Iranian Women's Struggle for Motorbike Licenses

This revelation marks an alleged and sudden $1 billion USD increase from the council's initial estimate of $2 billion USD.

"While Western countries attempt to restrict Iran through sanctions, the Tehran Municipality has managed to secure a very significant contract worth three billion dollars," Sorouri said on Friday.

The While Sorouri revealed the value of the alleged deal with China, he insisted that the details of the arrangement should stay confidential, saying that "its contents should not be leaked, and it should not be sent to any lawmakers."

Last week, hardliner lawmaker Malek Shariati defended the agreement, claiming it received the nod from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Shariati mentioned that a trust company, authorized by the anti-sanctions committee, would handle the foreign exchange necessary for importing essential goods, including transportation vehicles, amidst the oil embargo.

In addition to electric vehicles, the contract also reportedly includes buses, other transport vehicles, and traffic surveillance equipment.

Despite Iranian government promises to import environmentally friendly cars, efforts have been absent, with no electric vehicles imported in the last two years.

The recent agreement with China has attracted scrutiny and criticism from Tehran city councilors and the media, who demand greater transparency.

Tehran City Council member Jafar Tashakori Hashemi criticized the secrecy on Thursday, stating that it’s “a violation of the municipality's work.”

“As far as I know, bus purchases are not a matter of national security, so we should be able to view the actual contract," Hashemi said.

The funding for the substantial contract is expected to derive from the proceeds of Iranian oil exports to China, continuing despite US sanctions.

Mayor Alireza Zakani, a former IRGC Basij militia member, during a January visit to China, confirmed the signing of several agreements, although the details remain largely undisclosed.

Accusing the network of violating neutrality, the Taliban has imposed restrictions on the network, drawing criticism for stifling free speech and press freedom.

"The Taliban must immediately lift the restrictions on Afghanistan International TV and allow Afghan journalists and citizens to freely and without fear access to the news and analysis of this network," said Beh Lih Yi, coordinator of the Asia program of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in a statement Thursday.

Afghan journalist associations, including the Center of Afghan Journalists and the House of Freedom of Expression of Afghanistan, have denounced the Taliban's move as unlawful, advocating for the protection of free media rights.

Additionally, the chairman of the Afghanistan United Front, based in the US and a former commander of the Afghan army's special forces, extended gratitude to Harun Najafizada, who heads the channel, expressing solidarity with him and his team on the platform X.

He emphasized that Afghans deeply admire Najafizada and his team, stating, "The effectiveness of communication can only be gauged by the reaction of adversaries..."

"No pressure will make us abandon our highest journalistic standards and professional principles. Taliban pressures are a threat to free media, but they cannot stop our activities," asserted Najafizada, the executive editor of Afghanistan International.

Accusations of privacy breaches, character assassination, distortion of information, and propagating insurgent propaganda have been leveled against Afghanistan International by the Taliban's Media Violation Commission. Despite the lack of evidence to substantiate these claims, the Taliban remains steadfast in its stance.

In response, Afghanistan International has refuted the allegations as baseless, vowing to continue delivering impartial news and information to the Afghan people.

"Unsupported accusations made by the Taliban group are baseless. Afghanistan International will continue its efforts to deliver free and impartial news and information to the people of Afghanistan," declared the head of Afghanistan International.

Despite the Taliban's efforts to discredit Afghanistan International, the network has garnered widespread popularity among Afghans. A survey conducted by Media Action on behalf of the BBC Global Division shows that Afghanistan International is the most-watched international TV channel in Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan International is a home for the voice of all Afghan people," emphasized Najafizada.

Taliban's call for a boycott of Afghanistan International TV and Radio underscores the challenges faced by independent media in Afghanistan, accentuating the precarious state of press freedom in the country.

According to CPJ, since assuming control in 2021, the Taliban have closed down several local broadcasting stations, including Radio Nasim in central Daikundi Province, Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV in eastern Nangarhar Province, and Radio Sada e Banowan in northeastern Badakhshan Province. Additionally, in 2022, the Taliban prohibited international broadcasters such as the US Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Voice of America.

Underground Gas Storage facilities (UGS) are not man-made facilities, but are depleted oil or natural gas fields, aquifers, mines, and salt caverns that have the geological properties to store natural gas over long periods.

Despite initiatives under President Ebrahim Raisi's administration, progress on several UGS projects remains limited as of the end of 2023, according to a report from the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) obtained by Iran International.

Initially, Iran launched two UGS projects, Shourijeh and Serajeh, around twenty years ago, with a combined capacity of less than 3.5 billion cubic meters (bcm). However, as of summer 2023, only 3.1 bcm of gas had been injected into these facilities for consumption during the winter season. Their gas re-extraction capacity, totaling 30 million cubic meters per day (mcm), represents less than 4% of the winter peak consumption level, surpassing 850 mcm/d.

Iran has 250-300 mcm/d of gas deficit in winter and UGSs compensate only 10% of that. The NIGC’s report says the expansion of Serajeh phase 2 has developed by only 3% and Shourijeh phase 2 progressed only 17% as of end-2023, far behind the plan.

Additionally, the National Iranian Oil Company's exploration of three new UGSs has faced delays, with only modest progress made on two projects, raising uncertainty about their feasibility as gas storage facilities. These sites are situated in close proximity to major industrial cities such as Tehran, Isfahan, and Tabriz, where gas demand is high.

All of the exploration area for new UGSs are located very close to Iran’s industrial cities of Tehran, Isfahan and Tabriz.

Iran’s large industries need about 145 mcm/d of gas, but only 110 mcm/d was supplied during last winter due to severe gas shortage.

Although Iran holds the second largest reserves in the world, lack of investment in developing new fields and rehabilitating older ones has lagged behind in the past two decades due to lack of investments and technology. International and US sanctions, as well as financial mismanagement by the government have prevented Iran from fully exploiting its vast natural reserves.

In a related context, Mehdi Mahdavi Abhari, the Secretary-General of the Petrochemical Employers Association, announced last week that Iran lost $800 million in petrochemical exports due to gas shortages last year.

The document from the National Gas Company reveals that during the summer, nearly 70 million cubic meters of gas were supplied daily to petrochemical plants, 20 million cubic meters to cement factories, 36.5 million cubic meters to steel mills, and 17.7 million cubic meters to refineries. In total, during the summer, 145.5 mcm/d of gas were delivered to the country's major industries. However, on January 12 this year, this figure decreased to 110 mcm/d.

Global UGS industry

Iran’s neighbors Azerbaijan and Turkey have expanded their UGSs capacity to 3.5 bcm and 5 bcm respectively during past two years to enhance their export and transit abilities. Meanwhile, UAE and Saudi Arabia are also building their first UGS facilities.

Although there is no updated global UGS market report for 2023, 2022 witnessed a notable increase in capacity, driven by the global gas crisis. This underscores the importance of storage for supply security, with China and the Middle East emerging as key growth markets for UGS activities.

According to Cedigaz, the International Association offor Natural and renewable Gases, by the end of 2022, the world’s working gas capacity reached 429 bcm, a 1.3% rise from the previous year, with significant contributions from China and Europe. The peak withdrawal rate also rose by 1.7% to 7.3 bcm/d.

While the UGS market remains highly concentrated, with 5 countries (United States, Russia, Ukraine, Canada and Germany) accounting for almost 70% of global storage capacities, there is a clear shift of storage activity towards new, fast growing gas markets, China and the Middle East notably.

In its annual report released this week, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), says Iran has continued to conduct hostile activities in Canada and will “continue to target its perceived enemies even when living in foreign countries in support of its ultimate goal of regime preservation.”

CSIS called Iran’s external operations in Western countries “aggressive and expansive,” including lethal plots in the US, the UK, and several European countries.

Those activities included elicitation, cultivation, coercion, illicit financing, malicious cyber activities, and information manipulation.

“Iran and its intelligence services are interested in influencing and clandestinely collecting information on the Iranian community, including anti-regime activists and political dissidents; human, women’s and minority rights activists; and fugitives wanted by the regime,” the report read.

Earlier this week, Canadian parliamentarians unanimously voted on a non-binding motion calling for the Iranian regime’s paramilitary force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), as a terrorist entity and expelling approximately 700 Iranian agents from Canada.

While the Liberal party, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, supported a similar motion in 2018, the IRGC has not been listed as a terrorist organization. The government and experts often mention that some Iranians are obligated to join it during their mandatory military service.

In November 2022, CSIS first acknowledged that it was actively investigating what it called multiple "credible" death threats from Iran aimed at individuals in Canada, as reported by CBC News.

Subsequent reports by CBC News that year highlighted how Iranian dissidents in Canada said they were being watched and are under threat from the regime in Iran. Global News similarly reported in 2023 that Iranian dissidents live in fear of imminent harm from the Islamic Republic's agents.

Adding to those fears, the Iranian-Canadian diaspora has long warned the government that Canada harbors regime-affiliated officials on its soil.

Over a year following the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran in 2022 – and the diaspora’s continued calls not to allow regime-affiliated officials into the country – the government began taking some action to bar individuals from entering and began proceedings for deportations.

The diaspora has maintained that the current measures do not suffice and that if the IRGC were on the terrorist list, members who have gained Canadian citizenship would be responsible for crimes committed abroad and subject to much harsher penalties.

After Wednesday's vote, activists have urged to follow-through and finally designate the IRGC.

That included Iranian-Canadian dissident Hamed Esmaeilion, who lost his wife and daughter in January 2020, when the IRGC shot down Ukrainian Flight PS752 minutes after takeoff from Tehran.

The downing killed all 176 people onboard, which included 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

During the 4-year commemoration ceremony for the victims of the downing of PS752, Trudeau said his government is looking "for ways to responsibly list the IRGC as a terrorist organization."

Iran Continues to Target Canada in Cyber Operations

The CSIS report also said that cyber attacks carried out by the Islamic Republic target Canada.

“Iran combines offensive cyber operations with cyber-enabled influence operations to assist in the pursuit of its geopolitical goals,” according to the CSIS report. “Canada remains a target for opportunistic credential harvesting, phishing attacks, and exploitation of digital infrastructure to facilitate future targeting opportunities against individuals of interest.”

According to Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center (MTAC), Iran, Russia, and China will likely try to influence elections in the US and elsewhere in 2024.

In February, Iranian-Canadian MP Ali Ehsassi called for an investigation into Tehran's possible interference in the election.

“Given the catalog of malign and illegal activities committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran on Canadian soil, it would be naïve to believe that the Iranian regime has any compunction to shape public opinion in Canada,” he wrote to the Foreign Interference Commission, requesting testimony and relevant documents from Iranian-Canadians and others with substantial interests in the case.

In voice messages shared with Iran International, Iranian citizens are expressing their frustrations and emphasizing the impact of the disruptions, highlighting the government's use of internet control as a means of suppression.

A report from Filterbaan, an organization monitoring internet access in Iran, noted that since Sunday, there have been significant disruptions in access to various data centers within the country.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have said that the disruptions are a way for the Islamic Republic to suppress dissent and cover up its human rights violations.

Amid reports that he plays a central role in censoring the Internet, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, spoke at the inauguration of an optical fiber project in the city of Qom.

Despite those reports, Raisi instructed the Minister of Communications to ensure that internet speeds are continuously improved.

"No one, even those in the gaming industry, should be annoyed by the internet. These annoyances are not good," Raisi said.

Assessments by Filterbaan suggest that the ongoing disruptions result from government policies aimed at deliberately not developing external bandwidth in proportion to user expansion, along with repeated increases in internet prices.

These measures are part of a broader strategy, Filterbaan says, to establish a comprehensive national information network that forces users to rely on domestic platforms while restricting access to VPNs.

Due to government filtering policies, platforms like Instagram, X, Facebook, and Telegram have long been inaccessible in Iran, impacting millions who cannot work and affecting numerous small businesses that rely on social networks.