Man Pours Gasoline On Iranian Cleric In Attempted Murder

The men were investigated after photos and videos of the alleged rapes began circulating on the Internet. The judiciary said that the men who were medical workers set up a fake beauty institute and drugged women with medications they stole from emergency health services.

Rape could carry the death penalty in Islamic law, but many instances of rape between acquaintances go unpunished. The Islamic penal code in Iran says that if rape takes place through deception, it is categorized as “sexual offence” but if it is carried out by force or threat of force, it is considered rape that carries the death penalty.

The law also specifically mentions intoxication of victims as the most serious category of rape with mandatory death penalty.

Court documents speak of one of the executed men setting up an “illegal beauty institute” and incapacitating some victims by injecting mild drugs before raping them and apparently taking images.

He was convicted of seven counts of rape, while one of the other suspects was convicted of four rapes and the third man for one rape.

The Judiciary in Hormozgan Province said that the men appealed their case multiple times and each time the relevant branch of the Supreme Court confirmed their conviction and the death penalty.

The hangings on Tuesday added to an estimated 354 executions so far in 2023 in Iran, the majority for narcotics convictions.

Iran International broke the news June 29 that US special envoy Robert Malley was suspended, and his security clearance status was under investigation.

Javid Qorbanoghli, a former Iranian diplomat was quoted as saying by Entekhab website in Tehran that Malley could have helped Iran resolve the nuclear issue. He added that Malley “was on our side” and his talks during secret meetings with Iran’s UN ambassador Saeed Iravani in New York had made progress.

“Malley, as the top person in this [nuclear] file and chief [US] negotiator was on our side, and in talks with Iravani took steps to free frozen assets [in exchange] for prisoners and…”

The former diplomat said that Israel was angry and alleged that it “succeeded to separate Malley from this file,” with using one security issue.

From the time Malley was appointed as special envoy by President Joe Biden in early 2021, many observers said that he was sympathetic toward the Islamic Republic and not a suitable choice. Critics noted his role in engineering the 2015 JCPOA agreement that they believed was advantageous to Iran, not the United States.

Apparently, Malley was suspended as early as the beginning of May, but the State Department did not share the information with Congress. Lat week, several lawmakers began objecting to lack of candor by the administration. 

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul sent a letter demanding more information from the White House about Malley’s status.

Former Iranian diplomat Fereydoun Majlesi has said sarcastically in an interview with Didban Iran website that: "Ms. Abad can now help the pious in Finland to deliver their babies in the Islamic way." 

Although Majlesi's view can be challenged for its political incorrectness, his criticism of the irrelevance of the appointment looks valid, because the appointee has no relevant experience.

Iranian ambassadors are usually selected from the ranks of career diplomats or experienced political, military figures.

Referring to Abad's career record and her diplomatic mission, Majlesi said that the Islamic Republic has no serious presence in the international arena, so it does not need a professional diplomat for such a mission."

He also quipped that most probably the ambassador can be a good host at parties with Muslims in Helsinki. 

It was not only Majlesi who criticized Abad's appointment. It raised a wave of uproar from Iranians on social media. Protests in this regard came even from among political supporters of the current government. The Student Basij of Imam Sadeq University, one of the most hardline political and militia organizations in Iran, wrote in a tweet June, 28: "How has she been appointed as an ambassador after serving as a Tehran City Councillor and the head of the maternity ward of Najmiyeh Hospital? Is this meant to make the role of Iranian women prominent in the international public opinion?" 

On Twitter, user Naji Ali presented a document that Ms. Abad was one of those involved in the "astronomical real estate" corruption case at the Tehran Municipality under current parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf who gave her some property at an extremely low price. 

According to Didban Iran, Massoumeh Abad was a prisoner of war for some time during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and has written her memoirs in a book entitled: "I am alive." She has a doctorate from the Shahid Beheshti University in the field of fertility and has been a member of the Tehran City Council twice.

The website also confirmed that Abad was implicated in the "astronomical real estate" case, which became public in 2017 as part of a huge corruption case involving the mayors’ closest aides who were Revolutionary Guard officers. Eventually, two top people were convicted by a military tribunal. It was reported at the time in local media that embezzlement and give away of city property totalled at least five billion dollars.

The website added that now that President Ebrahim Raisi has appointed several Imam Sadeq University (a dubious religious university) alumni as his cabinet ministers, it is not strange to appoint a midwife as an ambassador.

Media reports say Abad is Iran's fifth female ambassador since the 1979 revolution. Previously, Marziyeh Afkham, a career diplomat and a former foreign ministry spokesperson was appointed ambassador to Malaysia, and Afsaneh Nadipour, Forouzandeh Vadiati, and Homeyra Rigi were appointed as ambassadors in Denmark, Finland and Brunei. 

Former diplomat Majlesi observed that "When the circle of government insiders is getting increasingly smaller, then they do not have any real expert to appoint to key posts."

He added that Iran has been buying expensive buildings abroad for a long time to use as premises for embassies and someone like Ms. Abad can certainly attend to the building and keep it in a good shape. 

Social media users have pointed out that Abad's husband, Sayyed Safar Salehi was previously appointed to a mission to forge oil deals in the UK. Others on social media said that the reason for Abad's extra-ordinary promotion is that she was the gynaecologist of one of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's daughters-in-law. 

Referring to the protests which have erupted in France following the death in police hands of a young Muslim, Anne-Claire Legendre said: “We understand your concern for human rights and the lives of French citizens ... and for this reason, we will not kill anyone with a weapon of war, nor will we shoot an eye to blind it!”

Legendre's comments came after Spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nasser Kanaani “advised the French government and police to take into account the demands of the protesters while exercising restraint and avoiding violence,” the issue widely covered in Iranian state media.

Legendre was referring to the killing of hundreds of protesters by the Iranian regime in the months following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September. The Islamic Republic security forces have also been systematically targeting protesters’ eyes.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights on Friday documented over 20 cases of people being blinded in one eye as a result of fire from the security agents during protests, adding that initial data indicates that young women were disproportionately represented among people who had sustained such wounds.

The group claimed that Iran Human Rights researchers have collected and verified information related to many citizens who have lost their sight in one or both eyes as a result of being shot with shotguns or paintball guns in the nationwide protests in recent months. The report also provided a list of cases independently verified by their researchers, noting that the real number is much higher.

The Free Union of Iranian Workers published a video of the clash between regime armed forces and protesters in the Taluri neighborhood of Khorramabad in Lorestan province on Sunday.

The clashes came after “the armed forces attacked to confiscate electrical devices in a number of shops,” added the union.

There is no further information about the incident so far.

Earlier this month, a large number of people showed up for the funeral service of Mansoureh Sagvand, the former police assistant who defected in the wake of nationwide protests, in a village in her native town of Khorramabad amid high tensions.

The funeral ceremony was held while regime agents closed roads leading to the village. Mourners sang local folklore songs with themes such as ‘time to fight’ and ‘resistance’ while holding placards that called for justice over her death.

Sagvand had said in a message to her friend that she was threatened with death by intelligence officers, emphasizing: "If something bad happens to me, I want everyone know that I did not commit suicide."

Last year, Iran's security forces opened fire on mourners at a cemetery in Lorestan province to mark the 40th-day memorial for a young protester, Nika Shakarami.

The 16-year-old Nika Shakarami’s body was found in suspicious circumstances ten days after she left home to take part in a protest rally against compulsory hijab on September 20.

Iran has been the scene of anti-government protests since the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September.