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Iran and the Gordian Knot of the JCPOA

Hoshang Amiri
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Iran and the Gordian Knot of the JCPOA

The stances of the new US officials against Iran and their emphasis on demands beyond the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the nuclear program, have worried the media affiliated with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, because of the difficult conditions for the regime and its future.

The difficult situation that Arman daily on February 2, considers ‘accurate assessment’ of it and ‘of what will happen in practice’ is ‘very difficult’.

According to this daily, which is affiliated with the Rouhani faction, American officials, despite taking positions to return to the JCPOA, ‘they still make unreasonable demands in some cases.’

The ‘unreasonable demands’ of the United States have been clear for years, and that the regime must cut short its missile policy and interventionist policies in the region (Middle East).

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It seems that the three major European countries (Germany, France and the United Kingdom) are also considering these demands to be included in the JCPOA.

Jahan-e-Sanat daily, February 2, described Europe’s position as ‘pendulum and cynical behavior’ which ‘could adversely affect the course of negotiations and the JCPOA’s relations. [French President Emmanuel] Macron’s stance, which has recently sought to take into account the interests of some Arab countries in the region and Washington’s return to the JCPOA, doubles Europe’s problems in the JCPOA’s opening.’

‘Europe has just slipped towards the United States, and this is in line with Biden’s consensus,’ Hamid Reza Asefi, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in the government of Mohammad Khatami, told Arman.

‘That if Europe joins the United States, both our legal position in recent years will be lost and it could lead to the revival of the global consensus against Iran and even the rejoining of some of our friends and partners in this consensus, so we must be careful in this area as well. US officials intend to return to the IAEA, but their primary goal is that they may be able to take more concessions from Iran and develop the JCPOA more broadly than the nuclear issue, he added.’ (Arman, February 2, 2021)

His reference to ‘friends and partners’ describes ‘Russia and China,’ and the fear of ‘reviving the global consensus’ is the fear of reconciliation between the two countries with the United States and the three great European powers, and even the fear of a similar situation before the JCPOA and the issuance of Resolution 2231.

The broader concessions which is said by this former foreign ministry official is nothing else than in the field of the regime missile program and the regime’s influence in the middle east which is leading to many wars.

In this regard, Aftab-e-Yazd daily wrote: ‘In general, we can say that the news that is heard from the United States and the responses and reactions of Iranian diplomats to this news show that the JCPOA’s knot is one that cannot be opened and is becoming worse with the current developments.’ (Aftab-e-Yazd, February 2, 2021)

This ‘thumb knot’ forced the writer of the state-run Jahan-e-Sanat daily to write, ‘the JCPOA’s ball is in Tehran’s court’ and the state-run daily Setareh-e-Sobh to write ‘Mr. Rouhani, the ball of negotiation and the lifting of sanctions is in your court.’

The state-run daily Mardom Salari also recommends that the system should adopt the ‘softness in tactics’, possibly referring to the ‘softness in tactics’ of the type of the ‘heroic softness’, which was Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei’s recommendation in the JCPOA negotiations, during which they gave great concessions to the other side. In addition to the media affiliated with the Iranian Resistance (NCRI/MEK), the media affiliated with Khamenei also called it a ‘chalice of poison’ for the regime.

The main concern of these media is that the current economic and catastrophic could drive the people to new protests and uprisings.

In this regard, an article writer in the state-run daily Setareh-e-Sobh wrote to Rouhani:

‘You know better of the situation in the country and the people than the writer and others. Unfortunately, since the tightening of sanctions (May 8, 2018) until now, the reduction of oil sales, the non-approval of FATF bills, and… have caused the purchasing power of the people to decrease, the value of the national currency to fall, more inequality, more misery (according to economists more than in 2017), rising unemployment, deteriorating environment and etc. make life difficult for people.’

The objective situation that the state-run daily Shargh previously wrote about is that the ‘loud voice of society’ is rioting in the streets and cyberspace, and ‘dissatisfaction with everything’ immediately becomes a problem for the government.

A loud voice that ‘God forbid, faces (the government) with the danger of uncontrollable growth of public hatred ‘and ‘Our people are affected by every message of dissatisfaction due to pressures, failures, sanctions and exhausting bottlenecks, and cyberspace has become a machine for producing dissatisfaction. (State-run daily Shargh, February 9, 2020)

In an interview with Arman daily, January 23, referring to the dire economic situation and the poor living conditions of the people, a government expert advised the government to de-escalate and retreat in the field of foreign policy and warned Khamenei’s faction who called them as ‘belligerent and violent,’ and said:

‘The fact is that a country is not able to withstand such pressures for a long time. I warn the groups that promote belligerence and violence in the country that the people’s patience is limited, and the people can tolerate belligerent policies to some extent. If these policies continue, we may see reactions from the people, which could be very costly for the country.’

Regardless of these writings and comments, the fact is that the regime is suffering from unresolved pain in both external and internal crises.

The supreme leader knows very well that if he retreats in the face of the United States and the major European powers, which want his government to be shortened in the field of nuclear, missile and regional politics, he will inevitably be forced to retreat domestically and his rule would come under question.

It is not without reason that Khamenei and other leaders of the regime, including Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, have already acknowledged that ‘if we fall short in the region and our strategic depth, we must fight the people inside the cities.’

Of course, their concern was expressed a lot when the uprisings of December 2017, July 2018 and November 2019 had not yet taken place, while in the current situation, the explosive capacity of society is not comparable to the past.

The situation is such that even assuming Khamenei’s ouster and the lifting of sanctions, the system still cannot get rid of the crises it is grappling with. In this case, of course crises will remain.

In this regard, the Jahan-e-Sanat daily on February 14, 2021 wrote: ‘Even if all sanctions against the regime are lifted and we can export more oil than usual, the problems and challenges will remain; because the source of the problems of Iran’s domestic economy today are internal.’

The Sisakht Earthquake and the ‘Basti Hills’ of Iran’s Officials

Pooya Stone
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The Sisakht Earthquake and the ‘Basti Hills’ of Iran’s Officials

Wednesday night, February 17, 2021 an earthquake that measured 5.6 on the Richter scale shook the city of ‘Sisakhat in the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province of Iran. According to the state-run daily Shargh: “In addition to natural faults and the harms that gave people, it makes the gap between the existing structure and the needs of the people more visible.” (Shargh, February 17)

Local officials and the state TV attempted to minimize the damage to the people, while the earthquake caused extensive damages.

The declaration of “limited losses” by the local state TV channel in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad led to anger and dissatisfaction of the people, because there were more damages that government officials announced, and of course the relief operation to the people was very minimal.

Except the state TV and the local authorities, other media announced the destruction of 80 percent of the city’s homes and some villages in Dana.

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Earthquake Victims Ordered to Leave Temporary Housing by Tomorrow in Iran

Ismail Najar, head of the government’s crisis management, also admitted that many houses of citizens were damaged.

The state-run daily Jahan-e-Sanat with the title ‘the censorship of the destruction’ wrote: “The amount of damage affected the houses is much higher than that in the media. In general, more than 80 percent of the houses have been destroyed. Because of the rain, snow and cold, life in tents is hard for people. But it is unclear how destructive houses are rebuilt. The earthquake hit people, because of the bad memories of the events of the earthquake of Sarpol Zahab, they are demanding the pursuit of homes as soon as possible.”

While the earthquake entered extensive damages, the announcement of “limited losses” by the regime and its governor in the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, caused anger and dissatisfaction of the people.

On February 18, in protest over the neglect of the authorities and the lack of relief to the earthquake hit people, the people of Sisakht held a protest, saying that 5,000 tents that officials promised have not been distributed and it is not clear where they have gone.

Ibrahim Raisi, the head of the judiciary, went on a pointless action to Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province to show the government cares about the people and their problems.

He was present among a few people and claimed: “In natural disasters, we must seek refuge in the laws of God Almighty to be safe.” (Mizan News Agency, February 20)

Such claims by officials are to release them from their responsibilities which is a very normal action in Iran and its officials, according to dissidents.

But the people in response to him and the government cried: “Let’s look, we do not have a blanket, no one cares, we have been in the cold for 4 days and no one has come to ask how you are.”

People’s protests are against in the coldness and bad condition is while the regime claims that they have distributed 5,000 tents among the people whose homes are destroyed.

But this claim is false and in conflict with the statements of the people, and it is unclear where these tents are and who received them.

Given that this region is a high-risk earthquake zone, the government has not taken any actions for the rehabilitation of buildings and protecting the lives of the people.

According to a government expert: “The earthquake on February 17 has been the fourth average earthquake with a magnificent magnitude of more than 5 on the Richter scale in Sisakht in the last decade. It is still expected that aftershocks will occur in the next day and weeks in the focal area of ​​this earthquake.” (State-run Shargh daily, February 22)

The mass destruction of the people’s homes is directly related to the plunder of the resources of the Iranian people by this regime, residents say.

A government that wasted the property and wealth of the poor people rather than spending it for the country’s construction and the prosperity of the people. They are more concerned to spend it for their military and security agencies, especially the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and the useless nuclear and missile projects.

Meanwhile, in a situation where the people of Sisakht and other earthquake areas live in frail houses, which are destroyed with each earthquake measuring over 5 in magnitude, the heads of the government and their families live in palaces, villas and resistant penthouses. Aristocratic regions that the state media call “Basti Hills”.

The regime constructed for its officials, especially the Revolutionary Guard, three special luxury towns with villas, apartments with shopping centers which are robust and resistant facing natural disasters, naming, ‘Mahaliti, Daghayeghi and ‘Shahrak’, while governmental experts warned about extreme destruction in Tehran, in the state of a relative strong earthquake, due to the non-resilience of the people’s homes.

Iran’s Humiliating Retreat From Its Nuclear Deadline

Hamid Azimi
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Iran’s Humiliating Retreat From Its Nuclear Deadline

Intensification of the crisis at the head of the rule

On the eve of the February 23 deadline, when Iranian officials were to withdraw from the Additional Protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and restrict International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, Hassan Rouhani’s government naturally reached an interim agreement with the IAEA Director General with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei approval. According to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s press conference, the Iranian government will allow nuclear inspectors to continue inspecting and verifying Iranian government nuclear sites over the next three months. Although apparently the Iranian government is withdrawing from the Additional Protocol. This agreement is essentially a humiliating retreat from the deadline set by the parliament (Majlis) for February 23.

Parliament reacts sharply to the agreement with the nuclear agency

With this news, the Iranian parliament revolted against Rouhani’s government. Parliament extraordinarily removed the budget review from the agenda. In a speech, Mojtaba Zonnour, head of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, called this act of the government, the ignorance of the parliament’s resolution and demanded that no government official be allowed to enter parliament until the government rescinds the agreement with the IAEA. He subsequently drafted a complaint, which was signed by a majority of 221 MPs. The complaint is addressed to the head of state regarding Rouhani and the government’s refusal to pass a parliamentary resolution.

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The report of the Security Commission of the Majlis states: “Pursuant to Article (234) of the Rules of Procedure of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Mr. President and all violators and disenfranchised persons shall be immediately introduced to the Judiciary, in accordance with the said law. It should be urgently dealt with in turn and in the usual formalities.”

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the parliament speaker, tweeted in response to Rouhani’s agreement with Grossi: “The implementation of the Additional Protocol will be completely suspended from February 23. Any access beyond the safeguard is strictly prohibited and illegal. Any extra-safeguard cooperation with the Agency in the future, according to Article 7, requires a decision of the Parliament. Article 9 of the law will guarantee its strict implementation.”

“The parliament withdrew from its official agenda yesterday due to the government’s dubious understanding with the agency and the strong possibility of violating the Strategic Action Law,” said Malik Shariani, a member of parliament.

Khamenei’s hasty stance

This is the worst crisis at the head of the government in the last eight years. Because of this, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei was immediately forced to intervene. Khamenei, who understands the danger of escalating the crisis and the formation of an uprising better than anyone, immediately called for a solution to the dispute.

Khamenei wrote: “I heard today that there is a difference of opinion between the government and the parliament, that is, between what the government has done and the perception that the parliament has. This disagreement must be resolved. These differences should not be left alone or exacerbated and show ambiguity. No, this has a solution, and they must solve it. Ultimately, the government commits itself to enforcing the law. The law is a good law and must be acted upon carefully. The two sides should work together to make this happen.” (State TV, February 22)

Passivity of Rouhani’s government

Thus, Khamenei, fearing the formation of a rift at the head of the government, which he knows will lead to an uprising of the people, came to the fore and tried to calm down the situation.

In response to Khamenei’s remarks, Rouhani’s government immediately threw the ball on the parliament’s court, saying: “The government has always acted in dialogue and interaction, especially with other forces, by welcoming and following the order of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution regarding the consensus of the government and parliament. And will make every effort to organize the country’s economy, people’s livelihood and the dignified and wise lifting of sanctions.”

“At the same time, if the esteemed Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament) considers such a clever move to be against its law and intends to deactivate the joint statement, it must take responsibility for the consequences with the people and be responsible for all the costs involved.”

Rouhani certainly knows that this time the situation is more complicated. That is why he must wait for the attacks of the parliament in the upcoming days and weeks which will intensify the fragile situation of the regime.

Iran Judge Threatens Political Prisoner With Death

Mehdi Hosseini
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Iran Judge Threatens Political Prisoner With Death

An Iranian judge has threatened a 29-year-old political prisoner with being sentenced to death.

Majid Khademi was arrested in Behbahan, Khuzestan province, just over a year ago on January 18, 2020 after taking part in the nationwide November 2019 protests over the tripling of fuel prices.

He was charged with:

  • “acting against national security”
  • “complicity in destruction and setting fire to public property”
  • “destroying banks and setting fire to public and government places”
  • “participation in disturbing public order”
  • “participation in making civilian incendiary material”
  • “membership in an opposition group (The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK))”
  • “corruption on Earth”
  • “insulting Khamenei”
  • “communicating with the PMOI and dissident groups”

For two months, he was subjected to physical and psychological torture, as well as interrogation, by intelligence agents and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). He was denied access to a lawyer and even now his lawyer cannot access his case, instead having to rely on the sections authorised by the Intelligence Ministry.

He is still held in unknown conditions in Behbahan Prison, prevented from contacting his family and banned from being released on bail, which was set in December at 3.5 billion Tomans.

In addition, his family have been pressured by the IRGC and the Behbahan Intelligence Service into not speaking to the media.

Khademi was arrested alongside Mehran Qarebaqi, who is also 29 and from the same village as Khademi -Tilekoohi village near Behbahan. They are held on the same charges and their treatment in prison has been nearly identical.

Qarebaqi was already tried at the Revolutionary Court for “insulting the supreme leader” and “propaganda against the state”. He was sentenced to three years in jail for this.

The PMOI reported in May 20202 that the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the IRGC Intelligence Organization  has been arresting and/or summoning massive numbers of young activists. Those arrested were interrogated under torture.

This is an indication of just how much of a threat the PMOI and young activists pose to the Iranian government  that, in the middle of a pandemic, the authorities preferred to round up and arrest more political prisoners, rather than release them on humanitarian grounds.

Iran Human Rights Monitor urged the United Nations Secretary-General, High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, and other human rights groups to put pressure on Tehran to permit an international delegation to visit Iranian prisons and meet political prisoners.

Iran Media Warns of MEK Threat

Pooya Stone
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Iran Media Warns of MEK Threat

Infighting has only grown among the Iranian factions as the mullahs face increased international pressure and a people on the brink of uprising, but that is not even the beginning of their problems.

The state-run media continues to acknowledge that the biggest threat to the Iranian government is the opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

The Mostaghel daily wrote Tuesday: “This hardliner faction, which claims to be the heir of the revolution, seemingly does not understand that their actions to have more power at whatever cost and by attacking other factions have created a huge gap in the system. They do not see how the enemy cunningly plots against the [mullahs] in this gap.”

The paper then went on to talk about how the US House of Representatives recently co-sponsored a resolution that condemned Iran for terrorism and human rights abuses, while also supporting the democratic Iran that opposition leader Maryam Rajavi has called for in her ten-point plan. They advised that while Iran expels International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, the opposition is able to get bipartisan backing from the US that supports the MEK’s and the Iranian people’s desire for regime change.

The infighting reached a new high on February 4, following the terrorism conviction of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi for trying to blow up an opposition rally in France in 2018 and kill Rajavi. The both warring factions, who are not all that different in reality, blame each other for the damage done to their terrorist apparatus.

The paper warned them again that the gaps between them are being exploited by the MEK, although quite how they think the MEK is to blame for the conviction was not clear. Providing evidence in a trial is not exactly bribing the judge.

However, the article does showcase exactly what the conviction means to the government and the West’s appeasement policy, with Mostaghel advising that the hope for the lifting of sanctions has been dashed.

It then warned that the MEK may well incite further anti-regime protests, as they did in 2017 and 2019, but this time much larger; large enough to overthrow the ruling system. In fact, Mostaghel even cited that this has been the aim of the MEK for the 42 years that the mullahs have been in power, with the group exposing the regime’s crimes to limit international and domestic support for the mullahs.

Iran Budget Approved, but Its Not a Good Thing

Jubin Katiraie
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Iran Budget Approved, but Its Not a Good Thing

The Iranian parliament (Majlis) has finally approved the government’s 2021-22 budget bill following a month of arguments between the members of the parliament and the members of President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet.

On February 16, the parliament’s official news agency, Khan-e Melat, reported that Rouhani’s bill was rejected, so the cabinet “implemented Majlis’s opinions”, which allowed the bill to be passed, and that the parliament was satisfied with the budget reform.

So, what was holding up the passage of the bill? Well, there were two disputed issues:

  • The source of the regime’s income in the budget
  • The US dollar exchange rate specified by the government

Where is the money coming from?

MP Allahverdi Dehghani said that the budget was based on selling 2.3 million barrels of oil, with over half of the regime’s proposed income from that one source, but it does not look likely that international sanctions on Iran’s oil exports will be lifted, so how can the regime be relying on so much of this income?

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Iran’s 2021-22 Budget Bill, A Perfect View of Government’s Dilemmas and Crises

In a previous session, Budget and Planning Organization chief Mohammad Bagher Nobakht had objected to this concern, citing secret reports, but then admitted that the regime’s oil incomes have crashed dramatically in the past couple of years.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf replied: “If you know that our oil exports are at a minimum, why have you planned to sell 2.3 million barrels of oil? How has the government scheduled its expenses based on the revenue that does not exist?”

This discrepancy was not solved, however, as if the MPs just forgot about funding the budget.

How many rials to the dollar?

Back in 2018, the Iranian government artificially set the exchange rate at 42,000 rials per US dollar with the hope of steadying the economy. This didn’t work, which should have been obviously at the start, and now the free market is trading at 260,000 rials per US dollar.

This has led to a black-market trade for regime-affiliates who make huge profits borrowing at the government rate without paying back the necessary money.

The state-run Resalat daily wrote: “Since 2018, the profit generated from the 42,000-rial exchange rate is ten times larger than the entire yearly cash handouts being offered to the needy, and it has been deposited into the pockets of individuals who have access to this currency. The [regime’s affiliates who] had access to the 42,000-rial dollar were able to import their goods at this rate but sold it at free-market rates.”

There has been no resolution to the exchange rate difference or the problems it caused.

How was the budget ever approved?

As it turns out, it was an under-the-table deal, where the rial exchange rate would remain at 42,000 for six months, allowing the regime to profit at the expense of the people.

It seems an odd choice because they know the people can see what they’re doing and hate it, as well as hating the regime for many other legitimate reasons. The people are getting angrier and the budget may push them over the edge.

EU Facing Backlash Over Iran Policy

Pooya Stone
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EU Facing Backlash Over Iran Policy

European Union foreign ministers met in Brussels on Monday for extensive policy discussions, drawing commentary from various lawmakers about existing policies, most notably their policy on Iran.

The appeasement policy on Iran was already pretty contentious but has recently been put in sharper focus, following the conviction of an Iranian diplomat for terrorism in Europe earlier this month.

In 2018, Assadollah Assadi, who was then-stationed at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, smuggled 500g of the TATP explosive into Europe in his diplomatic luggage before driving to Luxembourg to personally hand it over to the Belgian couple he’d hired, along with specific instructions to place it as close to opposition leader Maryam Rajavi as possible at the Free Iran rally in France. A third accomplice was waiting at the rally to watch the explosion and report back.

Thankfully, the plot was thwarted by European police. Assadi was sentenced to 20 years in prison. All three accomplices were sentenced to between 15 and 18 years in jail, as well as losing their Belgian citizenship.

Prosecutors said that Assadi was not acting on his own volition, but on behalf of Iran’s highest-ranking members, including Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. Iran critics say that this is a pattern of the Tehran’s  behaviour, but the EU has failed to act accordingly.

This led Iranian expats to gather outside the EU headquarters in Schuman Square, Brussels, on Monday, to call direct attention to the case and demand that the EU acknowledge it and condemn Iranian state-backed terrorism.

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Iran-EU Trade Summit Should Be Cancelled

However, this was far from the only push back that the EU has seen in recent days over its treatment of the Iranian government following Assadi’s trial.

Over 200 Iranian communities from a dozen EU countries, Britain, the US, Canada, and Australia have composed a statement to European Council President Charles Michel and EU head of foreign policy Josep Borrell, to notify them that Iran’s foreign terrorism is twinned with domestic human rights abuses, while also citing Iran’s ballistic missile development, nuclear weapons’ programmes, and regional warfare as issues of concern.

While British MPs, on behalf of the International Committee of Parliamentarians for a Democratic Iran, called on the UK and EU to take action against Iran’s terrorism and take steps to end it, rather than maintain ordinary diplomatic relations.

While Lord Alton of Liverpool, who was one of the signatories to that statement, also wrote to UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab, to advise that Britain must take a leading role in addressing Iran’s state terrorism. He further advised that the UK must take a tougher role on Iran, which means not attending the Europe-Iran Business Forum next week.

Iran: Officials Murder Baluch Fuel Porters and Protesters in Saravan

Hoshang Amiri
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Iran: Officials Murder Baluch Fuel Porters and Protesters in Saravan

On February 22, IRGC forces opened fire on a group of fuel porters at the border crossing city of Saravan, leaving several dead and wounded. Latest reports say that at least 40 people have died and more than 100 have been injured.

“At least 40 protesters have been killed in yesterday and today’s brutal attacks, and over 100 people wounded and hospitalized, some in critical condition. The IRGC also set fire to dozens of vehicles with which the porters transferred their fuel,” the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) stated.

According to eyewitnesses and videos circulated on social media, the IRGC used heavy machine guns to fire on the porters and set several of their vehicles ablaze. The security forces later opened fire on a village near the area the incident took place, causing all residents to flee.

The Iranian opposition Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK/PMOI) described the situation in Saravan city as tense. “The IRGC has also dispatched several armed forces squads to the Saravan county to prevent potential protests by the families of the victims and the enraged citizens. More reports indicated that the IRGC had blocked roads to the Razi hospital and the morgue in Saravan, where the bodies of the victims were being held,” the MEK wrote on its website.

In response to the government’s blind crackdown on Baluch people, Saravan residents raided and occupied the local Governorate, venting their anger over the oppressive measures and bloodshed. They also overturned police vehicles and set them ablaze as a sign of their ire.

In such circumstances, it is imperative that the international community interferes with the issue, pushing the Iranian government to stop suppression, dissidents believe. The case of Tehran’s violation of human rights should be submitted to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and criminals must be brought to justice, they added.

For many years, the Iranian government’s systematic discrimination has led residents of border provinces like Sistan and Baluchestan in the southeast, Kurdistan in the west, and Khuzestan in the southwest to resort to hard and harmful jobs to feed their family members.

Undeniable evidence shows that officials’ mismanagement is the main reason for rampant poverty, unemployment, and even poor nutrition in these areas, inhabited by religious and ethnic minorities, observers say.

Instead, not only does the government not attempt to improve locals’ living conditions but also exerts more pressure on impoverished people. In this context, most social protests are shaped in these provinces.

These people, who apparently see that the government has abandoned them, have grasped that the protests are their sole instrument to achieve their inherent rights. Therefore, despite the government’s flagrant suppression, they diligently continue protests.

Transporting insignificant amounts of fuel is one of the hard and risky jobs in Sistan and Baluchestan province. Many people carry some gallons of gas in return for meager money. However, the government, particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), frequently targets these people known as Soukhtbar [fuel porter].

Iran: “Public Rights”, the 96% of the Majority, Are the “Subset Right of the Special 4%”

Jubin Katiraie
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Iran: “Public Rights”, the 96% of the Majority, Are the “Subset Right of the Special 4%”

Mohammad Gharazi, one of the founders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and former Minister of Oil, named the leaders of the government and its affiliated aristocratic elements as ‘Agha’ (Sir), and called their children and grandchildren ‘Aghazadeh’ (official’s relatives) and said: ‘If there is no Agha, there will be no Aghazadeh.’

He acknowledged that the ‘Aghazadehs’ stole the people’s capital and moved to the United States and Europe, saying: A very reliable example is that 5,000 children of Iranian officials have left Iran and gone to the United States and taken billions of dollars with them. Agha and Aghazadeh are an issue, those who consider public rights to be a subset of their special rights.”

Continuing his remarks in the state-run daily Mostaghel on February 15, 2021, he acknowledged the laws of Iran’s parliament in order to ensure the interests of the regime’s leaders, their relatives and those around them, and stated in this regard:

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“You have observed time and time again that laws are enacted in the parliament’s sessions that establish the rights of some people and in this situation the people are disappointed. By creating rent-seeking, Agha and Aghasadehs are formed, then they define a position for themselves that people hate very much.”

The former minister’s remarks on the plundering of the national wealth by the ‘Aghas’ and their children merely expose an aspect of the institutionalized political and economic corruption in Iran’s Velayat-e-Faqih (supreme religious rule).

Another important point in his interview was that the parliament is one of the main causes of corruption, which legitimizes and institutionalizes it in favor of the leaders of the system and their relatives.

Extreme class differences and the deprivation of the majority of the people in the face of the unlimited wealth of a few and a minority are inevitable consequences.

As a result, problems such as marginalization, homelessness, tomb sleepers, and many other social crises are affecting the deprived people.

Crises that have absolutely nothing to do with foreign origin and sanctions, while the leaders of the regime, led by Ali Khamenei and Hassan Rouhani, are trying to relate these problems to sanctions.

While most Iranians live in poverty, in addition to these, ‘Aghas and their children’, there is also a parasitic nobility which is dependent on the government, as the state-run daily Aftab-e-Yazd on February 16, 2021 wrote:

“Now a class of novices has come to power and you can see them in Farmaniyeh and Saffaranieh. These people have become billionaires through economic and business swaps and rent-seeking even with the sanctions.”

Mansour Haghighatpour, a member of the parliament, also admits this fact: “Corruption is like a termite in the system.” (State-run daily Mostaghel, February 15, 2021)

Mohsen Rezaei also confessed to the looting of people’s property by 150 government agents in the capital market: “150 people plunder people’s capital in the stock market.” (State-run daily Entekhab, February 14, 2021)

Abbas Akhundi, the former Minister of Ministry of Roads and Urban Development of Hassan Rouhani’s government, announced the formation of a ‘transnational corruption network.’

An international network of corruption, which operates in the so-called informal market and thus has an annual trade value of $20 billion to $25 billion, has been involved in a deep corruption for 15 years.

The former minister of the Rouhani government pointed to a case of corruption that, “$100 billion stock was largely distributed among military entities.” (ISNA, February 8, 2021)

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said about this corruption in the presence of the so-called governmental ‘Economic activists’: “The corruption that we see in our country today is not due to the behavior of the private sector.” (State-TV, news channel, January 20, 2021)

Qalibaf is right because the regime has overset the real private sector. Because in the current situation, according to government experts, more than 60 percent of the economy is in the hands of institutions affiliated with Khamenei and the government, those who does not pay taxes and every year the government provides a large part of their budget from the pockets of the people.

What Gharazi has admitted is the product of a system in which corruption is institutionalized, systematic, and, as they say, automatic.

Iran Political Prison Dies After Being Denied Medical Treatment

Pooya Stone
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Iran Political Prison Dies After Being Denied Medical Treatment

An Iranian political prisoner died on Sunday, following abuse by the prison authorities that deprived him from getting the appropriate medical care that he needed.

Behnam Mahjoubi had been subjected to intense physical and psychological torture since his arrest earlier this year, which included being deprived of his epilepsy medication, even though it was provided by his family.

Despite his condition meaning that prison would be especially hard, the prison authorities refused to allow him out, even temporarily. Instead, they injected him with unknown drugs that actually caused his condition to get worse and led to him falling into a coma.

At that point, he was taken to Loghman Hospital, where he died just days later.

Maryam Rajavi, the opposition president, said: “What happened to Behnam Mahjoubi makes it imperative to send an international fact-finding mission to Iran to visit the prisons, political prisoners, and the detained protesters.”

This tragic tale is sadly far from unique. In fact, human rights abuses are systematic in Iran and many political prisoners have been killed by the authorities through the deprivation of medical care.

Read More:

Iran Executes Seven on Wednesday

One of them was Mohsen Dogmechi, a People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) supporter, who died in 2011 from pancreatic cancer. The prison authorities refused to send him to the hospital in the early stages of his illness, when treatment may well have helped, or release him into the care of his family.

There are also multiple political prisoners in Iran’s prisons right now who are dangerously ill and in need of proper medical treatment. This includes:

  • Arash Sadeghi, who suffers from Chondrosarcoma
  • 53-year-old MEK supporter Fatemeh Mosanna, who has been examined on several occasions by a doctor at Tehran’s Taleghani Hospital who said that Mosanna should be released. Authorities have consistently refused to give her furlough.
  • Massoumeh Senobari  was denied medical treatment by the authorities of the Central Prison of Tabriz earlier this month, even though she is suspected of having cancer.

These are just a few of the cases, but for each one mentioned, dozens more exist.

The Iranian Resistance wrote: “EU leaders should impose sanctions on the regime’s officials for their role in terrorism and human rights violations. The Iranian regime’s dossier of arbitrary executions, massacres of political prisoners, and killings of demonstrators should be referred to the UN Security Council, and its leaders should be brought to justice for four decades of crimes against humanity.

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