Reuters: The family of an Iranian-American former U.S. Marine held in Iran since 2011 called on Saturday for senior Iranian officials to review his conviction and 10-year prison sentence on charges of collaborating with the U.S. government and to free him.
Former U.S. Marine’s family asks Iran to reconsider prison term
Iran rejects U.S. ban on pick for U.N. envoy, vows legal action
Reuters: Iran on Saturday rejected a U.S. decision to deny a visa for its newly appointed ambassador to the United Nations, pledging to take up the case directly with the world body in a dispute that has reopened old wounds dating to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Suicide rate among Iranian youth on the rise
Daily Sabah: Every day 11 people committed suicide in Iran, according to country’s official statistics. Around 3,125 people committed suicide in Iran last eight months, among them 982 women and 2,143 men. Statistics show that in Iran suicide among young people aged 18-24 years is growing.
US blocks Iran’s envoy to UN
AP: The Obama administration informed Iran it would not grant a visa to Hamid Aboutalebi, a member of the group responsible for the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The announcement was an acknowledgement that efforts to persuade Iran to withdraw Aboutalebi’s name had not been successful.
Iran secretly convicted former marine, lawyer says
New York Times: Amir Hekmati, a former Marine incarcerated in August 2011 and sentenced to death on espionage charges that were overturned, was secretly retried by a revolutionary court in December, convicted of “practical collaboration with the American government” and given a 10-year prison term.
Diplomat who led secret talks with Iran plans to retire
New York Times: William J. Burns, a career diplomat who led the Obama administration’s back-channel negotiations with Iran, plans to step down as the State Department’s second-ranking official in October, administration officials said on Friday.
Iran hammered from Washington to Brussels
Inside Embassy Row: Iran was hammered this week from Washington to Brussels, as the brutal regime in Tehran screamed about “four-legged” infidels blocking its ambassador to the United Nations or denouncing it for human rights abuse.
Iran steps up pace of executions as it courts West
Fox News: At a time when the West would like to think its negotiating partner is adopting a new, softer tone, Iran’s executions have only increased over the past year, according to a report by the Human Rights and Democracy Report.
Iran Feb oil shipments highest since sanctions began: IEA
Bloomberg: Iran’s crude shipments in February were the highest since the imposition of Western sanctions that have crippled its oil-dependent economy, according to the International Energy Agency. Imports of Iranian oil were 1.65 million barrels a day in February, the highest level since June 2012, the IEA said.
Iran: UN rights experts appeal for urgent medical care for detained political prisoners
UN News Centre: A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today voiced alarm at the denial of medical care to two political prisoners in Iran who are at risk of dying in detention due to worsening health conditions, and urged the authorities to provide them with treatment.
