Let's talk Iran - March 14, 2021
US - Iran Relations: Will There Be A New Policy Against Tehran's Dirty War?
The world should ask itself: Why are we dealing with unelected international hooligans like Zarif when we could be working in peace with the Iranian people and their democratic opposition? The time has come to end the appeasement of the theocratic regime that oppresses the Iranian people's most basic rights and spreads terrorism abroad. A firm policy against Tehran's Dirty War is long overdue. LINK
Retirees, pensioners hold rallies across Iran as economic woes escalate
Retirees and pensioners of the Social Security Organization in Iran held protest rallies across the country on Sunday demanding higher pensions as inflation and prices of basic goods continue to escalate. The growing number of nationwide protests in Iran is a manifestation of widespread anger in an oppressed and looted society. LINK
TERRORISM
When black lives don’t matter: World silent on Houthi ‘Holocaust’ of African migrants
“The Houthis were directly and consistently responsible for the killing and injury of approximately 450, mostly Ethiopian, migrants in a detention center, on 7 March, 2021, in a fire caused by bombs apparently fired by Houthi forces.” LINK
Missile launched by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen kills three children, residents say.
Yemen’s Houthi forces fired a missile on Sunday at a school in the Taiz region where pro-government forces are stationed, killing 15 soldiers, as well as three children who were nearby, two residents and military sources said.
The residents told Reuters the children - two brothers and their relative - were in the area when the missile struck the school in Kadha district in the west of Taiz governorate.
In an olive branch to Tehran, the U.S. State Dept. recently delisted the Houthis from their list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). LINK
Iran in all the wrong places: The Islamic Republic's Shadowy Presence in West Africa
The growing U.S. military presence in the region might additionally put itself at risk of attack, not only from Salafist movements like Boko Haram or the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, but from unencumbered Iranian-backed, Iranian-trained, and Iranian-indoctrinated radicalized terrorists unimpeded by sanctions. Given Iran’s recent historical patterns of using shadowy proxies to commit acts of terror, including the 1996 Hezbollah-linked attacks in Saudi Arabia on the Khobar Towers housing U.S. Air Force personnel, the Islamic Republic could strike at U.S. interests in places where U.S. officials least expect. LINK
Israeli PM avoided Saudi airspace because of Houthi missiles
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was deterred from flying to the United Arab Emirates through Saudi Arabian airspace last week because of the threat of missile fire from Iranian proxies in Yemen. But rather than bypass Jordanian airspace and take a more southerly route across Saudi skies, Netanyahu told Israel’s Channel 13 “there were also problems a week ago in the skies of Saudi Arabia,” referring to recent missile attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. LINK
Asma al-Assad: Syria’s first lady faces war crimes prosecution in UK
Asma al-Assad, the first lady of Syria who is also a former British investment banker, faces possible prosecution and the loss of her British citizenship after the Metropolitan Police opened a preliminary investigation into allegations that she incited and encouraged terrorist acts during the country’s ten-year civil war. LINK
HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran revolutionary court sentences four Baha’is to 12 years prison
A Revolutionary Court in Iran has sentenced four followers of the Baha’i faith to a total of 12 years in prison. The persecution of Iran’s Bahais is still ongoing with dozens of Bahais languishing in prisons throughout Iran. LINK
Trial of British-Iranian aid worker Zaghari-Ratcliffe was held in Iran: lawyer
The trial of British-Iranian aid worker Zaghari-Ratcliffe at Iran’s Revolutionary court was held on Sunday, her lawyer Hojjat Kermani told the Iranian Emtedad website.
“Her trial was held at branch 15 of the Revolutionary court. Her charge is propaganda against the system,” he said. Her husband Richard said the British embassy in Tehran had declined to accompany his wife to Sunday's trial. LINK
Woman injured, minor killed in arbitrary police shooting in southeast Iran
At least 204 Iranian civilians were directly or indirectly killed or wounded by Iran’s state security forces in 2020, of which 74 lost their lives. LINK
Iran: A Restive Society, Poverty & Skyrocketing Prices
Poverty and high prices have “broken people’s backs,” and “salary of 50% of people cannot pay for even food,”, garbage collection has become an official occupation. Many people are buying bread on credit. LINK