Israel Reveals Iran’s Secret Underground Drone Base

Revealing a shocking fall of 50-60% in some cases, Union Head Mohammad Soleimani told ILNA on Tuesday that “unfortunately, no government institution gives a clear response on the issue.”

He said bakers are greatly worried about the reduction of the flour allocation handed out every ten days.

Earlier, another person involved in the industry said: “While a baker's monthly quota should be 300 bags of flour, when he receives between 150 and 200 bags, he can never keep his shop open all the time.”

The report of a 50-60% reduction in the flour portion of Sangkak (a type of popular bread) bakeries in Tehran has caused concern among bakers and customers alike. The shortage of flour significantly pushes up the cost of baked goods, leading to a fall in sales.

The price of bread soared last year as the government decided to scrap the subsidy for imported wheat, flour and other essential items. The higher cost of flour is affecting a wide variety of breads, cakes and pastries including children's snacks, fast food such as hamburgers and sandwiches, and traditional noodles.

As higher prices lead to a fall in sales, the industry is faced with a drop in revenue, likely to lead to job losses in bakeries.

In an interview with Fox News Digital on Monday, James Cleverly said: "We, of course, keep these decisions under constant review, but the decisions that we make within the UK will always be based on our, you know, the primary commitment, which is to keep British nationals safe, to keep people in the region safe."

The decisions include whether "to curtail the IRGC and the Iranian regime’s malign activities.”

Designating the IRGC as a terrorist group would bring the UK in line with the US.

Cleverly underscored the need for the UK and US to remain united on key issues, including the potential nuclear threats posed by Russia and Iran.

He said: "Preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon remains an absolute priority in U.K. foreign policy.

"We’ve worked very, very closely with the members of the Quad, France, Germany, the United States … in imposing sanctions, and obviously we know very closely what we're doing in conjunction with the International Atomic Energy Agency to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon."

Stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons will always be a priority of UK foreign policy, said Cleverly.

In recent months, a number of members of the British House of Commons have put pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organization. They include British Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Prominent political opposition activists, among them Prince Reza Pahlavi, Masih Alinejad, Nazanin Boniadi and Shirin Ebadi, have met British representatives to call for the Revolutionary Guards to be branded terrorists.

Many Iranians didn't sleep all night after the polls closed in Turkey on May 14 and keenly followed election results on Iranian and international media, partly because of what an Iranian Twitter user noted as a similarity between the Turkish elections and the disputed Iranian presidential election in 2009. 

International relations commentator Ehsan Movahedian wrote about the similarity: "The bipolar situation in Turkey is reminiscent of the 2009 election and its bitter consequences. Erdogan's provocative speeches reminds one of Iran's former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The United States and Israel are lurking to take advantage of the situation and Iran is worried."

Just hours after polls closed in 2009, the regime announced that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had wone the election in the first round. Millions of voters and the losing candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi disputed the hasty announcement and months of protests ensued. Thousands were arrested, dozens killed, and the mechanism of repression received a huge boost.

During the past few days, military forces in northeast Iran, which borders Kurdish populated eastern Turkey were put on a state of alert to control possible demonstrations following a likely victory by the opposition coalition leader Kamal Qelichdaruglu [Kilicdaroglu], social media reports said. 

When the results were finally declared Monday morning, May 15, and incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qelicichdaruglu went through to take part in the run-off election in two weeks' time, Iranians began to ask themselves on social media where did all the interest in Turkish election come from.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry congratulated Erdogan and called the result "a victory for democracy." That was a very meaningful message from a country where a similar election in 2009 led to serious political strife with lasting deep wounds that seriously dented the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic. 

The Twitter accounts of Iranian newspapers constantly updated the results throughout the night as they came in from Turkish media. 

Iranian journalist Sadegh Alhosseini called the election a miracle, and called on Iranians to compare Erdogan's legacy with political dynamics in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Another Iranian journalist, Mehdi Rahbar, wrote: "This was the toughest challenge Erdogan faced during the past 20 years. And it is going tougher for him in the run-up election although Qelichdaroglu does not have a smooth path ahead of him either."

Yet another Iranian journalist, Mohammad Motlagh wrote Sunday night: "Iran is the biggest winner of Turkey's election. If Erdogan wins, that would be the beginning of the decline of NATO and probably conflicts between Turkey and Greece; and if Qelichdaroglu wins, it means harnessing the war in Caucasia [Armenia-Azerbaijan], reduction of tensions in Syria and Iraq and more interest in Russia to get closer to Iran."

Iranian academic Fatemeh Shams wrote: "Erdogan's defeat makes me happy as Iran's defeat will do. Do not underestimate Erdogan and his Mafia's corruption and radicalism. If the opposition wins the election in Turkey many dynamics will change in the region." 

Iranians saw the Turkish vote as democracy in action. As Iranian journalist Amir Hossein Mossala Pointed out, "No matter which candidate wins the election, the people of Turkey are its winners. They do not have leaders with absolute powers for life. There is no engineered election and arbitrary vetting of candidates in Turkey."

As an Iranian social media user observed, "Both sides have claimed victory, but [unlike Iran in 2009] no one attacked Qelichdaroglu's campaign or arrested its staff. SMS service has not been cut off, observers have not been expelled from polling stations, and Erdogan's supporters did not take to the streets with clubs in their hands. Turkey did not welcome darkness."

As part of the cooperation, Iran is providing Russia with one-way attack drones, including more than 400 since August, national security adviser John Kirby said at a news briefing.

"This is about a burgeoning defense relationship" that allows Russia to kill more people in Ukraine and also enables Iran to stock up on its military hardware and pose a greater threat to its neighbors, Kirby told reporters.

The US and its European allies have already imposed sanctions on individuals and entities for their role in Tehran’s drone program and their delivery to Russia. Washington has also listed Tehran’s military cooperation with Moscow as one of the impediments to resuming talks aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear program and lifting crippling economic sanctions.

Drones are the primary military help Iran is providing to Russia, which is seeking to acquire advanced level types, he said.

Russia uses Iranian Shahed drones mainly to target civilian infrastructure and also swarm Ukrainian air defenses during large-scale missile strikes. The tactic was repeatedly used last year when Moscow tried to cripple Ukraine’s energy sector.

The Unites States will be announcing additional designations targeting increased military cooperation between Russia and Iran, Kirby added.

Publishing the picture of his summons on Twitter, this former representative wrote that he should go to the seventh branch of the Security Prosecutor's Office located in Evin prison in Tehran on May 23.

There is no accusation mentioned in the notice, but it is stated that the former reformist MP will be arrested if he does not show up.

Sadeghi is an Iranian lawyer, jurist, and academic who was a member of the parliament representing Tehran from May 2016 to May 2020.

Sadeghi is an associate professor at the Tarbiat Modares University and his field of expertise is Private law.

In 2016, he appeared before the special court for culture and media in Tehran to answer questions about his comments on possible corruption among senior officials. He was released after posting a bond, but later he was sentenced to 21 months of discretionary custodial imprisonment.

Sadeghi has been summoned several times since 2016, but refused to appear before the court, citing his legislative immunity. Judicial authorities attempted to arrest Sadeghi at his home in Tehran at the time with an arrest warrant based on a plaintiffs’ case against him.

He was heading a new faction in parliament which was charged with helping ensure “transparency and purification of the economy.”

His remarks on the personal bank accounts of the judiciary chief put him in trouble. Sadeghi asked the justice minister to explain the reason behind the alleged transfer of public funds to the personal accounts of the then Judiciary Chief Sadegh Larijani.