THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 5:30 PM CET
Iranian Regime’s Parliament Dictates its Terms for JCPOA Revival
In a statement read out on Sunday, members of the Iranian regime’s parliament called on Ebrahim Raisi’s government to adhere to their conditions in restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The MPs obliged Raisi’s administration to seek a guarantee from the United States and the E3 (UK, Germany, and France) that they will not abandon the nuclear deal again, that they must pledge not to use the trigger mechanism, and penalties which they defined as nuclear, terrorism, missile, and human rights designations, in addition to those under the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), and U-Turn sanctions on dollar transactions to be lifted.
Members of the regime’s parliament also stressed that the United States should lift the sanctions first and Tehran should fulfill its obligations upon verification.
UPDATE: 3:00 PM CET
Sunday Protests in Iran
Municipal workers of Neishabour, East Iran, held a rally on Sunday, February 20, to protest low wages and poor living conditions.
Today, a number of war veterans held a rally in front of the Administrative Justice Court building, protesting against the so-called Martyrs Foundation’s decision to withhold their payments after 10 years into their retirement.
Workers at the Eastern Alborz coal mine in Damghan staged a rally on Saturday, February 19, protesting the new unfair contract terms and delayed payment of salaries.
Subway workers in Iran’s capital held a rally in front of the Tehran Subway Company building today. Every day, about 70 people are cleaning the stations of Tehran’s subway lines. Despite working hard, cleaning every day, and showing up on time, their salaries have been withheld for more than two months.
On Sunday, February 20, a group of retired personnel of the Isfahan Steel Factory gathered in front of the Isfahan Steel Fund building in Isfahan, Central Iran, to demand their rights and wages.
UPDATE: 12:30 PM CET
Former Officials Arrested As Scapegoats for Iran’s Stockmarket Fraud
The Iranian regime’s Judiciary spokesman announced the arrest of a senior official of the previous government’s Ministry of Economy as well as a number of Tehran Stock Exchange officials.
According to the state-run newspaper Eghtesad News, Zabiollah Khodaian told the state-run TV network number 1 that investigation revealed one company entered the stock market with 25,000 billion tomans (equal to $975 billion with current market rates) and left it at once, a move that 100 other state-owned companies have taken also which is questionable.
In recent years, the Iranian regime, particularly the Supreme Leader Khamenei, has expressed optimism over the astonishing rise of Tehran Stock Exchange indicators and asked people to invest their money. They spoke of the prosperity of the stock market and considered it as proof of the baselessness of those who spoke of the public’s mistrust toward the regime’s economic and financial policies.
Due to the high inflation, most ordinary people had no choice but to invest where they thought their funds would be less at risk. But state-organized ‘pump and dump’ eventually led to a staggering bearish downturn of the Iranian stock market and millions of people lost their money and some state-affiliated parties exploited the benefit.
UPDATE: 9:30 AM CET
“Down with Khamenei, viva Rajavi” Echoed Across Tajrish Bazaar, Tehran
Saturday afternoon, February 19, in Tehran’s Tajrish Bazaar, slogans of “Down with Khamenei, viva Rajavi”, “Neither the crown nor the turban, it’s game over for the mullahs” and “Raisi, you’re the butcher of 1988”, were broadcast from loudspeakers.
Huge Enterprise Pulls Back Decision After Dismissing 700 Workers
On Friday, February 18, the state media reported that 700 workers of the Tabriz Motogen factory were dismissed because of their nine-day strike in protest of low wages. The next day, the state media reported that the decision has been withdrawn, adding that there would be no expulsion. Allegedly, the workers were “contract workers and their contracts have expired and will be renewed”.
Motogen Tabriz is one of the important industrial units of East Azerbaijan Province. A company that claims 75% of its shares belong to the people and the other 25% to legal entities, i.e. companies and institutions.
But further due diligence of the company’s records reveals that more than 42% of the company’s shares belong to Ghadir International Industries and Mines Development Company and more than 10% to Ghadir Investment Company, and the rest is divided between other individuals and legal entities. This means that more than half of its shares are owned by Ghadir Holding. The Ghadir Group is owned by the Armed Forces Social Security Organization, entirely run by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office. Ghadir Holding is one of Khamenei’s 15 empires with huge investments in deals with foreign oil companies.
The enterprise that easily fired 700 hard-working Iranian workers overnight, was quickly forced to withdraw its decision, fearing the social consequences of the workers’ dismissal.
Assad Flogs off Stolen Syrian Lands to the Ayatollahs
A ground-breaking initiative has been launched to expose Syrian crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court. For the first time, a primary focus is the culpability of Iran and its proxies.
Lawyers have said that Tehran’s support for Assad had come “at the cost of hundreds of thousands of killed, injured and displaced Syrian civilians.” Evidence will show how Iran-backed militias deliberately targeted non-combatants, forcing thousands to flee and significantly contributing to the more than 13 million Syrians who have been displaced.
Iranian Regime Keeps Recruiting Young Syrians for Its Proxy Wars
Exploiting the severe economic state of misery in Syria, the Iranian regime’s proxy militias continue to recruit more young people for their illicit ambitions. Al-Arabiya reported on Saturday, February 19, quoting the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that militias affiliated with the Iranian regime in the eastern suburbs of Aleppo continue to recruit youth and ask them to join the Fatemiyoun brigades. They are taking advantage of the catastrophic living conditions of the residents that are actually suffering from the consequences of a crisis where Tehran is the most responsible.
According to SOHR, since the militant group intensified its recruitment campaign in February 2021, the number of members recruited for this militant group has increased by more than 2605.
Large Hezbollah Shipment of Narcotics Seized in Lebanon
On Friday, February 18, the Lebanese police announced it has seized 700,000 Captagon pills, known as “jihadi drugs”, in a shipment destined to be transported from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia. Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced the discovery of the shipment on Twitter, writing that Lebanese security forces arrested a man named R.M. who was involved in drug trafficking in the Bekaa region. This is the fourth time in the last two months that Lebanese police have reported the discovery of large shipments of Captagon pils on their soil.
إنجازٌ جديد ونوعي لشعبة المعلومات في المديرية العامة لقوى الامن الداخلي التي تمكنت من إحباط عملية تهريب ٧٠٠ الف حبة كبتاغون كانت معدّة للنقل براً بواسطة شاحنة الى المملكة العربية السعودية #لكم_بالمرصاد
— Bassam Mawlawi (@MawlawiBassam) February 18, 2022
The Lebanese interior minister did not elaborate on the man and his full name or what group he works with, but Lebanese domestic media, including the Al-Mashreq website, had previously reported, citing informed sources, that the shipment belonged to the Lebanese Hezbollah, a group affiliated with the Iranian regime.
Teachers Stage Protests in More Than 100 Cities Across Iran
Despite the heightened security atmosphere, thousands of freedom-loving teachers and educators in Tehran and at least 100 other cities took to the streets again on Saturday, February 19, 2022. These protests took place outside the regime’s parliament in Tehran and in front of the regime’s Ministry of Education offices in other cities, during which they demanded the release of imprisoned teachers.
In addition to Tehran, the protests took place in many other cities, including Shiraz, Kermanshah, Yazd, Shazand Arak, Sanandaj, Langarud, Ahvaz, Behshahr, Khorramabad, Tabriz, Kerman, Rasht, Hamedan, Shush, Lendeh, Mashhad, Kuhdasht, Ardabil, Bushehr, Shooshtar, Khorramshahr, Shahrekord, Isfahan, Ghirokarzin, Zarrin Dasht, Semirom, Lahijan, Urmia, Javanrud, Marivan, Saqez, Sardasht, Ziviyeh, Ilam, Amol, Babol, Sari, Babolsar, Andimeshk, Baghmalek, Gachsaran, Zahedan, Zanjan, Najafabad, Yasuj, Qorveh, Chalus, Bojnurd, Zabol, Miandoab, Qazvin, Izeh, Shahinshahr, Delfan, Shirvan, Aran va Bidgol, Qasr Shirin, Eslamabad-e-Gharb, Harsin, Rezvanshahr, Borujerd, Aleshtar, Kazerun, Mamasani, Kamyaran, Shazand, Karaj, Darreh Shahr, Qom, Darab, Salas-e Babajani, Bijar, Abdanan, Neyshabur, Firuzabad Fars, Lamerd and Gorgan.
Video- Iran 2022: Resistance Units Take Major Strides
In view of the state of absolute repression and the use of brute force in dealing with any form of opposition, could Iran’s ruling religious dictatorship be overthrown?
The regime celebrated the anniversary of the anti-monarchical revolution in February at a time when after ruling for 43 years with an iron fist, it is facing crises from all directions, most notably at home.
Political Prisoner Moved To Filthy Cell After Contracting Omicron COVID Variant
Political prisoner Forough Taghipour has been taken to a filthy cell with no access to hygiene or medical care after she contracted the omicron Covid variant in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, in Tehran Province.
She suffers from lung disease and asthma and has had symptoms of the virus since last week. The alarm is growing over the danger the poor condition poses to her.
An informed source said, “Instead of properly treating the political prisoner, prison officials transferred her to a dirty room and there is a threat of her contracting other diseases.”
European Parliament Condemns Use of the Death Penalty in Iran, Including for Women
The European Parliament adopted a resolution against the use of the death penalty in Iran in its formal session in Strasburg on February 17, 2022. 617 MEPs voted in favor, while 59 abstained and eight voted against. The members of the European Parliament also censured the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran. They called for an international, independent investigation into this case and prosecution of the clerical regime’s leaders, especially Ebrahim Raisi, the mullahs’ incumbent president.
Read more: Iran News in Brief – February 19, 2022
