Water Crisis in Iran Felt Most by Poorest

Jubin Katiraie
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0
Water Crisis in Iran Felt Most by Poorest
Sistan and Baluchestan is Iran's most deprived province in water supply, according to Iran's Ministry of Energy estimates
Sistan and Baluchestan is Iran’s most deprived province in water supply, according to Iran’s Ministry of Energy estimates
By Jubin Katiraie The water crisis in Iran is being felt most harshly by the deprived people living in the south, central, and east Iran, and is largely due to the destruction of water infrastructure by regime-linked institutions. Alongside the many other crises facing Iran, not least the coronavirus pandemic, this is the result of the regime prioritizing its illicit activities over its people and exploiting natural resources for hoarded wealth. In Sistan and Baluchistan province, southeastern Iran, people are forced to dig ditches to collect rainwater, which has resulted in some people falling to their deaths in the deep ones or collecting water from lakes where crocodiles sometimes attack and kill them. Essa Kalantari, head of the regime’s Environment Organization, said in 2017: “Not even a foreign enemy ruling this country would have been able to destroy natural resources and the environment, as what has happened in the past years. We have experienced any kind of ecological disaster within the past four decades. Prior to this, many of the country’s environmental indicators, such as water were in a good position.” Other regime officials have said similar things. The CEO of the Water and Sewerage Company in Lorestan province saying that only half of the villages there are even linked up to the water and sewer systems, while the MP for Ahvaz, southwest Iran, noted that 800 villages don’t have drinking water even though they are near five large dams and seven rivers. This information and more shows that the people are facing problems because of the regime’s mismanagement and building dams that actually prevent water from getting to where it needs to be, causing flooding in some places and droughts in others over a very short period. Not only does this affect the drinking water, but also the water for farmers who now cannot grow crops, creating a food shortage. It is also having an economic effect on the poorest people in the country who now have to purchase potable water, which is supplied by regime-linked companies at exorbitant prices. The regime has refused to help, either quashing protests or making false promises that are never fulfilled, which has meant that the issue and all other crises are turning Iran into a powder keg, ready to explode. The state-run Ebtekar daily wrote on September 6: “It seems that Hassan Rouhani, for obvious and hidden reasons, has distanced himself from society and people as much as he could. But neither he nor his advisors notice that this behavior is the final nail in the coffin of the people’s trust. They do not understand, or they ignore, the devastating consequences of this action. It is good for the president’s all security entourage to remember that since November 2019 until now what strange things have happened in our society.” Read More:

Poverty in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province

60 Million Iranians Below the Poverty Line

Pooya Stone
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0
60 Million Iranians Below the Poverty Line
Iran poverty: Tehran cemetery children selling flowers
Iran poverty: Tehran cemetery children selling flowers
By Pooya Stone An Iranian economist has said that due to the regime’s mismanagement of the economy, some 60 million Iranians now live below the poverty line. Ibrahim Razaghi told state-run website Tabnak that a systematic “lack of supervision over the economy” has led to “extreme poverty, widespread unemployment, the inability of many people to pay their rent, and that the rich were getting richer”. This, he said, is “the most important threat to Iran”. Razaghi noted that some 30 million Iranians are unemployed, which is almost a third of the country, and that even those in work are not making enough to live on, with 60 million Iranians living under the poverty line, so the economic situation is “very bad”. Indeed, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Center of Workers’ Unions, Hadi Abavi, said that while the poverty line is 10 million tomans, those in full-time employment can make as little as 2 million tomans based on the minimum wage, which means that many Iranians are working for over 40 hours a week at second or third jobs. On Monday, Abavi said: “The government must do something for workers.” Razaghi said that the regime had “practically abandoned the economy”, which lead to a sharp increase in prices of basic goods, like eggs and butter, with near-daily price fluctuations. He called this “illogical” and said that it is “not clear” what the government is doing to control these prices. There have been numerous reports from Iran recently that indicate that impoverished Iranians are unable to afford food staples and that these goods are having to be rationed. Razaghi advised that the regime was making it easy for “some people”, read the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), to import goods without any supervision, which has caused prices to soar. He asked why the Central Bank is not intervening and said that the regime’s actions demonstrate that it is intentionally raising prices. In another report, an Iranian researcher and economist Ehsan Soltani announced that the true inflation rate in Iran was 60%, which is far beyond the regime’s official announcement of 30%. Soltani told the state-run ILNA News Agency on Sunday that Iran’s Center for Statistics was hiding the truth because they were under pressure from the regime. He further advised that the inflation rate would perhaps soar to over 70% in the second half of the Persian year, which would be the period September 21-March 20. Read More:

Poverty in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province

What Is the Iranian Cyber-Army’s Mission?

Jubin Katiraie
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0
What Is the Iranian Cyber-Army’s Mission?
Iran authorities strengthen their efforts to dominate cyberspace as the people openly express their will for changing the current political system and collaborate their anti-establishment protests
Iran authorities strengthen their efforts to dominate cyberspace as the people openly express their will for changing the current political system and collaborate their anti-establishment protests
By Jubin Katiraie Conventional wisdom has it that authoritarian states use propaganda to pave the path for suppressing dissidents and executing extreme measures. They use media outlets and social media to whitewash their crimes and disguise victims as offenders. To achieve their goals, authoritarians have form armies of fake accounts who merely reiterate their message in social media. In this respect, millions of unemployed people are good targets for recruitment and improving propaganda operations with minimum capital. Fake armies are usually known as “anonymous” experts, sources who spoke on the condition of “anonymity,” or an official who prefers to remain unknown due to the issue’s sensitivity. However, the question is why these reliable sources cover their identity while they repeat officials’ comments in other languages? State-backed propaganda missions have drastically intensified inside Iran and abroad in parallel with the escalation of the Iranian people’s protests. For instance, in a coordinating operation, Iran’s cyber-army attempted to demonize hundreds of thousands of protesters who peacefully took to streets. Cyber agents openly supported the execution of detained protesters and rudely expressed their happiness for hanging Mostafa Salehi and Navid Afkari. Government-linked accounts explicitly repeated authorities’ false accusations and said, “Detainees of the November 2019 protests have been sentenced to death due to their involvement in an armed robbery.” Also, they compare the situation of Iran under the religious dictatorship with the status of democratic countries like France or the United States. “Events like the November 2019 protests are taking place everywhere around the world; they are naturally happening in France or the United States,” they post on messaging apps. However, they intentionally avoid saying the whole story. They do not say that protesters in other countries are not being shot systematically. Furthermore, even Iranian state media affirmed that many police officers and security agents had been tried for using excessive force against demonstrators. However, Iranian authorities have never prosecuted any police officer for targeting barehanded protesters during the November protests or even shooting down a commercial airliner in January. Instead, they captured many citizens and bystanders and tortured them to extract televised confessions about things they had never done. Afterward, they sentenced the poor detainees to inhuman sentences to terrify society. Once again, they deliberately circumvent the truth to insinuate their audiences that protesters deserve merciless punishments. They would truly like to style rights groups and activists as defenders of implementing the death penalty. Then, Iran’s cyber army blamed activists for controversial behaviors. The Iranian government’s cyber agents simultaneously paved the path for the execution of protesters. They trended ‘#Execute’ on Persian-language Twitter and demanded the implementation of the death penalty against protesters, arguing that death-row demonstrators had committed murder, invasion of privacy, armed robbery, and bombing attacks. All the while, Babak Paknia, the lawyer of Amirhossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi, and Mohammad Rajabi, three youths arrested during the 2019 protests, rejected all accusations and announced there is no relevant evidence to his clients’ cases. “As the lawyer of the case, I say that there is no charge of murder, invasion, armed robbery or bombing in the case; The video published in cyberspace, which is stolen from a store, has nothing to do with the case of our clients. If you have no faith, at least be honest,” Paknia tweeted. However, the ayatollahs’ anonymous soldiers extended their propaganda operations in other aspects. To justify and conceal crimes committed by authorities and security forces, they assault Kurdish porters (Kolbars) and even charity organizations. “Kolbars were shot and killed due to smuggling cargo or drug” and “Managing boards of non-profit charity organizations are in touch with the enemies and demonize the country’s situation under the guise of charity activities” are seen in Persian-language posts on social media as a part of the Iranian cyber army’s mission. In addition to the mentioned misinformation campaigns, Iranian authorities constantly spread fake news about dissidents. For instance, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the intelligence department of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) are annually printing and producing hundreds of books, movies, and TV series, as well as publishing thousands of articles to demonize the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) organization. As a part of the ayatollahs’ misinformation campaigns, cyber agents are tasked to circulate these allegations in social media apps to disturb the organization’s reputation among citizens. These activities have been amplified in the past years. This shows the growth of the opposition’s popularity among the people, especially between the young generation, which has prompted forty members of the Parliament (Majlis) to submit a plan for banning all messaging apps. The continuation of Iran’s propaganda missions despite the country’s dire economic condition and efforts to shut down social media and launch a state-control network apparently reveals authorities’ concerns about cyberspace. Earlier, the supreme leader had highlighted security threats imposed by social media. “If I was not the leader of ‘the Islamic Revolution,’ I definitely became the head of the country’s [department] for cyber affairs,” Khamenei said in November 2014. He had also compared the importance of cyber activities with the entire Islamic Revolution, saying, “The cyberspace is as important as the Islamic Revolution.” The Iranian government never accepts its failure in the domination of cyberspace. However, these remarks and plans for restricting messaging apps clearly exposed Iran’s oppressive apparatuses cannot confront Iranian netizens. During the November protests, a week of internet blockage also showed the truth that the government has not been able to suppress citizens who use any means to express their objections and coordinate their efforts and anti-establishment activities. Read More:

The Shadow Army of Iran’s Regime Extends Its Activities in Germany, Authorities Warn

 

Iran Regime’s Vicious Suppression of Protesters

Pooya Stone
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0
Iran Regime’s Vicious Suppression of Protesters
Iran, protest in 2018, archive image
Iran, protest in 2018, archive image
By Pooya Stone The Iranian regime is attempting to stop any dissent by imposing heavy sentences on protesters, warning in state media that nationwide protests, bigger than was ever seen before, are coming, which is why they must punish peaceful protesters with long prison terms, floggings, and even executions. Human rights activists, eyewitnesses, and former detainees report that arrested protesters are routine:
  • Harassed
  • Tortured
  • Beaten
  • Flogged
  • Given electric shocks
  • Suspended from the ceiling
  • Mock executions
  • Waterboarded
  • Sexually abused
  • Denied medical care
  • Prevented from contacting their families or lawyers
  • Interrogated in solitary confinement
Iran Human Rights Monitor produced a brief report on the abuses levied at protesters, including children, who merely exercised their right to freedom of expression. Execution Two protesters were recently executed: Mostafa Salehi, 33 and a father-of-two, and Navid Afkari Sangari, 27, and a champion wrestler. They were killed for taking part in protests, no matter what bogus charge they were tortured into confessing to. But there are ten more protesters on death row, including Amir Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi, Mohammad Rajabi, Mohammad Keshvari, Hossein Reyhani, Hadi Kiani, Mehdi Salehi Qaleh Shahrokhi, Mohammad Bastami, Majid Nazari Kondari, and Abbas Mohammadi. Flogging In the past year alone, the regime has handed down 28 flogging sentences to protesters, numbering 1270 blows in total. This included:
  • Vahid and Habib Afkari Sangari, who was sentenced to 74 lashes each and long prison terms
  • Ali Azizi and Aliyar Hosseinzadeh flogged on June 8
  • Moradi, Tamjidi, and Rajabi sentenced to 222 lashes in total as well as their death sentences
  • Morteza Omidbiglou who was given 222 lashes along with a long prison term and forced labor
  • Mohammad Eghbali Golhin sentenced to 74 lashes, 11 years in prison, and one year in exile
  • Fatemeh Kohanzadeh, sentenced to 50 lashes, prison, and forced labor
  • Keyvan Pashaei, Ali Azizi, Amin Zare, Salar Taher Afshar, Aliyar Hosseinzadeh, and Yasin Hassanpour, sentenced to 20 lashes, eight months in prison, and a 15 million rials fine each
Iran Human Rights Monitor said: “[We] call on the international community, and in particular human rights organizations, to strongly condemn the killing and execution of protesters by the Iranian regime. The UN Security Council must place the dire human rights situation in Iran on its agenda and send an international delegation to visit the prisons in Iran. They must meet with the prisoners, especially those arrested during the November 2019 uprising.” Read More:

Iranian Authorities Confiscate the Late Mostafa Salehi’s Home and Properties

More Protests Across Iran Reported

Jubin Katiraie
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0
More Protests Across Iran Reported
Protests spread across Iran this weekend, featuring people from all walks of life. (Image: Archive)
Protests spread across Iran this weekend, featuring people from all walks of life. (Image: Archive)
By Jubin Katiraie On Sunday, contract workers expelled from the Sports Affairs Department in Gachsaran’s Oil and Gas Exploitation Company protested outside the governor’s office demanding their return to work and reminding us that they had not been paid for three months before they were fired. One protester said: “For several weeks now, a group of sports coaches, whose only source of income was coaching in this company, have been fired under various pretexts, including company officials saying they are no longer needed. Each of them has more than ten years of work experience and their status is left in limbo so far.” Meanwhile, over 200 employees and contract workers from the Abadan Refinery protested outside the company’s head office in Abadan over the refinery’s job classification plan. They said that the adjustment plan measures over contract workers’ payments were not implemented and they are also demanding an increase in wages based on work experience and specific duties. The labour representatives who attended decision-making meetings were chosen by politicians, so they cannot be trusted to represent the workers. On Saturday, workers of the Khalkhal Water and Sewerage Department in Ardabil, gathered in Khalkhal to protest the eight-month delay in receiving their wages, to which the local head of the regime’s Labour Union and Social Welfare Office threatened to fire them. On Friday, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) shot and killed Hassan Khandeh-pour, who was married with three children and wounded another civilian, known only as “Arab”, in the Gader Mountains near Oshnaviyeh, where the two were grazing their livestock. The IRGC took Arab to an IRGC detention centre in Naqada and stole 410 sheep. This will no doubt lead to protests. The Iranian parliament warned on Sunday that deteriorating economic conditions for workers will lead to further protests, with MP Ali Babaie admitting that all workers are below the poverty line. MP Anvar Habibzadeh said: “Along with the difficult novel coronavirus situation, recession, inflation and unemployment are all rampant. Unbridled inflation has spread to people’s essential goods. People send me hundreds of messages daily complaining about skyrocketing prices. Dear colleagues, with these devastating prices, how can a worker feed his family”? “The country’s economic growth has been negative for eight years. The government that claimed would solve people’s problems is now desperate for a solution. The country’s revenues have decreased by 34% since 2013. People’s purchasing power has decreased to one-third of the previous year and prices skyrocket suddenly and continually. Agricultural inputs such as corn, soybeans, etc. increase 10 times overnight, construction inputs increase more than 10 to 20 times, and poultry and meat prices skyrocket,” said Kamal Alipour, one of the regime’s MPs, on Sunday. Read More:

Iran’s Government Faces Protests ‘On the Tarmac’

Fear Engulfs Iran’s Entire Establishment

Pooya Stone
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0
Fear Engulfs Iran’s Entire Establishment
: Iran’s economic sanctions after the trigger mechanism (snapback)
Iran’s economic sanctions after the trigger mechanism (snapback)
By Pooya Stone Iran’s Friday prayer leaders as one of its main speakers about the government’s situation showed last Friday the authorities’ fear about the upcoming events. While many state-run media are trying to show a strong position of the clerical establishment and show that the authorities do not care about the UN ‘snapback’ mechanism, the reality is so bitter that its prayer leaders are forced to show their concerns. At first, in various cities, they demonstrated the authorities’ fear of social conditions and their critical situation. Cleric Ibrahim Hosseini said in Saveh, fearing the consequences of the execution of Navid Afkari, said: “Should he be rewarded for taking part in the overthrow against the system, or should he be doubly punished?” Cleric Qasem Hashemi in Shahinshahr said: “Distorting the image of the armed forces among the Iranian nation and creating security holes is one of the plans of other enemies of the Iranian nation before next year’s elections.”
Why Iran Arms Embargo Should Be Extended?
Mohsen Mahmoudi in Varamin undermined the policies of the Rouhani government and said: “What kind of economic situation is this, and why is the government not accountable and only chanting slogans, by what logic can this economic situation be justified? People condemn this wrongdoing and will not forgive those who have deliberately plundered the people.” Ali Vahdanifar in Dehdasht expressing concern over the anger of the people said: “The patience of the revolutionary nation has its limits. If the goals of the leadership are not considered, the revolutionary nation will define its task with the liberals, the Westerns, and those who are begging the West.” In Lavasanat, cleric Saeed Lavasani said: “Activation of the trigger mechanism means the defeat and complete death of the JCPOA, which means the path that we went for seven years and put all the facilities of the nation on it, now we must return that way. “The mechanism of the Security Council is such that it allows the United States to take such an action, which, although China and Russia have formally opposed it, implicitly acknowledges that a new legal challenge is emerging in the Security Council that will lead to long discussions, of course, it is not in our interest.” Cleric Hassan Dehshiri in Ardestan said: “The upcoming US and Iranian presidential election has enemies with plans that put the issue of security, livelihood, health, and unity on the agenda to shake (the system).” Cleric Ali Khatami in Zanjan said: “The enemy has a plan for the next year and is desperate to strike at the system. We must be vigilant and not allow the enemies and ill-wishers of the system to achieve their goals.” “Today, oil sales, financing, and imports are in trouble, and debtors like China, Turkey, and North Korea are not paying their debts to the country,” said Dori Najafabadi, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in Markazi province. “The Islamic Republic is in a state of war and the wants to overthrow the system with intense pressure and sanctions from the United States and non-Americans,” he added.
Iran Policy Summit Calls for Sanctions to Hold Regime Accountable

Iran Resistance New Report Exposes New Aspects of Human Rights Violations

Jubin Katiraie
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0
Iran Resistance New Report Exposes New Aspects of Human Rights Violations
In its new report, the Iranian Resistance shed light on human rights violations inside Iranian prisons, particularly against detained protesters and political prisoners
In its new report, the Iranian Resistance shed light on human rights violations inside Iranian prisons, particularly against detained protesters and political prisoners
By Jubin Katiraie The Iranian Resistance has once again called for an international delegation to visit Iranian prisons after it emerged that protesters arrested during the November uprising are being secretly held in the torture chambers of the Intelligence Ministry (MOIS), the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), and the State Security Forces (SSF) before being moved to Gohardasht, Evin, and Greater Tehran prisons.
Iran: Human Rights Situation for August 2020
Here, hundreds of protesters have been torture. The Iranian Resistance provided some stark and chilling examples of this, only able to print the initials of the prisoners:
  1. A-M
His hands were tied behind him on a chair and he was beaten with a shocker and a baton. His arms were tied behind his back and interrogators stood on his chest. He was forced to crouch under a table for hours, subjected to the worst comments. He was threatened with rape and execution if he didn’t “confess”.
  1. K-J
He was tied to a radiator and beaten with a pipe before they forced him under a table and beat him in that position too. He was then stripped and chained in an unnatural position, whist being flogged and beaten. He was made to lie on the floor, whilst guards stood on him. He notes that many protesters around him were raped.
  1. Sh-N
He was beaten whilst wearing metal shackles, which broke a bone in his leg that is still not healed ten months later.
  1. J-B
He was hung by his arms, which were wrenched behind his back, and tortured with a shocker and a baton.
  1. A-M, F-M, S-M, H-R, M-A
They were beaten on the head and feet with a hose filled with small bullets.
  1. M-A
He was tortured with batons and shockers on the sensitive parts of his body.
  1. G- A
He was tortured with a shocker and a baton, forced to strip, and then hit on the genitals with the shocker.
  1. M-A
Twice the regime pretended to execute him, once shooting a bullet near to his head while he was blindfolded.
  1. A-R
He was given a mock execution, made to stand on a stool with his rope in a noose for hours.
  1. A-K
This underage protester was tortured with a shocker and baton, whipped, and had his nails pulled out. The Iranian Resistance said: “[We] once again calls on the United Nations Secretary-General, the Human Rights Council, and the High Commissioner as well as other human rights organizations to take urgent action to secure the release of detained protesters who are subject to torture and execution. It also emphasizes the need for an international delegation to visit prisons and detention centers of the clerical regime and to meet with the prisoners, particularly the detained protesters.”
Amnesty International: Iran Uses Torture as Punishment

Poverty in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province

Pooya Stone
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0
Poverty in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province
As the Iranian government spends the national resources on aggressive and oppressive policies, many people in Iran, e.g. in Sistan and Baluchestan province, have to bear intolerable hardships
As the Iranian government spends the national resources on aggressive and oppressive policies, many people in Iran, e.g. in Sistan and Baluchestan province, have to bear intolerable hardships
By Pooya Stone Those living in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province are facing untold social and economic problems because of longstanding deprivation and poverty, which is becoming worse as inequality becomes more pronounced. Some have even fled the province for neighboring Kerman, which itself is one of the poorest provinces in the country, where the Baluch people live in tents, with no electricity or running water. All of this despite the vast wealth of the ayatollahs and the country’s natural resources. On September 5, Ali Khezrian, a member of the Parliament (Majlis), said: “We traveled to the city of Iranshahr, the second-largest city in southeast Iran, and visited its villages. Unfortunately, the people of this area are deprived of facilities, such as showers and toilets. There were no suitable electricity facilities in the villages,” It might, as the state-run media report, be hard to imagine people living in these conditions in the 21st century, but this is true for Sistan and Baluchestan province. Children go about in rags and without shoes, they pull food from rubbish piles, and some of them die or are grievously injured when fetching water from ponds because of marsh crocodiles. All because the government refuses to put the much-needed infrastructure in place when these dangers have been known about for years. Worse still, authorities steal the water that fills the dams during the rainy season for use in factories and government facilities affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). Water is far from the only essential that the people here lack. They suffer greatly from gas shortages, with only five cities and seven villages (out of 47 and over 10,000 respectively) have gas mains. Everywhere else, women are sent to carry heavy gas canisters on long distances or collect firewood, with some losing their lives as a result. Children are also deprived of proper education, with schools taking place in tents and not having the minimum facilities for students. This has been exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis with students unable to attend online courses because they don’t have smartphones or internet access.
Ruins in the Name of Schools in Iran While Rebuilding Schools in Syria!
The Iranian Resistance wrote: “There is no reason for the people of Sistan & Baluchestan to live in these difficult circumstances, other than that the regime’s leaders have looted their share of Iran’s wealth… The billion-dollar fortunes of the regime’s leaders inside and outside the country, especially Khamenei’s $200 billion property, have been stolen from these people at the price of their food, water, and other livelihood and recreational facilities. But surely one day, the anger of the people will bring down the mullahs’ oppression and exploitation, and overthrow the mullahs’ regime.”

Iran’s Government Faces Protests ‘On the Tarmac’

Jubin Katiraie
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0
Iran’s Government Faces Protests ‘On the Tarmac’
Iran's Government Faces Protests ‘On the Tarmac’
Iran’s Government Faces Protests ‘On the Tarmac’
By Jubin Katiraie The expression ‘on the tarmac’ has in recent years been added to Iran’s political culture. The term is used as a replacement for ‘protests and uprisings’ by government officials. In recent years, and especially in the last four years, the Iranian political scene has witnessed protests and uprisings against the entire government in Tehran. At first glance, these protests may seem to have an economic basis, but looking more closely at the protests of recent years, it becomes clear that the main nature of these protests is political. The December 2017-January 2018 uprising ostensibly began in protest to the high prices in Mashhad, but a few days later, the slogan “Reformist, Hardliners, the game is over” in the University of Tehran showed that the entire clerical system had been targeted by the people and students. Relatively sporadic protests continued in 2018. But the November 2019 protests clearly confirmed the political direction of the protests.
Iran: A Society That ‘Will Undergo Major Changes’
The story began with a threefold increase in the price of gasoline. But within a day, the slogans “Death to Khamenei”, “Death to the principle of Velayat-e-Faqih” and other radical slogans against the integrity of clerical rule showed that the Iranian people had moved beyond their protest over the bad economic situation; their main target was the government. By focusing on this formula, any statement of this kind can be analyzed. Whenever there is talk of the ‘on the tarmac’, one should expect to see mass uprisings and popular protests in the country’s social arena in the near future, even if an underlying economic issue also exists. The latest example of the use of this keyword is by an economic expert and professor at the University of Tehran. Albert Baghzian, who spoke in an interview with Entekhab daily on September 13, emphasized the prospect of an uprising in Iranian cities. Describing the country’s economic situation, he told Entekhab daily: “Inflation and rising prices have become a great pain and suffering for the Iranian people. For example, the rising of butter prices in the market has caused great controversy at the macro-level of society. In general, from the stock market as the largest capital market to a minor commodity such as butter, the situation is unfortunately not favorable. This issue has now led to widespread mistrust in society, which of course will not be easily reversed.”

The Present Situation in the Country Has Nothing to Do with the Sanctions

Pointing to the country’s sanctions, he added: “Many of the current issues in the country have nothing to do with sanctions. For example, the difference between the factory price and the market price of a car has nothing to do with sanctions. Most of the country’s problems should be assessed in the government’s irresponsibility and disregard for the country’s macroeconomic issues.” Attacking the government’s wrong economic policies, he added: “The wrong policies of the economy, which led to an abnormal decline in the Iranian stock market, have had a profound effect on reducing citizens’ trust.”
Iran’s Stock Market Devours the Wealth of Lower Classes
Baghzian also pointed to another contradiction within the government. “Reducing of the unemployment rate” and the government’s claims about it: “Is it possible to talk about reducing the unemployment rate without any documents? Such positions will definitely lower people’s trust more than ever.” In the end, part of the reality of the whole clerical system is heard from Baghzian as he said: “The other government is completely disappointed with the reform of things.” Finally, all these parameters force Baghzian to express the discussed expression as he said: “‘On the tarmac’ means not seeing any government.”
Entekhab daily wrote, On the tarmac which means not seeying any government
Entekhab daily wrote, On the tarmac which means not seeing any government
This shows that the people who were ‘on the tarmac’ do not recognize any government and do not differentiate between the reformists and the conservatives. The situation is clear enough. Not the government, but the entire system is responsible for the current miserable situation, after more than four decades of rule in Iran. And finally, everything will be dictated to the clerical system ‘on the tarmac’.

Ten Pharmacists Die of Coronavirus in Iran

Pooya Stone
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0
Ten Pharmacists Die of Coronavirus in Iran
Iranian pharmacists meet the government’s inattention to their living and working conditions and are accused of hoarding while they are the victims of the IRGC’s profiteering policies
Iranian pharmacists meet the government’s inattention to their living and working conditions and are accused of hoarding while they are the victims of the IRGC’s profiteering policies
By Pooya Stone On Monday, September 14, Iranian media outlets reported that ten pharmacists have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus. Furthermore, in recent weeks many doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers fell victim to this ominous disease. However, these selfless people also suffer from authorities’ inattention to their working and living conditions. In this context, the government has yet to provide sufficient health equipment and essential protective items for medical staff. Instead, officials generously donate Iran’s national resources to build advanced hospitals in other countries and providing ventilators, face masks, and gloves for their infantry in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and other war-torn countries.
Inside the Systematic Hoarding of Face Masks in Iran
In a press conference with the managing board of Pharmacists’ Union of Western Azarbaijan province, Hojjatollah Yazdan-Shanas, the chief of the Iranian Pharmacists Assembly, explained parts of his colleagues’ sufferings and problems. He mentioned that, along with medical staff, these hard-working people rushed to help needy citizens since the first days of the health crisis. However, they received no attention. Yazdan-Shenas implicitly pointed out to systematic corruption and the role of government-linked gangs in this sector. His remarks reveal how the state-backed mafia, i.e. the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), has taken hostage the lives and health of millions of citizens in the past seven months.

Shortage of Pharmacy and Pharmacists

“There is only one pharmacy per 4,500 people across the country,” Yazdan-Shenas said. However, he did not explain that many poor and needy citizens in impoverished areas lack clean water, let alone pharmacies, and this rationing belongs to the rich and middle-class districts in metropolitan areas. Moreover, nearly 60 million Iranians live below the poverty line and this population is growing every month based on official statistics. The chief of the Pharmacists Assembly also highlighted the shortage of human resources. “Given the growth of population, merely 600 persons have added to the country’s pharmacists annually. This is a very insignificant number for an 83-million population,” he added. Yazdan-Shenas also spoke about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on pharmacists’ living and working conditions. “In Western Azarbaijan, 12 pharmacists were infected with the Covid-19. Fortunately, there were no fatalities in this province. However, regrettably, ten pharmacists have passed away in the fight against the ominous coronavirus across the country so far. This is a major loss for the pharmacist community of Iran,” he said.
Iran’s Extremely Confused and Upset Situation Over the Coronavirus Pandemic

The IRGC’s Role in Hoarding Necessary Hygienic Items

According to credible evidence, the IRGC immediately monopolized all health-product factories simultaneously with the start of the coronavirus crisis in the country. The supreme leader Ali Khamenei and his office completely supported the IRGC in this effort. Meanwhile, the IRGC formed a “base” to counter the pandemic based on Khamenei’s order. They also exercised military parades in the streets and patrolled to “fight the Covid-19!” Many citizens believed and openly said that authorities intend to counter the people’s rage against their mismanagement rather than containing the disease. In this respect, many netizens mocked the ridiculous steps by IRGC forces in Tehran and other major cities. However, the IRGC used its authority and managed to control the market of health and hygienic equipment. On the other hand, factories were forced to deliver their products to IRGC-controlled institutions. Following this issue, citizens face the lack of essential sanitizing and health items, pushing them to provide their needs through the black market. In this respect, Yazdan-Shenas blamed authorities for banning pharmacies from selling alcohol. He also expressed his fury against the state-run propaganda that frequently provided reports about sealing pharmacies for hoarding health items. “Just show me one violator pharmacy that has hoarded something,” he said. In reality, in a profiteering trade, the Iranian government and IRGC tried to use the coronavirus as an opportunity to line their pockets with the money of millions of desperate people. However, they are now meeting growing fury and rage among their agents, let alone the ordinary people.
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