Authorities Block Popular Footballer’s Charity Drive For Iran Quake Victims

Tahereh Saeidi, Panahi’s wife, announced his hunger strike Wednesday publishing Panahi’s statement on her Instagram sent from the notorious Evin Prison where most political prisoners are kept.

“I firmly declare that in protest against the illegal and inhumane behavior of the judicial and security apparatus and their hostage-taking, I have started a hunger strike since the morning of February 1… I will refuse to eat and drink any food and take medicine until the time of my release,” reads his statement.

The director was imprisoned in early July after going to Evin prison to enquire about the whereabouts of his other renowned filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad following their arrest a few days earlier.

Later, it was announced the Iranian authorities had decided to reactivate a six-year sentence originally meted out to Panahi in 2010 alongside a 20-year filmmaking and travel ban.

The charges were connected to his attendance at the funeral of a student who was shot dead in 2009 during the Green Movement protests and his later attempt to shoot a feature about the uprising.

In October, Iran’s Supreme Court announced that Panahi’s sentence had passed the country’s ten-year statute of limitations. Accordingly, this should have granted Panahi immediate release, but he is still behind bars.

The US military announced Wednesday that the US Navy assisted the French military in seizing thousands of assault rifles and half a million rounds of ammunition that were being transferred from Iran to Yemen in January.

US Central Command confirmed over 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition, and 23 anti-tank guided missiles were confiscated.

It also added that the seizure is “one of four significant illicit cargo interdictions over the past two months,” which has prevented the transfer of more than 5,000 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammo to Yemen. Another seizure of arms was announced earlier in January.

In a separate release on Wednesday, CENTCOM also announced that Yemeni security forces recently seized 100 unmanned aerial vehicle engines “bound for Houthi militants,” but it did not specify when the seizure happened.

The seizure came just five days after CENTCOM announced that the US had intercepted a shipment of 2,116 Iranian assault rifles heading for Yemen.

Yemen has been the scene of a civil war since 2015. Tehran has supported the Houthis, a rebel group that overthrew the government at the beginning of the war, against a Saudi-led coalition. The war has caused widespread poverty and left tens of thousands of civilian casualties, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises as aid workers say.

The attack on midnight, January 28 was filmed by the city’s residents showing explosions at a weapons development facility that is said to be involved in missile technology and munitions production.

The drone strike was yet another episode exposing Iran’s weaknesses in a covert war with Israel and a public embarrassment for its military and intelligence apparatus that have not been able to protect vital targets hundreds of kilometers inside Iran.

The attack came amid tension between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear activity and its supply of arms - including long-range "suicide drones" - for Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as months of antigovernment demonstrations at home.

In a letter to the UN chief, Iran's UN envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, said "primary investigation suggested Israel was responsible" for Saturday night's attack, which Tehran had said caused no casualties or serious damage.

"Iran reserves its legitimate and inherent right to defend its national security and firmly respond to any threat or wrongdoing of the Zionist regime (Israel) wherever and whenever it deems necessary," Iravani said in the letter.

"This action undertaken by the Zionist regime (Israel) goes against international law."

Arch-foe Israel has long said it is willing to strike Iranian targets if diplomacy fails to curb Tehran's nuclear or missile programs but does not comment on specific incidents.

Many see the latest attack as a warning by Israel after years of threats that it will not tolerate a nuclear Iran.

Talks between Iran and world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal have stalled since September. The negotiations initiated by the Biden Administration in April 2021 lasted 18 months and failed to produce an agreement. In the meantime, Iran enriched enough uranium for up to four nuclear bombs and sharply reduced monitoring access for the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.

Iran has accused Israel in the past of planning attacks using agents inside Iranian territory.

On Wednesday a semi-official website said "equipment" used in the drone attack on the Ministry of Defense complex was procured by Kurdish groups based in Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Nour News Agency, affiliated with the Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), claimed that parts of a micro aerial vehicle and explosive materials were ordered by a foreign intelligence service and smuggled into Iran from the Kurdistan region through difficult mountain passes and were handed to an intermediary in a border city in the northwestern part of the country.

The report added that the drone parts and explosives were then assembled at a modern workshop by a group of specialists and were used in the attack.

In July, Tehran claimed it had arrested a sabotage team of Kurdish militants working for Israel who planned to blow up a "sensitive" defense industry center in Esfahan.

Iran has become more isolated in the world after the break in nuclear talks and international reaction to its deadly crackdown on popular protests. The supply of drones to Russia has also soured already weak relations with Europe.

Several nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, the centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment program, which Iran accuses Israel of sabotaging in 2020 and 2021. There have been a number of explosions and fires around Iranian military, nuclear and industrial sites since July 2020.

Nour News Agency, affiliated with the Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), claimed on Wednesday that parts of a micro aerial vehicle and explosive materials were ordered by a foreign intelligence service and smuggled into Iran from the Kurdistan region through difficult mountain passes and were handed to an intermediary in a border city in the northwestern part of the country.

The report added that the drone parts and explosives were then assembled at a modern workshop by a group of specialists and were used in the attack.

Nour News had earlier claimed that several members of a "Kurdish group" were trained by Israel for sabotage operations on the industrial facilities of Esfahan but were "arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence," a claim vehemently rejected by Kurdish groups. 

The late-January attack targeted Material and Energy Laboratory of Esfahan with what the defense ministry called “small drones.” Videos citizens sent to Iran International showed an explosion, although the government claimed its air defenses had fended off the attack. Small or quadcopter drones, however, cannot fly hundreds of kilometers to reach Esfahan, located in central Iran. If indeed the attack was carried out with small drones, it would mean operators were present on the ground, in Iran.

According to the Israeli weblog Intellitimes, the target of the drone attack was the "Iranian Space Research Institute" affiliated with the ministry of defense. The Jerusalem Post, citing Western and foreign intelligence sources, also wrote that contrary to Iran’s claim the attack on "advanced weapons development" facility was a "tremendous success".

Iran International received an audio recording from a January 30 meeting where Mohammad Reza Salehi, a logistics chief at the Presidential Office under President Hassan Rouhani, spoke bitterly about the current situation in Iran. The meeting took place between former presidential aides and provincial governors with former Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri.

Salehi argued that Khamenei's supervisory role should be emphasized while his executive powers need to be limited in a bid to control his successor's behavior.

He said that as a result of the uprising in Iran, reformists and moderates have four options before them: Hoping for a foreign military attack; joining the protesters and helping t revolution in Iran; doing nothing and hoping that the regime will implode as a result of increasing financial corruption. The fourth and last option is working hard to bring about real and serious reforms in the structure of the regime by reducing the power of non-elected and non-accountable offices and strengthening the political structure's republican nature and restoring the people's right to determine their fate.

Salehi added that the first three options are dangerous for Iran and Iranians and that reformists should choose the fourth option that is pursuing reforms.

Salehi, who appears to be a committed reformist, in fact made some of the same arguments his peers have made for years, but Khamenei has reacted by mostly banning them from state structures with the support of hardliners and the Revolutionary Guard. However, asking to curtail Khamenei's executive powers is a new demand by a reformist.

Salehi then pointed out that a series of destructive measures have been taken by the government recently including the controversial ‘privatization plan’ announced by the heads of the three powers of the government. The measure, he said, includes putting a couple of major natural gas refineries (Parsian and Jam) at the disposal of the Imam's Executive Headquarters, a subsidiary holding that operates under the aegis of Khamenei's office.

According to Salehi, the other destructive measures being furthered by the government includes a new legislation to restrict freedom of speech by barring everyone including state officials, political activists and the media from commenting on social, economic, cultural and political affairs before the most senior officials make their definitive comments.

A similar measure, Salehi maintained, was legalizing the practice of giving crude oil instead of money to settle government debts to those who have carried out projects. Meanwhile, Salehi criticized the government's financial plans and said that the budget bill for the next Iranian year starting in late March has been drawn in a way that would make Iranians poorer.

He said: "In the budget bill the government's revenue is supposed to increase by 40 percent while taxes are to rise by 60 percent. This comes while the cash handout to the poorer Iranians will not be increased, and public employees will receive just a 20 percent raise. This will only increase poverty in Iran."

Speaking about the recent protests he said, "What took place was a protest not a riot," as state officials insist. He also made it clear that "Those detained were not tried fairly. Hasty trials led to executions which was tantamount to systematic massacre."

Meanwhile, he revealed that former police chief Hossein Ashtari had suggested to go on TV and apologize for the murder of Mahsa Amini in September and remove a few officers involved in the case to calm popular anger, but he was ordered to mightily confront the protesters.

Salehi then asked Jahangiri to brief Khamenei on the country's current situation and convince him to hold free and fair elections, uphold the people's rights, attach more importance to elected bodies and regulate the President's relations with other powers.

He also suggested that as the next Supreme Leader might oppose holding any referendum, Khamenei should be convinced to agree to hold a set of referenda to omit the word "absolute" from the leader’s title. There should also be votes about resuming political ties with the United States, banning military's intervention in political affairs, doing away with the discretionary vetting of presidential and parliamentary election candidates, implementing the nuclear deal (JCPOA) and agreeing to accept the terms of the FATF (Financial Action Task Force, an international watchdog).