News stories by Sara Farhang

The stepped-up crackdown against reformist leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, notably the arrest of key aides, signals that the crisis faced by the Islamic regime in Iran has reached new heights.

In line with the Shia tradition of paying respects to the dead, tens of thousands of Iranians went to Behesht Zahra cemetery on Thursday to mourn the death of Neda Agha Soltan – an iconic victim of post-election violence in Iran.

Five weeks after the disputed presidential elections, and four days after former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered a controversial speech at the Friday Prayers in Tehran in which he sided with the opposition and challenged the legitimacy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, the rift between the ruling elites has widened, with some in the conservative camp taking a critical stance against the ostensibly re-elected president.

Amid a flurry of anticipation and speculation, former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani led Friday prayers in Tehran this week.

After a 26-day search, Parvin Fahimi finally discovered that her son Sohrab Arabi, 19, had been gunned down during the peaceful protest march from Tehran's Enghelab (Revolution) Square to Azadi (Freedom) Square on Jun. 15.

To mark the tenth anniversary of Iran's student uprising in 1999 amid the continued rejection by many voters of the results of the disputed Jun. 12 election, student activists issued a national call to protest last week.

Outside the gates of Terhan's notorious Evin prison, hundreds wait impatiently – some with blankets spread out in the parking lot on the street below, making time for dinner.

On Monday, after a televised counting of the 10 percent of the ballot boxes, the body that oversees Iranian elections upheld the results of the disputed presidential elections.

When tens of thousands of protesters braved the ongoing government crackdown to gather in Tehran's Baharestan Square in front of the Parliament building Wednesday in response to a call by supporters of Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, they were met with some of the harshest violence seen since Iran's post-election turmoil erupted nearly two weeks ago.

Eleven days after Iran’s disputed Jun. 12 president election, the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears determined to round up key members of the opposition, journalists and human rights activists who could play a key role in rallying public support for opposition demands.