The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) will hold a march in Washington D.C. in front of the U.S. Department of State on Friday, June 21, in solidarity with the popular uprising and for regime change in Iran.
In 1979, the Iranian people took to the streets to overthrow the Shah’s monarchy and establish a democratic state that respects the rights of the people. But mullahs hijacked their revolution and shattered their dreams for freedom.
Iranian President and presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani and his vice president Eshaq Jahangiri.
London, 14 June – Faced with increasing economic pressure, mainly by U.S. sanctions, the Iranian authorities are having to come up with new sources of revenue to make up for its loss.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced last year that the United States would be pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The U.S. State Department then announced that it would be calling on all countries to cut their imports of Iranian oil to zero. Waivers were granted to some of the biggest importers of Iranian oil, but they expired and were not renewed earlier this year.
This was a major blow to the Iranian government because it lost its biggest source of revenue. Further sanctions followed, hitting the country’s metal sector – another huge source of income.
The United States made it very clear that the action was to cut the regime off from the revenue that it has been plundering on terrorist activities and malign proxy groups and militias across the region.
So, in a big to raise further funds, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani recently announced that a new chief had been appointed for the country’s Tax Organization. The president spoke about plans to “spread a tax culture” because it was no longer able to rely on its revenue from oil.
At the end of last week, the country’s Minister of Economy reinforced this view, stating that the country was going through a time of change and that it must move to depend on revenue rather than its oil.
The country’s tax system works in a way that the Iranian authorities benefit greatly. In free and democratic countries, tax revenues are used to benefit the people. This could be through improving or creating better public and social services and to create welfare opportunities for the people that need it. The situation in Iran is quite the opposite – the needs of the people are ignored and social and public services have been left to fall apart.
Instead of putting the people first, the corrupt officials in the government ensure that their pockets are well lined.
The Iranian president said that the government would be able to increase production if taxes were increased. However, he did not go into the practicalities of how this would work, especially given the precarious situation of the economy.
The economy is in such a dreadful state because of the decades of corruption and mismanagement. Corruption is so widespread that it is found at all levels of leadership. The system is so corrupt, that nobody really knows where the taxes that have been paid go to.
How much tax revenue has been spent on tackling social issues in the country? How much has been spent on improving infrastructure? How much has been spent on production? How much has been allocated to reducing budget revenues? Nobody knows because the government will not take responsibility for it.
The situation in Iran is worsening and the authorities are unable to take any decisive action that will improve it.
The US has sanctioned an Iraq-based company for helping Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which was designated as a terrorist group by the US in April, to evade sanctions and smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Iran’s terrorist proxies.
Iran’s malign behaviour dominates the news, but the authorities’ terrorist activities and nuclear proliferation overshadow what one Republican politician believes should be the major focus for the US: getting American hostages released.
Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote: “The United States cannot rest until every single American hostage held by Iran has been brought home safely… At this very moment, [unjustly imprisoned] Americans are spending yet another day away from their families, friends, and the safety of American soil.”
In its entire 40 years, Iran’s regime had never hit such a low point; which is acknowledged by some of the officials themselves.
Just recently, President Hassan Rouhani stated that “it’s hard to say if we’re having it tougher today or back in war time; back then we at least didn’t have issues with banking, oil sales, and other imports or exports; back then our only struggle was on weapon limitations”.
“We are in a very difficult situation now; more difficult than can be imagined “– said Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president.
This statement alone shows just how sensitive the regime’s current situation is. Last year’s revolution was when it all started; when the world witnessed Iranians rallying on the streets and calling for the regime’s subversion.
The Iranian authorities have banned a New York Times correspondent that is based in Tehran from working for the past few months.
Thomas Erdbrink form the Netherlands has been reporting from Iran for the New York Times for the past seven years but had his press credentials revoked earlier this year. The publication has not been given the reason for its journalist being banned from reporting from the country, but it comes as no surprise.
A 21-year-old political prisoner was stabbed to death in the notorious Greater Tehran Penitentiary by two inmates who were agents of the authorities on Monday, June 10.
Alireza Shir-Mohammad-Ali, from Naziabad, south Tehran, was stabbed at least 40 times by Hamidreza Shojazadeh, in prison and on death row for murder, and Mohammadreza Khalilzadeh, convicted on drug-related charges, despite the fact that violent criminals are supposed to be kept on separate wards to prisoners of conscience.
Iranian authorities are refusing to allow a prisoner of conscience to be transferred to the hospital despite her deteriorating health conditions.
Journalist Sanaz Allahyari, a member of the editorial board of a magazine called GAM, was arrested five months ago for reporting on the workers’ protests in Khuzestan province.
The United States said Tuesday that Iran is violating the 2015 nuclear deal through its work with advanced centrifuges and insisted that it is still prepared to hold talks with Iranian leaders.
In a statement to the meeting of the United Nations nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors, the US said that Iran’s accelerated enrichment of uranium would not lead the US to dial back its “maximum pressure” approach towards Iran.
