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UPDATE: 9:00 PM CET
Water Shortage Plagues Rural Areas in Northern Iran as Many Villages Struggle with Limited Supply
Approximately 40% of the villages in the Rudbar region, Gilan Province, have access to water for only one to two hours per day, according to a report by the state-run ILNA news agency published today. This alarming statistic underscores the dire water situation faced by many communities in the area.
ILNA acknowledges that numerous villages in Rudbar experience only one to two hours of water supply per day, particularly during the summer months. Some villages even struggle to receive water for an hour. Out of all the villages, 50% are connected to water and sewage networks, while the rest manage their water resources autonomously under the supervision of local councils and water management authorities.
The root of the infrastructural issues in these villages dates back to the devastating earthquake in Rudbar. Since then, water facilities have been patched up, with around 30 years having passed since their repair. Many of these facilities have now deteriorated and require replacement or extensive renovation.
Communities in the stations of Estakhrgah, Defaraz, and Palang Dare share a common water supply system. Currently, these villages are facing a complete water cut-off, and during the summer, the water scarcity issues exacerbate, with only 20 minutes of water supply followed by a 48-hour outage. For the Estakhrgah station, approximately 20 to 30 water tankers are dispatched daily, each being sold at prices ranging from 700,000 to 1 million tomans. Unfortunately, some residents cannot afford these costs, forcing them to resort to river water for their daily needs.
Congressman Lawler Announces Over 150 Cosponsors for Ship Act
Today, Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) was pleased to announce that there are now over 150 cosponsors for H.R. 3774, the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act, which he and Congressman Jared Moskowitz (FL-23) introduced earlier this summer to crack down on illicit purchases of Iranian oil and hold Iran’s enablers accountable.
“I’m proud to see such broad, bipartisan support for the SHIP Act,” said Congressman Lawler (NY-17). “Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea have formed an unholy alliance and are working together to evade sanctions and bolster each other’s economies. It is imperative that we work with our democratic partners and allies to thwart this new axis of evil that is hellbent on disrupting and dismantling the free world.”
Hacktivists Breach Iranian Surveillance System
Hacking group GhostSec says it’s successfully taken down Iran’s privacy-invading software Fanap Behnama, revealing details about its surveillance capabilities. The group has exposed 20GB of data, including source code, relating to face recognition and motion detection systems from Iranian software company Fanap.
While Fanap was initially established as a native Iranian banking system, it has been apparently expanded into a comprehensive surveillance system used by the Iranian government to monitor its citizens.
GhostSec says it plans to make the data public and has set up a dedicated Telegram channel called Iran Exposed to share further information. It says it plans to publish segments of the Behnama code, including various components such as configuration files and API data, and says it will provide in-depth explanations once all the data has been uploaded.
UPDATE: 7:30 PM CET
Regime Appoints Figure with History of Oppression to Key Law Enforcement Role
Amidst rising protests and on the verge of schools and universities reopening, Ahmadreza Radan, the head of the regime’s State Security Forces, appointed Masoud Mossadeq as the deputy head of Tehran’s law enforcement. Mossadeq, known for his extensive history of oppressive actions in Tehran, will assume this role.
The state-affiliated website DANA, on Wednesday, August 30, reported that “Control of social gatherings, dealing with and confronting disturbances and unlawful assemblies, participation in special operations, dispatching forces, and providing assistance to other police units are among the main responsibilities of the NAJA Special Unit, and a part of this responsibility has been under the supervision of Mossadeq.”
Furthermore, the Special Unit, under Mossadeq’s leadership, was also involved in quelling protests by Tehran’s market vendors.
To Help the Iranian People Achieve Their Democratic Goals, Protect Iranian Dissidents
Most of the time Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is known for his aggrandized statements or bravado regarding Tehran’s achievements and prowess. But recently he shared a public statement that was rather revealing. While addressing the commanders of paramilitary Basij forces, he explicitly expressed concern about the possibility of resurgent unrest around the anniversary of the incident that sparked a nationwide, anti-government uprising last year.
On Sept. 16, “morality police” in Tehran violently apprehended Mahsa Amini. Eyewitnesses reported that the 22-year-old was beaten about the head and soon fell unconscious, leading to her death in a hospital three days later. Her funeral was followed by mass protests that quickly grew to explicit calls for regime change.
Russia and Iran Suspected of Disinformation Campaign Against Sweden
Individual actors supported by Russia and Iran are leading an extensive disinformation campaign against Sweden, according to the Psychological Defence Agency which has now been tasked with tackling disinformation on Quran burnings in the country.
Influence campaigns against Sweden have escalated following the most recent spate of Quran burnings in the country, although the situation is calmer than it was during the summer.
“There is a lot of criticism and denouncement [of Sweden], as well as boycott threats and calls to attack Sweden and Swedes,” Magnus Hjort, temporary director-general of the Psychological Defence Agency, said during a press conference on Tuesday.
UPDATE: 9:30 AM CET
The Justice Movement for Iran’s 1988 Massacre Marks Another Chapter
On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, on Monday, August 21, a conference titled “Four Decades of Crime against Humanity and Impunity from Punishment” was held in Paris.
At this conference, several prominent international judges and lawyers, along with some political figures from different countries, were present. Also at the conference was Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
The presence of prominent lawyers and judicial officials from international courts and their speeches show the attention of the international community to the 1988 massacre as the biggest organized crime against humanity after World War II.
Remembering the 1988 Massacre and the Unyielding Pursuit of Truth
After 35 years since the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 in Iran, when we reflect upon the path taken by the justice movement, a sense of wonder overwhelms us. This incident, akin to a “candle in the darkness,” and the individuals who sacrificed themselves for their country’s freedom, have shattered the veil of a grim world. As indicated by Khomeini’s handwritten decree, the lives of 30,000 innocent souls were intended to be extinguished in oppressive silence, leaving no trace in Iran’s contemporary history. They were meant to vanish as though they had never existed on this earth.
Prior to this, Ruhollah Khomeini, the orchestrator of this heinous act, along with his accomplices, consistently issued fatwas advocating the brutal execution of members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), insisting that their deaths be as cruel as possible and that they are denied proper burials in Muslim cemeteries.
Enforced Disappearances in Iran Continue to This Date
As the world marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on August 30, we call on the international community to end three decades of impunity for the clerical regime’s leaders in Iran and launch an international mission to investigate enforced disappearances in Iran, particularly the 1988 massacre.
For 35 years, the Iranian authorities have refused to disclose the fate and whereabouts of thousands of political dissidents who were forcibly disappeared and extra-judicially executed in secret during Iran’s 1988 prison massacres. This is a crisis largely overlooked by the international community for decades, said Amnesty International on August 28, 2019, in the lead-up to the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Iranian-Australians Welcome NSW Upper House Support for Democracy Struggle
Labor Member of the Legislative Council Cameron Murphy presented a resolution to the New South Wales Parliament on August 23, expressing solidarity with the Iranian people’s protest movement, following the state murder of Mahsa Jîna Amini. The resolution, seconded by Liberal MLC Jacqui Munro, called for more sanctions on the Iranian dictatorship and acknowledged the 10-Point Plan of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). It was carried unanimously.
Greens MLCs Abigail Boyd and Cate Faehrmann as well as Labor MLCs Bob Nanva and Mark Buttigieg also spoke in support.
Faehrmann said, “Recently, I added my signature to a statement by Iranian women within the Resistance, advocating for the establishment of a democratic republic in Iran. We wholeheartedly support the tireless struggle of Iranian women, a struggle deeply rooted in a century of their endeavours and quest for freedom and democracy.”
Iran’s VPN Market Worth Up To $1 Billion
Also, read Iran News in Brief – August 29, 2023