Middle East
Iran blocks former president’s website ahead of vote
Iran has blocked the website of influential former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ahead of parliamentary elections, for carrying pro-reform critical statements, Iran's semi-official ILNA news agency reported on Friday. The clerical establishment has increased pressure on the pro-reform opposition ahead of the March 2 vote, the first nationwide poll since a 2009 disputed presidential vote that triggered prolonged and widespread anti-government protests. In the past days, some leading reformist figures have been sentenced to long-term jail sentences.
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Nephew of Hashemi Rafsanjani severely beaten
Only three days after Iran s *head of the Expediency Council s daughter Faezeh Rafsanjani was insulted by plainclothes agents and his grandchildren taser attacked, his nephew Nasser Hashemi was confronted by plainclothes agents while visiting his mother s grave site on February 24th. He was severely beaten by plainclothes agents and transferred to a hospital, according to the Ayandeh website. Nasser Hashemi was injured on the head, chest, and hands.