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Iran News in Brief – January 10, 2023

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Factory workers in Saveh, Markazi Province, Iran went on strike on January 9, 2023

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS

UPDATE: 9:30 PM CET

Us Navy Says It Seized Iran Assault Rifles Bound for Yemen

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Navy seized over 2,100 assault rifles from a ship in the Gulf of Oman it believes came from Iran and were bound for Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, a Navy spokesman said Tuesday. It was the latest capture of weapons allegedly heading to the Arab world’s poorest country.

The seizure last Friday happened after a team from the USS Chinook, a Cyclone-class coastal patrol boat, boarded a traditional wooden sailing vessel known as a dhow. They discovered the Kalashnikov-style rifles individually wrapped in green tarps aboard the ship, said Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet.

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Iran Executions Are ‘State Sanctioned Killing’ – Un Rights Chief

GENEVA, Jan 10 (Reuters) – The U.N. human rights chief said that the death penalty was being weaponised by Iran’s government to strike fear into the population and stamp out dissent, saying the executions amounted to “state sanctioned killing”.

“The weaponization of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights – such as those participating in or organizing demonstrations – amounts to state sanctioned killing,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said, adding the executions violated international human rights law.

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Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Violate Iranian Sanctions

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Behrouz Mokhtari, 72, of McLean, Virginia, and Tehran, Iran, a naturalized U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty today to two separate conspiracies to violate sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran regarding the exportation, re-exportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, of any goods, technology, or services to Iran.

According to his guilty plea, from at least March 2018 until at least September 2020, Mokhtari conspired with his co-defendant and others to evade Iranian sanctions by engaging in business activities on behalf of Iranian entities without first obtaining the required licenses from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

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Sweden Condemns the Executions in Iran – Summoned the Ambassador

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The Swedish foreign minister says the European Council discussed a coordinated EU recall of Iranian ambassadors during their meeting on 15 December.

Sweden acted early by summoning the Iranian ambassador in Stockholm in the intervening days to present Sweden and the EU’s clear condemnation of death sentences and executions linked to the protests, says Tobias Billström.

Several countries have condemned the executions in Iran and summoned ambassadors to the respective foreign ministries. As recently as last Saturday, two protesters were executed in Iran. Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini were accused of killing a security guard, but human rights groups claim their confessions were coerced.

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EU Summons Iran Ambassador to Voice Outrage at Executions

BRUSSELS, Jan 9 (Reuters) – The European Union summoned Iran’s ambassador to the bloc on Monday and told him it was appalled by the executions at the weekend of two Iranians arrested in the course of a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in the country.

Stefano Sannino, secretary-general of the European External Action Service (EEAS), reiterated the EU’s outrage to the ambassador, Hossein Dehghani, the EEAS said in a statement.

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UPDATE: 9:00 PM CET

Iran Uprising at a Glance – Day 117

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

Tuesday, January 10, 2022 – 8 PM GMT+1

  • Days: 117
  • Protests: 282 cities
  • Fatalities: 750+ estimated deaths, 627 identified by MEK
  • Detentions: 30,000

Iran’s nationwide uprising marked its 117th day on Tuesday with protests continuing in various forms as people were relentlessly taking to the streets, holding gatherings in various ceremonies, and turning them into anti-regime rallies, and maintaining targeting the regime’s sites and symbols.

The Iranian people both inside the country and abroad hold regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards fully accountable for this deliberate and premeditated atrocity.

On Tuesday, official and contract workers of the Mobin Petrochemical Company in the city of Asaluyeh, Bushehr Province in southern Iran, went on strike today demanding answers to their issues that have gone neglected for a long time now.

In Tehran, defrauded investors of the Ramak Khodro auto company held a rally and began protesting to demand their stolen investments returned. In other news from the capital, students of Allameh Tabataba’i University held a gathering today to protest the intense security measures imposed on their campus.

New reports from Iran received today indicate that the regime is preparing to execute two protesters, #MohammadGhobadlou and #MohammadBroghani.

One of the courageous opposition MEK’s  Resistance Units marched in Tehran in broad daylight and chanted “Poverty-Corruption-High prices! We’re going to overthrow the regime!” “Death to Khamenei! Hail to Rajavi!” “This is the year Seyed Ali (Khamenei) is overthrown!” “Death to the oppressor! Be it the Shah or [Khamenei]!” “We swear on the blood of our compatriots, we are standing to the end!” “This is the last message: more executions mean more uprisings!”

In Dehdasht, southwest Iran, locals set ablaze a base of the IRGC paramilitary Basij units.

In Kerman, south-central Iran, locals torched a poster of the eliminated IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani installed near a paramilitary Basij base.

In Abdanan, Ilam Province, western Iran locals torched a base of the regime’s IRGC paramilitary Basij units.

In Jam, Bushehr Province, southern Iran, locals used Molotov cocktails and torched a large poster of regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

In the capital, Tehran, defrauded investors of the Ramak Khodro auto company protested and demanded their stolen investments returned.


UPDATE: 10:30 AM CET

Making Sense of Michael Rubin’s Anti-MEK’s Crusade

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Here we go again! Every time the Iranian Resistance makes political headway, the self-proclaimed “expert” Michael Rubin rushes to the clerical regime’s rescue by bashing the main opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK).

In his latest tirades (Washington Examiner, December 19, December 30, 2022, and January 2, 2023), Rubin refers to the MEK by the regime’s pejorative acronym MKO (“The Hypocrites”), calling it “the most hated group inside Iran” and a “cult.” He also lashes out at a stellar and growing list of international luminaries supporting the movement.

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US Says Iran May Be ‘Contributing’ to War Crimes in Ukraine

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday that Iran’s sale of lethal drones to Russia for use in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine means the country may be “contributing to widespread war crimes.”

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan leveled the charge against Iran on Monday as he spoke to reporters accompanying President Joe Biden on a trip to Mexico. While it did not signal a policy shift, the charge marked some of the sharpest U.S. rhetoric against Iran since it began providing weapons to Russia to support its nearly year-long war in Ukraine. It comes as the U.S. and European partners are looking to further ostracize both nations in the court of public opinion, as they face challenges with physically stopping the transfers of weapons on which Russia is increasingly reliant.

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Pope Denounces Iran Death Penalty Following Protests

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday broke his silence on the nationwide protests convulsing Iran, denouncing the recourse to the death penalty there and seemingly legitimizing the rallies as demonstrations “demanding greater respect for the dignity of women.”

Francis made the comments in an annual speech to ambassadors accredited to the Vatican, a foreign policy speech the pope delivers at the start of each year outlining the areas of greatest concern for the Holy See.

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Meta’s Oversight Board Tells Company To Allow ‘Death to Khamenei’ Posts

Jan 9 (Reuters) – Meta’s (META.O) Oversight Board on Monday overturned the company’s decision to remove a Facebook post that used the slogan “death to Khamenei” to criticize the Iranian leader, saying it did not violate a rule barring violent threats.

The board, which is funded by Meta but operates independently, said in a ruling that the phrase is often used to mean “down with Khamenei” in referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been leading a violent crackdown on nationwide protests in recent months.

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W. House Condemns Latest Iran Death Sentences, Demands ‘Immediate Cessation’

(AFP) The White House on Monday condemned the latest executions of protesters announced by Iran and said the United States stands with other countries demanding “immediate cessation” of the death sentences.

“We condemn the executions of Mohammad Mehdi Karami & Mohammad Hosseini and the additional executions announced today,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan tweeted, referring to two people executed Saturday, and three more death sentences announced Monday.

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UPDATE: 8:30 AM CET

Iran’s Cities Rise up in Continued Protests

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Cities across Iran witnessed continuous protests as people took to the streets in large numbers on Sunday with rallies that continued into the night. The Iranian people have been honoring the memory of 176 innocent people onboard Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 that was shot down by Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) three years ago. Brave protesters have also been condemning the mullahs’ regime for the execution of Mohammad Hossein Karami and Seyed Mohammad Moradi on Saturday for taking part in the recent protests.

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Reyhaneh Saeedi, M.D., Sentenced to 1 Year and 8 Months in Prison

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Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Dr. Reyhaneh Saeedi to one year and eight months of imprisonment, a five-year ban on leaving the country, and other supplementary punishments.

Reyhaneh Saeedi, a young doctor and social activist, was arrested by IRGC intelligence in Tehran on October 12, 2022. She posted a photo of her eating in a coffee shop with her husband without wearing the compulsory veil. Twelve men and one woman raided her home without prior notice, arresting her and confiscating all her electronic devices.

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Detained Father Pleas To See Baby Daughter Before Execution

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Hassan Firouzi, 34, the father of a newborn girl was arrested by Iran’s security forces during nationwide protests on October 27, 2022, in his hometown Shahr-e Ray. He took part in protests that occurred on Enghelab Street in Tehran.

His baby daughter, Hannaneh, was only 18 days old at the time of his arrest. Hassan Firouzi now faces the death penalty. In his last call from Evin Prison, Hassan asked the Iranian people to do anything possible for him to see his daughter one last time. He said, “Do something so I can see my daughter once again. Whether I sign or not (confirm the charges), they will kill me. I want to see my daughter for the last time. I saw her for only 18 days, and I miss her so much. My only wish is to see her before they do anything to me.”

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Washington, DC, and Santa Monica (LA)—January 7, 2023: MEK Supporters Denounced the Latest Executions in Iran and Honored the Flight PS752 Victims Downing by the IRGC Terrorists

US, Washington, DC and LA—January 7, 2023: MEK Supporters Denounced the Latest Executions in Iran

Washington, DC, and Santa Monica (LA)—January 7, 2023: Members of the Iranian communities and Iranian Resistance (NCRI and MEK) supporters held rallies in Washington, DC, in front of the White House and Californian in Santa Monica (Los Angeles County). They denounced the executions of another two young protesters, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, by the criminal mullahs’ regime.

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Rome, Italy—January 7, 2023: MEK Supporters Denounced the Latest Executions in Iran and Honored the Flight PS752 Victims Downing by the IRGC Terrorists

Rome—Jan 7, 2023: MEK Supporters Rally on the Third Anniversary of PS752 Downing by the IRGC

Rome, Italy—January 7, 2023: Members of the Iranian communities and Iranian Resistance (NCRIand MEK) supporters held rallies and denounced the executions of another two young protesters, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, by the criminal mullahs’ regime.

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Different Cities in Germany—January 7, 2023: MEK Supporters Denounced the Latest Executions in Iran and Honored the Flight PS752 Victims Downing by the IRGC Terrorists

Germany—Jan 7, 2023: MEK Supporters Denounced the Executions in Iran and Honored the PS752 Victims.

Different Cities in Germany—January 7, 2023: Members of the Iranian communities and Iranian Resistance (NCRIand MEK) supporters held rallies and denounced the executions of another two young protesters, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, by the criminal mullahs’ regime.

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