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Iran News in Brief – December 19, 2021

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Tehran-Behesht Zahra Cemetery. The coronavirus death toll in Tehran has surpassed the number 114,685

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS

UPDATE: 7:40 PM CET

Iran’s Regime Executes Kurdish Political Prisoner Heidar Ghorbani

Despite widespread domestic and international calls, the clerical regime executed Haidar Ghorbani, a Kurdish political prisoner, in Sanandaj today, Sunday, December 19, 2021, without prior notice to his lawyer and family. According to the official news agency, IRNA, today, the regime’s judiciary in Kurdistan Province announced in a statement that Haidar Ghorbani’s execution had been carried out on the charges of Moharebeh (waging war against God), complicity in the murder of three Kurdish citizens, and his membership in the Democratic Party of Kurdistan.

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UPDATE: 1:50 PM CET

Iran: Protests Continue Across the Country on Sunday

Reports obtained by the Iranian opposition, Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), indicate there have been several protests in Iran on Sunday, December 19, 2021.

On Sunday, state bus line drivers held a protest rally. They protested their low and unfair paychecks and demanded their basic rights.

Retirees and pensioners of the Social Security Organization in Tabriz, northwest Iran, held a rally protesting their poor living conditions and demanded adequate pensions.

Retirees and pensioners held similar protests on Sunday in different parts of Iran, including Khoramabad, Arak, Isfahan, and Kermanshah.

On Sunday, retired communications employees in Tehran rallied outside the Ministry of Communications protesting the regime’s refusal to base their measures on approved protocols that have left these protesters with poor pensions.

On Sunday, retired steel workers in Tehran and Khuzestan held a protest rally, demanding answers to their long-raised issues and economic woes.


UPDATE: 8:30 AM CET

Iran: Parliament Speaker Acknowledges the Economy is in Shambles

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Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian regime’s parliament speaker, acknowledged on Saturday that Iran’s economy is in shambles and the country suffers from “systematic corruption.”

“We have a failed economy and people are being crushed under living pressures. They are not part of our economy. We witness systematic corruption every day, the root lies in preventing people from participating in the economy,” he said, according to the state-run 55-Online website.

On Saturday, locals in Shams Abad, in Rafsanjan, southeast Iran, protested the rerouting of their water sources to other areas, saying this will dry out their pistachio groves. Kerman Province is the largest producer of pistachios in Iran and the world.

On Saturday in Bandar Khomeini, southwest Iran, Farabi Petrochemical Company employees held a rally, protesting economic woes and demanding higher wages. Company managers have lowered their pay. Many retired employees have yet to receive months of their wages.


Iran: Regime’s Guardian Council Finally Reveals reasons for Ali Larijani’s Disqualification

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Months after Iran’s sham presidential election, the regime’s Guardian Council revealed why it had barred Ali Larijani, a top official from the Supreme Leader’s faction, to participate in the sham presidential elections.  In return, Larijani said, “Just say you wanted to eliminate me, that’s it!”

It is worth noting that the regime’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, ordered the Guardian Council to eliminate any candidate that could threaten the regime’s engineering the sham presidential election. Thus, Khamenei easily pulled Ebrahim Raisi out of the ballot box to close ranks in his regime.

Ahmad Janati, head of the Guardian Council, in a letter to Larijani explained why he was disqualified. These claims include:

  • Political tendencies and various remarks, notable during the sedition [uprising] in 2009.
  • Involvement of one of Larijani’s children in contracts related to the parliament when Larijani was its speaker.
  • The presence of Larijani’s close relatives [including his daughter] in the United Kingdom that contradicts the enacted resolution of the Supreme Security Council

Iran State Media: Medications’ Skyrocketing Prices Increases Poverty and Deaths

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Tehran-Behesht Zahra Cemetery. The coronavirus death toll in Tehran has surpassed the number 82,296

In an article on December 18, the state-run Eghtesad-e Pouya daily acknowledged that “the rising inflation and skyrocketing prices in the field of health care have led to the growth of poverty in Iran. We are in a dire situation and the middle class is rapidly joining the lower classes.”

“With people becoming poorer in upcoming days and months, the country will be filled with acute diseases. Then, we will witness a domino of rising death toll and occupation of cemeteries,” Eghtesad-e Pouya wrote, quoting Mohammad-Reza Mahboubfar, one of the regime’s experts.


Iran’s Regime Ignores the Needs of Teachers in Latest Parliament Bill

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After months of protests by Iran’s teachers, the Iranian regime finally declared that it will be addressing their demands in a bill passed by the Majlis (parliament). But, as was expected by many, the bill is a half-measure only meant to shut down the voice of protesters without solving any fundamental problems.

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Multiple Countries Considering International Action Against Tehran on PS752 Dossier

Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, and Britain are considering new steps against Iran’s regime regarding a passenger airplane downed in 2020 The measures will be pursued if the regime doesn’t respond to demands for reparations for the downed plane by January 5

The plane was shot by the Revolutionary Guards over Tehran’s airspace shortly after takeoff in January 2020 All 176 passengers aboard the flight (PS752), which were from those four countries, were killed Tehran has been reluctant to respond to demands for talks on reparations and investigations.

“The Coordination Group’s patience is wearing thin,” the countries said in a statement The victims’ families have called for the prosecution of senior regime officials for their role in the tragedy.”


Iran: 10 Executions in 5 Days, 31 Since November 22

Iran’s regime six prisoners in Gohardasht (Karaj), Qayen, and Ardabil prisons on Dec 15, according to an NCRI statement. On December 12, one prisoner was hanged in Meshkinshahr, two in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz.

On December 11, another prisoner was hanged in Sanandaj Prison. That is 10 executions in 5 days.

Since the beginning of the current Persian month (starting on November 22), the regime has hanged at least 31 prisoners, including 5 women.

Iran holds the record number of executions per capita and is the leading executioner of juvenile offenders A recent UN General Assembly resolution condemned Iran’s human rights abuses for the 68th time

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Iran: Coronavirus Death Toll Has Surpassed 489,800

iran-coronavirus-18dec2021mapThe People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) announced on Saturday, December 18, 2021, that the Coronavirus death toll in 547 cities has surpassed 489,800. In Tehran, the number of victims has reached 114,685, Khorasan Razavi 39,635, Isfahan 33,710, Khuzestan 29,645, Fars 18,410, Gilan 17,015, East Azerbaijan, 16,878, Sistan and Baluchestan 13,545, Qom 13,220, Kermanshah 9,139, Central Province 8,928, and South Khorasan 4,296.

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Read more: Iran News in Brief – December 18, 2021

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