Number Of Civilians Killed During Iran Protests Rises To 506

All 183 members of the Council from four major parties said they will sponsor 183 prisoners including those sentenced to death for their participation in the current wave of antigovernment protests in Iran, ignited by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. 

With their symbolic move, members from the ÖVP, SPÖ, Greens and NEOS want to draw international attention to the prisoners, as they explained at a press conference in Vienna on Tuesday. The right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria FPÖ did not take on sponsorships, therefore 31 MPs from the Federal Council – the upper house -- stepped in to come up with 183 members.

After the National Council unanimously condemned the execution of detained protesters, the four parties announced that they “have to give the application more weight" and take further steps, explained the foreign policy spokesman for the ÖVP Reinhold Lopatka. 

Harald Troch from the SPÖ said that the action is primarily meant to stop the wave of executions. He praised the parliament for condemning the Iranian regime for the brutal crackdown on demonstrators but criticized the federal government for its lack of a policy on the activities of the Austrian embassy in Tehran. He also recalled the dual Austrian-Iranian citizen Kamran Ghaderi, who has been imprisoned in Iran for years, and called on the Foreign Ministry to work towards his prompt release.

"International attention means protection for prisoners, that's the most effective means," Green Club chairwoman Sigrid Maurer said in explaining the action. "The barbarism of the Iranian regime" is unacceptable, and the mandataries regularly demand information about the whereabouts of the detainees. Maurer himself has taken on the sponsorship of the journalist Niloofar Hamedi, who was arrested for reporting the death of Mahsa Amini.

Helmut Brandstätter from the NEOS is the godfather of the Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who faces death over trumped-up charges of "war against God" and "corruption on earth” because he reportedly asked people to participate in the protests. Both allegations can result in a death sentence. Brandstätter says, "There is only one chance to save his life, that's international pressure.”

Earlier in the month, several members of the German parliament (Bundestag) announced their political sponsorship of Iranian political prisoners, most of whom are in danger of imminent execution on bogus charges.

Ye-One Rhie, a member of the Bundestag who has undertaken political sponsorship of the imprisoned dissident rapper said in a series of tweets that she has written to the Iranian ambassador, the EU special representative for human rights, the council of Europe commissioner for human rights, and the high commissioner for human rights about Toomaj’s case and expressed her great concerns for his well-being.

The number of German MPs taking political sponsorship of Iranian protesters is growing. Carmen Wegge has declared herself the sponsor of Armita Abbasi, a young woman of 20, who was missing since her arrest on October 10 before being taken to a hospital in Karaj on October 18 by security forces with multiple injuries including internal bleeding and evidence of repeated rape.

Political sponsorship (politische patenshaften in German) is a way for parliamentarians to select a specific political detainee and use their political weight to campaign for the prisoner’s freedom. This is mainly done by addressing the ambassador and the relevant government and international institutions dealing with human rights.

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio told Iran International's Arash Aalaei that “the regime in Tehran feels threatened by peaceful protesters...I think what's the most interesting to see is some clerical dissension.”

Iranians have begun to express the belief that their society should be more open, more transparent, and people have a right to express themselves, he said. 

Referring to American lawmakers taking political sponsorship of Iranian political prisoners like their German and Austrian counterparts, Rubio welcomed the idea calling it “innovative.”

South Dakota Republican Senator Mike Rounds told us that the extent of the crackdown on peaceful protests in Iran is "unfortunate, but when you have this type of regime which clearly doesn't respect life and who wants to maintain power at any cost you have this type of an outcome. It's unfortunate, and the people of Iran deserve better."

Echoing similar remarks, Texas Republican John Cornyn also expressed concern over the crackdowns on peaceful protesters in Iran, saying, “It's not a free country, it's a theocracy. We have been doing as much as we can to support Iranian people against this sort of intolerable backlash."

Louisiana’s Republican Senator Bill Cassidy censured the Iranian regime for “killing its own people,” Saying, “We could start with the young woman who was abused in prison to the point where she died. And now we have sights of them shooting with high-power weapons.”

“The regime has lost its legitimacy and it's only being held in force by that oppression. And there's a little bit of an irony: the regime that took the place after a revolution in which the Shah was felt to be no longer a representative of his people, now no longer represents the people,” he added. 

He also criticized President Joe Biden for his remarks earlier in the day about not announcing the death of the 2015 nuclear deal. 

In a video clip, posted in social media Tuesday, Biden apparently at a campaign walk-about during November’s Congressional elections is asked why he does announce the 2015 nuclear agreement, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) dead, the president clearly replies: “It is dead, but we’re not going to announce it.”

Cassidy said that “Iran has been assassinating people in Europe... So I think there needs to be a hard line not against the Iranian people who are great and incredible people who go back to the Persians and the Medes, but against a government which has ceased to represent those people, and instead has become a force of repression.”

Hamid Farrokhnejad, in an exclusive interview with Iran International, stated that "the regime is such a coward and so humiliated that it seeks legitimacy by terror, imprisonment, torture and execution.”

He also compared the Islamic Republic with Bashar al-Assad’s in Syria, saying that he is the ruler of Syria, but his rule is of no use and meaningless.

Farrokhnejad has been criticized by the state media and supporters of the Islamic Republic due to his stance against Khamenei within the past few days.

Earlier, a post by Farrokhnejad against Ali Khamenei's “dictatorship” on Instagram incited a wave of reactions among regime supporters.

In his post he compared Iran’s authoritarian ruler with other dictators such as Francisco Franco, Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini, saying he is “mentally ill” just like his “colleagues”.

In response to Farrokhnejad's comment, Director of the Cinema Organization of Iran, Mohammad Khazaei said “You have no right to insult our leader, our sage, and our mentor. Here is still the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Farokhnejad was banned from traveling abroad by the regime, but he managed to leave Iran is currently is in the United States.

Referring to the “increasing suppression” by regime forces, the 12 medical professional groups called the current situation in Iran a “human catastrophe” and asked the German federal government to do everything in its power to put an end to this.

“We write to you as medical professionals who are gravely concerned about the human rights and medical situation facing the civilian population of Iran. Since the violent death of Mahsa Amini…people from various social groups across the country have put their lives at risk to gather in protest against the Islamic Republic; among those protesting are many medical students and practitioners,” reads the letter published on twitter.

They added that the regime is attempting to suppress these protests by any means including rape and torture.

“It is extremely concerning to see the start of criminal trials against political prisoners in these times. Since political prisoners can face execution in Iran, we fear that the lives of countless people are acutely at risk,” adds the letter.

In another part of the letter, the signatories warned about the “treacherous nature of the security service’s violence against medical professionals,” saying that “doctors have been forced to treat their patients secretly, often outside of health centers; and the medical professionals have, themselves, become the target of repression.”

They also expressed solidarity with medical colleagues in Iran demanding that they are permitted to continue practicing their necessary work in accordance with the Geneva Convention for the protection and wellbeing of their patients.

This comes after Hamid Ghareh Hasanlou, a radiologist doctor, and his wife, Farzaneh, were sentenced to death on charges of collaborating in the killing of a Basiji member in Karaj, west of Tehran, and the suspicious death of Aida Rostami, a young doctor living in Tehran.

While the Islamic Republic claims a young female doctor, Aida Rostami, died after “falling from an overpass,” her family told the media that signs of harassment, torture and assault were observed on Rostami's body. Security agents have told her family that they should announce she had died in an accident.

Some sources and social media users have stated that Aida Rostami was killed because she helped injured protesters.

Earlier, in a letter to Iranian PresidentEbrahim Raisi, the World Medical Association demanded safe working conditions for physicians and other health personnel in the pursuit of their mission as well as full access to health care to all those in need.

It also called for immediate and unconditional end of violence and the establishment of a moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

“We are profoundly shocked to hear that an increasing number of health professionals are threatened, arrested, and tortured in Iran, just because they do their work. According to the ethical rules of our profession, physicians have an obligation to treat those wounded or ill, without any other consideration. Likewise, prisoners must receive the necessary medical care by a health professional, without influence from the authorities,” stressed the World Medical Association.

Several videos have surfaced on social media showing people quarreling with bank clerks or officials who say they do not have enough cash for withdrawals. 

Having lost their trust on the Islamic Republic’s embattled currency after a steep fall with no prospect of bouncing back, many Iranians want to remove their money from banks to exchange them for foreign currencies or gold.

Iranian political activist, lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi urged people on Sunday to join the campaign of withdrawing money from banks, noting that state-controlled banks in Iran are not institutions to serve the people and only act as the economic arm of the “killing Republic” referring to the clerical regime. "Now it has been proven to everyone that there is no will in the regime to accept the demands of the people," she said, adding that the campaign to shun banks in daily transactions can deal a "fundamental blow" to the government.

Criticizing the government’s economic policies, Iran's former central banker, Abdolnaser Hemmati, said Tuesday that the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi was so sure about the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal that it moved to stop the indirect subsidy for essential goods, triggering more inflation. He said that now that the deal seems doomed to fail and the currency has lost its value dramatically, the authorities are looking for ways to remedy the dire situation. 

The government stopped offering cheap dollars to importers of essential goods earlier this year to save around $15 billion annually. The move immediately doubled and tripled food prices and led to shortages of medicines, medical equipment and animal feed.

Hemmati, who was a presidential candidate in the 2021 election and held heated debates with Raisi, addressed him, saying that “if you knew the problems and had solutions for them, why don’t you do anything? And if you just want to blame your predecessors, why did you even bother to run for office?”

Unfortunately for Raisi, the famous anecdote about an outgoing manager imparting his wisdom to the new one in the form of three sealed envelopes would not work here. The outgoing manager told the new one that the first time things go wrong, open the first letter. Open the second letter for the second incident and open the third letter for the third incident. “Blame Your Predecessor!” was written in the first letter, which Raisi has been doing since the day he took office. “Blame Your Employees!”, read the second one, which is a strategy exhausted by the current administration. The third letter instructed the manager to “Prepare three Letters!”, something Raisi has not done yet because he has no scapegoat ready yet as the next election is in more than two years. 

In addition to critics of the government, a 25-percent fall in the value of Iran’s currency in three months and a more than 50-percent drop in 15 months has led to sharp criticism even among conservatives. Conservative politician Mansoor Haqiqatpur has accused Raisi of sharply reducing the value of assets held by rich and ordinary Iranians.

“Less than 18 months ago, when Raisi took office as the President of the Islamic Republic one US dollar was equal to 230,000 rials in Tehran markets. Now the value of every US dollar is over 380,000 rials. The devaluating Iranian currency is now as cheap as straw. This means Iranians have lost half of their assets during this period." In fact, since Haqiqatpur spoke the rial has dropped further and on Tuesday it was close to 400,000 against the US dollar.

Ehsan Khandozi, the government spokesman for economic affairs who doubles as the minister of economic and financial affairs, said on Tuesday that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has agreed to dedicate 11 trillion rials (or about $31.4 million) from the National Development Fund to the government’s treasury to be used for its unfinished projects. He added Ali Khamenei has also given the go-ahead to bartering oil in exchange for railroad and transit projects across the country.