By Jubin Katiraie
On Tuesday, August 13, a young Iranian Ahvazi youth named Saeed Ebadi, from the Malachi area south of Ahvaz, hanged himself from a tree because of poverty and unemployment and dropping out of school.
According to other news, two young sisters in Tehran committed suicide three days later due to poverty and unemployment and severe economic pressure that forced even their 75-year-old father to work.
By Pooya Stone
In the first three months of the current Iranian year, the price of potatoes and onions has increased by more than 500 percent compared to the same period last year.
Statistics on the average price of crops and the cost of agricultural services during this spring shows that prices of onions, potatoes and tomatoes had the highest increase compared to the previous year, according to the state-run ISNA news agency, which quoted a report by the Iran’s statistic center. It said the average price of potatoes are about 36120 rials and onions 37130 rials, and tomatoes 22240 rials, which increased by 527.9, 539.2, and 221.6 percent respectively, compared to the same season last year.
By Jubin Katiraie
Amnesty International is urging people all over the world to protest the torture of a critically ill cancer patient and political prisoner being held in Iran’s Raja’i Shahr prison.
Arash Sadeghi, a human right defender, is being tortured by the Iranian authorities because they are purposefully denying him access to cancer treatment and causing severe pain and suffering. His right arm has become swollen, paralysed, and lost all sensation because of a serious post-operation infection that the authorities left untreated. He is also being denied critical bone marrow tests to see if his cancer has spread. In short, his life is being put at risk.
By Pooya Stone
Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile reached 370 kilograms on Tuesday, according to a statement by Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
Speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony to mark the construction of a research centre on separation and development of the applications of stable isotopes at Fordow nuclear facility in Qom, Kamalvandi said: “We are producing [enriched uranium] with a good capacity and our stockpile is 60 to 70 kilograms above the 300 kg [JCPOA limit] and this amount is growing fast.”
By Jubin Katiraie
Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with the representative of the Iranian-backed Yemen-based Houthi militia, Mohammed Abdul Salam, on Tuesday in Tehran, according to Khamenei’s official website.
During the meeting, he pledged that Iran would continue to support the Houthis, who ousted the internationally recognised government in 2014 and brought about a civil war that has killed tens of thousands and brought Yemen to the brink of famine.
By Pooya Stone
The Iranian authorities have hanged seven prisoners in two prisons in the past week.
On Saturday, August 10, two prisoners were hanged in the central prison of Mashhad, according to a report on Sunday by the state-run Khorasan daily. The paper did not provide the victims’ names, but said that a full report would be published in the coming days.
By Jubin Katiraie
Four Iranian political prisoners remain on hunger strike in Urmia prison in northwest Iran protesting their vile treatment at the hands of the Iranian authorities.
Mostafa Sabzi, Ghader Salimi, Bashir Pirmavaneh and Rahmi Tourgout are all now suffering from deteriorating health, particularly severely low blood pressure and significant weight loss.
By Jubin Katiraie
In a message on Twitter, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on the international community to increase pressure on Iran. He warned that the UN arms embargo on Iran is soon to expire.
The message read: “The clock is ticking. Time remaining before the UN arms embargo on Iran expires and Qasem Soleimani’s travel ban ends. We urge our allies and partners to increase the pressure on the Iranian regime until it stops its destabilizing behavior.”
By Pooya Stone
German exports to Iran have fallen by nearly 50% in the first half of 2019, according to data released Monday.
This suggests that German businesses have been cutting ties to Iran in order to avoid any potential trouble with the United States after Washington reimposed sanctions on the Gulf country last year.
By Pooya Stone
Britain has sent warship HMS Kent to the Gulf to join a United States-led maritime security mission to protect commercial shipping vessels in the region as tensions between the West and Iran continue to rise.
This comes after Iran seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz last month, accusing it of violating maritime law. Iran likely made this move in retaliation to the July 4 seizure of an Iranian vessel off the coast of Gibraltar by British marines, who suspected it of smuggling oil to Syria.
