THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 9:00 PM CET
Raisi’s Government is Destroying Iran’s Economy – State Official
Amids factional fighting within the Iranian regime, a state official has disclosed information that on an hourly basis the government of Ebrahim Raisi prints 420 billion tomans in banknotes.
Criticizing the government of Ebrahim Raisi, Mohammad Reza Jafariyan, a tax advisor at the Chamber of Guilds in Tehran, said on July 8: “They print 420 billion tomans in banknotes per hour, creating inflation and collecting taxes from that inflation. There’s no inflation auditing in this country. While they have caused 70% of inflation, they have only given a 25% salary increase to employees. Unfortunately, this trend has continued for the past 40 years. We don’t know where the taxes are being spent. The government doesn’t report where this money ends up.”
He added, “The government has dug deep in the pockets of the people. No one should increase taxes during a recession period. Other countries create attractiveness for you to travel there and take money there to adjust their economic policies, but in Iran, they only say don’t eat and stop wearing clothes.”
Sunday Protests in Iran
Today, July 9, retired employees of the Social Security Organization in Ahvaz, Shush, Haft-Tappeh, and Kermanshah gathered once again in front of the Social Security Organization building to protest against the unfair wages, the unbearable living conditions and the lack of attention to their demands.
More images of today's protest rally by retirees and pensioners in Ahvaz. pic.twitter.com/C6vwwtaF25
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 9, 2023
More images of the protest rally by pensioners of the regime's Social Security Organization in Shush. pic.twitter.com/IN0aEEbiSi
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 9, 2023
More footage of today's protest rally by retirees and pensioners in Kermanshah.
Protesters chanting:
"Retirees are awake and fed up with the discrimination!"pic.twitter.com/doEpo7aKzf— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 9, 2023
Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, Southern Iran
Shush, Khuzestan Province, Southern Iran
Iran Moves Toward Possible Atom Bomb Test in Defiance of Western Sanctions: Intel Report
A fresh batch of damning European intelligence reports reveal that the Islamic Republic of Iran sought to bypass U.S. and EU sanctions to secure technology for its nuclear weapons program with a view toward testing an atomic bomb. According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which first published translations of the intelligence documents on its website, the security agencies of Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany revealed sensitive data during the first six months of 2023 on the Iranian regime’s illicit nuclear weapons proliferation activities. The reports mainly cover Iran’s alleged illegal conduct in 2022.
British Minister: Iran Poses a Threat to Security of Middle East Partners, Global Trade
Iran poses an unacceptable threat to the security of the partners in the Middle East and global trade, said British Minister of State for the Middle East Lord Tariq Ahmad. According to the Arab News Agency, Ahmad tweeted that the UK would continue to work with the US and other members of the International Maritime Security Construct to “deter Iranian aggression and protect freedom of navigation.”
The US forces prevented two attempted commercial tanker seizures by the Iranian Navy earlier this week after the Iranians had opened fire in one of the incidents near the coast of Oman. Both of these incidents occurred in international waters.
UPDATE: 3:00 PM CET
Iranian-backed Militias Start Admitting More Syrians in Deir Ezzor
Deir Ezzor province: SOHR sources have reported that Iranian-backed militias opened a new recruitment center in Harabesh neighbourhood in Deir Ezzor city to lure young and adult men to join their ranks for monthly salaries of 700,000 Syrian pounds each person, exploiting the dreadful living conditions in the city. The center seeks to provide military training courses to the new recruits for 15 days, before distributing them to camps in Deir Ezzor city, “Ayash” warehouses, Al-Bokamal and Al-Mayadeen in eastern Deir Ezzor countryside. It is worth noting that Iranian-backed militias continue exerting diligent efforts to gain populist support in areas under their control, instill their ideologies into the segments of Syrian society and impose their predominance on the region at all levels, including the social, political and militarily situation.
Iran’s Opposition Gains Ground: The Case for Western Support
The widespread protests coursing through Iran, coupled with the burgeoning international and domestic influence of the main Iranian opposition, have laid bare the deep strategic vulnerabilities of the clerical regime. Western governments must not remain oblivious to these seismic developments but instead adopt a resolute policy that supports the Iranian people’s fervent call for a democratic republic while firmly confronting their oppressors in Tehran. The mullahs have been grappling with an intractable challenge as they resort to violent suppression to quell the nationwide protests that erupted last September. Though experiencing occasional fluctuations, the protests continue to pose insurmountable strategic obstacles for the faltering theocracy. Popular discontent has reached unprecedented levels, and the mullahs find themselves teetering on the precipice of collapse. It is in this precarious state that the regime has launched an all-out offensive against the main opposition, epitomized by the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and the democratic coalition of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
UPDATE: 11:30 AM CET
MEK Resistance Units Send Strong Message at Free Iran World 2023 World Summit
In tandem with the Free Iran 2023 World Summit in France, thousands of members of Resistance Units, a network of MEK activists inside Iran, showed their solidarity with the yearly rally of the Iranian Resistance. In video messages that were displayed at the world summit, 10,000 Resistance Units expressed their desire to overthrow the regime and establish a secular democratic republic. The video messages, which came from cities all across Iran, included messages of hope and resistance. “Our choice is Maryam Rajavi,” many Resistance Units said, in reference to the Ten-Point Plan of the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). “Freedom will come, with the slogan, ‘We can and we must!’” the Resistance Units chanted in many of their video messages.
120 Former World Leaders Seek Accountability In Iran
UPDATE, 9 July 2023: Former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former Prime Minister of Ukraine Anatoliy Kinakh are among more than a dozen distinguished former world leaders who have announced their support for the Open Letter on Iran.
The international community must support Iran’s pro-democracy protesters and blacklist the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), more than 100 distinguished former world leaders representing 54 nations announced in a new global initiative. The call was made in a collective letter to the world powers on Tuesday, just days after the regime executed three protesters. The three men were executed for taking part in the nationwide uprising that began last September. In the past three weeks, there has been an alarming surge in state-sanctioned executions in Iran, exceeding a staggering count of 100 as the regime tries to suppress protests with impunity.
Insights From Global Leaders on the 1988 Massacre: Highlights From the Third Global Summit of Free Iran
The final day of the 2023 Iran World Summit centered around the litigation movement. Unlike a mere commemoration, this meeting, which is a recurring component of Iranian resistance gatherings, serves as a legal trial. Its objective is to hold the criminal leaders of the Velayat al-Faqih system accountable—those who orchestrated and executed the massacre of political prisoners in 1988. According to Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council Resistance of Iran, this litigation is an integral part of the ongoing uprising aimed at overthrowing the oppressive regime. In present times, both within Iran and worldwide, conscious individuals are questioning why the 1988 massacre occurred. How did 30,000 of Iran’s brightest youth meet their tragic end, buried in anonymous mass graves, all due to a single handwritten decree from Khomeini? Why has this grave crime remained unresolved, with the perpetrators still enjoying immunity?
Voices of Liberation Uniting for a Democratic Iran and Regional Stability
In the second day of the World Summit for a Free Iran was held at the headquarters of the Iranian resistance in Paris too. The event commenced with a speech by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, while Mr. Ahmed Kamel, a prominent figure in the Syrian opposition, presided over the gathering. Throughout the summit, speakers addressed a range of issues in their speeches. However, there was a common thread linking Mrs. Rajavi’s statements and the words of most participants: “Freedom for Iran and peace and tranquility for the region.”
Why is this of such paramount importance? The regime’s exportation of terrorism and fundamentalism to countries within the region and beyond remains a defining characteristic. Speaking to the esteemed guests from Arab nations, Ms. Rajavi stated, although the people of Iran were the initial victims of the Velayat Faqih system’s malevolent practices, this regime stands as the greatest enemy of Islam and Muslims.
Honor Killings and Femicide Are on the Rise in Iran
Every passing day brings news of more honor killings and femicide in Iran. Zilan Aivaz, 15, was shot and killed by her father, Abdusalam, on Friday, July 7, 2023. The honor killing occurred in Ziveh village in Piranshahr County, West Azerbaijan. Salam Aivaz had reportedly learned of her daughter’s friendship with a young man and decided to take her life. Under the clerical regime’s misogynous laws, a father owns the blood of his children, and he will not be punished by “retribution” or the death penalty for murdering his children. According to Article 301 of the Iranian regime’s Islamic Punishment Law, the father or the paternal grandfather who kills their own children are not punished” because they “own” their children’s blood
Also, read Iran News in Brief – July 8, 2023
