Iran News in Brief – April 25, 2022

Hamideh Taati

2 years ago

Chabahar Port, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Southeast Iran

iran-port-chabahar — Chabahar Port, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Southeast Iran

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS

UPDATE: 7:30 PM CEST

Tehran Wins “World’s Most Polluted City” in April

Kids were allowed to go back to school in Tehran in April but despite the freedom from Covid’s endemic status the students were told to stay indoors as the air pollution surpassed all global limits, making Tehran in mid-April, the most polluted city in the world in terms of air quality.

Al Jazeera reported that Tehran’s “very unhealthy” average real-time air quality index was 236, according to global air quality monitoring company IQAir.

US Forces Capture Iranian Regime’s Militants in Iraq

According to the Turkish EHA Medya, the USA carried out an operation with 6 combat helicopters in the village of Abu Akula in the Kanaan district of Diyala in Iraq and detained 2 Iranian regime’s military advisers and a senior commander of the Kata’ib Hezbollah militant group.

ABD 6 savaş helikopteri ile Irak’ta Diyala'nın Kanaan ilçesine bağlı Abu Akula köyünde operasyon yapıp;

2 İran askeri danışmanını ve Kata'ib Hizbullah'ın üst düzey komutanını gözaltına aldı
pic.twitter.com/AcjnVtkwbQ

— EHA MEDYA (@eha_medya) April 25, 2022

UPDATE: 9:00 AM CEST

Fearing Lack of Infrastructure, India Circumvents Iranian Route

Following reports about the shipment of Indian goods to Russia via the Black Sea and Georgia instead of Iran, the Iranian regime is starting to accuse Indian companies are delaying the development of Chabahar port and creating a “corridor” for the transit of goods to circumvent Iran.

In an interview with the state-run ILNA news agency on Sunday, April 24, Roozbeh Mokhtari, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Iranian Shipping Association, accused India of “delaying” the development of the Chabahar port and claimed: “Not only has the Indian operator not fulfilled its obligations under the contract, but it has also requested an international arbitration to resolve disputes and has not allowed the use of six heavy coastal cranes imported to the port of Shahid Beheshti.”

Iranian state officials were opting to exploit the war in Ukraine and international sanctions on Russia to become a transit country but have never cared to fix the lack of infrastructure in Iran. The route from India to the Black Sea and through Georgia to Russia is five times longer than the transit route through Iran, but due to the lack of infrastructure, India and China currently prefer other routes.

Increasing Number of IRGC Flights to Moscow, Russia

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Iranian military-affiliated planes were spotted flying to and from Russia.

In February, there were ZERO flights to Russia from Iran (By IRGC aircraft), in Late March, there was 1 flight (EP-PUS – IRGC’s aircraft – Date: March 24), and in April the number got increased, big time! 8 flights were spotted by IRGC planes to Moscow (As of now: April 24, 2022)

UPDATE: 12:00 AM CEST

Changing Times Add to the Mullahs’ Isolation in Iran

Following the November 2020 U.S. presidential election and a new administration entering the White House, the mullahs’ regime in Iran launched a brouhaha about “new opportunities” and former regime president Hassan Rouhani emphasized on November 12, 2021, that “no one is permitted to miss out on this opportunity!” Proponents of this initiative believed a Democrat administration in the U.S. will provide “a better atmosphere for closer relations and better engagement.”

Science and Technology University Students: The Girls’ Dormitory Is a Prison Ward

Hundreds of students at Tehran’s University of Science and Technology protested against bullying by the university’s security department on Sunday, April 24, 2022.

The University of Science and Technology students gathered in front of the security department building and chanted slogans against it. “The security department is a pawn in the hands of the government,” the students chanted. They also held placards that read, “The girls’ dormitory is like a prison ward,” “Students are alive,” and “University is not a military barracks.”

Iran: Raisi Opponents Mock His Efforts for Signing JCPOA

Today, the prospects of a nuclear agreement between world powers and the Iranian regime remain bleak despite dozens of meetings. Iranian observers believe that Tehran is wasting time in its bid to either extract a further concession from its western interlocutors or produce a nuclear warhead because getting its hands on a bomb is critical to its long-term survival. Currently, the regime is facing increasing protests at home. The regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei installed Ebrahim Raisi, notoriously known as the henchman of the 1988 massacre, as president back in June 2021 to thwart the eruption of further anti-regime protests.

Explosive Conditions of Iranian Society and the Perpetrators of the Current Situation

The explosive conditions of Iranian society and its reflection within the regime have fueled fears of a social explosion in the future and the intensification of the regime’s internal crisis.

President Ebrahim Raisi, the mass murderer of the 1988 massacre, and elements of his administration are trying to attribute the current situation to the previous administration, and to blame the agents and managers of Hassan Rouhani‘s administration for the explosive society, rising prices, rampant inflation, and widespread poverty. As previously stated on April 11, 2022, in this regard: “Those who are the founders of the status quo should not be used.”