iran panorama

By Nikoo Amini Seyed Hadi Khamenei, the Secretary General of the Assembly of the Forces of Imam’s Line and brother to Iran’s Supreme Leader attacked regime officials and blamed them for Iran’s  socioeconomic  conditions. “No one can claim that they had no effect in the formation of current conditions. We have all made big and small mistakes and we have to apologize to the people because of the mistakes that we made,” he  said  during a speech in a religious ceremony. He criticized the systematic corruption of the regime and called the widespread embezzlements by regime officials, “shameful”. Hadi Khamenei said that the reason behind the regime’s financial corruption and embezzlement was the growth of factionalism and the  elite  who were above the law and made major decisions in the country. The so-called “reformist” politician who is at odds with his Supreme Leader brother blamed all the factions for Iran’s dire state. “What is happening today ...

May 29, 2019 -  Supporters of the Iranian opposition group People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran ( PMOI/MEK ) held numerous demonstrations and gatherings in Canada, Norway, Austria, Sweden, and the Netherlands, protesting the Tehran’s support for terrorism and unbridled crackdown inside Iran. In Toronto, PMOI/MEK supporters also commemorated the memory of  PMOI/MEK founders  on the day they were executed by the Shah’s dictatorship back in May 1972. Moslem Eskandar Filabi, chair of the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ) Sports Commission delivered a speech about the PMOI/MEK founders. Mr. Filabi also expressed his gratitude to the tireless PMOI/MEK supporters who have continued to contribute to this struggle to establish freedom and democracy in Iran. In Ottawa, Iranians voiced their compatriots’ desire to overthrow the religious fascism ruling Iran and called on the Canadian government to designate the mullahs’ Revolu...

Shamsi Saadati On Saturday night, the Iranian Regime’s President Rouhani held a meeting with some of the media representatives; addressing his conflicts with the Regime’s Supreme Leader Khamenei and describing his supporters as traitors. Last Wednesday (22nd May), Khamenei firmly denied Rouhani’s request to revise the regime’s controversial constitution, labelling the government officials as “responsible for shortcomings”. To which Rouhani responded: “At the start of the sanctions, I had a meeting with our supreme leader and emphasised on the importance of his leadership in such sensitive circumstances; he refused to refer to himself as the leader and asked me to take control; which I don’t mind, but how can one take control without sufficient powers!” He added: “in 2004, I asked the supreme leader, in writing as well as in person, to allow our people a say in our nuclear affairs, according to Bill 59. To which he agreed; however, nothing was ever scheduled and with the change ...

By Mahmoud Hakamian A network of fake social media accounts impersonated political candidates and journalists to spread messages in support of Iran and against U.S. President Donald Trump around the 2018 congressional elections, cybersecurity firm FireEye said on Tuesday. The findings show how unidentified, possibly government-backed, groups could manipulate social media platforms to promote stories and other content that can influence the opinions of American voters, the researchers said. This particular operation was largely focussed on promoting “anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian themes,” according to the report by FireEye. The campaign was organised through a series of fake personas that created various social media accounts, including on Twitter and Facebook. Most of these accounts were created last year and have since been taken down, the report said. Spokespersons for Twitter and Facebook confirmed FireEye’s finding that the fake accounts were created on...

By Shamsi Saadati The Iranian regime is in a very difficult position. It is subject to major economic sanctions and the people of Iran are applying immense domestic pressure. The Trump administration is also in the midst of a maximum pressure campaign on Iran and morale is low in the country. The people have been calling for regime change for quite some time now and it seems like they will not give up until they finally achieve freedom, democracy and human rights. They have been the first victims of the Iranian regime and they continue to be treated despicably to this day. True freedom is non-existent in Iran. Ethnic minorities, religious minorities, women, lawyers, journalists, young people, and so many more sectors of society are faced with discrimination and unequal treatment. Unemployment is a major problem and poverty is on the rise. Every year, more and more people are falling below the absolute poverty line. Job security is rare and prices of goods are increasing out...

IRAN NEWS 5/4/2019 Reported by PMOI/MEK Iran, May 4, 2019  – Members of  Resistance Units , a network associated directly to the Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran ( PMOI/MEK ), are reporting increasing activities for the month of April in numerous cities across the country. In  Khuzestan  Province, southwest Iran, members of resistance units put up posters and took to graffiti to protest the Revolutionary Guards’ ( IRGC ) role in the mullahs’ regime. The Iranian public is seeking the end of this regime after 40 years of turmoil. Members of Resistance Unit 480 put posters also shedding light on the IRGC’s role in the regime’s crimes and explaining this force is the main entity maintaining the mullahs’ regime in power. Members of Resistance Unit 500 in  Khuzestan Province  put up posters describing the IRGC as the main tool of the mullahs’ regime for the domestic crackdown and foreign meddling. ...

By Hassan Mahmoudi The United States recently announced that it has designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).  There were varied opinions about this development. Some have argued there will be an escalation of tension between the United States and Iran because of the Trump administration’s decision to designate the IRGC. However, this may not be the case at all when we consider past events and how Iran responds to different kinds of pressures and policies. History teaches us some lessons on this phenomenon. The Mullahs were completely passive during past Iranian dictatorships. The people cried for freedom and a better lifestyle several times. The most significant example was the 1979 popular uprising, which led to the removal of the last Pahlavi King in 1979. Iran’s behavior, when former President Barack Obama was in office, was appalling, especially considering how lightly the administration dealt with the re...

By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh It is a common misconception that since Iran’s theocratic establishment is Shiite, it will not cooperate with non-Shiite terrorist groups and militias. For example, some policy analysts, scholars and politicians continue to promote the argument that Tehran and Al-Qaeda are not natural allies due to their religious differences. Analyses that view the Iranian regime solely through the prism of religion are extremely simplistic. Tehran pursues a sectarian agenda in the region, pitting Shiite against Sunni in order to divide and conquer. But the sectarian division between Sunni terrorist groups and the Iranian regime was never an issue for the latter as long as these groups shared common strategic and geopolitical interests with it. Tehran has always been willing to shake hands with terrorist groups as long as they can help accomplish its revolutionary principles (such as anti-Americanism, anti-Semitism and opposition...

By Shahriar Kia The United States' decision to surge additional military forces into the Middle East was based in part on intelligence that the Iranian regime has told some of its proxy forces and surrogates that they can now go after American military personnel and assets in the region, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence, NBC News reported. The intelligence shows that an Iranian official discussed activating Iranian-backed groups to target Americans, but did not mention targeting the militaries of other nations, the officials said. Among the specific threats the U.S. military is now tracking, officials say, are possible missile attacks by Iranian dhows, or small ships, in the Persian Gulf; attacks in Iraq by Iranian-trained Shiite militia groups; and attacks against U.S. ships by the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The U.S. has accused Iran's regime of moving missiles and missile components through the region's waterways for years, shipping mi...

By Hamideh Taati The United States under the Trump administration has declared on a number of occasions that it will not accept Iran regime’s belligerence. It is in the midst of a maximum pressure campaign and it recently announced that the U.S. has designated the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO). Last year, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would be exiting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or 2015 Iran nuclear deal as it is commonly known. Tough economic sanctions were also re-imposed and the administration announced last month that the waivers allowing certain countries to continue importing Iranian oil would not be renewed. At the beginning of the week, the U.S. announced that it was sending an aircraft carrier and a bomber taskforce to the Middle East after it received a “credible threat” from Iran regime. John Bolton, the president’s national security adviser, made the an...

By Mahmoud Hakamian The popular Telegram messaging app that was founded by the Russian brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, and is registered in the United Kingdom, is believed to be utilized by some 40 million users. Iran regime’s officials now admit, one year after they released Iranian-made versions of messaging apps, that the state’s attempts to attract users to these versions have failed. In fact, Hamid Fatehi, a deputy minister at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (Telecommunications Ministry), said during a speech at a technology conference in Tehran on April 6th, “Today I can say with certainty that our domestic messengers have been defeated because they were not welcomed.” He added, “Perhaps the most important reason was that it coincided with filtering [blocking access to] Telegram and people got the impression that Telegram was filtered in order to attract them towards domestic messengers.” According to Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Ja...

By Shahriar Kia The rate of unemployment in Iran in the past few years has been extremely high. Iran regime’s official statistics (that usually have to be taken with a pinch of salt because they are almost always over or understated to make situations look less serious than they actually are) show that there were more than 23 million unemployed people in the country during the last calendar year that ran from 21st March 2018 to 20th March 2019). This represents 12 per cent of the population. However, looking at the participation rate (the total of all people in employment divided by the total population that is of working age), we see that the current rate is 40.5 per cent. It must also be noted that the breakdown of employment must be taken into consideration. For example, how many people are working part time? It must also not be forgotten that the Iranian regime does not differentiate between those that work 70 hour weeks and those on zero hour contracts. However, it se...

By Mahmoud Hakamian A few weeks ago, the United States announced that is designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO). Iran’s reaction was – predictably – very petty. President Hassan Rouhani designated the U.S. military forces in the region as a terrorist organisation. Some have argued that there is going to be an escalation of relations between the United States and Iran because of the Trump administration’s decision to designate the IRGC. However, this may not be the case at all when we consider past events and how Iran responds to different kinds of pressures and policies. Iran’s behaviour when former President Barack Obama was in office was appalling, especially considering how lightly the administration dealt with the regime. The Obama administration, desperate to get Iran to agree to a nuclear deal, appeased the Iranian regime to no end. It gave a number of concessions, far more than it should have done, and it p...

Iran, May 1, 2019  – The head of Iran’s  terrorist-designated  Revolutionary Guards ( IRGC ) Quds Force warned commanders of the repressive state security forces about the explosive state of the society. “Our enemies are trying to strike a blow and hurt us by using two tools in their disposal, the pressure of economic sanctions and undermining our security. And they would exploit everything in their capacity toward that objective,” said Qasem Soliemani said addressing a meeting of the clerical regime’s repressive state security forces in Tehran. “Management or operation in such an environment is very sensitive and important. In fact, I should say that the state security forces have a tough responsibility and must be vigilant every moment of every hour of every day. And we should admire and support them,” Soleimani told those members of the regime’s repressive forces attending the meeting. Criticizing a failed attempt aimed at opening a channel of dialog...

Female workers in Iran are toiling away without basic rights in conditions described as “new slavery”, according to the  Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) . International Labour Day, celebrated annually on May 1, is an occasion to defend the rights of workers, but these do not exist for female (or any) workers in Iran. Many labourers have been working without pay for months or even over a year. In desperation, these poor souls have turned to high-interest loans, selling their organs, and even setting themselves on fire to escape poverty. The situation is made even worse for female workers because women are “systematically discriminated against in the law, in employment and job market, and in every other realm of life”. This makes it even harder for female workers to advocate for their rights and gain fair employment. Main problems The main problems of female workers in Iran include: • low wages: women often toil in factories for 1...

By Amir Taghati The US special representative for Iran is visiting the United Nations in New York to update the five permanent members of the Security Council about US policy on Iran, as the White House continues to ratchet up pressure on the Iranian Regime. The  US State Department released  a statement about Brian Hook’s visit on April 30 and May 1, which read: “He will underscore the importance of holding Iran accountable for its defiance of UN Security Council resolutions on the development and testing of ballistic missiles.” The statement went on to say that Hook would reiterate the importance of fully implementing all relevant UN Security Council resolutions related to Iran, “including the enforcement of the Council’s legally binding travel restrictions and arms embargoes”. The US has taken a tough approach to Iran since Donald Trump took office in 2017, which led to the US withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear agreement last May and the reimbursement of ...

Iran, May 2, 2019  – Iran’s state media reported on Wednesday that the ruling clerical regime is planning to increase the price of gasoline beginning Thursday and assign gas rations for each car. The price of each liter of government-rationed gasoline would be 10,000 rials (about 22 cents/liter official rate) with 60 liters ration per car each month, According to reports. The price of gas without ration would run 25,000 rials(about 55 cents/liter official rate). The price of premium gas would be 30,000 rials (about 66 cents/liter official rate). Following this announcement, car owners rushed to the gas stations to purchase as much gas as they could before the new regulation comes into effect, and long queues were formed at each gas station in a matter of minutes in most major cities and towns. Long queues of cars at pump stations in the city of Urmia (northwest Iran) Long queues in Lahijan, northern Iran, as people seek to buy gasoline before...