Iranians Sustain Huge Losses Due To Government Internet Shutdowns

The report by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) states that during the 12 months, 29,688 people were arrested in Iran, of which 28,419 were detained for exercising their rights free expression.

328 women's rights activists, 258 trade union activists, 235 ethnic minorities and 169 people of religious minorities were also among the detainees, according to the report.

Iran’s chief judge announced March 13 that 22,000 people arrested during recent protests were "pardoned" and released in the past 6 months but he declined to mention the total number of people arrested.

In the reporting period, the public and Revolutionary Courts across Iran opened 1,075 legal cases against defendants facing political and national security charges, added the report, saying that the courts issued a combined total of 31,164 months in prison and 2,507 months of suspended jail terms.

HRANA also has described the last Iranian year a difficult one for women, reporting that at least 39 women were murder victims of domestic violence while 11 others were beaten, assaulted and injured by the morality police or religious vigilantes imposing so-called proper hijab in the public.

This was the third time in the past month that disabled people and managers of rehabilitation centers have protested to hardships and the government's failure to pay pensions.

According to reports, the security officers tore the banners held by protesters and beat them up while they were chanting slogans to press for assistance that should have been paid earlier.

It came after the Supreme Association for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled, the Center for Positive Life and the Campaign for the Disabled issued a joint call for a sit-in in front of the organization on Saturday.

Similar protest gatherings were staged in other cities in the past weeks. On March 2, a group of people with disabilities in Mashhad gathered outside the local Rehabilitation Department to protest inattention to their demands.

Amid a vast range of economic and social crises, the people with disabilities are quickly becoming the most voiceless minority in Iran and are increasingly being pushed to the margins.

In 2021, the Ministry of Labor published a report saying that out of a population of 80 million in Iran, there are more than 1.7 million people with disabilities who require additional help.

Reformist circles have suggested five top political figures as possible members of the proposed council, as a vehicle to organize forces opposed to the ruling hardliners.

However, the party's leader Hossein Marashi while welcoming the proposal said that forming the council is not possible with the political figures mentioned by others.

Marashi argued that former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, former parliamentary speakers Ali Larijani and Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, former president Hassan Rouhani and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's grandson Hassan Khomeini are not capable of taking the lead to form a council of moderates.

He avoided mentioning his reasons for dismissing the heavyweights, because after all, they are considered fellow reformists.

"A good idea does not necessarily mean that it can happen," said Marashi, adding that many other Iranians also want a moderate government in Iran, but the country's situation is such that moderates cannot have a voice while an all-conservative government is running the affairs of the state. Marashi was likely alluding to the disqualification of reform minded and moderate candidates in the previous parliamentary and presidential elections in 2020 and 2021.

However, he added that the Executives of Construction Party welcomes the idea as it can bring about a balance on the Iranian political scene. He said omitting the moderates altogether is neither possible nor desirable.

The idea of a political comeback by Iran's moderates was first put forward in February when it was said that a moderate council would form a shadow government. However, even then, it was clear for political analysts that under the circumstances it was unlikely that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and radical conservatives around him would ever allow the moderates to become politically active again.

However, as the Iranian government has become weaker after months of protests since September 2022, some politicians including former lawmaker Kamaleddin Pirmoazen have come to the conclusion that this is the right time for Iran's moderates to make a comeback and compete with ultraconservative Paydari Party in the next parliamentary election in early 2024.

Pirmoazen told Ensaf News website that a council of moderates has already been formed unofficially. He argued that the rivalry between the moderates and radicals in Iran will be a confrontation between the advocates of totalitarianism and the supporters of people's rule. He added that "The ruling Paydari Party wants political power only to serve the interests of one small group of people in Iran rather than thinking of bringing about an improvement in people's livelihood, and eliminating poverty.

The politician also argued that the radicals have made the system so rigid it does not even allow traditional conservatives to be politically active and influential. However, the country's current situation, in which over 60 million people cannot survive without cash handouts, calls for political participation of others who wish to improve the situation. A large part of conservatives have now realized how badly the ultraconservative government has damaged the country.

On the other hand, an ultraconservative former lawmaker, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said some of some of those named as possible members of the Council of Moderates, are not even moderate! Naqavi added, "Among the names you mentioned, only Ali Larijani could be characterized as a moderate. Others, have at times taken radical stances that does not make them moderate."

Pointing out that during recent protests Iranians shunned both reformists and conservatives, Naqavi added that "during the past three decades, ultraconservatives (Presidents Ahamdinejad and Raisi) and reformists (Presidents Khatami and Rouhani) had equal chances to run the country, but none of them were successful. Perhaps that is why some disillusioned politicians are planning to introduce a third group under the name of moderates."

EU countries have agreed to take new punitive measures against those responsible for the repression, the Dutch website De Telegraff quoted some sources as saying.

The bloc’s foreign ministers still have to approve the sanctions on Monday at their meeting in Brussels, but it is expected to be adopted.

The designated individuals and organizations will no longer be allowed to enter the EU and can no longer access any assets in the union. The EU has so far imposed such sanctions on 196 Iranians and 33 Iranian organizations and companies including prominent politicians and security officials.

The latest round of sanctions from the EU in late February included Iran's Culture Minister Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili for persecuting artists and filmmakers and also Education Minister Yousef Nouri for suppressing students.

The European Parliament has called on the EU to list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist entity, blaming it for the repression of domestic protests and the supply of drones to Russia.

However, the 27-nation bloc has so far stopped short of blacklisting the IRGC as a terror group, despite calls from Berlin and Amsterdam.

The teenage girls filmed themselves on March 8 while they were dancing to "Calm Down" by Selena Gomez and Nigerian singer Rema outside an apartment building in Tehran’s Ekbatan neighborhood.

The teenage girls recorded themselves without hijab and posted it on TikTok, but Iranian security forces detained them for 48 hours. Their act was clearly meant to defy the government that forbids dancing and singing by women, specially without hijab.

The girls were then forced to record another video repenting of their actions while their heads were covered with headscarves.

Selena Gomez with 400 million followers on Instagram published a picture of these five young girls on Friday saying “[love] to these young women and all the women of Iran who continue to be courageous demanding fundamental change. Please know your strength is inspiring.”

Earlier, Nigerian singer Rema, who remixed “Calm Down” song by Gomez also reacted to the detention of the girls.

The 21-year-old Afropop star said he was inspired by the young girls and other Iranian women who strive for a better world.

“To all the beautiful women who are fighting for a better world, I’m inspired by you, I sing for you, and I dream with you,” Rema wrote in a tweet.

The immediate action of the Islamic Republic to arrest the "girls of Ekbatan" angered many Iranians, prompting them to record similar videos while dancing to the song to support the teenage girls.