Iran’s Delegation Leaving US With Truckload Of Souvenirs, Literally

In a letter to Yellen published on Thursday, the lawmakers wrote that the SpaceX CEO “recently stated that SpaceX would seek a license to provide its satellite based Starlink Internet service to Iran,” urging the Treasury Department to facilitate such an action. 

The letter was led by Representatives Claudia Tenney, a New York Republican, and Tom Malinowski, a New Jersey Democrat, and signed by several other lawmakers in the House.

“Congress is calling on the Treasury Department to do everything in its power to help the Iranian people stay connected to the Internet,” Tenney said in a statement. “We need to cut through any bureaucratic red tape and get this done.”

They made the move in reaction to a tweet by Musk, who had asked for an exemption to be able to send the necessary equipment to the Islamic Republic. 

The move was prompted after Iran has cut internet or slowed it down and filtered almost all platforms that protesters can use to make their voice heard, but the elephant in the room is how exactly Musk can send equipment legally to the country that opposes such technology and how people will be able to use it under the clenched control of the regime.

The US Treasury Department said a day earlier that satellite internet equipment are not under Washington’s sanctions and can be exported to Iran, suggesting that a license is not needed to provide the firm's Starlink satellite broadband service in the country.

The statement by the Treasury did not specify whether the license would apply to Musk's plans, so the lawmakers also asked Treasury to clarify its policies for fostering communications access in sanctioned countries and urge the department to issue any necessary “comfort letters” to entities that may seek to provide communications services under previously issued general licenses.

World leaders’ reactions to the ongoing protests in Iran over the death of a hijab victim are pouring in on the backdrop of President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to the UN General Assembly. 

The Australian foreign ministry told Iran International’s correspondent that Canberra is deeply saddened by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman killed in hijab police custody, and also voiced concerns over the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on the popular protests for basic freedoms. 

"Treatment of women in Iran continues to be a matter of grave concern and we regularly raise our concerns over Iran’s significant discrimination against women with officials in both Tehran and Canberra and in multilateral forums," a spokesperson said in response to Iran International. 

On Thursday, the US Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen described the death of Mahsa Amini as “yet another act of brutality by the Iranian regime’s security forces against its own people,” after announcing sanctions against Iran’s Morality Police and some security officials. 

The remarks came a day after President Joe Biden said in his address to the UN General Assembly that “Today we stand with the brave citizens and women in Iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights.”

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also said on Thursday that "Today, the United States is sanctioning Iran’s so-called 'Morality' Police responsible for the death of Mahsa Amini. We will continue to hold Iranian officials accountable and support Iranians’ ability to protest freely."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also touched upon the new measures, saying that Washington “sanctioned the entity responsible for the arrest and death of Mahsa and designated seven other Iranian security officials responsible for suppressing non-violent protests.” He had earlier called on the Iranian government to end its systemic persecution of women and to allow peaceful protest. 

Earlier in the day, White House National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby told our correspondent that "President Biden was very clear about our desire to see peaceful protests. We're going to continue to stand up for civil and human rights."

Senior US Democratic Senator from Vermont Patrick Leahy said, “We should all stand with brave women of Iran and their supporters protesting the human rights abuses of the Iranian government and demanding basic rights for women.” “Their courage gives me hope for a brighter future in Iran.”

Also on Thursday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock denounced "the brutal attack against the courageous women" who have been demonstrating in Iran, calling the crackdown on the ongoing protests "an attack on humanity,” adding that Berlin will ask the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to deal with the crackdown as a violation of human rights.

Voicing solidarity with the Iranians’ protests, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said, “Sweden stands with all those who mourn Mahsa Amini in Iran and elsewhere.” He also expressed deep concerns about reports of injured and dead in connection with ongoing protests. “Women of Iran should be heard. Human rights for all Iranians, including the right to peaceful protest, must be ensured.”

In his speech at the General Assembly, Chile's President Gabriel Boric also condemned the death in detention of Amini by Iranian police, saying that the international community must "mobilize efforts to stop violence against women whether it be in Iran, in memory of Mahsa Amini, who died at the hands of the police this week, or anywhere in the world".

Unlike President Raisi who ignored Amini’s death and the current protests in his country during his address, Israeli Prime Minister said, “Iran’s regime hates Jews, hates women, hates gay people, hates the West. They hate and kill Muslims who think differently, like Salman Rushdie and Mahsa Amini.” “Their hate is a way of life. It is a way to preserve their oppressive rule,” he added. 

The Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights said on Thursday that the death toll of the protests across Iran has risen to 31. Iran's state broadcaster earlier confirmed the deaths of 17 people, including security forces and protesters, but the real number is expected to be higher.

Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, claimed that he had ordered an investigation into the case of Mahsa Amini, 22, who died last week due to severe head trauma after being arrested for wearing “improper hijab."

However, authorities have not arrested any police official or provided any details about the progress investigation.

"There is freedom of expression in Iran ... but acts of chaos, riots and vandalism are unacceptable,” Raisi said referring to protesters who have taken to the streets across the country to vent their fury over Mahsa’s death, the biggest protests in the Islamic Republic since 2019.

According to information obtained by Iran International, Raisi's team told US media managers that they are free to ask anything about the status of the talks to revive the nuclear deal but no question on Iran protests. Media have responded that "it's not possible."

Correspondents from major meida outles, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Reuters were removed from the list of invitees for Raisi's press conference.

Protesters in Tehran and other cities torched police stations and vehicles as public outrage over the death showed no signs of abating, with reports of casualties among protesters security forces coming under attack.

In a statement on its website on Thursday, the US the Treasury Department said its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Iran’s Morality Police for abuse and violence against Iranian women and the violation of the rights of peaceful Iranian protestors.”

“The Morality Police are responsible for the recent death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested and detained for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly,” it added.

OFAC also targeted seven senior officials of Iran’s Morality Police, the Intelligence Ministry, the Army’s Ground Forces, Basij Paramilitary Forces, and Law Enforcement Forces, who “oversee organizations that routinely employ violence to suppress peaceful protesters and members of Iranian civil society, political dissidents, women’s rights activists, and members of the Iranian Baha’i community.”

Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen said, “Mahsa Amini was a courageous woman whose death in Morality Police custody was yet another act of brutality by the Iranian regime’s security forces against its own people,” adding that “We condemn this unconscionable act in the strongest terms and call on the Iranian government to end its violence against women and its ongoing violent crackdown on free expression and assembly.” 

Head of the so-called morality police, Mohammad Rostami Cheshmeh-Gachi, and the commander of the Tehran division of forces, Ahmad Mirzaei, as well as Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib are among the sanctioned officials.

In a series of tweets, Amanpour said, “This was going to be President Raisi’s first ever interview on US soil, during his visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. After weeks of planning and eight hours of setting up translation equipment, lights and cameras, we were ready. But no sign of President Raisi.”

She added that 40 minutes after the interview was due to start, one of Raisi’s aides came over and asked her to wear a headscarf, “because it’s the holy months of Muharram and Safar,” to which she declined, pointing out that “no previous Iranian president has required this when I have interviewed them outside Iran.”

“The aide made it clear that the interview would not happen if I did not wear a headscarf. He said it was “a matter of respect,” and referred to “the situation in Iran” -- alluding to the protests sweeping the country, Amanpour elaborated. "Protests are sweeping Iran and women are burning their hijabs after the death last week of Mahsa Amini, following her arrest by the "morality police,” she said.

“I couldn’t agree to this unprecedented and unexpected condition,” she emphasized, saying that “The interview didn’t happen. As protests continue in Iran and people are being killed, it would have been an important moment to speak with President Raisi.”