Monireh Nouri Kia, a female prisoner, was hanged in Mashhad prison, while Abdulrahman Mozafari, an elderly Kurd compatiot, was executed in Sanandaj prison after enduring 17 years of imprisonment. Similarly, on Saturday, May 27, Abdullah Totazehi, a fellow Baluch, met the same fate in Garmsar prison, along with Mohammad Amin Valinia in Khorram-Abad prison.

 

For the past two months, Iran has been rocked by mass demonstrations, which began following the arrest and subsequent death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for alleged dress code violations. The People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), an opposition group, estimates the regime’s brutal suppression efforts have resulted in 640 deaths and over 30,000 arrests across 250 cities.

The regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has commanded military and security forces to conduct brutal retaliatory campaigns, deploying helicopters, armored vehicles, and heavy weaponry to Iranian Kurdistan. On November 21, reports indicated security forces, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), employed high-caliber machine guns against unarmed civilians in Javanrud and Piranshahr, causing numerous fatalities and injuries. Early Kurdish media reports also suggest the potential deployment of nerve agents.

 

 

Iranian regime MPs further escalated tensions on November 6 by calling for the judiciary to rapidly “punish” protesters with “execution”. At least 21 individuals have reportedly been sentenced to death in subsequent sham trials.

 

 

Following a unanimous resolution condemning Iran’s human rights violations, the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee urged for further action. The resolution, the 69th of its kind, underlines the regime’s chronic breach of international human rights principles. Iranian opposition President-elect Maryam Rajavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), welcomed the resolution but cautioned that it represented only a fraction of the regime’s crimes.

 

 

As the UNHRC prepares to address the crisis on Thursday, there is an urgent call for enhanced economic sanctions, increased diplomatic isolation, and the expulsion of the Iranian regime from key UN institutions, such as the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

 

 

 

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MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her site, Twitter & Facebook, NCRI  (Twitter & Facebook), and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTu

 

 

The information revealed detailed the ministry’s coordinated effort with intelligence agencies to discredit the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) through propagation of false information.

The leaked documents reveal a deep-seated fear within the Iranian regime of its primary opposition, the MEK. It shows the active involvement of multiple ministries, especially a “political committee” within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in devising strategies to counter the MEK and curb its global activities. One key strategy involved lobbying for the MEK’s blacklisting in the European Union, which would hinder their operations.

Upon thorough assessment, however, the “political committee” concluded that it would be unfeasible to reclassify the MEK as a terrorist organization within the European Union’s existing legal framework. This was due to the stringent requirement of submitting documents that substantiate the organization’s involvement in acts of terrorism, which the MEK is not accused of committing.

 

 

The documents unveiled Tehran’s apprehension that their attempts to re-list the MEK in the foreign terrorist organizations roster may fail given the current political landscape. This revelation further affirms that the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, sought to exploit political leverage to blacklist its dissidents, hence justifying its crimes against them.

The MEK, recognized as a viable alternative and a serious threat to the Iranian regime, has been the target of a demonization campaign, which saw billions of dollars of people’s wealth wasted in an effort to blacklist the organization in European countries.

The previous terrorist designation of the MEK was baseless and unjust, permitting the regime to freely target the organization and its members both within and outside Iran. Following extensive investigations and scrutiny of numerous documents, courts in the European Union and the United States revoked the terrorist designation imposed on the MEK.

 

 

The leaked documents provide compelling evidence of the Iranian regime’s desperate attempts to suppress its opposition. The hackers’ breach of government databases reveals a regime in fear of its people’s call for freedom and democracy, shining a light on the machinations of a government willing to go to any lengths to maintain its control.

 

 

 

 

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The mullahs’ regime has responded with an escalating crackdown, including a new wave of executions. In less than two weeks, nearly 70 people have been executed, including at least 26 members of Iran’s Baluchi community.

 

 

He warned that Iran could soon be forced to sell Qeshm and Kish Islands to pay retirees’ pensions, stirring controversy within the regime and angering Iranian pensioners and workers. President Ebrahim Raisi, fearing a public backlash, fired Padam, who criticized the regime for sacrificing “clarity and honesty.”

Padam’s revelations highlight the ruling kleptocracy’s part in devastating Iran’s economy. Iran’s Social Security Organization (SHASTA), a holding company that oversees 187 companies in diverse sectors, has been bankrupt for years. Although owned by workers and retirees, its CEO and board of directors are appointed by the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, leaving the true owners without a managing role.

 

Retirees and Social Security Pensioners Rally in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, Rasht, Khorramabad, Kermanshah, Qazvin, and Ahvaz#Iran #IranProtests https://t.co/JKD0JcGsjz pic.twitter.com/GT0wxzqXPO

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) January 17, 2022

 

Under Hassan Rouhani’s order, SHASTA went private, and its shares were sold on Tehran’s Stock Exchange. The government’s inability to pay its debt to the Social Security Administration led to the sale of SHASTA’s shares, resulting in the bankruptcy of some pension funds and leaving workers and retirees in financial difficulty. The ruling theocracy’s rapacious need for funds to fuel illicit activities has led to the egregious plunder of workers’ and retirees’ hard-earned money. The pension funds’ crisis is not a recent phenomenon but a longstanding issue dating back to the early 1900s.

Iranian pensioners have held weekly rallies in recent years, protesting their deplorable conditions and the regime’s institutionalized corruption. In November 2022, Raisi dismissed the pension fund manager in fear of potential protests, but his Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, Solat Mortazavi, admitted that the dismissal of managers alone would not suffice in addressing the predicament pensioners face.Mortazavi stated, “The national pension fund is facing 75% dissatisfaction. In 1404 (2025-2026), our dispute will reach 80 quadrillion rials in funds affiliated with the Ministry of Labor Cooperation and Social Welfare.”

 

Besides, millions of Iranians are covered by the country’s Social Security Organization (Shasta), which is bankrupt. https://t.co/tDV5z3Kyl0

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 20, 2022

The Iranian regime’s deep-seated corruption has rendered it impotent in resolving the country’s economic crises. To ameliorate the pensioners’ plight, authorities must first tackle the pervasive corruption within the regime. However, this is unlikely to happen as the regime is entrenched in corruption, and such action would be akin to shooting the system in the leg. As the state-run Etemad daily warned, “The pensions funds’ crisis, like other social and economic problems, is like a timing bomb. It should be defused soon, or it will have devastating consequences.”

 

 

 

 

 

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The European Commission Statistics Office reports that in 2022, EU member states approved 169,068 asylum applications, a 22 percent increase compared to 2021. Furthermore, 384,245 eligible asylum seekers were supported by EU member states last year, representing a 40 percent increase compared to the previous year.

 

The government has been recalling government-issued fuel cards from people, a move that tacitly confirms the reports. Meanwhile, many people are concerned that increasing fuel prices could have severe consequences for the ruling theocracy. State television has been speaking about the necessity to increase fuel prices due to the devaluation of Iran’s national currency, the Rial.

The government claims that this has forced an “enormous financial burden on the government,” leaving no choice but to increase fuel prices. The statement read, “The Guardian Council and government have ratified increasing fuel prices to 50,000 rials for rationed gasoline and 750,000 rials for regular fuel.”

 

 

Fearing a public backlash, none of the regime’s governing bodies took responsibility for this statement. Now, state officials are trying to recollect fuel cards under the pretext of combating gasoline smuggling, which they claim amounts to 50 million litters daily.

However, many people are questioning the government’s claims about fuel smuggling. “Obviously, road tankers cannot smuggle 50 million litters of gasoline per day,” a state-run newspaper, Etemad Daily, wrote on April 18. “Even if smugglers use fuel vans or trucks and trailers, which have a small capacity, hundreds of thousands of vehicles should line up at borders daily to smuggle this amount of gasoline. Such a scenario is unfeasible.”

Despite the doubts, the Iranian government desperately needs money to fund its oppressive apparatus and terrorism machine. Ebrahim Raisi’s government has a huge budget deficit of roughly $11 billion, and his budget bill includes a whopping 131% increase for the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), the regime’s primary force of oppression.

 

Watch how the regime's MPs complain about the soaring prices of household #gas and judge if this has anything to do with #IranRevolution2023 pic.twitter.com/1tdAsvVjZg

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) January 30, 2023

By increasing fuel prices, the prices of other consumer goods will also skyrocket, putting more pressure on the Iranian people. According to state-run websites, taxi fares will increase by 45% starting April 24, and there will be a simultaneous 23% increase in Tehran’s subway tickets.

Inflation hovers above 50%, the prices are skyrocketing, and over 80% of the population lives under the poverty line. Increasing fuel prices could be the final straw for the Iranian people, who are already deprived of their basic needs due to the country’s financial calamity.

 

 

The Iranian government is walking on thin ice as the people have reached a point where they have nothing left to lose, and actions such as increasing fuel prices may only serve to hasten the regime’s downfall.

 

 

 

 

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MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her site, Twitter & Facebook, NCRI  (Twitter & Facebook), and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTu

 

 

Reports suggest the regime is using these attacks to try and suppress popular protests that threaten the entirety of its dictatorship apparatus.In response, members of the U.S. Congress have established a new bipartisan caucus to condemn the mullahs’ regime over the recent poisonings, amplifying the growing criticism in Washington against Tehran and its utter disregard for human rights.Protests in Iran have expanded to at least 282 cities, with over 750 people killed and more than 30,000 arrested by the regime’s forces, according to sources of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

 

According to the state-run Tejarat News website, a family of two living in Tehran requires 320 million tomans to avoid absolute poverty. Meanwhile, a family of two living on the city’s outskirts needs 150 million rials to live above the poverty line.