iran panorama

2019 would be a year of advancement of resistance and uprisings towards freedom and victory Suffering Christians of Iran, fellow compatriots, followers of Jesus Christ around the world, My greetings for Christmas, on the birth of Jesus Christ, son of Mary, the great prophet of God. And I bow before the Virgin Mary, the eternal example of innocence and purity. The birthday of Jesus Christ is a jubilant celebration for the enchained humanity that yearns for emancipation and fraternity. He was the messenger of compassion and friendship. He used to say, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25: 35-40) Christ set a tradition that showed men that they could be privileged by sacrificing for others. He said, “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15: 9-17) He described the sublime existence of human beings as living to serve others...

Albania, Dec. 15, 2018  - On Saturday, a conference simultaneously held by Iranians in 40 different locations in three continents across the world called for international action against the increasingly hostile terrorist activities of the Iranian regime and its egregious human rights abuses at home. Titled “Halt mullahs’ regime growing human rights violations and export of terrorism,” the conference featured speeches by Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi, political dignitaries from several countries and representatives of Iranian communities from across the world. The gatherings message: Adopt a firm policy toward the Iranian regime and support the aspirations of the Iranian people for change in their country. Maryam Rajavi: Respect the Iranian people’s desire to overthrow the regime, establish freedom and democracy Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran The keynote speaker of the event was Maryam Rajavi, the presid...

Maryam Rajavi met and held talks on Saturday, December 15, 2018, with Mr. Pandeli Majko, senior Minister of State and former Prime Minister of Albania, Mr. Patrick Kennedy and Ms. Ingrid Betancourt. Mr. Pandeli Majko expressed his pleasure at the progress he had seen in the construction of Ashraf 3, and the PMOI’s settlement in their new home. He stressed on the need to provide and guarantee their security. Mr. Patrick Kennedy expressed his delight on his first visit to Ashraf 3 and meeting with Iran’s freedom fighters. He added: I consider myself an Iranian and an Ashrafi. One of the best periods of my life has been when I supported the protection and security of Ashraf residents. Ms. Ingrid Betancourt, former presidential candidate in Columbia, said, “I am amazed at the extent of progress and the scale of constructions in Ashraf 3 as well as the high spirits of the PMOI members in Ashraf. I am happy that after years of endurance, suffering and sacrifice, they are now enjo...

  by   Nikoo Amini On December 28, 2017, the massive demonstrations that rocked Mashhad, quickly spread from the north east province of Khorasan to 142 cities in Iran. The demonstration, initially in protest to high prices, quickly changed course in as little as 24 hours with protesters directly targeting the whole Iranian regime in its entirety. Angry protesters all over Iran chanted against the leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei and its president, Rouhani, demanding regime change. Despite the ensuing waves of suppression and the arrest of activists and protesters and the increased number of the execution of prisoners, the protests continued the whole year round indicating that the regime had failed to contain the fury of Iranians. Contrary to 2017, when only a few cities witnessed protests, it is now difficult to find a city in Iran that has not erupted in protests this year. Various sectors of Iran’s society including workers, teachers, students, bazaar m...

Iran Uprising -No. 239 Demonstration across Iran regime’s Parliament in support of workers calls for their freedom Suppressive security forces of the ruling religious fascism in Iran conducted midnight raids in Ahvaz on Monday for the second consecutive night. The raids targeted the homes of Iranian National Steel Industries Group (INSIG) workers and led to the arrest of more workers. Dozens of workers arrested Sunday night and Monday are still in detention. Many workers are spending nights outside their homes to avoid arrest. The steel workers are entering the 39th day of their strike and protest action despite the repressive actions of the regime. They announced that they will continue to strike until the last steel worker is freed from detention. Hundreds of pensioners protesting outside the regime’s Parliament in Tehran voiced their support for the striking Ahvaz steel workers on Tuesday morning. The protesters shouted: “From Ahvaz to Tehran, workers are in jails”; “...

By Shahriar Kia Much of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s comments before senior regime figures in a December 12 meeting were focused on the very real possibility that in 2019 the people and their organised resistance, namely the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran ( PMOI/MEK ), would overthrow the mullahs. Khamenei is so scared of this that he has placed the Regime and its state security forces on high alert, something designed to unify the warring factions of the Regime against a common enemy: The Iranian people. These warnings spread across Iran during Friday prayers, with imams in various cities across Iran warning about the “enemy” and plots to overthrow the Regime next year. The Friday prayer imam of Asalem, northern Iran, said: “We must be very aware in 2019 because these threats in 2018 may be paving the paths for a much more powerful sedition next year… Experience shows that following the death of [regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini], the system has experien...

By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh Iran’s current efforts to increase its influence in Lebanon have not been adequately addressed by the international community and some media outlets. For almost seven months, Lebanon has been struggling to form a government. The political deadlock forced Lebanese President Michel Aoun to intervene. “The risks are greater than we can bear,” he warned. “We’re launching an initiative... and it has to succeed, because if it doesn’t... there will be a catastrophe. We want to say it with all frankness, and this is the reason for my intervention.” This is not the first time Lebanon has had difficulty forming a government. One of the major players in such political wrangling is the Iran-backed Shiite party Hezbollah, which controls the majority of seats in Lebanon’s Parliament. One of the key hurdles is linked to Hezbollah’s demands for an additional Cabinet seat. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, who is mandated to lead the formation of the government, has re...

  by   Adena Nima According to reports from workers of the Iran National Steel Group in Ahvaz, security forces raided the homes of steel workers in an attack that continued until 2 am and detained more than a dozen workers. They have all been taken to an unknown location. The report said that the arrests were made without warrants. The detained steel workers were initially identified as 15 people including Meisam Ali Ghanavati, Esa Marie, Amin Alavani, Morteza Akbarian, Taregh Khalghi, Massoud Efri, Jafar Sobhani, Mostafa Abiat, Gharib Havizavi, Hossein Davoudi, Karim Siahi, Meisam Ale Mehdi, Hamed Baseri, Hafez Kan’ani, and Hamed Judaki. The Telegram channel of the Free Iran Labor Union later said that security forces were unable to arrest Hossein Davoudi and Meisam Ale Mehdi. Many workers spent the night on the street in an attempt to evade arrest. The  ILNA  state-run news agency also announced the arrest of the workers and said that more than 10 steel f...

By Mahmoud Hakamian Over the past couple of years, inflation has been on the increase in Iran. This has resulted in an increasing number of people slipping below the absolute poverty line. The problem is widespread and affects people in every single one of the country’s provinces. The United Nations defines “absolute poverty” – also referred to as “extreme poverty” – as a condition in which a person does not have access to the most basic of amenities. That is to say, safe and clean drinking water, health care and food. It also includes the lack of sanitation facilities, education, information and shelter. People living in absolute poverty do not have access to social assistance or care. Poverty in Iran is central to many of the social problems that exist in the country. This includes crimes, murder and robbery in particular, and addiction problems. Sistan and Baluchistan, the province that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan is particularly affected by poverty. The province h...

By Shahriar Kia At the beginning of the month, the cabinet of Iran regime’s President Hassan Rouhani approved the regime’s budget bill for the year March 2019 to March 2020. Certain parts of the budget have been released and many have described it as “unambitious”. Estimates of oil income is noted to be 30 trillion tomans (around $7.15 billion) and the government projects that it will export 1.5 million barrels per day at a cost of $54 per barrel. However, this is about as cautious as the budget gets. During the first half of the current Iranian year (starting March 2018), non-oil revenues have fallen short of what was predicted. For example, from March to September this year, government revenue from taxes was predicted to be 72.40 trillion tomans, but it actually brought in 50.34 trillion tomans – a shortfall of 22.06 trillion tomans. For the tax revenue in the 2019/2020 budget, projections are the same for annual tax revenues – 120 trillion tomans (around $29 billion). ...

By Amir Taghati Handwritten advertisements of organ sales are so commonly witnessed across many cities of Iran now, and the saddest part is that they’re mostly from young unemployed people; under such harsh economic pressures, they give up their own body parts (kidney, liver, cornea, and much more) just to be able to afford their daily needs. This has become so prevalent especially in Tehran, that some areas are considered a hotspot for organ sale. Arman newspaper has written a segment in this regard titled under “organs sell for the price of life”: “those who have been to Valiasr may have seen that there’s a street right in front of Court of Justice, where people put up their advertisements of organ sale, from kidney to liver, cornea and more. Selling organs is one of the few ways people are making their meets under the harsh economic circumstances these days”. (December 1st, 2018). In an interview with Arman newspaper, one of these kidney-sellers says: “my child ha...

By Shahriar Kia Money laundering is generally used to cover up the actual sources of income for whoever the “demandants” are, and to basically wipe off anything that traces back to them. In a way, it can be considered as a side crime for a bigger crime. Money launderers are often involved in drug smuggle, embezzlement, bribe, and other illegal activities alike. According to a recent report from Switzerland’s “Basel” institute, Iran has the highest risks of money laundering amongst all other countries. In fact, the anti-money-laundering Body has given Iran only until February 2019 to complete certain reforms which are aimed to bring it in line with global norms. If Iran doesn’t comply by then, it will be black listed. If black listed, Iran will suffer from great financial losses because all its investments, trades, and fund transfers will be negatively impacted too. In which case, the newly planned “mechanism” of the European Union (which is aimed to protect the Joint C...

Iran Uprising - No. 236 The brave workers of Ahvaz Steel started their thirtieth-two day of strike on Tuesday December 11 with a rally in front of the governorate of the regime in Ahvaz. Many workers had white shrouds on which slogans such as "We stand, we die, we do not accept humiliation" was written. Workers were chanting: Lest we accept humiliation; neither threat, nor prison, they are no longer useful; student, worker, unity; imprisoned worker must be freed; imprisoned student must be freed; neither ruler nor the state, can overcome the worker; neither ruler, nor the state, think about the nation; inflation, high prices, respond Rouhani; our country is a thief house; it's unique in the world; liar Rouhani, where is your claimed key to solve the problems? Our disgrace, our disgrace, our radio and TV. At the same time, 1,500 seasonal and day-work workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Complex gathered in front of the building's administrative office to protest...