Chinese Influencers' Upcoming Visit To Iran Sparks Criticism

Ramak Heidari, CEO of the Iranian Dystrophy Association, expressed concern over the situation on Sunday, saying despite assurances from the ministry of health regarding the distribution of medication to SMA patients, “no Iranian medication has been produced or distributed.”

Moreover, the efficacy of existing medications has been questioned by the deputy minister, exacerbating the crisis.

Heidari condemned the actions as “unjustifiable excuses for discontinuing essential medications”, emphasizing that approximately 10 children affected by SMA have died in the past month alone due to the lack of treatment.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a rare neurological muscle disorder, severely impacts patients' motor functions causing muscles to become increasingly weak. The only validated medication, Spinraza, has shown efficacy in slowing down the progression of the disease.

The exorbitant price of Spinraza has led to attempts by the ministry of health to hinder its import under false pretexts such as “low effectiveness.” Consequently, many families have resorted to seeking treatment abroad to save their loved ones.

The medication crisis comes amid reports of illegal practices in the pharmaceutical industry. Shahram Kalantari-Khandani, head of the Iranian Pharmaceutical Association, highlighted the issue of non-pharmaceutical investors obtaining rare medications with fake prescriptions and selling them in the open market, further exacerbating the situation.

Last year, Mojtaba Bourbour, an official from Iran's drug importers union, disputed government officials' assertions regarding pharmaceutical self-sufficiency. He revealed that not only do up to 90 percent of raw materials come from countries like China and India, but some medications are also imported from China and marketed under Iranian labels.

Despite the objections of Khamenei's confidant, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the ultraconservatives fielded six lists for Tehran, whose representatives will wield considerable influence in parliament's management. Internal conflicts between pro-Khamenei factions are exacerbated in the absence of more moderate politicians who were barred from competing in the elections.

The unprecedented number of blank votes and the infighting among hardliners underscore Khamenei's waning influence over his supporters and the election manipulation apparatus.

Conducting rigged elections in the Islamic Republic has become increasingly challenging. Citizens capture videos from polling stations, revealing lower turnout than the government asserts. Furthermore, individuals can express discontent with the voting system by submitting invalid handwritten ballots. This tactic may also serve to avoid potential repercussions for non-participation, such as employment disqualification or promotion denial.

Voting for a popular footballer

An election boycott movement was underway for weeks. It was clear for months that most Iranians, deeply dissatisfied with the regime, would boycott the elections, and the decision by hardliners to keep other regime supporters out did not help the situation. Amid a low turnout, many of those who voted cast blank votes. Mohammad Mohajeri, a conservative commentator tweeted that the number of invalid votes were higher than the number of votes top contenders were able to get in Tehran.

Confirming the significant increase in the number of invalid votes, Didban Iran website wrote, "After counting 80% of the ballot boxes in Tehran, there were more than 380k invalid votes," even though the first person has about 340k votes.” The invalid written votes consisted of soccer symbols and names of footballers. In Yazd, the number of invalid votes is about 29,000, in second place.

It seems that invalid votes in Iran's engineered elections are gradually becoming a permanent phenomenon. In the presidential election of 2021, invalid votes came second after Ebrahim Raisi, at 13 percent. There are reports of 30% invalid votes in this parliamentary election.

People’s power

The Guardian Council and higher authorities aimed to manipulate both the candidate pool and public opinion through discretionary oversight. However, people are now countering these tactics by casting invalid votes, undermining the system's efforts to engineer public sentiment. Submitting invalid votes in the Islamic Republic serves as a means to avoid potential prosecution for abstaining from voting while simultaneously mocking the political establishment.

Engineered elections typically offer both advantages and drawbacks for the regime. With each repetition, however, the costs of these sham elections are outweighing their benefits. They increasingly embarrass the regime by exposing its lies, fraud, manipulation of numbers, and propaganda tactics to the public eye.

Insider infighting

Another consequence of engineered elections is the escalation of tensions among insiders vying for limited sources of power. In Tehran, after counting approximately two-thirds of the votes, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, the former Speaker of Parliament, found himself in fourth place. Ghalibaf is now in competition with a member of the Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi cult, a cleric known for issuing fatwas sanctioning violence against those who defy Sharia law in their private lives.

The formation of a unified candidate list for Tehran was crucial for the hardline faction ahead of the election, but this did not materialize. Instead, six separate lists were published, each with its own distinct differences. Essentially, this divergence led to a war of competing lists, with Mesbah's followers, organized in the Paydari front, gaining ground over traditionalist Islamists. Even close associates of Khamenei, such as Haddad-Adel, who spearheaded the main list of fundamentalists, emerged as losers in this internal power struggle.

Ghalibaf’s speakership in jeopardy

To undermine Ghalibaf's influence and remove him from the speakership of the 12th Majles, supporters of Mesbah Yazdi employed various tactics to weaken Ghalibaf's allies. They insisted that Morteza Aqa-Tehrani, a prominent figure of the Paydari Front, be positioned as a top figure alongside Ghalibaf on the electoral list. Ultimately, Ghalibaf acquiesced to this demand, but the outcome reveals that some Paydari supporters refrained from voting for Ghalibaf.

Simultaneously, some of Ghalibaf's allies abandoned him midway and aligned with his adversaries. After parting ways with the Ghalibaf-Haddad united list, they joined other coalitions such as the "Amna" list. This coalition, led by Hamid Rasa’i allied with other fundamentalist groups to dismantle the Ghalibaf coalition. Rasa’i is recognized as one of the most extremist figures among the fundamentalist lists.

The role of Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran, is also noteworthy in dealing a blow to Khamenei’s influence. Zakani spearheaded another list known as the United Front of the Revolution, which shared many similarities with the Paydari list. The recent elections appear to mark the beginning of the decline of Ghalibaf and Haddad Adel's influence in the legislature.

Ahmad Hasan Mohamed, intelligence adviser to Sudan’s military leader, disclosed that Iran sought to construct the base to monitor maritime traffic to and from the Suez Canal and Israel.

“The Iranians said they wanted to use the base for intelligence gathering,” Mohamed said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “They also wanted to station warships there.”

Mohamed stated that Iran had offered explosive drones to Sudan's military to combat rebel forces amid the civil war and proposed a helicopter-carrying warship in exchange for permission to build the base. However, Sudan rejected the deal to avoid straining relations with the United States and Israel.

Iran's pursuit of a naval foothold in the Red Sea aims to bolster its influence in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, aiding Houthi rebels in Yemen to disrupt maritime traffic. Since November, the Iran-backed Yemeni militia has been blockading the route amid the Gaza war, in a bid to force Israel into a ceasefire. Instigated by Iran's supreme leader, the group has targeted Israeli linked ships and more recently, US and UK vessels in response to their support for Israel. 

The backdrop of Sudan's 10-month-old civil war has become a battleground for regional powers vying for strategic influence. Sudan's military, engaged in conflict with paramilitary forces, has sought external support, including drones from Iran, to gain the upper hand in the ongoing conflict.

Iran has long been a primary provider of drones to Sudan, steadily enhancing the country's capabilities from surveillance to offensive operations.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) has faced accusations of contributing to regional destabilization by supporting proxy groups in the Middle East and beyond. Critics argue that the IRGC's involvement in various conflicts raises concerns among international stakeholders about Iran's influence and its potential impact on regional stability.

Alongside these warnings, they have offered roadmaps and guidelines aimed at navigating the potential challenges arising from the political impasse.

Despite the government’s claim of a 40-percent turnout, scattered voting results announced since Friday indicate a lower turnout and an unprecedented number of blank ballots.

One day before the elections, former Majles Speaker Ali Larijani emphasized the urgent need for a "national unity government" to address the looming challenges both regionally and internationally. He stressed the importance of forming coalitions at various political levels and fostering cohesion and empathy among the people as crucial steps towards steering the country out of its current predicament.

Larijani's nuanced message struck at the core of Iran's foreign policy, which has resulted in international isolation and the imposition of sanctions, culminating in a five-year-long economic crisis.

Larijani also advocated for the strategic use of "protest votes," suggesting that casting blank ballots or supporting candidates outside the leading ultraconservative camp could serve as a wake-up call to the government. However, he cautioned that such actions might come at a significant cost to both the government and the nation, potentially paving the way for a dictatorship if left unaddressed.

Furthermore, Larijani warned against the disillusionment of the people, asserting that it could signal the onset of authoritarian rule. He urged the government to ensure that despite the biased vetting process that sidelined reformist and moderate candidates, there are still avenues for representing the rights and aspirations of dissatisfied voters.

At the same time, Larijani, who led the parliament for 12 years, underscored the importance of voter participation in effecting change within the country's political landscape. He urged the populace to engage in the electoral process as a means of holding the government accountable and advocating for reforms, cautioning that abstaining from voting could empower a minority to seize power.

In addition to Larijani’s warnings and recommendation, former government spokesman Ali Rabiei proposed a post-election roadmap for reform-minded Iranians. He emphasized the need for coalition-building and collective action to rectify the shortcomings of the electoral system and safeguard Iran's freedoms and improve governance.

Rabiei stressed that the consolidation of conservative political power alone would not address Iran's underlying issues or alleviate the current political impasse. Instead, he advocated for the unity of reformist and moderate forces to navigate the challenges posed by the prevailing political climate.

Nevertheless, Iranian voters also harbor disillusionment toward Reformists who have advocated for gradual change for over a quarter of a century, yet failed to achieve tangible results, ultimately witnessing the regime's complete takeover by hardliners.

Meanwhile, a video surfaced on social media featuring Iranian sociologist Hatam Ghaderi quoting Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic's founding leader, regarding the imposition of the 1905 constitution that put an end to absolute rule and established a constitutional monarchy. Khomeini argued that people preferred an Islamic government, not a constitution established seven decades earlier. Dissidents and many Iranian now make the same argument, saying that they are not bound what their grandfathers and fathers preferred 45 years ago, and want a regime change.

Pointing out that protests in Iran cost lives, Ghaderi said: "Now the people do not want the Constitution of the Islamic Republic. They do not want the guardianship of the Supreme Leader. How can they say we do not want this Constitution without fearing repression or getting killed or shot in the eye, and without thousands of people being jailed?"

Following his triumph, Choopan took a moment to address Arnold Schwarzenegger, the godfather of modern day bodybuilding, saying, "When I was a kid, I spent a lot of money to watch Arnold's movies. My biggest wish was to see Arnold up close and take a picture with him. Today, we are standing on a stage together, and the legend of my dreams is giving me an award."

The 36-year-old expressed his gratitude, stating, "It's an honor for me that the world's greatest bodybuilder is giving me a medal today. I am very happy to see you and stand next to you, and I am honored to have a picture with you."

The competition took place on Saturday in Ohio, witnessed by a sold-out crowd.

In November, the Iranian bodybuilding team won nine gold, five silver, and nine bronze medals at the men's World Bodybuilding Championship in Spain.

The sport has seen hardliners slam the 'nudity' with Mohammad Sadegh Koushki calling on President Ebrahim Raisi to suspend bodybuilding competitions altogether back in September.