeatedly denied while those around him continue to be allowed to go on temporary leave. "For the past four years, while enduring punishment for a crime I did not commit, I have been trying to restore my rights with the help of almighty God within the laws of our beloved country," wrote Namazi in a letter that was published in Persian on February 7, 2020 02/9/20

The Iranian startup ecosystem is deteriorating after a boomlet lasting from 2012 - 2016 as sanctions and domestic restrictions create new challenges and force businesses abroad. The startup environment started to take a structured shape in Iran from 2012 - 2013 thanks to the initiatives taken by a number of universities, visionary individuals and the return of foreign-educated Iranians and the diaspora. -Mohsen Tavakol, Atlantic Council 02/7/20

We take so much for granted when we look only at the visible structures of buildings, but windcatchers demonstrate that their invisible attributes may often be more important. Their story in Yazd reaches out in many directions, showing how one apparently simple design feature links us to many aspects of the physical, historic and political past of the whole region. 02/6/20

Pars Equality Center's mission is to catalyze social, civic and economic integration of immigrants from Persian-speaking and other countries into American society. As a community-based social and legal services organization, Pars Equality Center is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit, dedicated to helping the Iranian-American and other Persian-speaking communities realize their full potential as informed, self-reliant, and responsible members of the American society. 02/5/20

"Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness" directed by Iran's Masud Bakhshi received the "World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic" award at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Saturday February 1st, 2010. Filmmaker Massoud Bahkshi brings aesthetic energy and dramatic intensity to a story that unfolds over a few hours and almost entirely within the studio. 02/3/20

This year's winning design was awarded to Iranian artist Setareh Feylizadeh from Paris, France. "Participating in a competition such as this, especially one which connects us to our roots, cultures, and traditions, has been so rewarding." said Feylizadeh. "The ultimate prize of winning this competition is the chance to connect with another community of Persians in another part of the world by spreading the message of Nowruz, which bonds us together and brings us closer to one another. 01/24/20

Female sprinter Farzaneh Fasihi, dubbed the Wind Girl, comes close to fulfilling her dream of reaching the Olympic Games. Fasihi has recently secured her place at the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships, running 7.29 second time in the 60 meters event. She has become the first Iranian woman to participate at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. 01/21/20

When I visited Iran this summer, severe panic attacks, depression, and anxiety-longstanding byproducts of post-traumatic stress disorder-caused me to seek out a trauma therapist. After weeks of contacting Iranian pharmacies, hospitals, charities, and relief organizations, my prescriptions for Zoloft, Xanax, Ativan, and Clonazepam remained unfilled. Since the United States exited the Iranian nuclear deal (JCPOA) and imposed new sanctions, this kind of shortage has become commonplace. -Younes Mahmoudieh 01/18/20

Anniversaries are important; they celebrate legacies and signify presence and continuity. This year, 2020, marks the 1000th anniversary of Ferdowsi's death. This renowned Persian poet died at age 81 in 1020, more than five centuries before Shakespeare was born. Ferdowsi has not only endured for a thousand years but has also defined the very identity and language of his own country - Iran. This is, indeed, a great achievement for a poet or for any person, for that matter. -Rasoul Shams 01/13/20

First of all, we would like to thank you for your generosity and dedication to the Foundation, which have made it possible for us to continue our work of bringing light to disadvantaged children and communities. In this edition of the newsletter, we would like to update you on the Bachehaye Ma family and also bring your attention to two new initiatives: The Kermanshah Water Project and the expanded reach of the Popli Football Club. 12/17/19