Human Right Groups Slam Sweden Over Enabling Tehran's 'Hostage-Taking'

According to the Kurdish human rights organization Kordpa, which shared images of the messages sent to prisoners, they are asked to vote on Friday. The message tells prisoners that their families should also vote.

Failure to participate in the election results in being marked absent, leading to penalties such as three to six months imprisonment or up to 74 lashes based on law governing unverified absences.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic faces the challenge of reconnecting with a deeply disillusioned electorate. Official statistics reveal a stark decline in voter participation: 40.6% in the recent parliamentary elections, with Tehran recording its lowest turnout at 24%.

The run-off elections saw even lower participation, with only 7% in Tehran.

Simultaneously, numerous student organizations, women's groups, youth associations, and political activists have called for an election boycott.

Both candidates referenced Iran despite there being no questions about the country. The bulk of the 90-minute program focused on US domestic issues, particularly immigration and the economy.

When discussing foreign policy, the focus was on the war in Ukraine, followed by the crisis in Gaza and the possibility of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Iran was invoked only as an attack line by both sides, with no insight into how the next US administration may deal with the Islamic Republic and its Revolutionary Guards.

“Iran was broke. Anybody that did business with Iran, including China, they couldn’t do business with the United States. They all passed,” Trump said, claiming success in curtailing Iran’s anti-American activities in the Middle East. “Iran was broke. They had no money for Hamas, Hezbollah, for terror. No money whatsoever.”

Trump’s 'maximum pressure' campaign sharply reduced Iran’s oil revenues. The trend did change, however, during the last months of his tenure –and was cemented once Biden took office and set in motion his plan to revive the 2015 nuclear deal that Trump had unilaterally voided in 2018.

Surprisingly, Iran’s nuclear program got no mention, even though both candidates have many times vowed to do ‘everything’ possible to stop the Islamic Republic being armed by a nuclear bomb, calling it “the world’s biggest state sponsor of terror”.

Biden did not offer any direct defense of his Iran policy. Instead, he attacked Trump for not doing much outside tough speech. “Iran attacked our troops, but [Trump] did nothing,” Biden said, apparently referring to the retaliatory targeting of US base Ayn al-Asad following the killing of Iran’s top military man, Qasem Soleimani. “He called our troops’ brain injuries minor headaches.”

In spite of clear differences in outlook and style, the two candidates seemed to share the desire to appear tough on Iran, especially following the October 7 attack on Israel, which many believe would not have happened without Tehran’s support for Hamas.

Trump claimed once more that the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel would never have happened under his watch. He accused Biden of destroying the United States and losing the respect of the rest of the world. Biden pointed out that he had mobilized “50 countries” to defend Israel when Iran launched dozens of drones and missiles towards Israel in April.

The talking points will likely continue beyond Thursday’s televised debate, and Iran will likely feature again in both candidates’ election campaign –perhaps not as heavily as many expected, however, if the first debate is anything to go by.

Roughly forty Iranian-Germans protested against Seyed Hossein Mousavian and his relations with a largely pro-Islamic Republic German think tank.

The California-based organization, Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), launched a campaign against Mousavian in March after it was revealed that he allegedly played a role in the assassinations of at least 24 Iranian dissidents in the 1990’s.

The prominent German-Iranian dissident Mina Ahadi spearheaded the protest in front of the think tank Körber Foundation in Hamburg. Mousavian was the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Germany from 1990 to 1997 when Iran’s regime assassinated Kurdish dissidents in a West Berlin restaurant Mykonos in 1992.

Ahadi told Iran International that Farah Madaen spoke against Körber’s “dialogue” with Mousavian and the regime in Tehran. Madaen’s three brothers and sister were executed by the Islamic Republic in the 1980’s for dissident activity. “We don’t where there bodies are,“ Madean said at the protest.

Körber is under fire for recently inviting Mousavian to Hamburg for an event. The controversial German organization has long courted Mousavian as one of its key speakers.

“This campaign has showed that Körber cannot repeat something with Mousavian unless they do it secretly, “said Ahadi.

Maria Mahmoudi also delivered a speech at the protest. The Islamic Republic executed her husband, the Iranian-Kurd, Mohammad Faramarzi, and three other Kurdish dissidents in January, for alleged links to Israel.

AAIRIA has urged Princeton University to fire Mousavian and called on Körber to swiftly sever ties with Mousavian.

Ahadi and two other German-Iranians, Jasmin Maleki and Ali Ertan Toprak, were present at a Wednesday meeting with Körber representatives, Thomas Paulsen and Julian Claaßen. Ahadi posted a picture on her X account from the meeting. 

Ahadi told the Körber officials that the German community wants the foundation to conduct “an interview with us in order to respond to Mousavian.” Körber interviewed Mousavian and posted the question and answer session with him on its website.

She also expressed the Iranian diaspora’s “criticism of Körber’s appeasement policy” toward the clerical regime during the meeting. Ahadi requested that Körber hold an event with German-Iranians who oppose the Islamic Republic.

The organization International Women in Power also condemned Körber in a statement, for “providing a platform to Mousvian who worked for the brutal Iranian gender apartheid regime and is known for defending the fatwa against Salman Rushdie.”

Mousavian has strongly endorsed a so-called Iranian fatwa ordering the murder of the British-American writer Rushdie. He defended the fatwa during interviews with German media outlets and told Spiegel magazine about Rushdie: “I hate him. He insulted my religion, my prophet, the laws.”

Mousavian also supports the German and US-designated terrorist entities, Hamas and Hezbollah.

Körber was founded by the former Nazi, Kurt Adolf Körber (1909-1992), who exploited concentration camp victims to advance the Holocaust and Adolf Hitler’s war goals.

When asked about Mousavian’s support for the antisemitic terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, and the comment from Daniel Killy, a member of the advisory board of the Jewish community of Hamburg, who demanded that Körber stop “inviting apologists of the Mullah regime," the commissioner tasked with fighting antisemitism in Hamburg, Stefan Hensel, refused to comment.

Killy told Iran International that Körber should “sack the people within their foundation being responsible for the invitations over the years." Körber took credit on its website about a delegation it sent to Iran in 2017. Iran International has learned that Körber does not want the picture circulated. Iran International asked Körber and Körber AG about the names of its employees who were Iran and the nature of its business deals with the Islamic Republic.

The Körber Foundation and its parent company, Körber AG, did not immediately respond to Iran International press queries about Mousavian and its business relations with Iran’s regime..

Mousavian refused to answer Iran International email and WhatsApp press queries.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that Iran was unwilling to negotiate for Djalali’s release.

He also advised Swedes against traveling to Iran, saying Swedish citizens who go to countries advised against by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should not expect help if something happens.

Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian currently on death row in Iran, has started a hunger strike to protest being left out of the recent prisoner swap deal that secured the release of two Swedes jailed in Tehran.

The two Swedes were released in return for former Iranian jailor Hamid Noury who was serving a life sentence in Sweden over his role in Iran’s mass executions of the 1980s.

“My husband, Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian political prisoner facing imminent execution by the Islamic Republic, is going on hunger strike starting June 26th, after being abandoned by the Swedish government and excluded from the recent prisoner swap that secured the release of other Swedish citizens,” Djalale’s wife Vida Mehrannia wrote on X.

Arash Sadeghi, a former political prisoner, expressed grave concerns for Djalali, whom he met in Ward 4 of Evin Prison. Noting Djalali's severe emaciation from previous hunger strikes, Sadeghi warned that Djalali's life is now at serious risk.

Djalali, a specialist in emergency medicine was arrested in April 2016 during a visit to Iran and remains imprisoned in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. He was accused of espionage and later sentenced to death in October 2017 by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

In December 2017, Iranian state TV aired forced confessions by Djalali which was widely condemned by human rights groups and viewed as a means to legitimize the death sentence verdict.

The sanctions come in response to Iran’s “continued nuclear escalations and failure to cooperate with the IAEA,” according to the US Treasury Department and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The sanctions have targeted three UAE-based companies linked to Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical trade including Al Anchor Ship Management FZE, Almanac Ship Management LLC, and Sea Route Ship Management FZE as well as 11 vessels connected to them, as per the Treasury Department website.

"Over the past month, Iran has announced steps to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose. Iran’s actions to increase its enrichment capacity are all the more concerning in light of Iran’s continued failure to cooperate with the IAEA and statements by Iranian officials suggesting potential changes to Iran’s nuclear doctrine," said Blinken in a statement on Thursday.

“We are committed to using all available tools to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon,” Blinken said in a statement on X.

Recently, Group of Seven (G7) leaders warned Iran against advancing its nuclear enrichment program.

Iran is set to triple or even quadruple its uranium enrichment at Fordow, one of its most secretive nuclear sites, according to recent reports by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) and the Washington Post.

Experts warned that within a month, Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium for five nuclear weapons at Fordow.

Earlier in June the UN nuclear watchdog's Board of Governors passed a resolution censuring Iran and demanding that it resolve outstanding issues with the IAEA over its advancing nuclear program.

In its June report, the IAEA said Iran aims to continue expanding its nuclear program in ways that "have no credible peaceful purpose."

The IAEA demanded Iran step up cooperation with the watchdog and reverse its recent barring of inspectors.