German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stated on Friday that returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is no longer enough and a new and broader nuclear deal must be reached, one that would also include the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile program.
Heiko Maas, whose country currently holds the presidency of the European Union, told Spiegel magazine: “A form of ‘nuclear agreement plus’ is needed, which also lies in our interest.”
“We have clear expectations for Iran: no nuclear weapons, but also no ballistic rocket program which threatens the whole region,” Maas added.
Taking a more aggressive tone than ever before, Maas said Germany is in agreement with France and UK on Iran and declared: “Iran must also play another role in the region.We need this accord because we distrust Iran.”
Two weeks ago, after the release of the newest report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the three European countries had released a statement stating that Iran’s uranium enrichment stockpile is dozens of times bigger than the permitted amount under the nuclear deal, and demanded immediate return of Tehran to compliance.
The potential US president-elect Joe Biden yesterday once again emphasized that his administration will not allow the Islamic Republic to develop nuclear weapons.
He said in an interview with CNN: “The bottom line is, we can’t let Iran to get nuclear weapons.”
On Thursday, the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran’s missile program was not included in the 2015 nuclear deal not as an advantage to Iran, but because other parties of the deal were not ready to cease their “malevolent” behavior in the region.Another Honor-Killing Of A Woman By Her Two Brothers In Iran’s Sanandaj City Saturday, 05 Dec 2020 01:29
A court in Sanandaj city in the west of Iran confirmed the reports about the honor-killing of a woman by the hands of her two brothers.
Sanandaj prosecutor Mohammad Jabbari told the reporters that the two brothers have confessed to the murder being motivated by “honor issues”.
Jabbari said the brothers stabbed their sister to death by knives, but the reports about her decapitation are not accurate.
Hengaw human rights organization reported five days ago that Sargol Habibi was killed by her family members.
Sargol was 31, married, with a two-year-old child.According to some reports, she was arrested by the police along with a young man, and they were released a day later.
The judge released her to the custody of her brothers Hassan and Esmaeel.After receiving her, the two took her to an area a few kilometers outside of Sanandaj and murdered her.
Faremeh Barhi, 19, from Abadan, Romina Ashrafi, 14, in Gilan, and Rayhaneh Ameri, 22, in Kerman, are among the officially reported victims of honor-killings in Iran in the past few months.
According to Sharia Law, when a person is murdered, only the guardians and next of kin of that person have the right to demand equal retribution for the murderer, and in the case of honor-killings, since most of them are committed by the consent of the family, the murderers who are usually other members of the family, will only receive a civil punishment of short-term prison sentence.
This issue in recent years has caused uproar and activists have demanded heavier sentences that might dissuade family members from honor-killings.EU Foreign Policy Chief Says ‘Lots Of Obstacles’ To Rekindling Iran Nuke Deal Friday, 04 Dec 2020 19:55
The European Union Foreign Policy chief said Friday there were “lots of obstacles” to rekindling the Iran nuclear deal and supported the Iranian position that there is nothing to renegotiate.
“The Iranians made the deal, and they fulfilled their part of the deal until the American withdrawal destroyed the possibility of fulfilling the other part of the deal,” Joseph Borrell told the Med Dialogues conference in Rome, speaking by video from Brussels,
Borrell echoed the opinion of many observers that “it will not be easy” for US President-elect Joe Biden to rejoin the deal, pointing to domestic opposition, opposition from key allies in the region and difficulties with opponents in Iran.
The Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed during the Obama administration in 2015.Signatories included Iran, the US, China, France, Russia, the UK, Germany and the EU.More than a year into his term, President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from the accords, arguing that it does not fully prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons in the future.
The US administration also demanded that Iran should curtail its ballistic missile program and moderate its behavior in the Middle East, where it supports militant groups, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah.
The Trump administration abandoned the agreement in 2018 and reinstated tough sanctions on Iran.
Biden has signalled willingness to rejoin the deal, but he also says that Iran’s missile remain a worrying issue.
Iranians Warned To Be Wary As Daily Crypto-Currency Trade Reaches $20 Million Friday, 04 Dec 2020 19:27
Iranians are trading daily between 4 to 5 trillion rials ($16 to $20 million) in 12 different cryptocurrencies through two digital platforms.
Bitcoin, XRP, Tether, and Etherium are the most popular cryptocurrencies, with each being traded daily to the value of $1.6 to $3.6 million.
Mehr news agency on Thursday December 3 warned citizens to be wary, as trading cryptocurrencies was a risky and volatile business.Mehr pointed out many outfits involved did not have a government license and that all sorts of fraud could take place in the virtual world of crypto-currencies.
The amount of Bitcoin traded each day is around $3.5 million, slightly behind XRP, the most popular cryptocurrency, which trades to the tune of $3.6 million a day.Tether, a dollar replacement in crypto-markets with each Tether costing a dollar, trades on the two patforms at a higher rate, with trade reaching $2.7 million a day.
Tron, which ranks 15th among crypto-coins globally, is traded at around $2.6 million a day.Stellar or XLM is traded around $2.2 million, and Etherium $1.6 million.
A second tier of cryptocurrencies is some distance behind.
Bitcoin Cash is at $400,000 a day, Litecoin $370,000, EOS $272,000, and Dash $100,000.
In July 2019, the government shut down digital farms where people had set up hundreds or perhaps thousands of computers in old warehouses or factory buildings to crack codes that would “mine” digital currencies.The heavy use of electricity by these ventures had led to power shortages across the country.The government demanded that all traders should apply for licenses.
Due to the increased pressure of sanctions, in November 2020, the Iranian government amended legislation on digital assets to allow the Central Bank to use cryptocurrency to pay for imports.Formerly Jailed Dual Citizens Urge World To Help Free Swedish-Iranian Doctor Friday, 04 Dec 2020 17:27
A group of foreign nationals and dual citizens previously imprisoned in Iran as “hostages” have written to world leaders urging them to put pressure on Iran to free Iranian-Swedish doctor, Ahmad-Reza Djalali (Jalali), 49, who is in imminent danger of execution.
The signatories of the letter – including United States citizen Xiyue Wang, British-Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert, American-Iranian Jason Rezaian, Iranian-Canadian web designer Saeed Malekpour and Lebanese national Nizar Zakka – write as “former hostages.” Most were freed in prisoner exchanges or through international mediation.
In the latest instance, on November 25, Iran swapped Kylie Moore-Gilbert with three Iranians jailed in Thailand for a planned bombing attack in 2012.
On November 25 Djalali’s wife, Vida Mehrannia, told Iran International that her husband was “a victim of Iran’s relations with Europe,” so fueling speculation that Iranian authorities sought, by threatening to execute Djalali, either to influence the trial of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi in Belgium or to secure a prisoner exchange.
Executing Djalali would be “the most shocking escalation in its hostage enterprise,” Rezaian, former Washington Post reporter in Tehran arrested in 2015 and held for 544 days, said in a tweet on December 1 .Rezaian mocked Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for hiding “behind ridiculous claims of an independent judiciary.”
Xiyue Wang on Thursday also criticized the foreign minister.“Zarif’s demand for more prisoner swaps is NOT diplomacy, but precisely ANTI-diplomacy in disguise of diplomacy,” he wrote.“You don’t take hostages of a given country if you want diplomacy with that country, as simple as that!” Iran Parliament Official Says A 35 Percent Wage Increase Is Needed Amid Rising Poverty Friday, 04 Dec 2020 16:33
Wages for workers in Iran should increase by 35 percent, the spokesman of parliament’s social commission has said, as high inflation has made million of people poor according to media and officials.Ali Babaee-Karnami said that this estimate is based on careful research over along period of time.
Workers receive wages ranging from $100-150 dollars a month, while some estimates put the minimum living basket for necessities at $400 a month.
Iran’s currency has lost its value eightfold since early 2018, when the US was deciding to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement and to impose sanctions, that have led to more than 40 percent annual inflation for two consecutive years, making current wages completely inadequate for millions of people.
There is no agreement as to how much the minimum basket of necessities costs, but some labor groups have demanded 100 million rial wages or $400 per month, considering that a worker has to support a family of four.According to this estimate a 35 percent wage increase will not be adequate to address the minimum needs of workers.
According to a minimum food basket the health ministry has announced, it is estimated that 60 percent of the population lives in poverty.
Iran has experienced intermittent labor strikes and protests since 2017, and three rounds of nationwide protests have rocked the country.Last November, a sudden decision by the government to raise fuel prices led to widespread unrest and security forces killed hundreds to suppress the revolt.Economic demands have increasingly led to anti-regime protests, which has alarmed the clerical rulers.
Qatar Signals Movement On Resolving Row With Neighbors Friday, 04 Dec 2020 14:01
DUBAI, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Qatar’s foreign minister said on Friday there has been movement on resolving a bitter diplomatic dispute among the Gulf countries but he could not predict whether a breakthrough was imminent or would fully resolve the matter.
The United States and Kuwait have worked to end a row after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic, trade and travel ties with Qatar since mid-2017.Washington says it wants a united Gulf front against Iran.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani’s comments to an Italian diplomatic conference come after White House senior adviser Jared Kushner held talks in Doha on Wednesday following a visit to Saudi Arabia.
“Right now there are some movements that we hope will put an end to this crisis,” Sheikh Mohammed, told the “Mediterranean Dialogues” online conference, speaking by videolink.
“We are hopeful that things will move in the right direction right now.We cannot predict whether it will be imminent or resolve the issue in one day.”
The other four nations accuse Doha of supporting terrorism.Qatar, which hosts the region’s largest U.S.
military base, denies the charges and says the boycott aims to undermine its sovereignty.
Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that an announcement could be made soon on an initial step towards resolving the dispute.
Qatar’s priority was to restore free movement of its citizens to the boycotting nations, access to their airspace and reopen its only land border shared with Saudi Arabia, diplomats and sources have said.
Asked if a resolution would be bilateral or include all the Gulf states, Sheikh Mohammed said it should be “holistic” and based on mutual respect.
“No country is in a position to impose any demands on another country, whether from Qatar or from the quartet …Each country should decide its foreign policy,” he added.
The four countries had set out 13 demands for Qatar, from closing Al Jazeera television and shuttering a Turkish base to cutting links to the Muslim Brotherhood and downgrading ties with Iran, which shares a giant gas field with Qatar.Joe Biden: We Can’t Allow Iran To Get Nuclear Weapons Friday, 04 Dec 2020 09:08
President-Elect Joe Biden has emphasized that his administration will not allow the Islamic Republic of Iran to develop nuclear weapons, and said the Trump administration’s decision to leave the nuclear deal helped Iran get closer to developing a nuclear weapon.
In an interview on CNN with Kamala Harris on Thursday, Biden said: “The bottom line is that we can’t allow Iran to get nuclear weapons.”
Referring to the Trump administration’s decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Biden said: “He has pulled out to get something tougher, and what have they done? They’ve increased the ability for them to have nuclear material.They’re moving closer to the ability to be able to have enough material for a nuclear weapon.
And there’s the missile issues.”
Asked about the consequences of the killing of senior IRGC official Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and its impact on US dealings with Iran, Biden said it is “hard to tell” how much this assassination will complicate things with Tehran.
“All those things, I think, are going to be very difficult.But I know one thing: We cannot do this alone.And that’s why we have to be part of a larger group, dealing not only with Iran, but with Russia, with China and a whole range of other issues,” he added.
Biden had previously said he would be willing to return to the nuclear deal through negotiations.The Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that Tehran will not negotiate once again about what it has already negotiated.
Flood-Stricken Citizens Protest in Iran’s Southern City Of Sarband Friday, 04 Dec 2020 06:26
People of Sarbandar city in Khuzestan province gathered in the streets in protest to the lack of response from city officials to continued flooding in the last five days and demanded compensation for the damages.
People gathered near an area that has been blocked by the flood for five days, and chanted against the mayor, city council, and the city’s representative in parliament.
Local sources have reported that some houses have been destroyed due to flooding and many houses sustained damages.Many electrical appliances have also been destroyed.
Videos on social media show floods in Sarband, Jarahi, and other areas in Mahshahr county.
According to the governor of Mahshahr county, during floods in the last five days, at least 5,000 residential units had water damage as well.The governor of Mahshahr said the damages to people’s houses must be compensated by the Housing Foundation of Islamic Revolution.
Meanwhile, the governor of Khuzestan in a virtual meeting with President Rouhani reported only damages to 250 to 300 houses across the province and said: During last year’s flood around 3,000 thousand houses were damaged, we have not assessed the damages this year but 250 to 300 houses were damages at maximum.
Heavy rain and massive floods in over a dozen provinces in Iran in 2019 caused billions of dollars in damages and displaced many citizens.The governmetn response and reconstruction has been patchy at best.
Amnesty International: Iran Is Amputating Fingers Of Six Prisoners Friday, 04 Dec 2020 02:47
Amnesty International has warned that officials in Urmia prison in Iran have prepared a device similar to the guillotine for amputating fingers of the right hands of six convicts.
In an interview with Iran International, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa researcher said in the past two decades, the Islamic Republic officials have carried out finger-amputation sentences on at least 129 people, and flogging sentences for over 2,000 others including women and children.According to Eltahawy, the real number is probably much higher than the official number, with many of the cases not being reported.
She added: Amputation and flogging are torture, and Amnesty International’s duty is to expose these heinous actions and to call on millions of its members to help save people from these “judiciary-sanctioned physical punishments and torture”.
Amnesty International’s representative urged Iranian officials to revoke these sentences and abolish physical punishment both in the constitution and in practice.
She said, Amnesty calls on the international community, including the European Union and the UN human rights organizations, to make every effort in their talks and meetings with Iranian officials to save these six prisoners from finger-amputation.
Eltahawy went on to say that these prisoners have been convicted through an unfair trial process; they were denied defense attorneys and tortured for confession.She added: The international community must send a clear message to Iran that “such crimes will not be tolerated” under international law and people responsible for those verdicts and their execution must be treated as criminals and be arrested under international jurisdiction.More Twitter Campaign For The Release Of Afkari Brothers From Solitary Thursday, 03 Dec 2020 23:34
Three months after the execution of Navid Afkari, a young protester arrested in 2018 protests, a group of Iranians on Twitter started the #ReleaseAfkaris campaign demanding the release of his two imprisoned brothers, Habib and Vahid Afkari.
Attorney Saeed Dehghan who has defended several political prisoners tweeted: “After finding a neck for their noose, now they need four eyes for their solitary confinements…”
He referred to Habib and Vahid Afkari as mourners, who deal with their brothers death, and said holding them in solitary confinement is torture.
Activist and Journalist Sepideh Pour-Aghaee referred to Navid Afkari as “the Hallaj of our times” and called for the release of Afkari brothers.Mansour Hallaj was a Persian mystic and poet killed by religious fundamentalists in the 10th century.
The Afkari brothers, Navid, Vahid, and Habib, were accused of killing a government employee who took part in attacking protesters.
Twitter users have called on citizens to be the voice of Afkari family.
Recently the parents of Afkari brothers wrote a letter to the chairman of the prison organization and objected to the refusal of the judiciary and prison officials in Shiraz to hear their complaints.
Navid Afkari received 2 death sentences, 6 years and 6 months in prison, and 74 lashes.He was executed in September despite massive international uproar and calls for his stay of execution.Vahid Afkari was sentenced to 54 years and 6 months in prison and 74 lashes.Habib, the other brother, was sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison and 74 lashes.
Since Navid’s execution the two remaining brothers are kept in solitary confinement and beaten repeatedly.
US Sanctions Company For Role In Iran’s Chemical Weapons Program Thursday, 03 Dec 2020 19:43
The US Treasury Department on Thursday, December 3, announced Iran-related sanctions on a company and its directors for their alleged role in Iran’s weapons programs, the Treasury’s website announced.
The sanctions will freeze the assets of the Shahid Meisami Group and its director Mehran Babri, according to a designation by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The announcement said the shahid Meisami Group “is involved in Iran’s chemical weapons research and is subordinate to the Iranian Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, also known as SPND.” The US already designated SPND, a part of the defense ministry in 2014 in connection with the Islamic Republic’s proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) or their means of delivery.
SPND is the organization headed by a top nuclear and weapons development official Mohsen Fakhrizadeh who was assassinated November 27 near Tehran.
“Iran’s development of weapons of mass destruction is a threat to the security of its neighbors and the world,” said Secretary Steven T.Mnuchin.“The United States will continue to counter any efforts by the Iranian regime to develop chemical weapons that may be used by the regime or its proxy groups to advance their malign agenda.”
The Trump administration has vowed to ramp up pressure on Iran in its final weeks in office and has announced a series of new sanctions since the US presidential elections.
President-elect Joe Biden has indicated he will return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018 and imposed US sanctions.Defendant At A Belgian Trial Says Iran Intelligence Coerced Him To Cooperate Thursday, 03 Dec 2020 17:54
The second hearing of a Belgian trial of four suspects in a plot to bomb the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an exiled Iranian opposition group, in France in July 2018 was held under heavy security in Antwerp on Thursday without the plot’s alleged mastermind, Assadollah Assadi.
Assadi, 49, who was third secretary at the Iranian embassy in Austria when arrested in Germany, has denied all charges, and refused to cooperate on grounds of diplomatic immunity.
Assadi is in jail in Belgium after being extradited, but he refused to attend the first session of the trial, presumably on orders from Tehran, on November 27.
The defense lawyer of Amir Sadouni, one of three other defendants, on Thursday told the court that the Iranian Intelligence agents had begun in 2008 to coerce his client to work as an agent, and threatened to inform the Belgian authorities of a trip he had taken to Iran while seeking political asylum in Belgium.
Sadouni’s lawyer told the court that his client had not planned to kill anyone and that he had been assured by Assadi that the plan was to “scare” those at the MEK rally in Paris, which was attended not just by MEK co-leader Maryam Rajavi but by Rudy Giuliani, lawyer of United States President Donald Trump, and five members of the British parliament.
The Federal Prosecutor of Belgium has asked the court to sentence Assadi as leader of the plot to 20 years in prison.The prosecution has also demanded 18 years for Belgian-Iranian husband and wife Sadouni, 40, and Nassimeh Naami, 36; 15 years for a fourth defendant, Mehrdad Arefani, 57; and for the Belgian citizenship of all revoked.
The attack was thwarted in Brussels on the day the bomb was to be delivered to France.When army bomb-disposal detonated the device, their robot was destroyed and a policeman was injured.The construction was “sophisticated, the work of a professional,” the specialists concluded.
Canada Accuses Russia, China And Iran Of Spreading Covid Disinformation Thursday, 03 Dec 2020 16:46
Canada’s intelligence service has accused Russia, China and Iran of spreading Covid-19 disinformation to further their own interests, Global News reported Thursday.
In a declassified report titled Global Effects and Canadian National Security Interests, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service says Iran’s, “increased disinformation campaign seeks to shift blame for domestic shortcomings in handling COVID-19 to foreign actors (especially U.S.
sanctions).”
Iranian officials, including foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have been alleging that US sanctions are preventing Iran from acquiring vital medications during the pandemic.But the head of medicine importers in Iran, Nasser Riyahi told the media December 1 that 30 percent of the country’s medications are being imported from the United States, and there are no international payment problems for importing a coronavirus vaccine.
The Trump administration which reimposed economic sanctions on Iran in 2018 insists that food and medicines are not restricted, and Iran can import its needs.
Iran’s response to Covid-19 has not been effective, with a continuous high rate of infections since February when the government revealed Iran was the second country after China experiencing the epidemic.
“Threat actors have used the pandemic as an opportunity to spread disinformation online,” CSIS spokesman John Townsend told Global News.
“State-sponsored disinformation campaigns are an example of foreign interference,” he added.Rouhani Government Allocates Budget For Foundation Run By Soleimani’s Daughter Thursday, 03 Dec 2020 03:29
As the Islamic Republic continues to invest in propaganda for Qasem Soleimani, the Qods (Quds) force commander killed by US forces, the Rouhani government allocated $340,000 in next year’s budget to the foundation that Soleimani’s daughter Zeinab Soleimani manages.
Next year’s budget draft bill was submitted to the parliament on Wednesday which included 85 billion rials (almost $340,000) for the Qasem Soleimani Foundation, run by Zeinab Soleimani.
Since the establishment of the foundation last year, the names of its founders, its governing by-laws, and its objectives have not been announced.Refusal to announce any details about the foundation was even criticized by an online media close to the armed forces.
Zeinab Soleimani, born in 1991, married the son of Hashim Safi Al-Din, Hezbollah’s number two and a specially designated global terrorist.
Since the killing of her father, Zeinab Soleimani has appeared and spoken at many media and political events organized by the Islamic Republic and in Friday prayers, calling for avenging Qasem Soleimani’s death.
Since the killing of Qasem Soleimani in Iraq in January, the regime of Iran has allocated huge funds tp promote his image as a symbol of revolutionary zeal and dedication.
Immediately after Soleimani’s assassination, the Iranian parliament passed an urgent bill to allocate 200 million Euros to the Qods of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)..