Iranian media reported a collective resignation of professors at Sharif University of Technology on the eve of the anniversary of the attack by security forces on the university. According to the state-run Shargh newspaper, members of the faculty council of Sharif University, including the council’s secretary, resigned collectively.
Reports indicate that this collective action, which led to the “dissolution” of the council, took place on the eve of the anniversary of the attack on Sharif University on October 2, 2022.
In this regard, Vahid Karimipour, a professor at the Faculty of Physics and the secretary of the faculty council, announced his decision in a letter, citing “summons by an external entity” as the reason for his resignation.
In his letter, he stated, “This council was formed with the aim of optimizing the use of faculty opinions and assisting university management in better administration of university affairs.” He added, “From the beginning, all members of this council believed that they could fulfill this duty through constructive negotiations with university management and within the university.”
Karimipour further emphasized that he “did not expect that carrying out this university duty would result in an invitation from an external [security] entity for negotiations regarding university issues.” He stated, “Naturally, while welcoming such negotiations in his office, he considers attending an institution outside the university as contrary to respecting the position of all university professors in general.”
After Vahid Karimipour’s resignation from the position of secretary and membership in the faculty council of Sharif University, Saeed Shahrokhyan, a professor at the Faculty of Chemistry, and Farzin Jafarzadeh, a professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, also resigned from their membership in the council. They also cited reasons such as “lack of atmosphere and suitable conditions for carrying out the duties of the faculty council” and “the need for peace and sufficient focus on educational and research activities” for their resignations.
The resignations of the members of the faculty council of Sharif University continued on September 30, and Sohrab Rahvar, a professor at the Faculty of Physics, and Ali Abedian, a professor at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of the university, also resigned from the “Sharif University Faculty Council.”
Last year, during the nationwide protests that escalated after the killing of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the “Morality Police,” a peaceful gathering of students at Sharif University of Technology on Monday, October 2, 2020, was confronted by security forces, Basij, and plainclothes agents. At least 40 people were detained in the attack on Sharif University. Attacks and shootings at the dormitories of Sharif University and the university parking lot were also reported, and some students on the campus were besieged by security forces.
After the attack on this university, student guild councils across the country announced in a statement that security forces had detained and transferred a group of students to an unknown location.
A few hours after the attack on Sharif University, the Islamic Student Association of the university called for protests and strikes by all students and university members in the country.
On October 3, 2022, the “Aftab News” website reported on the events at Sharif University, stating that the “Minister of Science” was present at the university, and there was a “heated exchange” and “threatening tone” between the minister and the students.
“Aftab News” described the attack by stating that published images and videos of the incidents at Sharif University showed that some motorcyclists had entered the university and attempted to detain students, and “gunfire was also heard.”
In recent weeks, with the start of the academic year in Iran, a fresh wave of restrictions has begun in universities, ranging from preventing the entry of certain students to the installation of face recognition cameras and the expansion of gender segregation in university environments.
Prior to the start of the academic year and on the eve of the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, various reports of the expulsion of critical professors were published, citing reasons such as “termination of cooperation,” “cancellation of contracts,” or disqualification by “security authorities.”
These seven professors were elected as members of the “Faculty Guild Council” of Sharif University with a vote of 160 professors in the November of last year.
The tragic event known as “Bloody Friday in Zahedan” refers to the devastating massacre of the Baluch people by the Iranian regime security forces on September 30, 2022. It bears a haunting resemblance to the infamous “Black Friday” of September 8, 1978, when the shah dictatorship sought to suppress anti-regime protests on the build-up to the 1979 revolution. Astonishingly, 44 years later, the ruling clerics repeated this fatal mistake, committing a crime on Zahedan’s Bloody Friday.
The regime’s supreme Leader Ali Khamenei mistakenly believed that he could quell the nationwide uprising by brutally targeting the most deprived and impoverished segments of society, who had nothing to lose but their already miserable lives.
On that fateful day, thousands of Baluch citizens, demanding justice and equality, were mercilessly shot by security forces, paramilitary units, and snipers positioned on rooftops. Countless videos capturing this atrocious crime were recorded and widely shared on social media. Through these harrowing visuals, the people of Iran witnessed Baluch worshipers and innocent passersby drenched in their own blood, desperately calling for help amidst the chaos and horror.
This flagrant crime against humanity claimed the lives of 120 Baluchi citizens, while more than 300 others were left injured, including four women and 17 children.
Similarly, on November 4, 2022, in Khash, the people experienced another bloodbath. Security forces ruthlessly killed 18 individuals, including two children.
The wounds inflicted by Zahedan’s Bloody Friday and the tragedy in Khash continue to deeply affect Baluchestan and its people. The children of Baluchestan, victims of long-standing deprivation and corruption under the ruling clerics, remain unaware of why their family members were brutally killed after the Friday prayer sermon on September 30, 2022. Mothers in this troubled region still mourn the loss of their loved ones. Many families have lost their breadwinners, and numerous wounded individuals have been disabled indefinitely.
On the first anniversary of Zahedan’s Bloody Friday massacre, people in various cities throughout Sistan and Baluchestan province defiantly organized protest rallies against the regime. Despite the regime’s deployment of extensive security measures and a heavy presence of security forces, particularly in Zahedan, these rallies boldly took place. The regime had even dispatched anti-riot forces and deployed heavy weaponry in an attempt to suppress any form of protest.
On September 29, 2023, in Zahedan, a sizable crowd gathered near the Makki Mosque to honor the victims of the tragic massacre. They resolutely chanted anti-regime slogans, defying the oppressive atmosphere that surrounded them.
Protesters were chanting:
“I will avenge my murdered brother!”
“Death to the tyrant, be it the shah or the mullahs!”
“Death to Khamenei!”
“Death to the Basij!”
In response to the protests, the regime opted for a repressive approach. NetBlocks, an organization that monitors global internet connectivity, reported that the regime imposed restrictions on internet access in Zahedan and other areas of Sistan and Baluchestan. This deliberate action aimed to limit the flow of information and further suppress dissent.
⚠️ Confirmed: Metrics show a significant to disruption to internet connectivity in Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchistan in #Iran, on the first anniversary of the "Bloody Friday" massacre; authorities have systematically shut down telecoms to suppress weekly anti-government protests 📉 pic.twitter.com/h5HBrShCo8
In Zahedan, the tense situation escalated as security forces launched a violent assault on the protesters, using firearms and tear gas. Numerous videos captured the disturbing scenes of security forces firing upon the demonstrators.
However, the courageous people of Zahedan showed incredible resilience, confronting the security forces with nothing but their bare hands and managing to force them into retreat. Initial reports indicate that a significant number of individuals, including several children, sustained injuries as a result of the security forces’ actions.
In the aftermath of Bloody Friday, the Baluch people have continued to demonstrate their unwavering spirit by organizing regular protest rallies every Friday. The regime’s attempts to intimidate and suppress the people’s yearning for freedom have proven increasingly futile, as their determination remains unshaken.
Seventeen workers of Iran National Steel Industrial Group have been sentenced to flogging and imprisonment by the judicial system of the Iranian regime due to their protests against economic conditions. According to the state-run ILNA news agency on September 27, the revolutionary court in Ahvaz issued these sentences based on a report from the State Security Forces and a complaint filed by “Shafagh Rahian Axin Industrial and Commercial Company S.R.O.,” the employer of Iran’s Steel Company, and the company’s security.
ILNA published the names of these protesting workers and stated that they were charged with “disturbing public order through creating turmoil and commotion” during last year’s protests.
The court found them guilty and sentenced each of them to “paying a fine of 25 million rials (approximately $50) to the government treasury instead of three months of disciplinary imprisonment, and receiving 74 lashes.”
These workers had protested against the management of the company and their own legal situation in 2022. Iran’s Steel Company is one of the economic entities owned by Amir Mansour Aria Investment Group. After the judicial investigation of a 30 trillion rials (approximately $60 million) embezzlement case, the temporary management of the company was handed over to the judiciary and later to the Central Bank.
The conviction of these workers comes at a time when workers across the country have repeatedly protested against their living conditions and the management of relevant companies.
The workers of Iran’s Steel Company have also engaged in numerous protest gatherings and strikes in the past, and they have often been targeted by security forces.
In December 2020, Davoud Rafiei, a worker who protested against his dismissal from Pars Khodro Company, received 74 lashes on the charge of “insulting” the Minister of Labor.
In another case in June of the same year, Rouhollah Barzin, a bakery worker in the city of Choram, received 55 lashes for publishing critical content on social media.
Rasoul Taleb Moghadam, a member of the Bus company’s labor union who had been sentenced to two years in prison in June 2020, received 74 lashes and was sent to prison.
Prior to that, in January 2015, 17 protesting workers in West Azerbaijan were sentenced to 30 to 100 lashes on various charges.
The judicial authorities of the regime have defended the issuance of flogging sentences against workers in some of these cases, which has faced strong protests from trade unions and workers’ supporters.
Furthermore, in recent years, the judicial system of the Iranian regime has arrested a large number of labor activists and imprisoned them on political charges.
On September 26, simultaneous reports by the Semafor website in the United States and the Persian-language network Iran International revealed the infiltration operations of the Iranian regime and some of its agents. This shocking and significant disclosure exposed how the Iranian regime had infiltrated various American organizations through its agents, posing as fabricated researchers, experts, academics, and advisors.
One of these agents is Ariane Tabatabai, who was employed in institutions affiliated with Harvard University, and among her tasks was to take actions against the opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). She consistently warned about the dangers posed by the PMOI, which is the main opposition to the Iranian regime.
In their article written by Jay Solomon, Semafor provides further details:
“In the spring of 2014, senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials initiated a quiet effort to bolster Tehran’s image and positions on global security issues — particularly its nuclear program — by building ties with a network of influential overseas academics and researchers. They called it the Iran Experts Initiative.
“The officials, working under the moderate President Hassan Rouhani, congratulated themselves on the impact of the initiative: At least three of the people on the Foreign Ministry’s list were, or became, top aides to Robert Malley, the Biden administration’s special envoy on Iran, who was placed on leave this June following the suspension of his security clearance.”
The communications revealed to the press give a glimpse of the access Rouhani’s diplomats have had to Washington’s and Europe’s policy circles, particularly during the final years of the Obama administration, through this network.
The IEI wrote many op-eds and analyses, interviewed with TV channels, and took to Twitter to promote the need for a compromise with Tehran on the nuclear issue.
Saeed Khatibzadeh, a Berlin-based Iranian diplomat and former Foreign Ministry spokesman, was in connection with Mostafa Zahrani, the head of the IPIS think tank in Tehran, as well as Ariane Tabatabai and Dina Esfandiary.
Tabatabai currently serves in the Pentagon as the chief of staff for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, a position that requires a U.S. government security clearance. She previously served as a diplomat on Malley’s Iran nuclear negotiating team after the Biden administration took office in 2021.
Esfandiary is a senior advisor on the Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group, a think tank that Malley headed from 2018 to 2021.
The regime’s ministry of foreign affairs guided this network of so-called experts on the regime’s talking points and influence strategy.
Adnan Tabatabai offered Iran’s Foreign Ministry to ghostwrite pieces on its behalf. “Our suggestion could be that we as a group, work on an essay (2000 words) regarding the ongoing talks,” Tabatabai told Zarif in one same email published by Semafor. “It could, for example, be published under a former official’s name, through the CSR or IPIS — of course after you and your team revised the piece.”
The suggestion was accepted by Zarif, who recommended that “these articles or Op-Eds” be published under the names of various Iranian and non-Iranians abroad, as well as former officials.
In another example, Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group, a close protégé of Robert Malley, sent an article on defusing the nuclear crisis to Zahrani in June 2014, ahead of publication. “I look forward to your comments and feedback,” he wrote in the email, which included his article, “The Conceptual Perils of Nuclear Diplomacy with Iran.”
The article was shared with Zarif and published 12 days later in the National Interest, under the title, “False Dilemmas in the Iran Talks.” Some minor changes were made to the article.
Tabatabai, the current Pentagon official, on at least two occasions checked in with Iran’s Foreign Ministry before attending policy events, according to the emails. She wrote to Zahrani in Farsi on June 27, 2014, to say she’d been invited to Saudi Arabia Faisal and Israel.
“I am not interested in going, but then I thought maybe it would be better that I go and talk, rather than an Israeli like Emily Landau who goes and disseminates disinformation. I would like to ask your opinion too and see if you think I should accept the invitation and go.” She wrote to Zahrani.
Vaez was also very active in the media. Since IEI began working in 2014 up to July 2015, when the nuclear deal was signed, he was cited in most major U.S. newspapers, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.
Following the report, Senate and House Republicans called for an investigation into the Iranian regime-backed influence operation.
First @Rob_Malley’s scandal & now new shocking reports that pro-Iran Biden officials w clearances had allegedly coordinated w/ Iran’s terrorist regime on influence operations in the U.S.
The Republican chairmen of the House Armed Services Committee and House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations jointly wrote Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Tuesday, in response to the report, and requested a review of the security clearance approved for Tabatabai, the Pentagon official described in the Iranian documents.
“Was the Department aware of Ms. Tabatabai’s participation in Iranian government-sponsored influence networks, such as the Iran Experts Initiative?” Reps. Mike Rogers and Jack Bergman wrote. They requested the Pentagon answer this question, and six others, by next Tuesday.
Sen. Ted Cruz, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, demanded the administration suspend the security clearances of any U.S. official tied to the IEI. He also called on the White House to refrain from resuming nuclear negotiations with Tehran, given the information about the IEI initiative.
“These reports and the emails they expose are indescribably troubling. When Joe Biden was elected, the Iranian regime’s nuclear program was in a box, their economy was on the brink of collapse, and their oil exports had cratered. President Biden and Biden officials have allowed the regime to get within reach of a nuclear arsenal, restore their economy, and export millions of barrels per day of oil worth hundreds of billions of dollars. They have agreed to secret nuclear side deals that are being kept from Congress, including ransom deals worth additional billions of dollars. They have implemented these policies while regime officials, including the Ayatollah’s hand-picked President, continue to openly brag about trying to murder former American officials.“Americans have rightly been asking why the Biden administration is so friendly with the Iranian regime, and why Biden administration officials have so single-mindedly enabled Iranian nuclear progress and terrorism. These reports and emails suggest a vast Iranian influence operation that goes to the very top of the administration.“The Biden administration should immediately cease its secret diplomacy with Iran and its dismantling of sanctions, and any officials linked to these emails should immediately have their security clearances pulled until these allegations are fully resolved and accountability is imposed.”
The “Amirkabir Newsletter” reported the installation of cameras in the campuses of Tehran’s Amirkabir and Beheshti universities, stating that students are summoned via phone calls “due to their attire.”
According to this report, the installed cameras in the university environment are being used as a new tool for suppressing the violation of the regime’s dress code.
An “informed source” told Amirkabir Newsletter that “campus security forces are also examining the internal cameras of educational environments to take the most severe action against students who they claim have violated the dress code.”
Students believe that phone summons based on the disciplinary regulations approved in Aban (October/November) 2022 are “illegal.”
In this regard, students are also protesting against the phone summons being “without stating the subject” and consider it “illegal.”
However, the enforcement of disciplinary regulations is taking place while, according to many independent jurists, various parts of the “disciplinary” regulations, including the regulation being referenced, contradict principles of human rights, such as freedom of expression, freedom of thought and belief, freedom of assembly and association.
On Tuesday, student news sources also reported the establishment of “guidance patrol” at the University of Tehran, with students being required to wear “Maqna’eh (a type of headscarf) and long overcoat” reaching “below the knee.”
According to the public relations channel of “United Students,” on Tuesday, September 26, it was stated in a report that the university’s security prevented students wearing headscarves from entering through the main gate and announced that students are “required to wear Maqna’eh and overcoat reaching below the knee” to enter.
According to this channel’s announcement, “hijab patrols (morality police) have also started operating in the central area of the University of Tehran.”
This is happening while a bill approved by the Majlis (parliament) titled “Chastity and Hijab” emphasizes that a “database of students” should be handed over to the “law enforcement forces” in order to identify individuals without hijab.
Some universities have also taken steps to obtain “written commitments” with various clauses in order to impose the desired “compulsory hijab.” The texts of these commitment letters state that “in case of non-compliance with the above-mentioned matters, individuals who violate the university’s chastity and hijab laws will be dealt with and their families will be informed.”
In addition to the measures taken by government institutions to impose the desired dress code on students, the Ministry of Health of the Islamic Republic has also issued an executive directive for the dress code of medical students and assistants. It emphasizes restrictions on clothing, makeup, the use of perfume, and “observance of religious boundaries” in the presence of “non-mahram” individuals (close relatives).
According to the Ministry of Health’s notification, which was issued September 20, under the title “Code of Conduct and Dress Code for Students and Assistants” for the new academic year, wearing “short or tight clothes, open-front overcoats, silk fabric, net, or open-collar clothes” is prohibited.
In December 2022, the University of Tehran implemented the decision of its Cultural Council regarding the treatment of opponents of compulsory hijab.
The Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Education also previously stated in separate statements, following the widespread opposition to compulsory hijab after the killing of Mahsa Amini in the custody of “Morality Police,” that they are “excused from providing services to individuals who do not consider themselves obliged to comply with the hijab law.”
In June, the University of Art in Tehran made the wearing of Maqna’eh compulsory on campus, which was met with protests by students.
In the same context, on June 17, simultaneous with the ongoing protests of students at the University of Art in Tehran against the compulsory wearing of Maqna’eh, student guild councils announced that a “significant number” of these students were detained by plainclothes forces and transferred to an undisclosed location.
With the beginning of the academic year in universities, along with the final approval of the “Chastity and Hijab” bill, a security atmosphere has prevailed over educational environments.
Since Iran’s 1979 revolution, which saw the mullahs rise to power, the ruling regime has institutionalized the oppression of women in the constitution and legal fields such as inheritance, testimony, judging, traveling abroad, and so on. This has resulted in the systemic marginalization of half of Iran’s population and the emergence of many social and economic problems across the country.
Many of the minimum rights recognized for women across the world are out of reach for Iranian women, and gender equality is in total contrast to the misogynistic beliefs of the ruling mullahs.
The policy of compulsory hijab is another aspect of discrimination against Iranian women. Iran’s security forces implemented the compulsory veil in Iran was implemented shortly after 1979 revolution, anyone does not abide by it will face consequences like jail. Mandatory veil is against Islam and is only meant to enchain women, facilitating a general social clampdown. Since the first day, imposing the veil on women was a means of repression and obstructing women’s path, and nothing else.
During its four-decade rule, the regime has intensified violence against women to the point security forces brutally harass young women and girls and drag them on the ground and beat them.
But the reality is that Iranian women have never tolerated this oppression in the last 44 years and have always been at the forefront of protesting against discrimination.
Tens of thousands of women have been killed in the struggle against this regime, and there are women who are at the forefront of the Iranian resistance and hold the position of leader.
These brave women want to overthrow this brutal regime and create a better world for Iranian women.
In this regard Mrs. Maryam Rajavi the president elect of the National Council of resistance of Iran, said, “The repression of women under the pretext of hijab has nothing to do with Islam. It is imperative to resist such oppression. Anything that goes against human freedom and free choice is not credible, whether it is compulsory religion, compulsory veil, or compulsory worship.”
The Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says that only full cooperation from Iran can prove the peaceful nature of the country’s nuclear program. He stated that several important aspects of Iran’s nuclear activities remain unresolved, and the agency is ready to cooperate with Iran.
The 67th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency began on Monday, September 25, in Vienna, Austria. During this conference, which will continue until September 29, high-ranking officials and representatives of member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency will examine a wide range of topics.
In his opening speech at the conference, Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the agency, addressed the most important issues, including Iran’s nuclear activities.
He reminded that the agency has always reported to the Board of Governors of the IAEA regarding its verification activities in Iran, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
The Director-General emphasized that after several years, there are still ambiguities regarding Iran’s nuclear activities.
According to Grossi, significant progress has not been made in implementing the activities specified in the latest joint statement of Iran and the agency in March of this year.
The Director-General of the agency added that the agency has been actively engaged with Iran and is ready to work to resolve outstanding issues. However, only Iran’s full cooperation and achieving tangible results in this regard can assure parties of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, he insisted.
Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, reacted to the statements of the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
According to the state-run ISNA news agency, Islami said, “For 22 years, allegations (of non-compliance) have been raised, and we have patiently, transparently, and cooperatively dealt with this issue to reach a resolution.”
He further stated that the formation of these “allegations influenced by enmity” is baseless setups and accusations, and said, “Tehran’s actions are carried out within the framework of the strategic law of the parliament (Strategic Action to Lift Sanctions and Protect the Interests of the Iranian Nation).”
Britain, France, and Germany, and the United States, which previously withdrew from the JCPOA, called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a joint statement to take further measures to compel Iran to be more transparent.
The statement, raised during the Board of Governors meeting of the agency, emphasized that Iran must promptly provide accurate and credible information about nuclear materials and contaminated equipment at two undisclosed sites in Turquzabad and Karaj.
The discovery of traces of radioactive materials and contaminated equipment at several undisclosed sites in Iran is a contentious issue between the agency and Tehran, with unanswered questions remaining about some of them.
It is likely that the Iranian regime’s decision to cancel the licenses of eight German and French inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has faced strong criticism, will be one of the topics discussed at the agency’s meeting.
Peter Stano, the spokesperson for EU foreign policy, called on Iran to “immediately reconsider” its recent decision.
He stated that the direct and severe impact of Tehran’s decision on the agency’s ability to carry out verification activities, including monitoring the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is of particular concern.
The European Union plays a coordinating role in the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 between Iran and six world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Simultaneously with the subsidence crisis in the plains of Fars province, a member of the academic staff of Shiraz University announced that this phenomenon is within 300 meters from Persepolis and has caused 70-centimeter cracks in the Naqsh-e Rustam area.
Maryam Dehghani, a member of the academic staff of the Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering at Shiraz University, stated in an interview with the regime’s semiofficial ILNA news agency on September 24 that a subsidence edge has reached about 10 to 15 meters from the ancient area of Naqsh-e Rustam, and the width of these cracks ranges from half a meter to 70 centimeters, which fill up with sand and sediment every year but reopen again.
According to Dehghani, “Although Persepolis is not affected by subsidence, a subsidence of about 10 to 15 centimeters has occurred within 300 meters of it due to its location in the mountainous region.”
In recent years, experts have repeatedly warned about the critical subsidence of land in various areas of Iran and the serious damage to historical and ancient artifacts.
On June 7, the Hammihan newspaper, citing an unnamed archaeologist, mentioned historical structures in Isfahan that have been affected by subsidence.
The archaeologist considered the presence of “longitudinal cracks” in these structures as a sign of subsidence and added that traces of this phenomenon can also be seen on the entrances, domes, and walls of the Jame’a Mosque of Isfahan.
Great-mosque or masjid-e-jameh of Isfahan-Iran
In this regard, Bahram Nadi, a university professor and member of the specialized subsidence committee in Isfahan, stated on September 19 that the dome of the Jame’a Mosque of Isfahan has tilted, and the columns of the mosque have become crooked and broken as a result of subsidence.
The head of the Shiraz Tourism Council also stated in December 2021 that the northern Vakil Bazaar in Shiraz is collapsing, and despite the possibility of numerous life-threatening risks, no action is being taken by authorities.
Mehrdad Veis Karami, the representative of Khorramabad in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also warned about the subsidence of Falak-ol-Aflak Castle in Lorestan province in the same year.
The phenomenon of land subsidence, which has affected many plains in Iran, has not only caused damage and destruction to historical structures but has also had an impact on the lives of millions of people. According to experts, it will lead to financial losses and even casualties in the not-so-distant future. For example, Majid Nasimi, the Director-General of School Renovation in Isfahan province, stated on September 23 that “40 schools in the province have been damaged due to land subsidence. Out of this number, the situation of six schools was deemed hazardous, and we were forced to issue an evacuation order for them.”
In recent years, numerous reports of sudden ground subsidence in streets and residential areas in various cities have been published.
Experts consider the excessive extraction of groundwater as the main cause of land subsidence in Iran. The situation is described as critical in several provinces including Tehran, Alborz, Isfahan, Fars, Kerman, Hamadan, Semnan, Qazvin, Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan, and Yazd.
The head of the National Crisis Management Organization announced on June 11 that 602 plains in the country are prone to subsidence.
Mohammad Ali Fahimi, the head of the Subsurface Water Studies Group at the Regional Water Company of Yazd Province, stated on June 14 to the state-run ISNA news agency that the danger of land subsidence and the occurrence of sinkholes not only cause significant damage to the infrastructure of the province every year but also extend to within a few hundred meters of people’s homes in some areas of the province. In addition to financial losses, it poses a “mortal threat.”
He also stated that land subsidence is “irreversible and creeping.” The annual land subsidence in some areas such as the southern part of Tehran plain, as well as the plains of Fasa and Jahrom, reaches 40 to 54 centimeters per year, which is “100 times higher than the global standard and is a terrifying record.”
Experts have attributed the phenomenon of land subsidence to the excessive extraction of groundwater, especially in Tehran, Alborz, Isfahan, Fars, Kerman, Hamadan, Semnan, Qazvin, Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan, and Yazd provinces.
If there is a popular government in Iran, the water crisis will undoubtedly be resolved, and the first and most accessible way to invest in the agriculture sector.
Mechanizing Iran’s agriculture with drip irrigation system and pressurized system will save a lot of water.
It is possible to invest in the water sector and save the land of Iran from extinction and destruction.
But the regime’s priorities are acquiring atomic bombs, exporting terrorism and fundamentalism, and developing ballistic missiles.
There are thousands of villages that are currently supplied with drinking water by tankers, and millions of Iranians are forced to leave their cities and villages and go to the slums or large cities due to lack of water, and the regime has done nothing for them.
The media outlet “Kolbarnews” (hra-news) has reported that a total of 85 kolbars (cross-border laborers) were killed or injured in the first six months of the Persian calendar year (From March 21 to September 21) in the border areas and roads of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah provinces.
Kolbars are individuals who transport commercial goods on their backs from border areas into the country to make ends meet. Kolbars are often subjected to suppression and violence by the military forces.
According to the report, out of this number, 13 kolbars were killed and 72 kolbars were injured. Among the total of 85 kolbars who were killed or injured, 77 of them lost their lives or were injured due to direct shootings by the regime military forces.
In the latest incident, Harana news agency reported that on September 20, a kolbar was injured as a result of military shootings in the border area of Baneh. The kolbar’s name was identified as Farid and he was from Divandarreh.
According to the report, this kolbar was targeted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces (IRGC) and was transferred to a medical center for treatment.
Previously, the Statistics center, Publications, and Works Center of the Iranian Human Rights Activists Association had announced that in 2022, 21 kolbars lost their lives and 133 were injured by the border and security forces. Additionally, during this period, 28 kolbars were involved in accidents due to climatic and geographical conditions such as freezing and falls from heights. Out of this number, 26 kolbars were injured, and two lost their lives.
The evidence shows that people in border areas engage in manual transfer of goods across the border due to the lack of job opportunities and poor living conditions.
A member of the Construction Commission of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament) has reported an intensification of the housing crisis in Iran and stated that “today the house rent prices have exceeded the purchasing power of the working class, employees, and lower-income segments of society.”
Ismaeil Hossein-Zehi also announced the identification and closure of over ten thousand unauthorized real estate agencies in the country, considering them as “the cause of the crisis” in the housing market.
Babak Negahdari, the head of the Majlis Research Center, stated on May 21 that “government policies” have led to a 52-fold increase in housing prices in Tehran over the past 17 years, although this price growth “has been eightfold in a small city like Yasuj.”
One of the mentioned policies is the determination of rent ceilings, which landlords have never adhered to.
In this regard, the head of the National Association of Housing and Building Constructors of Iran had stated that there is no solution available in the current situation to control rental markets.
Mohammad Mortazavi emphasized that “focusing” on short-term solutions in the rental market “diverts us from finding the proper solution.” According to Mortazavi, the processes pursued in recent years regarding housing and rent have not only failed to solve the problem but have also increased “dissatisfaction and mistrust” among tenants.
In response to the exclusion of rental housing from the reach of a considerable portion of society, the state-run “Donya-e-Eqtesad” newspaper also wrote on July 11 that “the new defeat of tenants in the rental market has resulted in a new scene of forced migration of housing-deprived households to cheaper areas.”
According to the newspaper’s report, the tolerance of tenants has not only decreased significantly in the face of new rental prices but has also decreased significantly even in maintaining “last year’s rental levels.”
The regime’s newspaper Ham-Mihan also reacted on May 4 to the rental market and stated that the determination of the growth rate of housing rents, which was initiated by the Hassan Rouhani administration, has turned into a “failed plan” without any executive guarantee.
The report emphasized that the High Council of Housing had set a 25% rental ceiling for Tehran and 20% for other cities this year, but there is no sign of the council’s resolution being implemented.
Mohammad Reza Tajik, a representative of workers in the Supreme Labor Council, also considered workers’ housing as one of the “unsolved” problems of the working community and said, “Unfortunately, various governments have failed in their housing plans.”
An examination of the rental market conditions in Iran indicates that despite the promises of regime officials, the latest official statistics show an increase in the growth rate of rents in the month of August compared to July.
According to the statistics announced by the Statistical Center of Iran, the “housing rent” index has increased by an average of 38% in the first five months of this year (from March to August) compared to the same period of the previous year.
According to the analysis of the “Donya-e-Eqtesad” newspaper, the current growth rate of rent costs is more than twice the “historical inflation in this market” and 1.9 times the “government-approved ceiling.”
Official statistics of the regime show such a situation, and the history of “statistical manipulation” and manipulation of indices and calculation methods by official institutions has always been a concern of independent experts, which is why there is no trust in their accuracy.
Experts believe that reality is always “more severe” than the image presented by the official statistics of the regime‘s institutions.
On September 21, the Iranian regime’s state security forces (SSF) attacked a ceremony held at the grave of Mohsen Gheysari in Ilam, one of the protesters murdered by security forces during the 2022 uprising. Security forces arrested the brother of this slain protester along with several other citizens. They severely beat and injured some of the attendees. In the evening, they also raided the home of the family of Javad Heydari, another slain protester, in Rahmatabad village, Qazvin province, and arrested his 70-year-old father and two brothers.
Reports indicate that the SSF prevented the commemoration ceremony of the protesters in at least 19 cities in Iran, including Tehran, Khorramabad, Kermanshah, Islamabad-e Gharb, Quchan, Divandareh, Shahriar, Garmsar, Pakdasht, Karaj, Saqqez, Oshnavieh, Urmia, Rasht, Sari, Amol, Nowshahr, Qazvin, and Ilam.
Fatemeh Heydari, the sister of Javad Heydari, reported on September 21 that her 70-year-old father and two brothers were arrested by the security forces.
According to Ms. Heydari, as a result the attack by the SSF on their home in Rahmatabad village, Qazvin, her mother’s physical conditions became critical and she was transferred to the hospital for several hours.
Javad Heydari was an agricultural engineer and a protester who was killed on September 22, 2022, by direct gunfire from the regime security forces during the nationwide protests in Qazvin province west of Tehran.
With the anniversary of Javad Heydari’s death approaching, the security forces entered the village where the Heydari family resides and the location of his grave on Thursday with several vehicles. They arrested Javad’s father and brothers in an attempt to exert pressure on this grieving family and prevent the commemoration ceremony.
Once again, dozens of security forces entered Rahmatabad village on Friday, September 21, and “attacked Javad Heydari’s home with bullets and tear gas, beating his family members on the anniversary of their loved one” and kept members of this family confined to their home for hours.
Meanwhile, Abbas Kazemi, the Deputy Governor for Political, Security, and Social Affairs of Qazvin province, denied the videos that clearly showed SSF in front of Javad Heydari’s family home firing tear gas at the house, and described the presence of these forces as “protecting the locals” against the “provocative call” for protests.
Kazemi claimed that “cutting off the internet in Rahmatabad village and beating and injuring members of Javad Heydari’s family and their relatives” are not true.
The arrest of three members of Javad Heydari’s family has been carried out while several other families of killed protesters , including the family of Mohsen Ghaysari, were attacked and assaulted by the security forces in the city of Ilam on Friday.
According to the Hengaw human rights website, “SSF arrested Mohammad Hossein Ghaysari, the brother of Mohsen Ghaysari, who was killed during the protests, by attacking the participants in the Behesht-e-Reza Cemetery located in Hanivan town on Friday, September 22.”
Mohsen Ghaysari , a young protester, was killed on September 21, 2022, during the early days of the protests in Ilam, as a result of direct gunfire by security forces.
According to Hengaw, the Ghaysari family was holding a ceremony on Friday, September 21, to commemorate the anniversary of Mohsen’s death when they came under attack by security forces.
In addition to the “temporary detention” of Mohsen’s brother, several other individuals who had attended the ceremony were also detained by security forces, and at the same time, a number of attendees were severely beaten and injured and were taken to a hospital in Ilam and the condition of several of these injured individuals has been reported as “very critical.”
Published videos from the streets around Pakdasht Cemetery in Tehran province show that dozens of special forces personnel were stationed in the area, preventing access to the graves of two killed protesters, Mohammadreza Eskandari and Mohsen Pazouki, even to their families.
At the same time, Shabnam Eskandari, the sister of Mohammadreza Eskandari, wrote on her X account: “The ceremony for my brother on Friday has been canceled.”
Meanwhile, reports indicate that on Friday in many cities, including Kermanshah, Islamabad, Ilam, Ghouchan, Divandareh, Shahriar, Varamin, and Karaj, government security forces prevented the commemoration ceremonies for the killed protesters by exerting pressure on their families and deploying a large number of forces around the cemeteries.
In Gilan and Mazandaran provinces, where government forces had previously arrested several families of the killed protesters, the commemoration ceremonies for the killed protesters were also prevented on Friday.
Frazaneh Barzehkar, the mother of Erfan Razaei, as well as Vahid Kia and Masoumeh Azari in Nowshahr and Mahsa Yazdani in Sari, are still under arrest.
Fatemeh Mojtabai, the mother of Ghazaleh Chelabi, a killed protester in Amol, also posted on her Instagram account on the anniversary of her daughter’s death, mentioning the pressures and increased threats, saying: “The judicial system, the police, the security apparatus, all have conspired to intimidate us, the grieving families.”
The pressures on the families of the protesters have been increasing for a long time before the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the State Security Force, and the family of Mahsa Amini was also not granted permission to hold a commemoration ceremony on September 16.
