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Iran News in Brief – February 28, 2023

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THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS

UPDATE: 10:00 PM CET

UN Report: Uranium Particles Enriched to 83.7% Found in Iran

VIENNA (AP) — Inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog found uranium particles enriched up to 83.7% in Iran’s underground Fordo nuclear site, a report seen Tuesday by The Associated Press said.

The confidential quarterly report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency distributed to member states likely will raise tensions further between Iran and the West over its program. That’s even as Tehran already faces internal unrest after months of protests and Western anger over sending bomb-carrying drones to Russia for its war on Ukraine.

The IAEA report only speaks about “particles,” suggesting that Iran isn’t building a stockpile of uranium enriched above 60% — the level it has been enriching at for some time.

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UPDATE: 9:00 PM CET

Iran Uprising at a Glance – Day 166

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

Tuesday, February 28, 2023 – 8 PM GMT + 1

  • Days: 166
  • Protests: 282 cities
  • Fatalities: 750+ estimated deaths, 664 identified by MEK
  • Detentions: 30,000

Iran’s nationwide uprising marked its 166th day on Tuesday as protests over economic woes were spreading across the country while MEK-affiliated Resistance Units continued their anti-regime activities.

Late last night, in the capital, Tehran, a large image of Iranian Resistance Leader Massoud Rajavi and opposition coalition NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi was projected on the Imam Ali Highway.

In Karaj, west of Tehran, a brave protester wrote in graffiti: “We will be in the streets until the end of [the mullahs’ rule]!” Another protester wrote: “We won’t have a nation as long as the mullahs are in power!”

In the early hours of today, locals in Tehran’s Shahr-e Ziba and Shahrake Bagheri districts chanted anti-regime slogans, including “Death to Khamenei!” and “Death to the dictator!”

Students of Amir Kabir University of Technology in Tehran placed their trays on the ground today protesting the low-quality food served at the campus. Such protest measures are escalating in various schools in Iran.

Regime operatives attacked a school in Karaj today with poisonous gas and the students began chanting: “Death to Khamenei!” Tension is also reported at an all-girls school in the town of Parand in Tehran Province. Reports indicate an object thrown inside the school exploded, leading to the spreading of a gas that left a number of students ill.

Retirees and pensioners of the Social Security Organization held a protest rally in Shahrekord, southwest Iran, and other cities across the country on Tuesday protesting low wages and pensions, insurance issues, and poor living conditions. Similar rallies were held in the cities of TabrizKarajArakRashtQazvinIsfahanTakestanSanandaj, Marivan, Ardabil, and Ilam.

Steelworkers in the city of Yazd rallied once again on Tuesday demanding better living and work conditions, and seeking a pay raise to enable them to make ends meet for their families.

Early Tuesday morning local time, units of the regime’s IRGC attacked an area of makeshift homes near Chabahar, a major portal city in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, southeast Iran. The IRGC units not only demolished the makeshift homes of the poor locals but also opened fire and wreaked havoc among the residents.


UPDATE: 4:00 PM CET

HRC52: Joint Statement on the Death Penalty in Iran

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During the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UK co-sponsored a Joint Statement relating to the use of the death penalty in Iran. This statement was delivered by H.E. Christian Guillermet, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs to Costa Rica on 28 February 2023. The text reads in part:

We are deeply concerned by the use of the death penalty in Iran. Several hundred people were reportedly executed in Iran between 2022 and 2023, including juvenile offenders.

In recent months, Iran has handed down or sought to impose death sentences against dozens of individuals arrested in connection with their participation in protests following the death in custody of Jina Mahsa Amini.

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UPDATE: 2:00 PM CET

Record Number of Countries Enforced Internet Shutdowns in 2022 – Report

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Access to internet services is restricted 187 times by 35 countries says new research, with India, Iran, and Myanmar repeatedly enforcing blackouts. India is singled out as the “biggest offender” with at least 84 internet blackouts in 2022. Most of these happened in the disputed regions of Jammu and Kashmir, both long gripped by political instability, although the practice has spread to other regions of the country, according to the report.

Other repeat offenders include Iran, which turned off the internet 18 times as it clamped down on anti-regime protests, and Myanmar’s junta, which introduced seven blackouts.

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UPDATE: 12:30 PM CET

Iran’s Regime Says It Aims to Control Volatile Currency Market

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According to the Iranian regime’s presidential website, the heads of the regime’s three branches of power have approved the proposed package by the Central Bank to obtain the necessary powers, aiming to control the skyrocketing currency exchange rate.

The source reported: “The head of the branches as well as members of the council, emphasizing the need for coordination and cooperation with the parliament, the judiciary, and the executive branch to control and reduce the exchange rate and secure the currency for importing necessary goods, reviewed and approved the Central Bank’s proposed package to control the exchange rate and preserve the value of the national currency.”

On Monday, February 27, the state-affiliated website Etemad Online stated: “We must remain vigilant for a significant and fundamentally [disruptive] event at any moment. The country has entered a phase of serious economic problems, and serious political slogans may be raised under the pretext of economic demands. The closure of a factory, confrontation with an Iranian woman, or a rally concerning livelihoods may ignite new and widespread protests.”


UPDATE: 11:30 AM CET

5.6 Magnitude Earthquake in Northern Iran

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 occurred in Malati, Gilan province, destroying 22 buildings and killing one person according to reports.

The Crisis and Natural Disasters Center (AFAD) announced that at 12:04 local time, an earthquake occurred at a depth of 6.96 kilometers. The Emergency Situations Research Institute and Kandilish Seismological Organization announced that the magnitude of the earthquake was 5.6 and was felt in the surrounding cities as well. According to initial reports, 22 buildings were destroyed due to the trembling.


IRGC Top Commander Threatens American Politicians

Amir Ali Hajizadeh

In self-boasting remarks on Iran’s state TV, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the Aerospace commander of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), threatened several American officials, including former U.S. President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.

“We are capable of targeting places 2,000 kilometers away. We can target the American cruisers, even in the Red Sea. These are hypersonic missiles, and they should be afraid,” he said.

“We will avenge Haj Qassem [Soleimani]. By God’s willing, we might be able to kill Trump, Pompeo, and Gen. McKenzie, and the military commanders that ordered his [Soleimani] assassination,” he continued.

Since the elimination of Qassem Soleimani, the regime’s terror mastermind, and IRGC Quds Force Commander, state officials have been speaking of “harsh revenge,” threatening to kill President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and other top American officials.


The Deterioration of Iran’s Currency Threatens To Fuel the Protests

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Tehran blames the “conspiracy of enemies” for exacerbating the currency crisis. The Iranian government has warned of a “conspiracy” aimed at fueling popular protests, after the Iranian financial markets witnessed dramatic developments, following a new jump in foreign currencies; Especially the dollar, in front of the Iranian riyal, which is ravaged by the hurricane of the crumbling economy as a result of the US sanctions.

The Iranian currency, the riyal, continued its level of collapse against foreign currencies. Yesterday morning, the price of one dollar reached 601,500 riyals in the informal market, before it fell to 580,000 riyals at the end of the financial work day, and it had reached, on Saturday, 575,000 riyals, according to data from the foreign exchange website Bonbast.com.

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UPDATE: 8:30 AM CET

Iran’s People From All Walks of Life Escalate Anti-regime Protests

Iran Protests February 27 2023

More people from all walks of life in Iran are launching a rising number of protests against the mullahs’ regime, especially voicing their grievances over the country’s plummeting economy and their poor work and living conditions. Cities throughout the country, including Tehran, Isfahan, and others are scenes of people taking to the streets to continue the Iran revolution protests sparked in September 2022.

People throughout the country are specifically holding 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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Tehran University Students Rally Against Closure of Classes

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Hundreds of Tehran University students protest a decision to hold online classes and close the university for three weeks at Fatemi (women’s) and Chamran (men’s) dormitories in Tehran University. Students are holding night rallies protesting the university officials’ decision to close face-to-face classes and hold them online after the Nowruz holidays, from April 3-24, 2023. The clerical regime appears to have made the decision to call off university classes, fearing the consequences of the free fall in the value of the country’s currency, inflation, and high prices on the eve of the Iranian New Year, as well as the arrival of the Feast of Fire traditions celebrations.

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February 25, 2023: MEK Supporters Demonstrated in Support of the Iran Revolution in Stockholm, Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg, and Antwerp

Feb 25: MEK Rallies in Support of Iran Revolution in Stockholm, Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg, & Antwerp

February 25, 2023: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held rallies in Stockholm, Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg, and Antwerp and expressed solidarity with the nationwide Iran protests.

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Oslo, Norway—February 24, 2023: Freedom-Loving Iranians, and MEK Supporters Demonstrated in Support of the Iran Revolution

Oslo, Norway—February 24, 2023: MEK Supporters Demonstrated in Support of the Iran Revolution

Oslo, Norway—February 24, 2023: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a rally in Oslo and expressed solidarity with the nationwide Iran protests.

Freedom-loving Iranians came together in Oslo to show solidarity with the brave protesters on the streets of Iran for a democratic and secular republic.

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Also, read Iran News in Brief – February 27, 2023