Iranian-Backed Militia Drone Killed US Contractor In Syria: Official

However, the head of Medical Council, Mohammad Rais-Zadeh, said Sunday that no hijab-related case has been sent to the council so far.

The ruling follows reports of a doctor refusing to accept a veiled patient in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

In February, a medical office in the northeastern Iranian city of Kashmar was shut when a doctor there objected to a woman harassing a patient over her “improper clothing”.

Earlier in February, Iran’s Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said violation of hijab regulations is considered a crime at hospitals and if they do not abide by hijab regulations, they will not receive approval to operate. He added that public hospitals have been required to comply with the hijab law and provide services to women by female staff.

“Women's ultrasound should be performed by women, and in some cases that we do not have enough radiologists, we ask female general practitioners and gynecologists to be given short-term training,” underlined the minister.

The clerical regime continues to strictly enforce the "mandatory hijab", despite the mass protests that followed the death in custody last September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by the morality police for defying modesty rules.

About a month before the death of Mahsa Amini, the so-called morality police had started patrolling medical and academic centers in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad to enforce compliance with the Islamic dress code. Social media users earlier reported the presence of teams from what the Islamic Republic calls the ‘Enjoining right and forbidding vice headquarters’ in various wards of hospitals and medical centers in other cities, with some reports of pressures on hospitals to separate male and female patients admitted to the ICU.

The uprising has made it increasingly difficult for the clerical regime to enforce the mandatory Islamic dress code. Appearing in public without a full veil has become a common sight even in small and more conservative towns. Since the beginning of the ‘Women, Life, Liberty’ movement in September last year, thousands of girls and women have set fire to their headscarves in a symbolic move and voiced opposition to compulsory hijab.

Rais-Zadeh also voiced his concern over the low income of doctors and surgeons, saying current wages mean no one would study for many years to qualify.

Iran’s medical profession is facing a crisis as more and more doctors leave the country for better wages and working conditions.

Driven by economic and professional problems, as well as lack of social and political freedoms, an increasing number of Iran's healthcare professionals emigrate.

There are no transparent data on the emigration of healthcare and other professionals, but medical officials and lawmakers often offer fragmentary information on the scope of the problem. The number of doctors emigrating has more than doubled in the past decade, according to one report.

Thousands of physicians, dentists, midwives, and nurses have either emigrated in the past few years or are planning to leave for other countries. Many in Iran, including lawmakers, have repeatedly warned that the ever-increasing desire of healthcare professionals to leave will result in the deterioration of the country’s healthcare system.

In February, Mohammad Sharifi-Moghadam, a member of the central council of Iran's Nurses’ Organization, said between 2,500 to 3,000 nurses were emigrating from Iran each year, based on the number of requests for good standing certificates, confirming that the applicant is entitled to practice medicine in the country.

The average salary for a doctor in Iran is about $400 per month, against ten as much or more in the US and UK. Physicians and other health professionals’ maximum fees as well as private hospitals’ tariffs are set and announced by the government annually.

Mohammad-Ali Mohseni-Bandpey, a member of the parliament health committee, said last year that wrong government policies affecting doctors included ignoring their needs and demands and refusing to allow them to raise their fees despite higher costs of living and running their practices. According to Mohseni-Bandpey, despite an almost 50 percent annual inflation rate, the government is trying to prevent a similar increase in doctors’ fees, to keep healthcare costs down. He suggested that the government should allow them to increase their fees but shift the burden to insurance companies rather than patients.

Doctors in Iran must also contend with a lack of adequate medical equipment and resources.

With fewer doctors available to provide care, the quality of medical care in Iran is declining, especially in rural areas, where access is already limited.

Moreover, medical schools are struggling to attract and retain students, leaving the future of the medical profession in Iran in doubt.

A major investment in the healthcare system, as well as increased funding for medical schools and hospitals is required to salvage the situation and stop the flood of emigrating doctors. However, Iran’s dire financial plight means such investment is impossible for the foreseeable future.

Mojtaba Yousefi said Monday the Persian Gulf countries and also the north of the region look to Turkey as the transportation hub.

Meanwhile Iran suffers from poor infrastructure that make a mockery of its ambitions in recent years to be the leader.

Yousefi said: “Out of more than 60 airports in Iran, less than 40 airports are operational and only one is an economic airport.”

The country’s roads and railways are in need of significant upgrades, while the ports are not equipped to handle the large volumes of cargo that would be necessary for Iran to become a regional hub. Furthermore, the airports are not up to international standards, most of the airplanes suffer from technical issues, and the air traffic control system is inadequate.

Political instability and economic sanctions mean the situation is highly unlikely to improve any time soon. The financial uncertainty has made it difficult for businesses to pour in the investment into infrastructure necessary for Iran to ever become a credible international transport hub.

The head of the fruit and vegetable sellers’ union of Iran, Esmail Moradian said on Monday that though the price of some items have fallen back, shoppers still cannot afford them.

Inflation in the fruit market is lower than some other sectors, but with consumers suffering plummeting purchasing power, many have held back from buying fresh fruits and prefer to wait for further price drops.

The price of watermelon has increased by a staggering 66.67%, and strawberries by 33.33%, Mehr news agency reports.

The cost of fruit in Iran has rapidly risen in recent years, making it increasingly unaffordable for ordinary people.

This situation has been made worse by a weak economy, sky-rocketing inflation, and a depreciating currency. The result is a nutrition and health crisis, as ordinary families miss out on fresh fruits and vegetables.

The situation is even worse for those on low incomes, who may not be able to afford fruit at all.

The Iranian economy has been deeply unstable for the past few years, with a sharp decline in the value of the rial and a general economic downturn. This has had a major impact on the price of food items, with inflation reaching a staggering 75 percent for some items.

The crisis has pushed many households below the poverty line.

Ukraine's Air Force Command says it brought down the Shahed pilotless vehicles overnight, along with a Russian-made Orlan-10 drone.

The clash took place in the air over the northeast of Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly used Iran-made drones as well as guided bombs in its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian long-range missile stockpiles have dwindled after repeated attacks on civilian targets since October when Moscow also began using hundreds of Shahed suicide drones, supplied in defiance of sanctions against weapons sales to the Moscow regime.

Iran first denied it had supplied drones to Russia but in early November foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian admitted the deliveries, but claimed they were sent before the Russian invasion.

There have been intelligence reports that Tehran might be planning to also supply long-range missiles to Russia.

The US and its NATO allies have strongly condemned Iran’s drone deliveries to Russia. Washington, which has stopped nuclear talks with Tehran, has indicated that it expects the deliveries to stop before any further negotiations take place.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei completely denied Iran’s involvement in the war during a speech he delivered in mid-March.

Ukraine has had increasing success in shooting down the relatively slow-flying Iranian drones. On December 5, the military said it had downed 60 of 70 Shahed drones, but Kiev continues to request reinforcements to its air defense systems from the West.

The Guardian Council, a constitutional body controlled by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, disqualified hundreds of candidates in the 2020 legislative elections and barred key presidential candidates in the 2021 presidential vote. The purpose was to hand over government control to Khamenei’s hard-line supporters.

The most prominent individual disqualified by the Council in 2021 was former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, considered a moderate conservative.

Last week, Larijani issued a statement denying any intention to run in the March 2024 parliamentary election, alluding to what transpired in 2021.

It should be noted that in the 44-year history of the Islamic Republic only regime insiders, loyal to the principle of clerical rule have been allowed to run for office. Those who had any ideas of secularism were persecuted and many had to leave the country.

Explaining the Guardian Council's intervention in the elections through arbitrary vetting, prominent conservative politician Mohammad-Reza Bahonar told Entekhab news website on Sunday that one of the reasons the Council offered for Larijani’s disqualification was that he had good relation with former President Hassan Rouhani, despised by Khamenei loyalists. 

Bahonar said: "If we are looking for high turnout in the upcoming elections, we need to open the political atmosphere rather than calling for our rivals' disqualification." He added that the country's officials should guarantee a healthy, secure and competitive election. 

Meanwhile, Bahonar who was a lawmaker for seven 4-year terms, said the parliament dominated by hardliners should not be involved in revising election laws, as current lawmakers tend to make sure that no one other than themselves are allowed to run. 

In another development, reformist activist Ali Mohammad Namazi told Rouydad24 website that what Larijani has said about purging or purification of political atmosphere by Iran's hardliners alluded to the Guardian Council's vetting of election candidates. 

The “strict filtering” by the Council, he said, was meant to bar everyone other than conservative "insiders" from getting elected. "So, what Larijani said meant: In this situation we will skip the trouble of nominating ourselves as candidates and save the hardliners the trouble of getting rid of unwanted candidates," Namazi said. 

He added that the regime's leader should know that this situation is not desirable and will push the country toward a political breaking point. Most Iranian politicians believe that political impasse already exists. 

Another reformist figure who commented on the issue of vetting and the Guardian Council's intervention in Iranian elections was reformist journalist and activist Ahmad Zeidabadi who spoke with Khabar Online website on Sunday.

Zeidabadi said that Larijani's comments were meant to convey the message that he is not going to be deceived once again by playing according to the rules laid down by hardliners.

According to Zeidabadi, Larijani has called for returning to the political processes before the 2021 election, that is allowing various political factions within the system to nominate their candidates for the presidency and giving them equal chance to garner the voters' support. 

Meanwhile, answering a question by the conservative Nameh News website that asked why former President Mohammad Khatami no longer tells the people to take part in elections in the same way he did before, former lawmaker Jalal Jalalizadeh said such a call will be effective only if the people are assured that there will be a free and fair election. In the current situation, even if Khatami calls on the people to go to the polls, no one will listen to him, Jalalizadeh said.