News stories by Omid Memarian

GENEVA, Mar 14 (IPS) - Following the release Friday of his report to the Human Rights Council on the situation in Iran, U.N. Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed urged Tehran to engage with U.N. mandates - firstly by permitting him to enter the country.

NEW YORK, May 02 (IPS) - More than seven weeks after the secretive arrest of prominent Iranian diplomat Bagher Asadi, an Iranian official confirmed his detention Thursday, although he declined to provide further details.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 25 (IPS) - More than a year into his mandate, Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, told the Third Committee of the U.N. General Assembly this week that the rights situation in Iran remains critical, especially as it pertains to human rights defenders, journalists, and religious and ethnic minorities.

A United Nations envoy has called on the Iranian government to release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and to conduct an extensive, impartial and independent investigation into the violence that followed the 2009 presidential election.

Amid mounting tensions between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear programme, perhaps nothing less than an Oscar to the acclaimed feature film 'A Separation' could have brought smiles to the faces of millions of Iranians who see most news as bad news these days.

Less than two months before Iran's parliamentary elections, as much of the opposition mounts a boycott of the polls, a new wave of arrests and lengthy prison sentences for political activists and journalists appears to herald a renewed crackdown in the Iranian capital.

The U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran defended his new critical report on the country Thursday after it was attacked by Iranian officials, who continue to insist he will not be allowed to visit the country.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's address to the United Nations Thursday followed the script of his previous six visits to New York, with strong criticism of the United States, messianic language, and vague utopian statements on how to govern the world, Iranian-style.

Just 24 hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that two U.S. hikers who have been detained for nearly two years would be released on bail, the country's judiciary insisted that the decision remains under review.

Last week's appointment of a ranking member of Iran's influential Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as the country's new oil minister could lead to a more unaccountable and unpredictable military with greater influence on the government in Tehran, analysts say.