Iran And Proxies Know US Won't Stand Up To Them - Sen. Cotton

"We condemn the destruction of 30 graves by authorities at the Khavaran Cemetery near Tehran this week," the office said in a statement. "Baha'is in Iran continue to face violations of funeral and burial rights."

The act, which involved the removal of grave markers and the flattening of resting places using bulldozers, was also slammed by rights activists, the latest in a series of actions taken against the community which has been systematically targeted since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

The statement also noted other methods of pressure and intimidation. “We have also seen the regime dramatically increase Baha’i property seizures and use sham trials to subject Baha’is to extended prison sentences,” the statement said. “We will continue to use all available tools to confront the regime’s human rights abuses.”

Simin Fahandej, Representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva, said, “In the last few months, the deceased loved ones of the Baha’is have been forcibly buried by government agents in the Khavaran mass grave site, further desecrating a burial place sacred to many.

Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Tehran's Baha'i community owned two large cemeteries, both of which were confiscated by the Islamic Republic in the 1980s.

Unofficial estimates suggest that more than 300,000 Baha'i people live in Iran. However, the Constitution officially acknowledges only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, thereby rendering Baha'is the most significant non-Muslim religious minority in the country. Iran's clerical rulers regard the Baha'is as heretics.

Reza Amiri Salehi's comments in the centrist Entekhab website appeared shortly after an election on March 1 with the lowest turnout in the 45-year history of the Islamic Republic.

The website quoted Amiri, a former Minister of Culture under President Hassan Rouhani's administration, as stating: "You cannot speak of effective governance in a country where 60 percent of the population goes to bed hungry." Amiri emphasized that Iran is grappling with an ever-growing segment of its population facing hunger.

Amiri also highlighted that all cultural institutions in Iran are mired in stagnation, and there is a prevailing belief among Iranians that change is inevitable. Speaking at the annual gathering of the Iranian Association of Political Scientists, Amiri noted that widespread despair has eroded the government's social capital, while widening social disparities have pushed society to the brink of a perilous collapse.

The former minister further underscored the lack of discourse and viable solutions within Iran's institutions to address the current predicament. He observed that while society is moving towards change, the government persists in outdated policies due to the absence of a viable governance model.

"Iran is entangled in a faulty governance cycle and the government does not realize the need for change," Amiri said, adding that latest elections in Iran were a good manifestation of the failure of the political system. The government is inefficient and incapable of meeting the nation's demands, he noted.

Iranian analyst Ali Hossein Ghazizadeh told Iran International TV on Thursday "following such a low-turnout election, any responsible government would have been introspective about the reasons behind public dissatisfaction. However, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his associates prefer to rely on a like-minded minority to suppress and silence the majority. What could prompt change is the people's discontent."

Meanwhile, Iranian journalist Ali Shirazi told Iran International TV, referred to Khamenei’s long-standing anti-US ideology and said that in a recent speech, Khamenei advised newly elected members of the Assembly of Experts to continue the policy. “However, he failed to address the consequences of his longstanding opposition [to the US], which has led to sanctions and economic challenges for the people. Khamenei has never been held accountable for the repercussions of severing Iran's ties with the West."

Shirazi added, "In recent years, we have witnessed various segments of Iranian society, including teachers, workers, and government employees, demand social justice based on legislation passed by the Iranian parliament but never implemented. This renders Khamenei's emphasis on social justice meaningless."

Furthermore, Shirazi questioned Khamenei's pledge to combat corruption while serving as the senior Iranian official responsible for the corrupt government for over three decades.

In another development, former influential lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh talked about the implications of the recent low-turnout election and the government's inefficiency regarding the country's national security. He called the elections a total failure for the government, which will have consequences.

He said the low turnout showed that the people believe elected institutions in Iran are not efficient. They also believe their votes cannot change their own fate. On the other hand, impolite comments by the novice politicians against experienced lawmakers and their own patrons have introduced them to the nation as individuals with no principles.

Falahatpisheh stressed that the government's disregard for the views of the 60 percent of eligible voters who abstained from voting poses a threat to Iran's national security and serves no one's interests.

Celebrating the role of women throughout history in advancing the world and human goals, she highlighted the contributions of Iranian women. She praised the resilience of Iranian women, noting that they have "with hard work and perseverance endured the hardships of life and time."

She noted that Iran has a long history of strong and independent women, from queens in ancient and medieval periods to courageous mythological women in the country's cultural heritage, and renowned poets like Forough Farrokhzad (1934-1967) and Simin Behbahani (1927-2014).

Pahlavi's statement comes at a time when Iran is facing serious human rights issues with women disproportionately affected.

Pahlavi then turned to the present day, noting that Iranian women both inside and outside the country continue to fight for freedom and progress. She expressed her hope for freedom and liberation for all Iranian women, saying that "light will ultimately triumph over darkness."

In 2022, Iranians revolted against the Islamic Republic regime after the country’s hijab police killed 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Her death in police custody ignited the boldest uprising against the clerical regime since its establishment in 1979. The nationwide protests came to be known as the Women, Life, Freedom movement.

The regime cracked down on the popular protests, killing around 550 people and arresting over 20,000. To intimidate people against further protests, the regime has taken a wide range of measures including executing several protesters while there are many more who face death sentences on trumped-up charges.

The Peruvian Police’s Counter-Terrorism Directorate (Dircote) identified the Iranian as Majid Azizi, Peruvian media reported Thursday. Police said Azizi was cooperating with two Peruvians, Walter Fernández Fukunoto and Felipe Trucios Leon, for the attack. Only the former has been arrested.

Azizi was arrested on Thursday afternoon after he withdrew money from the Interbank bank, located in the Plaza de Armas in the center of the capital Lima. The Peruvian police did not specify which exact meeting was the target of the alleged terrorist operation.

According to the work schedule and the usual practices and standards of the forum, Peru is responsible for organizing more than 160 meetings from the end of 2023 and throughout 2024.

According to the US State Department, Senior Official for APEC Ambassador Matt Murray travelled to Lima from March 4 to 8 to attend a series of meetings, workshops, and stakeholder engagements.

This is the second time in the last decade that Iran in implicated in an attack in Peru.

In 2014, Peruvian authorities arrested a suspected operative of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lima on suspicion of planning attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets. Mohammed Amadar, a Lebanese citizen, was gathering intelligence on places frequented by Israeli hikers and on Jewish institutions. A search of his apartment discovered TNT, detonators and flammable substances. Peruvian authorities were tipped off to Amadar’s alleged activities by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad.

In what largely sounded like an early campaign speech, Joe Biden mentioned the word Iran only once –and the word nuclear not even once, as Iran is now on the verge of a nuclear breakout.

“Creating stability in the Middle East also means containing the threat posed by Iran,” he said, "that's why I built a coalition of more than a dozen countries to defend international shipping and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. I’ve ordered strikes to degrade Houthi capabilities and defend US Forces in the region.”

The Houthis in Yemen have turned out to be Iran’s wild card in the past few months, often stealing the limelight from Iran’s more prominent proxies like the Lebanese Hezbollah or the armed groups in Syria and Iraq –who killed 3 American soldiers in a US base in Jordan in late January.

“As Commander in Chief, I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and military personnel,” Biden warned, without elaborating on what those measures may be and against what adversary.

Iranian government-controlled media was silent about Biden's remarks Friday morning, perhaps because it is weekend in Iran and reactions were slower.

Many critics of the President were quick to point out the conspicuous absence of Iran in his speech, especially his silence on the loss of American lives.

“Zero mention of the 3 American heroes tragically killed in a drone attack carried out by Iran-backed proxies in Jordan,” posted the Republican Congressman Andrew Clyde on X. “Have you no shame, Mr President?”

Biden largely abandoned Donald Trump's 'maximum pressure' against Iran and engaged in long negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program. Meanwhile, Iran began increasing its oil exports to China despite the sanctions and earned much needed foreign currency amid its economic crisis.

“In Joe Biden’s America, billions flow to Iran while Iranian intelligence agents operate in the United States, plotting to assassinate senior U.S. government officials,” wrote Senator Ted Cruz, pillorying Biden’s State of the Union address in a post titled ‘The Real State of the Union.’

The speech Thursday night was President Biden’s third State of the Union address. Fearing that it could be his last, Biden abandoned tradition and attacked a political opponent –in this case, his expected rival in the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump.

Trump, true to form, reacted in real time on his own platform Truth Social, mocking Biden, especially on immigration, but also on his foreign policy, including relations with Russia, China and Iran.

“He made Iran rich. This is why we have the problems in the Middle East,” Trump posted. “With me, Iran was broke. He is the reason the Middle East is blowing up!”

President Biden attacked Donald Trump on several occasions, referring to him as “my predecessor.” Most notably, he denounced the former President for saying he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to Nato countries, calling it “outrageous and dangerous.”

At the end of Biden’s speech, Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) delivered the Republicans’ rebuttal, attacking the President for his “weakness” in the face of threats against US interests.

"Biden's weakness isn't just hurting families at home," she said, “he's making us a punchline on the world stage. We've become a nation in retreat. And the enemies of freedom, they see an opportunity."

At 81, Joe Biden is the oldest president in US history. His age, his fitness and his mental capacity have been a constant theme in US politics ever since he took office –and will almost certainly be so in the months ahead leading to November.

"Right now, our Commander in Chief is not in command," said Senator Katie Britt, who some believe may be a candidate for Donald Trump’s VP. “The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader."