Tahereh Saeidi reported the hunger strike on her Instagram page. Jafar Panahi, a former Golden Bear winner and director of socially-conscious films, was arrested along with other Iranian filmmakers on July 20th of last year for protesting the arrest of two colleagues. Despite being a recipient of several awards, including a Golden Lion for “The Circle” at the Venice Film Festival and a Golden Bear for “Taxi Tehran” at the Berlin Film Festival, Panahi found himself in Evin prison after a judge resentenced him. He began his dry hunger strike, refusing both food and water, on Wednesday as stated in the statement.

“Today, I am compelled to protest against the inhumane treatment of the judicial and security forces in Iran through my most valuable possession – my life,” stated Panahi. He added that the protest is against the illegal and oppressive behavior of the authorities, who have taken hostages.

“I have started a hunger strike since the morning of the 12th of Bahman, and I will refuse to eat and drink any food and medicine until the time of my release. I will remain in this
state until perhaps my lifeless body is freed from prison,” the renowneddirector said in the statement. “With love for Iran and the people of my land,” Jafar Panahi signed off.

Last month, there were expectations that the judiciary would order Panahi’s release, but he is still detained in Evin prison in Tehran. Panahi, 62, was arrested on July 11th and was serving a 6-year sentence imposed in 2010 for “propaganda against the system,” according to AFP. However, on October 15th, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial, giving his legal team reason to hope for his release.

Panahi’s arrest in July occurred when he appeared in court for fellow filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, who had been arrested a few days prior. Rasoulof was freed from prison on January 7th on a two-week medical leave and is reportedly still outside of jail.

Cinema producers and directors are among the thousands of people arrested by Iran in its crackdown on the protests sparked by the September 16, 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been arrested for allegedly violating its strict dress code for women. Another popular actor Taraneh Alidoosti, who had published images of herself without wearing the Islamic headscarf, was among those detained although she was released in early January after being held for almost three weeks.

(Reports on the basic of those in New Indian Express inputs from AFP)

The post Jafar Panahi, Jailed Iran filmmaker on hunger strike appeared first on SabrangIndia.

New Delhi: An Iranian filmmaker of repute, Reza Dormishian, was barred from travelling to India over what reports have said were Iranian authorities’ disapproval of his anti-regime views. His passport was also seized, it has been reported. There is lack of clarity over what charges he might face.

Variety has reported that Dormishian was supposed to appear at the International Film Festival of India in Goa, representing Dariush Mehrjui’s film A Minor. Mehrjui is a pioneer of Iran’s new wave in cinema.

The film festival was supposed to conclude yesterday. Mehrjui’s film was scheduled to be screened twice last week. The Variety report said that Iranian authorities confiscated Dormishian’s passport as he reached the Tehran airport. “It is not clear if Dormishian was arrested or what charges he must answer,” the report noted.

Deadline has reported that Dormishian is a screenwriter, director, documentary filmmaker and producer who has worked in several award-winning films. “His movies have often criticised aspects of Iranian society and have been subject to heavy censorship and lengthy bans in his home country,” the report says.

Iran’s filmmakers have faced a strenuous battle with state censorship and ostracism. In July 2022, internationally renowned director, Jafar Panahi was arrested in the midst of a fresh crackdown on dissidents and the enforcement of moral rules in the country. Panahi had earlier been under house arrest. Currently,  widespread protests, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini after her arrest for “inappropriate attire”, pose one of the strongest challenges to the country’s clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Several media reports opine that it is Dormishian’s recent Instagram posts in support of the protests could have led to the state taking such action.

Related:

The Number Of Death In The On-going Protests In Iran Reaches 154

3 ways these latest Iran demonstrations are different to past protests

The post Iranian Filmmaker barred from coming to Indian Film Festival, passport seized in Iran appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Once again, Iran is in the midst of political upheaval and civil unrest. The latest protests, triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the morality police, follow several other protests that have occurred in Iran over recent years.

So what is new about this latest round of demonstrations? Here are three key ways these protests are different.

1. Public support for these protests appears higher and more widespread

At the crux of the latest demonstrations is Iran’s morality police, which is tasked with enforcing strict codes around dress and behaviour.

The morality police arrested Mahsa Amini earlier this month, saying she was wearing her hijab too loosely. She subsequently died. Her family say she was beaten (a claim rejected by the government and police).

Whatever transpired, the Amini case has triggered a groundswelling of public anger around the behaviour of the morality police, with protesters demanding women be given the right to choose what to wear.

The anger this diverse group feels over government interference in people’s personal decisions has found a fitting platform in the present protests.

Since the early 1980s, when the ruling clergy consolidated power by eliminating opposition groups, social regulation and strict rules around lifestyle have formed the crux of their policies.

Government meddling in the private lives of its citizens was once far more pervasive, extensive, and stringent. For example, homes were searched for VCRs and satellite dishes.

In time, such restrictions were relaxed (to some degree). For women, however, the rules remain highly discriminatory. Government dos and don’ts are still heavily enforced. The Iranian government persists in denying women their fundamental rights; the debate over the headscarf and women’s dress is just one visible manifestation of this.

Apart from being demeaning and degrading, these regulations make day-to-day living extremely difficult for a great number of women who do not agree with the clergy.

Today, it’s hard to find someone in Iran who hasn’t been harassed at least once by the ruling clergy in some way.

That is why, compared to previous demonstrations in Iran, the number of people who support the current protests appears quite high and widespread. Protests are underway in cities large and small, neighbourhoods rich and poor.

2. The latest protests are led by women

Unlike previous protests in Iran, women are at the forefront of the demonstrations.

Women’s rights are at the centre of these protests, while previous protests have focused more on economic or broader political issues.

The government’s intrusion into citizens – especially women citizen’s – private lives is the source of the demonstrations this time around. It has proved difficult so far, for the government to explain their policies in a way that is convincing for many people.

3. The courage shown during these demonstrations is unprecedented

All protest comes at enormous personal risk in Iran. But these latest protesters have done some unusually brave things. The courage shown by protesters is unprecedented.

Some women have removed their headscarves in the street or set them on fire. Some have cut their hair in public.

Many videos appear to show anti-riot police failing to disperse the crowd, and even protesters occasionally pushing back police.

The scale of the demonstrations and the degree of anger among these latest protestors is unusual.

Will these protests bring lasting change?

It is too early to say. Iran’s leaders have shown time and time again they are not interested in yielding to popular demands.

The Iranian leadership may fear appeasing protesters would just encourage further demands and may even trigger their downfall.

And while the latest demonstrations are widespread, they are also dispersed.

There is no guarantee the different demonstrations underway in various cities will be able to coalesce around a single, coherent movement.

The demonstrations are also hampered by the absence of a cohesive leadership and, it would seem, any kind of methodical organisation.

Whether or not these demonstrations result in significant change, they have undoubtedly come at a cost to Iran’s ruling clergy.

Perhaps the most significant of these costs is the effect these protests have had on the already dwindling legitimacy of the Islamic Republic, both domestically and internationally.

Naser Ghobadzadeh, Senior lecturer, National School of Arts, Australian Catholic University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The post 3 ways these latest Iran demonstrations are different to past protests appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Even as democratic rights individuals and groups world over celebrated the protest art from Iran, with powerful images of women showing their long hair chained behind oppressive imagery, the blonde hair of Najafi appeared uncovered in a clip that went viral on social media. Did this courageous protest cost her life?

On Sunday, Iranian journalist Farzad Seifikaran reported that Najafi Hadis was killed on Wednesday in the city of Karaj after being shot multiple times by security personnel in the face and neck. Iranian activists stated that Najafi was the woman tying her hair in a viral video as she got ready to participate in anti-government protests. By untying her hair in the face of the state, a simple yet powerful gesture, she was making a huge statement against that same law that had led to the death of 22-year-old Amini, a Kurdish woman who died of fatal injuries reportedly inflicted while in custody. Amini had been previously been detained by the Islamic Republic’s “morality police” for wearing the hijab “inappropriately.”

The powerful image of this young protester had showed the feisty young woman facing Iranian police without wearing a veil, something which is forbidden by law in Iran. Since 1983, four years after the 1979 Islamic revolution wearing the hijab in public has been made compulsory for women in the country, never mind their faith or nationality. Najafi and dozens of other, like many other Iranian women had joined the street-wide protests, facing the Iranian police with her hair uncovered, and was captured on camera tying them up with a rubber band. Over past weeks powerful art protests have emerged out of Iran. 

According to Amnesty International, at least 21 people–including three children—had been killed by security forces on the night of September 21. At least 41 people have now been killed in total, according to a death toll given by Iran’s state television on Sunday, though official numbers have not yet been released.

Among those killed, there’s Najafi.

 It was Amini’s death that triggered the outrage of tens of thousands of people across Iran and has seen many take to the streets of several cities. For the past ten days or so, outrage and protests have swept the country, with demonstrators facing a violent response by police and authorities. A unique aspect of the protests has been women who have been the core and pivot of the demonstrations in Iran, with many burning their veils and cutting their hair in protest.

20-year-old Hadis Najafi was killed by six gunshots during protests in Iran. In this photo, women and men chant slogans as they march in a pro-hijab rally in Iran’s capital Tehran on September 23, 2022. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Even as protests swept the country, the present President, Ebrahim Raisi was quoted by state media on Saturday saying that the country must “deal decisively with those who oppose the country’s security and tranquillity.” Thereafter, in many cities, including the capital, security forces responded to the protests by opening fire against demonstrators.

Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad reported that the 20-year-old woman was killed after being hit by six bullets in the city of Karaj, according to what Najafi’s sister told her. The reporter, who did not specify the date of Najafi’s death, described the news as “heartbreaking.”

1)
Heartbreaking News:

This woman who’s video of getting ready to stand face to face with the killer of #MahsaAmini got killed herself.
Her name was Hadis Najafi. Her sister told me that she was only 20 Yr old and she got killed by 6 bullets in the city of Karaj. #مهسا_امینی https://t.co/9zagfYe4FJ pic.twitter.com/6wAIFNag1G

— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 25, 2022

“Hadis Najafi 21 Yr old girl must become another symbol like #MahsaAmini, because she didn’t keep silent in the face of tyranny. She got killed for the crime of protesting the brutal death of Mahsa. I call on world to be the voice of #HadisNajafi too. A true hero,” Alinejad wrote on Twitter.

The journalist shared a clip from the Najafi’s funeral and said she was “a kind hearted girl and loved dancing.”

This is the funeral of 20 year old #HadisNajafi, who was shot dead on the streets by security forces for protesting yhe murder of #MahsaAmini by Hijab Police.
Hadis was a kind hearted girl and loved dancing. pic.twitter.com/tduxVe1SZf

— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 25, 2022

On Sunday, September 25, it was reported that Anonymous, the international hacktivist collective known for its several cyber attacks against governments and government institutions and agencies, hacked the database of Iran’s Supreme Audit Court and released the data of all members of the Iranian Parliament, including their phone numbers. 

Majid Sadeghpour, a political director and member of The Organization of Iranian-American Communities, said, “People of Iran are in the process of another revolution, [as] the regime has been declining for years and now is literally falling. We call on the international community to cut ties with this regime and instead support the Iranian people and their [organized] resistance.”

Related

“IMSD strongly condemns the repressive Iranian regime, questions the hypocrisy of the Muslim clergy in India”

The post Hadis Najafi, young Iranian woman, symbol of protests after viral video, killed appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Iranians took to the streets for a 10th consecutive night Sunday, in defiance of a warning from the judiciary, to protest the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.

Images circulated by IHR showed protesters on the streets of Tehran, shouting “death to the dictator,” purportedly after nightfall on Sunday.

Witnesses said that protests in several locations were ongoing.

Many Iranian women protesters have removed and burnt their hijabs in the rallies and cut off their hair, some dancing near large bonfires to the applause of crowds that have chanted “zan, zendegi, azadi” or “woman, life, freedom.”

The demonstrations have spread to all of Iran’s 31 provinces and are the largest since nationwide demonstrations three years ago that were met with a deadly security response that killed hundreds.

Media reports said:

At least 41 people have died since the unrest began, mostly protesters but including members of the Islamic Republic’s security forces, according to an official toll, although other sources say the real figure is higher.

Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said on Sunday evening that the death toll was at least 57, but noted that ongoing internet blackouts were making it increasingly difficult to confirm fatalities in a context where the women-led protests have in recent nights spread to scores of cities.

Hundreds of demonstrators, reformist activists and journalists have been arrested amid the mostly nighttime demonstrations since unrest first broke out after Amini’s death on Sept. 16.

Amini, whose Kurdish first name was Jhina, was detained three days before that for allegedly breaching the rules that mandate tightly-fitted hijab head coverings and which ban, among other things, ripped jeans and brightly colored clothes.

Iran’s largest protests in almost three years have seen security forces fire live rounds and bird shot, rights groups charge, while protesters have hurled rocks, torched police cars and set ablaze state buildings.

Videos circulated on Saturday and Sunday showed protests in several areas of Tehran, as well as in Shiraz, in southern Iran, and Fardis, west of the capital. In one protest in Sattar Khan, a central neighborhood in Tehran, a crowd gathered around what was reported to be a burning police motorcycle, chanting “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, we are all together,” according to a video posted by 1500 Tasvir, an anti-government monitoring group.

The group said in a text message that the pace of protest videos emerging from Iran had slowed late Saturday into Sunday, in part because of internet disruptions imposed by the authorities over the past week, as well as restrictions on apps including Instagram and WhatsApp. Netblocks, an internet monitoring group, said Sunday evening that it had detected a “nation-scale disruption to Mobinet,” one of the largest mobile network operators in Iran.

In Kurdish areas of western Iran, where Amini was from, cities have become “heavily militarized,” by the security forces, said Rebin Rahmani, member of the board of directors of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, based in Paris.

The cities of Kermanshah, Kamyaran, Sanandaj, Saqqez, Divandarreh, and Oshnavieh were “under tight security control,” he said. Oshnavieh had been shut down for three days, he said, after a “horrible incident where several people were killed Wednesday night.” He denied earlier reports that protesters had routed security forces in the city.

In a rural area called Balo, near Iran’s border with Turkey, families of protesters who were killed last week set fire to a base used Thursday by the Basij paramilitary forces, Rahmani said.

“We haven’t received any videos today,” he said. “Because the internet is cut it’s very difficult to get any news.” Arrests were being carried out based on previously recorded videos of the protests, he added.

As the internet blackout obscured events in Iran, news of the death of a lone protester, a woman, that circulated widely over the weekend sparked fresh anger.

The woman, Hadis Najafi, had been seen in a video last week tying her blond, uncovered hair in a ponytail on the edge of a protest in Karaj, northwest of Tehran. Human rights activists said she was fatally shot by security forces Wednesday.

The world has learnt of the violence largely through shaky mobile phone footage posted on social media, even as authorities have throttled internet access.

Web monitor NetBlocks noted “rolling blackouts” and “widespread internet platform restrictions,” with WhatsApp, Instagram and Skype having already been blocked.

This followed older bans on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Telegram.

Protests abroad have been held in solidarity with Iranian women in Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul, Madrid, New York and Paris, among other cities.

Iran — which is ruled by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 83, and which has been hit with tough economic sanctions over its nuclear program — has blamed “foreign plots” for the unrest.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi threatened a harsh response Saturday, vowing a “decisive strike on the disrupters of security and peace of the country,” in a phone call with the family of a slain member of the security forces, local Iranian news outlets reported.

Echoing a warning the previous day by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on Sunday “emphasized the need for decisive action without leniency” against the core instigators of the “riots,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.

On Sunday, Ahmad Vahidi, Iran’s interior minister, called on the judiciary to pursue a “quick, decisive, legal confrontation with the leaders and agents of these riots that will teach others a lesson,” according to Hamshahri, a state-run newspaper.

The foreign ministry said Sunday it had summoned Britain’s ambassador over what it described as an “invitation to riots” by Farsi-speaking media based in London, and Norway’s envoy over “unconstructive comments” made by his country’s parliament speaker.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Amir-Abdollahian criticized “the U.S. interventionist approach in the affairs of Iran including its provocative actions in supporting the rioters.”

Pro-government Rallies

Iran has also organized large rallies in defense of the hijab and conservative values.

Pro-government rallies were held Sunday, with the main event taking place in Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran, where demonstrators voiced support for mandatory hijab laws.

“Martyrs died so that this hijab will be on our head,” said demonstrator Nafiseh, 28, adding that she was opposed to making the wearing of the hijab voluntary.

Another demonstrator, 21-year-old student Atyieh, called for “strong action against the people who are leading” the protests.

The main reformist group inside Iran, the Union of Islamic Iran People’s Party, however, has called for the repeal of the mandatory dress code.

Human rights groups based abroad have sought to shine light on the turmoil rocking Iran, citing their own sources in the country.

IHR reported on Sunday that an umbrella of Iranian teachers’ unions were calling on teachers and students to boycott classes on Monday and Wednesday in support of the protests.

Iranian authorities have yet to state the cause of death of Amini, who activists say died as a result of a blow to the head.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has said Amini was not beaten and that “we must wait for the final opinion of the medical examiner.”

A tightening crackdown has included the use of live ammunition against demonstrators and heavy deployments of security forces in Kurdish areas of western Iran, where the protests have been concentrated.

18 Journalists Arrested

As of Sunday, at least 18 journalists had been arrested during the unrest, including several who were taken into custody during early morning raids on their homes, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

Protesters March Through Downtown Ottawa, Burn Headscarf

A CBC report said:

With the death of a young Iranian woman in police custody sparking demonstrations around the world, hundreds of people also took to the streets of Ottawa Sunday to protest against the Iranian government.

“This could have happened to [any] one of us,” said Taraneh, a protester who lived in Iran for about 30 years. CBC is withholding her last name due to her safety concerns.

Taraneh said she and her sister were once arrested by the morality police while in Iran and held for five or six hours.  She said she’s frustrated that Iranian women are forced to comply with the strict hijab requirements.

“The women in Iran are not free at all,” she said. “We are tired of this system.”

The protesters marched past Parliament Hill on Wellington Street, down Metcalfe Street and onto Queen Street, where they gathered to chant and burn a scarf in protest.

Police estimated about 1,000 people took part.

“It is not just a matter of hijab anymore. It is not a matter of the morality police forces anymore,” said organizer Rosa Kheirandish, who was born in Iran and moved to Canada in 2001.

“They just want the mandatory Islamic Republic to go.”

Kheirandish said she helped organize the protest so that other Iranians could claw back their freedom from the oppressive government — starting with freedom of religion.

“[They want] that same kind of freedom that we have here in Canada,” said Kheirandish. “I mean, thank God we have it here.”

She said she also hopes the protest raises awareness of what Iranians are facing.

Kheirandish fears that the internet disconnection will precede government violence.

Another protester, Lora Solaimani, said she was concerned internet outages may also impede Iranians’ ability to call to the international community for help.

“They have cut the internet so that we cannot actually see what is going on,” said Solaimani. “I think that needs international attention.”

Protestor Rahil Golipoor, a risk analyst for the federal government, said the oppression of human rights happening in Iran could have a harmful impact worldwide.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is a risk for the world,” Golipoor said, adding that the actions by the country’s morality police could influence other governments. “They are a virus starting in Iran, but they do not stay in Iran.”

Golipoor said she is demonstrating not just against Iran, but to send a global message against all religious and gender-based discrimination.

“We stand for the future of the world,” said Golipoor. “We do not stay silent for any dictator [or] religion.”

Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org

The post Defying Warning, Iranians’ Anti-hijab Protest Continues For 10th Night: 57 Deaths appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Dubai: Clashes between Iranian security forces and protesters angry over the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody have killed at least nine people since the violence erupted over the weekend, according to a tally on Thursday by The Associated Press.

Widespread outages of Instagram and WhatsApp, which protesters use to share information about the government’s rolling crackdown on dissent, continued on Thursday.

Authorities also appeared to disrupt internet access to the outside world, a tactic that rights activists say the government often employs in times of unrest.

The demonstrations in Iran began as an emotional outpouring over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman held by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly enforced dress code.

Her death has sparked sharp condemnation from the United States, the European Union and the United Nations. The police say she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family has cast doubt on that account.

The protests have grown in the last four days into an open challenge to the government, with women removing their state-mandated headscarves in the streets and Iranians setting trash bins ablaze and calling for the downfall of the Islamic Republic itself.

“Death to the dictator!” has been a common cry in the protests.

Demonstrations have also rocked university campuses in Tehran and far flung western cities such as Kermanshah.

Although widespread, the unrest appears distinct from earlier rounds of nationwide protests triggered by pocketbook issues as Iran’s economy staggers under heavy US sanctions.

The unrest that erupted in 2019 over the government’s abrupt gasoline price hike mobilised working class masses in small towns.

Hundreds were killed as security forces cracked down, according to human rights groups, the deadliest violence since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s state-run media this week reported demonstrations in at least 13 cities, including the capital, Tehran, as protesters vent anger over social repression.

Videos online show security forces firing tear gas and water canons to disperse the protests. London-based Amnesty International reported that officers fired birdshot and beat protesters with batons.

At least nine people have died in the confrontations, according to an AP count based on statements from Iran’s state-run and semi-official media.

Officials have blamed unnamed foreign countries, which they claim are trying to foment unrest.

In Amini’s home province in the northwest, Kurdistan, the provincial police chief said four protesters were killed by live fire.

In Kermanshah, the prosecutor said two protesters were killed by opposition groups, insisting that the bullets were not fired by Iran’s security forces.

Meanwhile, three men affiliated with the Basij, a volunteer force under the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, were also killed in clashes in the cities of Shiraz, Tabriz and Mashhad, semiofficial media reported, bringing the death toll on both sides to nine.

As the protests spread, authorities shut down the internet in parts of the country, according to NetBlocks, a London-based group that monitors internet access, describing the restrictions as the most severe since the mass protests of November 2019.

Iran has grappled with waves of protests in recent years, mainly over a long-running economic crisis exacerbated by Western sanctions linked to its nuclear programme.

Iranians also blame government corruption and mismanagement as prices of basic goods soar, the currency shrivels in value and unemployment remains high.

The Biden administration and European allies have been working to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear accord, in which Iran curbed its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief, but the talks have been deadlocked for months.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Iran: At Least 9 Killed as Protests Spread Over Mahsa Amini’s Death appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In what seems to be another of the Centre’s glaring incapabilities, forty days after they were air-lifted from Covid-19 hit Iran, two students who were placed under quarantine in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district, were asked to make their own arrangements to return to their respective homes amid the nationwide lockdown absence of any transportation, reported The Indian Express.

Pursuing a Master’s course at Tehran’s Allahmed Tabatabai University, Minhaj Alam was part of the group which was evacuated along with pilgrims from Kashmir and Ladakh. He said that Central authorities asked him to arrange for transport to reach home, nearly 2000 kms away from Jaisalmer in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal.

He also spoke about how private cab services exploited him even in this situation and demanded Rs. 60,000 for the trip. He said, “Pilgrims and students from Kashmir who returned with me are being sent home, but I am being asked to go home on my own. Why is this discrimination? I went to study in Iran on a fully-funded scholarship programme. I can’t afford to spend Rs 60,000 given the economic condition of my family. I hope the government will make some arrangements.”

Minhaj had undergone four Covid-19 tests since his return on March 15 and all of his tests had been negative. Last week on Friday, authorities informed Minhaj’s family that they would have to make arrangements for his return. Meeraj, Minhaj’s brother said, “We were clearly told that it was easier for them to send him back to Iran or Srinagar.”

Mohammed, another student who had returned with Minhaj, said that his family in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, too received a similar call from the quarantine centre.

Rohit Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Rajasthan said that 457 evacuees from Iran who were quarantined at the Army facility in Jaisalmer had been sent to their homes in Srinagar and Ladakh in three batches over three days last week.

Defence spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh had said that while the Army maintained and ran quarantine centers, it was the Ministry of Home Affairs decided upon the movement of those under quarantine.

When asked about facilitating return of those who have completed their mandatory isolation at these centres, Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson Vasudha Gupta said she had no information regarding this.

However, while these two students were asked to fend for themselves, around 52 Kashmiri students had been airlifted from Jaisalmer where they were under quarantine after returning from Iran. They were screened and counseled after they landed at Srinagar International Airport and sent to their respective homes.

Till March 29, a total of 941 Indian nationals, mostly pilgrims and students had been evacuated from Iran in six batches.

Related:

A sacrifice most unfair
32 tribals homes demolished in Kalahandi Odisha
Rajasthan makes arrangements for safe passage of migrants

The post Two students evacuated from Iran asked to make own travel arrangements back home appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“We have no water, we are boiling sea water to drink, we have no food, we are going to die,” says the young man in Tamil, in a desperate tone that you can sense, coming from a parched throat. He looks like he has not had a proper meal in days, his friend sitting beside him looks the same. The young fisherman is now stuck on his boat, on the coast of Iran. He is just one of the 820 Tamil fishermen now sending SOS videos to India, hoping that someone in the government takes notice and rescues them. 

With each passing day, they run low on food, medication, and will power. The SOS videos sent by these overseas Indians do not seem to have moved the authorities yet. After all they are not the typical NRIs often feted at various Pravasi Bharatiya events, nor are they from families who can afford to send chartered flights to rescue and bring them home in the face of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping across the globe. The coronavirus has not made any exceptions and has so far infected thousands irrespective of age, gender, immunity level, or the amount of money in their pockets. 

The only people who seem to have heard the fishermen’s pleas are their families waiting back home in various parts of Tamil Nadu. Understandably the families have seen and have begun to fear the worse for their boys. They too, have begun appealing to the governments, hoping someone takes notice of their cries before it is too late.

“I sent my son to Iran around nine months ago. He went there to earn a living, so he could marry his sisters off. Only now we learnt about the coronavirus situation in Iran. Our boys hope that helicopters  rescue them,” said Vijayalakshmi, sending a video message from Samba Thottam in Nagore. She fears that her son, and the other fishermen are also vulnerable to Coronavirus as they do not have shelter or access to proper medical care. “If these boys get infected with a virus in Iran, can the government bring back their life? Will they be able to give our sons back to us? They do not have food, water and proper shelter. They cry everyday, are dying, and are losing hope,” she added. 

According to Dr Kumarvelu, vice chairperson of the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF), there may be more than 820 Tamil fishermen now stuck in Iran and all of them are facing a life-or-death situation with little access to food and water, and no health facilities. “They are almost imprisoned in the very boats they went fishing in.” The locals, including the contractors and middle men have also left the fishermen to their fate. “They’re not being allowed to even step out of the boats. This is nothing but a violation of basic human rights,” said Dr Kumarvelu. 

“What wrong have we done? We are ordinary fisherfolk, where else can we go?,” said a brother of one of the fishermen still in Iran, “how can our boys survive on eating just once a day?” According to him fishermen are always vulnerable when at sea and many have lost their lives when natural disasters such as cyclones, or are caught in the crossfires of Naval forces. The coronavirus pandemic has now made the fishermen even more aware of their fragile existence. “We are losing our people almost on a daily basis. We should not lose anymore of our youth. Our boys in Iran are in mortal fear with the virus all around them there. They are facing acute food shortage, and with no help from anyone. They don’t even have a room, and are trapped in the fishing boats, and eating whatever fish they can find. We plead with the central and state governments to take action. The government may be acting, but we must act faster since lives are at stake.”

“We have sent over 20 videos to our homes to save us from this,” said the fisherman in his video, adding that he feared that the situation was unlikely to improve now that all flight services have been stopped. He and his colleagues are now desperate, and are, “urging the Indian government to rescue” them. According to the fishermen it has been over 25 days since they have been asking for help but they have not heard anything from the Union Government of India, nor the state government of  Tamil Nadu. “Seeing our plight, the government is only being a spectator, and not feeling our pain. Our families in Kanyakumari are crying. What answers can you give to those tears? We are 1500 of us here in dire conditions,” said the fisherman trapped in Iran.

Dr Kumarvelu said the Indian government must remember that the fishermen were Indian citizens. “Indian government must think of its citizens as its own children, and do all it takes to bring our boys back home. The state government must also apply the required pressure on the Union government to ensure this happens.” The NFF has reached out to the Indian authorities at all levels. “We shall continue speaking to all MPs, MLAs to place this demand, and also urge the district collector to take up this issue with the authorities. On behalf of the National Fishworkers Forum, we urge the government to save our people and bring them back as soon as possible,” he said. 

The fishermen say that they have not got any humanitarian help or support from the locals.  “If we ask the locals here for food, they dismiss us saying food is only if we go to sea and catch fish. These humiliations are being borne by us,” said the fishermen. According to him his family assured him that officials from the Indian Embassy would get in touch. But no one has met them yet. They also have been hearing about Indian nationals being rescued from Tehran, “we heard that a C-17 military flight was used to evacuate 50 Indian tourists and pilgrims from Tehran. If they can send a military aircraft for 50 people, why did they not consider us as worthy of rescuing?” he asked. 

In fact, he is right, 53 Indians were the fourth batch to be rescued by the Government of India in March 2020. According to news reports the Government of India had rescued a total of around 389 Indians from the Iranian cities of Tehran and Shiraz. They were all back in India by March 16 and were quarantined in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. 

Two weeks have passed and the Tamil fishermen continue to wait to be contacted, “it is us fishermen to contribute over Rs 60,000 crore to India’s earnings. It seems like the government only wants our earnings, and not our people. We urge with folded hands that we be rescued and brought back to our homeland,” said the fisherman. So far those cries have failed to move those in power. The NFF office bearers say they were made to wait an entire day at the collectors office but will not give up till all the fishermen are back. When that will happen is not known.

The fishermen’s mothers fear the worst. They say that the fishermen will not survive the ordeal and will die at sea because the authorities do not care enough to rescue them and bring them safely home to India, to their waiting families. “We never anticipated this when they decided to go to Iran, but our boys now think we’ll only get to see their dead bodies!”

Perhaps the mother felt this when she heard the son say, “It has been almost 4 days since we ate properly. Can you not feel the pain of our hunger?”

The post EXCLUSIVE: 820 Tamil fishermen trapped in Iran, send SOS videos begging GOI to rescue them appeared first on SabrangIndia.

New sanctions heading Iran’s way. Kevin Dietsch/EPA

Iran’s recent provocation came after a series of attacks in the busy Strait of Hormuz and the sabotage of four vessels travelling through the strait in May. Iran was accused of ramping up its sabotage activity – with experts pointing to Iran’s involvement due to the precision of the attacks.

Before Trump assumed office, tensions between Iran and the US were finally starting to thaw. This was largely due to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iran nuclear deal, an agreement involving Iran, the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, which aimed to block Iran from building nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief.

Despite Trump’s former secretary of defence, James Mattis, testifying to a senate committee that Iran was adhering to the deal in April 2018, the president believed he needed to undo one of the signature policies of the Obama administration – arguing that doing so would bring Iran to its knees. He withdrew the US from the deal in early May 2018, saying it: “Didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will.”

No plan B

But rather than bringing Iran to its knees, Trump’s decision has emboldened Iran to take on more risks. Iran has absolutely nothing to lose and the approach advocated by moderates within the Iranian regime to co-operate with the West has clearly failed. By pulling out of the deal, Trump has no plan B and offers no options for Iran other than to engage in bad behaviour. If Iran believes that complying with international agreements is rewarded in this way, it could lose faith in the benefits of co-operating with the international community at all.

On June 23, Trump indicated he wants to talk to the Iranians and sent two envoys to the region, including secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. But Khamenei is adamant that no talks will take place unless sanctions against Iran are lifted. Iran’s foreign policy spokesperson, Abbas Mousavi, tweeted on June 24 that imposing sanction against Khamenei: “Is the permanent closure of the path of diplomacy.”

A general from Iran’s Revoluationary Guards points to the wreckage of US drone. Meghdad Madadi/EPA

Unlike Trump, whose foreign policy has no focus and seems to change course based on his mood, few leaders have a more singular focus than Khamenei. His 30 years in power have been guided by an implacable single vision of resisting US hegemony and imperialism at any cost. Unlike Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Khamenei has no interest in a historic photo-op with the president.

Additionally powerful are the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Originally formed after the 1979 Iranian revolution as a paramilitary organisation designed to protect the regime against coup attempts, the IRGC has grown into the most powerful organisation in Iran, dictating Iranian foreign policy and domestic politics. It is as resolute as Khamenei in its commitment to fight against what it perceives to be US arrogance.

In contrast, Trump has no clear foreign policy and no coherent process for national security decision making within his administration, as recent events demonstrate. One moment Trump threatened to destroy Iran, the next moment he made apologies for Iran, claiming the drone attack may have been made in error and that he wanted to engage in talks.

Such an erratic approach of provoking a conflict, pushing things to the brink and assuming that others will cave in may work in the world of business, but it doesn’t work in foreign policy. Iran is responding to the uncertainty by taking bigger risks and sowing more chaos in the region. The recent escalation of tensions has made Iran’s leadership more resolute than ever to fight against US aggression. The Iranian regime also understands that Trump wants to avoid a surge in oil prices, which usually happens when tensions rise in the region.

More sanctions won’t work

But the hawks within Trump’s administration, such as the national security adviser, John Bolton, believe a war with Iran is necessary. The US has far greater military capabilities than Iran, whose oil industry is vulnerable to attack. It’s also true that Iran’s economy has been struggling with 13% unemployment, growth rates at under 2% and inflation at 52%. However, Iran’s economy has struggled in similar ways before and regime change has not taken place.

Iran’s grand bazaar: sanctions are punishing ordinary Iranians. Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

The sanctions, which are designed to cripple the Iranian economy, have undermined the middle class and small businesses that are most critical to pushing for positive change, while lining the pockets of the hardliners and justifying their position. The IRGC, designated as a terrorist organisation by Trump in April, is benefiting from the sanctions because of its heavy involvement in black market activity such as petroleum smuggling. Wider studies on sanctions show that they are only effective against dictatorships built around the personality of a strong leader and have little effect in regimes where dictatorships are more insitutionalised.

The further ramping up of sanctions is highly unlikely to force Iran to back down and commit to talks – or to prevent future attacks that are difficult to directly attribute to Iran. Given the importance and single-mindedness of Iran’s ideology, its leaders will only accept some form of face-saving diplomacy, most notably that the US does a complete U-turn and recommits to the Iran nuclear deal.

Courtesy: The Conversation
 

The post Why Donald Trump is backing the US into a corner on Iran appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Navy boats from the United Arab Emirates next to the Al Marzoqah of Saudi Arabia, one of several international oil tankers attacked in the Gulf in May 2019. The Saudi government has blamed Iran for acts of sabotage. Reuters/Satish Kumar

It was the latest in a series of assaults on tankers transporting oil through the Gulf. In May, Saudi, Norwegian and Emirati oil tankers were attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, causing damage but no casualties. The attacks have gone unclaimed, so the perpetrator is unknown – at least publicly.

U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional rival, blamed the Iranian government and called the May attacks “naked aggression.” Saudi King Salman asked the international community to “use all means” to punish Iran.

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, who has called for bombing Iran to cripple its nuclear program, has maintained that Iran is “almost certainly” responsible for the attacks. In May Bolton announced the deployment to the Persian Gulf of a carrier strike group and a nuclear-capable bomber task force, America’s most formidable military assets.

The purpose: “to send a clear and unmistakable message” to Iran.

But the White House is squabbling over its objectives, which are far from clear. Trump administration officials do not seem to agree whether the U.S. wants behavior change or regime change. Should the U.S. use diplomacy or force? Are frustrated Iranians or frustrated Americans the target of this military deployment?

President Trump told U.K. television host Piers Morgan that military options are on the table but, “I’d much rather talk.”

According to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, President Trump “wants to sound tough (popular) so long as it doesn’t get him into a war (unpopular).” President Trump “doesn’t want to go to war with Iran,” retired General David Petraeus told ABC News.

As a scholar who has studied the onset of a number of wars, I believe these commentators underestimate the influence of shrewd warmongers like Bolton. They also fail to credit how quickly a trivial confrontation between industrialized forces can change a leader’s calculus and drag the great powers and their allies into war.

The showdown in the Persian Gulf is not like the U.S. and the Soviet Union incrementally adjusting the balance of power, as they did during the Cold War.

Mixed signals, bad timing and this kind of uncalibrated brinksmanship is how World War I began and spiraled out of control. It has brought the U.S. closer to the next Middle East war.

Up to the edge

Iran brokered a deal with the U.S., the EU, Russia, China and Germany in 2015 to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
The current standoff began in May 2018 when President Trump reneged on the deal and later implemented a new “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, which included economic sanctions punishing countries purchasing Iranian oil.

The U.K., France, China, Russia and Germany pledged to abide by the terms of the deal. Nevertheless, U.S. sanctions against Iranian industry at a time when Iran was complying with the deal are collapsing the Iranian economy.

The White House claims its “maximum pressure” policy is working – that Iran is cutting aid to malevolent allies and proxies in the region, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Hezbollah and Hamas.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo maintains, without evidence or a tangible timeline, that grueling economic conditions created by the U.S. will turn frustrated Iranians against their leaders, provoking regime change.

That idea seems to me to be magical thinking. U.S. belligerence, especially when it has been rejected by the broader international community – as it is now by parties to the 2015 nuclear deal – is more likely to turn Iranians against the U.S., polarize U.S. allies and strengthen Iran’s hardliners.

Cosmopolitan Iranian youth, for example, who are the best hope for peace with the U.S., are the most likely group to turn against their government – but not if the Trump administration strangles their economy and threatens to invade their country.

Limited choices

In the meantime, Iran’s economic troubles are narrowing its options.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has accelerated uranium enrichment and intends to quadruple production, in violation of the nuclear deal. Attacks on U.S. forces or allies, including Israel, are becoming increasingly appealing to Iranian leaders to give Iran some leverage against the U.S.

The prospect of economic collapse under draconian sanctions by the U.S. also provokes Iran’s leaders to instigate a confrontation sooner rather than later, while its military and proxies are strong. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has given Germany, the U.K., France, China and Russia 60 days to honor their promise to buttress Iranian energy and banking sectors before taking additional steps to withdraw from the nuclear deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, center, announced on May 8, 2019 that his country would resume higher uranium enrichment if the Iran deal was acceptably not altered. Iranian Presidency Office via AP

Iran’s economic and military weakness also encourages its leadership to cooperate more closely with America’s foreign adversaries, including Russia, despite Iran’s aversion to ceding precious influence in the region.

If the Iran-Russia relationship tightens, it will result in even greater tension with the U.S. Increased Iranian-Russian cooperation is also an invitation to U.S. leaders to strike before U.S. troops find themselves facing an emboldened Iranian military reinforced with Russian equipment and know-how.

With each day of U.S. sanctions, Iran’s leaders become increasingly desperate, with diminished leverage should the two countries face off on the battlefield or at the negotiating table.

Defusing the tension

With tensions rising, the U.S. has sent an additional 1,500 troops to the Middle East. Iran’s 60-day ultimatum to parties to the nuclear deal expires in early July.

According to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, “Negotiation has no benefit and carries harm.”

Iran experts Colin Kahl and Jon Wolfsthal warn, “Bolton’s preferences, not Trump’s, are winning out.”

There is still time for President Trump to extract the U.S. from this dangerous standoff that he allowed to escalate.

Trump’s greatest hope lies in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Japan, which is not party to the 2015 nuclear deal, is a major purchaser of Iranian oil and Abe is perceived to be a neutral broker.

Abe is visiting Iran this week – the first Japanese leader to do so in four decades – and will meet with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and Prime Minister Rouhani to discuss the standoff.

It is unclear what Abe can accomplish in this overheated climate. A potential solution lies in intense, nuanced diplomacy where the U.S., building on the 2015 nuclear deal, trades sanction relief for slightly tougher limits on Iran’s nuclear program.

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton has a lead Trump administration critic of Iran. Reuters/Darren Ornitz

This includes renegotiating the restrictions on Iran’s centrifuges, mandatory international inspections, and its accumulation of nuclear material. A slightly modified nuclear deal like Trump’s slightly modified trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, can be recast as victory by all.

Trump emerges as peacemaker and potential contender for the Nobel Prize. Iran’s leaders can then right their economy.

Trump’s winning outcome, however, is not the outcome Bolton has long advocated.

For decades, Bolton has publicly agitated for preventive strikes against Iraq, North Korea and Iran. Only grudgingly, perhaps for fear of losing his job, has Bolton acquiesced to a policy of behavior change over regime change.

This is the price Bolton pays to remain the president’s national security adviser — filterer of Trump’s intelligence reports, first one in and last one out of the room whenever the president is discussing matters of war and peace.

If Abe fails, the current Iran crisis may yet become the culmination of Bolton’s lifelong ambition. When new explosions rock the Persian Gulf, U.S. troops are injured or killed by Iranian proxies in Iraq, or Iranian-made drones pepper the Saudi skies, will President Trump resist the urge to escalate?

Courtesy: The Conversation

The post What does the Trump administration want from Iran? appeared first on SabrangIndia.