THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 9:30 PM
France Expels Iranian Suspected of Influence Peddling for Tehran: Lawyer
Agence France Presse (AFP) – France on Wednesday expelled an Iranian suspected of influence peddling on behalf of the Islamic Republic and having links to the Revolutionary Guards ideological army, his lawyer and a source close to the issue told AFP.
Bashir Biazar had been held in administrative detention since the start of June and was subject to a deportation order from the French interior ministry.
His lawyer Rachid Lemoudaa said his client never posed a “threat to public order” in France.
Mohammad Mahdi Rahimi, the head of public relations for the office of the Iranian president, wrote on X: Biazar “has been released and is on his way back to his homeland”.
Close of Free Iran Summit Includes Dire Nuclear Warning from Dershowitz, Reflections on ’88 Massacre
Acclaimed attorney and legal thinker Alan Dershowitz could not stand or take to the stage on the final day of the Free Iran Summit in Paris, but his remarks Monday brought many Iranian dissidents at the event to their feet. Speaking from a wheelchair after a fall that tore his hamstring the day before, the 85-year-old Dershowitz made a strong and wide-ranging case for applying pressure on the ruling government in Iran and warning of the dangers that the country could represent if it managed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
“I think that if Iran gets nuclear weapons, it will be the worst nuclear power in the world, worse even than North Korea,” said Dershowitz, a former Harvard law professor famed for representing controversial clients in high-profile cases.
UPDATE: 4:30 PM
5 More Alleged Senior Members of Iranian Regime Face Deportation from Canada
Immigration officials have launched deportation proceedings against five more suspected members of the Iranian regime found in Canada, according to newly released figures. The Canada Border Services Agency has alleged they held senior positions in Iran’s repressive government and has asked the Immigration and Refugee Board to hold hearings. They face removal from Canada under sanctions adopted in 2022 that ban tens of thousands of top Iranian officials, including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) members, from the country.
The sanctions were enacted after Iran’s morality police arrested Mahsa Amini for showing her hair in public and killed her while she was in custody, setting off protests that were brutally suppressed.
US Military Destroys Houthi Radar Site Posing Threat to Coalition Forces and Merchant Ships
The US military has destroyed an Iranian-backed Houthi radar site in Yemen. US Central Command said the site posed a threat to allied forces and merchant shipping in the area. “This action was taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure,” it explained.
It added: “In the past 24 hours, US Central Command forces successfully destroyed one Iranian-backed Houthi radar site in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.
“It was determined the radar site presented an imminent threat to US, coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region.”
July 1 CENTCOM Update
In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command forces successfully destroyed one Iranian-backed Houthi radar site in a Houthi controlled area of Yemen.
It was determined the radar site presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition forces, and merchant… pic.twitter.com/KZDHImaGgv
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 2, 2024
UPDATE: 8:00 AM
Free Iran 2024 Summit Calls for Accountability for The Human Rights Abuses of Mullahs’ Regime
The third day of the Free Iran 2024 World Summit, titled “Crimes Against Humanity and Accountability for Perpetrators,” featured a series of speeches by prominent international figures with a focus on the Iranian regime’s human rights abuses, especially against dissidents and political opponents. They expressed strong support for the Iranian resistance movement, highlighting the regime’s human rights abuses and advocating for global recognition and backing of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) led by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi. Speakers emphasized the necessity of justice, accountability, and international pressure to end the regime’s oppressive practices and pave the way for a free, democratic, and non-nuclear Iran. In her keynote speech, Mrs. Rajavi commemorated the martyrs of the struggle for freedom and those who continue to fight.
Iran’s Runoff Election Doesn’t Matter, but the Boycott of the First Round Does
The people of Iran will have to wait for the conclusion of a two-person runoff before they know who will assume the country’s second-highest office, following the May 19 death of President Ebrahim Raisi. But the people of Iran made it clear with the first-round election that they do not care about the outcome. According to poll watchers of the country’s leading pro-democracy opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, only about 12 percent of the population took part in that election, while the rest embraced a boycott campaign that was meant to convey rejection of the entire ruling system.
Arrests of Activists: Atefeh Rangriz and Nasrin Hasani
Atefeh Rangriz, a women’s rights and labor activist residing in Damghan, Semnan, has been arrested again. Prior to her recent arrest, she faced charges related to her activities. According to a report, she was transferred to Shahrud prison on June 29, after being charged by the 1st branch of the Damghan Prosecutor’s Office. In a new case, she is accused of “forming a group with the intention of disrupting security,” “spreading propaganda against the state,” and “spreading lies in cyberspace.”
This is not the first time Ms. Rangriz has been detained; she was previously arrested on September 10, 2023, by the Intelligence Department forces in Damghan and held at the detention center in Semnan. Eventually, she was transferred to Shahrud Central Prison and temporarily released on October 21 of the same year. Ms. Rangriz has faced multiple arrests by security agencies and has been tried by the judicial system.
Iran Central Bank Publishes Fabricated Statistics About Inflation Reduction
The newspaper Asre-Eghtesad criticized the “fabrication of statistics” by government institutions, quoting Hamidreza Ghasemi, an economic researcher, who described the reported statistics on the alleged reduction of over 24 percentage points in inflation since March 2023 as “playing with the indexes.”
Hamidreza Ghasemi, an economic researcher, told the newspaper Asre-Eghtesad that “these indexes are about torturing the statistics to reach a number that is more of a joke and ridicule.”
He commented on the fabricated statistics of reduced inflation, saying, “Both in people’s lives and in investments in various markets, and in the aspect of the middle class becoming poorer, the reported statistics are not what we feel.”
Global Call to Action 2024: Addressing Crimes Against Humanity in Iran
Restrictions and punishments in Iran violate international human rights norms, including murder, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, torture, rape, sexual violence, and persecution. The regime denied entry to the UN Fact-Finding Mission and other international human rights monitors, resorting to repressive measures to suppress nationwide protests. Security forces used unlawful force and mass arrests against smaller protests. Trials were often unfair, with thousands arbitrarily detained, denied legal representation, tortured into confessions, and subjected to summary trials, flogging, and death sentences.
Torture and other ill-treatment, such as beatings, electric shocks, and prolonged solitary confinement, were widespread and systematic. Torture-tainted confessions were broadcast on state television. The crackdown on women and girls defying compulsory veiling intensified, with policies severely violating their rights and restricting their freedom. Over a million women received SMS warnings threatening vehicle confiscation.
Vidal-Quadras Calls On Western Governments In Berlin To Act Against The Iranian Regime: “What Else Should Happen?”
Alejo Vidal-Quadras once again voiced his rejection of the Iranian regime today in Berlin, eight months after narrowly escaping an assassination attempt on a central street in Madrid, where a hitman shot him in the face. In front of more than 50,000 people, he reiterated that the attack would not prevent him from continuing his “struggle” and urged diplomacy and Western governments to intervene to overthrow the regime of the ayatollahs.
Vidal-Quadras addressed these words to those gathered in the German capital to participate in a large rally followed by a march of the Iranian resistance. Iranians living in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Arab countries, opposed to what Vidal-Quadras repeatedly called “the theocratic and dictatorial regime of the ayatollahs,” attended. The rally took place at Bebelplatz, and the march proceeded along Unter den Linden Avenue to Glinka Strasse.
Also, read Iran News in Brief – July 2, 2024
