Activist On Hunger Strike To Protest Possible Execution Of Swedish Hostage

An Israeli informed source told Iran International on Saturday that the Indian police and counter-terrorism forces have also carried out a security maneuver on the streets leading to the Israeli diplomatic mission.

During the drills, which were held to prepare for possible attacks, all streets around the Israeli embassy in New Delhi were blocked and the gunfire and explosions could be heard, according to the source.

The source also said that the Israeli embassy in the city has become one of the likely targets for militias affiliated with the Islamic Republic since last year.

The streets around the Israeli embassy in India have also been equipped with CCTV cameras and are under tight round the clock patrols.

An explosion took place near the embassy on the 29th anniversary of establishment of India-Israel diplomatic ties on January 29, 2021.

Immediately after the blast, Israel claimed that Iran was behind the attack, an allegation that was confirmed by Indian intelligence agencies. A letter was also found at the site of the explosion, claiming the attack was to avenge the killings the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Commander Qasem Soleimani, and Abu Mehdhi Al Muhandis, who were killed in a US drone attack in January 2020, as well as an Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who died in a car bomb attack in Iran in November 2020.

Iran ranked third globally after Russia and Iraq in terms of gas flaring levels during last year.

The country has failed to develop and install needed equipment to collect associated gas, produced from oil fields during last two decades.

According to the Oil Ministry’s estimates, some $5 billion is needed for curbing gas flaring, which sonstitutes about 7% of the country’s total gas production, while the annual worth of such a volume is more than $5 billion in regional markets. For comparison, it is equal to 30% of Turkey’s total gas consumption in 2021 or Iran’s total gas exports to Iraq and Turkey during last year.

Iran has failed to make significant investments in its oil and gas sectors for at least 10 years as international sanctions (2011-2015) and US oil export sanctions since 2018 have limited the country’s financial resources. In November, oil minister Javad Owji said that at least $160 billion in investments is needed to revitalize the sectors.

In 2017, a French company signed a deal with Iran to help install technology to trap natural gas escaping from oil producing wells, but the reimposition of US sanctions in May 2018 scuttled all such projects.

The Word Bank says the ratio of the flared gas to produced oil in Iran is 15.36 cubic meters per one barrel, the highest level in the world after Venezuela and Algeria.

Gas flaring also shares 8% of Iran’s greenhouse gas emissions. Iran, with 745 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, ranked 6th globally in 2020, of which 60 million tons came from gas flaring, according to the Global Carbon Atlas’s latest statistics.

There is no new report about Iran’s greenhouse emissions level, but regarding the 32% growth in flaring gas volume, as well an end to Covid-related quarantines, it should be continuing to rise.

Iran’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by 18% since 2015, when the international community, including Iran, decided to decrease emissions, based on the Paris Climate Agreement.

Word Bank said the global flaring gas level stood at 144 bcm in 2021, almost unchanged year-to-year, and resulted in 328 million tons of carbon dioxide emission.

Last year, total greenhouse gas emissions in the world hit a historic record, reaching above 36 billion tons, which was about 2 billion tons more than in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency.

First came the news Friday morning that internet connection was shut off or significantly slowed down in Khuzestan, a development usually signaling protests in Iran. Authorities disrupt the Internet to prevent news of unrest reaching the rest of the country and abroad. It is also done to prevent protesters from galvanizing support in nearby regions.

Later came reports of a curfew in the city of Susangerd and gunshots heard in the Abuzar neighborhood. Some reports that Iran International cannot independently confirm speak of security forces forcefully entering homes and warning citizens not to join protests.

A source told Iran International that “Security forces went up to the roofs of buildings and homes and fired tear gas into the courtyards of some houses,” adding that they were trying to intimidate Susangerd residents to prevent them from joining the protests.

Apart from this general picture, there are no details about how large the protests were, possible clashes, injuries, or if the unrest continues.

Khuzestan was a hotbed of protests in May and June 2021 when for consecutive days people in many cities came into streets to demand water, amid government mismanagement of water resources and drought. At least ten people were shot by security forces in the unrest.

With the sudden quadrupling of bread prices, many Iranians expect widespread protests, since a persistent 40-percent inflation has depleted people’s finances and bread is the last food item poorer families can afford.

In response to a query by Iran International, a State Department spokesperson said, “We’re aware of the egregious case of arbitrary detention of Swedish-Iranian doctor Ahmadreza Djalali by Iranian authorities.We echo concerns from UN experts that Djalali’s case is ‘truly horrific,’ and urge his release.”

Djalali was arrested while visiting Iran on an invitation by a university in 2016 and consequently sentenced to death on unsubstantiated charges of espionage for Israel. Recently Iran threatened to carry out his execution in an apparent attempt to intimidate Sweden from convicting a former Iranian official on trial for his role in killing of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.

“Iran has a long history of unjust imprisonment of foreign nationals for use as political leverage, and continues to engage in a range of human rights abuses, which include large-scale arbitrary or unlawful detention of individuals, some of whom have faced torture and execution after unfair trials.These practices are outrageous,” The US spokesperson added.

News emerged this week that Iran has detained a Swedish tourist, in another apparent attempt to take a hostage as a bargaining chip. The state department said, “Regarding the most recent arrest, we refer you to the Swedish government.”

Article 18, a London-based organization that promotes religious freedom in Iran said on Thursday that Iranian-Armenian Christian Anooshavan Avedian was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 10 years of “deprivation of social rights” last month for teaching other Christians in his home.

Among his charges was "forming and running an illegal group to act against national security."

Two members of his house church, Abbas Soori, 45, and Maryam Mohammadi, 46 -- who are both converts to Christianity – were deprived of social rights for 10 years, received a fine of 500 million rials (about $2,000) and ten years of ban from membership in social and political groups as well as a two-year exile outside Tehran. They are also banned from leaving the country.

The three were arrested along with 15 other people, including Avedian’s family members in August 2020, when 30 Intelligence Ministry agents raided a gathering at Avedian’s home.

While Iran persecutes followers of the Baha’i religious community and rejects esoteric philosophies and cults, the constitution recognizes Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Judaism – communities that have official representatives in parliament. However, churches that are allowed to operate are ethnic Christian congregations, such as Armenian and Assyrian.

These established churches are discouraged from accepting non-ethnic members.

Muslims are barred from renouncing Islam by Sharia and the punishment could be death, although the government in Iran pursues lesser punishments.