Satellite Photos Point To Failed Iran Space Launch

Ukraine and Russia account for more than a quarter of global wheat exports and nearly a fifth of corn.

Wheat prices surged five percent on Tuesday compared with only a day earlier on fears that the Ukraine crisis can disrupt the world’s staple grain markets, worrying countries like Iran -- which rely on imports from the region. Transport logistics problems can lead to shortages, food price inflation, or even hunger.

Bloomberg cited Russian sources that grain exports from the country will probably be on hold for at least the next couple of weeks while war in the Black Sea has also closed Ukrainian ports since Thursday.

Iran’s Feed and Grain Importers Union has recently announced that the Russian invasion can also cause problems in the imports of livestock feed and grain to Iran because companies cannot keep their deliveries due to logjams in supply chains while airlines cancelled cargo flights because of reciprocal airspace bans that hit both Russia and Europe.

A member of the union has called on the government to provide the means to import the staple grains from other countries such as Argentina, Canada and Brazil.

“There will be a big impact with respect to wheat prices and prices of bread for ordinary people,” World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Friday.

Political activists have said Gholian has also been denied medical treatment despite severe gastrointestinal problems due to a hunger strike coupled with Covid complications. Gholian, who has spent much of the past five years in detention after involvement as a ‘citizen journalist’ in protests of Haft Tappeh sugar factory workers in Khuzestan province, has gone on hunger strike several times.

Activist and ex-prisoner Arash Sadeghi tweeted Tuesday that Gholian’s mistreatment was a prelude to another murder, referring to Baktash Abtin, who died of Covid complications January after reportedly denied timely treatment inTehran’s Evin prison. Another twitteratus wrote that the refusal to grant Gholian sick leave was a form of revenge.

While on medical leave in September, Gholian published tweets and did interviews with Prague-based Radio Farda of USAGM alleging around 20 cases of brutal treatment and abuse of female prisoners in Bushehr prison, which she called a “forgotten hell.” Her memoir, published by London-based ‘Iranwire’ in July 2020, was described by Farda as “19 vignettes that describe discrimination against Arab inmates, forced shavings, rape, and other abuses.”

In October, while still on furlough, Gholian was arrested at her home and placed in Evin prison. She had been sentenced in 2018 to five years jail for “disrupting public order” and “assembly and collusion against national security” after her role in labor unrest in Khuzestan.

Addressing the 49th regular session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, the secretary of Iran's High Council for Human Rights described the targeted killing of Soleimani as a “human rights violation” and a “gift to the ISIS terrorist group”.

"The Iranian judiciary will soon begin prosecuting all those involved in this crime, especially Trump, Pompeo and [CENTCOM chief Kenneth Franklin] McKenzie", said Kazem Gharibabadi, who is also the judiciary chief’s deputy for international affairs.

Vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice, Iran says Soleimani was assassinated with the direct order of former US president Donald Trump and has also blacklisted and indicted dozens of American nationals for their role in the 2020 targeted killing the former commander of its Qods (Quds) force.

Gharibabadi also criticized the US sanctions imposed on Tehran as “economic terrorism” and added, "The United States, which acts as a global self-appointed police force, is violating all international rights and norms”.

He pointed out that “considering the costly consequences of sanctions, they should be viewed as a weapon and a means of aggression."

Without mentioning or explaining UN criticism of Iran's conduct, Gharibabadi said that other countries are using "human rights to exert pressure" on the Islamic Republic.

According to the latest report released by Statistical Center of Iran (SCI)on Monday, the price for one kilogram of Iranian rice in the month of Bahman (ended on February 20) increased by about 20 percent compared with the previous month, and 95 percent compared with a year ago.

The report said the price reached 760,000 rials (about $3), showing a 95.3-percent rise compared to the same period last year.

The price reported by SCI is way lower than the actual price in the market, which is nearly 1,000,000 rials (about $4), which means the real increase in the price of rice is closer to 200 percent.

With only a few weeks left until the new Iranian year on March 20, prices of essential food items are still rising at alarming levels, local media report.

Food prices have been rising much faster than the general inflation rate -- hovering around 40 percent -- with government figures showing above 60-percent inflation at retail level in 2021, compared with 2020.

Sugar and different types of rice are usually items with highest price increases followed by different kinds of meat, chicken and eggs as well as cooking oil.

The daily said in its Monday issue that those who portrayed the Iranian government as a proponent of the Russian invasion are "Western puppets" and “extremist reformists".

The article added that they are more concerned about the fall of the US-backed government in Ukraine than the lives of the Ukrainian people.

It also described the crisis in Ukraine the result of NATO's eastward expansion that stem from “US and European sedition”.

The IRGC-linked paper called President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a comedian and actor” who plugged his country to the abyss of a devastating war.

Many Iranians on social media have praised Zelensky, who has refused to leave Kiev in order to stiffen resistance, with some comparing him to former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani who fled the country as the US-trained army collapsed last summer when the Taliban advanced.

The debate about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues in Iran, with divisions reflecting wider disagreements among various factions over foreign policy. While reformists have been more critical of Russia, and social media has aired decidedly anti-Russian sentiments, hardliner media has sided with Russia.

Many ordinary Iranians invariably support Ukraine and condemn the government pro-Russia policies.