March 18, 2016 at 4:41 pm

A Tehran appeals court has upheld a three-year prison sentence for teacher activist Rasoul Bodaghi.

Rasoul Bodaghi

The Human Rights Activists News Agency reports that while Bodaghi’s original jail term would have been served by July of this year, he was slapped with new charges and tried last September.

Bodaghi was charged with “acting against national security” and sentenced to three years in prison. Bodaghi’s appeal of the sentence was unsuccessful and he will now have to serve another three years.

Badaghi is a member of the executive board of the Iranian Teachers’ Association and a teacher at Eslamshahr high school. He was arrested following the 2009 election protests and sentenced to six years in jail, which he would have served out by this summer.

Bodaghi was held in solitary confinement in section 2A of Evin Prison during the investigation and interrogation of the second set of charges against him.

Teachers all across Iran have ben protesting their low wages and demanding that their pay be brought in line with that of other public employees.

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Iranian poet and humourist Mohammadreza Alipayam was released from jail on March 16, 2016.

Kaleme reports that Alipayam, who has been in jail since last May, was released on Wednesday.

Alipayam, who published his poetry under the alias “Haloo”, was arrested for the social and political commentary in his work.

He was found guilty of “propaganda against the regime, blasphemy, insulting the Islamic Republic’s founder, the leader, the president and officials” and was sentenced to 15 months in jail.

Wednesday also saw the release of Ali Akbar Baghani, the deputy head of the Iranian Teachers’ Association who was also jailed for similar charges, but he will soon have to go on to Zabol to serve his exile sentence.

Saeed Madani, a jailed Iranian sociologist and author, was given a conditional release after four years in jail and will soon have to move to Bandar Abbas to serve out a two-year exile sentence.

Meanwhile, Abdolreza Ghanbari, a jailed teacher activist whose sentence went from the death penalty to 15 years in jail and finally to 10 years, was also released yesterday.

Veteran Iranian actor Ezzatollah Entezami has written a letter to President Rohani calling for an end to the house arrest of the opposition leaders detained for the 2009 election protests, MirHosein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi.

Ezatollah Entezami

Entezami calls on the president to live up to his campaign promise to end the house arrest and expressed conce about “problems remaining unresolved” and the entrenchment of those problems with the “persistence of indifference toward them”.

In his letter dated February 21, Entezami writes that ending the house arrests will result in “confidence building and the strengthening of national unity”.

Entezami writes: “How is that you can sit and negotiate over national interests with world powers and finally reach a resolution, but you caot sit at the table with our country’s officials to negotiate over national interests? It is not possible to leave such a vital matter without a resolution.”

MirHosein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard as well as Mehdi Karroubi have been under house arrest since February 2011 for challenging the 2009 presidential election outcome and triggering widespread street protests.

Entezami stresses that Iran belongs to Iranians of every opinion and creed and there needs to be talk of “national reconciliation”.

Entezami urges President Rohani to mark the coming Iranian year (March 20) with the resolution of this situation and the ending of the house arrests, which he stresses will be cause for “the promotion of national unity”.

The 92-year-old veteran actor has appeared in more than 55 films throughout his career, including many award-wiing films such as Gaav (The Cow) and Dayereh Mina (The Cycle).

Iranian authorities have denied a hospital stay to one of the longest-serving prisoners in the country.

Mohammad Nazari

Mohammad Nazari, a 44-year-old political prisoner who has been in prison for over 22 years, was taken to hospital for chest pains and heart complication but was prevented from being hospitalized despite the recommendations of the attending physician.

Nazari was sentenced to life in prison by a Mahabad court, and his request for parole or furlough for medical reasons has remained unanswered by the court.

Nazari is charged with collaborating with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which the Islamic Republic regards as an outlawed organization.

In a letter in 2012, Nazari maintained that his file was reviewed by the Prosecutor General’s office and he was given a pardon and order for release, but at the eleventh hour, the Ministry of Intelligence prevented his release.

At the time, he sewed his lips together and went on a hunger strike, asking for another review of his case, but his efforts were not successful in securing his release.

He reportedly has been asked to sign a letter of repentance that condemns the opposition parties, which he has refused.

March 16, 2016 at 4:42 pm

Jailed teacher Ali Akbar Baghani, who is the deputy head of the Iranian Teachers’ Association, was released on bail from Rejai Shahr Prison on Wednesday March 16.

Ali Akbar Baghani

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that Baghani was released at the end of his jail term and has been given a furlough before going on to serve his time in exile in Zabol.

Baghani was sentenced to one year in jail and a 10-year exile for the charge of “propaganda against the regime”.

Baghani was arrested together with Esmail Abdi and Mahmoud Beheshti after the Central Council meeting of the teachers’ union in 2011, and after two months in solitary, he was released on bail pending his trial and sentencing.

Iranian teachers have staged widespread protests across the country demanding pay parity with other public employees. Many of their organizers have faced arrests and prosecution for their protests.

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Khalil Mohammadi (Tehran) – What can the outcome of the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections provide for voters who went to the polls with hopes for “change”? The answer to this question may be evident to those who are familiar with the precedents of such events in the Islamic system. The changes will not be so palatable and on the contrary, such events do in the short run elicit more resistance from the regime and an imposition of greater pressure on other aspects of people’s lives.

In past decades, experience has shown that the Islamic regime resorts to two modes of behaviour when faced with defeat or losses: first they pretend that they are victors; then they begin to impose various forms of restrictions to prove the persistence of their power.

Usurping the victory and the role of victors
In this role, the Islamic regime pretends to be satisfied with the new situation; it even begins to claim success and usurp the victory. In all the messages and statements of Islamic Republic officials following defeats, we can observe this quality. In effect, we have not yet had any social or political event in which the regime claimed defeat. Perhaps the only occasion may be Ayatollah Khamenei’s apologies for recommending control of population growth in the 1980s, although he implicitly indicated that the true fault lay with the govement of the period. This unprecedented event was so abnormal that it made headlines for months. Apart from that example, however, on all important issues the Islamic regime has always presented itself as free of error or fault.

The Islamic regime paints all its defeats as victories and takes pride in them. In the recent elections, many denied his call to vote and many more voted for the list of his dissenters, again going against his clear instructions. However, in his message following the aouncement of the election results, he interpreted the people’s message as “support for the Islamic regime” and their compliance with his leadership, for which he claimed he felt obliged to thank the public.

The same approach was taken in the presentation of its retreats in the nuclear disputes. Hassan Rohani went so far as describing the nuclear deal in the following terms: “It would be no exaggeration to describe the victory in this matter as one of greatest victories not only for the people of Iran but also for the developing world against world powers. We can say that we practically obtained all our objectives without exception in this matter.” Parliament also described the concessions of the Islamic regime as a great victory, which had come to fruition under the “guidance of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei”.

However, political naiveté, or perhaps the psychological characteristics that some of the Islamic regime’s representatives sometimes display, diminish the acting performances and reveal that they are not happy about losing control. In the latest elections, Ayatollah Khamenei did not use his usual epic tones of victory or express much joy in his speech following the results. In one of the shortest speeches he has ever given following an election, he thanked the people in a few words and prayed that God would guide them. The tone and the rest of his speech, which basically addressed the elected representatives, bore the latent message that nothing has changed and the regime is standing behind all its former positions. A number of other officials took a similar route. Ahmad Khatami, Tehran’s substitute Friday Mass Imam, spoke of the regime’s victory and said: “Each vote that was cast was a renewed yes vote to the Islamic regime” but he failed to hide his displeasure about the electoral victory of individuals from outside the ultra-conservative camp, saying: “Strangers and their domestic and foreign pawns should realize that [despite] changing the people, the general strategy of the regime, by the grace of God, will not change.”

Increasing pressure in regime-controlled arenas and persistence over old stances
It has been the persistent behaviour of the Islamic Republic that whenever it has had to retreat in any arena, it has compensated for the defeat and confirmed its hegemony by increasing pressure in various arenas of people’s lives, thus showing a proud and strong image completely in control as before.

This tactic can be traced to the mid 1990s and specifically to the reform movement of the 2nd of Khordad in 1997. Dissenters and joualists were arrested, newspapers were shut down, universities and student gatherings were attacked by plainclothes mobs and regime supporters staged sit-ins for the implementation of reform policies in the cultural arena. The reform govement of Mohammad Khatami has been said to have faced a crisis at least every nine days during this time.

This has become a well known tactic of the Islamic Regime, and many of its critics have pointed it out. In the events surrounding the arrest and trial of Mohammad Karbaschi, the Tehran Mayor and top reformist campaigner, which began a few months after Mohammad Khatami came to power, a member of Parliament pointed out: “The right-wing factions… are doing this to establish that they are still in power, even if they are not in charge of the executive govement anymore.” (Hamshahri; April 6, 1998) Ayatollah Taheri, a former Isfahan Friday Mass Imam, said: “The arrest of Mr. Karbaschi has nothing to do with embezzlement, bribery or corruption; it has to do with the epic of 2nd of Khordad.” (Hamshahri, April 6, 1998)

Behzad Nabavi, another reformist figure, was more direct in pointing out this strategy, saying: “The arrest of Tehran’s mayor is part of the right-wing strategy, in the wake of the 2nd of Khordad epic movement, to remedy their egregious loss in the presidential elections; the objectives of the perpetrators of these actions is to defuse the outcome of the elections, create tension and carry out a semi-coup.” (April 11, 1998)

The widespread disqualification of reformist candidates in the recent elections may similarly be viewed as a reaction to retreats by the right wing in the victory of the reformist govement of Hassan Rohani and the concessions that led to the finalization of a nuclear deal, even though the strategy backfired and forced the right wing to sustain another loss in the outcome of the elections. Now we have to see whether the Islamic regime will benefit from its old strategy of “increasing pressure in the remaining arenas”. It would not be surprising to see rising restrictions imposed on the public in social, cultural and security matters and even increased pressure on prominent critics such as Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, who won the highest number of votes among Assembly of Experts candidates.

Kian Sabeti

Source: www.radiozamaneh.com
Translation by Iran Press Watch

In the final days of the current year, in which Iranian families are preparing to welcome the New Year*, a Baha’i couple, Payman Kooshakbaghi and Azita Rafizadeh were arrested and sent to prison to start their long sentences.

There are four Baha’i couples among political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. This report is an attempt to introduce them and to bring to light how they are welcoming the New Year far from each other and from their children.

Payman Kooshakbaghi and Azita Rafizadeh

On Sunday the 28th of February, Payman Kooshakbaghi, a Baha’i citizen, in the company of his son Basheer, went to Evin Prison to visit his wife. Before reaching the visiting room, he was arrested by three plain clothes officers and transferred to prison to start a five year sentence.

On the issue of his arrest, one of Mr. Kooshakbaghi’s relatives told Radio Zamaneh, “Payman was arrested without prior notice or summons. They did not even allow him to properly bid farewell to his wife. Officers separated him from his son, and without proper attire they took him to an unknown location. Previously, on numerous occasions after the imprisonment of his wife Azita, in November 2015, Payman contacted the Deputy Prosecutor and the Head of the Office of Enforcement, requesting to be notified prior to his arrest. This request was due to the psychological condition as well as the young age of his son, and because he had no one to look after him during his sentence. If notified earlier, that would have enabled him to prepare his son for the absent of both parents. The Deputy Prosecutor assured him that at this moment they had nothing to do with him, but on Sunday unexpectedly in presence of his son and before entering the visiting room he was arrested.”

Payman Kooshakbaghi, and his wife Azita Rafizadeh were arrested in June 2011 because they were working with and cooperating with the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE). The couple, who studied in the same university after graduation in Computer Engineering, began to teach Baha’i students who had been denied an education online.

Azita Rafizadeh went to India to continue her education; after she was successfully awarded Master’s Degree in Computer Science, she retued to Iran. In coection with the trial of these two Baha’is, a reliable source told Radio Zamaneh “Payman and Azita were summoned to the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, and were asked to sign a document stating that they would not work with BIHE any more. After doing so their case would be considered closed. On denying the request, Azita in June 2014 and Payman in May 2015, in the 28th branch of the Revolutionary Court under the presiding Judge Moghiseh, they were sentenced to four years and five years of imprisonment respectively.

They were accused of membership in the “misguided” and illegal Baha’i group with the (supposed) aim of rising against the security of the country, and of being active in a Baha’i educational institution. After receiving her second summons, Azita, on 24 October 2015, presented herself to Evin prison to begin her four year sentence.

Adel Naiemi and Elham Farahani

Another Baha’i couple who are in prison in Iran are Adel Naiemi and Elham Farahani. Naiemi was sentenced to 11 years, and his wife to four years of imprisonment. These two Baha’is are in Raja’i Shahr Prison and the women’s section of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Evin Prison respectively.

Adel has endured more than three years and his wife more than two years of their sentences, while their son Shamim is enduring a sentence of three years with his father in the same prison.

Iman Rashidi, Shabnam Mottahed, Fariborz Baghi and Nategheh Naiemi are other Baha’i couples who are behind bars in Yazd prison.

Iman Rashidi and Shabnam Mottahed

The imprisonment of these two couples is coected with the previous trial and sentencing of 20 Baha’i citizens in the city of Yazd. On 31 July 2012, twenty Baha’is were arrested collectively in the cities of Yazd, Kerman and Arak. After three weeks they were released on bail. In September 2013, the Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced these Baha’i citizens to from one to four years of prison on charges of being members of secret (Baha’i) institutions and of rising against national security.

From the month of February 2015, these convicted Baha’is ‒ including this couple ‒ were summoned one by one to assume their sentences.

Iman Rashidi and his wife Shabnam Mottahed were summoned to Yazd prison on the 19th of March 2015 to undertake their sentences.

The begiing of their sentences coincided with busy days of preparation for the Persian New Year, and thus has not been covered by any news media.

These two Baha’is have been in Yazd prison for more than eleven months. Iman has been sentenced to three and half years and Shabnam to two years of imprisonment. This young couple do not have any children.

Fariborz Baghi is another Baha’i who was convicted by the Revolutionary Court of Yazd. He started his sentence on the 7th of March 2015. Fariborz was sentenced to two years imprisonment; his wife Nategheh Naiemi received a one year suspended sentence.

Fariborz, in a published open letter addressing the judges of the Revolutionary Court, indicated that his sentence and that of his wife were unjust; demanded that the Court aul its decision: “… when the Islamic Revolution succeeded in 1357, I was a 14 year old youth; being an excellent student I decided to continue my studies to become a medical doctor. To follow my dream I participated in and became successful in passing the entrance exam of the “high school attached to Shiraz University”. I supposed I would continue my studies after high school in the same university without needing to attempt the National University Entrance exam, but after the revolution, the wave of opposition and discrimination against Baha’is prevented me from receiving a high school certificate. I lost my hope of studying at any university. My father’s possessions were confiscated; my brother-in-law was arrested and sentenced to death. These happened along with all the other horrifying incidents with which my family was struggling for years. The authorities came after me and my family. During those years an excellent opportunity presented itself for me to study in Canada, but due to my adherence to my religion’s doctrine and because of my love for Iran and Iranians I decided not to pursue the path of moving to another country. I accepted the insults, deprivation and belittling rather than have material comfort. Finally I started a business of my own.”

This imprisoned Baha’i, in response to one of the accusations levelled against him ‒ organising secret (Baha’i) institutions and rising against national security ‒ in the same letter indicated: “the assertion of secret institutions brings to mind a very dangerous and negative cootation which is worrisome. When looking carefully at the nature and the mode of operation of these institutions from a religious angle, these institutions activities are related to helping the needy, settling family misunderstanding, preventing divorce, financial affairs and even Baha’i children’s education … bearing this in mind, even if it is organised and conducted in secret, it caot be a threat to the country’s security.”

At the end of his letter, Fariborz Baghi addressed the judges of his case, saying: “Respected judges, now I am a fifty year old man with many unfulfilled dreams which are still fresh in my mind, but to betray my country or even to act against it has never crossed my mind for a single moment.”

The publication of this letter online and in social media did not show any effect on his sentence ‒ rather, it aggravated the conditions of Fariborz Baghi’s sentence. While he was still in prison the same Revolutionary Court added two more years to his sentence, accusing him of agitating public opinion.

Fariborz’s wife, Nategheh Naiemi, after being summoned on 6th of October 2015 along with another Baha’i, A’zam Mottahari, they presented themselves to Yazd prison to complete their sentences.

This couple have a son and a daughter. Leva, their daughter was married without her father being able to attend her wedding, as the Yazd prison authority refused to release him for few hours to attend his daughter’s wedding.

____

* The Persian New Year is held on the veal equinox.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has once again criticized Chaharshanbeh Souri festivities, saying they go against Islam’s Sharia laws.

On Monday March 14, one day before Chaharshanbeh Souri, Ayatollah Khamenei’s website published a question put to him regarding the Chaharshanbeh Souri festivities, to which he replied: “Chaharshanbeh Souri has no basis in Sharia and it is recommended that it be avoided.”

Every year, Islamic Republic officials highlight the dangers of Chaharshanbeh Souri and try to prevent the festivities.

Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi referred to the Chaharshanbeh Souri festivities as “superstition” engaged in by “ignorant people” and he stressed that it should be avoided.

“Those who throw noisy firecrackers in the street should know that they have to answer for it on doomsday,” the senior cleric was quoted as saying.

Chaharshanbeh Souri is a tradition from Iranian history that dates back to long before the arrival of Islam. It is celebrated on the last Tuesday evening of the year, which begins on the first day of spring. People in Iran celebrate the evening by making bonfires in neighbourhood alleyways and leaping over them, singing chants that ask the fire to bu away all ailments and give them health.

Iran’s Guardian Council has approved a parliamentary bill to make blood money for men and women equal for driving insurance purposes.

Rahim Zareh, the spokesman for parliament’s economic commission, said on television that the bill to implement parity in the third person life insurance of men and women had been prepared earlier, and the commission is pleased to aounced it was approved by the Guardian Council.

He added that the commission had argued that many women are now sole guardians of their families and in case of their death, the financial health and security of their families is dependent on the insurance payouts, which need to be on par with what is paid out to men.

According to Zareh, once the new law is ratified, the govement will have 15 days to implement it.

The spokesman for the judiciary recently aounced that blood money has been increased to 190 million toumans.

Blood money is a form of Islamic life insurance, which is paid out to the deceased person’s survivors.

At the begiing of the Islamic Revolution, senior cleric Ayatollah Beheshti suggested setting blood money for women at half the rate of that for men because he argued women were not providers for their families.

Jailed joualist Serajeddin Mirdamadi and jailed children’s rights activist Saeed Hosseinzadeh were released from Evin Prison on Monday March 14.

Saeed Hosseinzadeh – Sarajeddin MIrdamadi

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that Mirdamadi has been granted a conditional release, while Hosseinzadeh has been released for medical reasons.

MIrdamadi was released based on Article 58 of the Islamic Penal Code, which allows prisoners to be released after serving half or even a third of their sentence on the basis of “good behaviour” on the condition that they commit no other crimes after release.

Mirdamadi retued to Iran after the election of Hassan Rohani as president in 2013. His passport was confiscated at the airport and after several interrogation sessions he was arrested last May and charged with “activities against the regime” and “assembly and collusion for committing a crime against national security”. He was sentenced to five years in jail, which was later reduced to two years.

Hosseinzadeh is suffering from several ailments including rheumatism, asthma, cardiac problems and stomach ulcers. He was arrested in 2013 by the Revolutionary Guards and sentenced to four years in jail for “insulting the leader and propaganda against the regime”.

Earlier he issued a statement aouncing that he is going on a hunger strike to protest his dire state in prison.

The Iranian health minister has contacted the daughters of MirHosein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnvard, the opposition leaders under house arrest, assuring them that he visited their parents together with their physician and will make sure that they receive adequate medical care.

Kaleme reports that Hassan Ghazizadeh has told the Mousavi daughters that under his supervision, medical treatments for their parents will be followed up regularly.

Last week, Kokab, Zahra and Narges Mousavi reported that their mother is not in good general health and the authorities have been negligent in providing adequate medical care for their parents.

The also reported that their father’s need for continuous heart monitoring and care regarding his heart complications is also being neglected.

Following the report about the health minister, the Mousavi daughters report that they have no access to their parents during the week and say: “This unique situation of incarceration is the elimination and confiscation of all human rights, and in this midst, some of the side effects are a lack of timely access to medical care and the hiding of facts.”

While they have not yet visited their parents since the visit by the minister of health they say that Ghazizadeh has assured them that he has visited their parents with their physician and made all necessary examinations.

Mousavi and Rahnavard have been under house arrest since February 2011 for their roles as leaders in the election protests of 2009.

March 14, 2016 at 3:23 pm

Iran’s minister of communications has once again stressed that the administration is opposed to the complete blocking of inteet sites.

Mahmoud Vaezi

Mahmoud Vaezi told ISNA on Monday March 14 that it is not appropriate to block a whole site that provides beneficial information just because 10 to 15 percent of its content is problematic.

He reiterated his support for “smart filtering” as a way to filter out the problematic content of each site while access to the rest of the site remains intact.

Smart filtering is the term the Islamic Republic uses for partial blocking of website content. The Islamic Republic govement blocks several websites such a Facebook as part of its censorship efforts. The Rohani administration has been trying to reduce the level of censorship with the implementation of so-called smart filtering.

In February, the deputy communications minister reported that a budget of over 110 million toumans and the participation of 11 universities are part of the plans for implementing smart filtering.

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March 14, 2016 at 3:24 pm

The head of Iran’s Elections Office aounced that voting in ridings that went into the second round of the election will be held on April 29.

Mideast Iran Elections

Ali Pourali reported that the ministry of interior and the Guardian Council have agreed on the date.

Iranians went to the polls on February 26 to elect parliamentary representatives, and in a number of ridings, candidates went into the second round of the election.

The reformists claimed victory in most of their endorsements, and Mohammadreza Aref, the highest-ranked candidate elected in Tehran, recently said reformists expect to win at least 40 more seats in the second round.

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Simin Eyvazideh, the mother of political prisoner Omid Haghshenas, has been sentenced to 91 days in jail and 74 lashes.

The Inteational Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports that Eyvazzadeh had until Saturday March 12 to appeal the sentence.

Eyvazzadeh told the campaign: “The charge against me has nothing to do with my actions; therefore, I do not accept the sentence and find it unfair and unreasonable and expect to be completely acquitted.”

Eyvazzdeh was arrested in November along with 17 other citizens gathered in protest in front of Evin Prison. She was released on bail nine days later.

Last month, she was sentenced to 74 lashes and 91 days in jail for the charge of “disrupting public order by participating in illegal gatherings in support of the head of the Erfan Halgheh Cult.”

Erfan Halgheh is a mystical view of life and healing presented and taught by Mohammad Ali Taheri, an Iranian scholar on alteative medicine. Taheri was arrested in 2010 for the charge of “insulting sanctities” and is serving his sentence in Evin Prison.

Omid Hagshenas is a children’s rights activist who was arrested in September of 2013 and sentenced to 10 years in prison He has appealed his sentenced. In December, Haghshenas was released on bail pending the result of his appeal.

Iranian political activist Heshamatollah Tabarzadi has been summoned to court for Wednesday March 16.

Heshmatollah Tabarzadi

Tabarzadi aounced the news on social media, adding that if he is arrested, he will go on a hunger strike from the moment they take him.

Tabatzadi writes: “They rang my bell today and two bearded motorcyclists with faces familiar to many of us said, we are from Evin Prison court and have a summons for Heshmat Tabarzadi. I said leave it there and go, I do not know you and won’t open the door. They said you must sign it. I did not open and they kept coming back. They said come on Wednesday or a warrant will be issued. I said I have been the subject of many warrants. So they appear to have left.”

Tabarzadi adds that whether he decides to go or not, he will not provide any information to any interrogator and will not put up any bail.

Tabarzadi is the secretary of the Democratic Front of Iran, an organization that has been targeted with arrests on several occasions in the recent years.

In the final weeks of the Iranian calendar year, as Iranians prepare for new year celebrations, fruit prices have jumped by 18.4 percent and vegetables by 8.7 percent, while price hikes are also being reported for other food items.

ISNA reported on Saturday March 12 that in addition to produce, prices have increased for dairy products, meat, sugar and oil.

The Ministry of Health’s nutrition department aounced last summer that 90 percent of the population is limiting its consumption of fruits and vegetables.

The rising price of food, especially around the new year celebrations, often becomes a serious conce for Iranians and pushes the price of fruit and food items into the headlines.

Labour organizations says the monthly expenses of a household of four approach 3.2 million toumans, but the Supreme Labour Council has put the minimum daily wage of 13 million labourers at just under 27,000 toumans.

March 12, 2016 at 1:11 pm

Iran’s Interior Minister has urged the Guardian Council to “speed up” the approval of the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, which were held on February 16.

Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli

The Tasnim News Agency reported on Saturday March 12 that in a meeting with the goveors of all provinces, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said the two elections were carried out with complete success and have yielded only a handful of complaints.

Fazli said voters in some ridings are becoming anxious about the delays in the Guardian Council’s approval, adding that “speeding up” the approval will put an end to such conces.

According to Iranian law, the Guardian Council, in addition to qualifying candidates to run, must also approve the final outcome of the elections.

In the recent elections, 226 representatives were elected to parliament and another 64 have gone on two a second round of elections. The second round will be held in late April.

Meanwhile, 88 representatives were also elected to the Assembly of Experts.

Iranians have widely voted for reformist representatives that has upset the conservative factions of the Islamic Republic especially hardliner Ahmad Jaati who heads the Guardian Council.

A Russian company has aounced it is set to deliver the S-300 air-to surface missile defence systems to Iran within six months.

Ria Novosti reported on Friday March 11 that Sergei Chemezov, the head of Russian industrial conglomerate Rostec, said the first delivery will be made in late August.

In 2007, Iran and Russia signed an $800-million deal for delivery of the S-300 missiles, but in 2010, Russia cited inteational UN sanctions against trading arms with Iran for its failure to meet the scheduled delivery.

Iran went on to file a complaint against Russia for breach of contract at the Inteational Court of Arbitration in Geneva.

In 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order facilitating the delivery of the missiles in light of the nuclear deal forged between Iran and the 5+1.

Independent media report that an Iranian-Kurdish transporter was shot and killed by Iranian military officers in the border region of Kurdistan Province.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that the young man from the city of Marivon, identified as Madeh Partovi, was shot on Sunday March 6.

The Mukerian News Agency reports that the Reformist Coordinating Council of Marivon and Sarvabad has issued a statement calling on the authorities to investigate Partovi’s death.

The statement calls on top provincial officials to deal decisively with the perpetrators. It also calls for practical steps to spur economic and industrial development in the province, especially in Marivon, to provide the people with economic and job security.

Local reports indicate that in the past year, 13 transporters in the region have been killed and another 12 injured. Transporter (kulbar) is a local term used for people in the region who are hired to transport goods across the border on their backs. The goods are then collected by the merchants who transport them to cities for sale.

This hazardous job is only undertaken by economically disadvantaged people in the region.

Twelve student groups across Iran have issued a statement reporting that 160 students in the past two months have been summoned by the disciplinary committees at Tehran and Elm-o-Sanaat universities.

In a statement issued on Thursday March 10, the student organizations report that on Tuesday March 8, nine students from the social sciences faculty of Tehran University were summoned by the disciplinary committee.

On Wednesday, another six students were summoned from the same faculty. Investigation of the matter revealed, according to the aouncement, that 60 students from Tehran University have been summoned and another five are still to be called.

The students’ inquiries about the charges against them have yielded no response from the committee chief.

Meanwhile, it is also reported that 100 students at Elm-o-Sanaat University have been called in, accused of violating Islamic dress codes on campus.

Following complaints, the student associations have been told that the summonses were carried out to create “cultural awareness”, and no discipline will be recorded against any of the students.

The student groups stress that the moves appear to be aimed at silencing students and are fomenting tension on university campuses.

The signatories call for an “immediate end to these actions and complete transparency in committee responses”.

Kokab, Zahra and Nargess Mousavi, the daughters of MirHosein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, the two opposition leaders who have been under house arrest since 2011, say their mother’s general health has been in serious decline.

Zahra Rahnvard

According to a report published on the Kaleme website on Wednesday March 8, Rahnavard is suffering from serious and unprecedented digestive and swallowing problems.

The daughters say the prison guards have been dismissive of the problems, which reportedly began two months ago.

They also report that their father’s heart complications are not being monitored adequately, which could lead to serious consequences.

The Mousavis also report that the guards have recently begun stretching their surveillance into their parents’ private quarters, adding that their mother has seriously protested the change.

MirHosein Mousavi, a reformist candidate in the 2009 presidential election, questioned the legitimacy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory with allegations of vote fraud, which led to months of mass protests in his support. In 2011, he and his wife Zahra Rahnavard were put under house arrest and completely cut off from the public. Their daughters are allowed limited visits with their parents.

Lawyer and human rights activist Mohammad Seifzadeh was released today from Rejai Shahr Prison upon termination of his sentence.

Mohammad Seifzadeh

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that Seifzadeh was sentenced to two years and six years for two separate charges, and by making the the two sentences concurrent, according to the Article 134 of the new Islamic Penal Code, he was released after serving the six-year sentence.

Seifzadeh was charged with acting against national security by acting as a founding member of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders, an NGO providing legal defence in human rights cases, and was sentenced to nine years in jail.

Seifzadeh’s sentence also includes a 10-year ban from practising law.

Seifzadeh’s sentenced was reduced to two years in the appellate court.

Seifzadeh was arrested in 2011 in Urmia and charged with attempting an illegal exit from the country and later was given another six-year sentence.

Iranian officials report that road accidents add 100 people to the country’s disabled population every day.

The head of Iran’s Red Crescent, Massoud Habibi, said on Thursday March 10: “Unfortunately, road accidents continue to claim 50 lives each day across the country and the number of road accident injuries is 16 times that number.”

Habibi made the statements at the launch of a new campaign called “No to Road Accidents” aimed at reducing road accidents during the Norooz holiday season.

Habibi said the activities of the Red Crescent youth have resulted in some reduction in road accidents, adding that much more has to be done.

“If we can spread the message: do not drive when you are tired; do not overtake when you shouldn’t and don’t speed, then we will have accomplished our mission for the safety and health of Norooz travellers,” Habibi said.

ILNA reports that 20,000 young people from a thousand bases all across the country are participating in the campaign to spread the message of safety to Norooz travellers during the holiday period.

Iran has one of the highest rates of road accidents in the world.

Former Iranian president and prominent reformist figure Mohammad Khatami has urged the Rohani govement to honour its election promises, adding that the country’s security-laden atmosphere does not befit the Iranian people.

Mohammad Khatami

In a meeting with his advisers on Tuesday March 8, 2016, Khatami highlighted the role of MirHosein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi in the recent parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections.

Referring to the three opposition leaders under house arrest, he said: “Those three magnanimous individuals with their voluntary participation in the elections have aounced that they accept the elections and its organizers”, adding that their actions were instrumental in bringing voters to the polling stations.

He went on to say: “No one should feel defeated by these elections. The people have voted for the approach they prefer. The dignity and rights of the people should be heeded and protected.”

Similar statements were made by other moderate figures, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani and Hassan Khomeini.

While stressing that political groups are relatively satisfied with the results of the elections, Khatami did make reference to the widespread disqualification of reformist candidates by the Guardian Council.

He reminded the govement that it is now time to honour its promises, including an end to the house arrest of Mousavi, Rahnavard and Karroubi.

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Iran’s Supreme Labour Council set the minimum wage for the coming year at 811,000 toumans per month after an eight-hour meeting on Tuesday March 8.

ILNA reported on Wednesday that 13 million labourers across the country will see a 14-percent increase in their wages.

The representatives of the labour ministry, employers and workers were present at the meeting, which began on Tuesday evening and stretched past 2 AM on Wednesday.

Census reports indicate that household expenses for four people exceed 1.8 million toumans per month; therefore, the minimum wage is out of synch with workers’ expenses.

In recent years, workers have also had to deal with delayed wage payments that further strained their financial means, as many businesses and factories have been experiencing cash flow problems due to an ailing economy.

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Ehsan Mazandarani and Davoud Asadi, two Iranian joualists charged with “propaganda against the regime and acting against national security”, were finally taken to court after being held for months.

Their lawyer Mahmoud Alizadeh told Tasnim News Agency that the trial of the two joualists was held on Monday March 7 before Judge Maghiseh.

Alizadeh added that while Asadi’s defence was completed, Mazandarani’s trial has been extended for another session.

Alizadeh also added that the trial of Issa Saharkhiz, another joualist arrested at the same time as Asadi and Mazandarani, was to be held last Saturday, but since the defence was not given a chance to read the file, the trial was postponed and will possibly be held next week.

Another joualist, Saman Safarzayi, is also reportedly going to stand trial on Saturday.

These joualists were arrested by Revolutionary Guards last November after the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei waed against “enemy infiltration” of the country’s media and cultural affairs.

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