NCRI

Iran News in Brief – May 8, 2023

Sedighe Shahrokhi

iran protests 07052023

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS

UPDATE: 9:00 PM CET

Iran Uprising at a Glance

Based partially on reporting by PMOI (MEK) Network in Iran

Monday, May 8, 2023 – 8 PM GMT + 1

Iran’s nationwide uprising witnessed its 235th day on Monday. According to reports by the Iranian opposition, Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), protests by people from different walks of life spread across Iran.

MEK Resistance Units inside Iran portrayed large images of Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian opposition coalition NCRI, in Tehran and Behbahan on Sunday night.

In Tehran, a large image of Maryam Rajavi was projected on the capital’s Resalat Expressway at 10:45 pm local time, along with the slogan: “We can liberate our occupied country!”

In Behbahan, a large image of Maryam Rajavi was displayed near the city’s Arjan Square at 9:30 pm local time, along with the slogan: “We can and must liberate Iran!”

Retirees and pensioners of the regime’s telecom industry in the provincial capitals of Khuzestan, Isfahan, West Azerbaijan, Sistan & Baluchestan, Hormozgan, Kermanshah, Lorestan, Kurdistan, Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari, Gilan, Markazi (Central), Ardabil, and Ilam rallied on Monday to protest their low pensions and poor economic conditions.

The mullahs’ dictatorship ruling Iran, with deep concerns about a new wave of protests and nationwide uprisings, has been engaged in a new wave of mass executions during the past week.

At least 44 inmates, including 23 members of Iran’s Baluchi community, were hanged from April 29 to May 5. Sixteen of these executions were carried out on May 4 alone.

The international community needs to take urgent action against the mullahs’ regime for their four decades of crimes against humanity.

UPDATE: 6:00 PM CET

‘Prisoner Exchange Deal First, Then Arrest Vandecasteele’: Iranian Opposition Leaks Secret Documents

‘Belgium and Iran first reached an agreement on a prisoner exchange, and it was only months later that Olivier Vandecasteele was arrested in Tehran as a bargaining chip.’ That is what the Iranian opposition says after the hacking of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran.

On Sunday morning, a spokesman for the Iranian resistance group NCRI announced that the hacker collective Ghiamtasarnegouni had succeeded in taking down the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Shortly afterward, the NCRI posted secret documents from the same ministry online regarding the Iranian-Belgian prisoner exchange. Just before the summer recess, the federal parliament approved the legal framework for this.

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“Olivier Vandecasteele Is a Victim of Prisoner Exchange Deal”: Iranian Opposition Leaks Secret Documents About Agreement With Belgium

“Belgium and Iran first reached an agreement on a prisoner exchange, and only months later Olivier Vandecasteele was arrested as a bargaining chip.” This is reported by the newspaper De Morgen on the basis of secret documents that were hacked by the Iranian opposition.

The Iranian resistance group NCRI announced on Sunday that the hacker collective Ghiamtasarnegouni had succeeded in shutting down the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Shortly afterward, the group posted secret documents online regarding the Iranian-Belgian prisoner exchange. The documents now show that the very first draft of the Iran-Belgian agreement was written in Tehran on April 26, 2021. A first signature by representatives of both ministries would have followed on May 31, 2021.

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UPDATE: 1:00 PM CET

Tehran Stock Exchange Might Face Closure as Total Index Drops 122,000 Units in Two Hours

State media reported an unprecedented free fall of Tehran’s Stock Exchange today.

According to EcoIran, in the first two hours of trading today, May 8, the total index dropped by 122,000 units to 2,317,000 experiencing the biggest drop in the history of the Tehran Stock Exchange in the entire 56-year period of activity.

Today’s stock market followed a different trend from the previous days and surprised the traders with the drop of 95 thousand units of the total stock index, the retreat of 30 thousand units of the equal weight index, and the withdrawal of more than four thousand billion tomans of real money. Now traders are looking for an answer to the reason for today’s fall in the stock market, Arshe Online reported.

The state-run Eghtesad News reported: “The total index fell by 5%. According to the law, the market must be closed, and a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Stock Exchange must be held. It should be observed if the law is followed.”

UPDATE: 10:30 AM CET

Donating Cars in Regime’s Institutions is Common Practice, Parliament Speaker Says

While admitting receipt of SUVs by the members of the regime’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the parliament speaker, claimed this would be a normal procedure in the Iranian regime’s institutions.

On May 7, during his remarks in a parliamentary public session, Qalibaf said: “Unfortunately, these days, a new round of attacks has started against the parliament and the government, claiming that the former Minister Industries, Mining, and Trade has handed over some cars to the MPs in order to obstruct the impeachment. Therefore, a new issue has occupied people’s minds.”

“Donating cars illegally to organizations and institutions became a new issue in public opinion, and although the facilitation of handing over cars is a normal practice in many institutions, no such gift was allowed through the structure of the parliament,” he added.

Iran Hid Weapons Among Earthquake Aid to Target U.S. Troops, Leak Says

Iran and its proxies are enabling attacks on U.S. troops in Syria through clandestine weapons shipments hidden within humanitarian aid that has flowed into the region after a catastrophic earthquake killed tens of thousands earlier this year, according to classified U.S. intelligence and an Israeli military official familiar with the matter.

The findings, outlined in a leak of U.S. secrets circulated on the Discord messaging platform and obtained by The Washington Post, raise dire questions about the ability of the United States and its allies to intercept Iranian-sourced arms used routinely to target American personnel, partner forces and civilians in the Middle East. The top-secret document, which has not been previously disclosed, amplifies earlier reports of Iran’s alleged efforts to conceal defensive military equipment within aid deliveries to Syria after the February disaster devastated that country and neighboring Turkey.

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UPDATE: 7:30 AM CET

People Across Iran Continue Protests Despite New Wave of Executions

People from all walks of life in different cities across Iran held protest rallies on Saturday, standing their ground firmly in the face of a new wave of executions. This included protests and rallies by farmers in Iran’s Markazi (Central) Province, students in Tehran’s Khajeh Nasir Toosi University, and workers at a natural gas site in Isfahan Province, among others. As Sunday marks the 234th day of Iran’s nationwide uprising, people throughout Iran continue to specifically hold the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responsible for their miseries, while also condemning the oppressive Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij units, alongside other security units that are on the ground suppressing the peaceful demonstrators.

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Wave of Chemical Attacks: Intelligence Ministry Report Denies Poisoning of Schoolgirls

Iranian schoolgirls have been experiencing a wave of chemical attacks for over five months now, and the regime has done little to address the issue. In this episode of the NCRI Women’s Committee podcast, the topic of discussion was the wave of chemical attacks on Iranian schoolgirls and the lack of action from the authorities. The attacks began after the Nowruz holidays, despite warnings from the supreme leader Ali Khamenei to arrest and punish the perpetrators of such crimes. The attacks have occurred in over 700 schools in some 160 cities across the country, and the latest figures suggest that between 5,000 to 13,000 students have been affected.

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Maryam Vahidian, Journalist, Condemned to 4 Years in Jail

Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced Maryam Vahidian, a journalist, to four years in prison. Maryam Vahidian had been previously pursued and imprisoned for “assembly and collusion with intent to disrupt national security.” The verdict has been suspended for five years. The trial for these charges was held on April 18, 2023, at Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. Maryam Vahidian, a journalist reporting on workers’ issues for the ILNA news agency, was arrested in Tehran on November 27 and released from Evin prison on December 28, 2022.

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Can the Clerical Government of Iran Collapse in 2023?

The collapse of a government refers to the inability, breakdown, or cessation of the executive structures and institutions of a ruling system in a country. In such circumstances, the government is unable to manage and control the country’s political and social system. In other words, in such situations, the government loses its ability to govern and is changed due to an internal or external factor. An example of such a collapse is the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, which is the most classical example of the collapse of a government.

  1. The term “collapse” is constantly used by monarchists and royalists as their policy and strategy for the transition of power.
  2. Their understanding of the collapse of the system is that the system deteriorates due to internal crises and ultimately collapses due to an internal factor ( the Revolutionary Guards) or an external factor (foreign powers).

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Brussels—May 4, 2023: MEK Supporters Rallied in Support of the Iran Revolution and Called for Blacklisting the IRGC

Brussels, Belgium—May 4, 2023: Freedom-loving Iranians, and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), rallied in support of the nationwide Iran protests. They also called on the EU to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

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Also, read Iran News in Brief – May 7, 2023

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