Women Removing Hijab In Iran As Civil Disobedience On July 12

In a statement released on Monday, Cannes organizers said, “The Festival de Cannes strongly condemns these arrests as well as the wave of repression obviously in progress in Iran against its artists.”

Panahi, who has won numerous awards, including the Golden Leopard at Locarno Festival, the Golden Lion in Venice, and the Silver Bear at the Berlinale, was arrested Monday as he was protesting the detention of two other award-winning filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Alehahmad. 

The Berlinale, the European Film Academy and the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk have also spoken out against their arrest. 

“We are deeply concerned about the arrest of Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad. It’s shocking that artists are taken into custody because of their peaceful endeavors against violence,” Berlinale organizers said. 

Rasoulof – another prominent filmmaker with several international awards such as the Golden Bear – and Alehahmad – who is known in international film galas for his short works -- were arrested July 8 as part of the Iranian crackdown on the signatories of a collective statement titled “Lay down the gun” issued by more than 100 film industry personalities in the end of May.

The statement called on military and security forces who “have become tools for cracking down on the people,” not to suppress protesters during a wave of protests across Iran that were triggered when a 10-story building collapsed in Abadan, leaving at least 40 people dead and dozens missing.

Ahmad Alirezabeighi, the representative of Tabriz in the parliament, said in an interview on Monday that “it is natural that dissatisfaction increases among people because our policies and strategies are carried out by ignoring the people."

Criticizing the government’s decision to scrap the subsidy for essential food and medicines, despite warnings of more inflation and hardship, he said, “Currently, where are our people in the economic equation?” People should be central in the decisions of the country, he noted. 

Alirezabeighi, a conservative retired police officer who served as the governor of East Azarbaijan province under former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, added that the problem in Iran is not nuclear negotiations adding that past experience shows that “our problem is ignoring people.”

He said that in negotiations if a government does not enjoy the support of its people, it will have to give in to the pressure of foreigners. 

“Many think that the solution to our economic problems depends on the [revival of] the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The past eight years of Rouhani's government showed that the JCPOA cannot be effective in this regard,” he added. 

Alirezabeighi also said that Iran’s interactions with Russia and China should be based on the country’s interests, referring to criticisms over the Islamic Republic’s a 25-year cooperation agreement with China and a proposed 20-year deal with Russia. 

According to a video sent to Iran International, anti-riot forces are seen attacking the workers of the Sungun (Soungoun) copper mine complex, located in Varzaqan (Varzaghan) county in province of East Azarbaijan, who have been on strike for at least three days demanding better work conditions and salaries. 

More than 1,200 workers of the mine -- the largest open-cast copper mine in Iran -- spent the last three nights inside their tents or cars at the site of the mining complex. 

During the past few days several of the copper mine workers were arrested by security forces but the clampdown had not been so ferocious until Thursday. 

Iran’s runaway inflation, currently at an annual rate of 55 percent, has impoverished a vast majority of the population and is seen as the result of a nuclear program that has brought on international and US sanctions for the past 15 years, crippling the economy.

With food prices rising faster after four years of United States’ ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions, Iranian workers and retirees have been holding regular protests or strikes to demand higher salaries. Last month, Iran’s currency fell to a historic low of 333,000 rials to the US dollar in June.

During the past weeks, widespread protests by workers,shop owners, and teachers protesting against poverty, inflation, and low wages, have been met with heavy-handed crackdown and numerous arrests by the security forces.

The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Associations said Sunday that there is no information available about the situation of several of the imprisoned teachers. 

It added that three of the arrested activists, Rasoul Bodaghi, Mohammad Habibi and Jafar Ebrahimi, are being held in solitary confinement in ward 240 of Evin Prison, which is controlled by the Intelligence Ministry "without the right to contact or visit by their families" since two weeks ago. 

Earlier in the month, teachers held another round of nationwide protest against their low salaries and systematic discrimination, while anti-government protests and strikes by merchants and pensioners continued in Iran.

Teachers have been holding frequent protests for nearly a year, but the political situation in Iran has worsened in recent months, with rising food prices and a growing perception of government inefficiency and corruption.

Four years of deep economic crisis in Iran following the introduction of United States ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions in 2018 has led to a sharp increase in living costs and labor unrest.

People from different walks of life, including nurses, firefighters, and even judiciary department employees and prison guards, have held protest rallies or strikes to demand higher salaries.

Hossein Salami made the remarks on Monday in a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the order to establish Sarallah HQ, which is officially under the direct command of the IRGC's commander in chief, but he delegates his authority to a deputy commander.

The enemies have realized that the decline in their power originates from this place, and therefore Tehran is where all the enmities and conspiracies against the country converge and thwarted, he said.

Tehran is a city with global influences, whose insightful residents have overcome hardships with the power of faith and tolerance, Salami added.

Considered the most important IRGC ground force, Sarallah is tasked with keeping the capital secure and protecting key institutions and the offices of the government. Its undeclared mission is suppressing dissent and protests as they did heavy-handedly during the popular protests in the past few years. 

Salami’s remarks come while the former de facto commander of the Sarallah HQ, Mohammad Esmail Kosari, who now represents Tehran at the parliament, is pushing to ease the use of firearms by different security forces against civilians amid recurring protests.

"In every country and human society, the security of the security forces and the police is a priority, followed by the security of the society. They have a duty to establish security in society, therefore they need to use firearms to maintain that security," Kosari said on Monday.