Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mahmoud Vaezi, said again this week that he is a proud Facebook user. “I have been a member and I’m pretty involved [with Facebook]. I keep posting things and I always use the comments I receive,” he told the reporters. Vaezi told the reporters that, overall, he […]
Category: Sufi news
Republishing Information on the Occasion of The Eighth Anniversary of Demolition of Gonabadi Dervishes Worship-Place (Hosseiniyeh) in Qom
Today 24 Bahman 1392 (Feb 13 2014) is the eighth anniversary of destruction of Gonabadi dervishes worship-place (Hosseiniyeh) in the city of Qom.An attack on a Gonabadi dervishes’ place of worship “Shariat Hosseiniye”, took place in Qom in February 2006. According to official reports 1,200 followers of the order were arrested during the incident […]
CPJ: Attacks on the press
Iran remains one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists. – Iranians voice hope for new era with election of President Hassan Rouhani. Iran remained one of the most censored countries in the world. In the lead-up to the June 2013 presidential elections, then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government pre-emptively arrested journalists, banned publications, harassed family […]
U.S. Congressmen Back Diplomacy With Iran
WASHINGTON — More than 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed a letter in support of “robust diplomacy” with Iran as the “best possible strategic option.” The signatories say the U.S. Congress should give diplomacy with Iran a chance. “A bill or resolution that risks fracturing our international coalition or, worse […]
Iran sending group to Pakistan after officials abducted
Iran’s deputy minister of the interior says a delegation is being dispatched to Pakistan to follow up on the abduction of five border officials in Sistan-Baluchistan. IRNA reports that Ali Abdollahi stated that the delegation will arrive in Pakistan next week to deal with the “abduction of five border officials by the group referred […]
Sunni cleric calls for end of violence in Sistan-Baluchistan
Senior Sunni cleric and Zahedan Friday Mass Imam Mowlavi Abdolhamid has called for an end to kidnappings and violence in region. According to local websites in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, Mowlavi Abdolhamid said: “Those who provoke you are not your well-wishers, they are just trying to use you to satisfy their complexes. Beware […]
“Reformist” detainees released by Iranian judiciary
An opposition website reports that a number of “reformist youth” who were arrested yesterday in the Revolution anniversary march in Tehran have been released. The Kaleme website reports, however, that it is not clear whether all the detainees were released. The report indicates that the detainees were released due to the insistence of the […]
Human rights violations of Gonabadi dervishes in Iran: January 2011 – January 2014
Dervishes in Iran continue to face a range of human rights violations, including intimidation, harassment, attacks on their prayer centres, destruction of community cemeteries, arrest and torture. They have been sentenced to long prison terms. Lawyers who defended the Sufis were removed from the judiciary or imprisoned themselves. Journalists who wrote about their complaints […]
Top prosecutor says opposition leaders must repent to be released
Iran’s Prosecutor General has announced that efforts to end the house arrest of MirHosein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi are futile and nothing will change unless they repent. The Tasnim News Agency reports that Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei told a meeting of seminarians in Hamadan: “Some are trying to end the house arrests to […]
Reports say people were arrested trying to join anniversary march
Iranian opposition websites report that a number of participants in today’s march marking the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution have been arrested by security forces. The Kaleme website reports that a group of people who had intended to join the march, following an invitation from President Hassan Rohani and former president Mohammad Khatami, were […]