THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 9:00 PM CET
US Sanctions Target Iran’s Internet Censorship Amid Protests
WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) – The United States said on Friday it imposed sanctions on Iranian technology company Arvan Cloud, two employees, and an affiliated Emirati firm for helping Tehran censor the internet in Iran as part of the government’s attempts to crush domestic protests.
Arvan Cloud has a close relationship with Iran’s intelligence services and its executives have ties to senior Iranian government officials, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
Iran Protests at a Glance
Based partially on reporting by PMOI (MEK) Network in Iran
Friday, June 2, 2023 – 8 PM GMT + 1
On June 2, brave demonstrators in the city of Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan & Baluchestan in southeast Iran, initiated a new anti-regime rally after their Friday prayers. The locals protested the regime’s recent increase in executions as many of their compatriots were sent to the gallows on a daily basis. The demonstrators also expressed their opposition to any reinstatement of monarchial rule and reiterated their demand to live in a democratic republic after overthrowing the mullahs’ regime.
June 2 – Zahedan, southeast #Iran
Locals are in the streets chanting anti-regime slogans, including: "My martyred brother, I will avenge your blood!"#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/mGNa0DMZrD— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 2, 2023
Calling for regime change, the protesters in Zahedan chanted:
“I will kill those who killed my brother!”
“Down with Khamenei!” referring to regime dictator Ali Khamenei.
“Down with the dictator!”
“Political prisoners must be released!”
“Iranians, unity, revolution, freedom!”
“Down with the IRGC!”
“No to a monarchy! No to the [mullahs’ regime]! Democracy and equality!”
“We don’t want a state of executions!”
June 2 – Zahedan, southeast #Iran
Locals are in the streets chanting anti-regime slogans, including: "We don't want a state of executions!"#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/vParZ8D7jS— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 2, 2023
“Kurds, Baluchis, Azeris! Freedom and equality!”
“From Zahedan to Tehran, my life for Iran!”
“Basij and IRGC, you are our ISIS!”
The demonstrators were also seen holding a placard reading:
“Monarchy and the [mullahs’ regime] – 100 years of crimes!”
June 2 – Zahedan, southeast #Iran
Locals are in the streets protesting the mullahs' daily executions and rallying against any return to the Shah's dictatorship.#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/7kVSJxiShF— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 2, 2023
On Thursday night, people in Abadanan, western Iran, participated in a general strike to protest the murder of a local Kurdish student named Bamshad Soleimankhani by the regime’s security forces. Authorities had initially prevented his family from holding a ceremony, causing further discontent among the protesters.
June 1 – Abdanan, western #Iran
Footage of brave protesters confronting the regime's oppressive security forces, according to local activists.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/O3EuTWmdD0— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 1, 2023
After nightfall, activists began reporting that local officials had deployed over 50 security vehicles to confront the protesting youth, who had taken control of the city’s main street. There were reports indicating that the security units resorted to opening fire on the locals, while protesters retaliated by attacking and damaging several police vehicles.
The protests spread across different districts in the city, posing significant challenges for the regime’s security forces in their attempts to suppress the rallies. Activists have reported that dozens of protesters were injured as the regime’s security forces used shot-gun pellet rounds.
June 1 – Abdanan, western #Iran
Activists are saying regime security forces are using these types of ammunition against the local protesters who are merely chanting slogans against the mullahs' regime.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/DY8QmhNHWT— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 1, 2023
June 1 – Abdanan, western #Iran
More footage of authorities dispatched several dozen security vehicles to confront the city's protesting youth. Reports indicate the security units fired live bullets and tear gas.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/NB70el18Qc— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 1, 2023
UPDATE: 3:30 PM CET
State Is Paving Ways to Privatize Iran’s Water Resources
In a report dated May 29, the state-run newspaper Sharq exposed some information about the potential confiscation of Iran’s lands and water resources by the ruling clerics and their affiliates.
The article specifically highlighted the risk of transferring control of the country’s water resources and rivers to foundations associated with Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, under the guise of privatization.
The daily wrote: “In recent years, the Ministry of Energy started plans to transfer the ownership of the country’s water resources and in many cases, it obtained the documents of riverbeds and some wetlands with the cooperation of registration, revocation and new property documents. In fact, the Ministry of Energy turned its ‘right of easement’ in water management into a ‘property right’.”
Ukrainian General Staff: Enemy Fired 15 Missiles, 18 Drones at Ukraine Overnight, All Targets Destroyed
Russian aggressors used 15 cruise missiles and 18 Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones to attack Ukraine overnight, with all of the targets destroyed by Ukraine’s air defense forces. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this on Facebook, according to Ukrinform.
“The Russian Federation, suffering heavy losses, continues to use terror tactics in an attempt to intimidate the Ukrainian population. According to preliminary information, last night the enemy used 15 cruise missiles (type to be specified) and 18 Iranian Shahed attack UAVs for strikes – all these aerial targets were destroyed by our defenders. The information is being clarified,” the General Staff said.
UPDATE: 1:30 PM CET
Azerbaijan Expelled Iranian Regime Cultural Attaché, Closed Down Mission
The official news agency IRNA quoted a “well-informed source” as saying: “The expulsion of the cultural attache of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Baku, as well as the closure of its mission, is an excuse being used by the Azerbaijani government following some recent differences between the two countries.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran owns many properties in Baku, and the recent actions and hasty excuses are one-sided by the Azerbaijani side. These properties belong to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Of course, this can be resolved through dialogue,” the source added.
The Iranian regime and Azerbaijan have experienced escalating tensions in recent months. In late January, an individual attacked the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran, resulting in the death of its head of security and injuries to several others. After conducting investigations, Baku attributed blame to the Iranian government and subsequently expelled a group of Iranian diplomats in April. As a retaliatory measure, the regime expelled four Azerbaijani diplomats earlier this month.
UPDATE: 10:00 AM CET
Plot To Kill John Bolton: Us Sanctions Iranian Officials, Cites Assassination Efforts Against Trump Officials
WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department imposed sanctions Thursday on members and affiliates of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that it says have engaged in plots to kill former national security adviser John Bolton, other former U.S. government officials, and anti-Tehran activists around the world.
Bolton hailed the Treasury sanctions on Thursday but said nothing will stop Iran or the IRGC from continuing to try to assassinate the political leaders of its adversaries until the religious establishment in Tehran is replaced.
“I think the ayatollahs have demonstrated that by the way they treat their own people, not to mention their pursuing nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism around the world,” Bolton told USA TODAY. “So the U.S. is only going to be safe when that regime falls.”
Iran: Prisons Turned Into Killing Fields as Drug-Related Executions Almost Triple This Year
Iranian authorities have executed at least 173 people convicted of drug-related offences this year after systematically unfair trials, nearly three times more than this time last year, Amnesty International said today.
Executions for drug-related offences make up two-thirds of all the executions carried out in Iran in the first five months of 2023 and have predominantly impacted people from marginalized and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Members of Iran’s persecuted and impoverished Baluchi ethnic minority account for around 20 percent of the recorded executions despite making up only five percent of Iran’s population.
“The shameless rate at which the authorities are carrying out drug-related executions, in violation of international law, exposes their lack of humanity and flagrant disregard for the right to life. The international community must ensure that cooperation in anti-drug trafficking initiatives does not contribute, directly or indirectly, to the arbitrary deprivation of life and other human rights violations in Iran,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Iran Plans To Escalate Attacks Against U.S. Troops in Syria, Documents Show
Iran and its allies are building and training forces to use more powerful armor-piercing roadside bombs intended specifically to target U.S. military vehicles and kill U.S. personnel, according to classified intelligence reports obtained by The Washington Post. Such attacks would constitute an escalation of Iran’s long-running campaign of using proxy militias to launch rocket and drone strikes on U.S. forces in Syria.
UPDATE: 8:30 AM CET
May 2023 Report: Families Protest as Executions Soar in Iran
The month of May saw the executions of at least 144 prisoners in Iran, including three women and three political prisoners. One of the three women executed was the 39-year-old Madineh Sabzevan, the mother of five children. She was hanged on drug-related charges while the mullahs’ parliament had approved a bill on August 13, 2017, not to restrict the death penalty to drug lords and crime syndicates and punish small-time offenders with jail time. Investigations show most drug peddlers are not actual smugglers or ringleaders but are dragged and/or tempted into the crime due to poverty, joblessness, and hopelessness. (The Financial Times, August 14, 2017)
An Unbelievable Rise of Iran’s Affluent Class: A Consequence of Corruption
The mafia government of the Mullahs, nepotism, discrimination, capital exploitation, and the emergence of Iran’s affluent class are the consequences of a sick economy in Iran. Hussein Raghfar, an economics professor, stated on Saturday, 18 Dec 2021, that we must identify who and for what purpose hinder the economic reforms. In his opinion, the most significant obstacle to “reforms” is the existence of an “oligarchic class” with presence and influence within the “power structure.” Through their network of relationships, they have acquired and accumulated vast wealth. This economist’s reference to Iran’s affluent class is a recent phenomenon, arising from clinging to sources of power and accumulating astronomical wealth, leading to an anti-production phenomenon within the ruling system of Khamenei. This government has deep connections with this class and has always been its supporter.
Belgium Has Joined Europe’s Hall of Shame
Belgium is a country that describes itself as being in the heart of Europe. It hosts the headquarters of the European Parliament and the European Commission. It prides itself on embracing the institutions that have promulgated the EU’s core pillars of freedom, justice, and human rights. With a single stroke, Alexander De Croo, Belgium’s prime minister, and his government have destroyed that legacy and plunged their country into Europe’s Hall of Shame. By freeing Assadollah Assadi, the Iranian diplomat sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in a plan to bomb an Iranian opposition rally in Paris, the Belgian government has scraped the bottom of the barrel of ignominy.
Women’s Rights Activist Mojgan Keshavarz Describes Beatings and Humiliation in Qarchak
Women’s rights activist Mojgan Keshavarz has revealed that during her detention in prison, she was subjected to unethical mistreatment and beatings by prison agents. Women’s rights activist Mojgan Keshavarz has stated that prison officials ordered her to strip completely naked for them to take photographs, and they treated her inappropriately and disrespectfully. The inhumane violence described by Ms. Keshavarz has been shared in a tweet thread. In the tweets, she explains that after her arrest and transfer to Qarchak prison, prison agents in the camera room demanded that she strip naked to take photographs. Ms. Keshavarz asked for the unjustifiable reason behind this demand, and in response, the agents said that it was intended to instill fear in detainees.
The Endemic Corruption in Iran’s Government-Run Companies
In the realm of the Iran regime’s political and economic landscape, where government-run companies hold significant sway, a disturbing reality lurks behind the façade of state control and public service. These entities, designed to drive economic growth and provide essential services to the nation, have become breeding grounds for corruption. As we delve into the depths of this hidden realm, it becomes evident that corruption within these entities is not an isolated incident, but a systemic issue deeply ingrained in their DNA.
Copenhagen—May 31, 2023: MEK Supporters Held a Protest Rally Against the Appeasement Policy and the Release of Iran’s Regime Diplomat-Terrorist
Copenhagen, Denmark—May 31, 2023: Supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and freedom-loving Iranians held a protest rally against the appeasement policy and the release of Iran’s regime diplomat-terrorist Assadollah Assadi. Iranian community in Copenhagen also express their solidarity with the ongoing Iranian Revolution and demanded to blacklist the IRGC.
Brussels—May 30, 2023: MEK Supporters Held a Protest Rally Against the Appeasement Policy and the Release of Iran’s Regime Diplomat-Terrorist
Brussels—May 30, 2023: Supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and freedom-loving Iranians held a protest rally against the appeasement policy and the release of Iran’s regime diplomat-terrorist Assadollah Assadi.
The Hague—May 30, 2023: MEK Supporters Held a Protest Rally Against the Appeasement Policy and the Release of Iran’s Regime Diplomat-Terrorist
The Hague—May 30, 2023: Supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and freedom-loving Iranians held a protest rally against the appeasement policy and the release of Iran’s regime diplomat-terrorist Assadollah Assadi.
Also, read Iran News in Brief – June 1, 2023