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According to reports family members of 4 Kurdish political prisoners in Ghezel Hesar Prison have launched a hunger strike in the city of Sanandaj (western Iran) in solidarity with their jailed loved ones. Surpassing their second week of hunger strike, the families of these inmates say they will not eat any food while their loved ones are on hunger strike.

Today is the 70th day of hunger strike by the 4 Sunni political prisoners. They are demanding their death sentences be revoked.

In another news the Iranian regime issued death sentences for 2 Balouchi political prisoners in Zahedan’s Central Prison. Mahmoud Shahbakhsh, 22, and Vahid Shahbakhsh, 23, from the city of Zahedan, after enduring two years of detention, various physical and mental tortures and a state of limbo, received their death sentences from Mahgoli, head of Zahedan’s 1st district revolutionary court. 

Workers protest in Tabriz, clash with state forces

Workers of the Tabriz Tractor Manufacturing Company gathered outside the regime’s Friday prayer sermon’s office and town hall protesting 9 months of unpaid wages. In their rally, the workers chanted slogans against the regime’s officials and were prevented from entering the town hall area by the state security forces.

P5+1 talks with the Iranian regime did not reach concrete resolutions

Michael Mann, spokesman of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said although the nuclear talks made advances, there were yet to be any political agreements between the countries in this regard.
In the meantime, Alaedin Borujerdi, head of the Iranian parliament’s security commission, said on the nuclear talks, "To this day all the problems existing before the expert-level talks between Iran and the P5+1 have not been raised and the recent talks have not reached a tangible result." "Despite numerous rounds of talks all the knots have not been opened yet," he added.

Iraqi government censors al-Anbar reports

Reporters Without Borders expressed concerns on news censorship by Maliki's government of the events in Iraq’s al-Anbar Province, especially in the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. This organization said from January 4th since Maliki’s forces have intensified their attacks against al-Anbar Province there has been no independent report from this region, and the government has been the sole source of all reports. RWB added the lamentable security environment prevents reporters, already facing threats, from doing their work properly.

Maliki himself is part of the problem

Walid Pharse, a US congressional advisor, criticized US policies in Iraq adding the method used by the US to depart Iraq was not successful because they left the country in the hands of a government that is very close to the Iranian regime. As a result, political sides close to the US, meaning Sunni moderates, have been abandoned inside a triangle.
Former US national security advisor Brent Scowcroft said Maliki himself is part of the problem in Iraq. He is seeking to strengthen his power, not solve the Sunni-Shiite problem. Maliki himself is the element behind provoking the sectarian violence, he added.
On the other hand, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said people around the Sunni areas of Iraq see Maliki is implementing Iran’s demands, associating terrorists like al-Qaeda and other extremists to the Sunni population. Therefore, they will gain nothing from this government, he added.

"YES" Votes for in Senate for the new sanction bill against Iranian Nuke, rises to 77

CNN reported on Jan. 10 that the Obama administration's efforts to negotiate a final deal with Iranian regime over its nuclear program faces a potential new hurdle as the Senate moves toward a veto-proof majority supporting legislation authorizing new economic sanctions on Iran.
The bipartisan proposal introduced by Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez, and Sen. Mark Kirk, now has 59 senators who have formally committed to support it, a senior Senate aide told CNN.

But the aide said that the current informal count is even higher - at 77 yes votes - and that more are expected to come on board once the undecided are forced to vote.
The bill could come to the Senate floor for consideration during the week of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on January 28 or the following week, the aide said.

The white house had recently accused the senators who are pushing for more sanctions against the Iranian regime as warmongers.

 Ali Khamenei bans chatting between unrelated men and women

The Iranian regime's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has issued a religious decree or Fatwa banning online chatting between unrelated men and women on Monday.

The ruling was published on his Website when he responded to question saying that: "Given the immorality that often applies to this, it is not permitted."

The ruling came days after the Iranian regime has blocked WeChat a social network where Iranians could interact with one another.

The Iranian regime is sensitive to social media and have blocked access to many social networking websites, including Facebook and Twitter.

Ironically, many Iranian regime's officials, including Iranian regime's President Hassan Rowhani, have active Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Recently, an Iranian regime official declared Facebook as the “enemy” of the regime, and a cause of “public disorder” which with "hundreds of millions of pages of criminal content" is a threat for the regime's "national security."

In an interview with state-run Fars news agency on Sunday, December 8, a government official claimed that one of the problems about Facebook is that it has turned into a tool to support the dissidents in Iran.

Abdolsamad Khoramabadi, official from the board overseeing Internet in Iran, added that the Facebook was used for the “overthrow” of the regime in 2009.

The moral and security police chief also reported of hard controls over all social websites including Instagram and WeChat.

He said that the security forces are present in the virtual world of internet and monitor websites such as Facebook, Instagram and WeChat.