THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 10:00 PM CET
Four Executions Reported from Iran
The Iranian regime’s judiciary executed two prisoners in Zabul Prison and another in Zahedan Prison at dawn on Thursday, January 20.
The prisoners executed in Zabul Prison are identified as Jamaluddin Gargij, 40, married, from Zabul, and Parviz Akbarirad, son of Arbab Mohammad, 34, married man from Zahedan.
Another prisoner, identified as Abdolhamid Samalzehi Korni, 40, the son of Lashkaran and the father of six, was executed in Zahedan Prison, Southeastern Iran.
Also, “Ali Juma Mohammadi” from the city of Izeh, Southern Iran, was executed on Wednesday, January 19, after spending 20 years in prison. Today, his family organized a funeral and a large crowd of his tribe and the people of Izeh gathered to pay respect and honor his life.
UPDATE: 3:00 PM CET
Economic Crises Are Turning Into Super-crises, Newspaper Writes
On January 20, state-run newspaper Jahan-e Sanat wrote: “Iran’s economy is going through difficult days and like a worn-out patient, its complicated conditions indicate that it is getting worse by the day while treatment is becoming more difficult.”
The market-oriented daily added: “The crises are so intertwined that they have somehow amplified these crises and created a huge synergy, which is now a challenge to non-economic sectors. We’re dealing with inflations above 40 and 50 percent, a decade-long economic growth close to zero, coupled with numerous problems in the business sector.”
Jahan-e Sanat warned: “The collapsed economy cannot do much to prevent a final collapse.”
Australia to ‘Fight Back’ Against Hostile States in Cyber – Minister
SYDNEY, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Australia and Britain will “fight back” against cyberattacks from China, Russia, and Iran, defence minister Peter Dutton said ahead of consultations with Britain in Sydney.
Australia’s defence and foreign affairs ministers will meet with Britain’s defence secretary Ben Wallace and foreign secretary Liz Truss on Friday for the annual Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN).
Australia and Britain would coordinate cyber sanction regimes to increase deterrence, raising the costs for hostile state activity in cyberspace, said foreign affairs minister Marise Payne, after signing an agreement on Thursday with Truss.
Increasing Earth Subsidence in Shiraz, Central Iran
On January 20, Tahmouras Yousefi, Director of the Geology and Mineral Exploration Center of Southern Iran reported a 20 cm earth subsidence in Shiraz plains and Marvdasht city in Fars province.
Being quoted by the state news agency Mehr, Tahmouras Yousefi said: “In the past few years, this phenomenon has caused several small sinkholes in the eastern part of Maharloo Lake while in the southern part of the lake, the drying of freshwater springs in the southern margin has led to the release of methane gas emissions that has now started to burn itself out.”
One of the Richest Oil Companies in the World Is Not Paying Work Force
On Wednesday, December 19, a group of workers at the Yadavaran oil field in Khorramshahr went on strike, demanding payment of their outstanding salaries and asking for fair wages.
Talking to the state TV on Tuesday, December 18, Mohsen Dehnavi, a board member of the parliament, revealed that the National Oil Company, which deposits 14.5 percent of the country’s total oil sales annually, now owes $63 billion to the country’s banking network.
“The National Oil Company, a state-owned company and the country’s most important source of wealth owes $13 billion to the National Development Fund and $50 billion to the banking network,” Dehnavi said.
UPDATE: 8:00 AM CET
Meeting With Former Prime Ministers of Belgium and Sweden, and the Former Speaker of the British Parliament
Following the Conference entitled, “Holding the Mullahs’ Regime Accountable for Genocide, Terrorism and Nuclear Defiance,” On Monday, January 17, 2022, Messrs. Guy Verhofstadt and Frederic Reinfeldt, former Prime Ministers of Belgium and Sweden and Mr. John Bercow, the former Speaker of the British House of Commons, met Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and discussed the situation in Iran and the region, as well as the clerical regime’s threats to peace and stability, and the need for the adoption of a decisive European policy towards the regime at the heart of which should be human rights.
Iran: Call for the separation of religion and state gaining steam
Today, there are calls even heard from inside the clerical regime that indicate the emergence of a deep rift in the ruling establishment. This conflict shows that new tendencies are taking hold that recognizes the practical necessity of separating religion from state, primarily as a result of fears regarding a popular uprising.
Politicians and Iranian Expats Urge Holding Iran’s Regime Accountable for Genocide, Terrorism & Nuclear Defiance
Nobel laureates call for the immediate release of honor students
In a joint letter to the UN Secretary-General & the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a group of Nobel laureates and academic researchers called for the immediate release of university students Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi. The signatories of the letter which was released on Tuesday, January 18, called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as well as Michel Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to make any “practical and possible efforts” for the release of political prisoners, particularly Amir Hossein Moradi and Ali Younesi.
Political prisoner Saba Kord Afshari deprived of visits for two weeks
Political prisoner Saba Kord Afshari has been deprived of visits for two weeks, beginning on January 15, 2022. Presently, she is detained in the notorious Qarchak Prison in Varamin, southeast of Tehran.
An informed source reported that Saba Kord Afshari was having a cabin visit with her father on January 4, 2022, when her phone was cut off before they finished their meeting.
Iran: Coronavirus Death Toll Exceeds 498,700
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) announced on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, that the COVID-19 death toll in 547 cities has exceeded 498,700. The number of victims in Tehran has reached 116,485, Isfahan 34,570, East Azerbaijan 17,233, Kerman 13,472, Qom 13,400, Kermanshah 9,399, Central Province 9,093, and Qazvin 5,869.
Read more: Iran News in Brief – January 19, 2022
