Raisi Slams Military Aid To Ukraine Amid Iran's Drone Supply To Russia

Touted by the state media as “souvenirs of president's US visit,” a total of 3,506 Achaemenid tablets were returned home by the plane carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, who addressed the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly during his visit to New York.

“The tablets of the Achaemenid Empire, which were being kept in the United States and the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago (CEAS) for 84 years, were repatriated to Iran. The tablets were originally set to stay there for three years for study purposes,” Raisi told reporters upon arrival at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport.

These tablets, on loan from Iran to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago since 1935, were transported in nine 75kg boxes. The university had received approximately 30,000 tablets or tablet fragments, which were reportedly produced during the reign of Darius I, commonly known as Darius the Great. He served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BC until his death in 486 BC. These artifacts were discovered at the ruins of Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (6th – 4th c. BC) in southern Iran.

In August, Iran’s deputy cultural heritage minister announced that the United States had agreed to return over 20,000 Achaemenid clay tablets to Iran within months. Ali Darabi said, “More than 20,000 Achaemenid tablets belonging to Persepolis will be returned from the US by the end of this year.”

The last batch of these artifacts returned to Iran in 2019, consisting of 1,783 objects from Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History. The fate of these ancient Persian artifacts was determined by a US Supreme Court ruling in 2018, which allowed Iran to have the tablets that were initially blocked due to a court case initiated by American survivors of the 1997 Hamas terror attack in Israel. However, the reimposition of US sanctions on the Islamic republic since August 2018 complicated the return of the antiquities to Iran.

A significant portion of the tablets was returned in three batches between 1948 and 2004, before the court ruling. The plaintiffs had demanded the seizure of the tablets and their sale in exchange for the $71.5 million that Iran was ordered to pay in the case.

Following the delivery of the last batch, Matthew Stolper, Professor Emeritus at the Oriental Institute, emphasized the scientific significance of these works. He highlighted that the artifacts had contributed to a better understanding of “how (Achaemenid) society was organized and how basic institutions of control and support worked.” Stolper also mentioned that they had learned the names of some important individuals in the ruling class and gained insights into how they governed.

Currently, the regime seems reluctant to acknowledge the ancient Iranian empire – once the largest empire in the world – amid rising popular support for exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, the heir to Iran’s last royal dynasty that ruled for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979, who has become a leading opposition figure in recent years.

Since 2017, the Islamic Republic has implemented security measures and even blocked roads leading to Pasargadae and Persepolis to prevent people from visiting these Achaemenid sites, fearing that visitors of these monarchist symbols might hold protests against the clerical regime. These measures have intensified since October 2016 when thousands of people gathered at the historical site and chanted antigovernment slogans, such as "Iran is our homeland, Cyrus is our father."

Since news about the clay tablets has emerged, a large number of Iranians are voicing concern online that the regime may auction off these pieces of Iranian national heritage or destroy them with mismanagement. The administration of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Revolutionary Guard are accused of the bagging carpets of Saadabad Palace in Tehran.

The photograph used by Israel’s UN envoy, Gilad Erdan, on Tuesday to protest the “Butcher of Tehran” Raisi in the United Nations General Assembly electrified social media and swathes of the Iranian diaspora.

Hamid Charkhkar, a professor of biomedical engineering at Case Western University, told Iran International that "My wife, Fatemeh, and I came from Ohio to New York to join other Iranian-Americans protesting against Raisi and his delegation. It felt unjust that he, a man responsible for deaths thousands of innocent Iranians, was given a US visa for the UN General Assembly. I had a sign with Mahsa Amini's picture on it, saying 'Iranian women deserve freedom now.' To our surprise, Israel's UN Ambassador, Gilad Erdan, walked up to our protest, clearly showing support for our cause."

Charkhkar added “He was drawn to my sign and asked if he could take a photo of it. Later, we saw on Twitter that he held my sign during Raisi's UN speech. I want to thank Ambassador Erdan. He helped raise the voices of Mahsa and many young Iranian youth who suffered under the Islamic regime in Iran.

Charkhkar is a member of the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA) that seeks to the dismissal of the Iranian regime’s former UN ambassador, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, from his academic post at Oberlin College in Ohio. Amnesty International has repeatedly accused Mahallati of covering up crimes against humanity with respect to the 1988 massacre.

Iran International reported that Erdan was the only diplomat to walk out during Raisi’s speech. The US government sanctioned Raisi for his role in the massacres of Iranians in 1988 and 2019.

The law imposes harsher penalties, including longer prison sentences and higher fines, on women who do not adhere to the country's strict Islamic dress code for head coverings and modest attire.

During a press briefing held in Geneva on Friday, Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned the legislation. She described it as both “oppressive and degrading.”

“We deeply regret the Iranian parliament’s passing of the new Chastity and Hijab Bill which vastly increases jail terms and provides for crushing fines on women and girls who do not obey the compulsory dress code. In that context, the Bill also targets vague notions of promotion of nudity or indecency.”

Shamdasani explained that under the new regulations, women and girls who fail to comply with the stringent dress code could now face up to 10 years in prison, a significant increase from the previous two-month term. Moreover, fines have been raised from approximately $12 to around $8,500.

The new law follows widespread protests after the tragic death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died while in custody of the morality police in September 2022, just three days after her arrest, for allegedly not adhering to the Islamic dress code for head coverings.

“Our Office urges the Iranian authorities to take steps to eliminate this and all other forms of gender-based discrimination…We also call on the authorities to abolish all regulations and procedures whereby specifically women’s behavior in public is monitored,” added her statement.

Iran Human Rights Organization (IHR) emphasized in its Friday report that regime's security forces and plainclothes agents fired at the eyes of protesters, especially women, in a "systematic and deliberate" manner, with a very high degree of precision.

The IHR researchers confirmed 138 cases of eye injuries, with 43 individuals choosing to provide evidence of their injuries anonymously. The remaining 95 cases, including 8 children under 18, are documented in the report.

To put this in perspective, children account for 5% of eye injuries.

The data by the Norway-based organization shows that women comprised a significant 28% of those with eye injuries.

Last February, the IHR also disclosed the identities of 22 individuals who had lost vision in one or both eyes due to the systematic shooting by government agents.

The human rights group, through the publication of a new report, confirmed its previous assessment, stating that the shooting by regime forces at the eyes of protesters began from the very first days of the protests in September last year and continued extensively in various cities across Iran until November 21.

The majority of eye injuries resulted from pellets (metal and plastic), causing vision loss in one or both eyes. Other projectiles like paintball guns and teargas cartridges were also used.

More than 500 civilians were killed by security forces and thousands injured during the anti-regime demonstrations last year and early in 2023.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salam speaking to Fox News this week referred to the danger of Iran producing nuclear weapons and said, "If they get one, we have to get one, for security reasons and the balance of power in the Middle East. But we don't want to see that.”

Asked during the press conference if this kind of Saudi desire is not destabilizing, Blinken replied, “I think the comments that you alluded to point to the fact that Iran’s own activities in pursuing a nuclear program are a profoundly destabilizing element and one that risks the security of countries not only in the region but well beyond it…” He went on to say, “And so the problem is very clear, and the problem is Iran. That is the destabilizing element.”

However, the Biden administration announced a prisoner exchange deal with Tehran in August that also released $6 billion of blocked funds from South Korea. Earlier, Blinken had also waived US sanctions to allow Iraq to release $2.7 billion. Indications point to ongoing secret talks with Qatar’s mediation to release more funds in return for a partial Iranian slowdown of its uranium enrichment. Critics argue that the release of billion of dollars simply empowers the Islamic Republic without imposing real limitations on its nuclear program or destabilizing activities in the region.

Blinken also said that Iran's decision to bar some UN nuclear inspectors suggests it is not interested in being a responsible actor on its atomic program.

The comments suggested Washington is skeptical of Tehran's desire to engage seriously on restricting its nuclear program.

The head of the International Atomic Energy (IAEA) nuclear watchdog has condemned Iran's move to bar multiple inspectors assigned to the country, hindering its oversight of Tehran's atomic activities.

Iran said it was responding to a call led by the United States and three European allies for Tehran to cooperate immediately with the UN nuclear watchdog on issues including explaining uranium traces found at undeclared sites.

One of the agency's key purposes is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons by verifying that states honor their obligations to use nuclear technology only for peaceful purposes.

The IAEA was responsible for verifying Iran's compliance with the defunct 2015 Iran nuclear deal, JCPOA, under which Tehran curbed its nuclear program in return for the easing of US, European Union and UN sanctions.

Efforts to revive that deal, which then-US President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018, collapsed about a year ago and Washington has been searching for a new way to get Tehran to restrain its program.

"We tried to work indirectly with Iran as well as with European partners and even Russia and China to see if we can get a return to compliance with the Iran nuclear deal ... But Iran couldn't or wouldn't do that," Blinken told reporters.

"Just this past week we saw them remove IAEA inspectors who are critical to doing the work at the IAEA to - as best you can - ensure that Iran is consistent with whatever obligations it has," he said. "That is not evidence of an Iran that is interested in actually being a responsible actor."

Tehran's move, known as "de-designation" of inspectors, is allowed; states can generally veto inspectors assigned to visit their nuclear facilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and each country's safeguards agreement with the agency.

With reporting by Reuters