The former director of the notorious Evin prison in Tehran has accused President Ebrahim Raisi of having a direct role in executing political prisoners under the founder of Islamic Republic, Ruhollah Khomeini.
The Iranian journalist who covered the death in custody of the icon of anti-regime protests, Mahsa Amini, went on trial on Monday behind closed doors.
The funeral of the 22-year-old Kurd was covered by Elaheh Mohammadi in the Kurdish city of Saqqez, where protests began in September.
Amini died while in the custody of Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code, which unleashed a wave of protests across the country for months.
"The trial of Elaheh Mohammadi went well. The date of the next session will be announced by the court," her lawyer, Shahabeddin Mirlohi, told ILNA news agency on Monday.
As a result of their coverage of Amini's death, Mohammadi, a reporter for the pro-reform Hammihan newspaper, and Niloufar Hamedi, a journalist for the Sharq newspaper, have been accused of colluding with hostile powers. Under Islamic law, this charge carries the death penalty.
On Monday, Hammihan daily claimed legal procedures were being broken, calling the court's decision illogical.
In October, Iran's intelligence ministry and the IRGC accused Mohammadi and Hamedi of being CIA agents.
At a Tehran hospital where Amini was in a coma, Hamedi took a photograph of her parents hugging each other. Hamedi posted the image on Twitter as the first sign that all was not well with Amini in a chilling warning to her imminent death.
Hamedi's trial is scheduled to start on Tuesday.
Human rights groups have repeatedly called for a public trial for the two journalists, but the Islamic Republic has ignored them.
Only two days after Muscat mediated a prisoner swap between Iran and Belgium, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said traveled to Tehran, meeting with President Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Traditionally, Oman works as a mediator between Iran and Western countries, and it also plays a role in facilitating relations between Tehran and Arab countries. It was one of the key players in the talks which eventually led to Iran and Saudi’s détente.
Given that this time the Sultan himself has come to Iran, there is no doubt this is a vital visit. Almost all of the reports by Iranian state media on the first day of the visit were focused on bolstering economic cooperation between the two countries, with some discussion on recent developments in the region. However, no details about trade or regional diplomacy were released.
The joint statement released after Oman’s sultan meeting with the Iranian president abounds with clichés such as “strengthening friendly and brotherly relations on the basis of common interests, especially in the fields of trade, energy, investment and culture.”
On the second day of the trip, Sultan bin Tarik met with the Supreme Leader, apparently delving deeper into Iran’s détente with its classic rivals Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The only takeaway from the readout of the meeting by Khamenei’s office, was the Supreme Leader’s welcoming of better relations with Egypt.
Khamenei's comments came as Middle Eastern countries including Egypt are taking steps to ease regional tensions and relations between Egypt and Iran have often been fraught in recent decades although the two countries have maintained diplomatic contacts. In March, regional rivals Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Muslim Iran ended years of hostility and agreed to restore diplomatic relations under a China-mediated deal.
The presence of Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani during Oman’s sultan meeting with Khamenei, which is somewhat unusual, indicates that there must have been a nuclear aspect to the meeting, despite a possible media ban on this aspect of the talks.
The seeming lack of openness about the nuclear side of the talks has drawn suspicion from global Iran watchers who are looking to Oman to mediate in the possible revival of talks on the 2015 nuclear deal, which has fallen apart. There are also rumors that the US and the Islamic Republic are about to reach a deal in the near future, which could be among the secret topics discussed during the visit by Oman’s sultan.
Former diplomat Fereydoun Majlesi told Fararu on Monday that Oman has a respected position in the Persian Gulf. "Oman speaks on behalf of all the countries of the Persian Gulf and what is in the interest of Oman is in the interest of all Arab countries in the region,” he said, noting that minimizing the risks of tensions or wars and unease between the Islamic Republic and the US and Israel plays an important role in that.
“These countries are worried that any kind of conflict between Iran and its long-time enemies would overshadow all the peace and security they have achieved during the last half century," added Majlesi who said that Iran’s foreign minister has recently assessed the revival of the JCPOA as “important and vital and expressed willingness to restore the deal”.
Ali Bigdeli, another pundit, told Fararu that the most important possible reason for Sultan of Oman's visit to Iran is mediating for exchange of dual-national prisoners.
A source told Iran International last week that talks between Iran and the US on the release of Tehran's frozen assets could result in a deal soon.
Apparently, the talks that have made progress focused on Iranian funds held in Iraq and South Korea. Iran is apparently expected to show more flexibility on issues related to its nuclear program in exchange for the release of its funds in Iraq, and free hostages with dual nationality in exchange for its assets in South Korea.
Currently there are three dual nationals with American citizenship and two individuals with US permanent residency held by Iran on trumped-up charges of espionage.
Also on Monday, Israel’s state television channel Kan 11 reported that a deal between Tehran and Washington will be finalized in the coming weeks.
During an interview with Reshet Bet on Monday, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid expressed alarm about reports of the imminent nuclear agreement, saying: "Such an interim agreement is dangerous. Every effort must be made to prevent this from happening.”
Around 10,000 healthcare practitioners have left Iran over the past two years to work in the Arab world.
With economic and financial conditions at rock bottom, MP Hossein Ali Shahriari, chairman of the Iranian parliament's Health and Treatment Committee, said most have gone to the Persian Gulf countries including Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
"Unfortunately, we are facing a human resources shortage in private and even state medical centers, but the government apparently has no plan to deal with it," he said.
The number of Iran's healthcare professionals leaving the country is on the rise, worsened by the country's lack of freedoms and the months of violent uprisings since September. Doctors earn an average of $450 in a sector which is now facing shortages of basic goods such as IV fluids and cold pills in addition to medicine, due to global sanctions.
Thousands of physicians, dentists, midwives, and nurses have either emigrated in the past few years or are planning to leave for other countries.
There is no transparent data on the emigration of healthcare and other professionals, but medical officials and lawmakers often offer fragmentary information on the scope of the problem.
In February, Mohammad Sharifi-Moghadam, a member of the central council of Iran's Nurses’ Organization, said between 2,500 to 3,000 nurses were emigrating from Iran each year.
A survey by Iran Migration Observatory in 2022 found that economic and social instability, institutionalized corruption, and the regime’s governance methods were responsible for the very high desire to emigrate among medical students, professors and other healthcare professionals. The sector employs around 100,000 people in total but emigration of such large numbers could pose major challenges to the system, especially in the more rural regions where healthcare is less accessible.
The report warned that those who failed to emigrate were in danger of losing their motivation for work.
Two days after the deadly clash on the Iran-Afghanistan border, Iran's Interior Minister described the incident as a "brief conflict".
Ahmad Vahidi said Monday that "the issue was resolved after negotiations were held with the Taliban," playing down the severity of the clash.
"There was a cross-border shooting by the Afghan border guards, and naturally, they were given an appropriate response."
"Currently, there is no problem, and the border is open and in peace," added Vahidi.
Clashes at the border on Saturday over water rights claimed the lives of at least two Iranians and one Taliban soldier. According to a report by Iranian reformist daily newspaper Ham-Mihan, about 50 Iranians have been killed in border regions since 2020.
Despite Tehran’s claims that the clashes are over, and the situation is in control, Taliban sources have released videos of capturing an outpost inside Iran.
Earlier, Abolfazl Zohrevand, the former ambassador of Iran in Kabul, described the conflict as "a serious war" in an interview with Entekhab website saying that the conflict could be resumed.
On Sunday, Qasem Rezaei, deputy commander of Iran's Law Enforcement Forces and Kiumars Heydari, the Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces, traveled to Sistan-Baluchestan province bordering Afghanistan to probe the situation.
Disputes between Tehran and Kabul have risen over the Taliban’s obstruction of Iran's access to Helmand River water in violation of a 1973 treaty.
Iran has accused Afghanistan's Taliban of violating a 1973 treaty by restricting the flow of water from the Helmand River to Iran's parched eastern regions, an accusation denied by the Taliban.
An Iranian lawmaker who has disclosed a major case of financial corruption at the parliament says he has been barred from speaking during legislative sessions.
Ahmad Alirezabeigi, the member of parliament from Tabriz says he has not even been allowed to make brief comments on the proceedings at the Iranian Parliament (Majles). He added that the authorities have muted his desk microphone.
"I have asked twice to make brief comments on the legislations being discussed at the Majles but I have been denied the permission to speak," Alirezabeigi told Etemad Online. He added: "I expect the Majles presidium to intervene in the matter and defend my rights as a member of parliament."
His comment sounded odd as it is the presidium that allows MPs to speak or mutes their microphone to bar them from commenting. Alirezabeigi said that presidium members should resign if they cannot restore lawmakers' rights.
He reiterated that no one may prevent a member of the parliament from expressing his views during sessions. "Article 75 of the Majles internal regulations in particular says that lawmakers should be given a chance to respond to accusations made against them at the parliament," he said.
Following the disclosure involving nearly 140 SUVs given to lawmakers at extremely discounted prices to bribe them to stop an impeachment motion against a former industry minister, Alirezabeigi has been questioned by a prosecutor and an investigation committee at the parliament.
The lawmaker told Etemad Online that he thinks "a secret power is trying to prevent me from fulfilling my responsibility as a member of the parliament," however, he did not name anyone.
Alirezabeigi said elsewhere that even the ethics committee, which questioned him following the disclosure about the bribes is not legally authorized to bar him from speaking at the Majles.
Majles Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a former IRGC general, has been often criticized by some lawmakers and other politicians for running the parliament like a military garrison. Khabar Online Website has quoted lawmakers as having said that "by running the parliament like a military center, Ghalibaf has made the legislature useless."
According to Khabar Online, criticism of Ghalibaf's leadership at the Majles surfaced when he stopped impeachment motions for ministers in a bid allegedly to support President Ebrahim Raisi.
A video posted on Fararu website on Saturday showed Ghalibaf threatening lawmakers to name those who do not work hard enough or refuse to take part in voting.
At another level, politicians in Iran have often criticized Ghalibaf and other lawmakers for making the parliament so weak that key decisions on issues such as raising fuel prices or the final decisions on the annual budget are made at a meeting between the heads of the three government branches rather than by lawmakers.
Other key issues such as the decision to accept the terms of the international financial watchdog, the FATF have been referred by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to the Expediency Council, apparently as he has deemed the Majles not knowledgeable enough about the matter.
The Council is a collection of aging clerics and demoted politicians susceptible to pressures by Khamenei’s henchmen.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Leader makes many decisions such as sending troops to Syria or giving weapons to Russia to help Putin in the war against Ukraine without consulting the parliament.