Let's talk Iran - Feb 23, 2021
SARAVAN PROTESTS - SOUTHEAST IRAN
IRGC forces kill Baluch fuel porters in Saravan, protests ensue
On Monday, repressive Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) forces near Saravan, Sistan & Baluchestan province, southeast Iran, opened fire on a group of Baluch fuel porters, killing and injuring several people. LINK
Angry locals storm Governor’s Office after IRGC kill residents in SE Iran
Angry locals stormed the Saravan Governor’s Office this morning following a fatal attack by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) against Baluch residents in the Southeastern city.
Initial amateur video footage showed the family and relatives of the killed and wounded residents gathered outside the Saravan Governor’s Office. Other videos showed the locals storming the building breaking the windows and the doors. Reports said that officials fled the Office. LINK
Iran security forces fire tear gas to disperse protesters in Saravan
Protesters also marched towards an IRGC Base and surrounded the area. The regime is bringing forces from the neighboring town of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan to quash the protests. LINK
Ongoing Protests in Iran Foretell an Inevitable Uprising
More than 20 Iranian cities witnessed retirees protests for the third consecutive week on Sunday. These protests, coupled with by those of other walks of life, foretell an inevitable uprising. LINK
NUCLEAR
Dissidents implore Biden: Consider human rights for Iran nuclear talks
The policy push, which was initiated by the Organization of Iranian American Communities, stresses that not only is Iran in violation of the nuclear deal but is also involved in human rights abuses and international terrorism. LINK
Iran must cooperate with IAEA, reverse steps that reduce transparency - UK, France, Germany
“We... deeply regret that Iran has started, as of today, to suspend the Additional Protocol & the transparency measures under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA),” the foreign ministers of France, Germany & Britain said. LINK
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi says Iran needs to give answers on traces of nuclear material including uranium found in places they should not be. LINK
Biden squanders leverage Trump stockpiled on Iran in pursuit of a defective nuclear deal
The Biden admin’s eagerness for diplomacy will likely be read by Iran’s dictator as a vulnerability to exploit. And in response, Tehran will do what it has done for decades: intensify its aggression and only back down if presented with no other alternative. LINK
GOP Lawmakers Warn Biden Against Lifting Iran Sanctions
Republican lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee are warning the Biden administration against lifting economic sanctions on #Iran, saying "appeasement will not effectuate change."
Iran producing highly enriched uranium faster than law requires
Iran is producing highly-enriched uranium faster than called for by the law under which it started the process of enriching to 20% fissile purity, only steps away from the 90% weapons grade level. As part of a recent acceleration of its breaches of its 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, Iran has begun refining uranium to 20% at Fordow, a site that was built in secret inside a mountain where the deal says Iran cannot enrich at all. LINK
State TV: Iran imposes curbs on UN nuclear inspections
Iran officially has begun restricting international inspections of its nuclear facilities. The state TV report gave little detail beyond confirming that Iran had made good on its threat to reduce cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. LINK
Iran says it hopes South Korea, Japan will release $1 billion in blocked funds
South Korea says "actual unfreezing of the assets will be carried out through consultations with related countries, including the U.S.”
Another concession from Washington? LINK
Israel will not tolerate Iranian presence in Syria: PM Netanyahu
Israel will not tolerate an Iranian military position in Syria aimed at endangering the country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
“We will not compromise on the development of high-precision missiles in Syria and Lebanon,” Netanyahu added. LINK
Israel to debate Iran with Biden 'below radar' for now, radio says
The Netanyahu government has decided to avoid public spats with U.S. President Joe Biden over his desire to return to a 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but that approach could change depending on the actions of the Biden administration, Army Radio added. LINK
HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran’s executions and torture surging with hangings from cranes and guillotined fingers for crimes as petty as theft
The latest figures show Iran carries out around 250 executions a year, including about a dozen in public, in which the condemned die a slow agonizing death while dangling in the air. The country’s barbaric system of punishments sees prisoners hanged from cranes in public while there is also widespread use of horrific electric shocks and flogging.
This is the horrific regime that the West is appeasing. LINK
TERRORISM
Yemen's Houthis raise stakes in Marib 'blood bath', sources say
Hundreds of fighters have been killed in a weeks-long #Iran-backed Houthi offensive on the oil-rich Yemeni region of Marib amid renewed U.S.-led diplomacy to end the six-year war.
My take: Tehran is taking advantage of pro-appeasement signals from DC. LINK
Disclosing networks of state-linked information operations
Twitter said on Tuesday it had taken down 373 accounts which it said had ties to Russia, Armenia and Iran and had breached its platform manipulation policies. The company said it had taken down 238 accounts operating from Iran for various violations of its policies. LINK
UN expert says Iran lied in downing of Ukraine airliner
A UN official on Tuesday accused Iran of lying in its explanation of how it shot down a Ukrainian passenger flight PS752 near Tehran last year at a time of acute tension with the US. She said the Iranian version of events is "full of contradictions. They are contradicted by the facts, by the technical assessments of many experts."
"Why does Iran lie? Because there is no other term to use," said Agnes Callamard, a special UN rapporteur on extra-judicial killings. LINK
Exclusive: 'Perfect trips' - Venezuela ships jet fuel to Iran in exchange for gasoline, sources say
Venezuela is shipping jet fuel to #Iran in return for vital gasoline imports for the South American nation as part of a swap deal agreed by the two state-run oil firms, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Iran has sent flotillas of state-operated tankers carrying gasoline and feedstock for motor fuel to Venezuela, as well as equipment and spare parts to help the once-prosperous OPEC nation restart its dilapidated refineries.
But the countries have provided few details on what Iran is getting from Venezuela in return. LINK