{"id":331278,"date":"2025-05-08T06:35:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T05:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=331278"},"modified":"2025-05-08T19:49:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T18:49:39","slug":"iran-news-in-brief-may-8-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-news-in-brief-news\/iran-news-in-brief-may-8-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran News in Brief \u2013 May 8, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tehran
Tehran \u2013 Protest gathering of Modiran Khodro applicants, May 4, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS<\/h3>\n

UPDATE: 8:30 PM CEST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Satellite Images Reveal Alleged Secret Iranian Nuclear Weapons Facility<\/h3>\n

\"Fox-News\"<\/p>\n

Fox News has exclusively obtained satellite imagery revealing what an opposition group says is a previously undisclosed\u00a0Iranian nuclear weapons facility<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 raising fresh concerns amid ongoing negotiations between Tehran and the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

The newly identified site, located in Iran\u2019s Semnan Province, is far from the regime’s already-known\u00a0nuclear facilities.<\/a>\u00a0According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), intelligence gathered from sources inside the country points to a sprawling compound covering nearly 2,500 acres.<\/p>\n

Code-named the “Rainbow Site” by Iranian officials, the facility has reportedly been in operation for more than a decade, masked as a chemical production company known as Diba Energy Siba.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Satellite Pics Expose Iran\u2019s Secret Nuclear Site \u2018Rainbow\u2019 Developing Missiles With 2,000 Mile Range to Hit US Bases<\/h3>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

CHILLING satellite pictures reveal Iran’s sprawling secret nuclear site codenamed “Rainbow”.<\/p>\n

Sources in the country have uncovered how the base is being used to develop\u00a0nuclear-capable missiles<\/a>\u00a0with a 2,000-mile range – able to strike\u00a0US<\/a>\u00a0bases in the\u00a0Middle East<\/a>.\u00a0Tehran’s tyrannical regime is using oil and chemical facilities as a cover for nuclear bases, bombshell docs shared with The Sun\u00a0by the\u00a0National Council of Resistance of Iran<\/a>\u00a0(NCRI)\u00a0reveal.<\/p>\n

Haunting aerial images expose a network of clandestine sites – including “Rainbow” – used by iron-fist leaders to create terrifying nuclear weapons. It comes after senior political sources in Israel told The Sun how\u00a0Iran’s nuclear scheme should have been dealt with<\/a>\u00a0“a long time ago”.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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UPDATE: 5:30 PM CEST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran Wants to Execute a Poet for Political Poems<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

His real name is Peyman Farahavar, but he publishes his dissident poems in Iran under the pseudonym Sheyda. For this poetry, he has now been sentenced to death in a summary trial at the notorious Lakan Prison in the city of Rasht.<\/p>\n

Outside of Iran, the poet Peyman Farahavar, who writes under the pseudonym Sheyda, is virtually unknown. That has now changed under tragic circumstances. Last Thursday, Farahavar was sentenced to death in a summary trial held at the infamous Lakan Prison in the northern Iranian city of Rasht\u2014a prison known as an execution site. The verdict was officially delivered to Farahavar this Tuesday, which is when it became public.<\/p>\n

PEN Berlin reported the case in a statement, citing the Iranian human rights organization Hengaw as its source. Hengaw has since also published on its website the name of the judge who presided over Farahavar\u2019s trial: Ahmad Darvish Goftar.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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UPDATE: 7:00 AM CEST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Internal Rifts Deepen in Iran\u2019s Regime as Officials Debate US Negotiation \u2018Trap\u2019<\/h3>\n

\"Iranian<\/p>\n

After negotiations between the Iranian regime and the United States did not take place on Tuesday, May 3, 2025, a new round of infighting began within the regime. On Sunday, May 4, Javan, the official newspaper of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), described negotiations as a \u201ctrap\u201d designed to ensnare the regime. In its editorial, with a sarcastic tone aimed at those advocating for talks, it wrote: \u201cFrom the first day Donald Trump became the U.S. President, he initiated both agreement and threats simultaneously. Although the threats had a military undertone, most internal analysts believed that the U.S., through its maximum pressure campaign, was seeking social unrest and a confrontation between the people and the government. It is necessary to be vigilant about the trap they set, initially luring us into negotiations with leniency, and then, after price collapses, moving towards our red lines to initiate blaming the system\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Iran\u2019s Vanishing Qanats: A Crisis of Water, Heritage, and Policy<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Iran is home to one of the world\u2019s most extensive networks of ancient aqueducts, known as\u00a0qanats<\/em>. These underground water channels, a testament to Persian ingenuity, have sustained life in arid regions for over two millennia. Yet today, they are rapidly disappearing. Environmental reports reveal that at least half of Iran\u2019s qanats have been destroyed over the past five decades, raising alarm about both ecological sustainability and cultural preservation.<\/p>\n

According to Mohammad Barshan, director of the Qanat Center in Kerman Province, approximately 35,000 qanat systems have been lost over the past 50 years due to a combination of climate change, unregulated well drilling, and environmental degradation. He emphasizes that while Iran once had nearly 70,000 functioning qanats, poor environmental policies and widespread neglect have led to the loss of at least half.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Iran\u2019s Deepening Crisis: Power and Water Outages Spark Public Outrage and Economic Fallout<\/h3>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Even before the arrival of summer and the season\u2019s peak heat, Iran is already grappling with widespread power and water outages that have caused widespread disruption across the country. Reports from citizens and footage shared on social media paint a grim picture of economic damage, deteriorating public health, and growing anger toward government mismanagement.<\/p>\n

The outages, occurring at all hours without prior warning, have left many households in the dark\u2014literally and figuratively. People report that\u00a0power cuts<\/a>\u00a0not only shut down lights and appliances but also halt internet services and disable apartment elevators. In many buildings, the water pressure has dropped so significantly that water is only available on the lower floors.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Manouchehr Fallah Sentenced to Death on the Pretext of Causing Damage to the Rasht Courthouse Building<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The death sentence issued for political prisoner Manouchehr Fallah, currently held in Lakan Prison in Rasht, reveals that the Revolutionary Court judge based the charge of\u00a0moharebeh<\/i> (waging war against God) on the very minor financial damage done to the door and facade of the Rasht courthouse.\u00a0According to the Rasht Revolutionary Court ruling, Fallah was accused of detonating a sound bomb on June 17, 2023, which caused 25 million rials (approximately $29) in damage to the door and facade of the Rasht courthouse and allegedly created \u201cfear and panic.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, according to a report by the Iranian regime\u2019s Ministry of Intelligence, the explosion occurred at 12:30 a.m., when no one was present in or around the courthouse building on Janbazan Street.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Iran Sentences Political Dissident to Death Over Writings and Protest<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Political prisoner Peyman Farahavar, a poet and activist from Gilan Province in northern Iran, has been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court for charges related to his poetry, writings, and public positions in support of farmers, criticism of environmental destruction, opposition to widespread villa construction, and condemnation of harmful economic policies in the region.<\/p>\n

After seven months of pre-trial detention at Lakan Prison in the city of Rasht, Farahavar was convicted of\u00a0baghi<\/em>\u00a0(armed rebellion) and\u00a0moharebeh<\/em> (enmity against God), both capital offenses under Iranian law. Additionally, he received a three-month prison sentence for \u201cpropaganda against the regime.\u201d The verdict was issued on May 1, 2025, by Judge Ahmad Darvish-Goftar without the presence of legal counsel.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Forced Transfer of Political Prisoner Youssef Younesi Sparks Protest Sit-In at Evin Prison<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tensions rose inside Evin Prison on Tuesday following the forced relocation of political prisoner Mir Youssef Younesi, aged 70, to Ward 7, a section designated for inmates convicted of common crimes. The decision, ordered by Evin Prison\u2019s warden Heydat Farzadi, led to a protest sit-in by political prisoners in Ward 4.<\/p>\n

The incident occurred after a family visit between Younesi and his son Ali Younesi, also a political prisoner. Upon returning to their ward, prison security forces violently separated the two, transferring the elder Younesi to a separate ward. Intelligence agents present at the scene reportedly cited a new directive that forbade the father and son from being housed together. Both prisoners objected and stated their unwillingness to be separated, but the transfer was carried out regardless.<\/p>\n

Mir Youssef Younesi, who suffers from diabetes, hearing loss, and other chronic health issues, was forcibly removed despite his medical vulnerabilities. In response, several political prisoners in Ward 4 launched a sit-in protest outside the office of Pasdar Ghasemi, the ward\u2019s head officer, demanding Younesi\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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A Glimpse into an Ordinary Day: International Workers\u2019 Day in Iran\u2019s Weary Streets<\/h3>\n

\"Residents<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 5:30 on International Workers\u2019 Day, and the sun has yet to rise behind the smog-covered mountains in eastern Tehran. Ghasem wakes up to the shrill ringtone of his old mobile phone \u2014 a device held together by tape after falling three times. It\u2019s May 1st, the day the books say is dedicated to honoring workers like him. But for Ghasem, this day is no different from any other, except that today, he must borrow money just to pay for transportation.<\/p>\n

Ghasem is a 47-year-old construction worker. He has no insurance and knees that can no longer carry him up the endless flights of stairs at building sites. In 2025, even with full-time labor, he earns about 90 million rials per month. But his rent alone in southwest Tehran is 120 million. He\u2019s never taken out a loan, never owned a home, and hasn\u2019t had a full week with red meat all year. He has merely survived \u2014 if you can even call it that.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Berlin Exhibition Highlights Iran\u2019s Human Rights Abuses and Rise in Political Executions<\/h4>\n
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Berlin Exhibition Highlights Iran\u2019s Human Rights Abuses and Rise in Political Executions - May 6<\/div><\/div>
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