Sanctions Hinder China Paying For Iranian Oil - Ex-Envoy

The government claims the move is to safeguard the well-being of its citizens as soaring temperatures continue to pose health risks, though it raises questions as to the country's readiness for a crisis amidst an already overburdened health system.

Last month, Iran International reported that the system needs 60,000 personnel to cope with rising demands amidst a collapsing economy and a disappearing workforce. 

Ali Bahadori Jahromi, the government's spokesperson, took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce the decision, stating, "In view of the unprecedented heat in the current days, in order to protect the health of the citizens, the government agreed with the proposal of the Ministry of Health to close on Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the country."

Sadegh Ziyaian, the head of the National Center for Forecasting and Crisis Management of Weather Risks, reported an alarming increase in temperatures. The southern city of Ahvaz in particular is expected to experience temperatures of up to 50 and 51 degrees celsius during Tuesday and Wednesday, becoming the hottest center of the province.

Ziyaian also warned that the capital, Tehran, will witness temperatures reaching up to 40 degrees Celsius on Thursday.

In light of the extreme weather conditions, the Ministry of Health issued a public advisory, urging special attention to vulnerable groups. Children under four years old, individuals over 65 years old, and those with pre-existing health conditions are at higher risk of heatstroke.

The report indicates that 15% of the child population is now engaged in labor activities. At least 10% of working children do not have the opportunity to attend school, depriving them of essential educational opportunities.

While the exact number of working children in Iran remains undisclosed, the Ministry of Labor indicated that in 2017, out of nine million Iranian children, 499,000 were considered "active," signifying that nearly half a million children in the country were either engaged in labor or searching for work.

The report suggests that the population of working children has now reached approximately one million and 350,000 individuals, based on an estimated 15% involvement in child labor.

The primary reason attributed to the growing phenomenon of child labor is "household poverty" which forces children to work to support their families' financial needs.

The report underscores that child labor is prohibited and criminalized by both international and domestic laws, obliging the government to implement necessary measures to address and reduce this issue. However, monitoring and preventing child labor have proven to be challenging, particularly in cases of household work, labor in difficult and unsupervised areas, illegal activities like drug trafficking, and instances of sexual abuse of children.

Iran International has obtained a long list of Akbar Tabari’s properties, such as large shopping malls, houses, large land holdings, apartments and shops, that were not even mentioned during the numerous hearing sessions held after he and 21 others were arrested in 2019 for running a bribery ring inside the regime’s judiciary department.

Almost all the people implicated in the case were released before completing their sentences. Late in June, Gholamali Mohammadi, the head of Iran's Prisons Organization, announced that Tabari -- the highest-ranking judiciary official in the case -- was released from prison after serving just 45 months of a 31-year prison term, posting a bail of 3 trillion rials ($6 million). 

Before being arrested in July 2019, Tabari held senior financial and executive positions within the Iranian judiciary for nearly 20 years. He was eventually sentenced to 31 years in prison for leading a bribery network and receiving multiple bribes and for money laundering. 

According to Iran International’s investigative journalist Mojtaba Pourmohsen, Tabari continued his illegal activities from inside the prison as the court sessions were being held. 

Our sources said that several of his associates have been converting his assets into foreign currencies and sending to Portugal and the Canadian city of Vancouver, adding that authorities turn a blind eye -- or facilitate -- his affairs to protect Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and Gholam-Hossein Esmaeili, a senior justice and former spokesman of the Judiciary who is now the chief of staff of President Ebrahim Raisi. Tabari was removed from his posts in the judiciary only seven days after Ebrahim Raisi was appointed as Chief Justice in March 2019.

Delving into evidence pertaining to the list of Tabari’s assets would have opened the pandora’s box and revealed the deep corruption in the highest levels of the country’s judiciary, our sources said, justifying the reason why Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave the green not to investigate the case thoroughly. Another piece of evidence that was buried would have led to further investigation about Sadeq Larijani, another former Chief Justice and the current chairman of Expediency Discernment Council -- an advisory body appointed by the Supreme Leader. 

One of our sources claimed that the known facts and figures about Tabari’s case are only the tip of the iceberg in the judiciary’s corruption that may include a large number of senior officials of the country’s judicial system. 

Mohammadi, the head of Iran's Prisons Organization, said in the late June TV interview that Tabari's release was the result of a "judicial authority's decision within legal parameters," a reference to Mohseni-Ejei, the current head of the judiciary.

Tabari's release cast aspersions about the fairness of Iran's judiciary in high-profile cases, showing preferential treatment to former regime officials and those who can buy their way out of jail. While regime opponents are subjected to immediate secret trials and severe punishment, including those arrested during the recent nationwide protests, the process of reviewing the charges of officials and their affiliates is usually slow, and their sentences are usually suspended after a short period.

Another question raised following Tabari’s release was how a former government employee can post a $6 million bail when monthly salaries of top officials is around $1,000. According to official documents of the case, a copy of which was obtained by Iran International, well-known Iranian tycoon Mohammad (Dariush) Afrashtehpour paid the bail money. Afrashtehpour is one of the so-called ‘major debtors’ to state banks who has been involved in a plethora of financial schemes under several administrations.

According to a report by ILNA news agency in Tehran, Heydar Mohseni, a married father of two, took his own life on Thursday after receiving a dismissal order following 18 years of service at the petrochemical complex in the southwestern province of Ilam. This marks the fourth such incident within the past 12 months.

The news of Mohseni's suicide prompted a gathering of workers at the petrochemical area and the Chovar governorate. As a consequence, the Chovar security council restricted the entry of several petrochemical managers into the workplace. Nevertheless, some workers expressed concern that those responsible for Mohseni's dismissal have yet to face repercussions.

In a similar incident in December, Arash Tabarrork, a contracted worker at the plant, committed suicide after ingesting aluminum phosphide after he was prohibited from entering Chovar Petrochemical Company. Furthermore, in August 2022, Mohammad Mansouri and Ali Mohammad Karimi, both young workers, also took their lives within a 24-hour period.

Reports indicate that employees at Chovar have to endure hard working conditions and receive very low wages. This, compounded with worsening economic situation in Iran has contributed to unbearable livelihood problems and have driven at least 10 individuals to end their lives between June and August 2022.

A notable issue highlighted by ILNA is the absence of an independent trade union organization for the over 1000 workers at Chovar Petrochemical, most of whom are contracted employees, meaning that they lack job security, insurance and benefits. Their appeals to the labor ministry and governorship have not yielded positive outcomes.

Mohammad Aghamiri emphasized that if an earthquake were to strike the capital, which is located in an area of high seismic activity with these the risks compounded by increasing land subsidence, the city’s current infrastructure would not withstand and a national crisis would ensue.

Aghamiri spoke to Etemad newspaper, expressing his deep apprehensions about the current subsidence situation in Tehran, terming it unacceptable and extremely worrying. Recognizing the gravity of the issue, he stressed the crucial need for national support to effectively address and contain the looming threat.

"If an earthquake occurs in Tehran, the capital, which should itself be the command center, will experience a crisis," he said.

His concerns align with the sentiments expressed earlier this year by Mehdi Pirhadi, another member of Tehran City Council, who also underscored the urgency of renovating buildings in the capital to withstand potential earthquakes. Pirhadi emphasized that a quake with a magnitude of over 7 could lead to hundreds of thousands of casualties and deaths, due to 166,000 hectares of worn-out structures across the country.

In light of this grim outlook, experts have predicted that in the event of a magnitude 7 earthquake, at least one and a half million people could lose their lives in Tehran alone.

Iran, situated at the convergence of the Arabian, Indian, and Eurasian tectonic plates, is known for its high seismic activity, making it one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. The nation has experienced several massive earthquakes in recent history, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties and substantial economic losses.