Iran’s Regime Seeking Legitimacy By Terror, Executions: Prominent Actor

Referring to the “increasing suppression” by regime forces, the 12 medical professional groups called the current situation in Iran a “human catastrophe” and asked the German federal government to do everything in its power to put an end to this.

“We write to you as medical professionals who are gravely concerned about the human rights and medical situation facing the civilian population of Iran. Since the violent death of Mahsa Amini…people from various social groups across the country have put their lives at risk to gather in protest against the Islamic Republic; among those protesting are many medical students and practitioners,” reads the letter published on twitter.

They added that the regime is attempting to suppress these protests by any means including rape and torture.

“It is extremely concerning to see the start of criminal trials against political prisoners in these times. Since political prisoners can face execution in Iran, we fear that the lives of countless people are acutely at risk,” adds the letter.

In another part of the letter, the signatories warned about the “treacherous nature of the security service’s violence against medical professionals,” saying that “doctors have been forced to treat their patients secretly, often outside of health centers; and the medical professionals have, themselves, become the target of repression.”

They also expressed solidarity with medical colleagues in Iran demanding that they are permitted to continue practicing their necessary work in accordance with the Geneva Convention for the protection and wellbeing of their patients.

This comes after Hamid Ghareh Hasanlou, a radiologist doctor, and his wife, Farzaneh, were sentenced to death on charges of collaborating in the killing of a Basiji member in Karaj, west of Tehran, and the suspicious death of Aida Rostami, a young doctor living in Tehran.

While the Islamic Republic claims a young female doctor, Aida Rostami, died after “falling from an overpass,” her family told the media that signs of harassment, torture and assault were observed on Rostami's body. Security agents have told her family that they should announce she had died in an accident.

Some sources and social media users have stated that Aida Rostami was killed because she helped injured protesters.

Earlier, in a letter to Iranian PresidentEbrahim Raisi, the World Medical Association demanded safe working conditions for physicians and other health personnel in the pursuit of their mission as well as full access to health care to all those in need.

It also called for immediate and unconditional end of violence and the establishment of a moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

“We are profoundly shocked to hear that an increasing number of health professionals are threatened, arrested, and tortured in Iran, just because they do their work. According to the ethical rules of our profession, physicians have an obligation to treat those wounded or ill, without any other consideration. Likewise, prisoners must receive the necessary medical care by a health professional, without influence from the authorities,” stressed the World Medical Association.

Several videos have surfaced on social media showing people quarreling with bank clerks or officials who say they do not have enough cash for withdrawals. 

Having lost their trust on the Islamic Republic’s embattled currency after a steep fall with no prospect of bouncing back, many Iranians want to remove their money from banks to exchange them for foreign currencies or gold.

Iranian political activist, lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi urged people on Sunday to join the campaign of withdrawing money from banks, noting that state-controlled banks in Iran are not institutions to serve the people and only act as the economic arm of the “killing Republic” referring to the clerical regime. "Now it has been proven to everyone that there is no will in the regime to accept the demands of the people," she said, adding that the campaign to shun banks in daily transactions can deal a "fundamental blow" to the government.

Criticizing the government’s economic policies, Iran's former central banker, Abdolnaser Hemmati, said Tuesday that the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi was so sure about the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal that it moved to stop the indirect subsidy for essential goods, triggering more inflation. He said that now that the deal seems doomed to fail and the currency has lost its value dramatically, the authorities are looking for ways to remedy the dire situation. 

The government stopped offering cheap dollars to importers of essential goods earlier this year to save around $15 billion annually. The move immediately doubled and tripled food prices and led to shortages of medicines, medical equipment and animal feed.

Hemmati, who was a presidential candidate in the 2021 election and held heated debates with Raisi, addressed him, saying that “if you knew the problems and had solutions for them, why don’t you do anything? And if you just want to blame your predecessors, why did you even bother to run for office?”

Unfortunately for Raisi, the famous anecdote about an outgoing manager imparting his wisdom to the new one in the form of three sealed envelopes would not work here. The outgoing manager told the new one that the first time things go wrong, open the first letter. Open the second letter for the second incident and open the third letter for the third incident. “Blame Your Predecessor!” was written in the first letter, which Raisi has been doing since the day he took office. “Blame Your Employees!”, read the second one, which is a strategy exhausted by the current administration. The third letter instructed the manager to “Prepare three Letters!”, something Raisi has not done yet because he has no scapegoat ready yet as the next election is in more than two years. 

In addition to critics of the government, a 25-percent fall in the value of Iran’s currency in three months and a more than 50-percent drop in 15 months has led to sharp criticism even among conservatives. Conservative politician Mansoor Haqiqatpur has accused Raisi of sharply reducing the value of assets held by rich and ordinary Iranians.

“Less than 18 months ago, when Raisi took office as the President of the Islamic Republic one US dollar was equal to 230,000 rials in Tehran markets. Now the value of every US dollar is over 380,000 rials. The devaluating Iranian currency is now as cheap as straw. This means Iranians have lost half of their assets during this period." In fact, since Haqiqatpur spoke the rial has dropped further and on Tuesday it was close to 400,000 against the US dollar.

Ehsan Khandozi, the government spokesman for economic affairs who doubles as the minister of economic and financial affairs, said on Tuesday that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has agreed to dedicate 11 trillion rials (or about $31.4 million) from the National Development Fund to the government’s treasury to be used for its unfinished projects. He added Ali Khamenei has also given the go-ahead to bartering oil in exchange for railroad and transit projects across the country. 

The government shut down the Internet in most parts of the country to prevent footage from the protests to appear online. Although some videos were published on social media but the Internet disruption made it much more difficult.

In several cities, gatherings were held for the mourning ceremonies of protesters killed during the past three months. 

The situation in dozens of neighborhoods in Tehran and nearby cities, such as Golshahr and Fardis in Karaj, were hectic as large numbers of protesters came out into the streets, after the government executed two detainees in the past 10 days. Many streets in downtown Tehran were also packed with demonstrators who vowed to continue the protests until the regime is toppled. 

In Bukan, in West Azarbaijan Province, people laid to rest Mohammad Haji-Rasulpour who was killed under torture, and in Rasht people were holding rallies in many neighborhoods chanting antigovernment slogans. Gunshots are heard in videos coming from the city. Similar demonstrations were also reported in the religious city of Mashhad in the northeast.

Workers of companies in many cities, including Sanandaj, Kerman, Bushehr, Kermanshah, Bandar Abbas, Ilam, Esfahan and Ahvaz, covering almost all western, central and southern Iran, were also on strike on Monday. During the nationwide protests in the past three months, workers, and employees in various industrial and energy sectors have held numerous protest gatherings and strikes. Low wages, non-payment of arrears, and inattention to their demands have been mentioned as among workers’ main grievances.

Frustrated over how to quash the protests that ignited after the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, Islamic Republic’s Chief Justice Monday urged prosecutors and judges to carry out final sentences without any delay.

The Islamic Republic has so far executed Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, both 23, and based on the latest report by the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization, 39 other people are at risk of execution on charges of “war against God” and “corruption on earth.” However, the executions seem to have halted since last week, therefore Ejei’s order can mean the greenlight for further executions.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) announced in its latest report that from September 17 until December 13, at least 493 protestors have been killed, of which at least 68 were minors. While the Islamic Republic has not provided accurate figures of those detained in the recent protests, the watchdog went on to say that at least 18,424 protesters have been arrested including 632 students.

In a decree issued on Monday, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei demanded a swift process to carry out sentences handed down to those who have indicted on serious charges during three months of unrest. 

He did not directly mention capital punishment for detained protesters but said the sentences issued for “serious crimes,” whether or not related to the security of the country, should be well-documented and deterrent. 

His remarks can be construed as a signal to judges to go ahead with sentencing more people to death over their participation in the protests that began in mid-September, when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was killed in custody of hijab enforcement police.

The Islamic Republic has so far executed Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, both 23, and based on the latest report by the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization, 39 other people are at risk of execution on charges of “war against God” and “corruption on earth.” However, the executions seem to have halted since last week, therefore Ejei’s order can mean the greenlight for further executions. 

It can also be seen as a measure to hand down more prison sentences, and carry out more executions to intimidate the population and stifle dissent. 

In his 15-point decree, he also called on judicial officials to inform higher authorities in cases deemed sensitive. Ejei also called for coordination with state media and the media center of the judiciary in cases that are important for public opinion. 

Last week, Tehran’s judiciary chief Ali Alghasi-Mehr said 400 protesters have been sentenced to prison terms of between 2 to 10 years for participation in Tehran alone. “In hearings on cases of rioters in Tehran province, 160 people were sentenced to between five to 10 years in prison, 80 people to two to five years and 160 people up to two years,” he said.

There are no independent courts in Iran. Both prosecutors and judges answer to the same Judiciary controlled by hardliners. In most political trials, there is no due process of law, no freedom to choose defense lawyers and little access to case files. The Judiciary can frame people for crimes they did not commit, as multiple cases have demonstrated in the past. It can define what “disruption” means and sentence any protester to death for causing an ill-defined act of disruption.

In November, a group of 227 parliament members called on the Judiciary to issue death sentences for people arrested during the ongoing antigovernment protests. As the Islamic Republic is adamant to execute more protesters, some Islamic law experts are voicing opposition to the Judiciary’s interpretation of Sharia.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) announced in its latest report that from September 17 until December 13, at least 493 protestors have been killed, of which at least 68 were minors. While the Islamic Republic has not provided accurate figures of those detained in the recent protests, the watchdog went on to say that at least 18,424 protesters have been arrested including 632 students.

The Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran and London-based Amnesty International said in a joint statement in July that at least more than 250 hangings had been confirmed. "If executions continue at this horrifying pace, they will soon surpass the total of 314 cases recorded for the whole of 2021," the groups said.

Based on reports on social media, people in Tehran, Mashhad, Rasht, Mahabad, Kermanshah, and several others have taken to streets to protest against the clerical regime.

In the capital Tehran people have held a gathering in a subway station chanting “Death to Dictator” and “Death to Khamenei”.

Some say a large crowd gathered at Enghelab Square in downtown Tehran without chanting slogans, but regime forces attacked to disperse them. The internet is reportedly cut off around Tehran.

In Javanrud west of Iran, a large group gathered for the funeral of Mohammad Haji Rasoulpour, who was earlier killed by security forces. The funeral ceremony turned into a protest with people chanting, “Martyrs don’t die!”

In Mahabad, West Azarbaijan province, residents marked the 40th day after the murder of Faeq Mam-Ghaderi by government forces, chanting anti-regime slogans.

Similar gatherings have also been reported in Rasht, Mashhad and Golshahr west of Tehran.

Reports say the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) has been flying choppers over some Kurdish cities including Sardasht, Piranshahr, and Oshnavieh for the second consecutive day.

The protests in Iran began following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in mid-September. Nearly 500 people have been killed by the security forces and thousands have been detained so far.