THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 6:30 PM CET
Iranian Regime Turned the Site of 2019 Peaceful Protest Into War Zone, Tribunal Hears
The site of a peaceful protest against high petrol prices in Iran turned into a war zone when security forces fired on demonstrators who blocked the roads with their abandoned cars, an ambulance driver told a tribunal on Friday.
The man, who gave evidence via video link with his face covered, told a hearing in central London that motorists had turned off their engines and were standing on street corners when they were shot down in November 2019 by armed militia and Revolutionary Guard officers.
Grossi Reiterated IAEA’s Concerns Over Particles, Unanswered Questions, and Access to Surveillance Footage in Iran
Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told Al-Arabiya on Saturday, February 5, that without Tehran’s compliance with its nuclear commitments and full cooperation of all parties at the Vienna talks, there will be no agreement.
“The most important question at this stage is whether a return to the 2015 nuclear deal is possible,” Grossi said. He also repeated the IAEA concern about nuclear particles on undisclosed sites in Iran.
Grossi called on the Iranian regime to cooperate with the IAEA, to respond to questions and ambiguities, and to provide IAEA experts with access to surveillance cameras at nuclear sites.
UPDATE: 11:00 AM CET
Court Orders for 100% Verification of 82 Forty-foot Containers With Imported Cargo Declared as Imported Tea
The High Court has ordered the 100% verification of imported cargo declared as imported black tea and currently detained by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) at a Container Freight Station (CFS) in Mombasa.
The applicant, Cup of Joe Limited, imported 82 forty-foot containers with black tea from Iran and Vietnam. The same arrived in four batches between 13th April 2021 and 13th June 2021. The applicant alleges that the tea was for purposes of blending and eventual re-export to the overseas market. The applicant argued that the company obtained all the necessary permits to import the teas and asked the court to quash KRA’s decision and order for the release of the tea.
In its response filed in court, KRA argues that it was advised by the Directorate of Criminal Investigation vide a letter dated 28th December 2021 not to release the teas in question as the same is subject to criminal investigation for various offenses including financing of terrorism, irregular importation, concealment, and misdeclaration.
Lawmakers Ask Biden To Take Iran Ballistic Threat Seriously: ‘Homeland in Range’
As Washington continues to negotiate a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, a group of House lawmakers asked President Biden to focus on Iran’s ballistic-missile capabilities. In a recent letter to the president, obtained by National Review, they warned that the administration has failed to respond adequately to a spate of recent developments in Iran’s missile program.
The letter, which was led by Representative Joe Wilson, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee’s national-security task force, cites the test of satellite launch vehicles using new technology as a particular reason for concern.
UPDATE: 9:30 AM CET
Even the Mullahs Admit That Iran Is Not an “Islamic Republic”
In its Monday editorial, the Kayhan newspaper, the Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s mouthpiece, warned about “opening the way for the enemies.” In the article, its managing editor Hossein Shariatmadari paid tribute to Qassem Soleimani, the regime’s eliminated terror mastermind, who “smartly warned that never send a message of friendship to the enemy with your actions, and don’t open the way for the enemy by distorting the vision of the revolution.”
The article is a response to a joint statement by the Assembly of Clerics and Assembly of Qom Seminary Teachers.
Exiled Iranians in Vancouver Condemn Human Rights Violations in Iran
Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) rallied in Vancouver, Canada, calling on the international community to take meaningful action against the Iranian regime’s ongoing human rights violations.
While daring the bitter winter cold, the exiled Iranians at this gathering held banners and voiced the following demands.
Iran Biology Teacher Commits Suicide Due to Poverty
An Iranian teacher, Mostafa Ranjbaran, a biology teacher in Minab, southern Iran committed suicide due to unbearable economic pressures. In a tweet on Thursday, February 3, Mohammad Habibi, a member of the board of directors of the Iran Teachers Trade Association, called “these suicides among teachers, workers, retirees and students” as “a kind of systematic murder” and that the Iranian regime officials are responsible for it.
No information has been released about the time and manner of Mr. Ranjiran’s suicide.
Monthly Report January 2022; Lives of Political Prisoners in Danger
Urgent action is needed to free women political prisoners in Iran; the lives of political prisoners are in danger in Iran. January saw the clerical regime ratchet up social clampdown in step with the growing discontent and the spread of popular protests. The stepped-up repression was vividly evident in the soaring executions and widespread arrests of civil activists and protesters, on the one hand, and in the escalated pressure on prisoners, especially those incarcerated on political grounds.
Read more: Iran News in Brief – February 4, 2022
