Critic Calls Raisi Administration 'A Government Of Dwarves'

In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry claimed they had plans to attack Iran’s vital economic centers and facilities.

The group was comprised of several cells with various missions to destroy vital facilities of the country, to create roadblocks and extort money from the people, especially successful local entrepreneurs, the ministry claimed. 

Describing the report as "fake news," Kaveh Bahrami, the head of armed wing of Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan called it an attempt to justify an “atmosphere of pressure, threats and more executions".

The network had entered the country through the border areas of West Azarbaijan province with the support of terrorist groups in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, read the statement, adding that advanced communication technology and weapons, including various types of guns, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades, explosives and ammunition have been discovered and confiscated from the group.

A Kurdish rights group said on July 8 that at least four servicemen of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard were killed in clashes with fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in the province.

The Islamic Republic calls the Kurdish armed groups in the western provinces of Iran, "terrorist groups" or "anti-revolutionary" but these groups say that the goal of their armed campaign is "defending the rights of the Kurds".

Generally, the Kurdish parties − including Komala and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) − favor Kurdish autonomy within a federal Iran. Pejak (the Free Life Party of Kurdistan), an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), formed in Turkey but also based in northern Iraq, has generally favored a unified, independent Kurdistan uniting Kurds in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran.

Iran repeated calls for release of Assadollah Assadi, serving a 20-year sentence in Belgium over a terror attack in Paris, and former jailor Hamid Nouri, on trial in Sweden for his role in 1988 prison purges.

Foreign ministry’s new spokesperson Naser Kanani told reporters on Wednesday that Tehran is following up the cases to free former officials as soon as possible. Their cases were a priority for the foreign ministry since their arrest, he added. 

“Assadi’s unconditional release is Iran's request, and talks are ongoing with the Belgian government, and we hope that with the efforts we have made, we will see the release of this diplomat in the near future,” he said. 

His remarks came as numerous Iranian and foreign rights groups have expressed concerns about a prisoner exchange treaty between Belgium and Iran that was passed by the Belgian parliament’s foreign relations committee and will go to the full 150-member chamber July 14, warning that approving such a treaty condones hostage-taking policy by the Islamic Republic and undermines accountability for Iranian officials convicted for acts of terrorism abroad.

Kanani also said the Iranian Embassy in Sweden and the foreign ministry have seriously put consular support for Nouri’s release on their agenda. “We believe that the arrest of this Iranian citizen does not have a proper judicial basis and unfortunately, the political atmosphere of a hostile and terrorist movement has provided the ground for his illegal arrest.”

Iran says Nouri’s detention is driven by “false allegations” made by the Albania-based opposition group Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MEK).

The interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, warned women that the government’s fearsome Special Unit will deal with those “breaking rules” and will not allow people to “intentionally cooperate with the enemy.”

The act of civil disobedience on July 12 was called by women’s rights and civic activists as authorities in recent weeks increased harassment of women in the streets for “improper hijab”. Patrols and check points by the so called ‘morality police’ were highly visible in large cities. Government agents in charge of “vice and virtue” stopped women and detained them in special police vans for questioning, warnings and even detention.

But on Tuesday large numbers of Iranian women defied forced hijab rules and came out without headscarves and in some cases dressed in attire common in most countries, such as trendy jeans and T-shirts forbidden by the Islamic Republic.

No major incidents were reported as women defied the rules, probably because the government did not want to create further tensions on that particular day, which would project the picture of a successful act of civil disobedience. But official threats rang out before the day was over and on Wednesday.

The representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the religious city of Qom demanded decisive action against opponents of hijab. The army’s ideological-political commissar said, “Hijab is our first line of defense. If it falls, all other bulwarks will fall.”

This remark will perhaps stay as an iconic quote for a long time to come. Observers, analysts and critics have long said that the Islamic Republic uses hijab and other social restrictions, such as bans on female singers, dancing and alcoholic drinks as ways of imposing control over society.

The spokesman of the armed forces, that encompasses both the traditional army and the Revolutionary Guard, called those who do not follow hijab rules “Satan’s troops”. Speaking at a ceremony on Tuesday Abolfazl Shekarchi said these individuals are in fact engaged in ‘Moharebeh’, a serious crime according to Sharia. Moharebeh in Iran’s Islamic law means the act of taking up arms against the people, which is identical to fighting God. Being convicted of the offense could carry the death penalty.

The interior minister who had traveled to the shores of the Caspian Sea in the north also spoke about plans to segregate beaches and said the government should set up public awareness mechanisms to teach 20 million annual visitors to the resort areas about proper Islamic behavior. Almost all tourists who visit the Caspian shore are Iranians.

When the Islamic Republic imposed hijab in early 1980s, Iran had a population of around 30 million, which has grown to 80 million. The vast majority never saw the pre-1979 era when Iran had social freedoms. They only see photos or films showing women walking around in Western attire. They also have the Internet and can see the lifestyle in other countries. Many also travel abroad, or at least to neighboring countries such as Turkey, Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates, where they see Muslims can choose what to wear.

Mohammad Reza Jamshidi, the secretary of the Association of Private Banks and Credit Institutions, said on Tuesday that “when bank branches want to force out customers who have not observed the desired form of hijab, or do not allow them to enter,” they are bound to lose clients. “They will not even open an account there,” he said. 

He added that these new conditions and restrictions have been ordered just a few days ago so “we should wait to see the consequences.”

These issues have caused some people not to accept the position of the manager of the branch and opt to become the deputy head as the branch manager will be accountable for all the responsibilities. 

In the past few weeks, authorities have launched an extensive campaign against women they call ‘bad-hijab’. In addition to crackdowns by the ‘morality police’ on streets, some officials have ordered extra measures, including to government offices, banks, and public transportation authorities to withhold service to ‘bad-hijab’ women.

In the jargon of religious and political hardliners women who are unwilling to wear the hijab and display their displeasure by wearing small and colorful headscarves with tight-fitting, short dresses are called ‘bad-hijab’ ones.

Meanwhile, social media posts from Iran indicate many women left home Tuesday without hijab in response to calls from activists to defy the government’s forced dress code.

The publication of Rafsanjani's memoires started when he was still alive, and several volumes came out during the years before his suspicious death in 2017. All the volumes thatwere published after his death were examined by his son Mohsen before publication.

According to Chand Sanieh [A few seconds) website, which first published the new, unpublished parts are about Rafsanjani's angry reaction to unltraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "radical behavior". Rafsanjani believed this offered “a pretext” to the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran and form a global consensus against the Islamic Republic in 2006, one year after Ahmadinejad was first elected as Iran's President.

It was the re-publication of the memoires by moderate conservative website Khabar Online on July 10 that lent some credibility to the disclosures about the beginning of Iran's isolation in the international community as a result of its secret and controversial nuclear program.

Rafsanjani wrote on March 21, 2006, that "factional disputes in Iran and the dismissal of efficient diplomats as well as uncalculated remarks by Ahmadinejad about uranium enrichment, human rights and terrorism provided an opportunity for the United States and its allies to portray Iran as a threat to the international community."

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In November, Rafsanjani wrote about his visit to the enrichment site in Natanz, adding that "Even Hassan Rouhani who is usually skeptical about these matters acknowledged that the efforts have been successful. Both Rouhani and I told -then – nuclear Chief Mohammad Aghazadeh that Ahmadinejad's uncalculated remarks hinder Iran's progress."

On December 11, Rafsanjani noted that the UN Security Council has unanimously ratified a resolution against Iran with even Qatar voting for it. "Ali Larijani [then secretary of the Supreme Council of National Security] came to see me. He was nervous and critical of Ahmadinejad because of his uncalculated remarks. He said he told the President to stop two of the enrichment cascades to avert the resolution, but he refused to do so. He has told Ahmadinejad to go and seek Khamenei's view about this."

Rafsanjani wrote on March 20, 2007: "We have a bad situation in foreign relations. We have been isolated except for relations with a few countries including Syria and Venezuela. Two resolutions have been issued against us and a third one is coming. Sanctions have been imposed on Iran anda US military attack is probable."

Rafsanjani was a major advocate of Iran's nuclear program and missile development since late 1980s when he realized that the armed forces were not capable of resisting Saddam Hussain's army. Iran's declining arsenal from the pre-revolutionary days under the monarchy and its lack of an effective air force and navy made it vulnerable in the region.

In 2006, when these parts of his memoires were written, his once deep influence in the Iranian political system had been indirectly curtailed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and he was on course to his final isolation in 2009, when Ahmadinejad became Iran's President for the second time in a rigged election marked by IRGC intervention.