Tehran, Moscow To Build Factory In Russia To Make More Drones: WSJ

In a letter addressed to the heads of the three government branches published Sunday, Tavakkoli, who is a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, said that the measure is in obvious violation of the country’s constitution. 

He argued that this manner of running the government is similar to the behavior of a drug addict who cannot afford to buy his drugs and decides to sell off its belongings to support his addiction. 

"At the beginning of the addiction, the addict spends his income on buying drugs, but after the income is not enough, he starts selling his properties and furniture," Tavakkoli said. 

Tavakkoli, himself considered a regime insider, criticized the plan despite Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s full-fledged support for the scheme.

The Islamic Republic has recently embarked on a journey to raise capital by selling public properties, a move that has people, experts and politicians concerned about possible corruption. Similar past schemes implemented without proper rules and transparency have ended in scandals.

It involves the liquidation of billions of dollars of assets belonging to the government and its affiliated entities including banks under the supervision of a seven-man team with extraordinary powers and immunity from prosecution.

Khamenei has approved the plan, which is not a real privatization scheme. Well-connected and powerful buyers who are often secretive funds and endowments run by powerful officials are lined up to gobble up the prize.

Netanyahu told the weekly meeting of his cabinet that “At the center of our long conversation, I must say, was our common goal - to fight Iran's attempt to obtain nuclear weapons and a nuclear arsenal.”

Netanyahu further noted that he cannot recall a time when the two sides had been so close to an agreement regarding their positions on Iran.

However, he underlined that it is “not the same position, but the positions are much closer,” adding that the positions of Israel and the United States regarding Iran have also become closer.

Netanyahu, who traveled to France on his first official foreign trip after regaining power, met with Macron at the Elysee Palace February 2, and discussed Iran's nuclear threats and deterring this country's actions in the region.

After the meeting, in a statement released by the Elysee Macron called for “firmness in the face of Iran’s headlong rush, which if continued would inevitably have consequences.”

The French president also reiterated “that Iranian support for Russian aggression in Ukraine exposes Iran to sanctions and increasing isolation.”

According to the latest report released by the Research Center of Iran Chamber of Commerce in early-February, growing unemployment as well as internet shutdowns or restrictions also contributed to the unprecedented crisis in the production sector. 

The report is based on the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which is a measure of the prevailing direction of economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors. The purpose of the index is to summarize whether market conditions, as viewed by purchasing managers, are expanding, staying the same, or contracting. It is supposed to provide information and useful insight about current and future business conditions to the decision makers, analysts, and investors. The PMI is derived from a monthly survey of supply chain managers across many industries, covering both upstream and downstream activities.

The latest report on this indicator of overall economic activity proves that the country’s production sector has been contracting to an alarming level, with the index dropping to below 40, while a number less than 50 means economic contraction. 

The report added that a survey of economic enterprises indicates that this record-breaking fall in the entire economy is caused by factors such as a rise in production costs due to inflation and instability in the exchange rates, which had already put pressure on economic enterprises. However, the new issue that has been added to the equation is the challenge to supply energy to producers.

Iran is facing a serious natural gas shortage in winter months as output at its gas fields gradually declines due to lack of investments and Western technology. To keep homes warm, the government reduces gas supplies to steel makers, refineries and a host of medium-sized enterprises.

Another index that factored in the report pertained to “the extent of business activities,” indicating that in all three main sectors of the economy, i.e. industry, services and agriculture, activity has dramatically decreased. 

The index of "inventory of raw materials or purchased supplies" in the previous Iranian month (which ended on January 20) saw the sharpest decrease rate in the past 27 months. The significant devaluation of the rial and the resulting price inflation have disturbed the supply chains for producers who cannot secure their required raw materials.

Some of the other indices that contributed to a drop in PMI are growing unemployment, fewer customer orders, and less exports of goods and services, as well as sales in general. 

Head of the Research Center of Iran Chamber of Commerce Mohammad Ghasemi told Donya-e-Eqtesad daily that the new report shows the Islamic Republic “has been removed from the map of international trade,” warning that “apart from its consequences for our economic growth, this has risks for our national security."

"The most painful result of these studies...is that the 'existence and absence of Iran's economy' does not have much effect on the international economy," he added, noting that it becomes very easy for the international community to inflict damage on the country’s economy. This means that sanctions and embargoes on Iran are irrelevant to the global supply chain and economy. 

Emphasizing that "Foreign trade is one of the instruments of continuous economic growth," Ghasemi said that no country has ever prospered since the end of World War II without benefitting from the international trade.

In the United States, people in San Diego, California expressed solidarity with the protesters in Iran by holding a demonstration on Saturday.

Activists in Sacramento also held a rally, carrying banners and photos of those killed during protests after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.

In Canada, the cities of Calgary, Vancouver, and Montreal were scenes of similar protests.

Iranians living in the German cities of Hamburg, Frankfurt, Bremen, Cologne and Kassel also held demonstrations, calling for the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.

In London, a similar demonstration was held to demand that the IRGC be proscribed by the British government.

Iranians and Swedish activists also held rallies in the cities of Gothenburg and Karlstad calling for the expulsion of diplomats of the Islamic Republic.

Iranians in Copenhagen, Denmark, holding pictures of protesters who lost their eyes due to shooting by security agents, demanded the expulsion of the ambassador of the Islamic Republic.

Videos sent to Iran International also show that similar events took place in Vienna, Milan, and Tbilisi.

A big round of rallies is scheduled in many cities for next Saturday.

Meysami, 53, who has been in jail since 2018 for supporting women activists protesting against Iran's forced hijab policy, began his hunger strike on October 7 to protest recent government killings of demonstrators, the dissident's lawyer said.

Social media images purported to be of an emaciated Meysami have caused outrage online as supporters warned on Friday, he risks death for protesting hijab and opposing the death penalty.

Also, 380 female rights activists wrote a letter Saturday asking him to end his hunger strike.

"When relentless violence does not stop its continuous attack, one must survive to resist," they said in the letter.

"We call for your demands and will not stop fighting the oppression until they are realized," reads the letter.

At the same time, a campaign was launched by "a group of friends and supporters of Farhad Meysami" to collect signatures about his dire situation and the call for his immediate release. About seven thousand people have signed the petition so far.

On Friday, Amnesty International also called for Meysami’s "immediate and unconditional" release.

However, Iran's judiciary denied that he was on hunger strike and said the photos were from four years ago when Meysami, a physician, did go on hunger strike.