THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 10:30 PM CET
Security Council Press Statement on Terrorist Attacks in United Arab Emirates
The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attacks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Monday, 17 January, as well as in other sites in Saudi Arabia. The attacks, which were committed and claimed by the Houthis, resulted in three civilian deaths and six other civilians injured.
The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims of the Houthi attacks and to the Governments of India and Pakistan, and they wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.
The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.
UPDATE: 10:00 PM CET
Young Clerics Are Turning Their Back to The Seminary, Official Admits
According to the state-run website Dideban, Mohammad Alamzadeh Nouri, faculty member and an official at the Institute of Islamic Sciences and Culture said: “In the past, new recruits for the seminary have been low already and these years, it has decreased due to various factors. Every year more than one million young people go to university, but only four to five thousand people enter the seminary. It is very unfair. We also have a high number of dropouts among the students. But the most heartbreaking issue remains usually unseen, and that is the hidden fallout of the constituency. Some people are clerics, but they become animal rights advocates, and some turn into bowling and billiards club managers.”
He added: “Some students are secretly dropping out, and they are only clerics on paper. They do not really deal with the seminary missions, they’re just numbers and stats… We have all kinds of hidden leaks, for example, a student who eventually becomes an employee and works as a clerk for the Secretariat of the Management Center.”
UPDATE: 8:00 PM CET
Iran: Iranian Teachers Stage Protests
The Australian Education Union, a member of Education International, expresses the strongest solidarity with the huge teacher strikes and protest rallies in Iran last Thursday, January 13, in 75 cities in 29 Provinces in Iran. These protests were called at three days’ notice and mobilised over 30,000 teachers.
We join with teachers and other trade unions to condemn the Iranian regime for violations of teachers’ rights to secure employment, to be paid properly and on time, to their proper retirement pay, and to respect seniority in their promotions. We especially call for the release from detention of all teacher leaders who have been arrested including the 20 who were arrested last Thursday and over the weekend.
UPDATE: 6:00 PM CET
Treasury Sanctions International Hizballah Network
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Hizballah-affiliated financial facilitator Adnan Ayad, as well as members of an international network of facilitators and companies connected to him and to Adel Diab, Adnan Ayad’s business partner and fellow Hizballah financier who was designated by OFAC on January 18, 2022.
The United States designated Hizballah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 8, 1997, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on October 31, 2001. The sanctions evasion efforts of those designated today demonstrate how Hizballah gains access to the international financial system and raises funds in support of its acts of terrorism and other illicit activities. These actions undermine the stability, security, and sovereignty of the Lebanese people. Hizballah-linked financial facilitators like Adnan Ayad and Adel Diab have helped Hizballah obtain funds through networks of companies that operate under the guise of legitimate business enterprises. The designation of the Hizballah financing network described below further demonstrates Treasury’s ongoing efforts to target Hizballah’s attempts to exploit the global financial sector and evade sanctions.
Call for Justice in Iran Continues to Echo in Stockholm
Iranians, supporters of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MEK/PMOI), and relatives of martyred political prisoners in Iran, gathered in front of the Swedish Parliament to call for the trial of the supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the president Ebrahim Raeisi and chief justice Gholam Hosseini Ejei for genocide and crimes against humanity.
UPDATE: 5:30 PM CET
UN Consensus on Holocaust Highlights Tehran’s Global Isolation
The United Nations issued a resolution on Thursday, January 20, condemning Holocaust denial. The resolution, which was passed at the request of Germany and with the support of the United States, Russia, and many other countries, was approved by 193 member states of the UN General Assembly and only the Iranian regime voted against it. Observers say the resolution is against the rise of anti-Semitism in the world.
Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader as well as other officials of the clerical regime deny the Holocaust, calling the genocide of millions of Jews by Hitler’s Nazism a “myth.”
UPDATE: 2:30 PM CET
Poverty is Braking New Norms in Iran
According to the state-run Hamshahri newspaper, on Thursday, January 20, theft of metal sewer covers has turned into a major problem in Tehran.
“The increase in the number of thefts of manhole covers in District 18 poses a serious threat to the lives of pedestrians and drivers. Most of them in Tehran are made of iron and cast iron, which is why they are mostly stolen,” a municipal official told the newspaper.
Mismanagement Is Aggravating Natural Disasters for Iranians
While in recent days, floods have swept through most of the country’s provinces and cities, the lack of infrastructure and the regime’s inability to deal with the crisis are taking their toll on the people.
Popular reports on social media indicate that the clerical regime has failed to provide any assistance to the affected people nor did the state send equipment to the flooded areas to prevent further damage. Practically, Tehran is trying to cover up its inaction by conducting PR campaigns like sending several food packages and exploiting them for publicity.
At least four people, including three children, have been killed in floods in Kerman, while hundreds of homes have been damaged, dozens of villages are being evacuated and access to more than 300 villages has been cut off.
The governor of Kerman said that the situation of Rudbar-e-Junub, Zahkalut and Qala-e-Ganj is critical, adding that many villages in the south of the province are under water, 330 villages in the province have been cut off and 106 villages are in danger.
At the same time, in the Northwestern part of the country, snowfall, blizzards, and slippery roads, coupled with the incompetence of the clerical regime in taking care of the country’s network of roads and highways have led to a chain accident on the Hamadan-Malayer road. No accounts of fatalities or damages have been reported so far.
UPDATE: 2:00 PM CET
Poverty Shatters Lives and Breaks Families in Iran
In a report published on January 21, the state news agency Khabar Online, pointed out the increase in the number of homeless people in the country.
“Families are trying as hard as they can to keep their homes, but when they lose it, that means they have reached a dead-end,” the report quotes a social institution director. “You can see families that have no problems whatsoever, not even a drug addict as a family member. They have just become so poor that they turn to homeless shelters to seek shelter as a basic right to human life… The reasons for their homelessness are often financial and poverty-related issues, such as unemployment”.
The source added: “The main problem is that we do not have any care centers for families, so we are forced to separate them. We have to keep the wife and young children together in the women’s centers while sending the men to the other centers for male populations. But if they have a boy with 16 or 17 of age, we neither can send him to the women’s centers nor to the men’s.”
UPDATE: 1:30 PM CET
More Than A Third of Iran’s Population Suffers from Absolute Poverty
According to the state-run Eghtesad News, Mohammad Hossein Sharifzadegan, the regime’s former Minister of Welfare said on Thursday, January 20: “We are one of the rentier countries where most of the government’s income comes from oil revenue. During Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government, the absolute poverty line reached 34.6 percent, and in 2020, it reached 38 percent. That means that the government has announced that out of a population of 84 million, there are 33 million people who live below the absolute poverty line.”
Armed Clashes Against the Regime in Village, South Iran
Thursday, December 20, following the killing of two young Arabs, 19-year-old Amin Delfi and Ali Kaabi, 27, both residents of a village near Shushtar, Khuzestan province, the people of the area clashed with the repressive security forces.
Four New Executions Reported in Iran
The Iranian regime’s judiciary executed four prisoners in Ilam as well as Central Prison in Rasht at dawn on Thursday, January 20. The prisoners executed in Ilam, Western Iran, were identified as Hamed Manouchehri, Mohammad Karimnejad and Sobhan Shohani. The prisoner who was executed in Rasht Prison, Northern Iran, was Ali Yazdani, 55 years old.
According to HRANA, Ali was transferred to solitary confinement on Tuesday along with another 23-year-old prisoner, Mohsen Norouzi.
Domestic Policies Have Hurt Date Industry, Official Admits
Mohsen Rashid Farokhi, president of the National Date Association, announced a 50 percent drop in date exports over the last two years.
According to the state-run ILNA news agency, Farrokhi blamed the state officials rather than international sanctions. He said: “Overnight decisions affected the export of dates more than foreign sanctions. In 2019, the Market Regulation Headquarters stopped the export of dates to supply dates during Ramadan. Although the decision was overturned after 16 days, the consequences have affected this sector to this date and the export of dates has been cut in half.”
Maryam Rajavi Meets With a Delegation of German Politicians Headed by Prof. Dr. Rita Süssmuth
Mr. Martin Patzelt, former mayor of Frankfurt and member of the Federal Parliament until 2021, and Stephanie Bung, Vice-Chair of the Christian Democrats (CDU) in the Parliament of Berlin, accompanied Ms. Süssmuth in this meeting. In the past ten years, Prof. Süssmuth has been at the forefront of German politicians to protect the PMOI in Ashraf and Liberty. She endeavored to get them safely out of Iraq. After their relocation from Camp Liberty, she visited Albania twice to see the PMOI/MEK in Ashraf-3.
Prof. Dr. Süssmuth lauded the Iranian Resistance’s tireless and incessant campaign against repression and executions in Iran. She added, “You are a great Resistance, and we in the Federal Parliament and the state parliaments will continue to support you.”
Dreadful Forecast of Rising Prices and Sharp Increase in Iran’s Healthcare Costs
The recent statements of the head of the Iran-China Joint Chamber on Iran’s unprecedented inflation have caused a stir on social media platforms. In response to the strange increase in the prices of basic goods in recent months, Majid Reza Hariri had said that “Iran was in its most dangerous historical point of inflation in the last four decades.”
“If we go through these stages of 50 or 60 percent inflation, it will become increasingly difficult to control and could lead to hyperinflation,” he said in remarks carried by state-run media.
Jailed Afkari Brothers Remain in Solitary Confinement After 500 Days
Saeed Afkari, the outspoken brother to executed wrestling champion Navid Afkari said that the regime has told his brothers that they must speak out against Navid in order to be released. Marking Vahid and Habib’s 500 days in solitary confinement, Saeed Afkari tweeted that “The Islamic Republic has told Vahid and Habib that you must speak out against Navid so that we release you, and today is the 500th day of their solitary confinement.”
Jailed Afkari Brothers, Vahid, and Habib have been held under inhumane conditions in solitary confinement in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz, Fars Province, for almost 500 days.
UPDATE: 10:00 PM CET
Meta shuts down Iran-based fake Instagram accounts
Facebook parent company Meta removed a network of fake accounts that originated in Iran and were aimed at Instagram users in Scotland, with content supporting Scottish independence, the company’s investigators said on Thursday.
The network used fake accounts to pose as locals in England and Scotland, posting photos and memes about current events and criticism of the UK government, Meta said. The network was relatively small — eight accounts on Facebook and 126 on Instagram — though it had amassed about 77,000 followers, according to the company.
Iran: Coronavirus Fatalities Surpass 499,000
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) announced on Thursday, January 20, 2022, that the COVID-19 fatalities in 547 cities across Iran have surpassed 499,000. The number of victims in Tehran has reached 116,535, Khorasan Razavi 40,190, Isfahan 34,590, Khuzestan 30,115, Fars 18,895, West Azerbaijan 18,818, Alborz 14,538, Sistan and Baluchestan 13,760, Zanjan 4,805, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 3,789.
#Iran Coronavirus Update
More than 499,000 people have died of #COVID19 in 547 cities checkered across all of Iran's 31 provinces, according to the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.
Full reporthttps://t.co/L4Kqqr7bQo pic.twitter.com/zBCJVYpei6
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) January 21, 2022
Read more: Iran News in Brief – January 20, 2022
