Officials In Iran Getting Unrestricted Internet Amid General Filtering

In a statement Friday, the ministry said there is no rift among top officials over the execution of Alireza Akbari, a former Iranian defense minister, on charges of “corruption on earth” and “extensive activities against the country’s internal and external security” through espionage for the British government’s spy agency. The statement claimed that “officials, media, and political groups” unanimously endorse the execution.

“The ministry resolutely announces that the country’s officials and political groups loyal to the Islamic Republic may have differences over domestic issues (which is natural) but are united in their view over the wickedness of the British regime and its hostility against this country and people,” the statement said. It also claimed that Iran had dealt a “great blow” to the British intelligence by executing their agent.

Akbari once served as deputy to current secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani, when he was defense minister in the government of the reformist President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005).

The announcement of Akbari’s execution led to strong Western condemnations and fueled already existing rumors about Shamkhani’s power struggle with hardliner opponents and the possibility of his replacement. A source close to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) told Iran International that this was a move to weaken Shamkhani’s position and oust him.

A day before the execution, Nour News, a website close to the SNSC, accused “radical circles” of “spreading rumors” and on January 16 published a statement by the defense ministry which said Akbari had never “served as a deputy minister” and had retired in 2002 as head of the ministry’s Defense Research Bureau.

The ministry also blamed Britain for encouraging Akbari and using his weaknesses to lead him to treason and betrayal of his country. The ministry said Akbari had provided the British intelligence service with secret information over the country’s military and missile projects, ways of circumventing sanctions, information on security, defense and political entities as well as Iran's nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh who was assassinated near Tehran in November 2020.

Before Akbari’s execution, Iran's state media aired a program that included a video of his so-called “confessions” in which he said he was recruited by the British intelligence service that provided him with a laptop that would directly and securely connect to them, and helped him plan his escape from Iran, get a UK investment visa, and eventually, British citizenship.

Such taped ‘confessions’ by prisoners are routinely obtained by Iranian intelligence under torture, threats and pressures. It is also not clear if Akbari was an agent why he openly returned to Iran in 2019.

In the video, Akbari did not confess to involvement in the assassination but said a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh.

Akbari managed to smuggle an audio recording from Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison where he was held for three years, often in solitary confinement, since his arrest in 2018. In the audio file he claimed to have been tortured physically and psychologically for 3,500 hours and forced to take psychedelic drugs to confess to crimes he had never committed.

“They broke my will, drove me to madness and forced me to do whatever they wanted,' he said in the audio file, claiming that pressures on him included pointing a gun to him and threatening to kill him.

The United States, Britain, and European Union have strongly condemned Akbari’s execution and vowed not let Tehran’s violence go “unpunished”.

In response to Iran International, the German foreign ministry denied the arrest of one of its nationals in Iran, saying “the issue was raised in Iranian media, but after consultations with Iranian authorities, we realized this is not true.”

This ministry had earlier issued a statement following a report by Jam-e Jam daily announcing that the German embassy in Tehran is working hard to make this issue clear.

Jam-e Jam daily, which is owned by Iran's state broadcaster, reported Tuesday that a German national was arrested while taking photos of Omidiyeh oil facilities in the southern Khuzestan province.

A number of European citizens are imprisoned in Iran, but only the names of some of them have been published.

Irish-French prisoner Bernard Phelan is another foreigner arrested on October 3 during anti-regime protests that have swept the country following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody on September 16.

He has been on hunger strike since the beginning of the New Year, but on Friday he accepted to eat upon the request of his family.

However, Phelan warned if there is no improvement in his situation, he will go on hunger strike again.

Earlier in the month, the Islamic Republic’s judiciary sentenced Olivier Vandecasteele, who was detained in 2022, to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes for alleged “spying and cooperation with the United States, money laundering and currency smuggling $500,000 out of Iran.”

In an interview with TRT World, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Thursday that despite good relations between Moscow and Tehran, Iran still does not recognize the annexation of Ukrainian territories.

"We recognize the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries within the framework of international laws, therefore, despite the excellent relations between Tehran and Moscow, we did not recognize the occupation of Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions," the minister said.

He also claimed that the Islamic Republic opposes the war and hopes for peace in Ukraine.

“When we say that the conflict in Ukraine is not a solution, we believe in our position as a fundamental political principle on which we rely," Amir-Abdollahian said.

His comments came at a time when Tehran signed a trade agreement with the authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic back in June.

"At the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Donetsk People's Republic Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Farnoush Trade, an Iranian Commercial House, signed an agreement that will promote the development of trade and economic relations between our Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran," wrote Donetsk President Denis Pushilin on social media in June.

However, the Islamic Republic denied the reports.

Iran’s regime is providing military support to Russia in its war against Ukraine by supplying Moscow with kamikaze drones. The US and some other Western countries have imposed sanctions against Tehran for providing the drones that target civilian infrastructures in Ukraine.

In a statement on Saturday the sports ministry said Minister Hamid Sadjadi ordered an investigation two weeks ago following reports of sexual abuse at a teenage boys’ football school in the religious city of Mashhad.

A former media manager for the Shahr Khodro football team said on social media that the parents of 15 players from this club have filed a complaint against the club and coaches for sexual assault on their children, reported IRNA Friday.

Shahrara daily, which is affiliated to Mashhad municipality, reported Friday that “families of the children had gathered in front of the headquarters of the provincial football organization to protest this tragedy.”

Since there was no follow-up by the authorities, the families were forced to publicize the case through media, the daily added.

Sexual abuse has made footballschools a serious threat for children and teenagers. Reports say even some mothers of the children receive sexual offers from the coaches and officials of these schools.

Reza Torabian, a former football player, had earlier said that “Some officials of football schools, ask the single moms to have sex in return for letting their kids play in famous teams.”

Sexual abuse of children and teenagers in football schools is not officially reported, but in the last two decades, Iranian media have published numerous reports of child abuse in football schools.

Several Iranian hardliners have threatened the EU of repercussions inside Iran and in the region as well as in Europe if the EU designates the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.

On Thursday, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on member states to designate the IRGC as a terrorist group. The overwhelming vote at the EU Parliament came after a massive rally by tens of thousands of Iranian expats in Strasbourg on Monday and condemnation of the IRGC's violent suppression of protesters in Iran.

Ironically, the hardliner officials and politicians who threaten the EU provide further proof of the IRGC's terrorist nature in their bellicose statements.

Ultraconservative lawmaker Mohammad Nabavian said on Wednesday that the Iranian Parliament will put Germany, France and the UK on Iran's terror list if the EU resolution goes any further. Meanwhile, he threatened that "the defenders of the resistance in the region" know very well how to treat those designated as terrorists by Tehran. By "resistance" forces, Nabavian was referring to Iran's proxy groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon including the Hezbollah, which have a proven track record of attacking US and EU interests in the region or taking hostages.

Nabavian further threatened that if Iran's interests are endangered by Europe, the interests of EU member states, their supporters, their companies, will be threatened no matter where they are located."

Ultraconservatives had also vandalized the British and French embassy buildings in Tehran during the past weeks. Nabavian further advised Europeans to "to take Iran's threats seriously."

Referring to former US President Donald Trump administration's designation of the IRGC as a terrorist group, Nabavian said it is not standard practice in the world to sanction the defensive forces of a country.

Meanwhile, IRGC General and hardliner lawmaker Esmail Kowsari warned EU member states: "You may not be able to tolerate the consequences of designating IRGC as a terrorist organization." Kowsari claimed that "The plan put the IRGC on Europe's list of terrorist organizations is a US-Israeli conspiracy and there is no logic behind it."

He suggested that "EU member states should preserve their independence from the United States and should oppose any action against the IRGC."Kowsari added that "Those who want Iran to return to the JCPOA know very well that these actions can put an end to any dialogue." He further warned that if the Eu wishes to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, it should consider the heavy repercussions of such an act."

This threat has some believers in the West, including the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell who is said to oppose designation the IRGC for fear of jeopardizing the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, or JCPOA.

Kowsari further warned that "The ITRGC is one of the world's most powerful military organizations. Designating it as a terrorist group will not restrict its actions but it might change the situation."

Meanwhile, in another development, Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of hardliner Kayhan daily in Iran threatened Sweden that IRGC security forces can easily abduct Swedish security officials and bring them to Iran for trial.

He made the outlandish statement while speaking about the trial of a former Iranian judiciary official convicted in Sweden on the charges of participating in killing thousands of dissidents in Iranian prisons in 1988.

In an interview with Eghtesad News, Shariatmadari mentioned other cases in which Iranian security forces abducted individuals from other countries for trial in Iran.