THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 10:00 PM
Treasury Targets Shadow Banking Network Moving Billions for Iran’s Military
WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning nearly 50 entities and individuals that constitute multiple branches of a sprawling “shadow banking” network used by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to gain illicit access to the international financial system and process the equivalent of billions of dollars since 2020. MODAFL and the IRGC engage in several commercial revenue-generating activities, most notably the sale of Iranian oil and petrochemicals.
Networks of Iranian exchange houses and dozens of foreign cover companies under their control enable MODAFL and the IRGC to disguise the revenue they generate abroad that is then available to use for a range of MODAFL and IRGC activities, including the procurement and development of advanced weapons systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles. This revenue also supports the provision of weapons and funding to Iran’s regional proxy groups, including Yemen’s Houthis, who continue a campaign of reckless attacks on global shipping, as well as the transfer of UAVs to Russia for use in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
UPDATE: 11:30 AM
2024 Trafficking in Persons Report: Iran
The Government of Iran does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; therefore Iran remained in Tier 3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took some steps to address trafficking, including training police officers on human trafficking. However, during the reporting period, there was a government policy or pattern of employing or recruiting child soldiers and human trafficking. Officials continued to perpetrate and condone trafficking crimes with impunity, both in Iran and abroad and did not report law enforcement efforts to address the crime. In addition, the government continued to pursue and secure spurious trafficking convictions against LGBTQI+ activists, undercutting the government’s efforts to hold sex and labor traffickers criminally accountable. The government forced or coerced children to join Iranian security and anti-riot forces to suppress ongoing political protests in the country. As in previous reporting periods, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian Basij Resistance Force (Basij), a paramilitary force subordinate to the IRGC, recruited and used child soldiers; the government was also complicit with non-state armed groups’ recruitment and use of child soldiers, including the Houthis in Yemen.
UPDATE: 9:00 AM
UN Silence Is Broken on 1988 Iran Massacre
It has taken 36 years, but at long last, UN silence has been broken on the 1988 massacre of up to 30,000 political prisoners in Iran. It took the dedication and exhaustive investigative skills of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, a British-Pakistani academic and Professor of Islamic and International Law at Brunel University, London. In an explosive report presented to a special conference in Geneva on Thursday, June 19, 2024, organized by Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran Association, Rehman described the heinous crimes and gross violations of human rights in Iran from 1981 to the 1988 massacre as a crime against humanity, genocide and possibly a war crime. The title of the report is: “Atrocity Crimes and Grave Violations of Human Rights Committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran (1981–1982 and 1988).”
UPDATE: 7:30 AM
PMOI Resistance Units Reject Iranian Regime’s Sham Presidential Elections
As Iran’s regime prepares for its upcoming presidential elections to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19, regime officials and candidates are doing their utmost to compel people to cast their votes and place their hopes in one of the six candidates. Through television shows, debates, and other publicity stunts, the regime is trying to convince the people that their problems will be solved if they vote in the elections.
But none of the regime’s theatrics and propaganda efforts are fooling the people of Iran. This premature presidential election comes on the heels of a parliamentary election in February, in which the people made their sentiments toward the regime crystal clear through a mass boycott of the ballot boxes. According to reports by the PMOI’s network inside Iran, the parliamentary elections had a record-low turnout of 8 percent. The people of Iran have made it clear that they will settle for nothing less than regime change.
UN Special Rapporteur Calls for Accountability for The 1988 Massacre of Iranian Political Prisoners
On Wednesday, June 19, 2024, at a conference in Geneva titled “Justice for Iran’s Ongoing Crimes Against Humanity,” Javaid Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights conditions in Iran, presented his latest report on the 1988 massacre and the executions of 1981 and 1982 by the clerical regime. He stated, “I take a sense of pride and achievement, because I have now completed my report on what I call ‘atrocity crimes and grave violations of human rights’ committed in the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1981, and they go on to the 1988 massacre… this is such an important issue in the lives of thousands of people. It is not a historical issue, as many people think. It is a live issue. There are serious concerns about gross violations of human rights.”
Iran Faces Severe Decline in Protein and Calorie Consumption Amid Economic Struggles
A recent report from the Research Center of the Iranian Parliament reveals a troubling decline in the nation’s per capita consumption of essential food items.
The report highlights a sharp decrease in red meat consumption, which has dropped from nearly one kilogram per capita in 2011 to less than 400 grams in 2023. Nutrition policy experts estimate this figure has now fallen to a mere 200 grams per capita compared to last year.
This decline extends beyond red meat. Egg consumption has decreased by more than 10% since 2011, reflecting a broader shortage of protein in the Iranian diet.
Iran regime’s Oil Minister Rebuts Claims of High Discounts
In a recent rebuttal to statements made by some of Iran’s presidential candidates, the country’s oil minister, Javad Oji, asserted that the 13th government has not offered “high discounts” to its oil customers.
On Saturday, June 22, Oji emphasized that over the past three years, the discounts on Iran’s oil sales have been “far less” compared to those offered by the 11th and 12th administrations. This statement comes in the wake of a Reuters report, citing industry sources, that claimed Iran offered a $13 per barrel discount to Chinese refineries for its oil exports last year.
Additionally, data from oil tanker tracking companies like Vortexa and Tanker Trackers indicate that Iran exported 1.3 million barrels of crude oil and gas condensate daily in the previous year, alongside more than 220,000 barrels of mazut.
Maryam Akbari Monfared: A Chronicle of Injustice
Hossein Taj, the lawyer of political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared, has revealed that her 15-year prison term will conclude in October this year. However, in an interview with the state-run daily Sharq, Taj disclosed that Monfared has been sentenced to an additional two years in prison for a separate case. Furthermore, the Executive Headquarters of Imam’s Directive (Setad) has recently requested the seizure and possession of her property, as well as that of her family and relatives.
Discussing the latest developments in Monfared’s case, Taj said: “In September of this year, the 15-year imprisonment of Mrs. Akbari Monfared in the initial case will end. Throughout this period, she was not granted leave even for a single day and was sentenced to two more years in prison for another case. Recently, a new case has been filed against her. The basis of this case is the request by the headquarters to follow up and monitor cases under Article 49 of the Constitution.”
Manchester, UK—June 22, 2024: Freedom-Loving Iranians Organize an Exhibition to Support the Iranian Revolution
Manchester—June 22, 2024: Freedom-loving Iranians and academics living in England, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), organized a book fair and petition collection to back the Iranian Revolution. They urged the UK government to designate Iran’s regime IRGC as a terrorist organization. Showing solidarity with the Iranian people’s cause for their rightful demands, as well as for regime change the attainment of freedom, and the establishment of democracy, citizens have come forward to sign the support petition. Their backing has emboldened the organizers to persist in this campaign.
MEK Supporters Endorse Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan, Call for Participation in #BerlinDemo29June
June 2024 – Part 3: In a surge of support for the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), freedom-loving Iranians released video messages to endorse Maryam Rajavi’s ten-point plan for Iran’s future. This wave of digital advocacy highlights the widespread backing for Mrs. Rajavi‘s vision of a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear Iran.
Portsmouth, England—June 22, 2024: Freedom-Loving Iranians Exhibition to Support the Iranian Revolution
Portsmouth—June 22, 2024: Freedom-loving Iranians and academics living in England, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), organized a book exhibition and petition collection to back the Iranian Revolution.