The vote on a bill to restrict internet access in Iran moved a step forward on Wednesday as internet restrictions continue to plague parts of the country where water protests are taking place. A vote on the bill, which calls for “organising social media” and the banning of virtual private network (VPN) software used widely by Iranians to bypass internet restrictions, had been postponed earlier this week. But in a closed session on Wednesday, Iranian parliament voted to delegate the vote on the controversial bill to its cultural committee, opposition outlet Iran International reported – meaning it would not be debated on the floor of parliament.
The highest-ranking and most popular Sunni cleric in Iran, Mawlawi Abdul-Hamid, expressed concern for the overall situation of minorities in Iran under the Islamic Republic, saying the same ethnicities in neighboring countries and the Persian Gulf region “are better off.” “When comparing their lives to people in Kuwait and other Persian Gulf nations, our fellow Arab countrymen clearly find themselves in livelihood hardships,” the cleric told Sunni Online, a news outlet that monitors the situation of Iran’s Sunni community.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Iranian authorities to “immediately and unconditionally” release those detained during protests against water shortages and economic hardships in Khuzestan and other provinces and to investigate the abusive use of lethal force. Demonstrations than began on July 15 in dozens of towns and cities in Khuzestan, a province with a large ethnic Arab population, later expanded to other regions of Iran, including parts of Tehran, amid the worst drought in Iran in at least 50 years that has triggered weeks of power blackouts.
… The student, Bijan Bazargan, was among an estimated 5,000 prisoners belonging to armed opposition and leftist groups in Iran, who Amnesty International and other rights groups say were executed in the summer of 1988. Now, a Swedish court will prosecute a former Iranian judiciary official for war crimes and murder in connection with Mr. Bazargan’s death. The case carries some notably public and damaging implications for Iran’s president-elect, Ebrahim Raisi, who helped decide which prisoners lived or died during those mass executions.
TThe rising death toll and mass arrests raise grave concerns about the Iranian authorities’ response to recent protests in Khuzestan and other provinces, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should immediately and unconditionally release peaceful protesters, provide information about deaths, and allow an independent international investigation into security agencies’ alleged use of lethal force. All those responsible for abuses should be held to account. “The Iranian political leaders’ primary response to widespread demands for basic rights has been unchecked repression,” said Tara Sepehri Far, Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch.
The appointment of Ebrahim Raisi, Mohseni Ejeii and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, major human rights violators, at the key positions of the power in Iran reflects the regime’s “new aggressive and repressive posture” which aims to intensify repression to stifle dissent. A regime of cannibals Khamenei favors all three men for their roles in the judicial and security systems for four decades and their record of violent repression and human rights abuses. Ebrahim Raisi has been one of the key figures of repression in the Iranian judiciary.
The clerical regime is making sweeping arrests in Iran cities following the outburst of protests across the southwestern oil-rich Khuzestan province. Security forces are arresting civil activists and young people in Ahvaz, Shadegan, Mahshahr, Jarrahi, Hamidieh, Khorramshahr, Susangerd, Izesh, and Shush. Local sources say that in some districts of Ahvaz, the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) broke into people’s houses, arresting several, often young, members of the same family.
The Iranian security forces have recently detained dozens of terrorists in different provinces across the country. A group of six “terrorists” intending to enter Iran from Bukan county in the northwestern part of the country have been detained by the Hamzeh Seyyed ol-Shohada Base forces of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), ILNA news agency reported on July 27. Two members of the armed group were killed and one injured. Another three individuals willing to rescue the previous three were arrested while their weapons have been seized.
A human rights monitor documented dozens of violations in Kurdish areas in Iran in the month of July, including femicide, the imprisonment of activists, executions, and the targeting of kolbars. “More than 100 civilians, activists, university students, lawyers, and former Kurdish political party members were detained in various cities across Iranian Kurdistan throughout the past month. However, the KHRN has, so far, received information about 43 of these people,” read the monthly report by the Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
Security forced Friday arrested several women who gathered in Tehran’s Azadi square to demand justice for their sons killed in the November 2019 protests in Iran. Activists published news and photos of the gathering, saying five mothers were detained but there is still no additional information whether they were released or where they were taken. Mothers of victims killed by security forces in the bloodiest protests in Iran have formed a group to demand justice for their children. Friday’s gathering was also to show solidarity with recent protests in Khuzestan province, during which around ten protesters have been killed and dozens arrested.
Masih Alinejad, an exiled Iranian journalist and human rights activist in the US, was the target of an alleged kidnapping plot that could have been the plot of a Hollywood spy thriller. Agents of the Iranian government bribed her family, spied on her Brooklyn property, and even looked into using high-speed, military-style speedboats to “evacuate” her to Venezuela, according to a 43-page federal indictment.
A large of group of protesters gathered outside Tehran’s City Theater Saturday afternoon and began chanting slogans in support of protesters in Khuzestan, the oil-rich southwestern region where demonstrations triggered by lack of water, broke out on July 15. Based on reports and videos on social media, security forces began firing tear gas and guns in the air to disperse the peaceful crowd in Tehran and then started arresting protesters, who were shouting “Death to Islamic Republic” and chanting against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
If things had been different, Navid Afkari could be fulfilling a lifelong dream of representing Iran in Olympic wrestling this week. And if Dana White or even Donald Trump had their way, Afkari would at least still be alive. Last September, he was hanged in Iran for a crime he insisted he didn’t commit, executed by the country he longed to represent. Wrestling is Iran’s national sport, its history stretching back to the days of ancient Persia. They have won 43 Olympic medals, more than any other event in their history at the Games. And it’s clear to see how they are so good, with wrestling gyms populating on the street corners of every city in the country.
Iran is currently experiencing a significant wave of unrest. Protests began on July 15 in the southwestern Khuzestan Province. The initial focus was a scarcity of water in recent months, which has led to deaths among livestock and consequent impoverishment among farmers in the ethnically diverse province. The lack of water is also leading to a breakdown in electricity provision and frequent blackouts. But while scarcity of water was the initial trigger, the protests soon began to include more generalized slogans against the ruling Islamist regime.
…Iranian opposition activists in the US have demanded that, due to the suppression of protests, Washington break off talks over reviving the 2015 nuclear deal − the JCPOA, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action − that have been taking place in Vienna since April. The Biden administration is continuing the ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions, introduced by President Donald Trump, that sent the Iranian economy into two years of deep recession. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei July 23 acknowledged (link is external) protestors’ grievances over water, but angry protesters in many places have chanted against him.
The U.S. plans a sanctions campaign against Iran’s evolving capabilities for precision strikes using drones and guided missiles, according to U.S. officials, amid concerns over the threat these weapons represent to American and allied interests. The effort comes as Western security officials say they see those capabilities as a more immediate danger to Middle East stability than Iran’s nuclear-enrichment and ballistic-missile programs. The U.S. has sanctioned some of Iran’s missile programs in past years, but officials said that targeting Iran’s procurement networks, such as the providers of parts used to build the drones and precision-guided missiles, could more effectively disrupt those activities.
A Korean veteran shooter told reporters this week that having an Iranian athlete accused of being a terrorist compete at the Tokyo Games is “absurd and ridiculous,” adding pressure on the International Olympic Committee to investigate the allegations. International critics have accused Javad Foroughi, who won gold in the 10-meter pistol on Saturday, of being a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful paramilitary organization considered by the United States as a terrorist group. The IOC has challenged critics to show proof of his alleged ties to the IRGC, but it’s still unclear if any such evidence would surface. South Korea’s Jin Jong-oh, a six-time gold medalist shooter who failed to qualify for the Olympics this year, was outraged by Foroughi’s participation in the event.
This week the world came one step closer to holding accountable the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre of some 30,000 political prisoners in Iran. Sweden’s public prosecutors on Wednesday filed an indictment against one such perpetrator, Hamid Noury, who was arrested in November 2019 by Swedish police. Noury is being indicted for crimes against international law i.e. “war crimes and murder.” The 1988 massacre took place after the Iranian theocracy’s founder Ayatollah Khomeini issued a religious decree, or fatwa, ordering the execution of all affiliates of the main opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK).
As Lebanon gravitates more toward a quagmire after the failure of Saad Al Harriri to form a government, the chances for its recovery are slim. Iran stands to benefit the most from this paralysis. Hezbollah is exploiting the current government stalemate to throw Lebanon into further turmoil. There is an Iranian occupation of Lebanon now. This must end. The whole Middle East is familiar with Iran’s power projection strategy. Iraq, Syria, and Yemen are vivid examples of Iran’s imperial disposition. Even in Egypt after the overthrow of President Mubarak in 2011, Tehran wanted to form an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood. Their plans backfired because of the armed forces intervention in 2013. Egypt as a large Sunni nation resented the advances of Shiite Iran. Lebanon has been the victim of losing billions of dollars importing unnecessary commodities like medicines from Iran. Iran through many of its Shiite allies has been buying land and properties in Lebanon. Many Lebanese are suspicious of Iran.
Since July 15, protesters in the Khuzestan province of Iran have been demonstrating against the government’s mishandling of scarce water resources. Social media is filled with videos, many of which show unarmed civilians confronting armed security forces. After almost two weeks of these demonstrations, several people have been killed and hundreds more arrested. There is no sign that the protests will end anytime soon. Those who are protesting are drawn from Iran’s small Arab Ahwazi minority.
The mainstream media news outlets in the US and worldwide have barely covered the demonstrations of thousands of Iranians peacefully protesting in various cities throughout Iran for the past few weeks. Men, women and children in many major Iranian cities have taken to the streets and called for the end of the radical Islamic regime that has failed to provide them with basic drinking water, electricity, food, employment opportunities and the freedom to live normal lives.
… Iran portrays itself as a victim that stands against racism and apartheid, whether that is in Israel, Europe or the US. In this game, Tehran needs to continuously push a comparison with its Arab neighbors and show it is better. It is, in fact, all a trick and a lie. Yet this is what various political and social groups — the useful idiots — relay in Western capitals to promote Iranian interests. Let us be clear, Iran does not stand against oppression; it is the master of oppression in the Middle East. It is not a regime of resistance; it is a regime of hypocrisy. Iran is deflecting from the fact that it is a racist and aggressive regime.
چندین سازمان حقوق بشری و فرهنگی در بیانیههای جداگانه، با ابراز نگرانی از سرکوب قهرآمیز اعتراضات خوزستان و سایر شهرها، خواستار آزادی فوری بازداشتشدگان شدهاند. در همین حال گزارش میرسد چندین تن از مادران جانباختگان اعتراضهای ۹۸ که در میدان آزادی تهران تجمعی اعتراضی برگزار کردند، با برخورد خشونتبار نیروهای انتظامی مواجه شده و بازداشت شدند. این مادران دادخواه امروز در تجمع اعتراضی خود از اصابت گلوله جنگی بر پیکر فرزندان خود و سایر افرادی گفتند که به دلیل اعتراض کشته میشوند. بر اساس ویدئوهای منتشرشده، تعدادی از مادران دادخواه پس از ضرب و شتم توسط نیروهای امنیتی بازداشت شدند.
درپی گزارش تحقیقی بنیاد عبدالرحمن برومند از شناسایی دستکم ۵۴۰ قتل و آدمربایی منتسب به عوامل جمهوری اسلامی ایران در خارج از کشور، وبسایت آمریکایی «واشینگتن فری بیکن» نیز به نقل از یک مقام ارشد پیشین وزارت خارجه ایالات متحده نوشت که در سالهای ۲۰۱۹ و ۲۰۲۰ جمهوری اسلامی دستکم سه روزنامهنگار ایرانی که برای «صدای آمریکا» کار میکردهاند را تحت تعقیب و تجسس قرار داده و برای ربودن آنها تلاش کرده است. حدود دو هفته پیش، وزارت دادگستری آمریکا، جزئیاتی از برنامهریزی وزارت اطلاعات جمهوری اسلامی ایران برای ربودن فعال حقوق زنان و روزنامهنگار ایرانی- آمریکایی ساکن نیویورک و انتقال او از خاک آمریکا به ایران را منتشر کرد. واشینگتن فریبیکن روز پنجشنبه، هفتم مردادماه، در گزارشی با اشاره به آن خبر، نوشت که تلاشهای حکومت ایران برای هدف قرار دادن روزنامهنگاران بسیار گستردهتر از آن چیزی است که گزارش شده است..
معترضان به مشکل بیآبی را خانهبهخانه در خرمشهر بازداشت میکنند؛ از روی دیوار وارد خانهها میشوند و افراد را میبرند. از سرنوشت بازداشتشدگان خبری نیست و خانوادهها میترسند اطلاعرسانی کنند. این گفتههای یک شهروند خرمشهری در مورد وضعیت این شهر طی روزهای اخیر است. در آبادان نیز جوانانی که در طول شبهای اعتراض به مشکل بیآبی خوزستان شناسایی شدهاند بازداشت و بازخواست شدهاند که مگر آب محله شما قطع است؟ مگر کارون و اروند در شهر شما آب ندارند، چرا اعتراض کردید؟ در شادگان، شیوخ طوایف تهدید شدهاند.