Whistleblower MP Gets Jailtime As Senior Insiders Go Free

In a letter written from Evin Prison on Tuesday, she revealed that despite her previous declaration of refusing to partake in what she labeled a sham trial, she will take the stand and represent herself in the public trial on Wednesday.

“Fueled by fearlessness in publicly speaking the truth, I am resolved to attend the hearing within the unjust court and present my defense,” read the letter from the young activist who is now studying law inside the brutal Evin Prison.

Earlier this year, Qolian released a message from inside the notorious prison, stating her unwillingness to participate in any court proceedings as long as the "Islamic execution regime" persists, and as long as those who “courageously stand against oppression and tyranny remain hostages of the Islamic regime.”

Qolian, along with Esmail Bakhshi, a labor activist, was subjected to torture to extract so-called confessions after being arrested in 2018 during labor protests in southwestern Khuzestan province.

On Wednesday (July 19), the court will publicly hear charges against Qolian of threatening national security, charges freely handed out by the regime to non-regimists.

In 2019, while Qolian was detained at Qarchak Prison, she witnessed the broadcast of her own confessions on television and recognized the presenter, regime mouthpiece Ameneh Sadat Zabihpour, as the same female interrogator referred to as Ms. Askari by her other interrogators. 

Subsequently, in a series of tweets, Qolian recounted her ordeal and revealed that the texts she and others were forced to read in front of the camera had been prepared by Zabihpour.

This 68-page report examines the issues of speed, limitations, and disruptions and reveals that Iran's internet is among the most disrupted and limited in the world, with internet speeds ranking among the five slowest globally. The report places Iran's internet quality as the second most disrupted after Myanmar and the second most limited after China.

The report also highlights data from Cloudflare, ranking Iran 97 out of 100 countries in terms of average internet speed, with only Sudan, Cameroon, and Cuba having slower speeds.

Despite the documented evidence highlighting the unfavorable situation of internet access in Iran, the authorities, including the Minister of Communications, have consistently described the network's quality as adequate and high-speed, downplaying the dismal situation.

It is widely known that regime authorities and the country's elite do not suffer the same poor quality as the masses, not least, those in rural areas. This has been compounded by mass crackdowns on sites and social media platforms as the regime aims to quash dissent.

The report explains that Iran's internet filtering involves three lists: white, gray, and black. Authorized websites are placed on the white list, unauthorized websites on the blacklist, and a significant portion of the domains and IPs, referred to as the gray list, face "intentional" disruptions.

The study reveals that the equipment used by filtering institutions in Iran intentionally disrupts around 50% of the data sent to addresses on the gray list. In other words, any internet traffic not recognized by authorized institutions and not on the whitelist automatically faces disruption.

The association holds various entities, including the Ministry of Communications, the Prosecutor's Office, judicial institutions, the Commission for Determining Criminal Instances, the Supreme National Security Council, and "some security institutions," responsible for the dire state of the internet in Iran.

During a meeting with Japan’s ambassador to Iran Aikawa Kazutoshi, Kamal Kharrazi, the head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and a foreign policy advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said that the best way to resolve the territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over the four islands is through “direct negotiations.”

At the end of World War II, Russia annexed the Kuril Islands in the Pacific Ocean to its territory, but Japan calls these islands the Northern Territory and considers them “occupied by Russia.”

Talking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the possible consequences of the crisis for Japan and its surrounding environment, the Japanese envoy said that since the war has started, Russia has halted bilateral negotiations with Japan regarding the occupation of the Kuril Islands.

Kharrazi stated that as a matter of principle, Tehran is against any military intervention and violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries, and the best solution is bilateral talks to resolve the Kuril islands dispute.

This was exactly the position Russia took last week regarding three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf contested by the United Arab Emirates.

In a joint Russia-GCC statement at a meeting, held in Moscow on July 10, Russia voiced support for the UAE's demand to hold talks about sovereignty over Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa Iranian islands.

The statement called for "bilateral negotiations or the International Court of Justice, in accordance with the rules of international law and the United Nations Charter, to resolve this issue in accordance with international legitimacy".

Iranian media, opposition activists and ordinary Iranians were outraged over Moscow’s move and viewed the regime’s reactions not strong enough.

Qasem Mohebbali, a former senior diplomat who headed the Middle East division of the foreign ministry, criticized the regime’s pro-Russia and anti-West foreign policy as the reason why Iran’s allies are teaming up with its regional rivals, noting that Russia and China believe that no matter what they say or do, Tehran will continue to support them over Ukraine, Tibet and Taiwan.

Mohebbali said that China and Russia care more about their relations with Arab countries than with Iran. “Apparently, Iran's friends do not pay much attention to Iran's demands and pay more attention to the rivals’ [Arab] demands,” he said.

In its Thursday edition, conservative newspaper Jomhouri Eslami wrote in a strongly worded editorial: "This is not going to be Russia's last treason against Iran." The daily added: "Foreign Ministry officials should not think that this episode will end by summoning Russia's ambassador. We need an essential revision of our political relations with Russia and forcing Russian statesmen to regret their treason against the Iranian nation."

Asked why Moscow undermined Iran's territorial integrity," international relations analyst Mehdi Motaharnia told Khabar Online that "Russia wishes to put an end to its isolation by sacrificing Iran's interests." Meanwhile, he called Iranian officials' mild reaction "a withdrawal from revolutionary positions."

The Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's ambassador and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdolahian and government spokesman Ali Bahadori wrote in separate tweets that "Iran will not compromise over its national interests and territorial integrity." However, Tehran’s official reaction to Russia has been meek. Social media users said officials had indeed made a compromise by not naming Russia in their tweets.

Vowing “a strong response” to such moves, foreign ministry spokesman Naser Kanaani said that Iran “views the interference of any party, including the UAE and Russia, as unacceptable and rejects it.

The United Arab Emirates has repeatedly laid claim to the islands, describing the situation as “the continued occupation by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The three islands fell under British control in 1921 but on November 30, 1971, a day after British forces left the region and just two days before the UAE was to become an official federation, Mohammad Reza Shah sent the Iranian navy to secure all three. Iranian forces remain on the islands, with only Abu Musa having a civilian population which is less than two thousand.

The group of teachers launched a campaign on Friday to collect 100,000 signatures calling for the release of detained educators and an end to their harassment.

Esmail Abdi, a teachers’ union leader who has been in prison since 2015 backed the initiative by sending a message from jail. He said that the extent of repression against teachers has expanded in recent years.

Teachers' Unions of Tehran, Markazi, North Khorasan, Kordestan, and Eslamshahr have also supported the campaign.

In a statement they said the Islamic Republic's security and judicial institutions have issued long-term prison sentences for protesting teachers in various provinces, while hundreds of others have been dismissed or forced into early retirement.

Last week, 1,200 teachers sent a letter to the heads of the three branches of government asking them to release detained union activists and end harassment by security forces, claiming the Judiciary continues to fabricate legal cases against union members. However, the president and the head of the judiciary refused to accept the letter.

Teachers maintain that they have pursued their demands through peaceful and legal means for two decades, but the Islamic Republic has always dealt with them through force and intimidation.

Teachers have been demanding higher wages and pensions for years, one of the lowest paid government employees. In the 2010s, government appointed officials embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars from their pension fund, without any serious consequences.

Tavakoli is a student leader, human rights activist, and political prisoner and was arrested at least three times by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence during the student protests over the disputed Presidential Election of 2009.

Charges include espionage and creating propaganda against the state.

In response to allegations that he cross-dressed as a disguise to avoid arrest, a campaign protesting his imprisonment featured men posting photos of themselves wearing hijab.

He was arrested again during the Iranian protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in September.

Tavakoli announced the news if his sentence on Twitter and said in addition to his prison sentence he has received a two year ban on online activities, a two year ban from staying in Tehran, and a two year travel ban.

“This verdict is issued only because of my writings in the last few years. Due to my insistence on independent activity, there is no evidence of such activities or connection with the hostile government,” read his tweet.

It is all too common for activists to be falsely accused of such charges of espionage and colluding with foreign groups, for which the regime justifies they pay a heavy price in its brutal jails.