By Mehdi
Five banks and financial institutions affiliated with the Iranian military, some suffering with accrued losses, are to be merged into Bank Sepah, Iran’s Central Bank announced on Saturday.
Iranian banks have been suffering from financial crises for years, mainly due to lack of proper banking supervision over loans given to government insiders that have never been paid back, something that has caused many credit institutions to go bankrupt and left millions of people without savings.
By Pooya Stone
Iran is in a very difficult position because of the pressure stemming from U.S. sanctions. The U.S. State Department has said that waivers on imports of Iranian oil will not be extended and maintains that its aim is still to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero.
This is starting to have a real effect now on the Iranian economy and Iran is finding it difficult to persuade countries to cooperate. The EU had promised to take steps that guarantee trade with Iran and it has started to set up INSTEX – a mechanism that will, if it works, circumvent U.S. sanctions. However, it is not certain that the mechanism will work and the United States has warned the EU that it will be keeping a close eye on developments.
Iran Focus
London, 2 Mar – The UK government designated the Lebanese Hezbollah group as a terrorist group in its entirety, removing any distinction between the so-called “military wing”, which was already banned, and the “political wing”.
This false division never sat comfortably with the reality that Hezbollah was a united entity, with two paths that led to the same place. In fact, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, long ago publicly debunked the idea that the group could be separated into two separate wings. This should not surprise anyone because he is the head of both of them.
By Jubin Katiraie
An investigation into the crimes against humanity committed by the Iranian dictators has been called for after an Amnesty International statement was published by the United Nations General Assembly.
The statement specifically involved the 1988 massacre where, over the course of just two months, 30,000 political prisoners were “forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed” and their bodies dumped in unmarked mass graves.
Iran Focus
London, 2 Mar – Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have written to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to express “strong concern” over the prolonged detention of eight environmental activists who are accused of spying.
The 26 MEPs have called on Rouhani to release the environmentalists, highlighting that the closed-door trial, which began January 30, falls “seriously short” of fair trial standards.
Iran Focus
London, 28 Feb – The Iranian nuclear archive, which was seized by Israel in 2018, is “rich in new information” about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear aspirations and raises doubts over Iran’s supposed commitment not to pursue nuclear weapons, according to researchers who have spent months reviewing the information.
A paper detailing the results of the study was published on Monday by the researchers:
Iran Focus
London, 28 Feb – Workers from Haft-Tappeh sugar cane mill in Khuzestan province, Iran, began their protests against unpaid wages, the corrupt practices of private owners, and the lack of recognition of their independent labour syndicate in November of 2018. A few days later, employees of the nearby Iran National Steel Industrial Group (INSIG) went on strike with similar demands.
By Mehdi
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) is concerned about the “minimal” budget allocated to the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Officials at AEOI have criticized the government over the low budget allocation, saying that it endangers the future of the nuclear reactor.
Iran Focus
London, 26 Feb – Several top Iranian officials, including the vice president for women’s affairs, have publically questioned the decision by a state-run broadcaster to air a programme that risked normalising domestic violence and encouraging victims to stay in abusive relationships.
The Formula One show last week aired an interview with a self-described abusive husband and his wife, where the man explained that despite 20 years of constant abuse on his part and 27 attempts by his wife to divorce him, the couple has stayed married.
By Pooya Stone
A high-ranking Iranian cleric has claimed that the Iranian people are overweight and should eat less, at a time when 80% of Iranians live in poverty and many are forced to search through the bins for scraps of food.
These comments from Naser Makarem Shirazi, a so-called Shia Marja, were no doubt deliberately designed to detract from the disastrous economic situation faced by ordinary Iranians.
