THE CONTENT OF THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 10:30 PM CEST
UAE Diplomat Slams Iran, ‘External’ Interference in Arab Region at UNGA
Alarabyia- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday slammed “external” interference in Arab affairs and called for countries in the region to be included in any nuclear deal talks with Iran.
“We can’t ignore Iran’s development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, as well as its interference in the region,” UAE Minister of State Khalifa Shaheen al-Marar said during a speech at the UN General Assembly.
SOHR: Raid Against Iranian Militias on the Borders of Syria and Iraq
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Monday evening that it heard explosions at the Syrian-Iraqi border, near Al-Bukamal, the Iranian militia area between Syria and Iraq, following a bombing by an unmanned plane. identified, while the first information did not indicate any death.
UPDATE: 8:30 PM CEST
Tuesday Protests in Iran
A group of people who fell victim to a scam campaign of a car dealership in Jam County gathered in front of the provincial judiciary of Bushehr province to protest the official’s failure to investigate their complaints.
Haft Tappeh workers held a rally in front of the company’s management on Tuesday, protesting the authorities’ negligence to address their problems.
Retired personnel from the Ministry of Health held a rally in several cities including Rasht, Isfahan, Tabriz, Gorgan, Ahvaz, and Urmia to protest the officials’ failure to address their problems and due payments.
In Tehran province, drivers who use liquefied gas protested in front of the Robat Karim County governor’s office on Tuesday, against the lack of LPG and the systemic negligence by the authorities.
UPDATE: 8:00 PM CEST
Iranians Call for Justice in Stockholm
Today, Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran Organization (PMOI) held a demonstration in Stockholm, as one of the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre that executed tens of thousands of their loved ones was being tried by the Swedish judiciary.
Today’s trial began at 9:15 a.m local time. The session was dedicated to the hearing of Ahmad Ebrahimi, one of the plaintiffs in the case of Hamid Nouri. Mr. Ebrahimi testified in court: “At the end of July, we were forcibly transferred to the ‘Jihad ward’. As we protested, one of the guards called Faraj warned that we will regret it. I asked what could be worse than this? In 1981, you were executing 300 people every night. Faraj answered that there will be days ahead in which the year 81 is nothing.”
UPDATE: 7:00 PM CEST
Son of Former IRGC Commander Accused of Fraud and Corruption
According to the state-run website Eskan News, Amir-Hossein Azad, the son of a state official, has been involved in widespread economic corruption and the plundering of people’s property. He is accused of exploiting his father as well as his father-in-law’s titles, bypassing the regulations of the Central Bank, and committing numerous violations since he was 24 years old.
Ali-Mohammad Azad, the father of the defender, was the governor of Hamedan and Sistan and Baluchestan under former president Ahmadinejad. He also has been a commander in the Revolutionary Guards in Ilam province as well as the mayor of Mehran and Darhshahr.
Two Hectares of Forest and Farmlands Destroyed in West Iran
In an interview with the state-run ILNA news agency, the governor of Lande, a county in the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, said that two hectares of forest and farmland in the heights of the Sefid Kuh Mountain have been destroyed by the blaze that started three days ago. According to the report, the fire was contained by the locals.
Unfortunately, many forests and pastures have been destroyed by wildfires in recent years. The main reason for the destruction of Iran’s environment is the lack of a systemic maintenance policy as well as the failure to dispatch firefighters, helicopters, and necessary equipment by the state when a fire breaks out.
E3 Statement on IAEA Verification and Monitoring in Iran
E3 statement: “We are profoundly concerned that Iran has not fully implemented the agreement it reached with DG Grossi on 12 September, and that the DG has been forced to issue a report on non-cooperation after only two weeks. If Iran does not allow the IAEA to replace cameras at the Karaj centrifuge component manufacturing workshop, the IAEA will lose the ability to re-establish continuity of knowledge in the future. We urge Iran to immediately provide the IAEA access to the Karaj facility and allow for the replacement of cameras there.”
UPDATE: 4:30 PM CEST
Two Iranian Freight Carriers Shot and Injured While Falling From Cliffs
On Monday morning, two ‘kulbars’ (freight carriers) named Sarkut Karami and Massoud from Javanrood were injured when they fell from a height at the border of Nosud region, West Iran. The accident happened when the two were shot and chased by security forces. The victims were taken to Paveh Hospital for treatment.
According to the statistics registered in the Statistics Center of the Kurdpa Human Rights Organization, during the first six months of this year, 28 ‘kulbars’ have lost their lives and 4 others were injured. These deprived people are forced to carry heavy weights and freight in order to be able to feed their families in a country where inflation and unemployment are the direct results of systemic fraud and corruption.
State-Run Newspaper Admits to Absolute Poverty Among Iranian Teachers
Etemad daily wrote: “Following the teachers’ gatherings, a number of schools in Shiraz were closed at the beginning of the new school year. Some will remain closed until the end of this week. Teachers want the ratification and implementation of the ranking bill, a bill that says teachers’ salaries should be at least 80% of the salaries of university professors.”
The state-run paper continued: “Neglecting the demands of teachers, delays in their payment for several decades and the refusal of the implementation of laws related to increasing their living standards and salaries have narrowed the field for this group to such an extent that they have been forced to hold rallies against their will. The Iran Statistics Center estimates that the poverty line is currently at 11 to 12 million tomans (monthly payment), but there are teachers who receive four to five million tomans and an average of six to seven million tomans. Except for high-ranking officials, 99% of teachers are living below the poverty line.”
UPDATE: 1:30 PM CEST
Another Thief Appointed to Lead Iran’s Economic Institutions
Ehsan Khandouzi, the regime’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance has appointed Hossein Ghorbanzadeh to head the Privatization and Assignments Organization. Ghorbanzadeh has been a close associate of the parliament’s speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf as well as Issa Sharifi, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for stealing billions of dollars while he was working in the Tehran major’s office under Ghalibaf.
Today, following the appointment, the state-run website Ruydad24 addressed the controversy in a sarcastic way, writing: “By choosing Ghorbanzadeh, who is known as being close to Sharifi and Ghalibaf, we must see what will happen to one of the most economical institutions.”
Iranian Experts Are Leaving the Country, Former Official Warns
Writing for the state-run website Entekhab, Abbas Abdi warned: “The number of Iranian immigrants has more than doubled in the last 3 years. The important point is that 30% of them are specialists. The rest are more or less experts, and the number of those who employed simple jobs made up only about 7% of all Iranian immigrants. More than 50 percent of those who have gone to Europe have a university degree, and 60 percent of Iranians in the United States work in good jobs, including management, business, science, and arts. For the time being, it would be better not to talk about polls and the tendency of people who want to leave the country.”
UPDATE: 1:00 PM CEST
Amnesty International Asks UN To Prevent the Next Bloodbath Cycle in Iran
Amnesty International’s representative at a UN Human Rights Council meeting on September 28 said: “There is a crisis of immunity in Iran. We see this, from the tools used by the security forces to crush the demonstrations. We see this, in a president who should be investigated for crimes against humanity as a member of the 1988 Death Commission. We are worried about the next bloodbath cycle. In the absence of local justice, there is a solution: holding to account through an international mechanism that we urge this council to establish.”
Time Is Not on the Iranian Regime’s Side, French FM Told UNGA
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian asked the international community to act decisively on the Iranian regime’s nuclear program.
“Iran can no longer assume that time is on its side because the more dangerous its nuclear program becomes, the greater the risk of a major crisis,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Unidentified Planes Hits Iranian Militias in Eastern Syria – Military Sources
Reuters – Unidentified aircraft hit a base run by Iranian-backed militias in Syria’s eastern province of Deir al Zor near the Iraqi border where Tehran has in the last year expanded its military presence, residents and military sources said on Monday.
UPDATE: 12:00 PM CEST
Yemen FM Urges UN To Put Financial Pressure on Houthis
Arab News- Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak on Monday urged the international community to put more financial pressure on the Iran-backed Houthi militia, in an address at the UN General Assembly in New York.
Resalat Newspaper Warns of A Sixth Covid-19 Peak
Today, the state-run newspaper Resalat wrote: “A new threat is the outbreak of the new Lambda variant, which has been traced in neighboring countries, and experts have been warning enough about it. In recent days and weeks, in light of the new variant entering Iran, there has been a risk of the Coronavirus re-emerging and the creation of a “sixth peak. A group of epidemiologists like Massoud Younesian believes that if we fail to increase to vaccinate the population up to 60%, we should worry about the sixth peak.”
UPDATE: 8:30 AM CEST
Iran: 440,900 COVID-19 Deaths Across the Country
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) announced on Monday, September 27, 2021, that the Coronavirus death toll in 547 cities had exceeded 440,900. The fatalities in Tehran has reached 103,456, Khorasan Razavi 36,125, Isfahan 29,380, Khuzestan 27,021, Fars 15,809, West Azerbaijan 15,738, East Azerbaijan 15,608, , Gilan 15,420, Lorestan 14,820, Alborz 12,893, Sistan and Baluchestan 12,550, Hamedan 8,298, Central Province 8,068, Kermanshah 7,864, Kurdistan 6,952, North Khorasan 5,684, Ardabil 5,545, and South Khorasan 3,851.
Iran’s Regime Denies UN Inspectors Access to Nuclear Site, Violates Commitments
Less than two weeks after reaching an agreement to allow United Nations inspectors to repair monitoring equipment at its nuclear facilities, the Iranian regime has backtracked on its commitments. According to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Tehran is preventing the UN nuclear watchdog from servicing its monitoring equipment at one of its facilities. “The (IAEA) Director General (Rafael Grossi) stresses that Iran’s decision not to allow the agency access to the TESA Karaj centrifuge component manufacturing workshop is contrary to the agreed terms of the joint statement issued on 12 September,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.
Iranian People Continue To Reject the Rule and Call for Help From the International Community
Despite a huge boycott of the Iranian regime’s sham presidential election in June, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei still chose to make sure that Ebrahim Raisi was elected as the regime’s new president. Following the announcement of Raisi’s appointment, public protests ensued which condemned him as the ‘henchman of 1988’ and brought to light his history of human rights abuses during his career and as the head of the judiciary in recent years.
Warnings of Severe Water Stress in More Than 250 Cities in Iran
The Parliamentary Research Center of the Government of Iran has warned of the spread of water stress protests in more than 250 cities in the country and announced that these dissatisfactions will be linked to other popular protests. The drought and water scarcity crisis is not a new problem in Iran, but what is new is that in recent years, especially in 2021, and in an acute example, the water crisis led to widespread protests in Khuzestan province. The story of the protests did not end in Khuzestan, and other cities and provinces of the country, regardless of whether they were short of water or faced drought, joined the protests of the people of Khuzestan and supported them.
Security Forces Arrest Teacher Activist in Northern Iran
The state security forces arrested Aziz Ghasemzadeh, the spokesman for the Gilan Teachers’ Trade Association on Sunday. The Telegram channel of the Council for Coordination among Teachers Unions announced that Aziz Ghasemzadeh was “arrested at his home on Sunday afternoon and taken to an unknown location.”
Workers’ Wife Dies in Self-Immolation for Not Receiving Wages, Two Other Workers Attempt Suicide
A workers’ wife self-immolated on September 22 since her husband had not received wages for five months in Dehdasht, western Iran. According to the state-run ISNA News Agency, the worker was identified as 39-year-old Mohammad Javad Erfani, a municipality worker in Dehdasht. Mohammad said he and his wife had a verbal fight for not being able to afford their child’s school stationery. His wife self-immolated, and he also sustained 30% burns while trying to extinguish the fire. Both were taken to the hospital, but his wife passed away. Mohammad’s wife had suffered from 80% burns on her body.
Golrokh Remains in Exile for More Than Eight Months in Amol Prison
Golrokh remains in exile for more than eight months in Amol Prison. Eight months have passed since Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee was sent to exile in the Prison of Amol in the northern Iranian province of Mazandaran. She is detained among ordinary prisoners and common criminals in violation of the separation of prisoners’ categories.
Read more: Iran News in Brief – September 27, 2021
