President Claims Iran 'A Champion Of Human Rights'

Oct 2, 2023, 17:33 GMT+1

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi during a meeting with participants of an event on media women in Tehran on October 2, 2023

In spite of a mass rebellion against the mandatory hijab and oppressive policies against women, Iran's President has accused the West of manipulating the issue of women's rights.

In a typical regime slanted speech, Ebrahim Raisi claimed on Monday that Westerners “are not genuinely advocating for women's rights or human rights,” meanwhile the government's repressive measures continue to deepen, with punishments against hijab rebels including fines, imprisonment and bans from public spaces.

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Iranian Ride-Hailing App Refuses To Address Data Breach

Oct 2, 2023, 16:33 GMT+1

A month after a major personal data hack impacting 27 million passengers and six million drivers of an Iranian taxi app, the company remains silent about the breach.

Tapsi's official communication channels, including their website, Instagram, Telegram, and blog, have seen updates since the incident, but they provide no information regarding the hack's specifics, how it occurred, or related details.

The news of the hack and data leak involving over 33 million Tapsi users first came to light on September 2, through a Telegram channel. Shortly afterward, Milad Monshipour, Tapsi's founder and CEO, confirmed the incident on his Twitter account, noting that the hackers had attempted extortion.

The hackers claimed to have engaged in a two-week negotiation with Tapsi's management before publicly disclosing the breach and demanding a $35,000 ransom payment, which the company refused.

Ultimately, the hackers publicly traded the stolen information, leaving the identity of those accessing the sensitive data unclear.

While large-scale privacy data breaches might not be uncommon in Iran, the magnitude and significance of the particular incident have elevated the Tapsi hack to one of the most prominent cases of a private company data breach in the country.

The situation underscores the absence of robust laws and substantial penalties for mishandling personal information, as well as the inability for users to request the removal of their data. It also highlights the recurring concern of data leaks impacting the financial and emotional lives of Iranian citizens.

Frankfurt Book Fair Denies Participation To Islamic Republic

Oct 2, 2023, 15:26 GMT+1

The organizers of the Frankfurt International Book Fair have once more denied participation to the Islamic Republic in this notable international event for the second consecutive year.

Narges Eskandari-Grunberg, an Iranian-German city councilor in Frankfurt, conveyed to Iran International correspondent Ahmad Samadi in Berlin, according to the organizer’s decision, the Islamic Republic is not allowed to take part in this book fair.

The exclusion of the Islamic Republic from the fair is attributed to several factors, including the ongoing suppression of the Iranian population, especially women, the detention of journalists, writers, and artists, the forced closure of publishing houses and bookstores for admitting women without compulsory hijab, as well as continued denial of access to and censorship of the internet.

Eskandari-Grunberg emphasized that, due to the actions taken against the people of Iran, the Islamic Republic will not have a presence at this year's fair either. She added, "Last year, instead of the Islamic Republic setting up booths, several panels were organized to discuss women's rights and human rights in Iran, and this year, these panels will once again take place."

Last year, the Islamic Republic was barred from attending the fair due to its harsh response to nationwide protests in Iran, internet censorship, and the detention of journalists. More than 500 people were killed by the security forces in the five-month-long protests that started in September 2022, thousands injured and 22,000 arrested.

The seventy-fifth annual Frankfurt International Book Fair is scheduled to take place from October 18th to October 22nd, 2023.

Iranians Increasingly Reject Khomeini’s Legacy, 1979 Revolution

Oct 2, 2023, 15:18 GMT+1

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Mardo Soghom

The weakening of the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy among Iranians is most evident in increasingly bold statements against its founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Younger people seeing their deteriorating economic situation in Iran, and those who have left their country for exile abroad, blame the 1979 revolution for their hardships.

Many former revolutionaries who wholeheartedly supported Khomeini in 1978-1979, as the father-figure of the revolution, sooner or later admitted that he hijacked what they believed was a revolution for democracy, social equity, and non-alignment in international relations. They accuse him of purging loyal revolutionaries and setting up a dictatorial clerical regime, with Islamic rule.

Some former regime supporters, who avoid criticizing Khomeini, have vehemently turned against his successor, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, labeling him as the enemy of the people.

Khamenei has also become a hated figure among many younger Iranians, to the degree that university students protesting on campus last year unleashed the worst derogatory and unheard-of insults at him. Most of the slogans during the protests were in fact political and even sexual insults directed at Khamenei, such as, “Khamenei the dictator”, the “bloodsucker”, the killer of the youth, just to mention some of the political statements.

Top regime insiders have come to admit that “the sanctities” of the revolution have been badly assaulted and lately they have tried to at least save Khomeini’s reputation.

Last week, Khomeini’s grandson, Hassan Khomeini had to address the issue of increasing disdain for his grandfather by speaking to local media. He said to blame Ruhollah Khomeini for today’s economic and social crises is unfair, and the younger generations are not aware of his philosophy and personality.

However, for many Iranians, facts speak for themselves. The Iranian economy has persistently deteriorated since Khomeini established the Islamic Republic. While before the revolution incomes were rising and the Iranian rial was a stable and strong currency, in 44 years it has declined from 70 rials per US dollar to 500,000. The inflation rate has seldom been single-digit, with consistently above 40-percent annual rate in the past five years. Around 1.5 trillion dollars in oil income has evaporated in four decades, with Iran having little to show for it. Iran’s GDP in the past year was less than half of Turkey’s and Saudi Arabia’s, with no prospects for improvement. Even without sanctions, the economy would be seriously under-productive, with the government, clerical foundations and the military controlling 80 percent.

On top of economic hardship, younger Iranians with access to information in the Internet and social media era, deeply resent to be told how to live by clerics whose education and worldview is limited to half-mythical Islamic teachings from the 7th and 8th centuries.

Another senior cleric, Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani, Tehran's interim Imam for Friday Prayers responding to attacks on Khomeini stated last week that "Such claims are unfounded, and the public does not subscribe to them. People recognize [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini as a divine and spiritual figure who dedicated himself to service."

But many Iranians not only reject Ayatollah Khomeini, but they also even strongly dislike former US President Jimmy Carter who is perceived as having abandoned the Shah in 1979 and indirectly helped the Islamists to gain power. A young female user wrote on ‘X’: “You betrayed the late Shah of Iran and helped Khomeini to power. You deserve a miserable life and I hope you will never be happy, any second of this life, for what you did to generations of Iranian people and the whole middle east.”

Nearly 2.5 Million Afghans Reside in Western Tehran

Oct 2, 2023, 13:07 GMT+1

Almost two and a half million Afghans now live in the western part of Tehran, posing "a significant challenge" to the economy and dividing the government.

Abbas Johari from the Tehran governor's office said the issue "entails expenses, particularly in the realm of education."

Mohammad Taghi Naghdali, a parliament member from Khomeinishahr, said, "People are displeased with the increasing presence of foreign nationals in schools," referring to it as an "invasion".

Foreign nationals is a term commonly referring to Afghans, whose numbers have been steadily rising as they flow across borders in the wake of the Taliban takeover two years ago.

In January, the Director-General of Foreign Nationals and Foreign Migrants Affairs at the Ministry of Interior stated that there were five million Afghan citizens residing in the country.

Naghdali has called for an explanation from the parliament's speaker regarding the matter, while others have raised complaints.

Last month, it was revealed that plans are underway to grant many of the Afghan population citizenship. Announced by MP Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash, he said the regime wants to formalize the presence of one of the country's largest immigrant populations, a move dividing the establishment.

The issue of unauthorized entry of Afghans continues to trouble the country, both economically and demographically. While the Islamic Republic might be considering accepting more Afghan Hazaras, who share Shiite beliefs with Iranians, there is a concern that an influx of Sunni migrants could potentially alter the country's social balance. Currently, Sunni Muslims constitute around 10 percent of Iran's nearly 88-million population.

Iranian Hardliners Dismiss Rising Concerns Over Afghan Immigration

Oct 2, 2023, 11:37 GMT+1

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Maryam Sinaiee

Hardliners have labeled concerns about rising Afghan immigration as "Afghan-Phobia," defending the government's perceived "open borders" policy, despite public outcry.

The fast-growing Afghan population in Iran has given rise to protests on social media and even debates in Iran's government-controlled media, with many claiming that the government has a hidden agenda in letting thousands of Afghans enter the country illegally every day. Videos from the border regions show crowds of Afghans simply walking into Iran, and some claim that “a network” quickly helps find housing and jobs for them.

Iranian officials say there are five million Afghans in Iran now of which only 780,000 have refugee status. Most others are undocumented. Some estimates of the Afghan population reach as high as 8 million. A Tehran province official said Monday that 2.5 million Afghans have settled just in areas west of the capital.

Some government critics claim authorities are actively encouraging the growth of the Afghan population with incentives such as subsidized energy and food to remedy the problem of population decline or even to bolster its military by recruiting young Shiite Hazara Afghans.

The Fatemiyoun brigade of Afghan fighters fought for the Revolutionary Guards in Syria.

Thousands of Afghan militia, recruited and trained by the Revolutionary Guard, played a significant role in supporting Bashar al-Assad's government by fighting in Syria.

Tehran Municipality’s Hamshahri newspaper is among the hardline media that has been describing popular concerns as “Afghan-phobia”. The newspaper whose chief editor Abdollah Ganji is a former editor of the IRGC-linked Javan newspaper, published an article entitled “Who Benefits From the Afghan-Phobia Project” last week.

The article said “exaggerated” news about the apparently fast-growing number of Afghan immigrants has affected the mindset of Iranians and that the concerns raised on social media have resulted in “unkind attitudes toward Afghan citizens”.

State media and other hardliner publications also appear to be unusually sympathetic to this unprecedented policy of opening the doors to Afghan immigration.

Recent video of Afghans celebrating the Taliban rule in Mashhad.

Not only reformist media that over the years had been more sympathetic to Afghan immigrants, but also some conservative media and figures such as Jomhouri Eslami newspaper and the former chairman of Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, have become increasingly vocal in criticism of what they call uncontrolled Afghan immigration and warned about “security threats” that may result from that.

A commentary entitled, “The Dangerous Aspirations of Radical Afghans in Iran” published by the newspaper Sunday warned that the Taliban may be harboring dangerous plans for Iran and may attempt to use “radical Afghans in Iran” toward securing their own interests given “the [existence of a] divide between the people and government in Iran and extensive frustration of the Iranian people”.

The warning came after a video of pro-Taliban Sunni Afghans celebrating in Mashhad on September 29 went viral on Persian-language social media. The video showed the celebrants raising the flag of the Taliban Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and chanting anti-American slogans.

The religious city of Mashhad is Iran's second largest city where the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of Shiites, is located, while at least a segment of Afghan migrants are fierce Sunnis.

Hardliners’ positive attitude in the past two years toward the Taliban despite the Shiite-Sunni divide is unprecedented in the history of the Islamic Republic where hardliners and top Shiite clergy have always been highly sensitive to the growth of the Sunni population in the country.

“Around Mashhad, the Sunnis are buying land and houses from Shiites to increase their weight in the population. I told the officials that if they do not find a solution to these problems today, it may reach a point where no action can be taken," Nasser Makarem Shirazi, a source of emulation in Qom, warned in 2016.

Similar religious concerns may be behind some hardliners’ concerns over allowing an increase in the number of Afghan immigrants including Kayhan, a flagship newspaper close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei which has been extremely supportive of President Ebrahim Raisi and his government.

On Sunday Kayhan printed a reader’s message who has urged authorities to expel “illegal” Afghan immigrants because they are benefitting from “hidden subsidies including food, housing, public transportation and healthcare [subsidies]”.

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