Iran's Parliament wraps up first day of cabinet approval debate

The demonstrations, which began on August 5, have escalated into strikes, with nurses chanting slogans like "We've heard many promises, but seen no answers" and "We're the symbol of patience, but our patience has run out." The message is clear: the nurses' patience with the Iranian government’s neglect has reached its limit.

The protests follow the death of Parvaneh Mandani, a 32-year-old nurse at a hospital in Fars Province. Mandani’s death on August 2, attributed to overwork or Karoshi Syndrome, has become a rallying point for healthcare workers across the country.

Mohammad Reza Sharifi-Moghaddam, Secretary-General of the Nursing House, described her death as "suspicious," adding that "another nurse in Kermanshah, west of Iran, also took her own life by ingesting aluminum phosphide tablets."

The nurses’ demands are straightforward: "an immediate increase in wages, elimination of mandatory overtime, proper and immediate implementation of nursing tariffs, payment of arrears, improvement of harsh working conditions, and an end to security crackdowns on protesting nurses." These are not just demands for better pay, but for recognition of the critical role nurses play in Iran’s healthcare system.

However, the Iranian government has a huge budget deficit, estimated to be more than 50% and can ill afford giving in to the nurses' demands. Other sectors have similar grievances with most workers surviving with around $200 per month.

Sahar Motallebi, a physician and researcher in international population health, highlighted the financial struggles facing Iranian nurses. "Nurses earn between $200 to $250 per month, which is well below the poverty line," she explained. Motallebi pointed out that the problem stems from the health ministry’s decision to delegate nurse payments to the facilities where they work, leaving them at the mercy of underfunded hospitals and clinics. "These facilities, funded by their own income, often pay the nurses less than what is expected," Motallebi added.

The situation has become so dire that Fereydoun Moradi, a member of the Supreme Council of the Nursing System, revealed that "150 to 200 nurses migrate monthly" in search of better opportunities abroad. The combination of low pay, unpaid wages, and frequent physical assaults from patients' families has left many nurses feeling abandoned by the government. In Yasuj, for example, a nurse lost an eye after being attacked by a patient's family, and reports of stab wounds and fractures among nurses are becoming alarmingly common.

Despite promises from the University of Medical Sciences to pay overdue claims, the strikes continue. Videos from the protests show nurses chanting "Inflation in dollars, our salaries in rials," a reminder of the economic pressures they face. In Arak, nurses at Vali-Asr Hospital declared, "We are tired of promises" and "If we don't get our rights, we won't go to our shifts," only to be met with threats from the hospital’s security office.

As the protests gain momentum, support is growing from other sectors. The Progressive Student Association has called on all members of society, particularly medical students, to join the nurses' movement. The Teachers' Association of Fars Province has also issued a statement supporting the nurses' strike, emphasizing the legality and necessity of their protest.

In Nazarabad, Alborz Province, a court sentenced Mashallah Karami, the father of executed protester Mohammad Mehdi Karami, to eight years and ten months in prison, according to pro-Bono legal group Dadban on Saturday.

The court also imposed a fine of 19 billion and 200 million rials (approximately $33,000) and ordered the confiscation of his assets, including a car and a house. Karami was charged with “acquiring property through illegal means” and “participating in money laundering.”

These allegations were linked to public donations that Karami’s lawyer emphasized in an interview with Shargh News were entirely legitimate.

Condemning the sentence, Dadban said that the sentence appears to be an attempt to discourage public support for families of executed protesters, rather than a legally sound decision.

Karami’s son, 21-year-old Mohammad Mehdi Karami, was executed on Jan. 7, 2023, following what rights groups have condemned as an unfair trial based on forced confessions. He was executed in connection with the nationwide 2022 "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Zhina Amini in police custody.

Rights groups have criticized the detainment of Karami as part of a broader campaign against families connected to the protests.

Simultaneously, Iranian bodybuilder Sahand Nourmohammadzadeh, another protester from the 2022 uprising, was forced to return to Kahnuj Prison in Kerman Province.

Despite needing further medical treatment for his deteriorating vision, he was sent back to the remote and harsh facility where he is serving a 10-year sentence in exile.

Initially sentenced to death in November 2022 for "enmity against God" after allegedly damaging and setting fire to public property, his sentence was reduced following a retrial in April 2023.

His lawyer, Hamed Ahmadi, warned that without proper treatment, his client could lose sight in his right eye.

Nourmohammadzadeh was temporarily released in March 2024 for eye surgery, but he was returned to prison before his treatment could be completed on Saturday, raising serious concerns about his health in prison.

His father, previously revealed that his son was taken to the gallows three times for mock executions, underscoring the psychological torment he endured during his imprisonment.

In a farewell message on Instagram Saturday, before going to prison to serve his sentence Sahad said: "I’m at a loss for words...Goodbye...I hope no one else ever has to feel this way..."

While the president seeks support for his "government of national unity," the harsh treatment of protesters and their families underscores the widening gap between his promises and the reality of repression, casting doubt on the future of civil liberties in Iran.

Zarif announced his departure from the cabinet on August 11, less than two weeks after his appointment to the specially created position of “strategic deputy”. He further said in a tweet Wednesday that the President had “graciously” phoned him and the two had held a “sincere conversation”, but he fell short of indicating a change in his circumstances.

Twenty-four hours later, the media reported a meeting between the two men and released a short video that showed Zarif leaving the President’s office with a big smile, saying “I have always been, and will be, an admirer of Dr. Pezeshkian.”

Reformists were struck by Zarif’s resignation, which he described as ‘returning to the academia’, and his allusion to Pezeshkian’s controversial choice of a ‘Principlist’ (right-winger) close to Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf as his interior minister, which many supporters have criticized.

Reportedly, Pezeshkian has not yet accepted the resignation

Zarif’s meeting with Pezeshkian Thursday evening has given them hope that he and the former Communications Minister Mohammad-Javad Azari-Jahromi who campaigned tirelessly alongside Zarif for Pezeshkian will return to the cabinet.

Some media outlets in Tehran denied any rift between Pezeshkian and Zarif, attributing the latter’s resignation to his disqualification rather than a personal choice. Despite his carefully worded expression of deep dissatisfaction with the composition of Pezeshkian’s proposed cabinet, Zarif clarified that he was not leaving due to "disillusionment or disappointment."

They argued that Zarif’s appointment had to be annulled based on an “overlooked” law passed in 2022 prohibiting individuals with dual citizenship, or those whose family members are dual citizens, from being appointed to "sensitive" positions.

The ban applies to Zarif because his children were born in the United States when he was a member of the Iranian delegation at the United Nations in New York and had “acquired US citizenship”.

Many among Pezeshkian’s supporters have since appealed to him not to let Zarif go, or have expressed deep disappointment with him for allowing his departure. Others who believe Zarif resigned due to his discontent with Pezeshkian’s cabinet have appealed to him not to leave Pezeshkian alone.

Zarif would have had a very slim chance of getting a vote of confidence from the hardline-dominated Parliament if he had been proposed as foreign minister.

His appointment as deputy, for which the approval of the Parliament is not required, had initially appeared as a great initiative by Pezeshkian to give him a high position in his cabinet until the “overlooked” law came into the picture.

Referring to the obstacles Pezeshkian will be facing in choosing his men, including possible objections of security and intelligence agencies, the reformist Ham-Mihan newspaper said in an editorial Wednesday that the President not only has to lift Internet filtering but also the “filtering of human resources” that can bar his allies from his government.

“Contrary to many people’s beliefs, our governance system is very exact. For instance, it doesn’t matter what Mr. Zarif has done in the highest and most sensitive positions in the foreign ministry and how he has defended national interests in the past 46 years. What matters is what kind of passport his children who were born two decades ago when he served in the United States hold,” prominent reformist pundit Sadegh Zibakalam sarcastically said in a tweet Thursday. 

An online petition addressed to Zarif launched on August 13 urged him to “stay and to steer this storm-wrecked ship to a safe shore, for the sake of the people, for the sake of Dr. Pezeshkian, and for the sake of honoring the promises that you made.” The petition was signed by 13,500 on August 16.

The Argentina Federal Police's Anti-Terrorism Unit arrested seven people linked to the suspected terrorist cell following a report of threats against a Jewish journalist by the Delegation of Argentine Israeli Associations (DAIA).

According to authorities, the suspected cell's activities primarily revolved around disseminating hate speech and plotting attacks via encrypted messaging platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp. The content of these messages revealed the cell’s deeply ingrained anti-Christian and anti-Jewish sentiments, along with ideological affiliations to international terrorist organizations such as ISIS and the Taliban, according to Argentine media.

During the investigation, law enforcement conducted eight raids, seizing firearms of various calibers—including shotguns, rifles, and revolvers—as well as knives, daggers, and katanas from the suspects' residences.

This recent incident comes on the heels of January's arrests of three individuals with Syrian and Lebanese citizenship, suspected of planning a terrorist attack.

Argentina, home to Latin America's largest Jewish population, witnessed an attack on a Jewish community center that killed 85 people in 1994, the deadliest incident of its kind in the country's history, along with the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy that resulted in 22 deaths.

In April, Argentina's highest criminal court attributed the attacks to Iran, asserting that Hezbollah militants executed them in alignment with Tehran's "political and strategic design." Iran has denied playing a role in either attack.

Since Javier Milei assumed Argentina's presidency in December 2023, there has been an intensified focus on national security, particularly concerning potential threats linked to Iran and its alliances with Bolivia and Venezuela.

In July, Milei announced plans to advance legislation enabling the trial of individuals in absentia of severe crimes, a move designed to facilitate the prosecution of Iranian leaders implicated in the attacks.

The operation, known as Storm-2035, was identified as a covert Iranian influence campaign that utilized ChatGPT to produce and disseminate content on various politically sensitive topics.

According to the Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence company, these included commentary on both sides of the US elections, the Israel-Hamas conflict, Israel's participation in the Olympic Games, and issues related to politics in Venezuela.

The content was shared through social media accounts and websites designed to mimic legitimate political news outlets, aiming to sway US voters.

OpenAI reported that the operation seemed to have had minimal impact in terms of audience engagement. The majority of the identified social media posts garnered little to no interaction, with few likes, shares, or comments. Additionally, there was no significant evidence of the associated web articles being circulated on social media platforms.

Earlier in August, a Microsoft threat intelligence report highlighted Storm-2035's activities, among other things, in orchestrating influence campaigns designed to sway voters, particularly in critical swing states.

These operations also included efforts to gather intelligence on political campaigns, potentially laying the foundation for future interference. The report disclosed that Storm-2035 established covert news sites aimed at left-leaning and conservative US voters, utilizing AI to plagiarize content and propagate polarizing political narratives.

Additionally, another group, Sefid Flood, has been preparing since March for potentially extreme influence operations, including intimidation or incitement of violence against political figures, with the intent to create chaos, undermine authority, and erode confidence in the integrity of elections.

Also, in May, OpenAI published an unprecedented report revealing that it had identified and disrupted five online campaigns that sought to deceptively manipulate public opinion and influence geopolitical dynamics. These efforts were orchestrated by state actors and private entities across Russia, China, Israel, and Iran.

This development unfolds against the backdrop of an increasingly competitive race between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican opponent Donald Trump, as they approach the pivotal November 5th presidential election.

Last week, Trump disclosed that his campaign had been compromised in a cyberattack, which he attributed to a phishing email orchestrated by an Iranian hacking group.