March 8 – Iran’s Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif, stepped down this week, following a recommendation to do so by the country’s judiciary chief, Gholam Mohseni-Ejei.
The moderate lawmaker was accused of having too many foreign contacts and of being too close to the U.S. following the acquisition of U.S. citizenship for his sons when they were born, while Zarif was a student in the U.S.
Zarif suggested that the move had been instigated by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a hard line conservative who has refused to negotiate with the U.S.
The U.S., the UK, France and Germany urged the United Nations atomic watchdog to hold Iran accountable for failing to comply with reporting regulations connected to its nuclear program by finding Iran to be non-compliant with its safeguards agreement.
They called on the watchdog “to address a lack of transparency and assurances on the nature of Iran’s advancing nuclear program.”
The four states, known as The Quad, said Iran had been given plenty of chances to comply with their obligations but had consistently failed to do so, in a joint statement published on Wednesday.
And an Iranian singer known for inciting women to remove their hijabs in Iran has been lashed 74 times as punishment for supporting the nationwide anti-government demonstrations which swept the country.
Mehdi Yarrahi’s lawyer Zahra Minoui said the punishment had been carried out in full, in a post on X.
Yarrahi had also been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, and served one year of his sentence, as well as paying a fine.
