Critic Of Iran's Supreme Leaders Brands Elections 'Staged'

Simultaneously, at least two reports in the Iranian press have accused Putin and Russia of interfering in Iran's internal affairs.

The conservative Jomhouri Eslami newspaper, founded by Khamenei in 1979, charged in its February 20 edition that "Alexei Navalny is the latest victim of Russia's rulers. His murder is perhaps the most gruesome crime ever committed by Moscow's rulers." The newspaper listed 25 opposition figures it claimed were killed by Russian government agents, including Gazprom official Leonid Shulman, industrialist Igor Nasov, editor Vladimir Gorkin, and former KGB agent and critic of Putin, Alexander Litvinenko.

The newspaper pointed out that although execution has been abolished in Russia, there is a long list of those who have been killed with guns, in swimming pools, by poisoning, stabbing and other methods.

Such outright and open criticism is rare in Iran’s government-controlled and censored press, considering the close military and diplomatic alliance between Moscow and Tehran.

The daily called on the international human rights community to form a fact-finding committee to investigate Navalny's death, describing it as "yet another political murder in Russia" and evidence of "a modern despotic government which attempts to terrify its opponents by suppressing and eliminating its enemies."

Jomhuri Eslami concluded that "as a political leader who kills his opponents, Putin should not be trusted," warning the Iranian government of Russia's systematic disregard for the interests of other countries.

Earlier, Iranian politicians including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the former chairman of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee reiterated that Russia should not be trusted as an ally.

In an interview with Khabar Online website, former diplomat Fereydoun Majlesi pointed out the conflict between Iran and Russia's interests. He highlighted Russia's delays in delivering the Bushehr Power Plant to Iran, its rivalry in oil and gas markets, and its use of Iran as a shield in its conflict with Ukraine. Majlesi emphasized the need for Iranian officials to ensure that ties with Russia do not hinder Iran's relations with other countries.

Majlesi said that Russia has never helped Iran to further its foreign trade. On the other hand, the Russians delayed the delivery of the Bushehr Power Plant to Iran for 30 years. He pointed out that Russia is Iran's rival in the oil and gas markets. He also charged that Russia has been using Iran as a shield in its war against Ukraine. He added that by encouraging conflicts in the Red Sea, the Russians wish to disrupt the flow of oil through the region.

In another development related to Russia's interference with Iran's internal affairs, Nader Ghazipour, a former member of the Iranian parliament (Majles) from Urmia, who has been disqualified from running for the next parliament, alleged Russia's involvement in his disqualification.

Ghazipour told Khabar Online in Tehran he is aware that he has been disqualified for criticizing the government for its one-sided ties with Moscow. He said: "I was the only member of the Iranian parliament who made a speech against Russia at an open session of the Majles."

Despite these occasional media criticisms, the Iranian regime continues to supply offensive weapons to Moscow, including kamikaze drones, and according to the latest news, ballistic missiles.

Data by the Islamic Republic's customs organization, scrutinized by Iran International, show that around $26 million worth of items listed as prohibited under the US Treasury's sanctions against Iran was imported to the country only in the first eight months of the current Iranian year, which started on March 21.

Earlier in the month, the head of a top unit at the US Department of Homeland Security said that "sensitive" materials are showing up overseas -- in Iranian weapons. "The Iranian drones that are being recovered on the battlefield in Ukraine, that are being recovered on the battlefield throughout the Middle East, they do have sensitive US communications systems and they have sensitive microelectronics," Jim Mancuso, the assistant director of the Global Trade Division at Homeland Security Investigations, told ABC News. Iran, China and Russia are all "attempting to illegally acquire" US technology, he added. 

Although Iran has numerous tools to circumvent the sanctions, including manipulating the documents about its trade of sensitive know-how, data about import and export of drone parts are still decipherable in the official customs documents. 

The multifunctionality of parts used to manufacture drones as well as outsourcing the production of some parts to private companies and using intermediaries to buy the materials, have all contributed to the failure of efforts to prevent the development of Iran's drone industry. According to security and military experts, one of the main reasons Western countries have not yet been able to curb the flow of foreign parts to Iran’s drone program is the multifunctionality of imported parts as it is unclear whether a particular part is used in a civilian crop-dusting aircraft or a military drone. 

In June last year, the US Department of the Treasury issued a guide on Iran's drone industry. The 11-page “Guidance to Industry on Iran’s UAV-Related Activities” warned traders about items used by Iran in the manufacture of drones that may be subject to US sanctions. A table of 13 categories of items used in the production of drones included engines, navigational equipment, and electronics. The table listed the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) code, used internationally in customs information, and every traded item assigned a standardized international tariff code. 

According to Iran’s custom organization statistics, a total of $236 million worth of “aircraft spark-ignition reciprocating or rotary internal combustion piston engines”, otherwise known as HTS 840710, were imported into the country from March 2012 to November 2023. The import of such products hit its lowest point in 1395 (the Iranian year from March 2016 to March 2017) at around $300,000, but the figure has been on rise ever since. 

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the import of these aircraft propulsion parts increased significantly, with the figure in the eight months ending in November exceeding that of the entire previous year. Seventy-five percent of the total imports in the 10-year timespan originated from Turkey ($52.8 million), Hong Kong ($50.9 million), the United Arab Emirates ($43.7 million), and China ( $28.8 million).

In addition to these primary sources, many European countries are also among the exporters of such equipment to Iran, most from Germany, followed by Ukraine ($2.1 million worth) and Slovenia. 

While Ukraine has been exporting to Iran, the situation has now flipped, with Iran supplying drones and missiles to Russia to be used in the war on Ukraine. Reuters cited six sources as saying that Iran has provided Russia with around 400 powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that approximately 360 Iranian drones have been shot down in Ukraine since the beginning of January. 

In February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Iran imported approximately $31,000 worth of parts and components of aircraft propulsion units used in drone manufacturing from Ukraine. Additionally, the United States also had a share in Iran’s procurement of drone parts, with more than $50,000 worth of equipment that took place in 2013 and 2018.

Iran went from being an importer to a global exporter, going from nearly none in 2020 to approximately $26 million in the first eight months of Iranian year 1402 (March to November 2023). Venezuela has been the first destination for the export of aircraft propulsion parts, with about $20 million worth of exports, which accounts for approximately 37% of the total exports of HTS 840710 items. Tajikistan follows with around $14.4 million, and Ethiopia with about $8.6 million.

Farzin Nadimi, a defense and security analyst and a senior fellow of the Washington Institute, said in an article in November 2022 that and Venezuela began their collaboration in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles in early 2000s. The collaboration progressed to the point where the Islamic Republic established a drone production line for Venezuela in 2012.

The document, circulating on social media and seemingly discovered among a trove of files accessed after a hacktivist group breached the servers of the Iranian judiciary on Tuesday, contains evidence confirming that Shakarami had been subjected to rape amid a state sanctioned campaign of sexual violence as documented by rights groups.

The trove of documents obtained by the hacktivist group Edalat-e Ali covers a wide range of sensitive topics, spanning from internal discussions within the National Security Council following Mahsa Amini's death to efforts aimed at curbing unauthorized VPN vendors, protests against the 2020 employment examination, and cases related to economic corruption.

Abbas Masjedi Arani, head of the Forensic Medicine Organization has sent the "very confidential" letter to the Supreme National Security Council, explicitly stating, "In the genital examination, signs indicating assault or rough sexual intercourse were evident."

Nika Shakarami, a 16-year-old, was abducted and murdered by security forces during the anti-regime protests which swept Iran in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Nika's final communication with a friend in September detailed how security forces were pursuing her on Keshavarz Boulevard in Tehran before she mysteriously disappeared. Her family identified her body ten days later, revealing signs of torture, abuse, and beatings inflicted by security forces.

Government agents later seized Nika's body from Khorramabad and secretly buried her in a village in Lorestan, located in western Iran.

The aftermath of Mahsa Amini's death saw over 500 civilians, including children and teens like Nika, lose their lives in the ensuing uprising.

Polad Omarov was handed over to US authorities at Prague's Vaclav Havel Airport on Wednesday morning after his arrest in January last year. Despite the Justice Minister's ruling in favor of extradition back in July, the process encountered delays due to the suspect's appeal to the constitutional court, which was ultimately rejected.

Together with co-defendants Rafat Amirov and Khalid Mehdiyev, Omarov is charged with offenses including murder-for-hire and money laundering in connection with an alleged assassination attempt believed to be backed by Tehran. The target of the attempted assassination is a US citizen residing in Brooklyn, New York, known for vocal criticism of the Iranian government.

US authorities did not reveal the identity of the alleged victim when detailing the charges. 

Mehdiyev had previously faced arrest in New York in 2022 for possessing a rifle near the residence of journalist Masih Alinejad, the target of multiple Tehran-backed assassination attempts for her activism against the regime.

In a separate incident in 2021, US prosecutors indicted four individuals suspected of being Iranian intelligence operatives, alleging their involvement in a plot to abduct a journalist and activist in New York. Though the target was not explicitly named, Reuters confirmed the intended victim to be Alinejad.

US prosecutors have disclosed that Omarov held residency in both the Czech Republic and Slovenia. However, the Czech Justice Ministry clarified on Wednesday that he is, in fact, a citizen of Georgia.

“I declare that the Account Number 380.8000.13637806.2 (in Iran’s Pasargad Bank) is under my name... and I can spend or transfer 50% of the available balance (12,394,806,106 rials equivalent of $295,114) immediately upon my request,” read part of a letter addressed to the Canadian Immigration Office by Es’hagh Ghalibaf, the son of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. In another document, he declared that he also has over $15,000 in National Australian Bank (NAB) and Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ).

While in many countries $300,000 might not be considered a huge sum, in Iran, where government employees earn around $200 a month, it raises questions as to how he has amassed such an amount. The Parliament Speaker, according to some reports, earns around $4,000 a month.

Earlier in the month, Iran International reported about Es’hagh’s five-year attempt to obtain Canadian residency, including paying at least $4,000 to a lawyer and numerous follow-ups by a Canadian citizen at the office of Pierre Poilievre, Canadian lawmaker and the leader of the opposition Conservative Party. Es’hagh’s court document revealed that Polivier's office made "repeated inquiries" about the progress of his application. His office told Iran International that he has not provided a recommendation letter in support of granting the visa.

After reports of the case went viral online, at least two petitions were launched asking the Canadian government to prevent the granting of the visa to the son of a former top Revolutionary Guard commander. “As proud Iranian-Canadians who stand for freedom and democracy in Iran, we find it unimaginable that Canada would consider welcoming the son of such a warmonger, who, along with his father and family, has allegedly participated in money laundering and other corrupt activities,” the petition said.

Following Iran International's scoop on Ghalibaf, Canada's Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the permanent residency application of Es’hagh was refused. “The Iranian regime has engaged in acts of terrorism and systemic human rights violations," he noted. “We stand with the people of Iran.”

In 2022, Es’hagh Ghalibaf filed for the judicial review of the processing time of his immigration application at a Canadian Federal Court and the court’s Justice, John Norris, ruled that his application should be granted. Iran International managed to obtain a 150-page bundle of official documents filed in his immigration case based on Canada's Access to Information Act. Ghalibaf uploaded these documents to the website of the Canadian Immigration Office in late 2018 in order to obtain permanent residency in Canada.

In 2017, Bagher Ghalibaf, who was Tehran’s mayor at the time and running for office in the presidential election, presented a sheet to the cameras during a live debate in which he listed his own assets, those of his wife and his son Es’hagh. He claimed that Es’hagh, his only dependent son at the time, only owned a 1971 Nissan Patrol, a motorcycle, and a total of about one million tomans (10,000 rials or about $250 at the exchange rate then) in savings in four banks.

According to the documents filed for immigration to Canada in 2018, Es’hagh, whose father was covering his living expenses, managed to increase his personal savings about 600 times in about a year. Additionally, documents submitted to the Canadian Immigration Office indicate that Es’hagh purchased and rented out two apartment units in Melbourne within the same short period.

Ghalibaf is a household name in many corruption cases in the Islamic Republic, with his wife, daughter, and his older son Elias implicated in various scandals. During his term as mayor of the capital Tehran, several of his deputies and people in his close circle were sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison but the judiciary never prosecuted him, maybe because he is a close relative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. During the same period, Ghalibaf handed over lands with a total area of 71,397 square meters to his wife’s charity institute in 2011, apart from another 2.5 trillion rials, nearly $100 million at the time.

An audio file of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard commanders discussing massive financial corruption that leaked in February 2022 also directly involved Ghalibaf.

In March 2022, Ghalibaf’s wife, daughter and son-in-law were caught on camera at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport with a large shopping haul of baby clothes and accessories bought from Turkey. The scandal, called ‘SismuniGate’ in Iran, created a media frenzy at the time, with a large number of people as well as several politicians calling for Ghalibaf’s resignation from the parliament.

Ghalibaf became parliament speaker in 2020 after 'revolutionary principlists' or hardliners swept an engineered election, when most reformists were banned from running as candidates.