Right Groups Urge Instagram Not To Censor Iranian Dissidents’ Content

The surprisingly quick reaction by the police still leaves many questions unanswered about the robbery of safety deposit boxes at a central branch of Bank Melli (National Bank) near Tehran University and half a mile distance from Supreme Leader Ali Khamnei’s headquarters and residence in central Tehran.

Officials produced a photo of nine people in prison uniform standing against a prison wall, with their faces hidden, while one police official claimed some had been arrested during a shootout and were wounded, but there was no indication in the photo of wounded detainees.

They also said that three of the 13 people detained were caught after fleeing to Turkey, but so far there are no reports in Turkish media.

Whoever robbed up to 250 safety deposit boxes took advantage of a long weekend in Iran and by some accounts they entered the vault housing the boxes sometime at night and completed the heist on Friday, but it remained unknown until Monday when the bank re-opened.

Tasnim news agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard published a video showing a large table covered with hundreds of plastic bags containing foreign currency, gold and documents, saying authorities have laid out the stolen loot for owners of the safety deposit boxes to identify.

It was not clear how officials separated the recovered money and gold in separate bags when they had said earlier that the bank had no idea what customers kept in their boxes, which is always the case in all banks.

Many Iranians remained skeptical of the whole saga, as earlier suspicions fell on political actors rather than ordinary criminals being behind the heist. Two lines of conspiracy theories quickly took root. First, that adversaries of the Islamic Republic who have been conducting sabotage acts in the country were behind what was seen as an extremely difficult operation.

Second, suspicions fell on internal actors who ostensibly broke into the bank not to steal money but to get hold of politically sensitive documents that current or former politicians might have hidden as a bargaining chip.

One theory circulating on social media pointed at documents possibly kept by former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly threatened in the past to reveal secrets about politicians and officials. “Shall I tell?” is a well-known refrain by Ahmadinejad over the past decade.

The police have not said how they were able to catch the burglars in 48 hours, as they claimed on Friday. Their identities have also not been disclosed.

There are also no details yet about how the burglars were able to break through multiple security barriers in the bank, where according to earlier reports they also stole the main security server with all CCTV recordings.

Asked by reporters if bank employees might have been involved, Tehran’s police chief rejected the notion but accused the bank of failing to have adequate security measures in place. He added that one month earlier, police investigators who surveyed security at the branch warned the management of inadequate measures.

The Canadian government updated its travel advisory on Wednesday, pointing out that there is no resident Canadian government office in Iran, therefore the ability of Canadian officials to provide consular assistance is extremely limited.

The advisory said that Canadians in Iran may be closely watched by Iranian authorities, noting that seemingly innocuous behaviors, such as the use of cameras in public places, travel beyond well-established tourist attractions or casual interactions with Iranian friends, may be misinterpreted and may lead to investigation. Canadians in Iran could also face kidnapping and petty crimes, and women visitors may face sexual harassment. 

The advisory update came as Canada announced on Tuesday that it has notified Iran of Ontario's Superior Court of Justice’s ruling that IRGC’s downing of Ukraine Airlines Flight PS752 was intentional. The airliner was shot down by two air-defense missiles fired by the IRGC on January 8, 2020, as it took off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport. 

Canada broke off diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012, citing its support to the Syrian government, non-compliance with United Nations resolutions over the nuclear program, and fears for Canadian diplomats after protestors stormed the British embassy. 

Earlier in the week, the US also upgraded its Iran Travel Advisory to Level 4, which asked its citizens not to travel to the country, due to the risk of kidnapping and the arbitrary arrest and detention.

The legislation proposes that the Pentagon works with Israel to integrate air defenses of six GCC countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates with Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq with the aim of thwarting threats from Iran and Iranian backed-militias across the region. 

The Deterring Enemy Forces and Enabling National Defenses (DEFEND) Act is a joint effort by Congress to develop a strategy for signatories of the Abraham Accords and other countries to combat Iranian destabilizing activities threatening peace and security in the Middle East.

Built on the success of previous peace agreements between Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, the Abraham Accords, signed on September 15, 2020, resulted in normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states – namely the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. 

“Iran has proven time and time again that they will stop at nothing to threaten the safety and security of Israel and our allies in the Middle East” said Rep Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash).

Illinois's democratic representative Brad Schneider said, “Iran is on the one yard line in their pursuit of a nuclear weapon, and is threatening our allies in the region in numerous other ways. Strengthening our allies by building unity and enhancing shared security capabilities is critical to confronting Iranian threats to the region.”

Heading a political and business delegation, Maduro is due in Tehran on Saturday at the invitation of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

The Venezuelan president is scheduled to meet his Iranian counterpart and attend a session of high-level delegations from the two countries.

Iran and Venezuela have been slapped with sanctions by the US, which doesn’t currently import oil from either nation, and has in recent years reimposed sanctions on Iranian state entities, including the national oil company NIOC, and in 2019 blacklisted PDVSA.

The two countries strengthened their cooperation in 2020, with Venezuela importing condensate from Iran, key to thin its extra-thick crude oil. Iran has also stepped in to help its South American ally with engineers, refined products and spare parts for its oil industry.

Iran and Venezuela have also recently expanded a swap agreement signed last year to increase the supply of Iranian heavy crude to Venezuela's El Palito refinery and Paraguana Refining Center (CRP).

In early May, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji traveled to Venezuela to visit oil facilities and sign contracts in the energy sector.

Later in May, an oil tanker carrying about one million barrels of Iranian crude arrived in Venezuelan waters for delivery to the country's largest refinery.

Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said on Wednesday that “Iran now has enough uranium to produce a nuclear weapon. This latest milestone returns us to a familiar question: At what point will the Administration acknowledge that Iran’s nuclear advances make a return to the 2015 JCPOA not in the United States’ strategic interest?” The Politico reporter who quoted Menendez did not say where he made the remarks. 

He also commended the UN’s “International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors’ approval – by an overwhelming majority – of a resolution condemning Iran, saying, “It is high time the board of governors publicly hold Iran to account for its failure to provide credible and timely cooperation with the IAEA’s inquiry into undeclared nuclear materials, which are in contravention of Iran’s safeguard agreement.” 

Of 35 member states on the board, 30 voted in favor of the resolution sponsored by the ‘E3’ (France, Germany, the United Kingdom) and the United States. India, Libya and Pakistan abstained, while Russia and China voted against.

Menendez reiterated that it is time for a comprehensive strategy to address Iran and the threat it poses, “Iran as it is, not the Iran we might hope for.”

“I commend the Biden administration, and France, Germany, and the United Kingdom for introducing this resolution as a first step to realizing such a strategy,” he added.