The authorities' strategy is calculated: relax visible restrictions to soothe public opinion amid Iran's growing economic isolation, while quietly intensifying a crackdown on political dissent.

Russian mobsters Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov had been convicted back in March in Manhattan of plotting to kill Masih Alinejad.

Kamran Hekmati, 70, is one of at least four Americans who are currently detained in Iran, according to a source familiar with ...