Let's talk Iran - March 9, 2021
NUCLEAR
Republicans join Democrats to urge Biden make 'comprehensive' deal with Iran
140 U.S. lawmakers from both parties urged the Biden admin to aim for bipartisan consensus & seek a "comprehensive" deal with Iran that addresses not just its nuclear program, but a range of other national security issues. LINK
Lawmaker Probes Biden Admin’s Role in $1 Billion Ransom Payment to Iran
"It would be gravely concerning if the U.S. waived terrorism-related sanctions on Iran to facilitate a ransom payment... It would be a grave mistake for the U.S. to provide sanctions relief to the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, Iran." LINK
Addressing Iran’s Weaponization Work Will Fortify the Nuclear Deal
Allowing Iran to dissemble and whitewash its nuclear sites would set a terrible precedent for other nations who might be tempted to pursue a covert nuclear weapons program. LINK
TERRORISM
Inside the rise of the shadowy Iran-backed militias in Iraq
Since the US killing of Iran commander Qassem Soleimani and Kata’ib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes in January 2020, Iran and its Iraqi proxies have conducted a covert war against western interests in Iraq that experts believe was mapped by Soleimani before his death. LINK
Academic held in Iran for two years says imprisonment pushed her to brink of suicide
Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was detained in Iran in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges, was released late last year in exchange for three Iranians who had been detained abroad.
Speaking for the first time publicly, Moore-Gilbert said she was kept in a 4 square meter cell with only a telephone to communicate with prison guards.
“You go completely insane. It is so damaging. I felt physical pain,” Moore-Gilbert told Sky News Australia. LINK
HUMAN RIGHTS
Two fuel carriers killed, three injured, including minor in Iran police shootings
An annual report by a human rights group said that at least 204 Iranian citizens were directly or indirectly killed or wounded by Iran’s state security forces in 2020.According to the report, at least 74 citizens were killed, including 36 kolbars, 5 fuel carriers and 33 other citizens. The 2020 arbitrary shootings injured at least 130 people. LINK
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday blacklisted two Iranian officials from Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), accusing them of their involvement in human rights violations during 2019 and 2020 protests in Iran.
IRGC interrogators Ali Hemmatian and Masoud Safdari and their immediate family members are now ineligible for entry into the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement and added: “We will continue to consider all appropriate tools to impose costs on those responsible for human rights violations and abuses in Iran.” LINK
PROTESTS
Iran State-Run Daily Warns Factions of Restive Society and Opposition MEK
With the growing social dissent in Iran and as the mullahs’ 40-years of oppression and wrong economic policies have turned society into a powder keg ready to explode, state-run media warn officials and rival factions of the regime’s real enemy, the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). LINK
With internet shutdown, Iran seeks to limit protest outcry
After Iran last month imposed an internet shutdown lasting several days in a southeastern region during a rare upsurge of unrest, activists say the government is now using the tactic repeatedly when protests erupt. Iran in November 2019 imposed nationwide internet limits during rare protests against fuel hikes that the authorities suppressed in a deadly crackdown. LINK
Tehran court hands down 5-year sentence for Forough Taghipour
Branch 28 of Tehran's "Revolutionary Court" handed down a 5-year sentence for Forough Taghipour, imprisoned for supporting the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK. Such a "crime" is punishable by death in Iran. LINK