Brazil Allows Iranian Warships To Dock In Rio Despite US Pressure

Many seats were empty while Hossein-Amir Abdollahian was delivering his speech at UHRC’s headquarters in Geneva, following calls by activists urging delegates to walk out in reaction to the regime’s gross human rights violations, especially during the ongoing crackdown on antigovernment protests. 

The current session of the council, made up of 47 member countries, will last for more than five weeks and is set to tackle an extensive array of human rights issues, including discrimination and freedom of religion, both major issues in Iran.

The council was one of the first international bodies to react to the current wave of protests, ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini in custody of hijab police. In November, the council voted to launch an independent investigation into the regime’s deadly repression, which has killed more than 500 civilians, including 70 children. 

Most participants who left the hall in protest to Amir-Abdollahian's presence were members of NGOs as most diplomats preferred to stay and listen to the Islamic Republic’s rhetoric.

Trying to manipulate the realities on the ground, the Iranian FM said, “The peaceful assemblies that took place in my country following the sad death of Mahsa Amini... turned violent following the malign interference by some terrorist elements. In this respect, a number of Persian language TV channels based in the US and the UK, acted as provocateurs of hatred and propagators of violence.” 

He also claimed that an investigation was ongoing and that all the people that were arrested during the protests have been released. He also claimed that "no one has been killed," in response to Iran International’s correspondent who asked him about the Islamic Republic's killing of protesters including a 10-year-old kid. 

Outraged by Amir-Abdollahian's presence, many politicians and activists expressed concern about the UN’s move to invite the Iranian official for the opening day of the five-week session. Member of the Swedish parliament, Alireza Akhondi, said, “It’s a shameful day for the UN that they allowed representatives for a murderous regime to speak here about human rights.” 

“I’m expecting that they (the UN) are redrawing their badges and they are not allowing them to enter this building anymore. Because they are not respecting the human rights of anybody and they are trying to harass and make the Iranian voices to not be able to be heard,” he added. 

The foreign minister’s presence was not the only issue of contention among Iranian and foreign activists as he also held several meetings on the sidelines of the UN session, such as a meeting with the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto. 

The meetings shocked social media users, especially because Lahbib cut their hair in the country’s parliament in solidarity with anti-government demonstrations. Her meeting was criticized by many activists and officials, including Belgian lawmaker Darya Safai, who pointed out that “The Belgian government goes along with hostage diplomacy.” Lahbib herself tweeted about the release of Olivier Vandecasteele, an aid worker and a former employee of the Norwegian Refugee Council sentenced to 40 years in prison in Iran. Some believe her meeting with Amir-Abdollahian was probably an attempt to plead for his release.

A textile trader told Iran International that “For now we have stopped selling our goods because we have no guarantee we can refill our stocks.” He added that "a lot of merchants have lost money because their payables are in dollars while they have to sell their goods in rials.”

Local media reported that the Central Bank of Iran intervened in the currency market by injecting $700 million in UAE dirhams on Sunday and the rial marginally rose from its all-time low of 600,000 against the US dollar. But such a sizeable intervention has not produced the desired result of stabilizing the rial.

First, the currency rose to 560,000 but after a few hours it dropped again, trading at more than 580,000 to the USD on Monday evening.

Parliament continued a third day of meetings about the currency crisis but there is little the legislature can do, except asking questions from President Ebrahim Raisi’s government. On Saturday, the president’s top economic aide, Mohammad Mokhber told lawmakers, “This is what it is,” rudely dismissing their criticism.

The fact that the reported monetary intervention was conducted using UAE dirhams instead of US dollars might indicate a shortage of greenbacks in the central bank.

The same grim news about a halt in trading came from the goldsmiths market in Tehran, where the fast-fluctuating currency rates have forced retailers to hold on to their gold and jewelry.

A currency dealer told Iran International that curbside trading has become highly risky as plainclothes security agents are everywhere in areas where usually people buy and sell foreign currencies.

Trading has also decreased in the food wholesalers’ market where one trader said goods such as sugar, oil and rice that can be stored have been shipped to warehouses, not to be sold until there is clarity with the value of the rial.

Pundits urged the government to tell the people what plans it has to tackle the crisis, but officials seemed bewildered and confused. The speaker of parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (Qalibaf) was quick on Monday to claim that his fiefdom had predicted the currency crisis more than a month before and had warned the government. Others simply urged the government to “do something.”

Tehran’s Friday Prayer Imam, Kazem Sedighi, told the people to pray to fix the country’s problems. “We are in an economic war,” he said, just as the pioneers in Islam had to fight the unbelievers, this is also a holy war.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was suddenly quoted as saying that during his visit to Iraq last week, he was told that the United States is open to resume nuclear negotiations. It was not clear why he had not disclosed the news three days earlier, except if suspicions that he tried to boost the rial was the real reason behind the belated revelation.

Some media outlets and commentators are speculating about changes in the government lineup, as many have been insisting for a long time that Raisi’s ministers are not up to the job.

One hardliner pundit, Mohammad Sadegh Koushki was quoted as saying that “If Mr. Raisi had the same information he has today prior to the presidential elections, he would have never become a candidate. Most presidential candidates [in Iran] have no idea about the magnitude of the job.”

After some media speculations that Russia might have used up its supply of Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drones, it sent swarms of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) into different parts of Ukraine.

As the week began early Monday morning, air-raid sirens sounded in most of the country, but in the western city of Khmelnytskiy two rescue workers who had responded to a drone explosion were killed when a second UAV hit the same location.

Iran has been supplying Shahed drones to Russia since mid-2022, and Moscow began using dozens of the UAVs in coordinated attacks together with long-range missiles in early October. So far, it is believed that hundreds of the Iranian drones have been used.

The total number of drones used in the Monday attacks is not clear, but the head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhiy Popko said nine drones were shot down over the capital. Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces destroyed 11 out of 14 drones overnight.

The United States and its European allies have warned of closer military cooperation between Russia and Iran, demanding that Tehran should end its military involvement in Ukraine before there would be any chance of resuming talks over Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran first denied supplying Russia with weapons but later admitted that it had sent some drones before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began.

Kalameh website, close to Mousavi reported that his house arrest became more restricted following the publication of his recent statement in support of the “Women, Life, Freedom Movement”, and his call for a referendum to establish a new political system in Iran.

The website did not mention the details of the new restrictions but added that it will publish more information soon.

Ardeshir Amir-Arjamand, Mousavi's advisor, who resides abroad, also confirmed in a tweet the tightening of house arrest restrictions on Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who was a presidential candidate in the 2009 disputed election and has been under house arrest since 2011, said in a statement earlier this month that Iran needs “fundamental change” based on “Woman, Life, Freedom” and constitutional change.

Referring to government violence against protesters, he said the rulers of the Islamic Republic are not willing “to take the smallest step to meet the demands of the people.”

Mousavi’s statement seemed to reject reform as a viable alternative, urging fundamental change, a new constitution, and a constitutional assembly.

Zahra Rahnavard also previously described the government's violence against women as "extreme cruelty" that has not been seen anywhere “even in the dictatorships of the Middle Ages.”

In a statement published by the spokesperson of National Resistance Front, Sibghatullah Ahmadi, the group said the action was taken despite the Front’s concerns about its “adverse consequences”.

“Nonetheless, [Iran] allowed the representatives of the illegitimate and the terrorist group of Taliban to enter the diplomatic mission of Afghanistan.”

It also warned that the political presence of the Taliban in Iran, with its “dark history” is “perilous”, especially for the millions of refugees who have sought protection in Iran.

“Handing over the diplomatic mission of Afghanistan in Iran to a group that is a murderer of the people of Afghanistan…is dubious and contains an unpleasant message to the people of Afghanistan and other countries.”

The statement expressed regret about the embassy takeover by a “criminal group”, adding that this situation will not last long.

Iran has good relations with the Taliban and also ties to the resistance front that comprises more non-Pashtun, Persian speaking Afghans.

Afghanistan’s embassy in Tehran was “formally” handed over to the Taliban on Sunday afternoon, according to an Afghan diplomat in Iran.

Sources say the Taliban has appointed Fazl Mohammad Haqqani, the first secretary of the former ambassador of Afghanistan in Iran, as the group’s charge d’affaires in Tehran.

Iran is the third country after Pakistan and Russia that handed the Afghan embassy to the Taliban.