THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 6:30 PM
‘Medieval’ Iran Is Still Executing Prisoners – Including a Man With a Mental Disability
Mohammad Ghobadlou, who worked in a barbershop, was arrested in 2023 as protests – ignited by the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini in police custody in Tehran – engulfed the country in September 2022.
The 23-year-old was convicted of murder and ‘corruption on earth’ after allegedly running over a police officer with his car during a protest near the capital. Human rights groups warned Mohammad faced an unfair trial marred by torture allegations, and appeals to take into account his mental health condition were also rejected.
Maryam Rajavi, president of the political group National Council of Resistance of Iran, said: ‘The clerical regime has set a new record in savagery and crime by these executions.
‘Undoubtedly, the courageous youth of Iran will not let this medieval regime’s actions go unanswered.
Iran Elections Will Consolidate Tyranny and Oppression
Jan. 26 (UPI) — With elections due to take place to the Majlis (290-member parliament) and the Assembly of Experts (88 members), in Iran on March 1, fractures in the governing theocratic elite are beginning to show.
Neither of these organizations has much influence on the daily lives of Iran’s 85 million beleaguered citizens. The main power lies exclusively in the hands of the 84-year-old and increasingly psychotic supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, the Assembly of Experts does have one important function. It is tasked with selecting the next supreme leader. Its members are elected for eight-year terms and are therefore likely to nominate Khamenei’s successor.
UPDATE: 1:30 PM
McConnell Asserts Biden’s ‘Clear Authority’ for Iran Airstrikes, Says President Should Do More To Deter Terror
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor Thursday morning that President Biden has “clear authority” to continue carrying out airstrikes in the Middle East and urged the president to do more to deter attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria.
“When President Biden took office, Senate Republicans warned him not to go soft on Iran,” McConnell said. “We urged him not to abandon maximum pressure, not to obsess over restoring a failed nuclear deal, and not to ignore Iran’s relentless, relentless campaign of terror. But the president failed to hear this advice.”
“Instead, his administration slipped through glaring indications that Iran-backed terror was actually reaching a tipping point. So today, America and our allies face an adversary profoundly undeterred,” he said.
Eight Members of Iranian-Backed Formation Killed and Wounded in Attack on Weapons Depot Near Syria-Iraq Border
Deir Ezzor province: SOHR sources have reported that three members of the Iranian-backed 47th Regiment were killed and five others were injured, all Syrians, in airstrikes by fighter jets of the International Coalition, which targeted a weapons and ammunitions warehouse in the industrial area nearby Al-Bokamal city in eastern Deir Ezzor near the Syria-Iraq border.
Earlier today, SOHR sources reported that a violent explosion was heard in the vicinity of Al-Bokamal city, within areas controlled by regime forces and Iranian militias in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, coinciding with the rise of plumes of smoke from the site.
Explosive Drone Hits Gas Field in Northern Iraq
An explosive drone struck the Khor Mor gas field in the Sulaimaniya region of northern Iraq on Thursday, two sources told Reuters, saying the explosion had caused limited damage but no one had been injured.
Earlier, the Kurdish Rudaw media network said the counterterrorism apparatuses in the Kurdistan Region shot down and destroyed a suicide drone targeting the US-led coalition forces near Erbil International Airport.
The media network did not immediately provide details but reported that a loud sound was heard in the vicinity of Erbil.
UPDATE: 7:30 AM
Devastating Food Poverty for Iran’s Impoverished Classes
Iran has turned into an exhibition of social, political, and economic crises during the rule of the mullahs. This short report looks at a simple crisis, namely the crisis in food supplies for the poor and low-income masses. The Iranian people work around the clock, with most of them having two or three different shifts in various occupations. In many families, almost all members of the family are engaged in labor, yet they still struggle to even obtain their nightly bread, facing a crisis. This bitter reality is acknowledged even by the media and regime experts.
Economist Hossein Raghfar, in an interview with one of the state-run Fararu website, said, “The average households in the country spend 65% of their income on food. This statistic is very alarming. Not too long ago, this figure was 16% in Tehran and 25% to 26% in urban areas across the country. In rural areas, it reached up to 35%.”
Iran’s Ports, Trade Balances, and Infrastructural Hurdles
Despite the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran reporting a six percent growth in the performance of Iran’s ports during the first nine months of 2023, there remains a lack of clarity regarding the findings of their investigation and the current status and challenges faced by port activities in Iran.
As per the statistics from the Ports Organization, the unloading and loading of non-oil goods in Iran amounted to 82.77 million tons, indicating an increase of 8.6%.
The volume of unloading and loading of oil goods from April to the end of December 2023 witnessed a 3.5% increase, reaching a total of 90 million tons.
A Closer Look at Iran’s Inflation Landscape Over 25 Years
Iran Open Data Website released a report on January 24, 2024, shedding light on the country’s inflation scenario, which diverges significantly from global norms.
Over the past four decades, Iran has faced a critical and chronic situation regarding the disproportionate increase in the general level of prices. Not only does the inflation in Iran differ from global standards, but it also stands out when compared to neighboring countries and regional competitors.
According to calculations from Iran Open Data Website, the average prices since 1990 have grown by 55% in Saudi Arabia, 56% in Israel, 312% in the Republic of Azerbaijan, and a staggering 897% in Egypt.
Livelihood Struggles Pushing Iran’s Skilled Workers Abroad
The head of the Supreme Center of Iranian Labor Unions has underscored the pressing issues of wage stagnation, job insecurity, and the challenge of sustaining a livelihood, pointing to these factors as the primary drivers behind the migration of skilled workers to countries like Iraq, Oman, and Turkey. In an interview with the government agency Tasnim on Wednesday, February 23rd, Somayeh Golpour highlighted that the inadequate wages for workers are directly linked to the decline in per capita consumption of meat and protein of Iranian workers.
Golpour identified the policy of job and labor temporarization since the ’90s as the root cause of job insecurity in Iran. Among its consequences, she noted the weakening of labor organizations and their bargaining power.
Iran Among Nations Hit Hardest by Accelerated Decline in Freshwater
A study published on Wednesday, January 24, assessing global underground water levels over the past four decades revealed that Iran ranks among the three nations most severely impacted by the rapid and widespread decline of fresh water.
According to the Reuters news agency, drawing on insights from the scientific journal ‘Nature,’ unsustainable irrigation practices and climate change are the primary culprits behind the ‘widespread’ and ‘accelerated’ depletion of underground water worldwide.
Examining 170,000 wells across more than 40 countries, the study pinpointed arid climates and expansive agricultural regions as hotspots for the decline, with Northern China, Iran, and the western United States emerging as the most affected areas.
Ailing Teacher Activist Hashem Khastar Requires Immediate Medical Leave
The Coordinating Council of Trade Union Organizations of Iranian Cultivators voiced deep concern on Wednesday, January 24, over the deteriorating physical health of Hashem Khastar, an activist within the teachers’ trade union currently held in Mashhad prison. The Council urgently called for Khastar to be granted medical leave, allowing him to receive treatment outside the confines of the prison.
Expressing apprehension, the council stated, “Despite Hashem Khastar enduring the majority of his retirement within detention centers, courts, and prisons, recent reports reveal that this esteemed teacher is in a critical physical condition and seriously unwell.”
Iran: USD-rial Exchange Rate Increasing Hourly
The exchange rate of gold, the U.S. dollar, and other foreign currencies in the Iranian free market have experienced a significant hourly increase. At the time of this report, the exchange rate for one US dollar had reached “55,700 tomans.”
According to the Bonbast website, which reports the exchange rates of foreign currencies and gold in the Iranian market, within just one hour, the price of each US dollar increased by “2,500 rials,” and each gold coin increased by “1 million rials” (approximately $2).
The financial markets in Iran have been turbulent in recent days, with the price of the US dollar rising from 540,000 rials on Sunday, January 21, to nearly 560,000 rials within three days.
Tracing Iran’s Web of Influence in European Politics: Meeting in European Parliament in Brussels
On January 23, 2024, Spanish MEP Javier Zarzalejos presented a comprehensive report during a meeting held at the European Parliament in Brussels. The report, titled ‘Tracing Iran’s Web of Influence in European Politics,’ sheds light on Iran’s covert attempts to influence European politics. It exposes the Iranian regime’s manipulation of political discourse through individuals who masquerade as experts.
Paris—January 24, 2024: MEK Supporters Exhibition in Front of the French National Assembly in Solidarity With the Iran Revolution
Paris, France—January 24, 2024: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) organized an exhibition in front of the French National Assembly to express solidarity with the Iranian Revolution.