{"id":211131,"date":"2019-01-21T17:52:18","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T17:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/211131-iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019"},"modified":"2020-01-24T17:47:36","modified_gmt":"2020-01-24T17:47:36","slug":"iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/iran-news-in-brief\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"lyte-wrapper\" title=\"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019\" style=\"width:853px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_URcaB6THYSU\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><div><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FURcaB6THYSU%2Fhqdefault.jpg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"embedURL\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/URcaB6THYSU\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT4M27S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2019-01-20T17:33:39Z\" \/><\/div><div id=\"lyte_URcaB6THYSU\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FURcaB6THYSU%2Fhqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\" itemprop=\"name\">Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019<\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/URcaB6THYSU\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FURcaB6THYSU%2F0.jpg\" alt=\"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019\" width=\"853\" height=\"460\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019 Four Political Activists Interrogated and One Arrested In Iran Reports from Iran say that four political activists in the Kermanshah province were taken to the intelligence ministry and questioned for their activities in cyberspace and one of them was arrested. In recent days more than a dozen environment activists were also detained for questioning in Kurdistan provine. Political prisoner was refused hospitalization despite medical authorization Saeed Shirzad, a political prisoner in Rajaee Shahr prison in Karaj, has been refused urgent medical care despite doctors requested his transfer to hospital for his severe kidneys\u2019 failure a month ago. While the prosecutor\u2019s office has assured that he would receive treatment, prison authorities have prevented this transfer. Iran Concerned About Oil Revenues, U.S. Pressure Iran regime\u2019s Vice-President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht says Tehran is facing &quot;serious problems in exporting oil&quot; as a result of &quot; sanctions.&quot; Speaking in the south-eastern province of Kerman on Friday January 18, Nobakht said that Iran is also facing difficulties in repatriating the money resulting from oil sales. He told: &quot;It is sometimes impossible to bring back the money, and sometimes difficult,\u201d. The Iranian vice-president also said that sanctions on shipping and insurance have made oil export even more difficult for Iran. Meanwhile, according to OPEC, Iran\u2019s crude oil production declined about 1.04 million barrels per day (mb\/d) to 2.769 mb\/d in December from early 2018. Billions of Government Supplied Cheap Dollars Disappear The chairman of Iranian parliament\u2019s economic commission says that &#36;3.5 billion dollars of cheap foreign currency was handed out to importers, but nothing has been brought to the country. Mohammad Reza Poor-Ebrahimi told the state TV on January 17 that out of &#36;14 billion dollars given to importers since March 21, 2018, &#36;3.5 billion is unaccounted for. He added that 4,200 court cases have been launched but did not say what is the status of the investigation into these cases. UN experts: Fuel from Iran is financing Yemen\u2019s Houthis Fuel is being shipped illegally from Iran to Houthi militias in Yemen to finance their war against the government, according to a report by a UN panel of experts seen by AFP. The findings are expected to again raise questions about Iran&#039;s support for the Houthis in the war. In a previous report, the experts said they were investigating monthly fuel donations from Iran valued at &#36;30 million. Senior Iran cleric says Iranians want \u201ceasy money\u201d, denies high unemployment According to a senior Iranian cleric who represents Isfahan in the Assembly of Experts, there are more than enough jobs in Iran and the reason behind the high unemployment rate and the growing smuggling and robbery rates is that Iranians \u201cwant easy money\u201d. The senior cleric, who is obviously out of tune with the desperation of a person who is unable to provide food for his family, said that \u201cgood\u201d people do not become thieves. \u201cIt is not as though poverty forces people (into robbery) \u2026 if a person does not have a wicked nature, they would not go into these kinds of work,\u201d he said. He also claimed that the people had to depend on divine aid for their economic hardships.\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:853px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019Four Political Activists Interrogated and One Arrested In Iran Reports from Iran say that four political activists in the Kermanshah province were taken to [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[178],"class_list":{"0":"post-211131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-iran-news-in-brief","7":"tag-save"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019 - NCRI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019Four Political Activists Interrogated and One Arrested In Iran Reports from Iran say that four political activists in the Kermanshah province were taken to the intelligence ministry and questioned for their activities in cyberspace and one of them was arrested.In recent days more than a dozen environment activists were also detained for questioning in Kurdistan provine.Political prisoner was refused hospitalization despite medical authorizationSaeed Shirzad, a political prisoner in Rajaee Shahr prison in Karaj, has been refused urgent medical care despite doctors requested his transfer to hospital for his severe kidneys\u2019 failure a month ago. While the prosecutor\u2019s office has assured that he would receive treatment, prison authorities have prevented this transfer.Iran Concerned About Oil Revenues, U.S. PressureIran regime\u2019s Vice-President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht says Tehran is facing &quot;serious problems in exporting oil&quot; as a result of &quot; sanctions.&quot;Speaking in the south-eastern province of Kerman on Friday January 18, Nobakht said that Iran is also facing difficulties in repatriating the money resulting from oil sales.He told: &quot;It is sometimes impossible to bring back the money, and sometimes difficult,\u201d.The Iranian vice-president also said that sanctions on shipping and insurance have made oil export even more difficult for Iran. Meanwhile, according to OPEC, Iran\u2019s crude oil production declined about 1.04 million barrels per day (mb\/d) to 2.769 mb\/d in December from early 2018.Billions of Government Supplied Cheap Dollars DisappearThe chairman of Iranian parliament\u2019s economic commission says that $3.5 billion dollars of cheap foreign currency was handed out to importers, but nothing has been brought to the country.Mohammad Reza Poor-Ebrahimi told the state TV on January 17 that out of $14 billion dollars given to importers since March 21, 2018, $3.5 billion is unaccounted for.He added that 4,200 court cases have been launched but did not say what is the status of the investigation into these cases.UN experts: Fuel from Iran is financing Yemen\u2019s HouthisFuel is being shipped illegally from Iran to Houthi militias in Yemen to finance their war against the government, according to a report by a UN panel of experts seen by AFP.The findings are expected to again raise questions about Iran&#039;s support for the Houthis in the war.In a previous report, the experts said they were investigating monthly fuel donations from Iran valued at $30 million.Senior Iran cleric says Iranians want \u201ceasy money\u201d, denies high unemploymentAccording to a senior Iranian cleric who represents Isfahan in the Assembly of Experts, there are more than enough jobs in Iran and the reason behind the high unemployment rate and the growing smuggling and robbery rates is that Iranians \u201cwant easy money\u201d.The senior cleric, who is obviously out of tune with the desperation of a person who is unable to provide food for his family, said that \u201cgood\u201d people do not become thieves.\u201cIt is not as though poverty forces people (into robbery) \u2026 if a person does not have a wicked nature, they would not go into these kinds of work,\u201d he said.He also claimed that the people had to depend on divine aid for their economic hardships.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/multimedia\/iran-news-in-brief\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019 - NCRI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019Four Political Activists Interrogated and One Arrested In Iran Reports from Iran say that four political activists in the Kermanshah province were taken to the intelligence ministry and questioned for their activities in cyberspace and one of them was arrested.In recent days more than a dozen environment activists were also detained for questioning in Kurdistan provine.Political prisoner was refused hospitalization despite medical authorizationSaeed Shirzad, a political prisoner in Rajaee Shahr prison in Karaj, has been refused urgent medical care despite doctors requested his transfer to hospital for his severe kidneys\u2019 failure a month ago. While the prosecutor\u2019s office has assured that he would receive treatment, prison authorities have prevented this transfer.Iran Concerned About Oil Revenues, U.S. PressureIran regime\u2019s Vice-President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht says Tehran is facing &quot;serious problems in exporting oil&quot; as a result of &quot; sanctions.&quot;Speaking in the south-eastern province of Kerman on Friday January 18, Nobakht said that Iran is also facing difficulties in repatriating the money resulting from oil sales.He told: &quot;It is sometimes impossible to bring back the money, and sometimes difficult,\u201d.The Iranian vice-president also said that sanctions on shipping and insurance have made oil export even more difficult for Iran. Meanwhile, according to OPEC, Iran\u2019s crude oil production declined about 1.04 million barrels per day (mb\/d) to 2.769 mb\/d in December from early 2018.Billions of Government Supplied Cheap Dollars DisappearThe chairman of Iranian parliament\u2019s economic commission says that $3.5 billion dollars of cheap foreign currency was handed out to importers, but nothing has been brought to the country.Mohammad Reza Poor-Ebrahimi told the state TV on January 17 that out of $14 billion dollars given to importers since March 21, 2018, $3.5 billion is unaccounted for.He added that 4,200 court cases have been launched but did not say what is the status of the investigation into these cases.UN experts: Fuel from Iran is financing Yemen\u2019s HouthisFuel is being shipped illegally from Iran to Houthi militias in Yemen to finance their war against the government, according to a report by a UN panel of experts seen by AFP.The findings are expected to again raise questions about Iran&#039;s support for the Houthis in the war.In a previous report, the experts said they were investigating monthly fuel donations from Iran valued at $30 million.Senior Iran cleric says Iranians want \u201ceasy money\u201d, denies high unemploymentAccording to a senior Iranian cleric who represents Isfahan in the Assembly of Experts, there are more than enough jobs in Iran and the reason behind the high unemployment rate and the growing smuggling and robbery rates is that Iranians \u201cwant easy money\u201d.The senior cleric, who is obviously out of tune with the desperation of a person who is unable to provide food for his family, said that \u201cgood\u201d people do not become thieves.\u201cIt is not as though poverty forces people (into robbery) \u2026 if a person does not have a wicked nature, they would not go into these kinds of work,\u201d he said.He also claimed that the people had to depend on divine aid for their economic hardships.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/multimedia\/iran-news-in-brief\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NCRI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-21T17:52:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-24T17:47:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ncri-logo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"402\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@iran_policy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@iran_policy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/multimedia\\\/iran-news-in-brief\\\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/multimedia\\\/iran-news-in-brief\\\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-21T17:52:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-24T17:47:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/multimedia\\\/iran-news-in-brief\\\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":15,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"save\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Multimedia: Iran news in brief\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/multimedia\\\/iran-news-in-brief\\\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/multimedia\\\/iran-news-in-brief\\\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\\\/\",\"name\":\"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019 - 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While the prosecutor\u2019s office has assured that he would receive treatment, prison authorities have prevented this transfer.Iran Concerned About Oil Revenues, U.S. PressureIran regime\u2019s Vice-President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht says Tehran is facing \\\"serious problems in exporting oil\\\" as a result of \\\" sanctions.\\\"Speaking in the south-eastern province of Kerman on Friday January 18, Nobakht said that Iran is also facing difficulties in repatriating the money resulting from oil sales.He told: \\\"It is sometimes impossible to bring back the money, and sometimes difficult,\u201d.The Iranian vice-president also said that sanctions on shipping and insurance have made oil export even more difficult for Iran. Meanwhile, according to OPEC, Iran\u2019s crude oil production declined about 1.04 million barrels per day (mb\\\/d) to 2.769 mb\\\/d in December from early 2018.Billions of Government Supplied Cheap Dollars DisappearThe chairman of Iranian parliament\u2019s economic commission says that $3.5 billion dollars of cheap foreign currency was handed out to importers, but nothing has been brought to the country.Mohammad Reza Poor-Ebrahimi told the state TV on January 17 that out of $14 billion dollars given to importers since March 21, 2018, $3.5 billion is unaccounted for.He added that 4,200 court cases have been launched but did not say what is the status of the investigation into these cases.UN experts: Fuel from Iran is financing Yemen\u2019s HouthisFuel is being shipped illegally from Iran to Houthi militias in Yemen to finance their war against the government, according to a report by a UN panel of experts seen by AFP.The findings are expected to again raise questions about Iran's support for the Houthis in the war.In a previous report, the experts said they were investigating monthly fuel donations from Iran valued at $30 million.Senior Iran cleric says Iranians want \u201ceasy money\u201d, denies high unemploymentAccording to a senior Iranian cleric who represents Isfahan in the Assembly of Experts, there are more than enough jobs in Iran and the reason behind the high unemployment rate and the growing smuggling and robbery rates is that Iranians \u201cwant easy money\u201d.The senior cleric, who is obviously out of tune with the desperation of a person who is unable to provide food for his family, said that \u201cgood\u201d people do not become thieves.\u201cIt is not as though poverty forces people (into robbery) \u2026 if a person does not have a wicked nature, they would not go into these kinds of work,\u201d he said.He also claimed that the people had to depend on divine aid for their economic hardships.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/multimedia\\\/iran-news-in-brief\\\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/multimedia\\\/iran-news-in-brief\\\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/multimedia\\\/iran-news-in-brief\\\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"NCRI\",\"description\":\"Official website of the National Council of Resistance of Iran\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Official website of the National Council of Resistance of Iran\",\"alternateName\":\"Official website of the National Council of Resistance of Iran\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/ncri-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/ncri-logo.jpg\",\"width\":402,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Official website of the National Council of Resistance of Iran\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/iran_policy\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ncr-iran.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019 - 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While the prosecutor\u2019s office has assured that he would receive treatment, prison authorities have prevented this transfer.Iran Concerned About Oil Revenues, U.S. PressureIran regime\u2019s Vice-President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht says Tehran is facing \"serious problems in exporting oil\" as a result of \" sanctions.\"Speaking in the south-eastern province of Kerman on Friday January 18, Nobakht said that Iran is also facing difficulties in repatriating the money resulting from oil sales.He told: \"It is sometimes impossible to bring back the money, and sometimes difficult,\u201d.The Iranian vice-president also said that sanctions on shipping and insurance have made oil export even more difficult for Iran. Meanwhile, according to OPEC, Iran\u2019s crude oil production declined about 1.04 million barrels per day (mb\/d) to 2.769 mb\/d in December from early 2018.Billions of Government Supplied Cheap Dollars DisappearThe chairman of Iranian parliament\u2019s economic commission says that $3.5 billion dollars of cheap foreign currency was handed out to importers, but nothing has been brought to the country.Mohammad Reza Poor-Ebrahimi told the state TV on January 17 that out of $14 billion dollars given to importers since March 21, 2018, $3.5 billion is unaccounted for.He added that 4,200 court cases have been launched but did not say what is the status of the investigation into these cases.UN experts: Fuel from Iran is financing Yemen\u2019s HouthisFuel is being shipped illegally from Iran to Houthi militias in Yemen to finance their war against the government, according to a report by a UN panel of experts seen by AFP.The findings are expected to again raise questions about Iran's support for the Houthis in the war.In a previous report, the experts said they were investigating monthly fuel donations from Iran valued at $30 million.Senior Iran cleric says Iranians want \u201ceasy money\u201d, denies high unemploymentAccording to a senior Iranian cleric who represents Isfahan in the Assembly of Experts, there are more than enough jobs in Iran and the reason behind the high unemployment rate and the growing smuggling and robbery rates is that Iranians \u201cwant easy money\u201d.The senior cleric, who is obviously out of tune with the desperation of a person who is unable to provide food for his family, said that \u201cgood\u201d people do not become thieves.\u201cIt is not as though poverty forces people (into robbery) \u2026 if a person does not have a wicked nature, they would not go into these kinds of work,\u201d he said.He also claimed that the people had to depend on divine aid for their economic hardships.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/multimedia\/iran-news-in-brief\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019 - NCRI","og_description":"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019Four Political Activists Interrogated and One Arrested In Iran Reports from Iran say that four political activists in the Kermanshah province were taken to the intelligence ministry and questioned for their activities in cyberspace and one of them was arrested.In recent days more than a dozen environment activists were also detained for questioning in Kurdistan provine.Political prisoner was refused hospitalization despite medical authorizationSaeed Shirzad, a political prisoner in Rajaee Shahr prison in Karaj, has been refused urgent medical care despite doctors requested his transfer to hospital for his severe kidneys\u2019 failure a month ago. While the prosecutor\u2019s office has assured that he would receive treatment, prison authorities have prevented this transfer.Iran Concerned About Oil Revenues, U.S. PressureIran regime\u2019s Vice-President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht says Tehran is facing \"serious problems in exporting oil\" as a result of \" sanctions.\"Speaking in the south-eastern province of Kerman on Friday January 18, Nobakht said that Iran is also facing difficulties in repatriating the money resulting from oil sales.He told: \"It is sometimes impossible to bring back the money, and sometimes difficult,\u201d.The Iranian vice-president also said that sanctions on shipping and insurance have made oil export even more difficult for Iran. Meanwhile, according to OPEC, Iran\u2019s crude oil production declined about 1.04 million barrels per day (mb\/d) to 2.769 mb\/d in December from early 2018.Billions of Government Supplied Cheap Dollars DisappearThe chairman of Iranian parliament\u2019s economic commission says that $3.5 billion dollars of cheap foreign currency was handed out to importers, but nothing has been brought to the country.Mohammad Reza Poor-Ebrahimi told the state TV on January 17 that out of $14 billion dollars given to importers since March 21, 2018, $3.5 billion is unaccounted for.He added that 4,200 court cases have been launched but did not say what is the status of the investigation into these cases.UN experts: Fuel from Iran is financing Yemen\u2019s HouthisFuel is being shipped illegally from Iran to Houthi militias in Yemen to finance their war against the government, according to a report by a UN panel of experts seen by AFP.The findings are expected to again raise questions about Iran's support for the Houthis in the war.In a previous report, the experts said they were investigating monthly fuel donations from Iran valued at $30 million.Senior Iran cleric says Iranians want \u201ceasy money\u201d, denies high unemploymentAccording to a senior Iranian cleric who represents Isfahan in the Assembly of Experts, there are more than enough jobs in Iran and the reason behind the high unemployment rate and the growing smuggling and robbery rates is that Iranians \u201cwant easy money\u201d.The senior cleric, who is obviously out of tune with the desperation of a person who is unable to provide food for his family, said that \u201cgood\u201d people do not become thieves.\u201cIt is not as though poverty forces people (into robbery) \u2026 if a person does not have a wicked nature, they would not go into these kinds of work,\u201d he said.He also claimed that the people had to depend on divine aid for their economic hardships.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/multimedia\/iran-news-in-brief\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\/","og_site_name":"NCRI","article_published_time":"2019-01-21T17:52:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-01-24T17:47:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":402,"height":100,"url":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ncri-logo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@iran_policy","twitter_site":"@iran_policy","twitter_misc":{"Written by":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/multimedia\/iran-news-in-brief\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/multimedia\/iran-news-in-brief\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019","datePublished":"2019-01-21T17:52:18+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-24T17:47:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/multimedia\/iran-news-in-brief\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\/"},"wordCount":15,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/#organization"},"keywords":["save"],"articleSection":["Multimedia: Iran news in brief"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/multimedia\/iran-news-in-brief\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/multimedia\/iran-news-in-brief\/iran-news-in-brief-january-20-2019\/","name":"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019 - NCRI","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-01-21T17:52:18+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-24T17:47:36+00:00","description":"Iran news in brief, January 20, 2019Four Political Activists Interrogated and One Arrested In Iran Reports from Iran say that four political activists in the Kermanshah province were taken to the intelligence ministry and questioned for their activities in cyberspace and one of them was arrested.In recent days more than a dozen environment activists were also detained for questioning in Kurdistan provine.Political prisoner was refused hospitalization despite medical authorizationSaeed Shirzad, a political prisoner in Rajaee Shahr prison in Karaj, has been refused urgent medical care despite doctors requested his transfer to hospital for his severe kidneys\u2019 failure a month ago. While the prosecutor\u2019s office has assured that he would receive treatment, prison authorities have prevented this transfer.Iran Concerned About Oil Revenues, U.S. PressureIran regime\u2019s Vice-President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht says Tehran is facing \"serious problems in exporting oil\" as a result of \" sanctions.\"Speaking in the south-eastern province of Kerman on Friday January 18, Nobakht said that Iran is also facing difficulties in repatriating the money resulting from oil sales.He told: \"It is sometimes impossible to bring back the money, and sometimes difficult,\u201d.The Iranian vice-president also said that sanctions on shipping and insurance have made oil export even more difficult for Iran. Meanwhile, according to OPEC, Iran\u2019s crude oil production declined about 1.04 million barrels per day (mb\/d) to 2.769 mb\/d in December from early 2018.Billions of Government Supplied Cheap Dollars DisappearThe chairman of Iranian parliament\u2019s economic commission says that $3.5 billion dollars of cheap foreign currency was handed out to importers, but nothing has been brought to the country.Mohammad Reza Poor-Ebrahimi told the state TV on January 17 that out of $14 billion dollars given to importers since March 21, 2018, $3.5 billion is unaccounted for.He added that 4,200 court cases have been launched but did not say what is the status of the investigation into these cases.UN experts: Fuel from Iran is financing Yemen\u2019s HouthisFuel is being shipped illegally from Iran to Houthi militias in Yemen to finance their war against the government, according to a report by a UN panel of experts seen by AFP.The findings are expected to again raise questions about Iran's support 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