![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/news.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Iran officials call the floods a blessing, and a divine opportunity; the IRGC and the government accuse each other of incompetence in helping the victims<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Zarif slams his US counterpart over his flood aid offer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The profiles of 100 human rights violators in Iran<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Paris\u2019 honorary citizenship for Nasrin Sotoudeh<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Khamenei has made no mistakes in the past 30 years, says a senior cleric<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Europe worries over the Islamic Republic\u2019s missile program<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Iran officials call the floods a blessing, and a divine opportunity; the IRGC and the government accuse each other of incompetence in helping the victims The victims of the floods in different areas of Iran are without food, shelter, and electricity; many have lost their lives; some officials have called the floods a useful and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":6281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[3016,3017,1253,3014,355,3015,826],"class_list":["post-6421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran-in-a-week","tag-accuse","tag-floods","tag-government","tag-incompetence","tag-irgc","tag-other","tag-victims"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6428,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6421\/revisions\/6428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/n83261768-72934348_1.jpg\")
\nThe victims of the floods in different areas of Iran are without food, shelter, and electricity; many have lost their lives; some officials have called the floods a useful and a divine opportunity, despite the widespread devastation they have caused.
\nThe Iranian First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri called the recent floods a \u201cblessing\u201d which have been useful for the country, so \u201cone should thank God for it.\u201d Jahangiri also asked the flood victims not to be worried about their financial losses, adding that the government would compensate them.
\nMeanwhile, Abasali Kadkhodai, the Spokesperson of the Guardian Council, went so far as to say that the floods in Iran were a \u2018divine opportunity\u2019 to prove that Iranian officials would be successful in helping those in flood-stricken areas.
\nThe Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, however, announced that the number of casualties caused by the floods in the country has increased to 62 individuals up to now. According to this report, 62 dead bodies were delivered to this Organization after the devastating floods hit Iran in recent weeks.
\nMeanwhile, Hassan Rouhani\u2019s government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps keep accusing each other of being incompetent in dealing with the floods and in providing timely help to the people.
\nThe Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour lambasted governmental institutions in failing to send help to Pol-e Dokhtar in the western province of Lorestan and said that the government officials \u201cdo not dare approach the area and the people can\u2019t take it anymore.\u201d
\nIn reaction, the National Disaster Management Organization (NDMO) published a statement, saying that the IRGC Ground Forces Commander came to the region after all obstacles and roads had been cleared by rescuers.
\nMoreover, a report was published by the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, questioning whether the recent floods in Iran were \u201cdeliberate\u201d, adding that the \u201cthe enemy\u201d might be behind the heavy rains and floods.
\nBrigadier General Gholamreza Jalali– who is in charge of the Passive Defense Organization of Iran– remarked that he had grounds for \u201csuspicion\u201d that the environmental changes in Iran were related to the \u201cinterference of foreigners.\u201d
\nRFI<\/a>
\nBBC Persian<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/57854650.jpg\")
\nThe Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has reacted to the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who expressed his country\u2019s willingness to provide help to the flood-stricken people in Iran.
\nOn a Twitter post, Zarif called Pompeo\u2019s offer \u201cfake news\u201d, saying his \u201cclaim\u201d that the US is ready to assist the International Committee of the Red Cross (IFRC) is not true as it should \u201cdirect money through the Iranian Red Crescent for relief.\u201d
\nHe added that the \u201creal news\u201d is that the IFRC cannot receive any funds due to the \u201cillegal\u201d US sanctions. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just economic warfare; it\u2019s economic terrorism,\u201d wrote Mohammad Javad Zarif.
\nThe U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had issued a statement, criticizing the Islamic Republic\u2019s establishment over the recent floods in Iran for its \u201cmismanagement in urban planning and in emergency preparedness.\u201d
\nPompeo added, \u201cthe regime blames outside entities when, in fact, it is their mismanagement that has led to this disaster.\u201d
\nHe then offered help by saying that the U.S. \u201cstands ready to assist and to contribute to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which would then direct the money through the Iranian Red Crescent for relief.\u201d
\nPompeo\u2019s statement came a day after Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister fiercely criticized the U.S. for its sanctions due to which aid efforts by the Iranian Red Crescent have been impeded.
\nISNA<\/a>
\nradio Farda<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/0E9BA16C-D923-45C0-A571-60640581E0C0_w1023_r1_s.jpg\")
\nJustice for Iran, a non-governmental human rights organization, has published a book on the anniversary of the referendum which led to the establishment of the Islamic Republic, shedding light on 100 human rights violators in Iran.
\nThe book entitled Profiles of Crime consists of the legal cases of 100 individuals\u2014mostly the Islamic Republic\u2019s senior officials\u2014who have violated human rights in the past 40 years in institutions (judiciary, government, and parliament) supervised by the Islamic Republic\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
\nThe human rights violators mentioned in this book include the Islamic Republic\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, the Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi, the Head of Expediency Council Sadegh Amoli Larijani and the former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Moussavi.
\nIn the book, a long list of human rights violations in Iran have been published which includes the suppression of public protests in the 1980s, the 1990s, and after the presidential elections in 2009 as well as last winter\u2019s protests. The book also elaborates on mass executions in the first decade of the Islamic Revolution and in 1988.
\nAmong these 100 criminals, only one has been tried: the former Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi. He was dismissed from his position, fined and sentenced 2 years in prison for his role in the Kahrizak detention center where a number of protesters arrested during Iran\u2019s 2009 unrest were killed. However, it is not clear if he has served his prison term completely.
\nAccording to Justice for Iran, 41 individuals of these 100 violators of human rights have been subjected to international punishments due to \u2018serious violation of human rights.\u2019 These punishments include banning their travel to European countries or the United States and freezing their assets in those countries.
\nRadio Farda<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/206886DB-F3D0-4ACA-AD84-1D6343D57A58_cx0_cy0_cw90_w1023_r1_s.jpg\")
\nThe Paris city council gave honorary citizenship of its city to Nasrin Sotoudeh,
\na prominent lawyer and human rights defender, for fighting for basic freedoms and women\u2019s rights. The members of the city council also called for the immediate release of Sotoudeh from prison.
\nThe city council\u2019s statement highlighted Sotoudeh\u2019s efforts against the death penalty and her campaigns for minority rights, as well as women\u2019s rights.
\nIn the meantime, Nasrin Sotoudeh, in a letter, announced that the Islamic Republic\u2019s Judiciary sentenced her to 12-years imprisonment on the charge of \u201cpromoting corruption and prostitution\u201d for representing women who protested compulsory hijab in Iran.
\nShe added that the judge in charge of her case used an obscene word when referring to the women who were her clients and that he can be prosecuted for his words.
\nSotoudeh noted in her letter that she was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in jail for \u201cassembly and collusion against national security.\u201d She was also sentenced to another 7 years and 6 months in jail for \u201cmembership in the Defenders of Human Rights Center, the Legam campaign [against capital punishment].
\nApart from those charges, Sotoudeh has been sentenced to a year and a half in prison for \u201cpropaganda activities against the establishment,\u201d and 3 years and 74 lashes for \u201cdisseminating falsehoods to agitate the public mind.\u201d She has also been sentenced to 74 more lashes for \u201cappearing without hijab in the judiciary.\u201d
\nNasrin Sotoudeh, in her letter, asserted that her sentence was 38 years in prison and 148 lashes in total, 12 years of which would be carried out. Article 134 of Iran\u2019s Islamic Penal Code states that if an individual is convicted of at least three crimes, that person will serve the longest of those sentences.
\nRadio Farda<\/a>
\nIran International<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/57375894.jpg\")
\nMohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, a senior ultraconservative cleric, claims that the Islamic Republic\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has not made \u201ceven one mistake\u201d during his leadership in the past three decades.
\nThe fact that Ayatollah Khamenei has been in his position for 30 years facing the most complicated social issues without making one mistake is surprising, said Mesbah Yazdi. He added that all world leaders make numerous mistakes on a daily basis.
\nThis senior cleric also claimed that Iran has received many \u201cblessings\u201d during the Islamic Republic\u2019s establishment that \u201cthe public does not understand\u201d because \u201cunderstanding some blessings is more difficult\u201d than others.
\nAs for the blessings \u201cunderstandable to all,\u201d Mesbah Yazdi referred to security while saying that before the revolution people were even frightened of their own family members, thinking any one of them might be working for SAVAK (Organization of National Security and Information during the Shah\u2019s regime).
\nDespite Mesbah Yazdi\u2019s remarks, statistics indicate that Khamenei\u2019s leadership has been neither flawless nor successful. Iran under Khamenei holds a very low position in many global indexes. Also, the country has faced many economic crises, leading to many protests in which protesters chanted slogans against the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.
\nIn Iran under Khamenei, there has been widespread corruption; a lawmaker went to the extent of urging that for corruption to be confronted that it must be confronted first in the Supreme Leader\u2019s office.
\nReporters Without Borders, in its annual report regarding freedom in the world\u2019s media, has ranked Iran 164 among 180 countries. Global communities have objected to the issuance of long sentences against political, media, and human rights activists, as well as against attorneys.
\nISNA<\/a>
\nRadio Farda<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/47420928_303.jpg\")
\nGermany, France, and Britain, in a letter to Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, have asked him to present a \u2018comprehensive, thorough\u2019 report regarding Iran\u2019s missile activities in his next report that is set to be released in June.
\nExpressing their concerns over this issue again, these three countries have written that Iran\u2019s missile program has made the region unstable and will further intensify existing tensions.
\nFrance and Britain are permanent members of the UN Security Council, and Germany has a non-permanent seat in it. They have now joined the United States in considering the missile and space program of the Islamic Republic as a violation of the UNSC Resolution 2231 and have criticized it.
\nThe Security Council Resolution 2231, issued in 2015 with regard to the nuclear deal, requires that Iran avoids any activities in relation to ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The Islamic Republic claims that its missiles have not been designed for carrying nuclear warheads, urging that it is merely testing \u2018usual\u2019 weapons, and its missile activities are within the framework of the defense program of the country.
\nThe three European countries, in their letter to the UN Secretary-General, have specifically pointed to the launching of a satellite-carrier missile and the unveiling of two new ballistic missiles last February by the Islamic Republic, calling both a violation of the UNSC Resolution.
\nIn reaction to the letter by Germany, France, and Britain, Iran\u2019s Representative in the United Nations emphasized that the continuation of its missile and space program is the \u2018inherent right\u2019 of the Islamic Republic.
\nThe ballistic missiles program of the Islamic Republic has turned into an international dispute, particularly as it is considered by Israel a threat to its existence. According to the German news agency, these missiles can target any location in Israel with their 2000km range.
\nIn January, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed to Iran\u2019s missile program and activities accusing Iran of being after \u2018enhancing missile capability to threaten Europe and the Middle East\u2019.
\nThe Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said with regard to the letter by the three European countries that they are \u2018busy appeasing Donald Trump by pressuring the UN over our defense capabilities.\u2019 He also warned that the Europeans must accept their obligations in the nuclear deal.
\nDeutche Welle<\/a>
\nRadio Farda<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"