For all of the latest Kurdish news, see these sources:
ANF English: https://anfenglishmobile.com/
Hawar News: https://www.hawarnews.com/en/
Rojava Information Center: https://rojavainformationcenter.com
Women Defend Rojava: http://womendefendrojava.net/en/
Rojhelat: http://rojhelat.info/en/
Rojava Centre for Strategic Studies: http://nrlsrojava.com/en/
Komun Academy: https://komun-academy.com
MA NEWS: http://mezopotamyaajansi22.com/en/NEWS
NEWS
1. U.N. Human Rights Council Condemns Situation In Iran
2. Iran and Iraq agree to boost ties in high-level meetings
3. Kurdish villagers pressured to leave homes by Iranian authorities
4. Iranian tanker reaches coast of Venezuela
5. Erbil rocket attacks send Iranian threatening message
6. Iranian-French academic Fariba Adelkhah temporarily freed
7. Summary of Repression and Human Rights Violations in Iran – September 2020
8. Iran sanctions: US moves to isolate ‘major’ banks
9. Iran at breaking point as it fights third wave of coronavirus
10. Ongoing Vendetta against Nasrin Sotoudeh
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
1. Iran’s shadow looms large over southeastern Iraqi Kurdistan
2. If Trump wins, he needs a new approach to Iran
3. Why rejoining the Iran nuclear deal isn’t so easy, even if Biden wins
4. Threat to evacuate US diplomats from Iraq raises fear of war
5. Iran on edge as Azeri minority backs Karabakh war
6. Forty years later, Tehran’s weaponisation of sectarianism in the Iran-Iraq war still haunts the region
7. How Iran’s Regional Meddling Could Eventually Backfire
8. End Of Arms Embargo Unlikely To Bring Flow Of Weapons To Iran
9. Arms embargo on Iran expires despite US opposition
MULTIMEDIA
1. Kurdish man spent his life clearing remnant mines from Iran-Iraq war
2. A Creative Life with Ongoing Resistance: Nasrin Parwaz
NEWS
1. U.N. Human Rights Council Condemns Situation In Iran
26 Sep 2020 | Radio Farda
The 47 countries present at this week’s United Nations Human Rights Council meeting condemned the sudden execution of the young Iranian wrestler, Navid Afkari, also demanding the release of Nasrin Sotoudeh and Narges Mohammadi and an end to the repeated violations of human rights in Iran.
https://en.radiofarda.com/a/u-n-human-rights-council-condemns-situation-in-iran/30859455.html
2. Iran and Iraq agree to boost ties in high-level meetings
27 Sep 2020 | Al Jazeera
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein has concluded a two-day diplomatic trip to Tehran, during which he met with top Iranian officials to discuss boosting political and economic ties, and the role of the United States in the region.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/27/iran-and-iraq-agree-to-boost-ties-in-high-level-meetings
3. Kurdish villagers pressured to leave homes by Iranian authorities
29 Sep 2020 | Rudaw
Kurdish villagers in Iran have said they have been pressured to leave their homes by Iranian authorities. Hassan Eil, 90, has lived in since he was seven years old. “We don’t want to be displaced from our ancestral land. I have spent all of my life here and would like to die and be buried here,” he told Rudaw.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/29092020
4. Iranian tanker reaches coast of Venezuela
29 Sep 2020 | Al-Monitor
An Iranian tanker is close to reaching Venezuela, ship tracking data has revealed. It is one of several Iranian vessels facilitating fuel deals with the crisis-stricken South American country in the face of US sanctions.
5. Erbil rocket attacks send Iranian threatening message
02 Oct 2020 | The Arab Weekly
Iraqi Kurdistan’s counterterrorism service blamed Wednesday an attack on US troops near Erbil airport on the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella grouping of mostly Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militias that is part of Iraq’s armed forces.
https://thearabweekly.com/erbil-rocket-attacks-send-iranian-threatening-message
6. Iranian-French academic Fariba Adelkhah temporarily freed
03 Oct 2020 | Al Jazeera
Iran has temporarily released Iranian-French academic Fariba Adelkhah, who has been in prison over national security charges, according to her lawyer.
7. Summary of Repression and Human Rights Violations in Iran – September 2020
06 Oct 2020 | Iran News Update
In September 2020, at least 22 prisoners were executed in various Iran’s prisons on charges of Moharebeh, armed robbery, murder, drugs, and rape. Among those executed was a female prisoner named Mahtab Shafiei, and the other executed were men.
8. Iran sanctions: US moves to isolate ‘major’ banks
09 Oct 2020 | BBC News
The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on 18 “major” Iranian banks in one of the most extensive such moves by Washington against Tehran in months.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-54476894
9. Iran at breaking point as it fights third wave of coronavirus
14 Oct 2020 | The Guardian
Iran, the crucible of coronavirus in the Middle East, smashed two grim records this week, reporting its largest number of deaths in a single 24 hours since the outbreak started in March, and the largest number of new infections.
10. Ongoing Vendetta against Nasrin Sotoudeh
16 Oct 2020 | Séamas Carraher, Global Rights
On September 26, Nasrin Sotoudeh, with her health deteriorating, broke her hunger strike, which had been ongoing since August 11 in defence of Iran’s political prisoners.
https://www.globalrights.info/2020/10/iran-ongoing-vendetta-against-nasrin-sotoudeh/
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
1. Iran’s shadow looms large over southeastern Iraqi Kurdistan
23 Sep 2020 | Al-Monitor
In this southeastern corner of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Iranian influence is clear and of concern to many in the area amid reports of cross-border fraud and smuggling networks.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/09/iraq-iran-smuggling-kurdistan.html
2. If Trump wins, he needs a new approach to Iran
24 Sep 2020 | Atlantic Council
US policy toward Iran in the days running up to the November election has been a counterproductive, contradictory, and embarrassing mix of economic sanctions, botched diplomacy, and harsh rhetoric combined with announced plans to withdraw thousands of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan—something Iran has long promoted.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/if-trump-wins-he-needs-a-new-approach-to-iran/
3. Why rejoining the Iran nuclear deal isn’t so easy, even if Biden wins
25 Sep 2020 | Al-Monitor
A new Iran deal should consider the “gold standard” energy pact by the UAE and include a regional dialogue on the peaceful use of nuclear power.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/09/rejoin-iran-nuclear-deal-jcpoa-biden.html
4. Threat to evacuate US diplomats from Iraq raises fear of war
28 Sep 2020 | Al Jazeera
The United States has made preparations to withdraw diplomats from Iraq after warning Baghdad it could shut its embassy, two Iraqi officials and two Western diplomats say, a step Iraqis fear could turn their country into a battle zone.
5. Iran on edge as Azeri minority backs Karabakh war
08 Oct 2020 | Asia Times
Tensions flaring up between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia over the intractable Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, deemed to be Europe’s oldest “frozen war,” have spilled over into the neighboring Iran, which shares borders and longstanding amicable relations with both nations.
https://asiatimes.com/2020/10/iran-on-edge-as-azeri-minority-backs-karabakh-war/
6. Forty years later, Tehran’s weaponisation of sectarianism in the Iran-Iraq war still haunts the region
09 Oct 2020 | The New Arab
Forty years ago, on 22 September 1980, Iraqi armed forces crossed the international border with their eastern neighbour Iran, beginning an eight-year long conflict that scarred the region, and set events in motion that continue to play out in today’s Middle East.
7. How Iran’s Regional Meddling Could Eventually Backfire
16 Oct 2020 | World Crunch
There is no end for now to the rocket and missile attacks on U.S. and Western coalition forces in Iraq, where six rockets were fired in recent days onto Erbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan. One of them landed on a Kurdish Democratic Party camp inside Iran.
https://worldcrunch.com/opinion-analysis/how-iran39s-regional-meddling-could-eventually-backfire
8. End Of Arms Embargo Unlikely To Bring Flow Of Weapons To Iran
16 Oct 2020 | Radio Farda
October 18 marks the end of a decade-old United Nations arms embargo against Iran after the United States failed overcome opposition within the UN Security Council to get it extended — including opposition from Washington’s European allies.
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-arms-embargo-ends-weapons-flow-unlikely/30897089.html
9. Arms embargo on Iran expires despite US opposition
18 Oct 2020 | Al Jazeera
A 13-year conventional arms embargo on Iran has ended, but the implications for Iran and the region remain uncertain.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/18/arms-embargo-on-iran-expires-despite-us-opposition
MULTIMEDIA
1. Kurdish man spent his life clearing remnant mines from Iran-Iraq war
05 Oct 2020 | Middle East Eye
Hoshyar Ali is a Kurdish man who has been deactivating remnant mines from the Iran-Iraq war since 1981. Because of his work, he’s lost loved ones and became a double amputee, yet he refuses to quit “for the sake of humanity”.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/video/kurdish-man-spent-his-life-clearing-remnant-mines-iran-iraq-war
2. A Creative Life with Ongoing Resistance: Nasrin Parwaz
16 Oct 2020 | Nasrin Parwaz, Suna Alan
Kurdish singer, journalist and activist Suna Alan is interviewing Iranian poet, writer, painter and activist Nasrin Parwaz who spent 8 years of her life in prisons in Iran as a political prisoner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW4xk08RmeU&feature=youtu.be