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UPDATE: 1:30 PM CET
U.S. Urges UN Action Against Iranian Regime for Houthi Escalations
In a UN Security Council briefing on Yemen, U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea called for decisive international action to address the increasing threat posed by Houthi forces, heavily backed by the regime in Iran. Shea highlighted the Houthis’ aggressive regional actions, including recent attacks on international shipping, abductions, and holding UN, NGO, and diplomatic staff as hostages.
Ambassador Shea emphasized that the Houthis’ use of advanced weaponry, enabled by Tehran, has escalated threats to peace and security. “The time has come to hold Iran accountable for supporting these sophisticated missile attacks,” she said while calling for targeted sanctions to disrupt the Houthis’ financial resources and ties with other terrorist groups like al-Shabaab.
Shea also underscored the urgent humanitarian crisis in Yemen, urging the international community to increase aid and press the Houthis to allow unrestricted access to humanitarian workers.
“The path to peace starts with ending Houthi aggression and ensuring a UN-led political solution,” Shea concluded.
UPDATE: 7:30 AM CET
The Catastrophic Impact of Land Subsidence in Iran
Land subsidence is a phenomenon caused by the reduction in volume of the Earth’s subsurface layers, leading to the gradual sinking of the ground’s surface. In recent years, this issue has become one of Iran’s primary environmental and infrastructural challenges. In short, the monster of subsidence is consuming Iran, and without serious and immediate action, it will bring disastrous consequences for infrastructure, the environment, and even the daily lives of people.
The excessive use of groundwater, drilling of legal and illegal wells, and exploitation of water resources for profiteering purposes are among the main reasons for land subsidence in Iran. Groundwater reserves, formed over thousands of years, have been depleted due to over-extraction and exploitative policies by the regime. This significant reduction in groundwater has led to a decrease in soil volume and density, resulting in land subsidence.
Iran’s Regime Shuts Down the Country as A Result of Its Own Failed Policies
“The destruction of businesses,” “production collapse,” “air pollution,” “land subsidence,” “environmental degradation,” and various forms of “imbalances,” repeatedly highlighted by Iranian regime president Masoud Pezeshkian, have recently led to the “closure of the country.” This is the solution of a regime trapped in a swamp of crises, mocked even by its own experts. State media use the themes of imbalance and closure as headlines to describe the catastrophic state of the country. The daily Ham-Mihan wrote on January 12, “The headlines read, ‘Iran is shut down.’ Now air pollution and imbalances have joined forces, placing the government in a crisis.”
The paper continued: “Almost the entire country has shut down, without any government official providing a proper and convincing explanation for the cause. It appears that electricity and gas shortages may be the main reason; however, due to the lack of precise and clear communication, another cause cannot be ruled out.
Iran’s Fragile Regime: A Nation Poised for Change
Iran has long been a land prone to uprisings. Over the past decades, numerous social movements have erupted, driven by a range of issues, each contributing to intellectual, political, social, and cultural transformations. For the Iranian people, the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria holds particular significance. Assad, a dictator sustained by the Iranian regime, symbolizes the intertwined fate of autocratic governments. To many Iranians, his fall would be a precursor to the weakening and eventual collapse of the theocratic regime in Tehran.
As each day passes, the repercussions of Iran’s failures in the region weigh increasingly heavily on the regime. The palpable fear of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top officials underscores the regime’s precarious position. Publicly, they emphasize the need to bolster the morale of their dwindling supporters, a clear indicator of the regime’s internal struggles following its regional defeats.
UANI’s 100-Day Plan: A Blueprint for the Trump Administration to Counter Iran’s Malign Influence
As the world continues to grapple with the destabilizing actions of the Iranian regime, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) has laid out a comprehensive 100-day plan for the incoming Trump administration to fundamentally reshape U.S. policy toward Tehran. The plan, released in January 2025, outlines a multi-faceted approach that leverages diplomatic, informational, military, and economic tools to hold Iran accountable for its decades-long history of regional aggression, terrorism, and human rights abuses.
The recommendations come at a critical time, as Iran’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, its nuclear ambitions, and its repression of its own people have further highlighted the regime’s threat to global security.
International Experts Condemn Iran’s Upholding of Death Sentence for Kurdish Activist Pakhshan Azizi
Geneva, 14 January 2025 – A collective of independent human rights experts has voiced profound concern over the Iranian Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold the death sentence of Ms. Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish activist and social worker. The experts condemned the decision as a severe violation of international human rights law. “The charges against Ms. Pakhshan Azizi do not meet the threshold of ‘most serious crimes’ required by international law for the death penalty,” the experts stated. “Her death sentence constitutes a serious breach of international human rights standards.”
Ms. Azizi was apprehended in Tehran on 4 August 2023 by Iranian Intelligence Services. She endured five months of solitary confinement in the notorious Ward 209 of Evin Prison, where reports indicate she was subjected to severe physical and psychological torture. On 23 July 2024, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced her to death for “armed rebellion against the state (baghy)” and “membership of opposition groups,” along with a four-year prison term for her alleged affiliation with the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK). This death sentence was upheld on 8 January 2025 by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court.
Intensified U.S. Sanctions and Trump’s Potential Clampdownon Iran’s Oil Exports
The Economist, in an analytical report, examined the consequences of new U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and, referring to the potentially stricter policies of Donald Trump, predicted that China’s imports—which account for nearly all of Iran’s oil exports—would decrease by one million barrels per day. Iran’s oil exports had increased more than twelvefold in the past year compared to 2018, reaching 1.8 million barrels per day. However, even before Trump’s return to the White House, the situation had already begun to change, and this trend is expected to intensify.
The Economist reported that on November 25, the oil tanker Elva, registered under the flag of São Tomé and Príncipe, secretly loaded two million barrels of Iranian crude oil off the coast of Malaysia. Typically, the journey from this point to northeastern China, the likely destination, takes less than two weeks, but this time, it did not.
MEK Supporters Rally in Horsens, Denmark, to Support the Iranian Revolution and Condemn Human Rights Violations
Horsens, Denmark – January 11, 2025: Supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), gathered for a rally advocating the “No to Executions” campaign aimed at opposing the mullahs’ regime. They voiced their outrage against the ongoing brutal executions taking place throughout Iran. The demonstrators called for solidarity with the Iranian populace and their resistance in the fight for freedom, democracy, human rights, and justice in Iran.
Geneva, January 13, 2025: MEK Supporters Rally to Protest Appeasement Policy Toward Iran’s Regime
Geneva, Switzerland – January 13, 2024: The Place des Nations in Geneva resonated with chants of defiance and determination as freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) gathered in protest. Demonstrators condemned the EU’s policy of appeasement toward the mullahs and called for accountability for the regime’s widespread crimes against humanity.