Iran Threatens New Charges Against Detained Swedish Citizen

Aug 16, 2022, 11:04 GMT+1

Iran's judiciary spokesperson Masoud Setayeshi

The Iranian judiciary says a Swedish citizen is detained in Iran on suspicion of espionage, adding that he might also face other charges.

In a televised news conference on Tuesday, judiciary spokesperson Masoud Setayeshi said the Swedish national was arrested on April 17 but the case is still under investigation.

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Women Stage Flash Mob Protests In Iran's Capital

Aug 16, 2022, 09:10 GMT+1

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Maryam Sinaiee

Some women's rights activists on Monday staged flash mobs in Tehran to demand information on the whereabouts of a woman arrested for defying forced hijab.

The women also protested government policies encouraging higher birth rates and limiting family planning.

Images of the flash mobs were shared on social media. The photos showed small groups of women who had covered their faces with placards to hide their identities in several areas of the capital Tehran.

“Where is Sepideh Rashno?” some of the placards the activists carried asked. Rashno is a 28-year-old artist, writer and editor and anti-hijab protester, whose ‘forced confessions’ were aired on state-run television on July 31. Many believe she was tortured and forced to denounce herself and other activists.

“Torture and forced confessions will not stop women’s movement,” another placard read.

She has reportedly been in detention at the IRGC ward of Tehran’s Evin Prison since her arrest on July 16 after a video of her quarrel with a woman enforcing hijab rules went viral on social media. She has not had any contact with her family or access to a lawyer since her arrest except for a short phone call.

Iran’s Supreme Leader claimed Wednesday that the anti-hijab movement is nothing but a Western plot, much like his depiction of all problems as plots by enemies.

On July 12, following a call by women’s rights activists for civil disobedience with the hashtag ‘No2Hijab’ social media exploded with dozens of videos and photo of women unveiling in public.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a speech in late July claimed that wearing the hijab is no impediment to Iranian women’s progress and accused the West of fueling the recent opposition to hijab to harm the regime without referring two women civil disobedience.

The government which is now fully controlled by hardliners has adopted a harsher than usual approach on hijab, amid economic crisis and hardship for tens of millions. Government and military officials have warned the population against disobeying hijab rules.

In the past few months, the morality police hijab enforcement patrols have detained many women, sometimes violently, on the streets and shut down shops, coffee shops and restaurants for not forcing their customers to comply with hijab rules.

In their flash mob action, activists also protested the government's population and family planning policies including a ban on contraceptives, vasectomy and tubectomy, and pre-natal screening for genetic abnormalities and congenital diseases.

“No to forced childbearing”, “A poverty stricken society needs welfare, not more children”, “Ending free pre-natal screening is violence against women”, and “Contraceptives must be provided to women for free and with no hassle”, other placards read.

Government family planning programs – including free contraceptives and vasectomies at governmental healthcare facilities opened in the 1980s – were gradually abandoned over the past ten years with those defending family planning dubbed enemy "infiltrators."

Iran's population has doubled from around 40 million in the early 1980s to 84 million now, but Khamenei has repeatedly stressed that it should rise to at least 150 million to avoid having an elderly population.

A new legislation designed to boost population growth passed by parliament in March outlawed tubectomy, vasectomy, and the free dispensation of contraceptives other than where pregnancy would threaten a woman's health. The health ministry has instructed family health clinics to advise women over-35 to wait only a year before again becoming pregnant and under-35s to wait six months.

While the new law does not include a ban on pre-natal screening, doctors have been advised not to encourage it.

Thousands Of Elite Afghan Military Forces Fled To Iran – Report

Aug 15, 2022, 22:20 GMT+1

A new congressional report has revealed that thousands of Afghan military personnel -- including a number of elite US-trained Afghan commandos – have fled to Iran.

In a 120-plus-page report into the final days of the war in Afghanistan and chaotic US withdrawal from Kabul one year ago, Texas's Representative Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the forces were trained in combat by US special operators, in some cases within the US, and "could be a serious national security threat to the US if they are captured or turn."

Noting that a ‘significant’ number of Afghan special forces and about 3,000 Afghan security forces crossed the border into Iran, the report warned that they could divulge sensitive US military training and intelligence to Tehran as they "know not only our tactics but who these elite military officials are," the report said, according to the Washington Free Beacon and Foreign Policy.

“Today, we’re still reeling from the damage that was done last August, including emboldening and empowering our foreign adversaries,” McCaul said in an interview.

The report concluded that in ongoing US efforts to safely evacuate Afghans who assisted the US government, “no special prioritization status has yet been granted to any former Afghan military personnel despite the security risks highlighted by the Biden administration’s own State Department.”

Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and CIA paramilitary officer, said that the commandos and other special units had no option and “the only place you could go to escape the Taliban was Iran.”

Iran Set To Give Its Final Response To EU-Proposed Text By Midnight

Aug 15, 2022, 17:56 GMT+1

Iran’s foreign minister says Tehran will give its final views on the EU-proposed text to revive the 2015 deal to the European Union’s coordinator of the Vienna talks by Monday midnight.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Monday, “We have not offered our final conclusion to the opposite side yet. We will relay our final conclusion on the outstanding issues to the EU coordinator in writing by midnight today to see what feedback it will have and what reaction the US will show.”

Reiterating calls on the US to take “a realistic and flexible approach” to Tehran’s offer, he added that “The American side has orally agreed to two proposals offered by Iran,” and that Washington's oral acceptance of the Iranian offers "must turn into a text and it must show flexibility on one issue."

“However, the US ... wants to get more concessions and does not show flexibility. We must talk more and those parties that are trying to get our positions closer should [try to] get the Americans closer to our logical viewpoints,” he said, hinting that Iran will try to make the talks on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) linger on.

Emphasizing the significance of the “upcoming days,” the Iranian foreign minister stressed that Tehran is ready to reach a conclusion through a foreign ministerial meeting and announce the final agreement if its views are accepted and its redlines are respected.

Amir-Abdollahian’s remarks and statements by other officials show that Tehran is not yet satisfied with the EU offer on the table and expects more negotiations.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Confirms Drone Exercises With Russians

Aug 15, 2022, 16:44 GMT+1

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has confirmed that it is holding joint drone exercises with Russia at the Kashan Air Base, adding that Belarus and Armenia are also partaking in the drills.

Senior advisor to the commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, Brigadier General Ali Balali, said that the exercises are being held as part of the 7th round of the international UAV competitions inaugurated in the central Iranian city of Kashan on Monday and will last for two weeks.

US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel reiterated on August 10 that Russian officials have undergone training in Iran in recent weeks as part of an agreement on the transfer of drones from the Islamic Republic.

More than 70 military personnel of the four countries will compete in five stages of physical fitness and shooting and four UAV divisions, including aerial reconnaissance in three days, air support and artillery fire adjustment, reconnaissance at night and continuous reconnaissance.

Balali added that the event is aimed at conveying Iran’s message of peace and friendship, and transfer of experiences and military achievements with other countries.

An advisor to the Ukrainian President’s Office, Oleksiy Arestovych, said earlier in the month that Russia is using Iranian-provided military drones in its invasion of Ukraine, noting that Iran handed 46 drones over to Russia and that the Ukrainian government has already confirmed the use of these drones in combat in Ukraine.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned twice in July that Moscow appears to be looking at buying Iranian drones and Russian officers even visited a drone base in Iran’s Kashan to review their options.

US Senator Calls On Biden To Stop Appeasing Iran After Rushdie Attack

Aug 15, 2022, 13:58 GMT+1

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz said on Sunday Iran’s incitement resulted in the assassination attempt on author Salman Rushdie, urging Washington to stop appeasing the Iranian regime.

Cruz tweeted that “The Ayatollahs have been trying to murder Salman Rushdie for decades. Their incitement and their contacts with this terrorist resulted in an attack.”

Urging condemnation of “this vicious terrorist attack,” he said that “the Biden admin must finally cease appeasing the Iranian regime.”

On Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry denied any links with Hadi Matar, apparently a pro-Iran fanatic that stabbed the author at an event in New York state on Friday, nearly killing him. The ministry's spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, "Salman Rushdie exposed himself to popular outrage by insulting Islamic sanctities and crossing the red lines of 1.5 billion Muslims. During the attack on Salman Rushdie, we do not consider anyone other than himself and his supporters worthy of reproach, reproach and condemnation...No one has the right to accuse Iran in this regard."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was the first senior US official to mention Iran in relation to the attempted murder in a statement on Sunday.

Amid nuclear negotiations with Tehran, President Joe Biden avoided mentioning Iran in his August 13 statement condemning the attack on the renowned British-American author.

At the same time, Vice News reported on Sunday that the 24-year-old attacker had been in contact with elements of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, according to European and Middle Eastern intelligence sources.

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