Iran News in Brief – April 27, 2022

Hamideh Taati

2 years ago

iran-tehran-saadatabad-e1651039101932 — Sa’adat Abad district, Tehran, Iran

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS

UPDATE: 10:00 PM CEST

Iran Has Not Received £400M Agreed by UK at Time of Zaghari-Ratcliffe Release

The historic £400m debt the UK paid to Iran at the time of the release of British-Iranian dual nationals Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori has still not reached Tehran, according to Iranian government sources.

A senior Iranian government source said the money was blocked in Oman and the problem was not with the UK government. One report said only £1m had been transferred to Tehran.

More Executions Reported in Iran

The Iranian regime’s Judiciary executed two prisoners in Dastgerd prison in Isfahan on the dawn of Wednesday, April 27. The detainees were identified as Fakhreddin Valdi, 40, and Hossein Joshan, 37.

IAEA Is Still Looking for an Answer From Tehran, Grossi Stresses

In an interview with the Associated Press, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi stated that he was seeking a “clear response” from Tehran regarding uranium particles discovered at several Iranian sites.

The Associated Press reported that the Iranian regime and the UN watchdog have been working since the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to resolve a range of issues, including re-access to surveillance footage at the country’s nuclear sites.

Deceit, Denials, Delays: How Iran Keeps Its Public in the Dark

Iranian authorities systematically violate people’s right to protest and assemble, deceive and lie about the violations they commit and unlawfully keep people seeking transparency and accountability in the dark.

ARTICLE 19’s report Deceit, denials, delays: How Iran keeps its public in the dark, published today, confirms that the Iranian authorities:

require advanced permission for all assemblies – in contravention of international law — but do not provide any avenues for individuals to seek and obtain licences;
systematically deny licences for assemblies that do not align with state policies and ideologies;
keep the people of Iran in the dark by refusing to release information about assemblies and protests, falsely claiming that such information is classified;
refer to assemblies they consider illegal and violently repress to showcase their tolerance for protests before the international community.

Iran Wanted To Create Nuclear Bomb but Couldn’t Keep It Quiet, Says Ex-MP

Iran wanted to create a nuclear bomb from the start of its atomic programme – which Tehran insists is purely peaceful – a former MP has told media.

Ali Motahari, an ex-second vice-speaker at the Iranian parliament, told the Iran Student Correspondents Association (ISCA) news agency that Tehran was ultimately unable to keep its efforts quiet about planning to build a nuke.

Lenderking Cautiously Optimistic Over Yemen, Calls Out Iran’s Support for Houthis

US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking voiced cautious optimism for efforts to end the seven-year-long war on Tuesday but warned that “there’s more that needs to be done.”

Lenderking, one of US President Joe Biden’s first appointments, recently returned from a three-week trip to the region. Since last year, he has been involved in shuttle diplomacy as the Biden administration doubled down on US efforts to help reach a ceasefire in Yemen.

UPDATE: 1:00 PM CEST

High-ranking Cleric Denies Holocaust on State TV

Mehdi Tayeb, Chief of the Revolutionary Guards Ammar Headquarters and brother of the IRGC Intelligence Chief denied the Holocaust on state television and said: “The Holocaust is an absolute lie.”

“Look, first of all, I am saying that there was no anti-Semitism at all, and there were no six million Jews burned,” Taeb said on Wednesday, April 27. “Because those who narrated these stories, their narration is questionable and we have no evidence.”

On January 20, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution against the denial of the genocide of Jews during World War II. The resolution, which has the support of 114 of the 193 member states strongly condemns any total or partial denial of the Holocaust. The Iranian regime was the only state to issue a written statement expressing its opposition to the resolution.

UPDATE: 8:00 AM CEST

Defiance Middle in Iran’s Capital

On April 26 at 9:05 pm local time, images of Iranian Resistance leader Massoud Rajavi and opposition coalition President-elect Maryam Rajavi were projected in the capital’s Sa’adat Abad district – Municipality Boulevard.

New Strikes by Iran’s Petrochemical Workers Poses Security Risk for the Regime

Numerous oil petrochemical sites in different cities of Iran witnessed workers launching new strikes on Monday, April 25, protesting their low paychecks and demanding better working conditions. These latest measures resulted in sites, such as the Bushehr petrochemical complex, coming to a complete halt. The protesting workers are blaming their officials and contractors for refusing to deliver on previous promises. In recent days, similar protests have been reported from other cities, including Asaluyeh, southwest Iran.

EU Expresses Concern on Human Rights Situation in Iran

The European Union published its Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World for the year 2021 on its website on April 26.

The report suggests: “The situation of human rights in Iran remained a matter of concern in 2021. Furthermore, the COVID-19 crisis exacerbated the vulnerability of the least protected persons in Iranian society, which was partially mitigated in the second half of the year thanks to a significant acceleration in the distribution of vaccines. Iran carried out executions at an extremely high rate. A major source of concern continued to be the use of the death penalty also for juvenile offenders, protestors, and dissidents.”

What Is Money From Iran’s Oil Exports Being Spent On?

The government of President Ebrahim Raisi blames the previous government of Hasan Rouhani for all its shortfalls and social, economic, and international incompetencies. Before that Rouhani blamed Ahmadinejad, President of Iran from 2005 to 2013 for the same things. Despite their blaming game, all these government officials and authorities have been in tight partnership in suppressing the Iranian people, robbing the people of their wealth becoming millionaires overnight, and pushing more than 80% of the people under the poverty line. Eight months after Raisi took office, and while parliament was in complete unison with the government, Iran’s parliament’s speaker, Qalibaf, claimed that “the rise in inflation was due to the actions of previous governments“.

Iran: Judiciary Sentences Elite Students to 16 Years in Prison

On Monday, April 25, 2022, the Iranian regime’s judiciary sentenced two elite students, Ali Younesi and Amir-Hossein Moradi, to 16 years in prison. The notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) detained them on April 10, 2020. The Younesi later revealed that around 12 intelligence officers and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) suddenly raided his parent’s home and arrested Ali without any warrant. They severely beat Ali.

During the last two years, interrogators applied mental and physical torture against the two elite students in an attempt to force them into making forced confessions. They insisted on their innocence, however, prompting the authorities to intensify pressures to break them.

White House Worried Iran Could Develop Nuclear Weapon in Weeks

WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) – The White House is worried Iran could develop a nuclear weapon in weeks, press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted earlier in the day the country has accelerated its nuclear program.

“Yes it definitely worries us,” Psaki said, adding the time needed for Iran to produce a nuclear weapon is down from about a year.

Source