Iran's Chief Justice Calls For Legal Action Against Kerman Blasts Critics

Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) shot down the Ukrainian airliner shortly after it took off from Imam Khomeini International Airport near the capital Tehran on January 8, 2020. All 176 onboard the plane were killed in the incident.

The downing of the plane by two surface-to-air defense missiles, came a few hours after Iran fired missiles at US military bases in Iraq in retaliation for the US drone strike in Baghdad that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, commander of IRGC’s extraterritorial Quds Force.

The four countries, announcing their complaint to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, said Tehran had used “weapons against a civil aircraft in flight in breach of its international legal obligations."

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the filing was "an important step in our commitment to ensuring that the families of the victims impacted by this tragedy get the justice they deserve."

Iranian authorities for three days claimed technical issues were responsible for the crash. Subsequently and under public and international pressure, Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the chief of IRGC air operations responsible for airspace security, attributed the downing of the airliner to “human error” of the air defense. The IRGC also alleged that the “risky behavior” of the United States had caused the incident.

Victims’ families chanting “What an agony is this injustice!” at the anniversary ceremony.

Iranian authorities have never explained the reason for not closing the country’s airspace amid such heightened military tensions and allowed flights out of the country’s biggest international airport as usual.

Some of the victims’ families and many Iranians have always alleged that the IRGC intended to use the plane as a human shield on the night of the missile attack on US bases and the downing of the plane was therefore "premeditated”.

A group of victims’ families convened at the site of the crash on Monday to commemorate their loved ones. In their speeches, they condemned the regime’s “fake trial” of those responsible for the tragedy. Some, like Fatemeh Arsalani who lost her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchild fearlessly cursed the Islamic Republic and the Revolutionary Guards.

Manzar Zarrabi who lost four of her loved ones reading the statement of the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims at the anniversary ceremony. 

A source close to the families told Iran International in October 2020 that the IRGC was using threats of murder and torture to silence those among victims’ families who were contesting the official explanation of "human error" for shooting down the plane.

“Don’t you think you can frighten a person who has nothing to lose with threats of torture and death,” Touran Shamsollahi who lost her daughter-in-law and granddaughter in the crash said. She vowed to stand “to the end” beside her son, Canada-based Hamed Esmaeilion who has made many efforts to bring the Islamic Republic to justice.

The Association of Families of Flight PS752 as well as Canada, Britain, Ukraine, and Sweden had previously brought the case before the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, International Court of Justice (ICI), in the Hague.

Ukraine and Canada which had 63 citizens on the flight have always complained about Iran's uncooperativeness in investigation of the cause of the incident.

Many among the families of the victims were outraged by the light sentencing of those responsible for the tragic crash and refuted the court’s competence to prosecute the crime of downing the airliner.

Iran's judiciary sentenced the unnamed commander of the IRGC’s Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile system that shot down the plane to 13 years of which he would only be required to serve 10 years including the time he has already spent in prison. Nine others were also sentenced to from one to two years.

Mahmoud Alizadeh-Tabatabei, a lawyer who represented the families of several victims, told Didban news website Monday that the unnamed commander was the only one who was imprisoned but has been released on bail because the sentences passed on the defendants have not been finalized.

In an interview with Lebanon's Al-Ahed news, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Syria, Hossein Akbari stated that “approximately ten days ago, a delegation from an Arab Persian Gulf country visited Tehran, carrying a message from the Americans.”

"They [Americans] called for a resolution to the crisis in the entire region," he added, looking to Iran whose proxies in Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon have all been carrying out attacks on US facilities in the region and Israel, in the wake of the Iran-backed Hamas war on Israel.

No independent source has confirmed Akbari's claim, and US authorities have not issued any response.

The revelations come as Israel has been stepping up attacks on Iran-linked operations in Syria, including killing a senior Quds Force commander and taking out weapons shipments. On Monday, Israel assassinated a top Hezbollah commander in Lebanon, just days after eliminating the deputy political leader of Hamas in Beirut.

Naser Kanaani, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, indirectly confirmed the reception of a message from the United States to Iran during a press briefing in Tehran on Monday, while the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tours the Middle East in a bid to bring peace to the region.

While the Islamic Republic claims the decision for the recent attacks was made independently by its proxies groups, the United States holds Tehran primarily responsible. It has formed a more than 20-nation coalition to combat the blockade of the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthis, which has become a major threat to global trade.

While the US has been attacked more than 100 times since the Gaza war was triggered by Hamas's invasion of Israel, only a handful of responses have been levied by the Biden administration.

Jalel Salari, CEO of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, emphasized that adopting the standards could lead to a daily reduction of 50 million liters (over 13 million gallons) in gasoline consumption.

"If we were producing standard cars, daily gasoline consumption would decrease to 60 million liters (approximately 16 million gallons), allowing us to export 50 million liters daily."

Salari underscored the stark contrast between Iranian cars' high fuel consumption and the global average, underscoring the substantial gap in meeting international standards. He addressed the inefficiency and fuel wastage in domestically produced low-quality cars, an issue previously criticized by authorities.

Additionally, the deputy minister of oil justified Iran's gasoline deficit, citing an annual increase of two million vehicles that contributes an extra five to six million liters (1.3 to 1.6 million gallons) to daily gasoline consumption.

The country's gasoline shortage is exacerbated by the transformation of one-third of Iran's refining products into mazut and bitumen. While the statement did not specify the status of Tehran's refinery or others, the imbalance significantly contributes to the shortage of petrol.

Official statistics from the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company indicate that gasoline constitutes only 28% of Iran's refinery products. Modern refineries, exemplified by those in the UAE, convert a mere 4% of received crude oil into mazut, allocating the remainder to high-quality products such as gasoline.

As Iran grapples with an escalating gasoline deficit since last summer, the government has resorted to limited imports of low-priced mazut substitutes. However, the current administration led by President Ebrahim Raisi has faced criticism for a lack of transparency in reporting the volume of gasoline imports.

Mohsen Saravani, a 24-year-old law student, was accused of collecting classified information through government officials and sharing it with a Mossad agent. He was arrested in March 2022 and the execution took place mid-December after Saravani confessed under torture to espionage activities.

"This person communicated with foreign services, specifically Mossad, collecting classified information, and with participation with associates, provided documents to foreign services, including the Mossad," state media said after the execution without naming him, itself unusual. Usually, the regime makes loud examples of such cases, such as that involving Alireza Akbari. The British-Iranian dual national, a former member of the Iranian government, was executed a year ago, accused of spying in a very public display of outrage.

But this time, mystery surrounded the execution, which is one of hundreds raining down on Iran since the Women, Life, Freedom protests erupted in September 2022. IRNA said 'the accused' had handed classified information to a "Mossad officer" with the aim of "propaganda for groups and organizations opposed to the Islamic Republic". 

The execution, which took place in a Zahedan jail in Sistan-Baluchestan province, came a day after Baluch militants attacked a police station in the province, killing 11 security personnel and wounding several others. The impoverished Sistan-Baluchestan province, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan, has long been the scene of frequent clashes between security forces and Sunni militants.

Saravani's alleged collaboration with Mossad dates back to 2021, according to the Ministry of Intelligence. 

Since the age of 18, the young IRGC-Basij member served as an adviser to Ali Osat Hashemi, the former governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province. He also had close ties with the next governor Danial Mahboubi and Ali-Asghar Mirshekar, the deputy for security affairs of the governor’s office. Saravani’s photos alongside high-ranking officials, including the supreme leader’s chief personal aide Vahid Haghanian, suggested he was very close to Ali Khamenei’s inner circle. Saravani introduced himself as a representative of Zahedan’s prosecutor general to exert influence over provincial offices.

Mandana Zanganeh Soroush, a former economic deputy in the governor’s office, was accused of providing Saravani with thousands of classified documents. Zanganeh Soroush later transferred to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, where Saravani approached her for information gathering there too. Images of chat history obtained by Iran International suggest an emotional and sexual relationship between Zanganeh Soroush and Saravani. Zanganeh Soroush, previously sentenced to eight years, had her sentence reduced to one year on appeal.

Saravani is just one of the many people whom Iran has executed over charges of espionage for Israel. Late in December, Iran executed four men in West Azarbaijan province arrested a year earlier for “collaborating with Israel” and allegedly involved in acts of sabotage, the Judiciary said. The accused were tried in secrecy and except for a brief announcement about their alleged crimes, no other details were released. Human rights monitoring groups say that the convicted prisoners had appealed their death sentence, but authorities ignored the legal process and carried out the death sentences. 

The executions occurred shortly after the reported killing of Razi Mousavi, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, in an attack attributed to Israel in the Zainabiyya neighborhood of Damascus, Syria. Some observers interpret the executions as potential retaliation by the Islamic Republic for the killing of Razi Mousavi. Mousavi played a crucial role in logistics and support for the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, being one of the six senior commanders instrumental in the survival of Bashar al-Assad's regime and the consolidation of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran has accused Israel of carrying out several attacks on facilities linked to its nuclear program and of killing its nuclear scientists over the years. In August, Iran accused Israel of being behind "one of the largest sabotage plots" targeting its defense industry and the production of missiles. In July, the intelligence ministry said it had arrested a network of agents working for Israel before they were able to carry out sabotage in sensitive locations. In January 2021, Israel said it had broken up an Iranian spy ring that recruited Israeli women via Facebook to photograph sensitive sites. In April 2021, Tehran blamed an act of "nuclear terrorism" for a disruption of power at its Natanz uranium enrichment facility in the desert in the central province of Esfahan (Isfahan).

On Monday, Behzad Shokati, a 47-year-old park ranger in Astara County, Northern Iran, ended his life, citing "poor living conditions" as the driving factor.

Zeynab Bahraini, an environmental journalist, reported that this marks the "second suicide among foresters in Astara and Gilan province in the past year."

In a second incident, a worker at the Khaniabad fruit and vegetables market in southern Tehran took his own life on Saturday. Colleagues of the worker remain unaware of the reasons behind his actions, with the police discovering his body near the workplace.

Emtedad, a social media news channel, also covered the ongoing suicides among workers in the Chovar petrochemical complex in Ilam. An interview with the brother of one of the workers revealed that the suicides were a response to the termination of cooperation by the contracting company. Allegedly, the company's CEO stated, "We don't need the services anymore," leading to the tragic outcome.

The incidents highlight the urgent need for attention to workers' well-being, addressing financial hardships, and providing mental health support. Workers in various sectors, including the petrochemical industry, face precarious employment conditions and economic challenges, contributing to the growing crisis.

As concerns intensify, demands for improved working conditions and fair treatment echo through protests and gatherings, as witnessed with retirees and employees from the Social Security and Steel Industries, Iranian Offshore Oil Company, Aghajari Oil and Gas, and Haft-Tappeh Steel, who rallied on Sunday to draw attention to their unmet demands.

Suicide in Islam is forbidden, but death by suicide has grown by more than 40 percent in Iran over a decade, according to statistics, attributed to deepening economic, political and social upheaval. The 2022 report on “Social Justice Indicators” shows that law enforcement agencies recorded 5,085 suicide cases in 2021, compared to 3,559 in 2011, Iran Open Data reported.