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Amnesty International Calls Halting the Death Sentence of Toomaj Salehi
On Thursday, May 17, Amnesty International sent a letter to the head of the Iranian regime’s judiciary, calling for the overturning of Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence.
Amnesty International emphasized that this Iranian rapper was sentenced to death solely for participating in the 2022 nationwide protests and posting critical content on social media against Iranian regime officials. The organization asserts that the trial of this dissident singer was highly “unfair.”
The letter warns that Salehi was “tortured during arrest, including through repeated beatings, resulting in fractures in his hands and leg, and loss of consciousness for two days.”
Amnesty International, citing multiple human rights violations against this political prisoner, has asked the head of the Iranian judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, to unconditionally release Toomaj Salehi and to effectively and impartially investigate the allegations of torture against him.
The human rights organization concludes the letter by calling for independent observers to be granted access to the judicial processes in cases where the death penalty is issued.
Amir Raeesian, Toomaj Salehi’s lawyer, announced on Thursday that an appeal against his client’s death sentence has been registered with the Supreme Court.
Following the news of the appeal by Toomaj Salehi’s lawyer, Ye-One Rhie, a German parliament member and Toomaj Salehi’s political sponsor, called the increasing pressures on him “outrageous” on her X account.
Rhie pointed out that Toomaj is not allowed to contact his lawyer, his phone calls have been cut off, and his visits with family are conditional on being filmed. She emphasized that “They try to frame him and make him appear weak.”
The announcement of the death sentence for this dissident singer by the Revolutionary Court has sparked a widespread global wave of protests, which continues to this day.
Around 6 Workers Die of Safety Incidents Every Day in Iran
Ali Ziaei, the head of the Crime Scene Investigation Group at the Iranian Forensics Organization, reported the deaths of 2,115 workers and injuries to 27,000 others due to work-related accidents in 2023.
The state-run ILNA news agency criticized the the Ministry of Labor for concealing statistics and stated that this figure translates to the death of 5.79 workers per day.
Ziaei stated to ILNA that the number of work-related accidents in the past year increased by 11.3% compared to the previous year.
He added that falls from heights consistently accounted for the largest share of casualties, with 983 victims losing their lives due to falls, comprising 46.5% of all fatalities.
In Iran, there is no accurate data regarding work-related accidents, and various sources such as the Iranian Statistical Center, the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, and the Forensics Organization publish different numbers with significant discrepancies.
What the media and labor activists publish based on these numbers, along with their observations and unofficial reports, also significantly deviates from the government statistics.
ILNA reported that on April 29, Ali Hossein Raeiati Fard, the Deputy for Labor Relations of the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, presented new statistics on work-related accidents in the country, stating that there were 680 fatalities in 2023, down from 712 in 2021.
ILNA also questioned whether the Ministry of Labor and its extensive subsidiaries truly lack access to data and the country’s forensics information database in this era of internet dominance and database control over all aspects of existence.
Previously, the Legal Medicine Organization had announced that 900 workers were killed in 2022, while the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare claimed that 711 workers lost their lives due to work-related accidents.
According to a report by the Iranian Human Rights Activists Center in April, at least 1,680 workers lost their lives in the past 12 months (from May 1, 2023, to April 27, 2024), and 8,199 workers were injured during this period.
In March 2024, the Iranian Statistical Center reported only 548 work-related deaths in the fall of 2023.
Taking into account previously announced figures for the spring and summer, a total of 1,625 deaths during work were registered in Iran from March 21 to December 20, 2023.
In September 2023, a legal expert and labor activist, in an interview with the regime’s Payamema newspaper, stated, “Overall, there are no reliable figures in the field of labor. We do not know how many million workers we have, how many minimum wage workers, how many female workers, and how many foreign workers. There is no willingness to publish statistics.”
He explained the discrepancy in figures by stating that official statistics only include insured workers, excluding uninsured workers, foreign nationals, and informal workers, which is the reason behind the differences in statistics.
Ehsan Sohrabi, a labor activist, considered the Ministry of Labor’s approach to statistics on work-related accidents as a clear example of deception and stated to ILNA, “In this era and time, harmonizing statistics is very simple; however, they do not want to accept the realities because if they endorse the realities, they must admit that a considerable number of workers lose their lives every day due to the lack of basic safety principles, and the mortality rate is experiencing a noticeable increase!”
Sohrabi added: “These statistics are just a bunch of numbers for them, but the death of each worker is an irreparable tragedy for a family in the country.”
Based on these fabricated statistics from last year, 2,115 people died due to work-related accidents, which is equivalent to 5.79 worker deaths every day of the year, a number that even the Ministry of Labor does not acknowledge or recognize officially.
According to assessments, Iran ranks 102nd among countries in terms of observing labor safety issues, and the worker mortality rate exceeds global averages.
Air Pollution Kills 26,000 People in Iran Every Year: Head of Environment Organization
Ali Salajegheh, the head of the Environmental Protection Organization admitted in a conference in Kerman on Monday, May 13 that air pollution in Iran is six times higher than the global standard, resulting in the deaths of 26,000 people each year.
According to the state-run news agency IRNA, Salajegheh estimated the damages caused by air pollution in Iran at $11.3 billion per year and added, “The average concentration of particulate matter in the Iranian atmosphere has reached around 30 micrograms per cubic meter, which is about two and a half times higher than our own country’s standards.”
These statements are made while regime Vice President Mohammad Mokhber has stated that the air quality in most Iranian cities in April and May has been favorable due to weather conditions and appropriate rainfall.
Dariush Gol-Alizadeh, the head of the National Center for Air and Climate Change at the Environmental Protection Organization, had stated on December 4, 2023, with the same statistics and figures that the main culprits of air pollution in Iranian cities are low-quality domestic gasoline and vehicles.
This is happening while Iranian media reported last week that the Raisi government has asked petrochemical factories to produce gasoline again to compensate for the gasoline shortage in the country through a $2.7 billion contract.
Experts consider the gasoline produced in petrochemical factories as the “most polluting type of gasoline.”
Australia Sanctions Iranian Regime Navy and IRGC Commanders
On Tuesday, May 15, the Australian Government imposed targeted sanctions on five Iranian individuals and three entities, in response to the Iranian regime’s destabilizing behavior.” The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in a statement.
The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs added, “Those sanctioned also include Iranian senior officials, businesspeople and companies that have contributed to the development of Iran’s missile and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) programs. Iran’s proliferation and provision of these technologies to its proxies has fostered instability across the region for many years.”
Esmail Qaani, the commander of the Quds Force; Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, the Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics; Gholam Ali Rashid, the commander of the Central Headquarters of Khatam al-Anbiya; Amir Hatami, the advisor to the Supreme Leader and former Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics; and Mehdi Gogherdchian, the CEO of Iran Aircraft Industries Company (HESA), are the five individuals that the Australian government has included in its new list of sanctions.
According to the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Iranian Navy of the Revolutionary Guards, Damavand Aircraft Engine Manufacturing Company (DAMA), and Information Industries Corporation, the manufacturer of missile guidance systems, are also subject to sanctions.
“This action is in line with sanctions measures taken by our partners in recent weeks, following Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel in April.” The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued.
The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that with the sanctions imposed on Wednesday, Australia has now sanctioned 90 individuals and 100 entities affiliated with the Iranian regime, demonstrating the Australian government’s commitment to strong action against the Iranian regime’s destructive activities.
The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized, “Australia will continue to deliberately and strategically apply pressure on Iran to cease its disruptive activities and adhere to international law.”
Iranian Regime Sabotage Plot Neutralized in Jordan
According to informed Jordanian sources, security authorities thwarted a suspicious plot led by the Iranian regime to smuggle weapons into the country, aiming to assist destructive activities.
“The weapons were sent by Iranian-backed militias in Syria to a cell of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan that has links to the military wing of Palestinian group Hamas, the people told Reuters. The cache was seized when members of the cell, Jordanians of Palestinian descent, were arrested in late March, they said.” Reuters wrote.
The two Jordanian sources, who preferred to remain anonymous due to security concerns, did not specify the types of weapons discovered and seized during the March raid. Nonetheless, it has been mentioned that in recent months, security services have thwarted numerous attempts by the Iranian regime and its allied groups to smuggle various weapons, including mines, explosives, Kalashnikov rifles, and 107mm Katyusha rockets.
“The alleged plot and arrests, reported here for the first time, come at a time of sky-high tensions in the Middle East, with an American-backed Israel at war in Gaza with Hamas, part of Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’ network of proxy groups built up over decades to oppose Israel,” according to the Reuters report.
They stated that the objective of this plot was to destabilize Jordan as a country that could potentially become a pivotal point in the Gaza crisis. Additionally, Jordan hosts a military base of the United States and shares borders with Israel, Syria, and Iraq, both of which are home to semi-militant groups supported by the Iranian government.
According to Jordanian sources, most of the covert flow of weapons into the country has been directed towards the Palestinian territories bordering the western coast, neighboring Israel’s occupation. However, some of the weapons, including those seized in March, were intended for use within Jordan by the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups and Hamas-linked paramilitary groups.
An informed source on security matters stated that they hide these weapons in pits called dead spots, using GPS to pinpoint their locations and taking photos of them, then instructing their operatives to retrieve them from those locations.
While members of the old guard of the Muslim Brotherhood have been operating legally in the Kingdom of Jordan for decades, Jordanian authorities believe that the Iranian regime and its allied groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah are attempting to recruit young and radical members of the Muslim Brotherhood towards their anti-Israeli and anti-American positions.
Another senior figure in Brotherhood, who also requested anonymity, told Reuters the arrested cell members “had been recruited by Hamas chief Saleh al-Arour.” Arouri was killed by a drone strike in Beirut in January in an attack widely attributed to Israel.
Jordanian authorities have not openly discussed the claim of an arms conspiracy and the arrests. However, one of the two informed sources mentioned that intelligence authorities have summoned several senior figures of the Muslim Brotherhood to inform them that they have apprehended the sabotage cell, which acted as a communication bridge between their movement and Hamas.
Over the past year, Jordan has stated that it has thwarted many infiltrations attempts by pro-Iranian regime militias in Syria, who have crossed the borders of that country with rocket launchers and explosives, but some weapons have passed through undetected. The Iranian regime has denied involvement in the smuggling of military equipment.
Iran Facing Infant Formula Scarcity Again
Iranian media have reported a new increase in the price of infant formula and announced that this trend has led to an increase in the price of infant formula in the market and its scarcity.
In a report, the state-run Eghtesadonline website quoted a citizen as saying, “In March, I bought two packages of infant formula for 830,000 rials (approximately $1.38), but now I have to pay almost this amount for one infant formula.”
The state TV news agency, IRIB News, also wrote in a report that from time to time we witness an increase in the price of infant formula or its scarcity in the market, which “contradicts the population’s youth plan.”
This news agency confirmed that the high price and scarcity of infant formula in the country were “emphasized by parents in their messages.”
In this regard, Eghtesadonline wrote that in mid-April, the spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration cited the reason for the increase in the price of infant formula as “the producers’ request and in order to support them,” as well as the decision of the Market Regulation Headquarters.
According to reports, in late April, the acting head of the Natural Products Affairs Office of the Food and Drug Administration had announced that the increase in the price of “Infant Formula” compared to inflation “will not be significant.”
This is while Iranian media, citing the official statistics center, announced that in 2024, the price of Infant Formula increased by 57.8% compared to last year. Perhaps the noteworthy point is the difference between the inflation of infant formula and the country’s annual inflation, which has reached 38.8% in March and April 2024, according to the official Statistics Center.
In this regard, in part of a report by IRIB News, a citizen was quoted as saying: “Overnight, the price of infant formula has doubled, do you think the policy of rejuvenating the population is executable in this situation?”
The point that IRIB News refers to is regardless of the concern for providing the minimum necessities of the people and the necessity of paying attention to the primary needs of society. IRIB News, as an entity affiliated with the Iranian regime’s leader, seeks to fulfill the wishes of Ali Khamenei regarding rejuvenating the population. A subject that the regime’s Majlis (parliament) approved three years ago under the title of the “Population Rejuvenation Law.”
Mohammad Mokhber, as one of Ali Khamenei’s close associates and the Vice President of the regime’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, had also said last year: “We must pursue the youth population issue with all our might.”
These emphases and follow-ups come while last year families also faced a crisis of price and supply of infant formula.
In this regard, Fars News Agency, which is run by the Revolutionary Guards, reported on December 24, 2023, the failure of government agencies in supplying infant formula and wrote that families still complain about the shortage and high prices of some brands of infant formula.
The infant formula crisis reached a point in 2023 where the Food and Drug Administration, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Health of the Iranian regime, considered adding rules that would require pharmacies to only sell infant formula to buyers who would provide a newborn’s national code.
This action that, upon its implementation, created a new crisis in the pharmacies, and regime’s Mehr News Agency wrote in January 2024 that after the implementation of the newborn’s national code registration plan to receive infant formula from October 12, 2023, the payment of the foreign exchange share of infant formula to pharmacies is in a state of ambiguity.
Reviewing the events of the past year in the field of infant formula shows that families are in the worst possible conditions to obtain this food for infants, and despite the necessity of meeting the primary needs of society, officials have not been able to adopt the right policy in this sector.
Iran: Social Security Organization Cuts Insurance for Hundreds of Thousands of Construction Workers
Abbas Shiri, an inspector from the Construction Workers Union, dismissed the claim of insuring 70,000 construction workers as false and criticized the Social Security Organization, saying that if the insurance of workers is true, they should “provide us with documents and evidence!”
According to the state-run ILNA news agency, in response to the recent denial by the Social Security Organization regarding the termination of government-paid insurance for “300,000 to 400,000 construction workers,” Shiri said that since this organization inspects construction workers twice a year, how come “despite these inspections, there were 300,000 to 400,000 fictitious workers whose insurance should be terminated?!”
The inspector from the Construction Workers Union, rejecting the claim of the legal legitimacy of filtering workers by the Social Security Organization, said that the agents of this organization, who are hired by the private sector and brokerage firms, “lack the necessary expertise. They charge around 700,000 rials (approximately $1.16) for their contact, and for every termination of insurance they can make, they receive more commission.”
He also emphasized that the insurance inspectors of this organization “easily consider construction workers as fictitious in order to receive more commission,” adding that they only go to a construction site once “and if the worker is absent for any reason that day, they abandon them and terminate their insurance.”
The inspector from the Construction Workers Union called for the participation of civil labor institutions in distinguishing real workers from fictitious ones during inspections and said that “triangular inspections” should be observed: “Meaning that in inspections in a city, the inspector of the Social Security headquarters, the inspector of the Social Security branch, and the inspector of the Construction Workers Association should be present.”
Previously, the Social Security Organization, while confirming the termination of insurance for construction workers, considered this action as a type of “filtering out real construction workers” who have “unfairly benefited from government support in this regard.”
The organization, while considering the filtering of construction workers legal, stated that this “was not a new action and is within the legal duties and missions of this organization.”
According to this report, labor activists have repeatedly protested against the unconventional inspection methods of the Social Security Organization and considered it as “part of a cunning plan to reduce the burden of insurance costs for construction workers.”
Recently, some labor activists and organizations, in statements commemorating International Workers’ Day on May 1, criticized the “anti-worker policies of the government” and emphasized the necessity of “unity of action, organization, and mobilization” of workers and wage earners to change the current situation in Iran.
According to these statements, dire economic conditions such as wages three times below the poverty line, untimely payment of wages, lack of job security, increased inflation, and reduced purchasing power of households have put tens of millions of workers and their families under pressure.
Parliamentary Election Rejected by 92% of Eligible Voters in Tehran
The second round of the twelfth parliamentary elections of the Iranian regime in Tehran was held with an “8 percent turnout” of the people and the qualification of representatives to the parliament with a significant vote.
In this regard, the regime’s Alef website, belonging to Ahmad Tavakoli, a member of the regime’s Expediency Discernment Council, has warned about the country’s political future.
The state-run Farhikhtegan newspaper reported on Saturday, May 11, that unofficial statistics indicate an “8 percent turnout in Tehran,” and thus, “the qualified representatives to the parliament will go to the parliament with a Considerable vote.”
The Election Headquarters of the Ministry of Interior announced a total of more than 522,000 votes in the ballot boxes of the electoral districts of “Tehran, Shemiranat, Islamshahr, and Pardis.”
The second round of Majlis (parliamentary) elections was held under conditions where Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the regime, had said, referring to the “lack of difference between the first and second stages of elections”: “The importance of the second stage is no less than the first stage, and the people should complete the parliament by participating in this stage of the elections.”
The recent elections for the Majlis and the Majlis of Experts in early March faced extensive boycott from the people and recorded the lowest participation rate in the history of the Iranian regime.
The very low turnout of voters in the second round of parliamentary elections in Iran has elicited numerous reactions from political figures, activists, journalists, and social media users.
In this regard, the Alef website wrote on Saturday, May 11, that “the twelfth parliamentary elections have shown that the issue of participation is becoming a serious problem for the country.”
The website added, referring to the low participation of voters as “undesirable statistics in the second round of parliamentary elections, especially in Tehran”: “Deep-rooted problems in the country and the inefficiency of individuals and political currents in removing obstacles have led to indifference and a high level of neglect and passing through currents that are the anchor of the country’s political atmosphere.”
Alef noted: “This political atmosphere’s chill, even a year away from the fourteenth presidential election, has sounded alarm bells,” and added: “Today, the decline in living standards, rampant inflation, class divide, and injustice have not overlooked the borders of dissatisfaction, and these fundamental problems have targeted the foundations of the country’s political and social structure.”
The website warned: “Let’s hear the real pains of the nation before it’s too late!”
Alarming Threat of Land Subsidence in Iran’s Urban Areas and Infrastructure Facilities
Ali Javidaneh, the head of the Iranian regime’s Mapping Organization, has raised concerns about the situation of land subsidence in Iran, stating that this phenomenon is nearing urban areas and the country’s infrastructure.
According to the state-run ILNA news agency, Ali Javidaneh stated on May 11 that the issue is not the rate of subsidence but rather that subsidence is like a ticking time bomb, and even a rate of two centimeters of subsidence per year could pose a challenge.
He mentioned that the images related to cracks or collapses of roads and streets represent the external appearance of subsidence, but subsidence occurs deep within the ground, and there are events happening that may not have signs at the surface.
According to Javidaneh, the Mapping Organization has sent maps of subsidence zones to responsible authorities, and these authorities should be accountable for why they are not using this information for planning and action.
In recent years, numerous reports of sudden land subsidence in streets and residential areas in several cities in Iran have been published.
Experts consider the uncontrolled extraction of groundwater to be one of the main reasons for land subsidence.
The situation of land subsidence in some provinces, including Tehran, Alborz, Isfahan, Fars, Kerman, Hamadan, Semnan, Qazvin, Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan, and Yazd, has been described as critical.
Among them, Isfahan province has been one of the most vulnerable, to the extent that even the historic center of Isfahan and its ancient schools and buildings have experienced subsidence in recent years.
The phenomenon of land subsidence, which encompasses many of Iran’s plains, has not only caused damage and destruction to historical buildings but has also affected the lives of millions of people. According to experts, it will lead to financial losses and even loss of life in the not-so-distant future.
Land subsidence in some areas of Iran is up to 100 times more than global standards.
Strikes Continue in Gold Markets Across Iran
Despite the efforts of Iranian regime security entities, the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, and the Gold and Jewelry Union in Iran, the gold market in most cities of Iran continues to be on strike.
Until Sunday, May 12, gold sellers in various cities, including Tehran, are absent from their places of business, and active trade units are not conducting any buying or selling activities.
The continuation of the strike in the gold market comes as in recent days, security apparatuses have attempted to pressure the Gold and Jewelry Union to end this strike.
In this regard, Nader Bazrafshan, the head of the Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union, had stated on Friday, May 10, that the strike of gold-selling units is in protest against the implementation of gold transaction registration in the comprehensive trade system.
Bazrafshan had emphasized that over the past 10 days, numerous meetings have been held between the boards of directors of the unions in Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz, Yazd, Isfahan, and Tabriz in Tehran with relevant authorities regarding the strike, and the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade has also issued a ministerial order in this regard.
Bazrafshan had also announced that gold sellers have been asked to be present at their workplaces starting from Saturday, May 11, and end the strike. However, this did not happen until the head of the union confirmed in an interview on Saturday with the state-run ISNA news agency that the gold market is still on strike.
The Tabnak website also wrote in this regard: “News from the market indicates that many units are still closed and have rejected the union’s request.”
According to analysts, the order of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade did not have any new points to persuade the activists of this profession, and gold sellers are still concerned about the government’s next steps regarding property tax.
The order of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade states that “capital gains tax will not be levied on gold trade units.”
This order also emphasizes that initial inventory registration in the Comprehensive Trade Platform related to personal or capital assets not involved in production and sales will not be required.
However, considering the government’s behavior in the field of property tax over the past two years and the emphasis of officials on the necessity of increasing tax revenues, gold sellers are refraining from registering their information in the Comprehensive Trade Platform.
This issue has also faced a reaction from the Tax Administration Organization, and this organization, far from any expediency, has threatened gold sellers with heavy fines for non-cooperation.
In this regard, the spokesperson of the Tax Administration Organization told the regime’s Khabaronline website that, conditional on gold and currency sales through electronic invoices to authorized exchanges or gold sellers with terminal stores and the registration of electronic invoices, capital gains tax will not be imposed.
According to this report, the regime is seeking to impose new taxes on property, cars, as well as gold and currency, with the enactment of the capital gains tax law. According to the regime’s plan, profits from the purchase and sale of these assets will be subject to tax.
