Hardliners Back Legislation To Monitor Iranians' Online Lifestyle

Tavakoli attributed the change in the world's largest lake to “substantial precipitation and the annual water flow", Iran recently blaming Russia for the crisis, emphasizing the closure of vital entrances, especially the Volga River.

Ali Salajegheh, the head of the Iranian Department of Environment, said the ecological challenge posed by the situation reveals a reduction of approximately one meter over the past 4-5 years, with an average annual recession of 20 centimeters.

His rare criticism against Russia, one of Iran's strongest allies, raised concerns about the ecological impact of dams constructed on the Volga River and the potential damage to delicate ecosystems relying on the Caspian Sea's waters

According to the Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, it says: "This will have significant and serious implications, including a decline of the sea water level, a considerable retreat of the sea and increase of the land and coastal area especially in upstream countries (Russia and Kazakhstan), challenges to the operation of ports and shipping, as well as environmental consequences, particularly the drying of protected areas and wetlands."

It warned that the water level of the Caspian Sea has decreased by one meter in recent years and could drop by 9 to 18 meters by the end of the 21st century.

US President Joe Biden met China's President Xi Jinping on Wednesday and according to Reuters Washington urged Beijing to use its influence to discourage Iran from taking actions that might aggravate the Israeli-Hamas conflict.

China is Iran's main oil customer despite US sanctions, and lends political support to the Islamic Republic. Tehran has a clear policy of maintaining strong ties to Beijing and Moscow as a counterweight to the United States after four decades of anti-American posturing.

John Kirby, the White House's Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, was questioned after Biden’s meeting with Xi about whether China had given the US assurances about the discussions regarding Iran.

"We certainly would encourage them to use those lines to reiterate to the Iranians that we don't want to see a deepening or an escalation of the conflict in the region," Kirby told Reuters.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, during an interview with CBS on Wednesday concerning the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, stated: "We did not want this crisis to escalate."

He also denied Tehran’s involvement in an alleged Houthi drone attack in the Red Sea on Wednesday.

In a similar vein, Reuters also reported that the Iranian regime claims it was unaware of Hamas' invasion of Israel on October 7. Hamas leaders later denied the report on their official Telegram channel and in an interview with Iranian State Iranian state news agency IRNA.

In an interview with a publication affiliated with Sharif University of Technology, where he serves as a professor, Vice-President for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy, Rouhollah Dehghani-Firouzabadi, attributed the apparent increase in the emigration of entrepreneurs and the workforce to the protests of the past year and the disruptions caused by the two-year-long Covid-19 pandemic, which impacted the usual procedures for immigrant acceptance.

He justified his assertion by stating, "If, in previous years, 100 people left, the current figure is 200 people. How many experts do we have? Let’s say 2,000.”

For those who have lost hope of prospects of positive change in the country, especially among the younger generation representing various backgrounds, emigration appears as the sole avenue toward a more promising life. A recent telephone poll by the US-based Statis Consulting revealed that nearly half of Iranian youth aspire to leave the country, driven by a prevailing sense of pessimism regarding their future in the homeland.

In an article last week, EcoIran, an economic news website, highlighted that the emigration of the workforce is no longer confined to physical relocation.The surge in virtual citizenship and remote work, particularly during and after the pandemic, has contributed to a substantial increase in digital emigration among Iranians. This shift has led to the migration of the activities of creative and expert workforce to international businesses,” the article said while warning that the growing desire to emigrate serves as an 'alarm bell' that has been ringing for several years, yet remains largely unheeded.”

“I’m warning that Iranian entrepreneurs and investors are redirecting their production towards neighboring countries that offer stability," Pedram Soltani, an entrepreneur and former deputy chairman of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, said in October in a tweet on the occasion of the National Export Day while also warning that factories either face the challenges of aging infrastructure and deterioration or continue to operate due to monopolistic control over the domestic market.

"Instability, uncertainties across political and social realms, a lack of a promising outlook for the future, high production risks, ad hoc legislation, and a complex and challenging business environment are cited by experts as some of the primary factors driving the migration of skilled labor from the country," Mahmood Olyaiy (Olyaei), an official of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, told the reformist Ham-Mihan newspaper.

He emphasized that warnings to the government regarding the issues stemming from the emigration of skilled workforce have been ignored and there is a lack of clear policies to avert the potential consequences in the coming years.

Olyaiy added that “self-sanctioning and lack of transparency” cause reluctance in the business environment.

In a speech in September, former President Hassan Rouhani criticized the harsh treatment of the intellectual elite, alleging that some within the government are content that they were leaving the country. “They say let them go so others [who support the hardline government] can take their place,” he said.

In its 2022 report published ten months ago, Iran Migration Observatory (IMO) stated that Iran ranked 17th among countries with the highest number of individuals seeking education abroad and 54th among those with the highest emigration rates."

The IMO, a research institute established during Rouhani’s second presidential term at Sharif University of Technology, tracks data and generates analyses on emigration, with a particular focus on informing policymakers. The IMO released the inaugural edition of the Iran Migration Outlook, providing comprehensive data on Iranian migrants globally, international students, and those seeking asylum.

According to the Pentagon, a US Navy warship shot down a drone early Wednesday morning that “originated from Yemen and was heading in the direction of the ship.”

Although the Pentagon did not specify who was behind the attack, the incident occurred after Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen earlier this week vowed to target Israeli ships in the Red Sea.

As part of an interview with CBS on Wednesday regarding the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, Amir-Abdollahian said: "We did not want this crisis to escalate."

The terrorist group Hamas launched a surprise terror attack on Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,200 civilians and taking at least 240 hostages, after which Israel started a massive retaliation against Gaza.

The alleged Houthi attack comes after calls by Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei to ban shipment of oil and food to Israel. His call was repeated by his ultra-hardliner loyalists such as Hossein Shariatmadari, who runs the Kayhan Daily newspaper in Tehran.

The firebrand Hossein Shariatmadari called for blocking "maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Oman Sea, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal,” in a Kayhan Daily editorial, which is funded by the Supreme Leader.

Prior to this, an Iranian ultraconservative lawmaker also claimed on Wednesday that Houthis had targeted Israeli ships after Ali Khamenei had made public statements against Israel.

Mahmoud Abbaszadeh-Meshkini, who sits on the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, has criticized Amir-Abdollahian for what he called the government’s soft stance towards Israel.

The historical complex constructed by the Qajar and Pahlavi monarchs, sprawling over 110 hectares in northern Tehran, encompasses natural forests, canals, gardens and museums, one of the capital's most famed destinations.

Recent public outrage ensued as images circulated depicting the removal of at least four aged trees on Italy Street in Tehran. Despite claims by eyewitnesses that one tree was “alive”, the municipality asserted that two were entirely “dry”, justifying the action as a precautionary measure to “eliminate the danger.”

Several years ago, a similar incident occurred when trees in the Sa'dabad complex were cut to construct a restaurant. Cultural heritage authorities defended the action, citing the trees as “annoying, obstructive, and pest-infested.”

Despite stringent penalties, including imprisonment, outlined in the Islamic Republic's laws for arbitrary tree cutting, little evidence has shown enforcement. Moreover, there is no reported information on whether municipal authorities have undertaken tree planting initiatives to compensate for the loss of aged and dry trees in Sa'dabad or elsewhere.

Urbanization has long posed a threat to Tehran's historical natural landscapes. The ancient trees that line Tehran's longest boulevard, Vali Asr, have over recent years also fallen victim to redevelopment projects - and even merchants who want better visibility for their shops.

Two years ago, the regime also came under fire for selling its Palm trees to countries including Qatar and Kuwait, the uprooting having devastating effects on the local ecosystem.