Iran Lures Yemenis With $100 Monthly Pay To Join Houthis

Rouhani criticized the government for discouraging a majority of eligible voters from going to the polls in the 2020 parliamentary elections. In that election, the hardliner-dominated Guardian Council ruthlessly barred nearly all the reformist and moderate candidates from running by rejecting their credentials.

He also pointed out that people's participation was also minimal in the 2021 Presidential election, as a result of biased vetting of candidates, and disqualifying the most prominent contenders. As a result, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s hand-picked choice, Ebrahim Raisi, cruised to victory in another low-turnout vote.

Rouhani told the Guardian Council, and possibly Khamenei: You said that [my] government lacked popularity. But why did you disqualify everyone who supported [my] government.

He went on to emphasize, "It was painful to witness the smallest-ever turnout of eligible voters in Iran during those elections." In the 2020 and 2021 elections, the voter turnout in the most active constituencies ranged from 20 to 40 percent. However, in regions with significant dissent, such as the industrial townships near Karaj, close to Tehran, the turnout plummeted to as low as 2 percent.

The former President attributed Iran's current political impasse in part to the absence of the former President and Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who passed away in January 2017. He expressed his concern about the situation, emphasizing that, as a follower of Rafsanjani, he understands the importance of stepping forward and working to solve problems during challenging times like these.

This was possibly another message to Khamenei, who isolated Rafsanjani in the latter years of his life, although the politician had played an instrumental role in convincing senior clerics to select the junior clergyman as Supreme Leader in 1989.

Rafsanjani died under suspicious circumstances and some, including his two daughters Fatemeh and Faezeh strongly believe that he might have been killed. Faezeh Hashemi on Thursday presented some strong evidence in the Iranian press, suggesting that her father might have become the victim of political rivalry by hardliners who thought his presence in the post-Khamenei period could deprive them of political power.

She stated that intelligence officers had met with her a few weeks before her father's death and had discussed the possibility of his assassination in a manner that could be made to appear as if he died of natural causes.

Rouhani said that hardliners carried out five major operations, including the attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran in 2016, to tarnish Iran's foreign relations and stop the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program from succeeding.

Meanwhile, he claimed that the United States was certain that his government was popular based on its analysis of a video of Rouhani's visit to Esfahan in February 2015, and wanted to further nuclear negotiations with his administration.

Returning to the topic of the upcoming elections, Rouhani stated: "The ruling minority does not desire competitive elections and a high turnout. They prefer a lackluster election to secure the continuation of their power."

In Khamenei's camp, individuals of doubtful popularity are desperately trying to encourage the people to take part in the elections. Khamenei's representative to hardline daily Kayhan, Hossein Shariatmadari has warned that "Islam will be isolated if people refuse to vote.” His representative in Kermanshah, Friday Prayers Imam Habibollah Ghafouri has said that every vote is like a missile that targets the enemy's heart." These are, however, slogans that most Iranians find too banal and far from the realities of their hard lives.

According to a report in The Times this week, Wikipedia entries related to Iranian human rights abuses have been systematically altered in line with Tehran’s propaganda. Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia, created and edited by volunteers around the world.

In addition to downplaying Iranian atrocities and targeting its critics, the edits seek to present government publications as impartial sources.

Specific instances involve the removal of details about mass executions in 1988 and the fact that current senior officials in the regime were involved in ordering the hanging of thousands of political prisoners.

Another example is misinformation about human rights activist Vahid Beheshti, who has been campaigning to put pressure on the UK government to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) as a terrorist group. Mattie Heaven, Beheshti’s wife, said four attempts were made to set up a page on the topic because there was so much misinformation online about her husband, but the text was repeatedly removed so the page could not function. “We believed it was the Iranian cyber army,” she said.

Other deletions included references to the jailing of Iranian official Hamid Nouri, a key figure implicated in the 1988 massacre, in Sweden in 2022, and the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats from Albania in 2018 due to their alleged involvement in a bomb plot against dissidents.

“Online misinformation is also a key tool for the regime," The Times wrote. The campaign is in line with Supreme Leader’s Ali Khamenei’s call on supporters to come up with recounts of the global current affairs that benefit the regime, what he has dubbed “vindication jihad.”

The strikes took place after repeated warnings to the Iran-backed militant group to cease their attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. However, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Naser Kanaani called the US and UK action “a breach of international laws, regulations, and rights.”

Iran has been providing military support to the Houthis for at least a decade, supplying sophisticated weapons such as drones, and ballistic and cruise missiles.

The Yemeni group began targeting international shipping in mid-November after Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei called for blockading Israel.

Kanaani, however, did not refer to the attacks on international shipping and said that the strikes by the United States and the United Kingdom was to support Israel in its war against Hamas.

Iranian government-controlled media, including those affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, were largely muted on Friday, simply reporting the strikes with their usual rhetoric. However, more rhetoric is expected to follow in the coming hours and days.

While the Biden administration acted against the Houthis after two months of almost daily attacks against commercial vessels, critics say that lifting US sanctions against the militant group in 2021 was a mistake. Some argue that strikes should be more sustained and aim to dismantle the military capabilities of the Houthis in order to re-establish deterrence in the region.

The new minimum monthly wage has been set at 115 million Iranian rials or about 230 US dollars.

Ali-Asghar Annabestani, the head of the parliamentary committee on wages and salaries said on Thursday that a “uniform salary increase of 15 million rials is approved for all employees, resulting in a minimum wage of 115 million rials."

The development comes at a time when the purchasing power of consumers is closely tied to the US dollar rate, which is currently at 520,000 rials. The high likelihood of the rial depreciating further in the next year starting in March poses a challenge, potentially diminishing the value of the minimum wage against the dollar.

Persistent inflation and a sluggish economy have significantly diminished the purchasing power of ordinary Iranians, leading to tens of millions falling into the category of "working poor." Experts highlight that the poverty line for Tehran residents is approximately 300,000,000 rials (approx. $600) per month, three times the current minimum wage.

Reports suggest that workers' wages now cover only about 60% of their monthly household expenses. Despite Article 41 of the Labor Law assigning the Supreme Labor Council to determine the minimum wage annually, the government retains the discretion to adjust wages based on its interests. This has contributed to widespread labor protests in recent years.

While a minimum wage increase aims to alleviate financial burdens for workers, it raises concerns about overall business costs. Such increases result in layoffs or a reluctance to hire new employees, further complicating the balance between economic stability and workers' rights.

This action was taken after the Houthi group, supported by Iran, disregarded repeated calls to cease its attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have been targeting commercial vessels since mid-November, after Israel began its onslaught on Gaza, effectively closing down a major maritime route and disrupting the global flow of goods. The attacks began after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for blockading Israel.

Shortly after the strike, President Joe Biden said he authorized the operation, claiming support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, and hinting that there may be more attacks on Houthi positions.

“These precision strikes were intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of international mariners in one of the world’s most critical waterways,” Biden said in a statement. “I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”

Notably, Biden’s statement made no reference to Iran, despite the fact that only a day before, his secretary of state Anthony Blinken had said that Houthi attacks are “aided and abetted by Iran with technology, equipment, intelligence, [and] information.”

There was no immediate reaction from Iran, but the Houthi leader issued a threatening statement, vowing to carry on no matter what and “burn the region.”

“Do the American, British, and the Zionists expect that any aggressive act against Yemen will distract us from defending Gaza,” Abdul Malik al-Houthi asked. “We will continue to target Zionist ships and those going to the Zionist entity. We will confront America, make it kneel, burn its warships, all its bases, and anyone who cooperates with it.

Initial reports suggested that at least ten Houthi sites had been targeted, including “radar systems, air defense systems, and storage and launch sites” for drones and missiles, according to the US Central Command.

“We hold the Houthi militants and their destabilizing Iranian sponsors responsible for the illegal, indiscriminate, and reckless attacks on international shipping,” CENTCOM commander General Michael Erik Kurilla said. “Their illegal and dangerous actions will not be tolerated, and they will be held accountable.”

Houthi forces claimed to have retaliated against western warships, but no independent source verified this. The US military did not reported any such attacks at time of writing.

Many are worried that this operation would aggravate, not deter, the Houthis –leading to further attacks, escalation, and eventually an all-out regional war.

Saudi Arabia was the first to raise such concern shortly after the attack, according to Reuters. The kingdom’s foreign ministry emphasized the importance of maintaining the security and stability of the Red Sea region and called for “avoiding escalation”

Back in the US, criticisms were much more biting.

“The President needs to come to Congress before launching a strike against the Houthis in Yemen and involving us in another Middle East conflict,” Democratic congressman Ro Khanna posted on X. “That is Article I of the Constitution. I will stand up for that regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House.”

Another Democratic Representative, Cori Bush, said: “The people do not want more of our taxpayer dollars going to endless war and the killing of civilians. Stop the bombing and do better by us.”

The Republicans, however, seemed more supportive, especially those who had called on President Biden to target the Houthis –and even Iran. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, and Roger Wicker and Rick Scott of the Armed Service Committee were among those who praised the attacks, emphasizing that it had come “late” and was not enough.

“Biden must now act every day to end the ability of Houthi forces and all Iran-back terrorists to attack the US and our partners,” Senator Scott posted on X.