Islamic Scholar Slams Iranian Authorities for Prosecuting Activists Exposing Abuse

According to Naqdi, the strategy is motivated by fears of Iran's potential threat to superpower status of big powers.

"The enemy has planned to prevent the population increase in Iran due to the threat it poses to the superpowers," he stated.

In Iranian government's rhetoric, "enemy" usually refers to the United States.

He warned about the irreversible consequences of the country's declining birth rate, noting that if the trend persists, Iran is on track to become the world's third oldest country by 2041. He cautioned, "With the aging population, we are losing one of the elements of national security."

Naghdi added that 20% of Iranian couples are unable to conceive, primarily due to the rising age of marriage.

The fertility rate in Iran has dramatically dropped to a mere 0.6% from 1.23% in 2021, marking a steep downward trend from the 4.21% in 1984, shortly after the Islamic Revolution.

Iran's population has doubled since the early 1980s, growing from 40 million to 84 million. However, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has expressed concerns, urging that the nation's population should reach at least 150 million by 2050 to prevent an aged demographic profile.

Biazar, who was in charge of the state TV’s music office, is currently in administrative detention—a procedure utilized for urgent deportation cases under French law, Niloufar Pourebrahim reported late Friday.

Sources informed Iran International on Friday that the deportation process for Biazar is in progress following his detention. While Iranian officials assert that his arrest is linked to his anti-Israel activities, sources have disclosed to Iran International that he is facing multiple security-related charges.

The nature of these charges are not clear, although in the past similar cases Iranian diplomats and government employees abroad were found to have had links with Tehran's security and intelligence organs.

Iran’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Bagheri-Kani, and the head of the Judiciary's Human Rights Headquarters, Kazem Gharibabadi, have called for Biazar’s immediate release. On Thursday, Bagheri-Kani instructed Iran's ambassador in Paris to urgently address Biazar’s case.

The Iranian Embassy in Paris has yet to respond to Iran International’s inquiries regarding Biazar’s detention.

Earlier, the state-affiliated Mehr News Agency described Biazar as an activist, noting that he was summoned by the French police and subsequently arrested without explanation.

This incident occurs amidst the ongoing imprisonment of several French citizens in Iran, including Cécile Kohler, Jacques Paris, and Louis Arnaud.

Biazar has resided in France since 2022 on a long-term family visa due to his wife’s residency. Prior to his arrest, he posted a video of his speech at the UN Human Rights Council last November, in which he criticized Israel and the sanctions imposed on Iran.

Previously living in London, Biazar identified himself as the secretary of the Iran-backed Islamic Student Association of London in interviews with Iran’s state-run outlets such as the IRGC's Tasnim News Agency.

In an interview with Tasnim, Biazar stated: "After obtaining a bachelor's degree in political science from Allameh Tabatabai University and a master's degree in international relations from a university in Hyderabad, India, I went to London. There, I began studying filmmaking at Kingston University, and after the 2009 elections, I joined the Islamic Society."

Brandstätter's stance includes pushing for the designation of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, a label he believes will impact Iran’s operational capabilities.

Last month, Brandstätter urged the European Union to implement sanctions against the IRGC, reflecting growing concerns within the EU about Iran’s role in global security threats.

The IRGC, known for its substantial role in quashing dissent through its regular forces and the Basij militia, has been instrumental in suppressing protests and public activities within Iran.

The United States officially designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019, based on its involvement in terrorist operations globally. Following suit, the United Kingdom last year acknowledged Iran, with its active IRGC components, as one of the country's most significant foreign threats, having thwarted multiple IRGC-led plots on British soil, especially on Iran International journalists.

The potential classification of the IRGC as a terrorist entity by the EU could alter European-Iranian trade dynamics, given that the IRGC is estimated to control over 50% of Iran's economy.

The announcement was made through a social media post on X, where Manzoor cited the overwhelming presence of Revolutionary Front hardliner candidates and the presence of more suitable options as his reasons for stepping back.

The development comes in the wake of the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, which has led to the announcement of a snap election on June 28.

The practice of announcing candidacies only to withdraw later is seen as a move by many in Iran to garner visibility and influence in the political arena. It is anticipated that many of the 80 candidates who registered to run will also soon withdraw in hope of getting their share in the next administration.

While the Guardian Council, a 12-member body under the control of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has initiated vetting the hopefuls to announce the final candidates, Ezzatollah Zarghami, the Minister of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, in an interview on Saturday, expressed hopes that the council will be more generous in approving a varied list of candidates than in previous years.

However, Hadi Tahhan Nazif, spokesperson for the council, denied any allegations of election engineering in an interview, claiming that the Council impartially assesses the qualifications of all candidates, irrespective of their political affiliations.

The council has disqualified hundreds of candidates in both parliamentary and presidential elections over recent years, particularly since 2020.

The announcement was made by Javad Emam, the spokesperson for the Reform Front, via a tweet that revealed Abbas Akhoundi, Masoud Pezeshkian, and Es'haq Jahangiri as the chosen candidates for the government-controlled election to choose a successor for Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash last month. Each of these politicians who have registered to run secured two-thirds of the internal votes.

Former President Mohammad Khatami, who is highly regarded by many Iranian 'reformists', announced that he will endorse the presidential election only if at least one candidate from the Reform Front is permitted to run.

The path ahead for the nominees appears fraught with challenges. The Guardian Council, a 12-member body under the control of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has a storied history of blocking 'reformist' candidates. The practice has reinforced the stronghold of conservative and hardline groups within Iran's political realm, with a significant number of potential 'reformist' candidates having been disqualified since 2020, affecting both parliamentary and presidential races.

Abbas Akhoundi, the former Minister of Roads and Urban Development under President Hassan Rouhani. Masoud Pezeshkian, with his past roles as health minister and parliamentary leader, earlier claimed to restore faith in the electoral process among the disenchanted public. Es'haq Jahangiri, a moderate political figure and former vice president is the other one named by the front.