By Jubin Katiraie
The nationwide teachers’ strike in Iran entered its third day on Tuesday, with teachers holding sit-ins in their principals’ offices to demand basic rights, like better pay, the right to form unions, and the freeing of all jailed teachers’ rights activists, as well as an adequate response to their demands from the government.
Iran Focus
London, 6 Mar – The fishing industry is the latest indicator of widespread and systematic corruption in Iran, with local anglers losing their livelihoods after the Government granted dubious licenses to Chinese fishing boats engaged in deep-sea trawling.
The policy, which would result in increased unemployment and poverty, gathered intense criticism when it became public two years ago, but the relevant government authorities have failed to address the grievances.
By Mehdi
The Netherlands recalled its ambassador to Iran and summoned the Iranian ambassador to its Foreign Ministry for talks after Tehran expelled two Dutch diplomats in a dispute over an alleged plot to assassinate Iran’s political opponents in the European country.
Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said: “The government has decided to recall the Dutch ambassador in Tehran for consultations.”
By Pooya Stone
On Sunday, it was announced that Ebrahim Raisi has been appointed as the Judiciary Chief, replacing Sadeq Amoli Larijani. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei told Iranian media that Raisi will be officially introduced as Judiciary Chief on Thursday March 7th.
According to Yahya Kamalipour, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s judiciary committee, the head of the Judiciary is appointed directly by the Supreme Leader for a five-year term, which can be renewed. Indeed, the spokesperson for Iran’s Judiciary has confirmed that Raisi is considered a person trusted by the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran Focus
London, 5 Mar – Last July, months after the US exit from the landmark nuclear deal with Iran, and the reimposed sanctions that accompanied it, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned his government that they could not rely on Europe for protection against U.S.
By Jubin Katiraie
Experts are warning that a global response is necessary to repel the rising wave of cyberattacks on government and communications infrastructure worldwide by the
leading state sponsor of terror, Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 4 Mar – Just over a year ago, information about Iran’s secret nuclear programme was uncovered during a raid on an undisclosed facility near Tehran and presented to the US, so that the Donald Trump administration could use it to crack down on the mullahs’ malign activities.
Sceptics dismissed the archive as “nothing new”, but careful analysis showed that Iran was far closer to obtaining nuclear weapons than the international community thought.
By Mehdi
Five banks and financial institutions affiliated with the Iranian military, some suffering with accrued losses, are to be merged into Bank Sepah, Iran’s Central Bank announced on Saturday.
Iranian banks have been suffering from financial crises for years, mainly due to lack of proper banking supervision over loans given to government insiders that have never been paid back, something that has caused many credit institutions to go bankrupt and left millions of people without savings.
By Pooya Stone
Iran is in a very difficult position because of the pressure stemming from U.S. sanctions. The U.S. State Department has said that waivers on imports of Iranian oil will not be extended and maintains that its aim is still to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero.
This is starting to have a real effect now on the Iranian economy and Iran is finding it difficult to persuade countries to cooperate. The EU had promised to take steps that guarantee trade with Iran and it has started to set up INSTEX – a mechanism that will, if it works, circumvent U.S. sanctions. However, it is not certain that the mechanism will work and the United States has warned the EU that it will be keeping a close eye on developments.
Iran Focus
London, 2 Mar – The UK government designated the Lebanese Hezbollah group as a terrorist group in its entirety, removing any distinction between the so-called “military wing”, which was already banned, and the “political wing”.
This false division never sat comfortably with the reality that Hezbollah was a united entity, with two paths that led to the same place. In fact, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, long ago publicly debunked the idea that the group could be separated into two separate wings. This should not surprise anyone because he is the head of both of them.
