‘Putin’s Brain’ Participates In Islamic Republic Anniversary Celebration

Reports from Tehran say that French-Iranian dual national academic Fariba Adelkhah has been released from jail. Adelkhah was sentenced to five years in 2020 on national security charges that she denied. Reports say that there are still several other French nationals in jail in Iran who are in essence Iran's hostages.

For decades, the Islamic Republic has been arresting foreigners and dual nationals on vague and trumped-up charges, keeping them in prison until it can make a deal with Western countries either for money, diplomatic concessions or freeing its agents convicted abroad.

Speaking on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told an NPR correspondent that an agreement to swap dual national prisoners with the United States is on the table.

He said that releasing Iranian-American Siamak Namazi is pending some technical measures on the part of the United States. However, he did not elaborate on the nature of those measures.

Amir-Abdollahian also tried to sound optimistic on the nuclear issue, as Iran finds itself under more isolation and the pressure of sanctions. He said that there is still a window of opportunity for all sides to return to the JCPOA.

Meanwhile, the violation of human rights by the Iranian regime during recent protests, and Tehran's involvement in Moscow's war against Ukraine have made the situation more complicated, making it difficult for the United States and Europe to make a deal with Iran.

On the domestic front, while according to political activists only around 150 of the prisoners "pardoned" by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei were actually released from jail until Friday, reports came in Saturday morning about more political prisoners being released from detention.

One of them was Farhad Meysami, whose heart-wrenching pictures were released last week following a long hunger strike. Meysami who was sentenced to five years in jail, was freed only four months before the end of his sentence.

While reports in Tehran indicated that President Ebrahim Raisi was going to make a “very important” announcement in his revolution anniversary speech on Saturday, his remarks contained nothing other than the usual unfounded claims about the Islamic Republic being the top power in the region, having achieved great success in many areas.

After the speech however, Iranian media sources quoted Raisi as having said that all students, cultural and athletic figures and media activists in jail are also going to be pardoned. Raisi tried to portray the amnesty as a measure championed by his government rather than the Iranian Judiciary Chief, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, who had called for a partial amnesty.

More than 90 Iranian journalists and a dozen athletes are said to have been detained during the protests since September, and many have already been released.

It is still not clear how many of the "tens of thousands" of prisoners who were to be freed based on Ejei's request are still remaining in jail and how many have been released.

Raisi’s promise to release more detainees was also vague. He did not mention how many prisoners would be included in the amnesty. However, he said the "fatherly amnesty" is a measure to confront the enemies who sow discord in Iran.

He also promised that the government is planning to facilitate the return of Iranians living abroad including those who have possibly acted against the law, but declined to elaborate. He only said that people will be notified of the measures "soon".

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China announced Sunday that Iran’s president will visit next Tuesday upon the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The state news agency IRNA also reported that during the trip, "cooperation documents" will be signed between the two countries, and Ebrahim Raisi will participate in a joint meeting of Iranian and Chinese businesses.

In recent years, especially after the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 nuclear agreement, the Islamic Republic has tried to get closer to China and Russia.

In addition to the controversial 25-year-old agreement between the two countries, the Islamic Republic considers it very important to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization led by China and Russia.

Citing the statements of some government officials, Iranian state media say the Chinese are not willing to invest in Iran.

The head of the joint chamber of Iran and China earlier confirmed reports of a decrease in Chinese investment in Iran stressing that one of the reasons is the inclination of some officials of the Islamic Republic towards the west.

Two months ago, a joint statement by China and six Arab countries about the three islands of Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa provoked Iran's reaction.

He made the remarks during his speech on the 44th anniversary of the establishment of the Islamic Republic.

His statements echo similar claims by regime officials, especially during the five months of anti-regime protests that began in September following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Women have faced many restrictions and prohibitions in the four decades since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, including the imposition of mandatory hijab, and the ban on singing and dancing.

In addition to lifestyle restrictions, women are discriminated against in obtaining high-level government posts and in receiving inheritance.

The current protests against the regime are partly driven by women and many men who resent the suppression of equal rights.

In another part of his speech, Raisi emphasized that the slogan "Neither East, nor West" is still one of the pillars of the Islamic Republic, although the regime has aligned itself with Russia and China.

For more than a decade, Iran and the governments of Russia and China, as "Eastern powers", have had close relations in various fields, including the military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow in the war on Ukraine.

In another part of his speech, Raisi said the protesters had been "deceived during the riots", alleging that they "realized the enemy is looking for sedition."

During a sermon on Friday, Mohammad Nabi Mousavifard called on the authorities to approve a law to deal with women who do not observe hijab.

“We have to pay for the preservation of religious values, even if we need to go to court several times,” he added.

Mousavifard further asked the judges to be very careful about such matters and enforce the law to deal with these “anomalies”.

“People and social service providers should stop giving services to people without hijab; People should give women with improper hijab warnings and not be indifferent, otherwise they will come to the street naked in the summer,” noted the cleric.

In January, the Supreme Leader’s representative in the city of Karaj said the reason for low precipitation and drought in the country is a lack of hijab observance, after many women took off their veils following months of protests.

Mohammad-Mehdi Hosseini Hamedani, the Friday prayer imam in Karaj, reiterated that observance of hijab should be enforced strictly in society.

"It is not possible to imagine that we are living in an Islamic country when we enter some institutions, shopping malls, pharmacies, etc.!" he said, calling on the authorities to warn shops and malls not to serve women who have removed their hijab and close them down if warnings did not suffice.

In the statement, they have repeated the previous remarks by government officials, who had said Israel's "role" in the attack has been proven so far, but due to the "ongoing investigation", additional information will be published later.

The two intelligence arms of the Islamic Republic do not mention the number of people arrested and their identities in their joint statement, which was published on the eve of the 44th anniversary of the regime establishment.

Iranian regime has repeatedly made similar claims regarding the arrest of people who played a role in attacks, but they never presented any evidence.

Elsewhere in the statement, the intelligence agencies stressed that the recent drone attack failed, and Iran will respond.

On January 28, one of the Islamic Republic of Iran's military facilities in the city of Esfahan was targeted by a drone attack, and officials claimed the attack did not cause any casualties or damage, while videos taken by citizens showed a large explosion.

The defense ministry announced that the target of the attack was an ammunition factory hit by small drones.

A day later, the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had carried out the drone attack on an Iranian military center for research and development.