May 17 – The Islamic Republic in Iran may have already developed a nuclear bomb, according to an Iranian lawmaker who also said Iran’s regime could make the announcement shortly.
Ahmad Ardestani, who is the political representative for Isfahan in Iran’s parliament and a former member of Parliament’s National Security committee, added that entering the “nuclear club” would mean those states with nuclear weapons would have to “accept” and “respect” Iran.
The Islamic Republic’s known nuclear facilities have been subject to inspections by the United Nations in recent years following Western concerns about the regime’s activities in the Middle East.
The number of women killed by male relatives in Iran has surged, according to new research published in a report by reformist Iranian newspaper Etemad.
The investigation found that at least 23 women were killed in Iran in between the months of April and May by either their husbands, ex-partners, fathers or brothers.
Violence against women has not been criminalized in Iran, and certain laws allow men to engage in domestic violence, or murder their wives without punishment if they catch them in the act of adultery.
And Iranian activists and journalists spoke about their experiences of oppression and violence by Iran’s regime at this year’s Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.
The summit, which is sponsored by NGOs and was launched in 2009, presented its human rights award to Iran International journalists targeted by Iran’s regime for reporting on Iran.
Speakers at the summit included the journalist Pouria Zeraati who was stabbed outside his home in London, and Australian-British academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert who was imprisoned in Iran for two years.
