THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 7:00 PM CET
Raisi Resorts to Lying and Bragging During Nowruz Speech
“We promised that we do not trade the interests and security of the people for anything else,” Iranian regime’s president Ebrahim Raisi said during his new year’s address. “Everyone saw that we prioritized increasing the country’s defense, missile and space capabilities because the country’s security is a priority. We have shown that the power of the field is in favor of the power of diplomacy.”
Ignoring the state of economic misery in Iran, Raisi added: “Fortunately, signs of economic growth and stability and a significant increase in the value of foreign trade and non-oil exports have emerged during our time. We increased trade with our neighbors for the benefit of the people. Official statistics, which are still up to the end of the third quarter, show economic growth above 5%.”
IAEA Chief Raises Serious Concerns Over Iranian Regime’s Nuclear Program
On March 20, Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said: “It is worrying that we have found traces of enriched uranium at undeclared sites, uranium which was under a very special process that had not been reported at any other site and places where no nuclear material should have been found. So our questions to Iran have been very simple, and clear: If there was nuclear material there, where is it now? If there was equipment, where is it? And what has happened to it now? Because we have no record of this. This resulted in a repetitive and tedious process of questions and answers that were technically unreliable and led to deadlocks at certain points. The explanations we received for the existence of those particles are not acceptable.”
“When negotiations with the IAEA are deadlocked, it is hard to imagine anyone being able to reach a comprehensive agreement like the current one,” Rafael Grossi added. “If the flow of information is disrupted or the information the agency receives is unsatisfactory or inaccurate, it is professionally wrong for me to reach a positive conclusion at the end of the road. A country that enriches uranium to 60%, it is practically for military use.”
UPDATE: 12:30 PM CET
Arab Countries Voice Condemnation Against Tehran-backed Houthis Attack Against Saudi Targets
According to the Saudi Gazette on Sunday, March 20, Arab countries have condemned the Houthi terrorist attack on Saudi Arabia.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abu al-Ghaith strongly condemned the terrorist attack by Houthi militants who targeted economic and civilian facilities in several areas of Saudi Arabia using ballistic missiles and UAVs.
The Arab Parliament has also strongly condemned the terrorist attack by Houthi militants targeting the desalination plant in al-Shaqiq, the Aramco facility in Jazan, and a power plant in Dhahran al-Janub, using drones and ballistic missiles.
The Secretariat of the Arab Council of Ministers in Tunisia condemned the attacks by Houthi militias and their deliberate and systematic attempts to target civilians and economic facilities in Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Al-Hajraf, Chairman of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, strongly condemned the consistent launches of ballistic missiles and drones by Houthi militias in a systematic and deliberate manner and called it a clear violation of international norms and laws that have targeted innocent civilians and nonmilitary facilities.
The Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Hussein Brahim Taha, strongly condemned the repeated attacks by Houthi militants on civilian lands and targets in Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles and UAVs. Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Pakistan, and Djibouti also strongly condemned the attack, calling it a terrorist act.
UPDATE: 8:30 AM CET
Clashes Break Out as Security Forces Try to Prevent Nowruz Festivities in Northwestern Iran
On Sunday, March 20, on Persian new year’s eve, when the counterinsurgency unit was dispatched and attacked the people’s Nowruz ceremony in the streets of Oshnoyeh in West Azerbaijan province, the people resisted, and clashes erupted. Security forces responded with tear gas and pellet guns.
Iranians Facing With Backbreaking High Prices at Nowruz
Iran: Anti-regime Slogans Aired in Two Important Cities
Members of Resistance Units, a growing network of courageous Iranians associated to the opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), are expanding their latest campaign of anti-regime measures, now in the cities of Mashhad and Lahijan.
In Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city located in the country’s northeast, anti-regime slogans were aired in public on Saturday, March 19, along with excerpts of speeches delivered by Iranian Resistance leader Massoud Rajavi, and Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
Political Prisoner Zahra Mohammadi Deprived of Nowruz Leave
Political prisoner Zahra Mohammadi was deprived of receiving a prison leave for the Persian New Year, Nowruz. The Department of Intelligence of Sanandaj turned down her family’s request for her to spend the Nowruz with her family. Political prisoner Zahra Mohammadi is currently serving a five-year sentence in the Correctional Center of Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan Province. Ms. Mohammadi’s family had requested leave for her for the New Year and Nowruz. The Intelligence Department of Sanandaj, however, rejected the request.
US Government Condemns Houthi Attack Against Saudi Arabia
In an official statement, the White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan condemned the Houthi attack against Saudi Arabia. The statement reads: “We condemn the Houthi attacks over the last 48 hours against civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. These attacks reportedly targeted water treatment facilities as well as oil and natural gas infrastructure. The Houthis launch these terrorist attacks with enabling by Iran, which supplies them with missile and UAV components, training, and expertise.
Read more: Iran News in Brief – March 20, 2022