By Pooya Stone
Iran Human rights Monitor (HRM) published an article about the 1988 massacre in Iran to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Parts of the article are as follows:
Inflation in Iran
By Jubin Katiraie
The Iranian government is trying to refer the cause of the Inflation in Iran to sanctions imposed by the US government. But the reality is that the main reason as the official authorities said is nothing else than the government itself.
In the meantime, the two government factions have somehow identified each other as the cause of economic shakiness. President Hassan Rouhani calls the opposing group ” sanction profiteers” and blames them for the sanctions and, consequently the sanctions the cause of the high prices and inflation. The opposite group, however, is blaming the “government management” and tries to hide the astronomical plunders by the supreme leader and foundations affiliated to him.
Eight Protests Across Iran on Tuesday and Wednesday
By Pooya Stone
Iranian workers and defrauded investors held at least eight protests in various cities to demand their economic rights, according to reports gathered by Iran News Wire.
On Wednesday, defrauded creditors of the Shadi Gold Institution held a protest outside the Tehran Judiciary building to demand the return of their stolen savings. A video posted on social media showed the mainly female protesters chanting and asking for justice.
U.S. Ratchets up Pressure Against Tehran
By Jubin Katiraie
While the Iranian government tries to exude power and show that it has the advantage in its ongoing confrontation with the U.S., Washington is mounting the pressure on Tehran. Following a statement by the U.S. State Department on August 28, which slapped fresh sanctions against several Iranian institutions and individuals, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted the following:
US Secret Cyber Attack on Iran
By Pooya Stone
A secret cyber attack targeting a critical database used by the Iranian government to plan attacks against oil tankers limited Tehran’s ability to target shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf over the summer, according to senior US officials who spoke to the New York Times.
Trump Meeting Rouhani, Truth or Mirage!
By Jubin Katiraie
After a year and a half of US sanctions on the Iranian government, there is an argument that Iranian leaders, due to the economic pressure, are ready to talk and step back from their nuclear and missile program. As Brian Hook, U.S. special representative for Iran, said on 22 August: “We are trying to put pressure on Iran that will probably bring Iran back to the negotiating table.” Are we reaching the point where Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader is ready to give Iranian’s president Rouhani a green light to meet Trump?
Iran: The Impact of the Maximum Pressure Policy
By Pooya Stone
The Iranian government is under maximum international pressure and is grappling with incessant tensions. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, are trying to find a breakthrough; therefore, they sent Foreign Minister Zarif to Europe in order to beg Europeans to start the INSTEX, the European financial mechanism for bypassing the U.S. sanctions. Yet Iran’s state-run press agencies compared this to UN “Food for Oil” plan for Iraq.
Amnesty Reiterates That Iran’s 1988 Massacre Is an Ongoing ‘Crime Against Humanity’
By Jubin Katiraie
As we approach the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances (August 30), Amnesty International said that the Iranian authorities’ continued failure to disclose the fate of thousands of political dissidents, forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed in the secret 1988 prison massacres, is a crisis that has been ignored by the international community for decades.
Iran Is World’s Biggest Jailer of Female Journalists
By Pooya Stone
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it is alarmed by a wave of arrests and interrogations of female journalists in Iran since the beginning of August, which makes Iran the world’s biggest jailer of female journalists, with ten currently being held.
Reza Moini, the head of RSF’s Iran/Afghanistan desk, said: “Already one of the world’s five biggest jailers of journalists, Iran is now holding more women in connection with their journalistic activities than any other country in the world. We call on Javaid Rehman, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, to intervene with the utmost urgency to obtain their release and to address the disastrous press freedom situation in this country.”
US Will Only Lift Sanctions on Iran If Nuclear Deal Is Reached
By Jubin Katiraie
The United States would only lift its sanctions on Iran after reaching a comprehensive deal on its nuclear program, according to US National Security Advisor John Bolton in an interview with Radio Free Europe on Tuesday.
These comments came just one day after US President Donald Trump said that he would be prepared to talk with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, something that has not happened since the 1979 revolution. Rouhani responded that a face-to-face meeting between him and his US counterpart could only happen after US sanctions were lifted; a notion that Bolton firmly rejected.
