The Washington Post -- U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Iran is prepared to launch terrorist attacks inside the United States in response to perceived threats from America and its allies, the U.S. spy chief said Tuesday.

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said in prepared testimony that an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington that was uncovered last year reflects an aggressive new willingness within the upper ranks of the Islamist republic to authorize attacks against the United States.

That plot “shows that some Iranian officials — probably including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — have changed their calculus and are now more willing to conduct an attack in the United States in response to real or perceived U.S. actions that threaten the regime,” Clapper said in the testimony, which was submitted to the Senate Intelligence Committee in advance of a threat assessment hearing Tuesday. “We are also concerned about Iranian plotting against U.S. or allied interests overseas.”

Student activist and journalist Mohsen Sanatipour has been sentenced to one year in prison, a local human rights activist told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. The verdict was served to Sanatipour’s lawyer last week and the Enforcement Judge summoned him to begin serving his sentence.

Sanatipour is a chemistry student at Mashhad’s Ferdowsi University and Secretary of the university’s Allameh Group. He has also worked with several student publications.

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran – The family of imprisoned journalist Hassan Fathi has reason to believe he has been returned to solitary confinement, a source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.“We think he has been transferred to a solitary cell again, because last week when the family went to visit with him, they were told that he is barred from having visitors,” a source close to the family said. “He must be in solitary, as prisoners in the General Ward are allowed visitors. But we don’t know anything about his conditions for sure,” the source added.Security forces arrested Fathi on 13 November 2011, one day after he had appeared as a guest on BBC Persian Television to discuss an explosion in a military base belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Fars News Agency, affiliated with the IRGC, reported on Fathi’s arrest shortly thereafter: referring to him as a BBC employee, they cited his charges as “propagating falsehoods” and “creating public anxiety.” He was in solitary confinement inside Evin Prison for more than 45 days.

Human Rights Watch -- Overturn Convictions, Drop Charges, and Free Peaceful Advocates

Iranian authorities should immediately release dozens of labor and independent trade activists imprisoned for speaking out peacefully in defense of workers, Human Rights Watch said today. Convictions solely for the peaceful exercise of freedom of association and assembly should be quashed, and charges should be dropped against others facing prosecution for these reasons, Human Rights Watch said.

The latest round of arrests took place in Iran’s Tehran, East Azerbaijan and Kurdistan provinces. The authorities summoned four activists in mid-January 2012 to begin serving long sentences imposed in 2011. On January 28, authorities arrested Alireza Akhavan, a teacher and labor rights activist, in his home in Tehran. It is not know where he is currently being held. On January 18, security forces arrested Mohammad Jarrahi in his home in Tabriz. Three days earlier, intelligence agents arrested Shahrokh Zamani, another Tabriz labor rights leader, and summoned two others also in Tabriz. Authorities also arrested Shays Amani, a prominent rights activist and member of an independent trade in the city of Sanandaj on January 16. Earlier in the month authorities detained Mehdi Shandeez and transferred to Ward 350 of Evin prison in Tehran. All those arrested are labor activists or members of independent trade s not authorized by the government..”