Iran blocks SIM cards of journalists, activists to stifle dissent - Shargh

Taliban official Azizorrahman Mansoor's refusal to rise during the playing of the Islamic Republic's anthem on Thursday had sparked backlash from Iranian officials.

Since then, Mansoor has apologized through a formal video statement.

"In our homeland, we sit when the song is played, and I have acted according to this custom," Mansoor stated in the video, expressing his remorse.

Following the incident, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador overseeing the Afghan Embassy. According to reports from Iranian domestic media, the acting head of the Afghan mission underscored his nation's deep respect for the Islamic Republic of Iran, clarifying that the act in question was purely personal and did not reflect the official stance of Afghanistan.

Tehran's special representative for Afghanistan, had also condemned the Taliban official's actions, calling it a "disrespect to diplomatic principles."

"Disrespecting diplomatic principles under the pretext of a Sharia-based prohibition on music has no foundation or validity," Hassan Kazemi Qomi wrote on X.

Mansoor, a member of the Islamist militant group's Ministry of Guidance, Hajj, and Endowments, led the Taliban's delegation to Tehran for the 38th "International Islamic Unity Conference."

A similar incident took place in Peshawar, Pakistan, where Taliban diplomats remained seated during Pakistan’s national anthem at an official ceremony.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the act, with a spokesperson stating, "We will convey our strong protest to Afghan authorities in Islamabad and Kabul."

The acting Taliban ambassador in Islamabad was summoned and warned that Pakistan would respond firmly to such "offensive behavior."

The Taliban’s Consul General in Peshawar later explained that he remained seated during the anthem due to the inclusion of music, insisting there was "no intent to disrespect or demean Pakistan's national anthem."

The backlash from Iranian politicians included a sharp response from Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a prominent "reformist" and senior aide to former President Mohammad Khatami.

Writing on X, Abtahi stated, "The Taliban's disrespect towards the national anthems of Pakistan and Iran, and their refusal to stand, has ideological roots." He further warned, "When we say that the Taliban's ideology is more dangerous than the thousands of weapons they have, this is what we mean."

Abtahi described the Taliban's rigid mindset, which views music as entirely forbidden, as one that "destroys religion and people's lives wherever it spreads," adding that "geography doesn't matter."

He emphasized that "the majority of Muslims everywhere, including in Iran, do not seek unity with the Taliban." Criticizing the Unity Conference in Tehran, he declared, "The organizers have no right to allow the Taliban, whether in the front or the back rows, to participate in this conference."

The Statistical Center of Iran, a government agency, has reported a growing income gap between social classes in urban areas. According to the data, cited by Etemad newspaper, income inequality has been rising since the beginning of the current Iranian year, which started in late March.

Iran has been struggling with a deep economic crisis since 2018 when the United States withdrew from the JCPOA nuclear deal and imposed sanctions. Monthly incomes for ordinary workers, teachers and nurses has fallen to $200 per month.

According to the report, the income gap between the rich and poor has been widening since 2022. Jomhuri Eslami, a critic of the government's policies, remarked, "The government certainly did not promise to increase the disparity between the rich and poor." The conservative newspaper added that this growing inequality is the result of the cumulative actions of various Iranian governments over time.

In another development, reformist commentator and former pollster Abbas Abdi wrote on Etemad Online that public support for Iran's foreign policy has significantly declined. According to him, while surveys in previous decades showed up to 60% support for the country’s foreign policy, this figure has dropped to as low as 35% in the current decade.

President Masoud Pezeshkian's new government has pledged to improve Iran's global relations and seek an understanding with the West. Despite low voter turnout, hopes for reform and a more pragmatic foreign policy helped him defeat hardliner Saeed Jalili in the July election. Abbas Abdi stressed that rhetoric from officials and diplomats won’t change foreign policy, arguing that national interests should guide it. He emphasized, "There are no permanent friends or foes—only permanent national interests."

The commentator further criticized Iran's official policy for failing to effectively convey its values and stances, calling this a major shortcoming. He explained that the decline in public support for foreign policy is due to the lack of visible impact on people's daily lives and livelihoods, despite periodic statements in support of dialogue and peace. Additionally, he noted that the rise of radical opinions advocating unconditional compromise with the West stems from the perceived ineffectiveness of foreign policy over the past decade.

The decline in support for the official foreign policy is a combination of the government's inefficiency and people's distrust in the official’s political behavior that has led to sanctions and resolutions against Tehran.

Iranian economist Kamal Athari, in an interview with Shargh newspaper’s economic editor Maryam Shokrani, criticized the government for straying from the Constitution's definition of governance. He emphasized that officials are meant to serve as representatives of the people, avoiding despotism and the monopolization of power and resources. The government should focus on providing welfare, education, housing, and healthcare while promoting individual growth. However, Athari argued that the current government has deviated from these principles and abandoned rational governance in practice.

He added that Iran's seventh development plan is designed to serve only one political faction and give it power, wealth and ownership of resources. He added: "With such an approach, development becomes meaningless."

A video emerged in January showing two employees at a facility in Karaj violently assaulting a child laborer before forcibly dragging him into their vehicle.

The head of the facility and a security guard were detained, Iran's Welfare Organization, a government body said on Thursday.

"A child named Maroof, a resident foreign national, attempted to escape with a serrated knife after being locked outside a small gate while staff were tending to the yard," the organization said in a statement.

"Upon his return to the facility, security personnel sought to retrieve the knife, but the child was beaten during his attempt to flee again," it added in a statement.

Eight children were transferred to another facility, Iran's domestic media reported following the center's closure.

Iran's Welfare Organization hosts orphans and disadvantaged children, many of whom beg and work menial jobs, at centers throughout the country.

The abuse of child laborers in Iran has been a persistent rights issue in recent years as standards of living have dropped and migrant numbers have increased.

The incident followed a similar incident in November 2020, when another online video appeared to show a man coercing two child laborers working as fortune tellers to dance and expose themselves in exchange for money.

Reliable official statistics on the total number of child laborers in Iran remain elusive.

The latest official estimate on the total number of child laborers stood at around three million according to Reza Shafakhah, secretary of the children's rights committee of the human rights working group of the National Union of Bar Associations.

This figure contrasts with an earlier report from late April, in which Mohammadreza Heydarhaei, head of the Office for Social Victims at the Welfare Organization of Iran, cited the presence of 120,000 child laborers across the country.

A 2023 report indicated that 15% of the child population was engaged in labor, with at least 10% of these working children lacking access to education, depriving them of essential learning opportunities.

The primary factor driving the rise in child labor is widely attributed to "household poverty," which compels children to work in order to support their families' financial needs.

The report emphasizes that child labor is both prohibited and criminalized under international and domestic laws, placing a clear obligation on the government to take action to address the issue.

Effective monitoring and prevention of child labor remain difficult, especially in cases involving domestic work, labor in hazardous or unsupervised areas, crime such as drug trafficking, and the sexual exploitation of children.

One of the country's largest independent anti-poverty organizations reported in October 2022 that many minors were recruited to attack protesters during nationwide protests in exchange for basic food supplies.

Members and supporters of Imam Ali's Popular Student Relief Society (IAPSRS), a charity organization, alleged that authorities employed children as part of their efforts to suppress anti-government demonstrations.

The attacks widely blamed on their mutual foe ratchet up already flaring tensions across the Israeli-Lebanese border but appeared to stop short of heralding an imminent regional war.

"There is no doubt that we have been exposed to a major and unprecedented blow on the security and humanitarian levels," Nasrallah told supporters via video link from an undisclosed location.

"It can be called a declaration of war", Nasrallah added, vowing a "severe reckoning and just punishment".

Israel has not yet commented on any role in the back-to-back waves of attacks which hit pagers and walkie-talkies.

In the day before nationwide blasts hit pagers carried by Hezbollah members, Israel on Monday upgraded the aims of its nearly one-year-old war against the group's Palestinian allies Hamas to include returning the 60,000 citizens who have been evacuated from their homes due to Hezbollah fire.

'Complete destruction'

The chief of the Iran's transnational paramilitary organisation the IRGC also predicted on Thursday that the informal alliance of armed Islamist militias Iran leads throughout the region would punish the Jewish state.

"Soon we will witness the complete destruction of this cruel and criminal regime with the crushing response of the resistance front," Hossein Salami told Nasrallah on Thursday, Iranian state media reported.

Salami also visited Iran's ambassador to Lebanon in a Tehran hospital on Thursday where the envoy was taken after being stricken by the original blasts, in injuries the New York Times quoted IRGC sources as saying left him blind in one eye.

No retaliation yet

Since the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31 - an attack Iranian officials attribute to Israel - Tehran has pledged retaliation but has yet to land any blow.

Iran launched a large-scale missile and drone strike on Israel in April following a deadly Israeli attack on Iran's consular compound in Damascus.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday warned against escalation in the Middle East, after the US said it conveyed to Iran through back channels that it had no foreknowledge or hand in the attacks.

“We don’t want to see any escalatory actions by any party," Blinken said in remarks on a visit to Paris.

Hezbollah has long been Iran’s strongest ally in Lebanon and a central figure in its broader regional strategy.

The group was founded in the 1980s with direct Iranian assistance via the IRGC to fight Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. Since then, Hezbollah has grown into both a political force in Lebanon and a powerful militia that frequently engages in conflict with Israel.

For Iran, the most crucial demand can be summed up in one word: money. Both pragmatists like President Masoud Pezeshkian and hardliners like Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei need financial resources to ease Iran’s socio-political crisis.

While the US has shown a willingness to offer financial relief to Tehran in certain instances, it remains hesitant to support an Islamic Republic that could destabilize the region through its proxy networks or direct actions.

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a seasoned Iranian politician and former head of the parliament's Foreign Relations and National Security Committee, has remained one of Tehran's few vocal critics regarding its ties with Moscow. In his latest interview, Falahatpisheh asserted that "there will be no negotiations between Iran and the US during Pezeshkian's upcoming New York visit, despite both countries wanting a new agreement."

In several parts of the interview, Falahatpisheh fiercely criticized what he calls "Russia's treason against Iran," a stance he's emphasized since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He specifically condemned Russia's repeated interference in potential US-Iran agreements, its contentious positions on Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf, and its handling of Iran's interests in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict. Falahatpisheh questioned Russia's intentions, asking, "What else does Russia need to do to prove that its primary concern is its own interests, not Iran's?"

In a previous interview, Falahatpisheh charged that "Putin is counting on Iran's irrational policy" of unilateral reliance on Moscow. Elsewhere he has accused Moscow of taking advantage of Iran's isolation while also pushing Tehran further into international isolation. However, he reiterated that Tehran's distrust of Washington is also justified.

The former lawmaker’s frequent criticism of Iran’s relationship with Russia could serve as a safety valve controlled by hardliners to balance their pro-Moscow stance. Alternatively, it might reflect an effort by moderates to highlight Russia's unreliability, encouraging Khamenei to reconsider or adjust his reliance on Moscow. By framing the distrust of America within this context, moderates signal their loyalty to Khamenei, whose foreign policy is anchored in skepticism toward Washington, while attempting to shift focus away from blind trust in Russia.

Falahatpisheh, like many Iranian politicians, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, believes that the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) is effectively "dead," with any remnants likely ending by 2025. However, he emphasized that "the United States still needs a new agreement with Iran." He also warned that Russia will likely go to great lengths to block any US-Iran agreement. Ironically, Iranian hardliners—often described as far-right—continue to back Russia and its stance on Ukraine, despite their shared opposition to the West.

Individuals like Falahatpisheh accuse hardliners of "ignoring the country's national interests" and charge that many of them benefit from the sanctions. However, Iran's continued isolation and its reputation as Russia's accomplice could cost Tehran dearly as it has already ruined the possibility of a rapprochement with Europe. Iranian observer Kourosh Ahmadi says "Iran's current situation with the West offers a win-win situation for Russia."

Pro-Russian hardliners in Iran still have the upper hand in Iran's media landscape. Observers noticed that the state TV interrupted Foreign Minister Araghchi's latest interview as soon as he began discussing Russia's positions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan disputes and the shipment of ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia. The state TV anchor immediately said: "That is all we have time for in this program" and closed the show.