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Reduction in Iran’s Education Budget Coincides with Over 900,000 Children Dropping Out of School

Sia Rajabi
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Reduction in Iran’s Education Budget Coincides with Over 900,000 Children Dropping Out of School

Mohammad Molavi, Vice Chairman of the Education Committee in the regime’s Majlis (parliament), announced on Thursday, July 25, that the number of children dropping out of school in Iran is 911,000, including 400,000 primary school students.

According to Molavi, while 279,000 of these children dropped out due to “financial problems,” the education budget for 2024 has decreased compared to last year.

Experts have cited “poverty” as the main reason for children dropping out of school in Iran.

The Vice Chairman of the Education Committee in Parliament noted that while 12% of the country’s general budget was allocated to education in recent years, this allocation has dropped to less than 10% this year.

This comes despite a 20% increase in the overall budget for 2024 compared to last year.

Recently, Deputy Attorney General Gholam-Abbas Torki described the existence of about one million dropouts as a “significant statistic” and called for a “transformation” in the education system.

The Statistical Center of Iran had reported that the number of dropouts in the 2022-2023 school year was over 929,000, a 2% increase compared to the previous year.

Last year, the representative of Sistan and Baluchestan in the Supreme Council of Provinces announced that annually, 30% of students in this province are forced to drop out due to issues such as school transportation costs.

Farooq Azami stated in an October 2023 interview with the regime’s ILNA news agency, that in just one region of Sistan and Baluchestan, 4,000 students had dropped out of school.

Moein al-Din Saeedi, a representative of Chabahar in Majlis, also emphasized in December 2023 that in Sistan and Baluchestan, southeastern Iran, fewer than 40 out of every 100 students successfully obtain a diploma.

In addition to poverty, issues such as a shortage of teachers and educational facilities also contribute to the increasing number of dropouts in Iran.

Alireza Monadi Sefidan, Chairman of the Parliament’s Research and Education Committee, has predicted that educational facilities will face a shortage of 70,000 to 80,000 teachers in October this year.

Meanwhile, teachers have held numerous protest rallies in recent years to achieve their professional and livelihood demands and have criticized the governing policies on educational matters in the country.

Iran’s Regime Owed More Than a Trillion Rials to Wheat Farmers

Hoshang Amiri
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Iran’s Regime Owed More Than a Trillion Rials to Wheat Farmers

Ataollah Hashemi, head of the National Wheat Farmers Foundation, announced on Thursday, July 25, that the government’s debt to wheat farmers has reached 1,040 trillion rials (approximately $1.762 billion). He said, “With wheat production reaching 9.1 million tons, the government has a commitment of 1,570 trillion rials (approximately $2.661 billion) to farmers, of which only 530 trillion rials (approximately $898 million) has been paid, leaving 68% of the government’s debt to farmers unpaid.”

In an interview with the regime’s Sanapress website, Hashemi criticized the Planning and Budget Organization, stating that it “does not prioritize agriculture and the payment of this sector’s claims.” He added, “Farmers should be paid within three days, and if this deadline is missed, they should be compensated with medium-term loan interest.”

He referred to the “poor condition of farmers” and added, “There is a farmer who delivered wheat three months ago but has not yet received any money. This means that a person who has worked on the crop for nine months, with all kinds of expenses like family costs and debts for the next cultivation, is now left with his life in disarray.”

In this interview, Hashemi accused “government officials” and “planners” of “having a greater inclination towards imports.”

Hashemi criticized Davood Manzoor, the current head of the Planning and Budget Organization, stating that he “does not believe in production, prefers imports, and brings up impressive justifications in meetings.”

He concluded by announcing the deadline set by the Wheat Farmers Foundation for the government to pay its debt to farmers by Thursday, warning that the institution will file a complaint with the Administrative Justice Court and the Inspection Organization on Saturday, July 27.

Earlier, on Wednesday, July 24, the Chairman of the Parliament’s Agriculture Committee had reported that wheat farmers were owed 1,020 trillion rials (approximately $1.728 billion) by the government.

According to Tasnim News Agency, Mohammad Javad Askari had said, “More than 8 million tons of wheat worth 1,550 trillion rials (approximately $2.627 billion) have been purchased from farmers, but only 530 trillion rials (approximately $898 million) has been paid.”

He mentioned the promises made by government officials, stating that all the farmers’ claims are to be paid by the end of the week, on Friday.

In recent months, government officials have repeatedly promised to pay all the farmers’ claims, but no practical action has been taken in this regard.

This issue has exacerbated the financial problems of farmers, leading to their protests.

Previously, reports from Iran indicated that at least 200 wheat farmers had gathered in front of the Khuzestan governor’s office in Ahvaz on June 5 to protest the non-payment of their claims.

Iranian Regime Hackers Target Israeli Athletes at Paris Olympics

Esmaeil Mohades
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Iranian Regime Hackers Target Israeli Athletes at Paris Olympics

The Israel National Cyber Directorate and the Ministry of Culture and Sports announced on Thursday, July 25, that hackers linked to the Iranian regime had posted personal information of the country’s sports delegation members heading to the Paris Olympics online.

According to these two Israeli governmental bodies, the Iranian regime carried out this act before the start of the Paris Summer Olympics to create fear and intimidation among the Israeli sports delegation.

Investigations show that these hackers, by impersonating a French organization, published the personal information of Israeli athletes on fake social media accounts.

In recent hours, the hackers have sent personal information to Israeli athletes through these fake accounts and threatened them.

Gaby Portnoy, Director General of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, confirming this news, said the Iranian regime had used a non-political international sports competition to “spread digital terrorism” against Israel.

Israel usually does not confirm the Iranian regime’s involvement in such operations, but these foreign infiltration actions have increased since the attack on October 7 last year.

In recent months, Israeli security agencies have repeatedly identified hackers linked to the Iranian regime as responsible for “hostile campaigns” against the country.

The Iranian regime supports its proxy groups in the Middle East region. These groups, such as Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen, receive financial and training support from the Iranian regime for all their sabotage operations in the region.

Meanwhile, the Iranian people are living in poverty and hunger, but their resources are being spent on killings in the Middle East.

Salman Rushdie Attacker Is an Agent of Hezbollah

Mehdi Hosseini
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Salman Rushdie Attacker Is an Agent of Hezbollah

Agence France-Presse reported that Hadi Matar, the attacker of Salman Rushdie, was officially accused by the United States of committing a terrorist act on behalf of Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group supported by the Iranian regime.

On Thursday, July 25, this news agency wrote: The attacker of Salman Rushdie was accused of committing a terrorist act on behalf of Hezbollah.

Agence France-Presse added that according to documents released on Wednesday, the man accused of attempting to kill Salman Rushdie was accused of terrorism on behalf of Hezbollah. This is the first time that the United States has explicitly accused Hezbollah, supported by the Iranian regime, of attacking Rushdie.

Hadi Matar, a 26-year-old American of Lebanese descent, had previously been charged by the state of New York for assault and battery in 2022. According to an indictment dated July 17, which had not been made public until now, he is currently accused by a grand jury of three counts, including attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

The attack on Salman Rushdie was carried out under a decree issued from Tehran

In August 2022, Rushdie was stabbed about 10 times by a knife-wielding attacker at an art gathering in New York state.

The FBI announced in a statement on Wednesday that Hezbollah had endorsed this fatwa [the decree to kill Rushdie].

Merrick B. Garland, United States Attorney General, said in a separate statement: “We allege that in attempting to murder Salman Rushdie in New York in 2022, Hadi Matar committed an act of terrorism in the name of Hezbollah, a designated terrorist organization aligned with the Iranian regime.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray said that the suspect attempted to carry out a fatwa endorsed by Hezbollah that called for the death of Salman Rushdie.

It is worth recalling that on February 14, 1989, Ruhollah Khomeini, the then Supreme Leader of Iran’s regime, issued a decree to kill Salman Rushdie. This fatwa remains in effect to this day. The current Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, also declared in 2004 that Khomeini’s decree was irrevocable. Following this fatwa, several governmental organizations in Iran set rewards for killing him.

Thus, it appears that the regime assigned the mission of killing Salman Rushdie to Hezbollah under its command. Hezbollah then attempted to carry out this mission by employing one or more Americans.

Senior US Senator Introduces Plan to Curb Purchase of Oil from Iran’s Regime

Hoshang Amiri
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Senior US Senator Introduces Plan to Curb Purchase of Oil from Iran’s Regime

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham announced on Wednesday, July 24, a legislative proposal to impose tariffs on imports from countries that purchase petroleum products from Iran.

In a post on the social media platform X, he wrote:

The South Carolina senator also wrote that he presented this plan after extensive discussions with Donald Trump, former President of the United States and Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

According to media reports, Senator Graham had been discussing ways to strengthen the deprivation of the Iranian regime from oil revenues with Trump for months before unveiling the Terrorism Tariff Act.

According to this report, if such a law is finally approved and implemented, these tariffs would be a barrier for the Iranian regime to export its oil to countries that have economic relations with the United States.

Lindsey Graham has said that if Donald Trump wins the election, he will once again implement the “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran, and according to him, tariffs on countries that empower terrorism, and the leader of the Iranian regime are a good starting point.

Iran’s Regime Executes Kurdish Political Prisoner Kamran Sheikheh

Mehdi Hosseini
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Iran’s Regime Executes Kurdish Political Prisoner Kamran Sheikheh

Human rights sources in Iran report that Kamran Sheikheh, a Kurdish political prisoner, was executed on the morning of Thursday, July 25, in Urmia prison.

Six previous defendants in this case, named Qasem Abesteh, Ayub Karimi, Farhad Salimi, Davood Abdollahi, Anwar Khezri, and Khosrow Beasharat, were executed in recent months for the alleged murder of a government cleric in 2009.

In recent days, Kamran Sheikheh, a Sunni Kurdish prisoner sentenced to death, was transferred from Mahabad prison to solitary confinement in Urmia Central Prison for the execution of his sentence.

Prison officials informed the family of this prisoner, who had been incarcerated for 15 years, that his execution would be carried out on Thursday morning.

Arash Sadeghi, a former political prisoner, wrote about Kamran Sheikheh on the social media platform X: “Kamran always sang Kurdish songs during exercise time, for his mother, for Kurdistan, for Lake Zarivar. He missed them all.”

He also added: “Kamran and his six co-defendants were neither terrorists nor murderers. They were enamored with living.”

These seven defendants were subjected to “severe torture” to extract confessions during their detention, and the judicial process was “ambiguous” and marred by numerous flaws.

All these death sentences were issued in unfair, non-transparent courts that did not meet even the minimum standards of a fair trial and lack any legal validity.

Kamran Sheikheh and six other Sunni prisoners were sentenced to death in March 2016 by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh at Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. This verdict was overturned by Ali Razini in the Supreme Court.

Their case was referred back to Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court for reconsideration, and their trial was held from June 17 to 19, 2019. Judge Abolqasem Salavati once again issued death sentences for them.

Iranian Security Forces Open Fire on Woman for Violating Hijab Rules

Sia Rajabi
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Iranian Security Forces Open Fire on Woman for Violating Hijab Rules

Reports indicate that Iranian regime police officers in the city of Noor, Mazandaran province, shot a young woman named Arezou Badri, whose car was on a list for impoundment due to mandatory hijab regulations. She is now in critical condition and in a coma.

Some reports on social media published this news on Wednesday, July 24.

An informed source at Khomeini Hospital in Noor city stated that this young woman, “about 30 years old,” was brought to the hospital’s “emergency room on Monday, July 22, after being shot by the State Security Forces (SSF).”

The car of this young woman was on the impound list for not adhering to hijab regulations. The officers ordered her to stop, but she did not stop out of fear. The regime’s SSF first aimed at the car’s tires, and their next shot hit Arezou.

Some reports indicate that after imaging, it was found that the bullet hit her spinal cord, causing paralysis from the waist down, and she is currently under observation in the ICU.

Meanwhile, the Iranian regime police news outlet quoted Ahmad Amini, the police chief of Noor city, claiming that around 11 PM on Monday, July 22, “while patrolling, they suspected a car with tinted windows” and after “ordering it to stop,” the driver “attempted to flee the scene,” and the officers “used a weapon to stop the car.”

According to the police chief of Noor city, one of the two passengers in the car “was injured” and “is under treatment.”

In March, following a direct shot by a SSF officer from a close distance at a family’s car in Aligudarz, Lorestan province, Negar Karimian, a 21-year-old citizen, was killed.

Previously, hasty shooting by regime’s SSF  at cars has often resulted in the death of several citizens, including children.

In February 2024, during a direct shooting by “plainclothes” forces of the Iranian regime in Borujerd county, one citizen was killed, and another was injured.

Germany Bans Activities of the Hamburg Islamic Center Affiliated with Iran’s Regime

Esmaeil Mohades
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Germany Bans Activities of the Hamburg Islamic Center Affiliated with Iran’s Regime

German media announced that police forces raided the Hamburg Islamic Center and all other Islamic centers affiliated with the Iranian regime from early morning on Wednesday, July 24, and declared their activities banned.

In a statement, Germany’s Interior Minister announced that the evidence gathered in the investigations confirmed serious suspicions to such an extent that they issued the ban today.

Nancy Faeser added that the Hamburg Islamic Center promotes extremist and totalitarian Islamist ideology in Germany and its subsidiaries also support Hezbollah terrorists.

According to the ministry, the association that runs the Islamic Center of Hamburg, known as the “Blue Mosque,” violates the constitutional order of the Federal Republic of Germany.

According to the German Interior Ministry, representatives of the mosque have previously praised the violent actions of terrorist organizations like Hamas and supported banned terrorist organizations like Hezbollah.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said this action was taken due to extremism.

The center has been under the scrutiny of the federal government for months. It has been at least ten months since the German Federal Interior Ministry began searching the “Hamburg Islamic Center” and dozens of its affiliated offices on November 16, 2023, to find evidence for the possible necessity of banning its activities. Now, after this period, Nancy Faeser signed the order to shut down and end the activities of this Islamic center.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution had previously stated that there was evidence showing this Islamic center is “a significant propaganda center for the regime in Europe and an arm of the Iranian regime.”

In August 2023, the German State Office for the Protection of the Constitution announced that the “Frankfurt Islamic Cultural Center” and the “Blue Mosque of Hamburg” are both connected with the “Iranian regime” and the “Muslim Brotherhood” of Egypt and are attempting to spread their radical Islamic ideology.

According to the Hamburg Administrative Court’s ruling, the city’s Islamic Center, also known as the “Blue Mosque,” is classified as an “extremist Islamist organization.”

In June 2022, Hamburg government officials issued a deportation order for Soleiman Mousavi-Far, the deputy head of the Hamburg Islamic Center, and three months later, he was deported from Germany.

At that time, German investigative officials expressed confidence that Soleiman Mousavi-Far supports extremist Shia militant organizations and terrorist organizations.

Iranian Female Political Prisoner Pakhsan Azizi Sentenced to Death

Mehdi Hosseini
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Iranian Female Political Prisoner Pakhsan Azizi Sentenced to Death

The Iran Human Rights Center announced on Tuesday, July 23, that Pakhsan Azizi, a political prisoner previously accused of “baghi,” has been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court.

According to the laws of the Iranian regime, baghi means rebellion against the legitimate Imam and the Islamic ruler.

Since late June, Pakhsan Azizi had been denied visits and contact with her family by the order of Evin prison officials.

She was arrested on August 4, 2023, in Kharrazi Township, Tehran, and was interrogated and tortured in the detention center of the Ministry of Intelligence. She was then transferred to Ward 209 of Evin prison and later to the women’s ward. In the winter of 2023, she was charged with “rebellion through membership in opposition groups” by Branch 5 of the Evin Security Prosecutor’s Office.

This political prisoner appeared on May 28 and June 16, 2024, at Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, to address the charge of “baghi.”

Human rights organizations say Pakhsan Azizi has been subjected to torture and pressure by security officials to force her to make coerced confessions.

Pakhsan Azizi, a native of Mahabad and a graduate in social work from Allameh Tabataba’i University, was first arrested in November 2009 during a student protest against political executions in Kurdistan and was released on bail on March 19, 2010.

She has consistently faced accusations of “membership in opposition groups.”

Another two political prisoners, Varisheh Moradi and Sharifeh Mohammadi, are also imprisoned on charges of “Baghi.”

Varisheh Moradi, is also imprisoned on charges of "rebellion"
Varisheh Moradi, is also imprisoned on charges of “rebellion”

Sharifeh Mohammadi, who was a member of the “Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations” over a decade ago, was arrested in December 2023 and sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Rasht on July 4.

The Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations, which Sharifeh Mohammadi was a part of in the 2000s, has rejected the charges against her.

Following the nationwide protests in 2022, Iranian regime officials have intensified the repression of women activists and human rights defenders, resorting to harsher methods and issuing heavy sentences to silence dissenters and those with differing views.

UN Special Rapporteur Discusses Human Rights “Atrocities” of Iran’s Regime

Jubin Katiraie
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UN Special Rapporteur Discusses Human Rights “Atrocities” of Iran’s Regime

Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, examined the “atrocities” of the Iranian regime against Iranian citizens from 1981 to 1982 and in 1988 in a detailed report.  

According to this report, published on Monday, July 22, the “atrocities” comprise genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes and are considered “the most serious crimes against humanity.”  

In this 66-page report, Mr. Rehman details the arbitrary and extrajudicial executions of thousands of opponents and political prisoners by the Iranian regime, describing these acts as murder and slaughter and labeling them crimes against humanity.  

In the methodology of his report, he relies on five sources: testimonies and interviews with witnesses, official government sources, UN documents and sources, documented evidence, and reports and documents from international organizations and expert contributions.  

The report also details other crimes committed by the Iranian regime against humanity, including torture, harassment, and enforced disappearances, as well as inhumane actions such as inflicting severe pain and causing physical and mental injuries to political prisoners.  

Javaid Rehman, in another part of his report, addresses the executions of prisoners, including a large number of children and women prisoners, some of whom were sexually assaulted before their execution.  

In examining the instances of crimes against humanity, he analyzes sexual and gender-based crimes against women and girls, as well as harassment of religious and ethnic minorities (Baha’is, Christians, and Jews), and ethnic and linguistic minorities (Kurds, Ahwazi Arabs, Turkmen, and Baluch) during the first decade of the Iranian regime’s rule.  

Khomeini’s Fatwa and the 1988 Summer Massacre of Prisoners  

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran dedicates a significant portion of his report on the Iranian regime’s “atrocities” to Khomeini’s 1988 fatwa and the subsequent massacre of political prisoners following sham and extrajudicial trials.  

According to the report, most of those executed were members of the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), but hundreds of other opponents of the Iranian government were also executed by “death committees” as a result of Khomeini’s fatwa and buried in unmarked mass graves across Iran.  

Javaid Rehman notes that the “atrocities” committed by the Iranian regime are the worst and most flagrant human rights violations in living memory, in which senior Iranian government officials, through planning, active participation in organization, ordering the execution, and committing these acts, have committed crimes against humanity and genocide against their own citizens.  

According to the report, despite the abundant evidence and documentation, the perpetrators of these “atrocities” still hold power, the international community has been unable or unwilling to hold them accountable, and these “criminals” continue to enjoy governmental privileges and immunity from international justice and accountability.  

Javaid Rehman reiterated that survivors and witnesses of these “atrocities” continue to grapple with its psychological consequences, families of the disappeared are still searching for their loved ones, and victims and survivors expect the United Nations and members of the international community to help achieve justice and hold the criminals accountable.  

According to the UN Special Rapporteur, examining the crimes committed by the Iranian regime in its first decade provides a clear picture of the current flagrant human rights violations by this government, with the continued issuance of arbitrary and illegal sentences, such as “moharebeh” (enmity against God) and “ifsad fil-arz” (corruption on earth) against political opponents, indicating this.  

In the final section of his report, Javaid Rehman calls for the establishment of an independent international mechanism to promptly, impartially, comprehensively, and transparently address the crimes committed by the Iranian regime in its first decade and hold the perpetrators accountable.  

He also calls on the international community to oblige Iranian government officials to fully and publicly disclose enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions in the first decade of the regime’s rule, issue public apologies and accept responsibility for committing these crimes, stop the destruction of mass graves, provide information to survivors’ families about the burial sites of their loved ones, end the harassment of grieving families, and grant international human rights organizations access to the burial sites of those killed.  

Javaid Rehman also calls on world governments to prosecute and issue arrest warrants for the perpetrators and instigators of the “atrocities” in Iran.

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