THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 12:30 PM
Treasury Targets Houthi Weapons Procurement and Funding Networks
WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating two individuals and five entities that have facilitated weapons procurement for Ansarallah, commonly referred to as the Houthis. OFAC is also designating one individual and one company, as well as identifying one vessel, that has facilitated the shipment of commodities, the sale of which provides an important funding stream to the Houthis that aids in their weapons procurement. This action targets key actors who have enabled the Houthis to generate revenue and acquire a range of materials to manufacture the advanced weaponry they are now using to conduct ongoing terrorist attacks against commercial ships. Since November 2023, the Houthis have deployed a range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles to attack merchant vessels and their crews in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, killing innocent civilians, causing severe damage to commercial ships, and threatening global freedom of navigation.
U.S. Designates Iran-Aligned Ansar Allah Al-Awfiya as Terrorist Organization
June 18 (UPI) — The United States has designated Iraq-based Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya as a terrorist organization as the Biden administration cracks down on Iran proxy militias amid Israel’s war in Gaza.
The U.S. State Department sanctioned the Iran-backed group as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization along with its 46-year-old secretary general, Muzhir Ma’lak al-Sa’idi.
“The United States remains committed to using all available tools to counter Iran’s support for terrorism and to degrade and disrupt the ability of Iran-backed groups to conduct terrorist attacks,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
UPDATE: 7:30 AM
Iran’s Regime Spends 6 Billion Euros to Intensify Suppression
The economic situation of the Iranian people does not require much explanation or economic interpretation. It is not even necessary to assess Iran’s economic conditions using norms, statistics, and charts. The best and most painful measure is the people’s tables and pockets, which are truly empty. The people of Iran feel the economic pressures intensely. However, some news and analysis reveal how the regime uses the people’s resources. Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior of the regime, disclosed on June 12, during a session titled “Police Commanders Conference,” that former regime president Ebrahim Raisi, in addition to the annual budget, allocated a substantial extra budget to the police force.
The Perils of Appeasement: The West’s Dangerous Dance with the Iranian Regime
In contemporary politics, there are moments when formal articles and diplomatic niceties fail to capture the gravity of a situation. We find ourselves in such a moment now. Why? Because of the irresponsible appeasement policy of Western powers towards a brutal, blood-shedding regime.
The Iranian regime appears elated by the world’s powers’ weakness in addressing its terrorism and human rights violations. Instead of confronting these issues, Western nations are rewarding Iran, effectively paving the way for more wars in the Middle East and increasing atrocities within the country.
By betraying all human rights principles and values, these policies stab the Iranian people in the back and degrade the moral standards of the Western nations themselves, exposing their vulnerability to such a regime. For those unfamiliar with the specifics, let us enumerate the shameful concessions made to this regime.
Iran: Female Farm Workers in Khuzestan with Lowest Wages and No Insurance
Female farm workers in Khuzestan, southwest Iran, work on a daily wage basis without insurance and with the lowest wages. Some of these women, even at 80 years of age, have been forced to work in the agricultural fields for the past 60 years.
On Saturday, June 15, the regime’s Etemad newspaper reported on the lives and work of female farm workers in Khuzestan province.
They work in the agricultural fields, from young to old and of various ages, in the 40- to 50-degree Celsius heat of Khuzestan without any shade or cool water, and many times they have suffered from heat stroke due to working in high temperatures, requiring medical attention and hospitalization.
Construction Workers Do Not Have Early Retirement
A labor activist for Iranian construction workers criticized the working conditions of construction workers, stating that their insurance has faced serious obstacles and has been halted.
He also mentioned that construction workers are not entitled to early retirement benefits, and even if they are insured, their lives and health are at risk. According to the regime’s ILNA news agency, Mohammadzadeh, a labor activist for construction workers in Kermanshah, stated that while construction work is one of the most difficult and hazardous jobs, accounting for more than half of the country’s work-related accidents, it is not considered a hard and hazardous occupation by law.
Political Prisoner Afshin Baymani: 24-Year Ordeal Behind Bars
Afshin Baymani, born in 1974 in Ramhormoz, Khuzestan, is a political prisoner in Iran whose tragic and harrowing journey underscores the severe and systemic human rights abuses faced by political detainees in the country. Arrested on September 5, 2000, for aiding his brother Mehdi Baymani, a member of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), Afshin has spent 24 years in prison, enduring unimaginable hardships and injustices.
Afshin’s ordeal began with his arrest alongside his wife and children. Mehdi, his brother, was subsequently killed by security forces, and the family never received his body. In the infamous Evin Prison, Afshin was held in solitary confinement in Ward 209, subjected to months of brutal torture and interrogation. Initially sentenced to death for his alleged connections with the PMOI, his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment after six grueling years. In 2009, he was transferred to Gohardasht Prison (also known as Rajai Shahr Prison).
Iran’s Snap Election: Another Sham Election Amid Economic Crisis
In Iran, elections are viewed as absurd, and orchestrated by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his inner circle. These elections are conducted amidst significant internal and external crises, with the regime resorting to severe repression to maintain control. The six candidates approved by the Guardian Council to participate in the upcoming elections are all closely aligned with Khamenei. This controlled selection process ensures that power remains within a corrupt and repressive system, leaving the Iranian people to suffer under economic hardship and authoritarian rule.
The current electoral process is merely a facade, occurring while Iranian society is in turmoil due to the regime’s authoritarian practices. The regime, desperate to avoid collapse, heavily relies on clerics who support terrorism and oppression. Khamenei’s primary objective is to ensure the regime’s survival at any cost, favoring candidates who are willing to engage in corruption and brutality. The six chosen candidates are essentially pawns in this sham election, perpetuating a corrupt system with no real competition or democracy. The state’s media may highlight superficial differences among the candidates, but these do not reflect any substantive policy divergence.
Canada—June 15, 2024: MEK Supporters Rally in Ottawa and Toronto to Denounce Sweden-Mullahs Deal for Release of 1988 Massacre Executioner Hamid Noury
Canada—June 15, 2024: Demonstrators in Ottawa and Toronto rallied to protest the recent shameful deal between Sweden and the mullahs’ regime, which resulted in the release of Hamid Noury.
Stockholm, June 16, 2024: MEK Supporters Rally in Front of Swedish Foreign Ministry to Denounce Shameful Sweden-Mullahs’ Regime Deal
Stockholm, Sweden—June 16, 2024: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a protest rally in front of the Swedish Foreign Ministry to denounce the shameful deal between Sweden and the mullahs’ regime for releasing Hamid Noury, a criminal executioner of the mullahs’ regime involved in the 1988 Massacre. They chanted slogans against the appeasement policy towards the mullahs’ regime.
Oslo—June 15, 2024: MEK Supporters Rally, Condemning the Appeasement Policy With the Mullahs: Call for Participation in the #BerlinDemo29June
Oslo, Norway—June 15, 2024: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) organized a rally in solidarity with the Iranian Revolution. They also protested against the appeasement policy towards the mullahs’ regime and the recent shameful deal between Sweden and the mullahs’ regime, which resulted in the release of Hamid Noury.
Also, read Iran News in Brief – June 17, 2024