US Says Tehran-Backed Houthis' Blockade Threatens Iran's Food Supply

In a televised interview, Salehi, who was also foreign minister (2010-2013), was asked if Iran has achieved the capability of developing a nuclear bomb. Avoiding a direct answer he stated, "We have [crossed] all the thresholds of nuclear science and technology."

Grossi addressed Salehi's warnings directly on Tuesday at Dubai’s World Government Summit. “There’s loose talk about nuclear weapons more and more, including in Iran recently. A very high official said, in fact, we have everything, it’s disassembled. Well, please let me know what you have,” he said.

To say that Iran is “presenting a face which is not entirely transparent when it comes to its nuclear activities”, as Grossi called it, will come as no surprise to the international community as Iran has repeatedly obstructed inspectors of the IAEA in their work to assess Iran’s nuclear enrichment.

In October, Iran branded IAEA inspectors political "extremists" as it tried to justify its standing in the way of vital work.

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, justified Tehran's decision to ban what Grossi said was around one third of the international inspection team, claiming those expelled had a history of "extremist political behavior”.

At the time, Eslami downplayed the scale of the ban, saying instead that it was an "insignificant" number expelled, contradicting the statement by Grossi in which he made a rare public criticism of the regime for its obstructive behavior in September.

An exasperated Grossi said in September: “With today’s decision, Iran has effectively removed about one third of the core group of the Agency’s most experienced inspectors designated for Iran,” adding that the move "affects in a direct and severe way the ability of the IAEA to effectively conduct its inspections in Iran.”

Just days ago, weapons expert David Albright told Iran International: “The transparency of the nuclear program has decreased significantly. Their [Iran’s] nuclear weapons capabilities have grown over the last several years … And it's also a point in time where people's attention is elsewhere. The Iran nuclear issue barely makes the newspapers these days.”

Amid a regional proxy-war led by Iran’s militias around the Middle East, the nuclear issue has taken a back seat as Iran's proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen have wreaked havoc in the wake of the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7.

Hamas, the Iran-backed Palestinian group which controls Gaza, killed 1,200 mostly civilians and kidnapped at least 250 more, sparking a conflict with proxies attacking both Israel and US targets around the region.

Speaking of the current geopolitical crisis, Grossi warned: ”Of course this increases dangers.”

Salehi, who served as the head of the civilian Atomic Energy Organization of Iran under then-President Hassan Rouhani, is seen as a relative moderate within Iran and was one of the team who reached the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

But with a bubbling war boiling in the Middle East, orchestrated from Tehran, Grossi noted “an accumulation of complexities” is now erupting in the wake of the Gaza war.

In an article entitled ‘How Quickly Could Iran Make Nuclear Weapons Today?’, Albright recently wrote that it could be as little as a week.

“The long pole in the tent of building nuclear weapons is essentially complete,” he said. “Iran can quickly make enough weapon-grade uranium for many nuclear weapons, something it could not do in 2003. Today, it would need only about a week to produce enough for its first nuclear weapon. It could have enough weapon-grade uranium for six weapons in one month, and after five months of producing weapon-grade uranium, it could have enough for twelve.”

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the US and the European Union, had set out rigorous mechanisms for monitoring restrictions placed on Iran’s nuclear program, while paving the way for the lifting of UN sanctions.

However, as the regime is going full steam ahead, there seems to be neither hope for reviving the agreement which collapsed under the Trump administration, nor hope for Iran’s slowing down.

Mahdokht Damghanpour, one of Ghobadloo's attorneys, was summoned to the Culture and Media Court after voicing numerous objections to the proceedings of her client's case.

In an interview with Didban Iran, Damghanpour previously stated that her client was executed despite requests from medical professionals and 50 psychiatrists to halt the execution.

She said her client was executed without notifying his attorneys, examining his mental health status again as per the Chief Justice's orders, informing his family, or granting him a final visit.

Ghobadloo was detained during the uprising which followed the death in morality-police custody of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. He was charged with running over a police officer with his car and causing his death, as well as other charges including "corruption on earth" and "waging war against God" in another case.

In a recent interview, Damghanpour claimed Ghobadloo was subjected to beatings and forced to confess before his execution last month.

So far, at least nine protesters have been executed in connection with the Women, Life, Freedom protests.

In fact, Iran’s election watchdog, the Guardian Council, packed with hardliners, has banned almost all Reformists from running in the March 1 parliamentary vote, leaving little choice to a coalition of parties known as the Reformists.

The February 10 statement by the Reform Front is effectively a call for boycotting the elections, although it states that it is only in Tehran that "Reformists find it impossible to take part and present a list of candidates" as none of their nominees had their qualifications endorsed by the Guardian Council. This way of putting their protest forward, acquits the Reform Camp of possible accusations of defying the regime.

Although the Reform Front’s statement stops short of outright boycotting the March 1 parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, a group of 110 self-proclaimed reform-minded intellectuals, civil, political, and media activists issued a call for reformists to participate. They argue that participation could provide a small avenue for reform-minded individuals to voice their concerns in parliament.

Citing extensive monitoring and evaluation of political developments, the Reformist Front emphasized the need for meaningful, competitive, and fair elections. They condemned arbitrary vetting and disqualification of candidates, which they believe undermines the people's choices and contributes to political, economic, social, and cultural crises. "We cannot take part in a meaningless, non-competitive, unfair election which is not going to have an impact on the way the country is governed."

The Front said that it has already "warned the government about the consequences of limiting the people's choices through arbitrary vetting and disqualification of the candidates," adding that "The discretionary supervision by the Guardian Council that limits the people's choices is one of the main reasons for the inefficiency of the Iranian government and has led to many political, economic, social, and cultural crises."

The Reforms Front further warned that "The officials and institutions that have made the polling box useless in Iran shall be responsible for the low turnout in the elections and its consequences" for the regime’s legitimacy. The Reformist Front further pointed out that "The only way to solve the country's problems is establishing a powerful and independent parliament and government by holding free and fair and competitive elections."

Announcing that this was a collective decision made by all the reformist parties in Iran, the front also expressed concern that measures including biased vetting that limits the voters' choices have been constantly on the rise during the past years.

Meanwhile, a statement issued on February 12 by a group of around 100 activists, including former Reformist lawmakers and media owners, urged people to participate in the elections and support a coalition of moderate and reform-minded candidates endorsed by the Guardian Council. Despite acknowledging the lack of fairness in Iran's elections, they advocated for participation to counter political purification efforts by the ruling conservatives.

The move dividing the Reformists could have well been encouraged by hardliners, as their media outlets jumped on the news to highlight that not all reformists have boycotted the elections.

Regardless of their all-out support for the government the activists in their statement acknowledged that "Like all of the elections in Iran's contemporary history, the upcoming plebiscite is totally far from free and fair and its organizers have been working hard to implement the idea of political purification" which means monopolizing political power in Iran in the interest of the ruling conservatives.

Social media users have accused the group of opportunism and looking for a weak and useless minority in the parliament. One social media user said: "They would take part in any Saddam Hussain-style election Khamenei may hold."

The men are currently imprisoned in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj according to rights group Hengaw.

In addition to the cases, reports from human rights sources indicate that Pakhshan Azizi, a former Kurdish journalist and political prisoner, faces similar charges by the Iranian judiciary.

Furthermore, the Iranian Free Workers Union recently reported that Shahab Naderi, a political prisoner, has also been sentenced to execution by the Tehran Revolutionary Court on similar grounds.

Earlier reports from the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) revealed that in 2023, Iran witnessed the execution of at least 791 citizens, including 25 women and two child offenders, marking a significant increase of over 33% compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, UN experts disclosed in a separate report that Iran executed at least 834 people in the same year, with eight individuals linked to nationwide protests that commenced in 2022, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in morality-police custody for not wearing her hijab properly.

In a statement released by the group, closely affiliated with the Albania-based opposition Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) organization, it was disclosed that the attack reached 600 of the the main servers of the parliament, commission servers, main chamber servers, parliament assistant servers, parliament bank server, and other servers related to administrative functions.

The timing of the cyberattack is notable as it coincides with the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for March 1st, which have been marred by extensive disqualifications of candidates, raising concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.

This isn't the first time Uprising till Overthrow has targeted Iranian government agencies. In June, the group exposed documents from the Iranian presidential system, shedding light on activities of the Revolutionary Guards in suppressing protests.

In addition to Uprising till Overthrow, other hacking groups have also conducted successful cyber operations against Iran's infrastructure and government servers. Gonjeshk-e-Darande or Predatory Sparrow, for instance, disrupted gas station activities across Iranian cities in December through a cyberattack on fuel systems. Another group, Edalat-e Ali (Ali's Justice), hacked CCTV cameras in Evin Prison and targeted the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and the Judiciary in recent years.