Bread Price Hikes Force Iranians To Buy Half Loaves

Japan will tell Iran to stop weapon supplies to Russia at Amir-Abdollahian's Tokyo visit, Tokyo Broadcasting System said, citing multiple unnamed government officials.

Iran has supplied hundreds of kamikaze drones to Russia that have been extensively used against civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine. The United States and its NATO allies have urged Tehran to stop its military support for Moscow and have imposed a series of sanctions on entities and individuals involved in the drone program.

The main purpose of Amir-Abdollahian’s trip to Tokyo is not clear, as Iran is generally isolated by the United States and its allies. Japan owes Iran around $3 billion, which are funds frozen due to US sanctions. Amir- Abdollahian most likely raise the issue of the funds, as Tehran is also pressuring South Korea to release $7 billion frozen by two Seoul banks.

Amir-Abdollahian who was visiting Pakistan on Thursday called on the US and Europe to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine.

The government media in Tehran has displayed clear support for Russia since the invasion of Ukraine began and the government and its officials have never condemned Moscow’s attacks on civilians.

The impetus for the talks stemmed from media reports earlier in the year, which alleged attempts by China to interfere in the last two federal elections. However, parties across the spectrum reached a consensus that such interference did not impact the outcomes of the elections.

Over the summer, house leaders from various federal parties have been engaging in discussions to determine the terms and timeline for the proposed inquiry.

Jagmeet Singh said on Thursday, "We have been pushing to say that a public inquiry should include all countries that are in a significant way trying to interfere in our democracy".

However, there has been resistance to the inquiry, and though Singh did not explicitly mention the specific parties resisting the inquiry's expansion, it was disclosed in late May that the Liberals voted against the motion.

The issue of foreign countries' involvement in Canada has sparked a contentious debate within the country's political landscape and government. Former special rapporteur David Johnston's resignation was triggered by these diverging perspectives as he criticized the Liberal government's handling of information pertaining to foreign agents.

Interventions by Russia, China, and the Islamic Republic in Western countries have previously been subjects of discussion, with American and European politicians also raising alarms over efforts by the Islamic Republic to influence voting processes in their respective nations.

In an unexplainable move, the cafes have been branded centers of 'nightlife' in a bid to stop people from gathering and crack down on social activities, ordered by the Provincial Chastity and Hijab Headquarters, though they play no music, and have to close before midnight.

However, as women are increasingly going out without the mandatory headscarf, the regime is doing its utmost to crack down on all social activity to punish the masses as it continues to lose its hijab war against an increasingly rebellious public.

So vast is the crackdown on citizens, social media users have reported unofficial curfews in other parts of Iran, including streetlights in the capital, Tehran, being turned off from 8pm, raising concerns about public safety during the evening hours. Additionally, some cafes in Tehran have been compelled to close before 8pm, and only a handful of restaurants remain open at night.

According to the semi-official ISNA news agency, the municipality of Mashhad initiated the plan to close the outdoor space of cafes and restaurants from August 1. Out of the 270 affected units scattered across various districts in Mashhad, at least 110 have already closed their outdoor areas.

The Chief Justice of Khorasan, back in July, clarified that the Prosecutor's Office was not responsible for sealing the spaces in front of these facilities. It remains uncertain whether these provincial bodies have the legal authority to enforce such approvals.

The move has faced mass criticism, with many expressing concerns about its impact on businesses and the daily lives of the city's residents, and not least, yet more hypocrisy that the rules apply differently to the regime's insiders to those ordinary citizens trying to live their lives. The crackdown comes while elites from the regime continue to have parties around the country both indoors and outdoors, as well as reveling in foreign countries.

Meanwhile, Hasan Amirian, the head of the Mashhad Restaurants Association, revealed on Thursday that during peak hours, around noon, the electricity supply of 80% of restaurants in Mashhad is being cut off, exacerbating the challenges faced by restaurant owners.

This recent crackdown on nightlife is not an isolated incident. In May, the Tehran municipality unilaterally demolished eight cafes in the Ekbatan town market in western Tehran without prior notification. Reports suggested that the demolition was a response to protests by residents during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, aiming to deter further dissent.

The resistance to night activities in the Islamic Republic is not a new phenomenon. Authorities have consistently opposed the nightlife culture for ordinary Iranians, deeming it incongruent with religious values and detrimental to citizens' well-being. Javan, a newspaper affiliated with the IRGC, has recently written about the “psychological damage caused by nightlife”, citing religious guidelines as a basis for their opposition.

As the regime continues to push its propaganda, its psychologists quoted by Javan argue that nightlife “adversely affects citizens' mental health by deviating from what God has decided for us and asked us to do.” Pro-regime sociologists have also commented, asserting that nightlife conflicts with the societal working patterns and have implicitly called for shops to close at 7.30pm. Some even propose limiting television broadcasting of engaging programs beyond 9pm to encourage earlier sleeping habits as the regime bid to control the public begins to spill into people's homes and private lives.

Residents have endured complete water cuts or limited access to low-pressure water during specific hours as temperatures soar as high as 37 degrees celsius in the East Azarbaijan Province. According to local media, the extensive water shortage was not preceded by any notification.

Mohammad Khani, CEO of East Azarbaijan Water and Sewerage Company, attributed the water cut to a sudden 20% surge in consumption due to the recent countrywide heatwave.

Pictures published by social media users of Nahand Dam, a vital water supply source for Tabriz, illustrates its alarming depletion compared to previous years.

The water crisis is not isolated to Tabriz, with widespread cuts in many other areas of East Azarbaijan province, particularly in dozens of villages. People in Jigheh village, for example, have been left with water for only 20 minutes every 72 hours, prompting them to dig wells in search of springs or other water sources.

This situation mirrors similar water shortages experienced in other Iranian cities. Zahedan endured several days of drinking water cuts in July, while Ahvaz faced similar challenges in various areas.

Even smaller towns across different provinces have been hit by drinking water cuts such as Divandarreh in Kordestan province causing residents to take to the streets to protest on Monday, resulting in injuries from tear gas fired by authorities to disperse the crowd.

In a Thursday meeting with Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Mohammad Kazem Al-e-Sadegh highlighted the activities of Kurdish parties opposing the Islamic Republic in the Kurdistan Region.

According to the IRNA state news agency, Al-e-Sadegh claimed that the UN's cooperation is necessary to counter the “threat” posed by these parties who are openly leading calls to overthrow the regime and are blamed for much of the unrest the country has witnessed since September.

Iran has previously urged both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to disarm the Kurdish parties based in the Kurdistan Region. Iran's officials have warned that failing to comply with this demand would lead to military action against these parties' camps within Iraqi territory.

Last year, a security agreement was signed between Iran's former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, and his Iraqi counterpart, with a significant portion dedicated to the disarmament of Iranian opposition parties in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have conducted missile and drone attacks against Iranian Kurdish groups based in northern Iraq, a reaction to the Iranian Kurdish parties allegedly instigating protests, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman, while in the custody of the morality police.

The Kurdish parties involved, such as Komala and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), generally advocate for Kurdish autonomy within a federal Iran.