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UPDATE: 9:00 PM CET<\/strong><\/p>\n LONDON, 20 July 2023 \u2013 JVMI is among 93 international NGOs, current and former United Nations officials, human rights and legal experts, and Nobel laureates that have sent an urgent letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker T\u00fcrk, requesting his urgent intervention to prevent the imminent execution of Mohammad Javad Vafa\u2019i Thani, an Iranian boxing champion who is on death row in Iran for taking part in the anti-government protests.<\/p>\n The text of the letter and list of co-signatories are included below:<\/p>\n Dear High Commissioner,<\/p>\n We request your urgent public intervention to save the life of Iranian political prisoner Mohammad Javad Vafa\u2019i Thani.\u00a0According to information received from Vakil-Abad Prison in the city of Mashhad, earlier this morning a prison judge went to the political prisoners\u2019 ward, where he informed Vafa\u2019i Thani that his execution verdict had been finalised.\u00a0Vafa\u2019i Thani was then summoned and taken by a prison guard to an unknown location. There is no further information about his current whereabouts. Vafa\u2019i Thani, 27, is a local boxing champion in Mashhad and a supporter of the main opposition group People\u2019s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK).<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n The Council today established a\u00a0new framework for restrictive measures\u00a0<\/strong>in view of Iran’s military support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.\u00a0This new regime\u00a0prohibits the export<\/strong>\u00a0from the European Union to Iran\u00a0of components used in<\/strong>\u00a0the construction and production of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs<\/strong>). It also provides for travel restrictions and asset freeze measures that could be imposed against persons responsible for, supporting or involved in\u00a0Iran\u2019s UAV\u2019s programme<\/strong>.\u00a0This new regime complements the three previously adopted packages of drone-related sanctions targeting individuals and entities, the latest of which in February 2023.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n The Iranian rial is the weakest currency in the world, with 1 rial buying just 0.000024 US dollars (or, put another way, $1 equals 42,273 Iranian rials).\u00a0The Iranian rial was first introduced in the late 1700s. It was later pegged to the British pound, followed by the US dollar. Although now free-floating, the currency has remained at around 42,000 rials to the dollar over the past few years.\u00a0Iran is located on the Persian Gulf between Iraq and Afghanistan and is a leading global exporter of oil and natural gas. However, economic sanctions have put pressure on Iran\u2019s currency, along with political unrest and high inflation.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n UPDATE: 2:30 PM CET<\/strong><\/p>\n A turning point in the global narrative on Iran was marked in Rome on July 12, 2023. At the center stage stood\u00a0Maryam Rajavi<\/a>, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI<\/a>), seizing the moment to call for a new policy on Iran. As she addressed the Italian Parliament\u2019s\u00a0Foreign Affairs Committee<\/a>, the air buzzed with anticipation of a decisive chapter in Iran\u2019s quest for democracy. The discourse was deeply focused on Iran\u2019s future, which is in the throes of a nationwide uprising yearning for transformation. Mrs. Rajavi, the torchbearer of this change, urged Italy to spearhead a firm policy initiative regarding the Iranian regime within the European Union.<\/p>\n Afterward, Mrs. Rajavi made her case before a bipartisan audience from Italy\u2019s Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, attended by senators like Giulio Maria Terzi, Lucio Malan, and Gisella Naturale and representative Emanuele Pozzolo, alongside former Italian Prime Minister Carlo Cottarelli. The center of the discussion was Mrs. Rajavi\u2019s 10-point plan<\/a>\u00a0for a democratic Iran.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n UPDATE: 10:30 AM CET<\/strong><\/p>\n Over 3,600 Cross-Party Lawmakers in 61 Parliaments in 40 Countries, including 29 Majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives, Parliaments in the U.K., France, Italy, the Despite more than 100 former world leaders urging the global community to support the popular uprising against Iran\u2019s tyrannical regime, its chief appeasers in the West, US President Joe Biden, and French President Emmanuel Macron appear to be actively conspiring with the brutal mullahs. Both Biden and Macron seem foolishly determined to lift the international sanctions on Iran and resurrect the zombie nuclear deal, designed to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon but used as a cover to do just that. In an act of fawning supplication, Macron even tried to ban a rally held by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in Paris earlier this month but was thwarted by legal action in the French courts.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n The UK’s Foreign Secretary said on Wednesday that Britain was determined to support allies in the Middle East to \u201censure that they never see a nuclear armed Iran\u201d.\u00a0Speaking at the\u00a0Aspen Security Forum<\/a>\u00a0in Colorado,\u00a0James Cleverly\u00a0<\/a>said Britain was resolute in its efforts to thwart Iran\u2019s malign activities.\u00a0\u201cWe maintain a tough and robust position towards Iran,\u201d he said. \u201cOur actions are in response to their behaviour and if they don’t like it, they can and should change their behaviour.\u201d Britain has been the target of more than a\u00a0dozen Iranian actions<\/a>\u00a0in the past 18 months. Mr Cleverly said Britain’s security services have interrupted at least 15 attempted kidnappings on UK soil by Iranian agents.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n UPDATE: 8:00 AM CET<\/strong><\/p>\n In a recent joint meeting of a number of Italian parliamentarians,\u00a0John Bercow<\/a>, former speaker of the UK Parliament, said, \u201cYou will notice in the dishonest lexicon, the dishonest use of the dictionary by the Iranian regime, how they say that there is no united opposition, no united opposition. They\u2019ve stopped saying there\u2019s no meaningful alternative. They say there\u2019s no united opposition alternative\u2026 If what the butchers, the tyrants, and the demagogues from Iran\u2019s government are saying is that there isn\u2019t unanimity, well, of course, there is no unanimity\u2026 Mrs. Rajavi and her mass movement cannot be expected to unite with the enemies of democracy, with people who don\u2019t favor pluralism, people who don\u2019t want democratic change, who don\u2019t believe in equality, who don\u2019t think there should be a right to regular and independently monitored elections, but amongst the mass of people for whom the flame of freedom will never be extinguished and for whom that flame burns brightly, there is mass support for change.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n WASHINGTON\u2014The U.S. has barred 14 Iraqi banks from conducting dollar transactions, U.S. officials said, part of a sweeping crackdown on the\u00a0siphoning of U.S. currency to Iran<\/a> and other sanctioned Middle East countries. The ban, which was imposed Wednesday by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is likely to provoke new tensions between Baghdad and Washington and could spark more economic turmoil for ordinary Iraqis<\/a>. It signals a hardening of sanctions enforcement against Iran only months after the Biden administration appeared intent on lowering tensions<\/a>\u00a0with Tehran. The Treasury recently approved a payment of 2.5 billion euros, equivalent to about $2.8 billion, toward unpaid debts by the Iraqi government for Iranian electricity and gas imports, which had been frozen by sanctions.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n Security forces arrested Leila Ziafar in Tehran on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, for posting a tweet about the\u00a0mandatory Hijab<\/a>. The family of Leila Ziafar does not even know which agency has arrested her. She was reportedly arrested after leaving her sister\u2019s residence at midnight. Security forces ambushed and arrested her. They later ransacked her residence and confiscated her electronic devices, including her cell phone.\u00a0Leila Ziafar has a Ph.D. in the food industry. She was a presenter on the radio but left her job after the November 2019 nationwide protests in Iran.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n On June 15, a report was released by the Iran regime\u2019s media detailing the list of luxury properties in Tehran valued at over 500 billion tomans. These properties range from a 700-square-meter duplex in Shahrak Gharb to an 800-square-meter triplex in Niavaran.\u00a0The question is, how can some people afford to spend such exorbitant amounts, considering the minimum wage for a worker is only 9 million tomans and the average salary for a teacher falls between 11 and 14 million tomans?\u00a0While the hardworking labor of the country living on the outskirts of Tehran struggles even to rent a primitive settlement, super-rich people<\/a>\u00a0affiliated with the regime spend over 500 billion tomans on triplexes in super-rich regions such as Niavaran.<\/p>\n93 NGOs, Human Rights Experts Write to Volker T\u00fcrk To Help Prevent Imminent Execution in Iran<\/h2>\n
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\nIran: EU Adopts New Restrictive Measures for Military Support to Syria and Russia\u2019s War of Aggression Against Ukraine<\/h3>\n
![\"eu-european-council-logo\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/eu-european-council-logo.png\" "\\"eu-european-council-logo\\""){kind=logo}
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\nTop 10 Weakest Currencies In The World In 2023<\/h3>\n
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We\u2019ve analysed the weakest currencies, based on the number of units of foreign currency received in exchange for one US dollar. The exchange rates are sourced from our\u00a0currency converter<\/a>, based on data from Open Exchange as at the time of writing.<\/p>\n
\nMenendez, Hagerty Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Codify U.S. Sanctions on Iran\u2019s Missile and Drone Program<\/h3>\n
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WASHINGTON<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Today,\u00a0U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)<\/strong>\u00a0introduced the\u00a0MISSILES Act<\/em>, a bipartisan bill to impose U.S. sanctions on Iran\u2019s missile and drone program. As Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in his address to Congress, Iran spreads hatred, danger, and terror in the Middle East and publicly calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. The looming October 2023 sunset of key UN Security Council restrictions on Iran\u2019s ballistic missiles and drones \u2013 including potential transfers to Russia for use against Ukraine \u2013 underscores the need for this urgent legislation, and serves as a wake-up call to the U.S. and the international community.<\/p>\n
\nThe World Listens<\/h3>\n
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\nWashington Times: Global Support for the Ten-Point Plan for a Democratic, Secular Republic in Iran<\/h3>\n
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\nNetherlands, Norway, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Slovenia, Moldova, Malta, North Macedonia, San Marino, Jordan, and Yemen:<\/p>\n\n
\nNational Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), for a Democratic, Secular,
\nNon-nuclear Republic in Iran.<\/li>\n
\nthe deposed Shah or the current theocratic regime.<\/li>\n![\"washington](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/washington-times-ad-july-2023.jpg\" "\\"washington")
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\nUs Condoning Raid on Iranian Opposition Camp Suggest Joe Biden\u2019s Appeasement of Mullahs\u2019 Regime Has Reached a New Low \u2013 Struan Stevenson<\/h3>\n
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\nUk\u2019s James Cleverly Says Iran Needs To Change Its Behaviour<\/h3>\n
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\nThe Truth Behind the \u201cUnited Opposition\u201d Argument<\/h3>\n
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\nU.S. Bans 14 Iraqi Banks in Crackdown on Iran Dollar Trade<\/h3>\n
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\nLeila Ziafar Arrested for a Post Against the Mandatory Hijab<\/h3>\n
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\nHow Iran\u2019s Inequitable Tax System Affects Low-Income Groups<\/h3>\n
![\"iran](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/iran-retirees-protests-18072023-300x188.jpg\" "\\"iran")
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