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Demise, the Clearest Horizon in Front of Iran’s Regime

Esmaeil Mohades
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Demise, the Clearest Horizon in Front of Iran’s Regime

By appointing Ebrahim Raisi as president, the Iranian regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei intended to prepare the Iranian regime for more repression and a more contradicted atmosphere in the country. Barely six months since his inauguration, conflicts, and disagreements within Khamenei’s faction are on the rise, and his desired ‘Hezbollah Government’ is trembling because of the internal ‘hurricanes’.

In the field of economy and internal issues within Iran, the situation is so critical that the government does not know how to implement the budget for the next Persian calendar year.

Currently, one of the most disputed topics, in which the regime’s parliament is divided, is how to advance the nuclear negotiations with the Western countries, including how to embrace direct negotiations with the US government which, until now, is a red line for the regime, as they have previously claimed.

During an interview with the regime state-TV Channel 2 on January 25, the regime’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, “We will not ignore this if we reach a stage in the negotiation process were reaching a good agreement with a high guarantee is necessary to have a level of dialogue with the Americans.”

Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the regime’s Security Council, took a similar position to Amir-Abdollahian on Twitter on the same day regarding direct talks with the United States, writing, “So far, communication with the American delegation in Vienna has been through informal writing exchanges, and there has been no need for more. This method of communication can only be replaced by other methods when a good agreement is available.”

In an interview with state-TV News Channel on January 25, a question was posed to Raisi by the program’s moderator who asked, “Requests for direct talks that are said to be made by the United States, what would be the clear position of the Islamic Republic of Iran if this request is made seriously?”

Raisi responded, “No talks have been held with the Americans so far, but what is at stake is that we reiterate that if the parties are ready to lift the harsh sanctions against the Iranian people, there is room for any agreement.”

Ebrahim Azizi, the regime’s Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Security Commission made a comment, which was published by the state-run news agency Fars on January 26, and said, “Based on the dignity of wisdom and expediency, the lifting of all sanctions, verification and obtaining guarantees, if it is necessary for them to have access to negotiate with the United States, the negotiating team has the authority to take the necessary action.”

Before this, the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, as the main determiner about the regime’s nuclear case, implicitly agreed and verified direct negotiations with the US government at a meeting with some of the regime’s elements on January 9.

He said, “Not surrendering to the arrogant and oppressive enemy is one of the principles of the revolution, and to negotiate, talk and interact with the enemy at some point does not mean surrendering to it, just as we have not surrendered yet and we will not surrender from now on.”

Contradictory positions in Khamenei’s factions are showing the intensity of the internal conflicts within the regime. The fact is that the differences indicate the weakness and inability of the regime to balance power, which inevitably sends a message of weakness to the regime’s rivals and counterparts.

Amazingly, some factions and elements are under the false impression that their opposition to the negotiations is a strong point and position for the regime, yet they are forgetting that the regime is in a situation where even if sanctions are slightly loosened, this will not solve any of the regime’s problems due to its corrupt economic structure.

In case of disagreement, this is also a sign of the weakness and intensity of internal contradictions. As Khamenei said on June 15, 2021, accepting the demands of the counterparts, means “endless degradation” for the regime.

Thus, the regime is in a position that, in any terms of agreement or disagreement, accepting the direct negotiations with the United States or continuing the non-negotiating path, is a deadlock that will eventually lead to its fall.

Unprecedented Call by 463 Human Rights Advocates Prosecuting Iran Regime’s Officials

Sia Rajabi
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Unprecedented Call by 463 Human Rights Advocates Prosecuting Iran Regime’s Officials

At a press conference at Church House in London on Thursday, January 27, 2022, Tahar Boumedra (center), Director of the Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Iran Massacre (JVMI), accompanied by Struan Stevenson, Coordinator of the Campaign for Iran Change (CIC), and Baroness Verma, former UK government minister and Member of the House of Lords, explained the unprecedented international effort by 463 current and former UN officials and rapporteurs, as well as some prominent European political figures, international NGOs, academic institutions and human rights and legal experts to condemn the 1988 genocide and defend human rights in Iran.

They called for the Iranian government’s human rights case to be heard and demanded an end to impunity for the Iranian regime officials.

The signatories called on the UN Human Rights Council to recognize the 1988 massacre as genocide and a crime against humanity.

The 462 called on the United Nations to immediately begin its investigation into the massacre and to revoke instantly the Iranian regime officials’ impunity so that they could be prosecuted and punished for the mass executions and the enforced disappearances of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, which makes it up a continuing crime against humanity.

“Human rights experts believe that the extrajudicial executions in 1988 in Iran amount to crimes against humanity and genocide,” the signatories said.

Human rights experts blame the delay in auditing the Iranian regime, while this encourages the regime to continue its crimes against humanity in Iran.

The statement said that the massacre of 1988 followed a fatwa issued by Khomeini stating: “As the [People’s Mojahedin (PMOI or MEK)] do not believe in Islam … and as they are waging war on God … It is decreed that those who are in prison throughout the country and remain steadfast in their support for the [PMOI] are waging war on God and are condemned to execution.”

Referring to Khomeini’s fatwa, Mr. T Boumedra said, “All of you know that this situation of the massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners started by the issuance of a fatwa of the former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. He issued a fatwa to eradicate all the opposition. And he was targeting in particular the members of the Mujahedeen’s organization. So that over 30000 people were massacred. And they were victims of this fatwa.”

He further emphasized, “this crime, no doubt, is a crime against humanity and a crime of genocide. It’s been described as such by the United Nations, independent experts and by very notorious lawyers, who are specialized, and who had already acted in other commissions of inquiry on genocide and hate crimes against humanity.”

Reminding the United Nations of its responsibility, he added: “Now we cannot accept that the United Nations pronounced itself on such very grave issue and then leave it to the oblivion. Not bring its acts in conformity with its declarations.

Baroness Verma rejected the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of the 1988 Massacre, especially Ebrahim Raisi. “No government should tolerate the impunity enjoyed by this current President, President Ebrahim Raisi, on his part in the massacre. All governments should publicly use the fora it has at the UN to push for an inquiry that would hold him and others accountable. “It needs to make amends for the decades of inaction that have only fueled the culture of impunity that now exists in Iran.,” she underscored.

Speaking about the importance of this letter, Mr. Stevenson said, “The UN Human Rights Council cannot ignore this. They cannot ignore this. This letter today is absolutely fundamental to bring an end to the suffering of the survivors of the horrible massacre of over 300 political prisoners in 1988, almost all of whom were supporters of the Mojahedin Khalq, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran. Now, today’s letter should bring the perpetrators to account.”

He warned the officials who were involved in the massacre, especially Ebrahim Raisi the regime’s president, and added, “So, serving presidents are not immune. And he had better be warned Ebrahim Raisi, if he sets foot, perhaps anywhere in the west, particularly after today’s explosive letter signed by these 463 experts, he could face imminent arrest and his impunity will end.”

Iran’s Regime and ‘The Worst and Most Terrifying Issue About Its Agreement With China’

Jubin Katiraie
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Iran’s Regime and ‘The Worst and Most Terrifying Issue About Its Agreement With China’

On January 13, the Iranian regime’s foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian traveled to China to discuss bilateral relations and the implementation of the 25-year agreement between the two states.  

The state-run news agency Fars quoted the regime’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on January 17 as saying: “We hope that the agreements that have begun to be implemented will open a horizon in the strategic relations between the two countries.”  

This disastrous agreement has been in the works for a long time. The text was prepared by former Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani before it was finally signed by regime president Hassan Rouhani’s government, all under the supervision of the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. However, not everyone is happy about the agreement, as many regime officials and state media outlets complain about the potential side effects for Iran’s future by making the country dependent on China.  

In an article published on January 17, the regime’s state-run daily Jahan-e Sanat said: “One of the worst and most terrifying things about the agreement with China is that China has decided that the details of the contract should not be made public.”  

On the same day, the state-run daily Setareh-e Sobh quoted Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a member of the regime’s parliament and former chairman of the security commission, in connection with the secrecy of the government.   

He said, “So far, no details of the strategic agreement with China have been released. But it must be stated carefully at what level, with what quality, to what extent and based on what commitments these collaborations are happening.”  

In the current global balance of power, the Iranian regime is much weaker than China, which is one of the great global powers and has a strong economy. The only reason for them to enter into an agreement with China, and Russia for that matter, is to gain their support in regional and international relations by giving concessions and auctioneering the country’s resources and national wealth, which ultimately belong to the Iranian people.  

At the same time, these countries have always gained lots of financial and political benefits from the regime, but have always preferred their strategic interests with Western countries, especially the United States and important countries in the region. In the past, any time the regime needed serious support from these countries, they ended up pulling the rug from under its feet.  

Abbas Abadi, one of the members of the regime’s “moderate” faction, stated that, when it comes to voting on the UN Security Council’s resolutions against the regime’s nuclear program, “They (China and Russia) have not regretted voting in favor of the resolutions. Their support for the resolutions is justified by their defense of the existing international order. These countries are pursuing their own interests within this order. And in this framework, they try to find partners” (State-run Etemad daily on January 17, 2022). 

He went on to add that, “If they think that they can count on the hypothetical support of the two countries (China and Russia) in the face of the existing world order, they are certainly mistaken.”  

The regime’s relationship with Russia and China is moving on a one-way road, in which only these countries are benefiting. As the state-run daily Jepress stated on January 2, “the Russians and Chinese have nothing” to offer to the regime, “and they want to buy oil cheap.” In exchange, they want to dump “their junk commodities” on the regime.  

According to the regime’s state-run daily Tejarat News, one of the provisions of the agreement with China is that the country, in exchange for investing in Iran and making huge profits, “will buy oil at a 30 percent discount and has two years to repay Iran’s oil money. Another point is that China can repay its oil debt with the Chinese yuan. Another advantage given to China is that two-thirds of the purchase of oil and gas will be in cash and one-third in the form of goods and services. The Chinese side can bring up to 5,000 Chinese security forces to Iran to protect its investment.”  

The sale of the country’s resources to countries such as China and Russia is the result of Khamenei’s “look to the East” mentality. In this context, even fishing privileges in the Persian Gulf are given to Chinese companies, which are aggressively exploiting the area‘s resources.  

Iran is one of the richest countries in the world when it comes to minerals and natural resources. The majority of Iran’s mines are still open and are world-class in terms of their abundance. With 68 types of minerals, 37 billion tons of proven reserves, and more than 57 billion tons of potential reserves worth $770 billion, according to estimates compiled in 2014, the country was among the 15 largest mineral-rich countries in the world. Now, the ruling mullahs are selling off those resources for cheap in order to preserve their decaying regime. 

Iran’s Brain Drain

Sia Rajabi
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Iran’s Brain Drain

The accumulation of the crises in Iran, especially in recent years, has encircled Tehran’s mullahs. These crises continue to mount and speed up every year, with no signs of stopping and slowing down anytime soon.

One major example is the acceleration of the brain drain in Iran, with young, educated Iranians emigrating abroad in their thousands year after year, and the regime only has itself to blame for this mass exodus.

Even with a new administration in charge, the situation has only gotten worse. This subject has been discussed at great lengths within the government circles on several occasions, but the regime has done nothing to make any fundamental changes to address this problem. This gets more ridiculous when the regime puts out calls for the return of the Iranian diaspora, all the while creating an insecure and charred ground for any individual who dares to return.

The numbers and statistics of immigration paint an alarming picture. Escaping the regime’s misogynist culture, women are now at the forefront of those feeling the country.

In an interview published by the state-run website Khabar Fori on January 24, Bahram Salavati, the Director of the Iran Immigration Observatory emphasized that “the potential population for migration are the unemployed university graduates since the proportion of women in this population is higher, it can be assumed that they are more inclined to migrate.”

In September 2021, in discussing the immigration of Iranian nurses, the state-run Hamashahri daily wrote, “Previously, 200 to 300 people received immigration certificates from the nursing system each year, but now perhaps more than 1,500 people migrate each year. Because our leaves are not countable, it is not possible to provide accurate statistics. These migrations occur for two specific reasons; One is the ideal situation of the destination countries, and the other is the problems of the countries of origin.”

On January 23, the Secretary-General of the Iranian Top Talents Association, Safdar Zare Hosseinabadi, spoke to the state-run Rokna website, stating, “Kids who receive medals thought about emigrating because of the lack of attention in the country. We had 86 Olympiad medalists, of whom 82 to 83 emigrated.”

The state-run daily Resalat talked about the regime’s ambivalence toward this issue in its January 25 publication, “The issue of elite immigration still does not seem to be taken as seriously as it should be.”

Now, after many years of migrations and the escape of the Iranian people and the country’s elites, it is appropriate to go back 42 years and recall the first steps and foundations of the formation of migration and brain drain from Iran.

Breaking the pen and banning the press to suppress freedom of expression began in August 1979. This propelled the emigration of elites from Iran under the mullahs’ rule.

At that time, the late Gholam Hossein Saedi, the renowned Iranian playwriter, wrote, “The government, or rather the current ruling power, showed its true nature with complete impudence by shutting down the neutral and progressive press. He showed how it plots to control society. The signs and symptoms of these plans are crystal clear. Now a handful of monopolists and reactionary clowns want to mock the Shah. At least they should learn from the fate of any authoritarian regime.”

Describing the attack of this ruthless theocracy on the freedom of expression and freedom of the press, in a piece on August 11, 1979, Ahmad Shamloo, the legendary Iranian poet revealed the nature of this repression and predicted its long-term effects: “The monopolistic reactionaries, hardly caught in the illusion of victory, divert the revolution from its path. While knocking on the door and the wall out of fear of democracy, it seeks to sacrifice all the hopes of the revolution. Thugs and hooligans will never wake up from their fool’s dreams. It is a fact that sticks and knives have never been able to stop the fate of history for long. The commotion you create is much more haunting than all that we can say and write.”

Iran Regime’s Clerics Fear Their Inevitable Overthrow

Jubin Katiraie
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Iran Regime’s Clerics Fear Their Inevitable Overthrow

The danger of demise is greatly scaring the Iran regime’s top clerics, forcing them to confess about it in public, while putting the blame on years of corruption and looting that have brought the regime’s economy to the verge of collapse.

As such, they are desperate to forestall their inevitable overthrow. Ebrahim Raisi’s recent trips to China and Russia and agreements he has made with both countries, seem to be a last-ditch effort to save themselves. What the regime will be gaining from those agreements remains a mystery, however.

Regarding the nuclear talks in Vienna, the outcome remains unclear. Even a positive result will not solve the regime’s problems. The state-run daily Mardom Salari admitted as much in a recent commentary.

“Of course, to say that all the problems will be solved with the JCPOA will not be the case. The problems are so great that the JCPOA, at best, can only provide normal conditions for economic exchanges. Of course, in the current context, due to some issues, the lifting of sanctions alone may not be the solution. In a situation where Iran has not yet adopted the FATF regulations, even if the JCPOA is revived, these issues remain and need further action,” it wrote.

It added, “But the fact is that the shadow of the pressures and problems of the past years will continue to weigh on the people in the coming year. The overall revival of the JCPOA will reduce the pressures, but it is not a realistic idea that cost of living will be lowered and that the purchasing power of the people will increase as inflation rate declines.”

A senior cleric Abdollah Javadi Amoli pointed to the source of the pressures and problems faced by the Iranian people in a discussion with the head of the regime’s Central Bank.

He said, “Sometimes economic problems cause even a big government to fall. The Central Bank has a very serious task, including shielding the Central Bank reserves from legislators who circumvent the law. The embezzlement of billions is not created by ordinary people. They are done by the pen of individuals, not by force of arms. Therefore, embezzlements that have taken place should be examined to find out how they took place in the first place.”

He later expressed his fear about the army of starving people: “Wealth is the cause of a nation’s uprising. If a nation wants to stand, its pocket must be full, poor does not mean weak! Rather, he is the one whose spine is broken, the one whose spine is broken does not listen to the government.”

Hossein Nouri Hamedani, another senior cleric, pointed out the value of the national currency, comparing it with other countries. “The value of our national currency is low compared to many countries, we have to fix the problems in this area. Once you could buy a house for 300,000 rials, but now they do not give a kilo of fruit for that amount,” he said.

What Javadi Amoli and Nouri Hamedani have warned about is a handful of many examples of the country’s economic situation and the living conditions of Iranian people, who are falling below the poverty line every day due to the destructive policies of the Iranian regime. This has subsequently led the regime to become the target of protests, as the Iranian people fight back to claim their most basic rights.

In response, regime officials are struggling to contain the brewing social explosion. With no solutions to offer to remedy the problems within Iranian society, all they can do is show their fear of the prospect of being overthrown and warn others about it.

Iran’s Regime Playing With Fire

Shahin Mahmoudi
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Iran’s Regime Playing With Fire

Trapped in the nuclear talks, which are teetering on the verge of collapse, the Iranian regime has launched a drone attack on its Middle Eastern neighbors, similar to the drone attack it launched on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities in September 2019.

This time, the regime launched an attack on Abu Dhabi’s airport in the UAE, with assistance from their Yemeni proxy group, the Houthis. This is just the latest attack among many that have been destabilizing the region for many years.

The regime plunders the wealth of the Iranian people in a bid to continue spreading terrorism across the globe, in a bid to fuel the flames of wars in the Middle East. Aimed at engaging the international community and the region, these crises serve as an insurance policy for the regime. This is despite the regime’s claims about new and expanding relations with the ‘East’ which in and of itself is proof of its international isolation and weakness even if it succeeds to secure a favorable outcome during the nuclear talks in Vienna.

As for the latest attack, the state-run Vatan-e Emrooz daily wrote on January 20, “What the Emiratis did not imagine finally happened. The nightmare of instability and insecurity has finally cast a shadow over the center of Wall Street in the Arab world. Henceforth, the Yemeni war has acquired different characteristics and must be approached from new angles.”

The same day, the Donya-e Eghtesad daily highlighted, “The Yemeni crisis is the main and key element in Iran-Saudi relations in the Middle East regional equation, especially in the current situation. Any opening or impasse in it will play a very important role in reconciliation or tension between the two countries. As the crisis hotspots in relations between the two countries, especially Syria and Bahrain, have largely waned, Yemen still has the potential to keep the Iran-Saudi relationship tensions active.”

The regime’s officials, and supreme leader Ali Khamenei, believe that by carrying out such actions, they will be able to garner more concessions from Saudi Arabia and keep them away from joining the nuclear negotiations actively and adding their own demands, such as the regime’s commitment to stop its destructive behavior in the Arab World. However, given the regime’s already weak position, it is likely that these latest acts of aggression will have an opposite effect.

On January 19, the Noandish daily warned Khamenei’s mouthpiece, Kayhan daily regarding the consequences of the regime’s terrorist attack on Abu Dhabi. “The happiness of friends in Kayhan about such attacks is quite understandable because they are generally not interested in improving Iran’s relations with other countries from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to Europe and the United States. Nevertheless, escalating tension now is the last thing that the country needs.”

This warning is a stark message to the regime that it is high time it stops blackmailing other countries with terrorism, missile, and drone attacks.

The Noandish daily further stated, “At a time when Vienna’s talks to revive the JCPOA, and talks with the Saudis to resume diplomatic relations, have reached a critical juncture, the recent Houthi attack on Abu Dhabi could complicate the equation and act as a double-edged sword. While this attack may strengthen Iran’s position, it might very well disrupt the talks.”

Iran and Hezbollah Face Blame for Dual Financial Crises

Esmaeil Mohades
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Iran and Hezbollah Face Blame for Dual Financial Crises

The United States Treasury Department announced on Friday, January 21, that it would be enforcing sanctions on three Lebanese individuals and ten companies, based on accusations that they had contributed to terrorist financing on behalf of the Iranian regime. The new sanctions reflect longstanding recognition of the outsized role that Lebanon’s Shiite militant organization, Hezbollah, plays in the Iranian terror network. The intricacy and longevity of that relationship have led to numerous reports of Tehran using Hezbollah as a model for the development of proxy groups elsewhere in the region.

However, that relationship is now being challenged by the simultaneous financial pressures affecting Lebanon and Iran. The announcement of new sanctions on Hezbollah assets specifically addresses Lebanon’s severe financial crisis and accuses the Iran-backed militant group of ignoring the domestic population’s suffering to continue “misuse of the international financial system to raise and launder funds for its destabilizing activities.”

The crisis in question is reportedly the worst Lebanon has faced since its civil war concluded in 1990 after 15 years of fighting. While the country’s national currency lost 90 percent of its value, the poverty rate skyrocketed from 42 percent to 82 percent between 2019 and 2021. Meanwhile, Lebanon saw a decline in the charitable services that Hezbollah has traditionally offered to buy the domestic population’s acquiescence to its more militant activities.

Traditionally, that public relations effort has been financed in large part by the Iranian regime, so one might assume that the reduction in Hezbollah services is at least partly attributable to Iran’s financial crisis, which has been more gradual but has resulted in similar spikes in poverty and unemployment, accompanied by similar declines in the value of the national currency. However, experts such as Hisham Jaber, head of the Middle East Center for Studies and Public Relations, note that the Islamic Republic continues to pay approximately 500 million dollars to Hezbollah per year.

Many of those same experts conclude that this sum’s failure to alleviate the crisis is explainable in terms of its misappropriation. In this sense, they have levied the same accusations as the US Treasury Department has levied against the Iranian regime and Hezbollah. Furthermore, growing numbers of Lebanese people appear to be joining in the effort to assign blame to Tehran for their own economic and social difficulties.

Popular unrest is on the rise in Lebanon, with many activists taking explicit aim at the Islamic Republic and accusing it of a hostile “occupation” that has turned their country into a staging ground for the Iran regime’s pursuit of its interests. More than 200 Lebanese political figures came together last week to form the National Council to Lift the Iranian Occupation of Lebanon.

In its first public statements, the council emphasized that Hezbollah was an agent of that occupation. Foreign Minister and council leader Ahmad Fatfat told reports that the situation being faced by Lebanese people was “occupation by proxy.” He went on to explain: “Even if Iran does not have boots on the ground, Hezbollah exists with 150,000 missiles and 100,000 fighters threatening the country from inside.”

The further problem with that situation is that the missiles and fighters in question are not committed to Lebanon’s self-defense, much less to the welfare of ordinary people living in that country, but instead act as a paramilitary proxy for Tehran in conflicts with Israel, Syrian rebels, and others. Hezbollah played a major role in the fight against ISIL and against moderate opposition groups during Syria’s nearly decade-long civil war, and the Lebanese group’s resources were naturally drained by the severity of that conflict.

Ongoing protests in Lebanon reflect continued awareness of these effects, as evidenced by one 60-year-old female activist’s recent remarks to international media. “Why are we engaging in wars in Syria and Yemen while we are dying of hunger?” she asked, referencing not only Iranian support of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad but also Iranian backing of the Shiite militant group that has been fighting for dominance of Yemen since driving out the country’s internationally-recognized government in 2014.

Such questions are starkly reminiscent of slogans that have become increasingly commonplace inside Iran itself during recent years. That country was rocked by a nationwide uprising in January 2018 and by another, even larger uprising in November 2019. In both and also in numerous other protests, Iranian citizens were heard to chant “forget about Syria; think of us,” to highlight the regime’s misplaced priorities and neglect of a worsening economic crisis at home.

Now, with the formation of the National Council to Lift the Iranian Occupation, it appears that Lebanese citizens are increasingly aware of those same misplaced priorities. Thus, the opportunity exists for activists in both countries to work together toward mitigating the impact of Tehran’s regional ambitions on both of their populations.

Iran – Conflicting State Policies Deepen Social Crises

Hoshang Amiri
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Iran – Conflicting State Policies Deepen Social Crises

The Iranian regime has decided to spend about $800 million to encourage more childbirths in 2022 in an attempt to grow the population. This is while the regime refuses to provide funding to resolve more fundamental crises, like access to water, and while most Iranians are now living below the poverty line.

Over the past few years, the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has repeatedly expressed the theocracy’s desire to increase the number of marriages as well as the fertility rate.

Regime officials are now trying to boost funding for the implementation of those objectives. Demographics in Iran are shifting toward a more aging population and as many of the regime’s officials have admitted, if the current trend continues unabated, in the coming decades the country will face a critical situation in terms of population growth.

Despite this trend, the regime’s proposed solutions are disastrous and counterproductive, particularly if fundamental economic problems, which are the root cause of many social ills, remain unaddressed. What is worse, regime officials attribute lower marriage and fertility rates to youth being influenced by “Western culture,” reinforcing the view that Tehran’s mullahs are deflecting blame and politicizing the problem rather than relying on technical expertise to solve it.

The State-run daily Salam-e No, wrote on January 11, 2022, “More than half of Iran’s working-age population is not economically active. Data from the Statistics Center of Iran show that the rate of economic participation of the female population aged 15 and above in the fall of 2021 decreased by one percent compared to last year’s comparable time. That is, 241,931 women have left the labor market.”

What remains unsaid is that following the disastrous eight-year war against Iraq, which the regime needlessly continued for years, the mullahs’ supreme leader actively discouraged population growth. Years later, however, Khamenei has made a dramatic volte-face, deciding to boost population growth while more than 70 percent of people’s daily expenses are dependent on state subsidies.

Over the last four decades, Iran’s population has more than doubled. The 1980s can be considered as the decade of a population boom in Iran. In the last decade, however, primarily due to rampant inflation (Iran’s inflation rate ranks sixth in the world), an increasing number of young couples have decided not to have kids and many families simply cannot afford to have more than one child.

Iran sits atop some of the world’s richest natural resources and has an educated and talented labor force that has been woefully denied economic opportunities. Now, a worsening economy that has been ruined by the regime’s mismanagement and rampant corruption has led to major demographic shifts. Many adults are simply financially unable to raise kids, considering themselves to be lucky enough to feed themselves.

One state-run newspaper wrote recently: “Unemployment statistics in the country show an increase in the population of ‘hopeless youth’ who, according to sociologists, have been at the center of protests in recent years. Young people are inevitably gripped by the pressures of the Iranian economy.” Indeed, the frequency and scope of social protests in Iran have increased exponentially, with the country experiencing eight rounds of unprecedented nationwide uprisings in the past four years alone.

The paper continued: “Even though the number of young people working as street vendors in subway stations or on the streets is increasing every day, the latest Statistics Center of Iran report pegged the unemployment rate at 8.9 percent, which is much lower than in previous years. According to recent data from the Statistics Center of Iran; ‘The unemployment rate for the age group between 19 to 24 indicates that 23.6 percent of people in this age group were unemployed in the fall of 2021.’” (State-run daily Eghtesad-24, January 9, 2022)

The Iranian society is still very much a society that functions on the premise of the nuclear family. But an increasing number of young Iranians are denied access to sources of national income, and thereby robbed of a decent future. Instead of establishing the economic preconditions for young families to grow and prosper, the regime diverts national wealth into shoring up destructive activities that are meant to preserve its weakening hold on power.

While state authorities continue to embezzle billions of dollars, next year the regime is expected to increase taxes by 60 percent while most salaries will not even keep pace with inflation. Yet at the same time, Khamenei is pushing young Iranians struggling to make ends meet to have more children.

The regime’s proposed solutions to crises breed even more crises. Young Iranians are increasingly alive to the fact that this disastrous situation will not change unless and until the entire theocracy is replaced by a secular democratically-elected republic that has the ability and the will to resolve festering economic, political, and social calamities in a responsible and sustainable manner.

NCRI Hosts Conference in France To Address the Need To Hold the Iranian Regime Accountable for Its Crimes

Jubin Katiraie
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NCRI Hosts Conference in France To Address the Need To Hold the Iranian Regime Accountable for Its Crimes

On January 17, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) hosted a conference in Auvers-sur-Oise, north of Paris, entitled “Holding the Mullahs’ Regime Accountable for Genocide, Terrorism, and Nuclear Defiance.

The NCRI’s President-elect, Maryam Rajavi, and several senior former European officials attended and addressed the conference.

Mrs. Rajavi began her address touching on the crises that Iranian citizens are currently facing, as regards their livelihoods, welfare, health, education, employment, and housing. She explained how the Iranian regime is refusing to improve conditions for the Iranian people, further stirring up the discontent within society, while the regime’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, is more focused on reinforcing his security forces to deal with the unrest, and cling onto his draining power in a regime that is on the verge of being overthrown.

She said, “There is an openly hostile relation between the ruling regime and our people. The existence of an organized and widespread resistance against the regime attests to this truth,” adding, “Western governments have long paid the price of appeasing the religious fascism from the pockets of the Iranian people. But now, beyond the interests of the people of Iran and the Middle East, the security and vital interests of Western countries and societies are at stake.”

The future of Iran is ultimately to be determined by the Iranian people and their Resistance unit network across the country. Resistance groups carry out daily activities against the regime’s repressive forces, standing shoulder to shoulder with the people fighting for their rights.

“As a result, the existence of an alternative is of crucial importance. But such an alternative is not just a theoretical solution. Rather, it must rely on a movement that has risen up against the fountainhead of fundamentalism, paid the price of its struggle, and enjoys the capacity to bring about change in society,” Mrs. Rajavi emphasized.

The NCRI President-elect stressed that the international community must reinstate the six UN Security Council resolutions on the regime’s nuclear projects because that would bring the regime’s uranium enrichment program to a close, and finally shut down their nuclear sites.” She also underlined that the brutal violation of human rights in Iran be placed high on the UN Security Council’s agenda, reiterating that “The regime’s leaders must be brought to justice for four decades of crimes against humanity and genocide, especially the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988, and the killing of at least 1,500 protesters in 2019. I urge all governments and parliaments, especially in Europe, to recognize the 1988 massacre as a crime against humanity and genocide.”

In Monday’s conference, Mr. Guy Verhofstadt, MEP, and Former Prime Minister of Belgium referred to the systematic impunity in this regime and remembered the obligation of the Western countries to confront the regime and said:

“We must discuss the systematic impunity of the regime of Iran. It’s our common duty to denounce violations of democracy and human rights. It is our duty to stand up for democracy and fundamental freedoms.

“The regime’s answer to the people’s demands is to strike them instead of solving their problems. The impunity crisis in Iran reached a peak in June when Raisi was appointed as the regime’s president. He is one of the main perpetrators of the 1988 mass murder of more than 30,000 political prisoners. Instead of being tried for crimes against humanity, he is occupying the post of presidency. This shows that impunity is rampant in Iran.”

As for the regime’s illegitimacy Mr. Fredrik Reinfeldt, former Prime Minister of Sweden, said: “It’s very popular nowadays for rulers to say they were elected. Democracy means freedom of speech, media, the right to assemble and campaign, to stand as a candidate. If you don’t follow these rules, you are not a democracy. Raisi is not in support of the Iranian people. He was chosen among a few men to keep control.

“The situation in Iran is especially worrying. There is a very dangerous combination. It brings together authoritarianism and religious dictatorship.”

John Bercow, the former Speaker of the British House of Commons referred to the Iran nuclear talks currently underway in Vienna and said:

“The nuclear issue is being focused on to a certain degree. Democracies must recognize that there is a key difference between dealing with other democracies and dealing with other countries whose regimes are non-democracies. The regime is spending vast sums of money on weapons of mass destruction that they do not need and should not be allowed to obtain.”

And Franco Frattini the former Foreign Minister of Italy, pointed to the regime’s and its lobbies’ insistence on, and in the Western countries to lift the sanction while making the excuse that these are hurting the people.

“Another argument is that we must lift sanctions because the sanctions are affecting innocent people. This is absolutely not true. As a matter of fact, the more money they have the more money the regime will spend on its nuclear program and not on improving the quality of life in Iran. I support the idea of a stricter policy toward the regime regarding sanctions. No complacency. We have to know every dollar spent for improving and strengthening the nuclear and military apparatus against the people, increasing the nuclear capacity to intimidate and dominate not only the people of Iran but also the region against the countries of the Middle East, and contributing greatly to destabilizing the Middle East,” he said.

Iran’s Regime Tries To Whitewash Its Crimes

Hoshang Amiri
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Iran’s Regime Tries To Whitewash Its Crimes

Iran’s State Prisons and Security and Corrective Measures Organization, which is under the supervision of the Judiciary, has distributed a new guideline to all sectors under its control. This new order claims that according to new laws all the prisons are obligated to observe and consider the rights of the prisoners.

This directive has prohibited “all kinds of psychological and physical persecution of the prisoners and detained defendants.”

This directive, which was publicized by the media center of the Judiciary, emphasized that actions like taking fingerprints from the prisoners or naked inspections must be restricted to special cases, while seriously sick and injured prisoners should not be accepted at the prisons.

It added that the defendants should have access to a phone and have the right to call their families and lawyers within 48 hours of their detention.

Youths must also be separated from adult prisoners, and insulting prisoners or the use of handcuffs inside the prison is prohibited unless some special cases warrant them.

There is no doubt that the decision to issue the directive was a response to the massive pressure on the Iranian regime because of its human rights violations. This assessment is particularly reinforced as news of the death of some of the prisoners due to torture and mistreatment by prison officials, or the lack of treatment for sick prisoners continues to leak.

Iran’s prisons are scenes of systematic abuse, torture, executions, insults, humiliation, and rape on a daily basis.

A review of the events leading to the deaths of some prisoners in less than a year illustrates the appalling reality of Iranian prisons:

February 16, 2021: Behnam Mahjoubi; a Darvish prisoner arrested after the Golestan protests, died in prison. He could not cope with imprisonment due to his illness but was arrested and imprisoned regardless. On February 13, 2021, he was taken to hospital for the second time after falling into a coma due to drug poisoning in prison, and the news of his death was confirmed on February 21, 2021.

Behnam Mahjoubi had been sentenced to two years by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran. Mahjoubi had said in an audio file from prison in November 2020, ‘I am convinced that the security agents intend to kill me.’

June 7, 2021: Sasan Nik Nafs; A political prisoner in the Greater Tehran Prison in Fashafoyeh, Nik Nafs died after he was transferred to the Greater Tehran Prison Medical Center due to his deteriorating health condition and negligence by the authorities.

September 2, 2021: Hadi Atazadeh; This prisoner died in the city of Ahar after being flogged. Regime’s officials denied the reports.

September 20, 2021, Shahin Naseri; He exposed the torture of wrestling champion Navid Afkari and was killed in his cell. His death was first made public by his imprisoned friends. Regime’s officials were later forced to admit it.

September 23, 2021, Amir Hossein Hatami; This prisoner from Ilam was killed in the Greater Tehran Prison as a result of beatings and torture by the regime’s prison officers. This 22-year-old prisoner was a resident of Sirvan in Ilam province. Following his death, his family and friends staged a large protest.

January 1, 2022, Adel Kianpour; The political prisoner died in Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz after a week of hunger strike without receiving medical treatment, in protest of being deprived of the right to a fair trial.

January 8, 2022, Baktash Abtin; An Iranian poet and filmmaker and a member of the Writers’ Association of Iran, died in Evin Prison due to lack of timely treatment and hospitalization.

January 10, 2022, Omid Mousavi; A detainee who was shot during the November 2019 protests and was later arrested and tortured for a long time. He was imprisoned for 15 months in the Greater Tehran Prison. Omid died of a heart attack at the age of 27.

We also should not forget that in recent months, a video was released from Evin Prison showing the mistreatment and beating of prisoners.

Following the release of the disturbing video footage, 28 political prisoners in Greater Tehran Prison issued a joint statement saying that “what is shown in these films in the form of torture, humiliation, and naked and physical harassment is only part of the visible reality of torture against prisoners and their families in Iran. But other forms of torture are not recorded by any cameras.”

This directive also emphasized that “Defendants of political and press crimes, defendants of financial (legal) crimes and persons under the age of eighteen, are not required to wear uniforms in prison.” It also set the maximum days of solitary confinement to between 10 and 15 days.

But the reality in Iran’s prisons is something else. According to a report published on October 23, 2021, by Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Kurdish political activists in IRGC-affiliated prisons have routinely faced torture such as attaching weights to their testicles, hanging from the ceiling for long hours, artificial executions, and threats of rape against their spouses and other family members.

This directive is like regime founder Khomeini’s 8-article decree in 1982, which was carried out after the execution of thousands of political prisoners and brutal killings on the streets.

In that order, Khomeini apparently restrained some of the brutal behavior of his Revolutionary Guards. But the 8-article decree exempted political prisoners and the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). This means that taking the lives and properties of the MEK were deemed entirely permissible by the regime.

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