Let's talk Iran - January 9, 2022
Iranian officials admit that people hate the ruling mullahs
On Friday, in a meeting with regime loyalists, Ahmad Khatami, a senior regime official and member of the Guardian Council, acknowledged that the people hate the mullahs by saying, “Some are trying to separate religion and politics.”
He also said, “Unfortunately, the people have a bad view toward clerics. Many student clerics who go to the market to buy goods or to go to stores try to do so without wearing clerical robes so that they are not insulted.”
Meibodi added, “Today, clerics wear their religious attire less in public appearances to avoid being uncomfortable. If a cleric sits in a taxi, people will insult him. People blame the clerics for high prices and all problems.”
Iran’s State Media Admits Deep Crises and People’s Revulsion Toward Regime
The country’s economic crunch has heightened society’s explosive state. The November 2019 uprising laid bare the Iranian people’s disdain toward the mullahs’ regime. Continuing protests since point to intensifying social volatility. LINK
Qassem Soleimani’s infamous legacy
No matter how hard Iran's regime tries to turn the now-dead criminal into a national hero, its efforts have been in vain. Soleimani’s legacy—and by extension that of the regime—can be seen in torn posters and burnt statues across the country. LINK
Statue of Qassem Soleimani torched hours after unveiling
An English language daily cited Ali Safavi, a member of the Iranian opposition coalition NCRI, saying 'resistance units' torched the statue because they 'despised Soleimani'. LINK
Iran: Families of Victims of Downed Plane Demand Justice
The families of passengers on the Ukrainian flight PS752, shot down by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) two years ago, gathered at Tehran’s Airport and the crash site on Saturday demanding justice.
They held pictures of their loved ones and chanted “Truth, Justice”. “Justice is not negotiable! We stand firm to bring to justice the criminals in an impartial court.” They said their campaign for justice will continue until the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and IRGC commanders are held to account. A father, who said he had lost four children, insisted that he will not rest until the criminals responsible are brought to justice. LINK
Doomed from the start: Flight PS752’s final minutes over Iran revealed in cockpit recording
Documents reveal the 'unimaginable' story of PS752’s demise, and the gaps, inconsistencies and mysteries that surround Iran’s own account of it
For three days, Iranian officials insisted that some kind of catastrophic technical failure had led to the crash — as evidence at the lightly secured scene was literally bulldozed up and looted by locals.
Then, faced with mounting evidence at odds with their claims, those same officials admitted the shocking truth: An Iranian air-defence team had brought down the passenger jet with two Russian-made missiles. LINK
Ukraine Accuses Iran of Premeditated Terrorist Act in 2020 Plane Shootdown
"What happened on January 8th, 2020, was a terrorist act committed against a civilian aircraft." It also is likely that Iran IRGC's downing of PS752 will be classified as a "war crime." LINK
Iran denies interim nuclear deal reached - report
Iran denied a report of reaching a two-year interim deal with world powers. London-based Rai al-Youm reported the US would lift all sanctions placed on Iran by the Trump administration. In return, all of Iran's advanced uranium would be transported to Russia. LINK
Iran Revolutionary Guard commander says 'revenge' coming for Soleimani strike from 'within' US
Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani, who replaced Soleimani, spoke during the second anniversary of Soleimani’s death, which Iran has labeled as "martyrdom." Ghaani underscored the republic’s dedication to avenging the general’s death, saying that the "ground for the hard revenge" will come from "within" the homes of Americans.
"We do not need to be present as supervisors everywhere, wherever is necessary we take revenge against Americans by the help of people on their side and within their own homes without our presence," Ghaani said, according to Tasnim News. LINK
Illegal Iranian Oil Shipments to China Skyrocketed in 2021
Iranian crude exports jumped 40 percent in total as Biden admin shuns sanctions enforcement
Illicit Iranian oil shipments jumped by 40 percent in 2021, with China and Syria the top importers of this heavily sanctioned crude, according to figures published by a watchdog group that highlight the Biden administration's lax enforcement of U.S. sanctions.
From 2020 to 2021—when the Biden administration began negotiations with Iran surrounding a revamped nuclear deal and began to unwind sanctions on the hardline regime—Iranian oil exports increased by 123 million barrels, or 40 percent, according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which closely tracks Tehran's armada of illegal oil tankers. LINK
Iran Navy Port Emerges as Key to Alleged Weapons Smuggling to Yemen, U.N. Report Says
Thousands of weapons seized by the U.S. along supply routes for Yemen’s Houthis likely originated from Jask in Iran’s southeast, according to a draft report
The U.N. panel’s findings—part of a broader sanctions report on Yemen reviewed by The Wall Street Journal—provide a rare detailed view into Iran’s alleged support for armed groups across the Middle East. The issue has loomed over talks in Vienna to revive an international deal to limit Tehran’s nuclear program, with Israel and some Persian Gulf states calling for more limits on Iran’s support for militias.
Jailed Iranian poet Baktash Abtin dies due to lack of timely medical care for Covid-19
Baktash Abtin, 48, was put into an induced coma in a Tehran hospital after being rushed there from Evin Prison on December 14 with severe symptoms of COVID-19.
Prison officials delayed his transfer to a hospital for several days after he was diagnosed with Coronavirus and despite his critical condition. LINK
Kurdish language teacher Zahra Mohammadi, civil activist Shadi Gilak taken to prison
Both political prisoners have been sentenced on bogus charges often used by the Iranian regime against dissidents. LINK
Princeton scholar under fire for boasting about Iran threat against US over Soleimani
A US-based former Iranian diplomat has come under fire after he appeared to be gloating on Iranian state TV that threats made by the Iranian regime following the killing of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani supposedly frightened the family of a former US official.
Hossein Mousavian, a Middle East Security and Nuclear Policy Specialist at Princeton University who served as Iran’s ambassador to Germany from 1990 to 1997, took part in the documentary.
Mousavian came under fire after he appeared to boast during the documentary that Iranian threats to target US officials as part of the revenge for Soleimani had purportedly caused the wife of Brain Hook, the US Special Envoy for Iran at the time, to panic. LINK
