{"id":6834,"date":"2019-08-22T13:53:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T10:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/?p=6834"},"modified":"2021-05-30T09:42:47","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T06:42:47","slug":"iranian-arab-and-kurd-activists-call-for-the-resignation-of-ali-khamenei-us-stopped-iran-from-selling-2-7m-barrels-of-oil-daily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/monitoring-and-translation\/iran-in-a-week\/iranian-arab-and-kurd-activists-call-for-the-resignation-of-ali-khamenei-us-stopped-iran-from-selling-2-7m-barrels-of-oil-daily\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian Arab and Kurd Activists Call for the Resignation of Ali Khamenei; US Stopped Iran from Selling 2.7m Barrels of Oil Daily"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nFighting corruption requires serious determination<\/strong> <\/span>
\nThe editorial of Setareh Sobh focuses on the significance and implication of the recent dispute between Sadegh Amoli Larijani and Ayatollah Yazdi.
\nOn Monday, Sadegh Larijani, former Head of the Judicial branch and current Head of the Expediency Discernment Council, issued a statement in response to accusations made by Ayatollah Yazdi, member of the Guardian Council, which resulted in multiple reactions. Due to its harsh tone and unprecedented content, this statement attracted a lot of attention.
\nLarijani\u2019s performance, during his presidency over the judicial branch, wasn\u2019t criticized at all by the hardline conservatives. However, after being appointed as Head of the Expediency Discernment Council, Sadegh Larijani is facing criticism even from those who were close to him.
\nThere might be hidden motives behind such criticism, but confronting Larijani shouldn\u2019t be completely seen in that light. When Ebrahim Raisi replaced Larijani in the judiciary, this did not merely represent a change in its administration; rather it also represented a change in the management of hardline conservatives as well.
\nThe slogans raised by Raisi and the way he was backed by Iran\u2019s state-run TV, gradually brought the question of fighting corruption to the surface. At first, it looked as if the position of the current Head of the Judicial branch was just a formality, like that of the former heads of this branch.
\nNevertheless, what was different this time was the fact that Raisi as Head of the Judicial branch was acting in a non-partisan way. While it seemed that the Judicial branch would not target hardline conservatives, this branch\u2019s recent moves have proved otherwise. In addition, because of disclosures by hardline conservatives like Zakani and Tavakoli against Sadegh Larijani, the cronies of the former head of Judiciary were the first suspects who were investigated by the Judicial branch.
\nIt seems that Raisi\u2019s appointment as Head of the Judicial branch has resulted in settling political accounts within the hardline conservatives as well, which is why Yazdi has so openly lashed out at Sadegh Larijani. Furthermore, because of people\u2019s dissatisfaction over the issue of corruption in the country, the establishment is determined to counter the issue of corruption in a non-partisan way.
\nSetareh Sobh \u2013 August 21<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cReformists\u201d giving up their main cause<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe editorial of Hamdeli focuses on how the Iranian \u201creformist\u201d movement has abandoned its main cause, which was freedom in all fields of civil society.
\nTwo decades after the formation of the \u201creformist\u201d movement in Iran, it is hard to believe that this movement has given up its main cause and is talking of less important causes to the Iranian people. The \u201creformist\u201d movement\u2019s main slogan was freedom in all fields, and it became an official political current in Iran by forming a \u201creformist\u201d government between 1997-2005.
\nBut what happened in actuality was that due to severe opposition and disagreements from hardline conservatives within the Iranian establishment, the \u201creformist\u201d government couldn\u2019t entirely fulfill its plan for expanding civil freedoms which could have resulted in sustainable development in the country and increase the level of public satisfaction.
\nHowever, that wasn\u2019t the end of it. The \u201creformist\u201d movement was increasingly attacked by the hardliners who were against the society\u2019s will and demands. As a result, the \u201creformist\u201d elites became isolated, and the \u201creformist\u201d movement gave up its main cause \u2013 freedom \u2013 and turned to slogans like fighting corruption and transparency.
\nIncidentally, hardline conservatives in Iran can appropriate such slogans, just as today they claim that they are the champions of these causes. Their claim is certainly not true, because they do not believe in public freedom at all.
\nThe main reason for weakness in the body of the \u201creformist\u201d movement is due to it sidelining valuable figures, as well as allowing the presence of those who have never believed in the \u201creformist\u201d cause \u2013 freedom \u2013 and have sometimes created obstacles for it.
\nHamdeli \u2013 August 19<\/a><\/p>\n

Uncontrollable corruption<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe editorial of Servat deals with economic corruption in Iran and how the law allows t to happen.
\nDespite the fact that a vigorous move has started in Iran to fight corruption, it is not enough to hold trials without reporting the results to the people. Economic experts hold that as far as the economic structure in the country is based on rent-seeking, no court can uproot corruption in the country. There are laws that make it possible for violators to evade penalties, so countering economic violators is not enough. Existence of economic corruption indicates that there are problems in how the country is run, as well as in its laws.
\nOverseeing bodies headed by the judiciary must be independent. If these bodies continue to deal with the issue of corruption in accordance with their own political affiliations, there is no hope for resolving the existing problems. Public opinion doesn\u2019t see these courts as the real solution, because no official or influential individual has been put on trial on corruption charges.
\nOn the other hand, the country\u2019s important management circle is getting more and more narrow and limited. Instead of appointing worthy managers, \u2018dependent managers\u2019 are elected. As such, managers with maximum efficiency and expertise are not chosen; instead, those who just listen and obey have a better chance of being elected.
\nIn addition, in most cases, when there is corruption in an organization, it isn\u2019t immediately disclosed. The managers of that organization cover up the corruption, thinking that they saving the organization\u2019s reputation. Nevertheless, when the issue of corruption is publicized, it damages the credibility of that organization.
\nServat \u2013 August 19<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nPompeo: We removed 2.7m barrels per day of Iran\u2019s oil from the market<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nThe US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that because of the US sanctions, 2.7m barrels per day (bpd) of Iran\u2019s oil have been removed from the global market, emphasizing that Washington was sure its strategy of sanctions would work.
\nAccording to Reuters, Iran\u2019s export of oil and gas condensates in July reached 120,000 bpd. Before the US pulled out of the JCPOA last year, Iran\u2019s exports were about 2.8m bpd.
\nPompeo stated that the United States had planned to cut Iran\u2019s oil exports without having a negative impact on the global market. The objective was to stop Tehran from having access to huge oil revenues to launch \u2018terrorist campaigns\u2019 throughout the world. He asserted that Washington has been successful in this regard, and there is no problem in oil supply in the global market.
\nPompeo also accused the Iranian government again of being the biggest threat against peace and stability in the region. He wrote on his Twitter account: \u201cThe Iranian regime is the greatest ongoing threat to peace and security in the region. At the UNSC, I condemned its testing of advanced ballistic missile systems, support to proxies in the Middle East, and inexcusable sabotage and seizure of commercial vessels in the Gulf.\u201d
\nIn the meantime, Brian Hook, special representative on Iran to the US State Department, pointed to the expiring of certain UN sanctions against Iran next year, warning that this will not help to create peace in the region.
\nHook added according to UNSC 2231 Resolution issued in relation with the nuclear deal, UN arms sanctions on the Islamic Republic will end on October 2020, and the traveling ban on the IRGC Quds Commander Qassem Soleimani and on another 22 Iranians will be lifted.
\nBrian Hook urged that these sanctions should be extended.
\nRadio Farda<\/a><\/p>\n

14 Iranian Arab and Kurdish activists call for the resignation of Ali Khamenei, and the end of his establishment<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n14 Iranian Arab and Kurdish activists, as well as journalists and writers, have published an open letter, calling for the \u201centire dissolution of the Iranian establishment\u201d, while protesting at \u201ccultural and political discriminations\u201d as well as \u201clinguistic and ethnic apartheid\u201d.
\nThe signatories of this letter have also demanded the resignation of Ali Khamenei, Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader. They referred to the number of executions and imprisonment of individuals belonging to Iran\u2019s ethnic groupings, the letter called Iran\u2019s regime an \u201capartheid\u201d one.
\nThese activists also requested for the establishment of a \u201cdecentralized government\u201d.
\nMoreover, they supported previous letters written by civil and political activists both inside and outside Iran, urging Ali Khamenei to resign.
\n14 Iran-based political and civil activists issued a statement in June, asking Ali Khamenei to step down while calling for a fundamental change in Iran\u2019s Constitution.
\nFollowing that statement, 14 women\u2019s rights activists in Iran also issued another statement two months later, calling for Khamenei\u2019s resignation as well as a transition from the Iranian establishment. The statement said the Iranian regime was practising \u201cgender apartheid.\u201d This statement enjoyed support from 14 other women activists residing outside Iran.
\nIran\u2019s security forces have arrested a number of signatories of those letters in recent weeks.
\nIran International<\/a><\/p>\n

Rift between Ayatollahs<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nSadegh Amoli Larijani, head of the Expediency Discernment Council, reacted to Mohammad Yazdi, Chairman of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom after Yazdi made highly critical remarks against him. In a letter addressed to Yazdi, Larijani accused him of telling lies, hurling insults, and slandering others.
\nRecently, it was reported that Sadegh Amoli Larijani had asked the permission of the Islamic Republic\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to migrate to the city of Najaf after his former executive deputy Akbar Tabari was arrested. Tabari– who was Larijani\u2019s executive deputy during his chairmanship of Iran\u2019s judicial branch– was recently arrested on the charge of \u201cusing his influence on some judicial cases.\u201d
\nIn his speech in Qom, Mohammad Yazdi slammed Larijani, saying: \u201cOff you go! Nothing will change in [city of] Qom if you leave. Your presence in Qom was not that effective.\u201d
\nYazdi accused Larijani of building a \u201cpalace in the name of a seminary\u201d, adding \u201cHow could you afford it? Did you inherit it from your father?\u201d
\nIn reply, Sadegh Larijani denied Yazdi\u2019s remarks. Larijani said the seminary of Vali Asr was an endowment by his father. He then fiercely criticized Yazdi for \u201cgrabbing\u201d a building out of other authorities\u2019 hands and turning it into his own office when he was deputy chief of the Assembly of Experts.
\nSadegh Larijani also questioned Yazdi\u2019s presence in the Guardian Council: \u201cAll members of that council know how imprecise, unreasonable and even irrelevant your remarks are\u201d. He added, \u201cIf they keep silent and do not say a word, it is just out of respect for your age.\u201d
\nBBC Persian<\/a><\/p>\n

The Iranian government admits to torturing innocent defendants and coercing them to confess<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nThe Iranian government\u2019s spokesperson admitted that the defendants charged with the assassination of nuclear scientists were innocent. \u201cThey received apologies and were consoled at the time,\u201d added Ali Rabiei in a press conference.
\nRabiei also underscored that those defendants were arrested when the previous government was in office. He added the individuals investigating this case were not counter-espionage experts.
\nRecently, BBC Persian aired an interview with a defendant of that case, named Maziar Ebrahimi, who was accused of assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists. Ebrahimi said he had been under pressure and tortured by Iran\u2019s Intelligence Ministry to make false confessions.
\nEbrahimi, along with 12 others, was forced to confess that he had gone to Israel to receive training for the assassination of Iran\u2019s nuclear scientists. These coerced confessions were aired on Iran\u2019s state TV (IRIB) in a documentary called \u201cTerror Club.\u201d
\nIn the BBC Persian interview, Maziar Ebrahimi — who is currently outside Iran — also cast doubts on the validity of charges and confessions of another defendant of this case, Majid Jamali Fashi who was executed in 2012.
\nAfter Ebrahimi\u2019s interview was published, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a parliamentary member representing Tehran, asked the authorities to account for the \u201cvalidity or invalidity of confessions made by the defendants charged with the assassination of nuclear scientists\u201d in a Twitter post. The Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi promised to hold a press conference in order to clarify this issue. However, he has not fulfilled his promise yet.
\nAccording to Iranian authorities, four nuclear scientists were killed in a time span of two years, starting from 2009, and another one survived an assassination attempt.
\nBBC Persian<\/a><\/p>\n

UN human rights experts condemn heavy sentences for activists fighting compulsory hijab<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nA number of UN human rights experts, in a statement, condemned the issuance of heavy sentences against Yasman Aryani, Monireh Arabshahi, and Mozhgan Keshavarz for protesting against the compulsory hijab and called for their unconditional release. These three civil activists have been sentenced to 55 years and six months of discretionary imprisonment by Tehran\u2019s Revolutionary Court.
\nIn the statement, UN human rights experts said: \u201cWe are deeply concerned about the arrest and giving heavy imprisonment sentences to these women in relation to their peaceful activities for their rights\u201d. They asked the Iranian officials to revoke their sentences, they have called for guaranteeing women\u2019s equal rights in Iranian society.
\nAccording to the statement, these women have been accused of charges such as \u201cmeasures against national security\u201d, \u201cpropaganda against the establishment\u201d, and \u201cpromoting corruption\u201d, just because they had given flowers to other women on International Women\u2019s Day.
\nUN human rights experts have also told Iranian officials that protesting against the compulsory hijab is a women\u2019s right while suppressing them is in defiance of Iran\u2019s obligations according to international human rights conventions.
\nMeanwhile, Nasrin Setoudeh, who is jailed lawyer in Evin Prison, wrote a letter regarding efforts by women to end the compulsory hijab in Iran, calling them \u201ccreative and peaceful\u201d. She also criticized Iran issuing long imprisonment sentences for activists in this field.
\nIn her letter, Setoudeh praised the efforts of women activists, slamming the fact that the Islamic Republic is after \u201ccontrolling women day and night\u201d. She added that this control has targeted women\u2019s characters, bodies, and souls, but they have flourished against all odds.
\nIn 2018, Setoudeh was arrested in her house and was later condemned to 33 years and 6 months of imprisonment and 148 of lashes for her human rights activities.
\nRadio zamaneh<\/a>
\nIran International<\/a><\/p>\n

Brain drain and denying facts!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nBrain drain from Iran increases every year, making the future of a specialist workforce in Iran darker. The organizations that are in charge of finding a solution for this problem offer contradictory statistics and information in this regard, making it more difficult to study the case sociologically.
\nGermany\u2019s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, in its recent report regarding the education of refugee-seekers in this country, announced that in 2018, more than 47% of Iranian refugee-seekers said that they have an academic education. Almost 40% of Iranian refugee-seekers too said they have a high school diploma.
\nPublication of this information brought the issue of brain drain from Iran into focus once again. According to Bahram Salavati, member of the Institute for Demographic Studies in Iran, \u201c30% of the Iranian population tends to migrate from Iran\u201d.
\nAs for the statistics of educated refugee-seeking Iranians in Germany, it must be mentioned that a part of Iranian graduates who do not have any way for legal migration to other countries enter European countries as refugee-seekers. Meanwhile, the lines of immigrant applicants in front of the embassies of Canada, America, Australia, and some other countries inside Iran and neighboring countries become longer every day.
\nBrain drain started with the rise of the Iranian establishment. Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, always emphasized religious faith rather than expertise. As a result of this approach, a simple employee, for example, became the head of the hospital, while there were tens of specialist doctors working there. Most of the doctors left Iran in the early years of the Islamic Republic establishment.
\nAccording to estimates by international sources, Iranian people lose billions of dollars due to the migration of individuals with academic education. An economic expert said in 2018 that the cost of educating each person — from primary school to Ph.D. level — was about 11 billion tomans. In other words, what Iranian families and the government spend on scientific and cultural education will be pocketed by the countries that have suitable grounds for attracting these young talented individuals.
\nDeutche Welle<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fighting corruption requires serious determination The editorial of Setareh Sobh focuses on the significance and implication of the recent dispute between Sadegh Amoli Larijani and Ayatollah Yazdi. On Monday, Sadegh Larijani, former Head of the Judicial branch and current Head of the Expediency Discernment Council, issued a statement in response to accusations made by Ayatollah […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1768,3247,1637,3244,3245,386,2572,3246,237],"class_list":["post-6834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-iran-in-a-week","tag-ali-khamenei","tag-barrels-of-oil","tag-iran-in-a-week","tag-iranian-arab","tag-iranian-arab-and-kurd","tag-khamenei","tag-kurd","tag-resignation-of-ali-khamenei","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834","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=6834"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9106,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834\/revisions\/9106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}