Contract Workers In Iran’s Natural Gas Industry Extend Protests

In a joint statement released Thursday, the student activists asserted their refusal to remain silent under any circumstances, stating, "We will not tolerate executions, and we will obliterate the executioner government."

The signatories, who identified themselves as "fighters and revolutionaries of Women, Life, Freedom,” also urged nationwide protest rallies against the recent surge in executions throughout the country.

A recent report by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) group disclosed a shocking 33-percent increase in executions in Iran last year, with at least 791 individuals put to death. Over one-fifth of those executed belonged to the predominantly Sunni Baluch community, indicating a disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 12 prisoners in Iran charged with political or security-related offenses now face death sentences.

The student unions further vowed support for people currently facing execution, including Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei, Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkour, Mansour Dahmardeh, Farshid Hossein-Zehi, Vafa Azarbar, Mohammad Faramarzi, Pejman Fatehi, and Mohsen Mazloum, eight political prisoners condemned to death by Iran's Supreme Court.

Among them, Mohsen Mazloum, Pejman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar, and Hojir Faramarzi are Kurdish political prisoners sentenced to death by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

Kourkour is among the detainees of the nationwide uprising in Izeh, arrested on December 20, 2022 during an armed attack by security and law enforcement forces on a village near Izeh. The judiciary identifies him as the "main suspect" in the killing of 10-year-old Kian Pirfalak, but Kian's family steadfastly maintains that the perpetrators were government forces. The situation has raised international concern over the due process and human rights in Iran.

Rasaei faces accusations of "murder" in connection with the death of Nader Beirami, the head of intelligence in Sanandaj, during a protest in the city on November 17, 2022. According to the human rights group Amnesty International, Rasaei was subjected to an "unfair trial" on October 7 in Kermanshah province with his forced confessions under torture. His mother, Azardokht Haqjouyan has said her son's extensive 1,500-page case file had been reviewed within a week.

Rasaei hails from Iran's marginalized Kurdish and Yarsan ethnic and religious minorities. The Yarsan faith, also known as Ahl-e Haqq, is among the oldest Middle Eastern religious traditions, with an estimated three million followers in Iran, primarily in the western Kurdish regions, and an additional 120,000 to 150,000 in Iraq, known as Kaka'i. Yarsan adherents have encountered various challenges, including difficulties in registering their children as Yarsan at birth, restrictions on constructing places of worship, and the constant fear of persecution for printing their holy book.

According to the signatories of the statement, "The government, through creating fear and terror by issuing and implementing execution orders, is seeking an escape from the escalating political, cultural, economic, and international crises." They claimed that the Islamic Republic believes that by executing protesters and dissidents, it can intimidate society, suppress the revolution, and quell protests. The student organizations, however, denounced such a belief as a delusion and emphasized their commitment to the destruction of the Islamic Republic.

State media quoted Vahid Azizi, an official in the tax inspectorate as saying, “One of the country’s banks has refrained from supplying information on suspicious transactions of businesses despite repeated warnings,” leading to the decision to ban the CEO and members of the board of directors from leaving the country. He did not name the bank in question.

Azizi emphasized that other banks have also been warned to provide all information necessary for the tax authorities before February 20th.

Both Iran’s government and its state-controlled and quasi-private banks face serious financial problems due to years of economic crisis, rising inflation and problems stemming from the inefficiencies of a state-controlled economy.

The Iranian government has been relentlessly printing money in the past five years after the United States withdrew from the JCPOA nuclear accord and imposed economic sanctions in 2018. This has fueled inflation, while the government has failed to effectively respond to the economic challenges.

There have been several major corruption scandals related to government officials and individuals considered regime insiders. This has also affected the banking system and the government pension schemes. Most banks are run by political appointees who maintain government control over lending and investments, while also finding opportunities to engage in suspicious financial activities.

The government faced with a large budget deficit, has resorted to increasing taxes, which is hard to enforce in a system mired by political influences and insider networking.

Iranian missile attacks on the Kurdish region of Iraq, along with similar strikes on targets in Syria and Pakistan, have heightened concerns among Iranians that a war may erupt involving Iran at any moment.

While some Iranian pundits have suggested the possibility of a war between Iran and the United States within the next two years, other observers argue that such a scenario is unlikely unless there are exceptional circumstances. Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has labeled Iran as the most significant regional security threat, coupled with Iranian proxy groups' daily attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Iran launching missile strikes on three countries in less than a day.

The Iranian currency, rial, has fell to its eight-month low against the US dollar this week, trading at 540,000 per dollar.

Pro-reform daily Setareh Sobh [Morning Star] on Wednesday directly linked the turmoil in the rising dollar exchange rate and the price of gold in Tehran to the prevailing geopolitical tensions.

According to the daily, diplomacy could be the only way to control the markets in Iran. However, with a war raging on in the region, and Iran playing a major part in the conflict, leaves little chance for diplomacy. In the meantime, the Iranian government has proven during the past three years that it is absolutely incapable of influencing the markets.

Meanwhile, Iranian economist Hossein Raghfar told Fararu website that the most vulnerable segments of the Iranian society are suffering more under the pressure of rising inflation. Prices of foodstuff have been rising exponentially during the past months.

The government's spokesman has acknowledged that the surge in prices is a direct result of military developments in the region. He pointed out that the US and its allies' airstrikes on the Houthis in Yemen have generated a feeling of insecurity in Iran, contributing to an overall atmosphere of instability. Nevertheless, Iranian Minister of Economy Ehsan Khandouzi asserted that the government is making every effort to manage the "price fluctuations."

Mohammad Kashtiarai, the Chairman of the Iranian Goldsmiths Trade Union has also told Khabar Online that the rising price of gold in Iran is the outcome of political developments in the region.

This sense of instability comes after years of a longer trend of uncertainty for Iranians, who no longer see a decent future for themselves and their children.

The sense of instability and insecurity is also reflected in a report by the presidential Office's Strategic Studies Center that painted an alarming picture of hopelessness among Iranians that leads to a flood of emigration. Former government spokesman Ali Rabiei has agreed with the report, highlighting that the main reason for the emigration of educated and skilled Iranians is the government's poor performance that has left no hope regarding the future of the country.

Rabiei wrote: "The report indicates that the underlying factors driving migration from Iran are not primarily economic or related to issues such as unemployment. The central issue is the lack of a clear vision for the country's future provided by the government." He further commented, "Today, immigration differs from the past. For example, when an Iranian chooses to move to Germany, it's not for political aspirations or business prospects. They are leaving solely because they no longer wish to reside in Iran. This is profoundly concerning."

Rabiei also warned that "Iran is the world's number one country in terms of wasting its human resources. He pointed out that the inclination to migrate among educated Iranians has risen from 23 percent in 2014 to 46 percent in 2021." 

Mohammad Dehghan told reporters, “Any individual, whether Iranian or non-Iranian, who takes actions against the national security of the country will face consequences. Relevant authorities will take timely measures in this regard,"

Currently residing in Europe, Karimi gained prominence during the 2022 anti-regime protests, using his influence on social media to defend young protesters facing brutality by security forces. Concerned about his influence, government officials have issued threats against him several times since he left the country. 

Reza Naqipour, deputy head of the presidential office and former Head of Security of the Football Federation, used a threatening hashtag on January 5, suggesting a fate similar to the journalist Ruhullah Zam who was kidnapped from France in 2019 and executed in 2020, saying, "One day you will return the way that we like, not the way you like!"

Iran’s state television attempted to discredit Karimi for a tweet following a deadly twin bombing in Kerman. In the tweet, Karimi criticized the regime’s policy of offering food and drink at pro-government events, stating, "Go for free food and drink, but you will get a hard revenge."

Despite official efforts, Karimi's direct communication through social media has resonated with tens of thousands of supporters, highlighting the government's growing unease over his influential reach.

Although all three branches of government are directly involved in the process of censorship, by appointing half of the members of the committee that decides which sites should be filtered, the President should be held accountable for the problems Iranians face in free access to the Internet, the association’s report published Monday said.

Raisi has repeatedly said his government will provide fast internet services to Iranians at low costs, but the government recently allowed providers to increase their tariffs by about 34 percent and the speed has deteriorated so much that even some government officials including the President himself have admitted it.

“Iran's internet situation is very similar to poor and underdeveloped countries, internet access quality indices show, but the main difference [with those countries] is that in Iran's case these conditions are self-inflicted,” the report said.

Self-inflicted, the report says, means that a significant part of the country's internet access problems, from filtering to speed that affects loading times as well as widespread disruptions, arise from policies, management and laws rather than problems in infrastructure development such as fiber optic expansion which the government insists is the solution to the problem.

Tehran E-Commerce Association was founded in 2019 by several major ecommerce and online services companies including Digikala e-commerce platform, Snapp vehicle for hire, Cafe Bazar app store for the Android operating systems, and Divar classified ads and e-commerce platform and has so far published two detailed reports.

According to the recent report, there has been relative improvement in latency and bandwidth and access to restricted sites since July when the first report was released, but the improvement has made very little difference in ease of access to the internet because Iranians are still forced to use anti-filtering software (VPNs) which costs families lot of money amid an annual inflation rate of 50 percent and affects the quality of their access.

The report shows that filtering at IP level causes collateral damage and restricts access to many websites without reason and forces users to use anti-filtering software at all times.

Iran not only filters a vast array of websites including all major social media platforms and international platforms such as Google Play but has also employs a reverse filtering procedure called Iran Access to block the access of users outside the country to many Iranian websites including the websites of government organizations as well as banks and other financial entities. This is apparently to reduce the risk of foreign hacking, which has been occurring frequently, targeting government organizations.

The use of anti-filtering software makes users’ equipment more vulnerable to cyber threats and exposes online businesses to greater risks of user data leaks, the report added.

Hackers have targeted online businesses many times in recent years to steal personal information and sensitive data. Only last week Snapp Food, the largest online food delivery platform in Iran, was hacked by an Iranian hacking group that claimed it had accessed the personal details of over 20 million users.