Iran Says In talks With Russia, China Over New Airports

Samimi's lawyer, Mosafa Nili tweeted late Tuesday local time that after a report by a doctor's report that his health was deteriorating, he was freed from prison

In a letter from Semnan prison published earlier in the day, Samimi explained he had been transferred to Semnan while suffering from heart problems and facing stress.

"It seems that these pressures may never end,” he wrote, suggesting he was being submitted to “burnout or gradual murder.”

Samimi was sent to Semnan from Gohar Dasht Prison in Karaj, also known as Rajai Shahr, where most inmates are common criminals including murderers. He was originally in Evin prison, Tehran, after being sentenced to three years in 2020 over his coverage of labor unrest the previous year.

According to the Iranian Writers' Association, Samimi was likely sent to Semnan, seen as a form of internal exile, because he described as murder the death of jailed writer Baktash Abtin from Covid-19 complications after he was allegedly denied timely treatment early in January.

Last week, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expressed concern for the lives of three jailed activists, including Samimi, who it said had been transferred to jails known for “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, in a practice often used to deliberately break the resistance of prisoners of conscience.”

Such listing requires financial and banking institutions to freeze any funds held by the named individuals. A notice released by the United Kingdom Treasury Monday said Hassan Firouzabadi, Hassan Haddad, Ahmad Zargar, and Mohammad Hejazi had been withdrawn from the list of “persons, entities or bodies involved in the commission of serious human rights violations or abuse in Iran.”

Firouzabadi, who died in September, remains sanctioned by both the United States and European Union. Zargar is still listed by the EU, and Hejazi by the US, the EU, and the United Nations. All four were designated in 2011.

Firouzabadi was chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces from 1989 to 2016 before he was appointed a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Hejazi was Khamenei’s intelligence and security advisor. Both were at some time commanders in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Basij paramilitary force.

Haddad and Zargar worked as judges and prosecutors in Revolutionary Courts. Haddad ordered a number of those protesting after the disputed 2009 presidential election to be arrested and sent to Kahrizak Detention Center, where prisoners were allegedly torturedandsome died.

Blinken wrote that they had discussed “common challenges, including the risks of further Russian aggression against Ukraine and threats posed by Iran.” Around one-fifth of Israelis are native Russian-speakers.

The United States administration’s relationship with Israel has been strained by Washington’s efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), which Israel opposed.

Blinken’s phone call with Lapid came hours after a phone conversation with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss “strengthening the US-Palestinian relationship”, strained during the previous administration of President Donald Trump.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, visiting Abu Dhabi, said the Middle East had a choice of two futures: one of hope and peace, and “what Iran is doing, which is destabilizing the region and using its proxies to employ terror”.

During Herzog’s visit, the United Arab Emirates intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemeni fighters, the third such attack in a month. Ansar Allah, or the Houthis, confirmed the strike as a response to the UAE role in the Yemen war. The UAE is among several countries that accuse Iran of ‘interference’ in Yemen by supporting the Houthis against Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

His remarks to Qatari-owned al Jazeera TV come after US president Joe Biden and Qatar's emir met in the Oval Office on Monday to discuss bilateral ties and pressing regional issues.

Al-Thani visited Iran on January 27, just days before the ruling emir's diplomatic visit to Washington and as efforts by Tehran and major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact enter a crucial time.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA, however, denied that the trip was related to US and Iranian relations. In a note headlined "Mistaken Interpretation Of Qatar Foreign Ministers' Visit," on the day of the visit IRNA spoke of “good and close relations” with Qatar but said “speculation” over “direct talks with the US in Vienna,” where multilateral talks to revive the 2015 deal, had “fuelled some misconceptions about the nature of the visit.”

Al-Thani welcomed Biden's promise to designate Qatar as a major non-NATO ally saying it reflected the strength of bilateral relations and opened up "partnership opportunities."

Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani ended his visit to Washington after sealing a Boeing freighter deal and meeting separately with Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to discuss arms sales.

Nezam Mousavi, a member of the presidium, said on Monday that 47 MPs and about 30 employees of the legislative body have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Mousavi did not say how many are in hospital but another member of the presidium, Alireza Salimi, had said on Sunday that 10 lawmakers have been hospitalized with complications.

According to senior lawmaker Mojtaba Yousefi, the public sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday were cancelled, except the two-hour sessions for the budget review committee.

He added that the parliament will hold its sessions in three different groups as of the next week.

Jalas Rashidi Kouchi, another lawmaker, on Sunday criticized parliament members who attended the Saturday session although they had tested positive for the virus.

“No justification is acceptable for endangering the health of others,” he said in a tweet.

Another outbreak among the MPs suspended the parliament for two weeks in April.

Since the start of the pandemic in Iran, several lawmakers and former MPS have died from the coronavirus.

Iran's Health Minister Bahram Einollahi announced the start of the sixth wave of the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday as hospitals report increasing number of referrals related to the highly infectious Omicron variant.