THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 7:00 PM CEST
DOS Expresses Firm Resolve Countering Tehran’s Regional Ambitions
At the State Department’s May 5 briefing, spokesperson Ned Price said: “We do share the concern expressed by the Senate about other aspects of Iran’s behavior, including their development of ballistic missiles, support for terrorism through the IRGC, and other elements. And that’s why our administration has actually increased sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile program and on the IRGC over the past year. There is nothing in a potential return to the JCPOA that would in any way diminish our resolve or our ability to continue combating these aspects of Iran’s policies in the region. If this math is still correct, of the 107 sanctions that we have applied on Iran since January 20th of 2021, 86 of those – which, if my math is right, about three-quarters of those – have been on the IRGC. We are committed to doing all we can, pulling every lever we can to take on the threat, together with our partners, from the IRGC.”
Don’t Play into the MEK’s Hands, State Publication Warns Raisi
The state-run website Bultan News wrote on April 5: “The elimination of the state fixed currency rate before there is an agreement in place is a kind of dagger to the back of the country. The move, which is one of the 18 deep surgeries listed by the government for economic reforms, is not something to be messed up with. Executing decisions without convincing people is practically playing the enemy’s game. While the enemy is pursuing a plan to destabilize the country, especially in the eastern regions, providing the hypocrites (the regime’s term for the MEK) an excuse for some of their agendas for June and July this year will not help the country’s regional situation in any way.”
“Let’s not forget that one of the reasons Trump decided to assassinate Soleimani was a sign of weakness that had been sent to Washington since November of that year,” the publication added referring to the November 2019 uprising. “They thought that with the events of November of that year, the state had become very fragile and it is the right time for the final hit!”
UPDATE: 2:00 PM CEST
Soaring Prices Will Turn People Against the State, Official Warns
Minister of Education Threatens to Fire Protesting Teachers
On April 5, the Iranian regime’s Minister of Education implicitly called the teachers’ protest rallies “illegal” and threatened to “dismiss” those who take to the streets to protest.
During a visit to the Kurdistan province on Thursday, Yousef Nouri said that according to Article 23 of the Administrative Violations Law, “the board may discharge teachers who participate in protest rallies.”
Canada and Sweden Insist on Holding Tehran Accountable for Downing PS752
Statement: The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Ann Linde, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, issued the following joint statement: “We reaffirm our commitment to hold Iran accountable for the actions and omissions of its civil and military officials that led to the illegal downing of Flight PS752 by ensuring that Iran makes full reparations for its violations of international law, and we reaffirm our commitment to working with partners within the International Coordination and Response Group in pursuit of transparency, accountability, and justice for the victims of Flight PS752.
UPDATE: 9:30 AM CEST
Tehran Abducts Another Swedish Hostage “to Leverage” Noury’s Release
A Swedish newspaper reported on a new case of apprehension of a Swedish tourist in Iran. Aftonbladet newspaper reported on Thursday that a 30-year-old Swedish man who had traveled to Iran with a number of other friends was arrested last week before leaving the country. According to the report, the Swedish Foreign Ministry also confirmed the man’s arrest but declined to give further details.
MP Blames Government for Soaring Prices and Inflation
According to the state-run website of Ruydad 24, Alireza Pakfetrat, MP from Shiraz, said on May 5: “Inflation and high prices are tearing people apart, and this issue has made running the country more difficult than ever. The lack of accountability of governments has led to the height of distrust in society. More and more people are slipping below the poverty line every day. What does that mean? At the same time, prices and inflation are rising, and of course, the government is fueling the inflation.”
“The government suddenly increased the price of domestic cars dramatically and people do not accept their excuses,” Pakfatrat said and while calling the situation dangerous, he added: “In my opinion, counter-revolutionary forces have penetrated the country’s system. The influence can be traced back at any place, such as trade unions, the cooperative chamber, the ministries, the general administrations, etc., and their goal is to incite the people and create discontent, and there is no other justification.”
American Lawmakers Tire Of Biden’s Long Push for Iran Deal
The Senate is demonstrating increasing impatience with President Biden’s attempt to fulfill an election campaign promise to return America to the 2015 Iran deal, with more Democrats and most Republicans urging the plug be pulled on his Iran diplomacy.
Since at least February administration officials have said that Russian- and European-brokered negotiations with Tehran are time-limited. After a certain point, these officials said, a return to the deal would have no benefits for America and our allies.
UPDATE: 8:30 AM CEST
Iran 1988 Massacre: Final Day of Noury Trial in Sweden, Verdict To Be Announced in July
On May 4, a Stockholm, Sweden, court held the final hearing session of the trial of Hamid Noury, an Iranian regime official involved in the torture and murder of thousands of political prisoners. The court will deliver its final verdict on July 14.
In the summer of 1988, the regime carried out a complete purge of prisons under the orders of mullahs’ regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini, executing more than 30,000 prisons in the span of a few months. Most of the victims were members and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
Rights Group Calls for Halting Imminent Execution of Swedish-Iranian Academic Ahmadreza Djalali
Amnesty International called on the Iranian authorities to immediately stop any plans to execute Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali.
In a statement issued on Thursday, May 6, Amnesty International called for the immediate release of the political prisoner, citing the “arbitrary” detention of Ahmadreza Djalali in Ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin prison, which is controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence.
In a letter to the head of the regime’s head of the judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the human rights group noted that the trial of the Iranian-Swedish researcher was ” grossly unfair ” and relied on torture-tainted “confessions,” that Ahmadreza Djalali says were obtained under torture and other ill-treatment while he was held in prolonged solitary confinement without access to a lawyer.
Congress Fires Its First Warning Shot on Biden’s Iran Deal
President Joe Biden’s bid to revive the Iran nuclear deal flunked its first test in the U.S. Senate.
A bipartisan super-majority of senators voted late Wednesday to endorse a Republican-led measure stating that any nuclear agreement with Tehran should also address Iran’s support for terrorism in the region, and that the U.S. should not lift sanctions on an elite branch of the Iranian military, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran: A Bloodthirsty Regime With World Record in Executions
Under the dominance of the mullahs in the Iranian regime, Iran holds the world record for the number of executions and arbitrary killings carried out each year. Over the past 43 years, the only thing that has not changed is the regime’s brutal behavior with the people and its consistent human rights violations.
Execution and repression are used by the regime as a means to maintain their sovereignty, and as a tool to deal with the people’s desire for freedom in a democratic country.
Kurd Civil Activist Zamaneh Zewyeh Condemned to 10 Months in Jail
The first branch of the Revolutionary Court of Saqqez sentenced a Kurd civil activist to 10 months in prison. The court has accused Kurd civil activist Zamaneh Zewyeh of being a member of one of the Kurdish dissident groups. The court informed her of the sentence on April 28, 2022, but the Kurdish media announced it on May 3.
Read more: Iran News in Brief – May 5, 2022
