Repression, Prison Have Left No Independent Media In Iran, Experts Say

Iranian Road Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, who has travelled to Russia to attend the 26th Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), urged the launch of a joint shipment company as soon as possible.

In a meeting with Igor Levitin, aide to the President Vladimir Putin, and the governors of the Volga River region the two sides reviewed the capacities of transportation from the Volga and the inland Caspian Sea, IRNA state news agency reported.

Dmitry Azarov, the governor of Russia's Samara, which is one the top ten Russian cities in terms of national income, also proposed creating a river hub in the three ports of Syzran, Tolyatti and Samara port, saying the development of these ports are important for Putin.

CNN reported last month that Tehran is using the Caspian Sea to transfer suspected weapons cargoes to Moscow.

It quoted experts as saying that as cooperation between the two countries deepens, the Caspian Sea route is being used to move drones, ammunition, and mortar shells that the Russian government has purchased from Iran to use in Ukraine.

Last year, shipping analytics company Vortexa also reported that eleven ships that previously carried Iranian crude transported Russian oil and products since April 2022.

“As more companies scale back from carrying Russian crude and products, those familiar with the sanctioned crude trade will continue using their tankers to assist Russia in exporting oil East of Suez,” Armen Azizian, a crude market analyst at Vortexa.

Hassan Mafkhami police commander in Mazandaran province on the shores of the Caspian Sea was inspecting beaches where millions of Iranians visit from the capital Tehran and other cities during the summer. Women are forbidden to bathe without cloths and should be fully cladded on the beaches.

He told law enforcement agents, “In this province and its towns if someone God forbid raises her voice, break her neck according to law and I will take responsibility for it.”

Tens of thousands of Iranian women have been defying compulsory hijab this year after nationwide protests erupted last September when Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman died in ‘morality police’ custody from severe head injuries.

Hardliners in the clerical-military regime, however, have vowed “to restore order”, saying that hijab for women is their “red line”. The conservative dominated parliament is debating a bill to further codify the hijab, including imposing hefty fines on women and denial of social services if they refuse to cover their heads.

The issue has turned into a rallying cry against the regime that regularly intervenes in the private lives of the citizens. Many regime insiders have urged caution, saying that another hijab incident can lead to renewed anti-government protests.

Police officials have vowed to install “smart cameras” on the beaches of the Caspian Sea to identify women who break the rules.

The State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in his press briefing on Thursday responded to questions by reporters about a possible deal in the making, saying, “with respect to Iran’s nuclear program, there is no deal.“

But the fact remains that the Biden administration has had even direct talks with Iranian diplomats for the past 7-8 months according to multiple reports, in addition to talks mediated by Oman and others.

Also, Washington agreed to the release of $2.7 billion of Iran’s money frozen in Iraq for “humanitarian” purposes. Some argue that no matter what the formal label of the arrangement may be any funds Iran can use for imports alleviates financial pressure from the cash-strapped regime.

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Given these concerns both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have begun stirring to make sure that the administration does not circumvent the lawmakers and according to law informs them of any deals with Iran.

"I'm extremely disappointed. To think this will end their uranium enrichment is childish. They'll continue to act in bad ways. When Iran is selling oil that it shouldn't, it gets those dollars and pumps it right back to extremist organizations," Sen. Joni Ernst told Iran International's Arash Aalaei.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Thursday saying, “I am disturbed by recent revelations that the Administration has re-engaged in “proximity talks” with the Iranian regime, and that the results of these discussions have included the apparent greenlighting of sizable payments to Iran.“

McCaul urged Biden to respect the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA), which was enacted during the finalization of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 to allow Congress to oversee dealings with Tehran. The Obama administration decided not to make the JCPOA nuclear deal a treaty, given opposition in Congress at the time and agreed to INARA to neutralize opposition among lawmakers.

“I urge the Administration to remember that U.S. law requires that any agreement, arrangement, or understanding with Iran needs to be submitted to Congress pursuant to INARA. Any continued obstruction will rob the American people, and in particular the Gold Star families whose loved ones were killed by Iran-backed terrorism, of answers about why the United States is facilitating the lining of Iran’s coffers,” McCaul said.

The Jewish insider reported Thursday that Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), joined by Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), also introduced legislation on Wednesday that would require the director of National Intelligence to notify Congress within 48 hours if Iran produces or possesses uranium of greater than 60 percent purity.

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The Iranian Enrichment Monitoring Act is a new attempt led by Graham, Menedez and other lawmakers to ensure congressional oversight of how the executive branch deals with Iran’s nuclear program.

The website also quoted several senators, some supporters of the JCPOA voicing concern about secret dealings with Iran and releasing funds to the Iranian régime that continues its „malign activities“ in the region and sending arms to Russia.

State Department’s spokesperson Thursday more clearly listed what the administration seeks in its dealings with Iran.

"Number one, we want Iran to take steps to de-escalate tensions, which of course includes steps to curb its nuclear program," Miller said, and added that Iran should cease its actions that destabilize the Middle East.

"Number three, we want Iran to stop its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine,“ he said, referring to a new complication with Iran that emerged in mid-2022. He also demanded the release of US citizens Tehran has imprisoned „for political leverage."

According to the popular Telegram channel of the National Student Unions Council, at about 2:30 am Thursday, Hamzeh Borzouei attacked a group of about fifty students who had begun a sit-in protest against new, stricter hijab rules and seriously injured several. 

The Telegram channel said university authorities have still not allowed the students who began their sit-in on Wednesday afternoon to leave, and campus security has prevented anyone from bringing food or water to the students. 

Students said on social media that Borzouei and other university officials made various threats against them including the threat of calling in the military to deal with them. Plainclothesmen and other security forces were already present in and outside the university in quite big numbers. 

Students also said that security claimed they blocked food delivery to prevent poisoning that they could later be blamed for if students fell ill. Students also said the besieged protesters were not allowed to use the toilettes. 

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The new rules require girls to wear a pullover headscarf with stitched front (called maghna’e in Iran) which is like a nun’s coif, completely covering the head and the neck. Failing to comply, the university has announced, would result in suspension. 

In the early 1980s wearing maghna’e became compulsory in all universities, government offices and even banks but its use gradually became obsolete in some more lenient establishments including the College of Arts. 

The hijab required in the Islamic Republic consists of a long and loose tunic in muted colors worn over trousers with a similarly plain headscarf that covers all hair and shoulders. Authorities including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei say wearing a long black veil (chador in Persian) that covers from head to toe is the ‘optimal hijab’.

In the past few years, the anti-compulsory hijab movement which took root with a social media campaign organized by US women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad in 2017, called White Wednesdays, has hugely grown. The movement has gained greater momentum since the death in custody of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022 and the protests that her death sparked.

Defiance of hijab has now turned into a form of civil disobedience. Many women who have been in a tug of war with the authorities for years are now adamant to be hijab free in public. They can be seen defiantly rejecting the head scarf everywhere, from restaurants to banks and parks where previously, they could not even enter without covering their head. 

In recent months, authorities have increased pressure on students for hijab, presumably to stop the growth of the anti-compulsory hijab movement in universities across the country. 

The National Student Unions Council said in April that 435 students had been suspended or expelled in universities nationwide, where they had staged many protests and sit-ins since the beginning of the Mahsa movement last year. 

In recent months some political parties and dissidents in Iran, including the reformist Etehad-e Mellat Party and Zahra Rahnavard who has been under house arrest together with her husband Mir-Hossein Mousavi for thirteen years have demanded the abolition of the compulsory hijab laws. 

Iran's police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, said Thursday that President Ebrahim Raisi has approved the necessary funds to install more cameras to continue the war against hijab rebellion.

“Four special task groups have been launched to tackle the hijab norm breaking. For instance, one of them is active on virtual space to identify those who remove hijab on social media.”

Last week, Radan threatened government offices that do not deny services to unveiled women with repercussions as part of ongoing hijab enforcement.

He also vowed that police will be surveilling Caspian Sea beaches in Mazandaran and Gilan provinces with special patrols and electronic surveillance to prevent violation of hijab laws.

Threats against unveiled women have increased with the arrival of summer which has always been a season for women to ignore the strict government dress code.

In July 2022, after weeks of harsher measures on the streets, President Ebrahim Raisi ordered all government entities to strictly implement a “chastity and hijab” law.

Not long after, the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police fueled protests that spread throughout the country and have continued since September.

Since March hardliners have tried to put an end to women’s increasing defiance of the compulsory hijab and to reclaim the lost ground but to no avail.