{"id":312533,"date":"2023-10-12T06:28:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T05:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=312533"},"modified":"2023-10-12T20:18:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T19:18:24","slug":"iran-news-in-brief-october-12-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-news-in-brief-news\/iran-news-in-brief-october-12-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran News in Brief \u2013 October 12, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

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THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS<\/h2>\n

UPDATE: 9:00 PM CET<\/span><\/p>\n

MEPs Push for IRGC Terrorist Designation Over Hamas Ties<\/h3>\n

\"European-Parliament-Members-Statement-in-Support-of-the-Iran-Protests\"<\/p>\n

On October 10, dozens of members of the European Parliament urged the European Union<\/a> (EU) to classify the Iranian regime\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. They pointed to the IRGC’s involvement in Hamas\u2019 recent terrorist attack on Israel as grounds for this designation. French MP Benjamin Haddad has communicated this proposal via a letter to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrel and the French foreign affairs ministry.\u00a0The letter emphasized that labeling the IRGC as a terrorist group would result in the freezing of its assets and a significant reduction in Tehran\u2019s regional influence. The European Parliament had previously recommended the IRGC’s designation as a terrorist organization by the EU in January, but no action has been taken to date. In 2019, the United States has already designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.<\/p>\n

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U.S., Qatar Agree To Stop Iran From Tapping $6 Billion Fund After Hamas Attack<\/h3>\n

\"washington-post-logo\"U.S. officials and the Qatari government have agreed to stop Iran from\u00a0accessing a $6 billion account<\/a> for humanitarian assistance in light of Hamas\u2019s attack on Israel, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told House Democrats on Thursday, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private remarks. Coming just a few weeks after the U.S. and Iran announced a deal on the money, the decision not to permit access could have major geopolitical reverberations, with the Biden administration undercutting negotiations with Tehran that took years to finalize. Biden aides had rejected the unfounded accusation that funds not yet released had fueled the Hamas attack, but they still faced a bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill aimed at preventing the money from going to Iran.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Sen. Rick Scott & Colleagues to Biden: Following Hamas Attacks on Israel, Convene the G7 to Jointly Sanction Iran<\/h3>\n

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WASHINGTON, D.C.<\/b>\u2014Today, Senator Rick Scott led nine of his Senate colleagues in\u00a0calling on<\/a>\u00a0President Biden to immediately convene the G7 nations and take coordinated action to further isolate Iran with severe sanctions and action that will strike directly at the wealth that its support of evil terrorism brings to the Ayatollah and the Iranian mullahs. The senators are urging President Biden to punish the evil Iranian regime, which remains the world\u2019s largest state sponsor of terror, and deny its ability to continue supporting the brutality witnessed in Israel from ever occurring again.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hamas Coordinated with Iran ‘Before, During’ Israel Attack, Official Says<\/h3>\n

\"Newsweek-Logo\"<\/p>\n

Hamas was in active coordination with Iran before, during and after the attack against Israel over the weekend, a senior Hamas official said.<\/p>\n

Ahmed Abdulhadi, Hamas’s representative in Lebanon, said in response to a Newsweek question in an audio conversation on X that Hamas had also coordinated with Iran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah and with other factions of a so-called “Axis of Resistance” before the assault, the deadliest Palestinian militant attack in Israel’s history.<\/p>\n

Tehran has denied any role in the operation, though the Iranian Mission to the\u00a0United Nations<\/a>\u00a0told\u00a0Newsweek<\/em><\/a>\u00a0earlier Wednesday that the Islamic Republic had provided Palestinian fighters with “skills” to help them launch such an assault.<\/p>\n

Abdulhadi said on X that “we coordinated with Hezbollah and with Iran and the Axis before, during and after this battle at the highest level.” He said this coordination “has many dimensions\u2014political, military and others.”<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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UPDATE: 1:30 PM CET<\/span><\/p>\n

Germany\u2019s Scholz: Iran Bears Responsibility for Hamas Attacks<\/h3>\n

BERLIN, Oct 12 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday Iran bore responsibility for helping Hamas grow to the point where it launched last weekend’s attack on Israel, as he announced a crackdown on organisations that backed the Islamist movement.<\/p>\n

“While we have no firm proof that Iran operationally supported this cowardly attack, it is clear to us all that without Iranian support, Ham as would never have been able to launch this unprecedented attack,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The jubilant statements from the top of the Iranian regime and some other government officials in the region are abhorrent. The leadership in Tehran shows its true colours without shame, and thereby confirms its role in Gaza.”<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Biden Faces an Iran Reckoning<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\"wall-street-journal-logo-300\"President Biden on Tuesday showed appropriate outrage at the wanton slaughter by Hamas this weekend, and his pledge of support for Israel is welcome. But there was a crucial word missing from his remarks at the White House: Iran. Tehran is Hamas\u2019s terror master, and its assault on Israel exposes the failure of his Iran strategy.<\/p>\n

The Journal has reported that Iran gave the approval for Hamas\u2019s bloody assault at an Oct. 2 meeting in Beirut. Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader\u00a0Ali Khamenei\u00a0has denied it, and the U.S. is saying it has no \u201cspecific evidence\u201d of Iran\u2019s assent. But Iran has long been the chief benefactor of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Shiite militias in Iraq and Yemen. All have praised the Hamas assault, as has Mr. Khamenei.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Cotton and McConnell To Introduce Legislation To Freeze $6 Billion Payment to Iran Immediately<\/h3>\n

\"tomWashington, D.C.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) today announced they will introduce and seek unanimous consent to pass legislation to block Iran from accessing the $6 billion in funds that the Biden administration released in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran is the world\u2019s worst state sponsor of terrorism. In addition to funding Hamas\u2019s devastating terrorist attacks against Israel, the regime\u2019s proxies have attacked dozens of American targets in the region in recent years. The Biden administration\u2019s decision to let Iran access the $6 billion immediately freed up other money for the regime to fund its attacks in Israel. The Biden administration should immediately re-freeze the funds,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Cotton<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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UPDATE: 8:00 AM CET<\/span><\/p>\n

Regime Official Admits the PMOI Is a Powerful Independent Movement<\/h3>\n

\"iranian<\/p>\n

On September 28, in an interview with the Ofogh state TV, Saeed Ghasemi, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said, \u201cThe [PMOI] phenomenon alone, meaning Masoud and Maryam [Rajavi] and their group, have been working for the destruction of the entire regime\u2026 Right now, they are present in all ministries and carrying out missions. This phenomenon alone was sufficient to destroy the regime, and they did not need Saddam doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statements of this senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards, who has had close familiarity with the PMOI during the early years after the 1979 revolution until today, contain several important points. First, he says that the PMOI and its leaders alone are enough to eliminate the regime.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Iran\u2019s New Controversial Bill is an Alarming Invasion of Privacy<\/h3>\n

\"Iran<\/p>\n

In a chilling development, Iran\u2019s regime has recently endorsed a highly contentious bill that endows the government with unprecedented authority to intrude into the personal lives of its citizens. This bill has ignited a furious debate, casting profound shadows over individual freedoms, human rights, and the extent to which a government can surveil the daily lives of its people.\u00a0Not long has passed since the ratification of the contentious \u2018Efaf and Hijab\u2019 (Chastity and hijab) bill, which triggered objections over an article in the 7th Development Plan. This specific article empowers Iran\u2019s regime to scrutinize and regulate even the most mundane aspects of people\u2019s lives, including their everyday purchases.<\/p>\n

Critics of this article have pointed fingers at certain members of the regime\u2019s parliament. In the latest incident, a parliament member voiced concerns that the government aims to pry into \u2018all the intricacies of\u00a0people\u2019s private lives\u2019<\/a>\u00a0with this legislation.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Change-Makers: Iranian Girls Breaking the Chains of Oppression<\/h3>\n

\"International<\/p>\n

International\u00a0Day of the Girl Child<\/a>\u00a0is an opportunity to remind ourselves of a future that is being built by creating opportunities for girls.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, due to the rule of a ruthless, misogynistic dictatorship in Iran, that under the guise of religion has established a brutal gender apartheid in the country, each year, we find ourselves reviewing the\u00a0heart-wrenching plight<\/a>\u00a0of Iranian girls in various domains.<\/p>\n

We have repeatedly written about how Iranian girls\u00a0can face criminal punishment<\/a>\u00a0at the age of 9. The legal age for girls to marry in Iran is 13, and there are numerous exceptions that force them into\u00a0early marriage<\/a>\u00a0even below this age.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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GOP Senators Call on Biden To Freeze $6 Billion in Iranian \u2018Ransom’<\/h3>\n

\"FoxNews-logo\"<\/p>\n

Amid Israel’s deadly war, a group of Republican senators led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, are urging the Biden administration to freeze Iran’s $6 billion in assets that were released to Qatar from South Korean accounts in exchange for American prisoners last month.<\/p>\n

“To stand by and allow Iran access to these funds as Hamas infiltrates Israel and murders, rapes, and mutilates countless Israelis is unconscionable,” lawmakers wrote in a letter to Biden Monday evening.<\/p>\n

While the administration said the funds can only be used for humanitarian aid and other resources for Iranian citizens, lawmakers argue that the “money is fungible” \u2014 meaning that a unit of currency is interchangeable with another unit of the same value.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Bologna, Italy\u2014October 7, 2023: MEK Supporters Held a Rally in Support of the Iran Revolution<\/h3>\n
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Bologna, Italy \u2014October 7, 2023: MEK supporters held a rally in support of the Iran Revolution.<\/div><\/div>
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