American Adult Film Actress Sparks Controversy With Iran Trip

A recent poll conducted by an unnamed government agency, presumably the intelligence or interior ministry, which was briefly mentioned by the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) found that turnout would be around 30 percent at the national level and less than 15 percent in the capital Tehran, the lowest-ever in the history of the Islamic Republic.

Information from the poll has been disseminated across various news outlets, but due to concerns about the potential for an extremely low voter turnout, authorities have resorted to censorship to prevent the exacerbation of an already critical situation.

On Tuesday, Khabar Online, a news website associated with former moderate conservative parliament speaker Ali Larijani, disclosed that they had received phone calls from unidentified individuals instructing them to remove the article covering the poll results from their website. They were informed that publishing any polls related to elections was deemed illegal.

The government's ineffectiveness, rampant corruption within state entities, and the dire economic conditions that have resulted in a significant decline in the living standards of working- and middle-class Iranians are some of the factors contributing to the electorate's decision to abstain from voting in both parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections. Additionally, the harsh suppression of protests, such as the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in 2022-23, as well as earlier demonstrations in 2019 and 2017, along with the continuous erosion of social and political freedoms, have fueled a lack of trust in the system.

“I won’t vote. Anyone who votes will be a partner in the killing of the youth of the country”, “I will not vote for the sake of the Iranian girls who were blinded by the child-killing dictator”, “I will not vote, for the sake of my country and for people who want happiness,” people say in their tweets.

Many, including former regime insiders from various factions, such as reformists, supporters of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and moderate conservatives, argue that the extensive vetting of candidates by the Guardian Council in favor of hardliners has left them with no viable options to vote for.

“I have participated in all the elections so far. I really want to vote, but no candidate whose ideas are close to mine has been approved. How can I really vote? I can’t participate in the elections in these circumstances,” another tweet said.

Hardliners who dominate the current parliament had promised to fight poverty, corruption, discrimination, and inefficiency in government bodies but after four years the situation has only worsened.

“What you call ‘elections’ and consider participating in it a religious obligation is closer to ‘pledging allegiance’ to those in power both in form and meaning,” Farhad Badragheh, a member of Iran's Bar Association tweeted.

Regime supporters almost invariably say they will vote because Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei says they must. In June 2009, just days before the controversial presidential elections, Khamenei emphasized that people would not vote if they lacked hope in the country's future, did not trust the system, or did not feel free. He remarked, "When there is no trust, participation will be low. When participation is low, the legitimacy of the system will be affected."

“[I vote] because the future of my country is important to me, because my leader emphasizes on participating in the elections, and because anyone with common sense agrees with participating in the elections,” a regime loyalist said in his tweet with the hashtag #Iwillvote.

Following Khamenei’s lead, other state officials also insist that voting is a religious duty and claim that it is the enemies of the Islamic Republic who are trying to disillusion people.

The Friday Imam of Esfahan, Yousef Tabatabaei Nejad, said last week that those who do not vote are not Muslims and by not voting in these elections they are casting their ballots for the enemies of the regime.

“Currently, Iranian trucks are not allowed to enter Germany, and visas are not being issued for Iranian drivers,” ILNA, Iran’s labor news agency, quoted Ali Mahmoudi Saray as saying.

Six months ago, the last round of negotiations was held with the German embassy in Iran to resolve the problem but things have not changed, he went on to say.

According to the official, Italy used to issue visas for 20 Iranian drivers per week but the Italian embassy in Tehran has also stopped the process.

“It is likely that the Italian embassy’s visa regulations for Iranian drivers will become similar to those of the German embassy,” he remarked.

Mahmoudi Saray added that with regard to the current situation, Iran’s cargo fleet to Europe has been “paralyzed” and Turkish trucks have replaced Iranian ones in European routes.

Only those Iranian drivers who already had visas are still working, but their visas will expire soon and they will have to stop working as well, he warned.

Earlier in January, Reza Rostami, the head of the Transportation Commission of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, said that the imposition of sanctions on Iran's Central Insurance has led to European countries not issuing visas to Iranian transit drivers.

Expressing concern for the future, he emphasized a potential shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers in the coming years.

In a related development in November, an Iranian official disclosed that economic hardships, coupled with the government’s neglect of truck drivers’ demands, have prompted many to contemplate emigration.

The primary targets of the kamikaze drones were energy facilities in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, exacerbating the power outages initiated by Russian strikes on Friday.

"Ukraine's air force neutralized nine enemy drones in the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Zhytomyr regions," stated the air force, emphasizing that the majority of the Iranian-manufactured Shahed drones targeted "energy infrastructure facilities" in Dnipropetrovsk.

Sergey Lysak, the regional head, confirmed that 15,000 residents in the city were left without electricity following the drone attacks.

Despite the absence of casualties, two private residences suffered damage.

Throughout its nearly two-year offensive, Russia has persistently targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leaving thousands without heating.

Since mid-2022, Iran has played a pivotal role as a supplier of kamikaze UAVs to Russia, extensively utilized for targeting civilian infrastructure and urban areas.

With a price tag of roughly $20,000 apiece, the kamikaze drones were deployed alongside missile strikes to overpower Ukrainian air defenses.

The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, and New Zealand have all enforced numerous rounds of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, citing its supply of drones to Russia amidst the Ukraine conflict.

On Friday night, the United States hit about 85 targets linked to IRGC Quds Force and affiliated militia groups in Iraq and Syria, but fears of direct US retaliation to the Iran-backed attack in Jordan that killed three US soldiers and wounded scores did not materialize.

The Biden administration after waiting for five days, targeted bases and warehouses belonging to IRGC proxy forces in Syria and Iraq, after multiple reports indicated that these forces evacuated key personnel and perhaps some weapons.

The regime’s reaction to recent US attacks in Iraq and Syria has not exceeded its usual rhetoric of condemnation and accusations against “the enemy.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian condemned the attacks on Thursday, saying they stem from Washington’s “continued wrong and failed approach to resolving issues by resorting to force and militarism.”

Earlier in the day, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani also dismissed the US offensives as an “adventurous action” and a “strategic mistake,” claiming that they violate international law, the UN Charter, and sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria.

The Iranian currency also somewhat regained its footing, after falling more than 15 percent since early January due to rising regional tensions.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government, Hamas, and Iran-backed Iraqi militant groups Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Hashd al-Shaabi condemned the attacks as well.

Hamas said the “aggression” was an attempt to “cover up Israel’s horrific crimes” in the Gaza Strip.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry warned that the attacks can “fuel conflict in the Middle East in a very dangerous way.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office also condemned the airstrikes as a “new aggression against Iraq's sovereignty,” announcing they killed 16 people, including civilians, and injured 25.

The US-led coalition in the region “has become a reason for threatening security and stability in Iraq and a justification for involving Iraq in regional and international conflicts,” the office added.

State-sponsored and military-affiliated news agencies in Iran also covered US operations in Iraq and Syria.

IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency reiterated the regime’s rhetoric regarding the incident and even claimed that the Tehran-backed umbrella group, Islamic Resistance in Iraq, carried out a missile attack against Ain al-Asad Air Base in the western province of Anbar, where US forces are stationed. The attack has not yet been confirmed by US officials.

Fars, another IRGC affiliated news agency, published a report titled “‘Belated and Failed Attacks’: Biden Administration under Criticism.”

Citing Roger Wicker, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, US House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Mike Pompeo, former secretary of state, Fars concluded that the recent US military operations in Iraq and Syria have failed to appease the critics of President Joe Biden, who has been under increasing pressure over the past days to retaliate against Iran and its proxies.

In what can be interpreted as an indirect reaction, IRNA, the Iranian state news agency, reported on Iran’s “defensive and military capabilities.”

Rouydad24, a relatively independent news agency in Iran, tried to distance itself from the mouthpieces of the regime and adopted a more analytical approach.

Rouydad24 conducted an interview with former Iranian lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, who once served as the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian parliament.

Falahatpisheh discussed the “propaganda” objectives of Biden’s administration and stressed that the recent attacks were intended for “domestic consumption” in the US.

Discussing the relationship between Tehran and militant groups in the region, he remarked, “Now it is too late for Iran to say that it is not coordinating with the resistance forces.”

Iran has avoided any direct military involvement in the Israel-Hamas conflict and has instead used its proxy groups such as Houthis and Hezbollah to attack Israeli and American targets in the Middle East. Nonetheless, Iranian officials claim these groups act “independently” and do not receive direct orders from Iran.

The rial, which had sharply fallen during the past ten days, regained around 30 percent of its value against the US dollar and other major currencies. The dollar had risen to almost 590,000 rials on January 29, after an attack on a US base in Jordan the previous day that killed three US soldiers and prompted fears of direct US retaliation against Iran.

The deadly drone attack followed 160 previous attacks against US forces in the region since mid-October, as well as attacks on international shipping by Iran’s Houthi allies in the Red Sea.

On Saturday, the dollar was trading at 565,000 rials in Tehran’s unofficial currency market. Before tensions rose during January the rial hovered around 510,000 per dollar.

The US response to the deadly attack took days to materialize, during which Washington signaled that it would not attack Iran directly and did not want escalation. Reports indicated that during this window of reprieve, Iran evacuated key personnel and emptied bases used by its proxy forces.

Iranian government media on Saturday highlighted rial’s recovery and the limited nature of the US strikes.

Iran’s economy suffering from a 50-percent annual inflation rate is vulnerable to a rising dollar, which can only lead to higher consumer prices and anger among its population.