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UPDATE: 9:00 PM CEST
Heading for a Historical Free Iran Summit
Wish less than 2 days until the Free Iran World Summit 2021, political leaders and lawmakers from across the world are already announcing their support for the Iranian people and their quest for freedom.
International support for #FreeIran2021:
"I’m proud to sponsor #HRes118. In this resolution, we advocate for the Iranian people to have freedom to be able to utilize the same freedom of speech that we hold so dear here in the US," said @NMalliotakis on March 17.
Video by @OrgIAC pic.twitter.com/DGFPjedovy— Iran News Update (@IranNewsUpdate1) July 8, 2021
International support for #FreeIran2021:
"If we are to put an end to #Iran’s history of exporting terror and threatening the lives…, then the regime must know that we stand up to its violence and oppression," said @RepJudyChu on March 17.
Video by @OrgIAC pic.twitter.com/ejKgZiSfd3— Iran News Update (@IranNewsUpdate1) July 8, 2021
UPDATE: 9:00 PM CEST
Q&A: Maryam Rajavi, Dissident Leader, Puts Spotlight on ‘the Iran of Tomorrow’
By Washington Times Staff
Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the world’s largest Iranian dissident organization, which seeks to replace Iran’s theocratic regime with a democracy, provided the following exclusive answers to questions from The Washington Times.
TWT: Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi has been chosen as Iran’s next president. Human Rights Watch and others accuse him of a prominent role in ordering the 1988 execution of thousands of political prisoners. What is your reaction to his ascension to the presidency?
Maryam Rjavi: Ebrahim Raisi, who is berated by the Iranian people as the “Henchman of 1988” for his role in the massacre of political prisoners, is Khamenei’s last-ditch attempt to preserve clerical rule. No other outcome could more accurately display the regime’s sheer political desperation and impending overthrow. The religious dictatorship has emerged weaker and more fragile out of its presidential elections. Raisi’s emergence shows that as the regime’s death throes begin, Khamenei cannot trust even some of his closest apparatchiks and instead needs to put someone in place who has been completely and unconditionally immersed in the brutal massacre of dissidents. So, ultimately, Khamenei had no other option but to swallow both the scorn associated with installing such a murderer as president as well as the disgrace resulting from the nationwide boycott of the sham election. For his part, Raisi must face justice in an international tribunal for committing crimes against humanity, particularly the 1988 massacre.
NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi: “Iranian society is a powder keg on the verge of explosion… More ferocious and extensive uprisings are waiting to erupt at a moment’s notice… #Iran is on the brink of a seismic change.”@Maryam_Rajavi #FreeIran2021https://t.co/IvXS0ApidM
— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) July 7, 2021
Iran: At Least 324,500 People Have Lost Their Lives to COVID-19
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) announced on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, that the Coronavirus death toll in 547 cities had exceeded 324,500. The number of victims in Tehran has reached 75,796, Isfahan 21,945, Khuzestan 20,576, Khorasan Razavi 19,765, Mazandaran 12,655, Fars 10,942, Gilan 10,691, Alborz 9,223, Sistan and Baluchestan 8,111, Kerman 7,543, Hamedan 6,943, Central Province 6,688, Yazd 5,417, Hormozgan 4,965, Bushehr 3,564, Zanjan 3,510, Ilam 3,401, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 2,529.
#Iran Coronavirus Update
More than 324,300 people have died of the novel #coronavirus in 547 cities checkered across all of Iran's 31 provinces, according to the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.
Full Reporthttps://t.co/FY6v6dl9tD pic.twitter.com/cRxRHXSjyB
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 8, 2021
Iran: Tense Situation in Many Cities as Protests Continue
As power outages continue across Iran and economic problems become aggravated, Iranian people in different cities continue to hold protest rallies against the regime’s destructive and corrupt policies. On Tuesday, a group of 160 workers of Haft Tappeh sugar cane company in Shush, Khuzestan province, held the tenth day of their ongoing demonstration. The workers are protesting the company’s policy to avoid renewing their contracts or providing them full-time employment.
July 7 – Bandar-e Anzali, northern #Iran
People rallying outside the local Electricity Department protesting unannounced and lengthy blackouts.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/NRkBc2oYYy— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 7, 2021
Spread Of COVID-19 in Addition to Blackouts and Water Shortage in SE Iran
The MP of Chabahar County said yesterday COVID-19 conditions, in addition to blackouts and water shortage in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, are worse than what is reported. According to the state-run ISNA News Agency, Moinuddin Saeedi asked the Health Minister to visit the impoverished province in a parliament meeting yesterday. He added that since the beginning of the pandemic, the Health Minister did not visit the southeastern province even once.
100 Iran Oil Workers Laid off for Joining Strike
Many of the Gachsaran Petrochemical Plant’s oil workers in southwestern Iran were laid off on July 5. According to the Human Rights News Agency, local reports estimated about 100 workers were expelled. The workers who were expelled had joined the oil workers strike dubbed as “campaign 1400” that started on June 20. Workers demanded higher wages, delayed wages, and 10 days of leave for every 20 days of work.
The West Should Support the Iranian People, Who Oppose Iran’s Nuclear Program
After more than three months, there are still no evident signs of progress in negotiations over the possible restoration of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The U.S. pulled out of that deal in 2018 and began re-implementing and expanding economic sanctions, but under the Biden administration, it has demonstrated a clear willingness to compromise with its negotiating partners and adopt something akin to the former agreement. Iran has shown no such willingness and has even refused to negotiate directly with American counterparts in Vienna.
Iran Annuls Death Sentence Of Man Ten Months After His Execution
Ten months after a young man was executed in a northwest Iran prison, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions against him. Khezr Ghavidel was arrested in 2013 for drug charges and sentenced to death along with two others. Khezr Ghavidel was executed on September 10, 2020 while his case was being considered by the Supreme Court, which has now ruled that the death sentence has been overturned.
Read more: Iran News in Brief – July 7, 2021
