Two More University Dorms In Iran Attacked By Chemicals

The editors of centrist daily Ham-Mihan centrist daily, Shargh newspaper, and moderate news website Rouydad 24 have all been indicted for reporting on the attacks.
Iranian academic and reformist political activist Sadegh Zibakalam, Secretary General of Unity of the Nation Party Azar Mansouri, and cinema star Reza Kianian have also had charges filed against them.

The harsh legal action comes amidst growing censorship from the regime and continued internet shutdowns as it battles the wave of revolutionary fervor. It also follows remarks made by Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei who called for "severe punishment" of those discussing the gas attacks which have seen hundreds of school girls across the country fall in and need hospital treatment, since November.
Ejei on Monday described the attacks as a “clear example of corruption on Earth,” a Sharia term that can lead to the death penalty, but he also threatened those who would comment on the incidents.
Almost four months after the attacks which have taken place in scores of schools, the Islamic Republic has failed to issue a clear report on those responsible, the kind of chemicals used, or make any arrests.

It continues to silence critics who fear this large-scale action has been initiated from the government's brutal security forces as they crack down on revolutionary dissent, which women and girls have played a vocal role in since the death of Mahsa Amini in September.

Interior minister Ahmad Vahidi, wanted by Interpol for his role in the bombing of a Jewish community center in 1994, has been tasked with leading the investigation. The ex IRGC commander has as yet announced no new leads.

Israel had reportedly warned Iran in February against sending arms to Syria under the guise of humanitarian aid for the earthquake hit people of the country.

Israel has for years been carrying out attacks against what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran's influence has grown since it began supporting President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war that began in 2011.

In the second attack on Aleppo airport in six months, Syria claimed its air defenses intercepted missiles launched from the Mediterranean, west of the coastal city of Latakia, at 2:07 a.m. (2307 GMT).

The attack caused "material damage" to the airport, SANA cited the source as saying, without mentioning any casualties.

In a statement reported by state media, the transport ministry said humanitarian aid flights would be rerouted to Damascus and Latakia after the "Israeli aggression".

More than 4,500 were reported killed by the earthquake in parts of Syria under rebel control in the northwest, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said.

The attack overnight was Israel's third air strike in Syria this year, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Last year, Israel carried out more than 30 air strikes in Syria, the Observatory said.

In January, the Syrian army said an Israeli missile attack briefly put Damascus airport out of service.

Sources told Reuters a rocket attack in Damascus in February, also blamed by Syria on Israel, hit an installation where Iranian officials were meeting to advance programs to develop drone or missile capabilities of Tehran's allies in Syria.

With reporting by Reuters

The political editor of a leading reformist daily Etemad in Tehran, Sara Massoumi, noted that hours after a joint press conference by Grossi and Iranian nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami, the official website of President Ebrahim Raisi and all of Iran's news agencies deleted parts of what they had earlier published as Grossi's statement in the news conference.

In the deleted parts Grossi was quoted as having said, "We have had very constructive and positive meetings with Iranian officials," and "It is quite clear who should be blamed for the current situation of the JCPOA." Another deleted sentence blamed "sinister elements" for preventing IAEA's cooperation with the Islamic Republic.

On Sunday, foreign policy analyst Amir Ali Abolfath said in an interview with conservative Nameh News website that Iran should not pin its hopes on the visit, adding that "regardless of the success or failure of Grossi's trip, there is no bright outlook for the Islamic Republic's relations with the IAEA."

Abolfath noted that the IAEA is a UN body and various countries do not have equal weights at the United Nations particularly in the areas linked to security issues. He added that one cannot expect the IAEA to be satisfied about Iran's nuclear activities as long as tensions between Tehran and Washington are not reduced.

Meanwhile, former diplomat Fereydoun Majlesi pointed out in an interview with Khabar Online that "Iran's main problem is to have US sanctions lifted and not a visit to Tehran by Grossi." Majlesi also pointed out that Tehran should know that it cannot endlessly attack its adversaries without any repercussion.

He added that if the UN trigger mechanism or ‘snapback’ of international sanctions is activated, Iran will be in a difficult position and will have to reach out to foreign powers to solve its problems. Majlesi reiterated: "I have said many times in more than two years that the JCPOA is a burnt out case. Iran's problems are now about the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and other nuclear commitments. Leaving the NPT is extremely dangerous for Iran and might lead to snapback before the end of 2023.

Grossi's visit, he said was mainly about making matters clear after 84-percent enriched uranium was detected in Iran and Grossi wanted to warn Tehran that this requires more rigorous monitoring and inspection of its nuclear activity.

Meanwhile, the editor of hardline daily Kayhan Hossein Shariatmadari wrote in a commentary on Sunday that Grossi's visit to Tehran was unnecessary and accused the IAEA chief of reporting back to Israel. He said Grossi will inform Israel before anyone else of the outcome of his visit.

In another development, the former chairman of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said in an interview with Etemad Online that Iran's Foreign Ministry is incapable of handling nuclear negotiations with JCPOA partners, and the matter should be handed over to the Supreme Council of National Security, a body closely linked to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Falahatpisheh said that the Foreign Ministry has so far missed all the opportunities it had to settle the nuclear disputes and reach an agreement with the United States and Europe.

He also said in another interview with Rouydad24 that the JCPOA should be removed from the gambling table of world powers and from the political rivalries between various political factions in Iran.

Citing the officials, the Washington Post added that Yektaparast, the founder of the Hell’s Angels group in the German city of Monchengladbach, is suspected of directing attacks from Tehran, through his criminal networks in Germany, allegedly at the behest of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“Those attacks are part of what Germany’s security services see as an uptick in Iranian regime activity aimed at Jewish targets as well as the Iranian diaspora in Germany.”

That would be in line with a reported increase in Iranian assassination and kidnapping threats in Europe and the United States, underlined the report.

“Analysts say that while facing protests at home, Iran is increasingly going after what it sees as foreign threats to the regime and is using criminal gangs to add a cloak of deniability.”

However, Germany and some other European countries are reluctant to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization because, in their opinion, the window of diplomacy with Iran may be closed amid concerns about the country's nuclear program.

In November, an unknown person fired several times at the door of a synagogue in downtown Essen in western Germany.

Nobody got hurt, but the investigators assumed the act was part of a series of anti-Semitic attacks probably launched by a cell of terrorists managed by the IRGC.

Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said on national television that the country’s air defenses shot down 13 out of 15 Iranian drones after air raid sirens sounded for hours in Kyiv.

The air force said Russian forces had launched Iran-made Shahed drones from the Bryansk region northeast Kyiv.

The AFP quoted the head of the Kiev’s military administration, Sergiy Popko as saying that drones had been heading for Kyiv but Ukraine’s air defense forces downed them and they did not cause injuries or hit infrastructure.

Tehran has been supplying Moscow with drones to use against Ukraine. The Islamic Republic has been hit by multiple rounds of sanctions from the US, the UK, and the European Union. Iranian officials claim the drones were sent to Russia prior to the war in Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky in December stated that Russia has received an additional 250 Shahed drones from Iran on top hundreds supplied earlier that have been used to attack Ukraine's energy sector and infrastructures.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson on Monday claimed that Kyiv has not been able to provide evidence of Iranian-made drones being used in Ukraine.