THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 9:30 PM CET
On Trip to South Iran Raisi Warned Against Insecurity
Today, on his provincial trip to Shadgan, Khuzestan province, the Iranian regime’s president Ebrahim Raisi warned about the dangers and insecurity the regime is facing.
“No insecurity can be tolerated in this area. Security officials should not allow anyone to disrupt the security and peace of the people and deal with any insecurity and insecurity,” Raisi warned.
Recognizing the social awakening in reverse language, Raisi added: “Despite the enemy’s efforts to spread despair in society, our people know the way and are aware of the enemy’s schemes and have insight, and this knowledge is not limited to the generations of the 80s. Rather we see that the newer generations know the enemy well.”
Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on the Administration’s Actions to Punish and Deter Wrongful Detention and Hostage-Taking
In addition, we will be announcing sanctions against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization — better known as “IRGC-IO” — for being responsible for or complicit in, directly or indirectly engaged in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing the wrongful detention of a U.S. national abroad.
That’s the exact language of the EO you hear me repeating both times.
The IRGC-IO frequently holds and interrogates detainees, including at least one wrongfully detained U.S. national, in Evin Prison. And Evin Prison has a long and sordid history of human rights abuses, including extensive reports of torture.
In addition, four IRGC-IO leaders will also be designated today for their support to or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the IRGC-IO’s conduct in this area.
Today’s sanctions are one of a series of efforts — some public like this, some private — to secure the release of U.S. nationals wrongfully held overseas, to promote accountability for the culprits, and, by doing so, to prevent and deter the next set of cases from arising in the first place.
The Iranian Drones Deployed by Russia in Ukraine Are Powered by Stolen Western Technology, Research Reveals
New research has revealed the extent to which Iran has built a powerful weapons industry based on Western technology, and how that technology is being used by Russia against Ukrainian cities. Conflict Armament Research (CAR), a UK-based organization that investigates weapons’ components, has established that the Shahed-136 drones sold to Russia by Iran are powered by an engine based on German technology – technology illicitly acquired by Iran almost 20 years ago.
The finding – made through a detailed examination of components recovered in Ukraine and shared exclusively with CNN – underlines Iran’s ability to mimic and finesse military technology it has obtained illegitimately.
Inside The House GOP Plan to Stop a Second Iran Nuclear Deal
Congress is readying a bevy of bills that would effectively kill any hope the Biden administration has of inking a revamped nuclear deal with Iran, according to sources briefed on the matter. House Republicans on Friday will begin rolling out a series of six bills designed to expand sanctions on Iran and curtail the White House’s ability to waive sanctions in future deals, according to copies of the legislation exclusively obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The bills, sponsored by members of the conservative Republican Study Committee, target Iran’s military, government leaders, and financial sector.
UPDATE: 8:30 PM CET
Iran Uprising at a Glance
Based partially on reporting by PMOI (MEK) Network in Iran
Friday, April 28, 2023 – 8 PM GMT + 1
- Days: 225
- Protests: 282 cities
- Fatalities: 750+ estimated deaths, 675 identified by MEK
- Detentions: 30,000
April 28 – Fanuj, southeast #Iran
Regime security forces began using tear gas to disperse the crowd of demonstrators, according to local activists.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/S2SmfPPuUz— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) April 28, 2023
Iran’s nationwide uprising marked its 225th day, with industrial workers across 13 provinces and 38 cities continuing their strike at over 110 sites. The striking workers include those from critical industrial sectors such as oil, gas, petrochemical, steel, and copper, among others, delivering a significant blow to the regime’s sources of revenue.
According to recent reports, residents of Zahedan and Fanuj in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in southeast Iran took to the streets and launched anti-regime demonstrations following their weekly prayers. The protests in Zahedan, in particular, drew a large crowd who chanted anti-regime slogans such as:
“Basij and IRGC members, you are our ISIS!”
“Khamenei, have some shame! Let go of the country!”
“We swear on the blood of our compatriots that we stand to the very end!”
“Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!”
April 28 – Fanuj, southeast #Iran
Locals are protesting in the streets and clashing with regime security forces, according to local activists.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/RLkM3Efu2U— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) April 28, 2023
In Fanuj, protesters took to the streets and engaged in clashes with regime security forces. Just recently, four individuals were run over and locals were fired upon, resulting in at least two deaths and multiple injuries. On Friday, regime security forces used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.
NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi praised the people of Zahedan and Fanuj who rose up against the mullahs’ dictatorship and continued their anti-regime demonstrations.
April 28 – #Iran
Groups of women in Tehran and Karaj held protest gatherings prior to May 1st and raised placards reading:
"From our homes to the factories, from schools to the streets, we stand for women's rights!"
"Political prisoners must be released!"#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/TVTLk64JW8— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) April 28, 2023
Groups of women in the cities of Tehran and Karaj held protest gatherings on Friday prior to May 1st to mark International Workers’ Day. They raised placards calling for gender equality and the release of all political prisoners.
Contract bus drivers of two companies in Tehran went on strike on Friday, refusing to show up for work and protesting how officials continue to withhold and deny them their paychecks.
Taxi drivers in the city of Astara in northern Iran held a gathering on Thursday protesting to local authorities their poor conditions and how it is extremely difficult to make ends meet.
April 28 – Tehran, #Iran
Local contract bus drivers of two companies went on strike and refused to show up for work today, protesting how their officials continue to withhold and deny them their paychecks.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/md7KmmBc4I— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) April 28, 2023
UPDATE: 3:00 PM CET
State Media Acknowledge Misery State of Iran’s Medical System
On April 26, Ettela’at, an Iranian state-run newspaper, recognized yet another socio-economic crisis plaguing the country – the exorbitant cost of medicine and its scarcity. In an article, the paper emphasized that government control and management alone cannot solve the problem. According to Ettela’at, previous administrations have only resorted to mere rhetoric instead of addressing the root cause of the issue.
Indirectly exposing the systemic hypocrisy, the daily wrote: “Although the head of the executive branch has warned about the high cost of medicine and supply chain issues, inflation is still high and increasing by the day. People are struggling with the high prices and the shortage of special medicines and therefore, they have to go to drug dealers to get smuggled ones! In best-case scenarios, an MP talks about the high cost and the lack of medicine to the press or during a public speech in the parliament. But neither the government nor the parliament fails to do anything more than that.”
“The number of patients who have been discharged, but despite having health insurance, do not have money or are hiding or any other reason, is increasing,” the paper wrote on April 19. “Sometimes, other patients’ bedfellows and sometimes the doctors and nurses of the ward put money together to help, and sometimes the hospital itself gives a discount! It cannot go on like this.”
Etemad added: “A hospital employee in Sistan and Baluchistan province has encountered a large number of families unable to pay for their patients’ hospitalization in the last 5 years. He also has witnessed that some [authorities] indirectly keep the patient in the hospital until the costs are settled and the patient’s debt is compensated. They have turned the department into a prison and prevent them from leaving the hospital.”
UPDATE: 1:00 PM CET
New Pen America Report: Iran is Now the Second Worst Jailer of Writers, Behind China
(NEW YORK)—Iran’s government jailed almost three times the number of writers in 2022 from the previous year, propelling it into second place behind China as the most repressive country for writers, according to PEN America’s Freedom to Write Index, released today. The crackdown on anti-government protests after the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa (Jina) Amini in September led to the targeting of writers and artists, increasing those jailed to 57, from 22 the previous year. One-third of those behind bars are now women, whose numbers rose to 16 from five.
PEN America found that Iran jailed more than one-third of the total number of women writers jailed worldwide, 16 of 42. The development reflects the fact that women have been at the forefront of the 2022 anti-government protest movement, either actively and/or by writing in support of it.
UPDATE: 9:30 AM CET
Senators Urge Biden To Enable Agency To Seize Tankers of Iran Oil
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As Iran’s oil exports rise despite U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program, senators from both parties urged President Joe Biden to enable a federal government agency to seize Iranian oil and gas shipments.
Senators Joni Ernst, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, said in a letter to Biden that the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office has not been able to seize an Iranian oil shipment for more than a year.
HSI’s enforcement has been curtailed by policy limitations within the Department of Treasury’s Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture, the senators said in the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters.
UPDATE: 8:00 AM CET
Regime’s Concerns Escalate Over Increasing Strikes and Protests in Iran
As Iran’s industrial workers continue their nationwide strike in over 110 sites of 38 cities in 13 provinces throughout the country’s oil, gas, petrochemical, steel, copper, and other such plants, protests by people from all walks of life also escalate, and continue to cause concerns for the mullahs’ dictatorship. MEK Resistance Units and brave youths in different cities of Iran are also increasing their anti-regime measures. This includes an ongoing campaign of posting large images of the Iranian Resistance leadership and engaging in attacks targeting different regime buildings in response to various crimes committed by the regime’s oppressive security forces.
Labor Conditions in Iran: Challenges and Inequalities Facing Iranian Workers
The current living circumstances have become intolerable for Iranian society, particularly for hardworking laborers who have been grappling with financial difficulties, high prices, and inflation for years. Experts estimate that a worker would need to save their entire income for 42 years to purchase a house, and even then, their income may not be sufficient to cover rent alone. According to the head of the trade unions of construction workers, housing costs have experienced a 1000% inflation since 2016, over a seven-year period. This statistic is just one aspect of the disaster that workers and the people of Iran are facing.
Zurich, Switzerland—April 25, 2023: MEK Supporters Held an Exhibition in Support of the Iran Revolution
Zurich, Switzerland—April 25, 2023: Freedom-loving Iranians, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held an exhibition of the martyrs of the nationwide protests killed by the mullahs’ regime in solidarity with the Iranian Revolution.
Also, read Iran News in Brief – April 27, 2023