Iranian Revolution Song, Whose Author Was Jailed, Wins A Grammy

A video on social media shows that the doctor refuses to attend the pro-Hijab woman saying this is his private office and he cannot tolerate such moves.

Fars News Agency which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard reported Monday that the doctor has been summoned and indicted while his office has been sealed.

Despite nationwide protests in the past few months following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the ‘morality police,’ the judicial and law enforcement agencies of the clerical regime continue to strictly follow the observance of the "mandatory hijab".

On January 16, the commander of the Bushehr police force in the south announced that several girls with “improper hijab” had been arrested on the charge of “assaulting a veiled lady”.

The arrest came after a video showed the girls quarrelling with a woman who was warning them about mandatory hijab in the street.

In the last few weeks, numerous reports have been published about police sealing off businesses, restaurants, cafes and even in some cases pharmacies for not observing the mandatory hijab rules by employees.

The Islamic Republic has increased pressure on women for non-compliance with the mandatory hijab in a situation that the country has been the scene of nationwide protests since September 16.

In a press conference on Sunday, ILNA reporter asked Davoud Manzour how Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarter has not paid taxes since 2017.

In response, the INTA chief threatened the reporter, saying he has to provide documents to back up his question, and if the documents are not presented, the prosecutor will indict him.

In the published video of the press conference, the reporter's voice can be heard telling Manzour that this was a statement made by Hossein Houshi al-Sadat, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya.

Many semi-public business and “charity” outfits in Iran run by regime insiders are exempt from paying taxes and some even receive assistance from the government.

IRGC’s Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters is the engineering arm of the IRGC and one of Iran's largest contractors in industrial and development projects. Khatam al-Anbiya was created during the 1980–88 Iran–Iraq War to help rebuild the country, but diversified over the years into companies dealing with mechanical engineering, energy, mining, and defense.

Involvement of the IRGC in business began in earnest two decades ago and has become a highly controversial issue in the country. Former president Hassan Rouhani in 2017 publicly criticized the practice and met a quick reaction by hardliners. He had to retract his statements at the time.

“On the one hand, the people are suffering from numerous earthquakes, extreme cold and lack of bread, food, and tents, and on the other hand, they are suffering from inefficient governance that blocks domestic and international humanitarian aid,” reads the statement.

Meanwhile, Hamid Mahboubi, Head of the West Azarbaijan Red Crescent Society, reported a fire in a tent used by the earthquake victims, saying "In this incident, two tents caught fire."

Head of Iran’s National Medical Emergency Organization Jafar Miadfar also said that one of the health concerns is the risk of contracting influenza and Covid-19. He asked the earthquake victims to "go to the health and treatment centers" if they see symptoms of a cold and wear a mask if a sick person is present in their tent.

Miadafar also added that 165 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning have been reported so far.

The government is widely criticized for its inability to provide aid to the quake-hit people. Reports from Khoy, the epicenter of the January 29 quake say one week after the event, people still do not have access to basic necessities.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 hit northwest Iran near the border with Turkey, killing at least three people and injuring over 800.

Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, who is a leading figure among hardliners, in a television program contradicted what the Islamic Republic has tried to portray as limited protests since September.

Bahonar, who is also a member of the regime’s Discernment Council, said that the protests were “more widespread and deeper than demonstrations in the past five years, but he still used the word “riots” to characterize the popular movement.

The clerical regime has refused to recognize that the unrest triggered by the death in custody of a young woman in September was a genuine popular expression of dissatisfaction at the multiple crises Iran faces.

However, he admitted that “certain grievances and inefficiency in the economy, politics and even culture and diplomacy exist in the country.” On a few occasions in the past one year, Bahonar who was a deputy speaker of parliament, has asked for reforming governance in the Islamic Republic, even directly appealing to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in February 2022 to support “structural changes.”

Bahonar has a proven track record in organizing and mobilizing conservative groups. He did that following the landslide victory of Iran's reformists in the 1997 presidential election and the 2000 parliamentary elections and consolidated the conservative groups. Nonetheless, he had remained conspicuously silent on major political issues until Iran’s economic situation deteriorated and President Ebrahim Raisi’s first few months in office came as a shocking disappointment to many conservatives.

In his latest statement, he repeated his previous position that "We need a second Republic," meaning that a Constitutional Assembly should be formed to determine new boundaries for the government's authority and the people's rights.

On the face of it, this is not much different from what Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the reformist opposition figure under house arrest, said Saturday. In scathing criticism of the regime, Mousavi put forth three conditions: A free and untainted referendum about the necessity to change or write a new constitution. Second, in case of a positive vote by the people, to form a constitutional assembly composed of the “real representatives of the nation” through a free and fair election. Third, a second referendum to approve the draft constitution to establish a regime based on rule of law, in conformity with human rights and the will of the people.

Although Bahonar repeated the official line that “enemies” played a major role in instigating the protests, he called for wider political participation. He argued that conservatives' political rivals should not be barred from elections as it was the case in the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2020 and 2021. He also criticized the political system for weakening the country's political parties.

This runs counter to Khamenei’s policy of consolidating rule under hardliners, with a substantial number of parliament members representing the Revolutionary Guard at the expense of hundreds of other loyalists who were prevented from running in the elections.

Bahonar criticized the one-sided vote in 2020 and argued that it resulted in a low elections turnout and convinced foreign powers that the Islamic Republic has lost its legitimacy.

Referring to recent protests and noting that they have not come to an end, Bahonar said that after the protests recede, “we should not forget about the people's grievances and protests, although we tend to forget about their complaints as soon as the situation calms down."

Early reports indicate hundreds of people have died in Turkey and in Syria and the number of casualties is increasing as search and rescue crews search destroyed buildings.

Salman Navvab Nouri is quoted by the official IRNA news website as saying “The Islamic Republic of Iran will be beside the people of Aleppo as it was in the past and all will deploy all its capacities to assist the victims…”

Israel has offered assistance to Turkey that has declared a high-level alert, requesting international assistance.

The government in Tehran has not yet issued a statement offering aid, but it is expected that Iran will focus any assistance on Syria, its regional ally.

Tehran might face a difficult political question if it commits large resources to Syria, since the victims of an earthquake in northwest Iran last week are still in a desperate situation, complaining of lack of shelter and food amid winter cold.

Most Iranians are also critical of the Islamic government's decade-old military intervention in Syria and the expenditure of tens of billion of dollars in the war.

The offer by the Iranian diplomat to help Aleppo comes as the city was mostly destroyed in 2015-2016 when Russia and Iran used overwhelming and indiscriminate bombardment to force Syrian rebels out of the area. Thousands of civilians died in the battle.