Ex-Political Prisoner Faces Legal Action Over Baha’i Burial Remarks

According to a Tuesday report from the Russian state outlet RIA, the agreement has temporarily halted due to challenges faced by Iranian counterparts.

Zamir Kabulov, a Russian foreign ministry official, was cited as stating, "This is a strategic decision made by the leadership of both countries. The process has halted due to issues faced by our Iranian partners."

The Russian official nevertheless expressed confidence that “this task will be completed before finalizing the agreement's text,” after which “the two countries' leaders will determine the signing's time and location.”

Later, Iran's ambassador to Russia denied the report. When asked about the news at a press conference on Tuesday, Kazem Jalali accused the Iranian media of "mistranslating" Russian media reports that Iran had suspended the process. He refrained from delving into specifics.

Later on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that despite potential shifts in the event schedule, Moscow and Tehran are actively pursuing the comprehensive bilateral cooperation agreement. Peskov also reiterated Russia's commitment to enhancing ties with Iran.

Adding to the multitude of narratives, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that, while a comprehensive agreement between Russia and Iran cannot yet be signed, its text has been fully coordinated.

Russia's TASS news agency quoted Lavrov as saying that several "procedural legislative actions" must be completed before the agreement can be signed.

Iran's previous administration commenced talks for a new long-term agreement during President Hassan Rouhani's tenure, but the current government officially presented a draft to Russia.

“Documents of strategic cooperation can outline the horizons of the [two countries’] relations over 20 years,” late President Ebrahim Raisi said after he met with Vladimir Putin and presented the draft in 2022.

According to Reza Talebi, Iran International's political correspondent, the long-running process might be a strategic move by Vladimir Putin to exert more pressure on an isolated Iran, gaining leverage in the agreement and discouraging Iran from negotiating with the West.

"It's a message from Vladimir Putin to Tehran, warning them not to alter their policies, particularly concerning Ukraine and the Gaza conflict. Additionally, it aims to pressure the incoming Iranian government into negotiations to secure more favorable terms," he stated.

Following the death of Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage last month, a snap election will be held on June 28 in Iran.

Tehran and Moscow initially signed a long-term agreement in March 2001. Officially known as the Treaty of the Foundation of Mutual Relations and the Principles of Cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation Act, it was initially set for ten years but was extended twice for five-year terms.

According to Iran’s ambassador to Russia, the countries agreed to extend the agreement for another five years in 2021, setting its expiration date in 2026.

In 2023, reports of possible difficulties in developing the new agreement with Russia, resulting from protests from Iran in response to the joint statement issued following the Russia-GCC Strategic Dialogue, were made.

In particular, the disagreement concerns one point in the joint statement, which Iranian officials believe reflects Moscow's solidarity with the UAE's position on the territorial dispute regarding three islands in the Persian Gulf that Tehran considers to be its territory. Moscow's explanations were unsatisfactory to the Iranian side.

During the tenure of hardliner Raisi, efforts to strengthen relations with Russia intensified, and many contracts were signed to enhance bilateral cooperation across various industries. However little was accomplished, as Russia mired in the Ukraine war has limited financial resources to invest in Iran.

In contrast, militarily ties have soared, including joint drills and drone production. Iran has provided Russia with hundreds of kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that have been extensively deployed to target civil infrastructure and cities in Ukraine since mid-2022.

Also, US intelligence revealed last year that Tehran and Moscow were building a drone manufacturing facility in Russia for use in Ukraine.

Under severe international sanctions, Moscow and Tehran have forged a closer economic alliance, especially following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This conflict rendered Russia the world's most sanctioned state, a position previously held by Iran.

Currently, trade between Tehran and Moscow stands at $4 billion, which even Iranian officials admit is far below the target of $40 billion.

Since the onset of the Ukraine war, Russia and Iran have focused their economic ties on advancing cooperation to circumvent sanctions. The two countries reached an agreement in December to eliminate the use of the US dollar in bilateral trade, a development heralded by Iran's central bank governor as a "new chapter." However, the move has more of a symbolic significance than a real economic act.

Amid sanctions, Iran seeks long-term agreements with countries such as China and Russia under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's "Looking East" policy, the cornerstone of a “revolutionary economy” hardliners have been promoting.

In 2021, Iran and China signed a controversial 25-year agreement. Khamenei, first proposed the deal during President Xi's visit to Tehran in 2016.

The details of the pact have never been disclosed, prompting controversy in Iran. There is only a general agreement outlined in a leaked text copy.

According to a former Iranian ambassador to China, the Tehran-Beijing 25-year agreement has been overvalued and has only served as a tool for China to achieve deals with Saudi Arabia.

Despite Iran's attempts at securing bilateral relations with China and Russia, relations remain on edge as both countries support the territorial claim by Arab Persian Gulf countries against Iran.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei referred to the process as “determining a president” instead of electing one. While this might have been a natural slip of the tongue, many public speakers and social media users interpret it as a Freudian slip, suggesting that it reveals his true intentions.

There are also a few key narratives under the master narrative, including Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf being the next president of Iran regardless of who the people would prefer.

Another key narrative advanced by politicians like Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the former chief of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, is that the mere presence of the hardliner former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili as a presidential candidate sends a clear message to the West: Iran is not interested in cooperating on its ambitious nuclear program, which some Western and many regional powers view as a regional and global security threat.

Another notable narrative is that the main competition in this election was initially between Jalili and Ghalibaf. However, the inclusion of a "reformist" candidate among the six approved by the Guardian Council has shifted the dynamics from a bipolar contest between the two conservatives to a triangular competition. The third contender is 'pro-reform' heart surgeon Massoud Pezeshkian, who has served multiple terms in parliament.

The master narrative doubts that any of the three—ultraconservative Jalili, neocon Ghalibaf, or pro-reform Pezeshkian—will secure half of the votes cast in the first round of the election on June 28. As a result, it is expected that two of them will face each other in a runoff election one week later, where the candidate with the most votes will become Iran's new President.

Another narrative suggests that the other three candidates—Martyrs Foundation head Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, and former Justice Minister and intelligence operative Mostafa Pourmohammadi—are not serious contenders. Instead, they are believed to be supporting Ghalibaf against Pezeshkian and Jalili. In fact, the first two played a similar role in the 2021 election, protecting the intended winner, Ebrahim Raisi, against his rivals.

Meanwhile, prominent Iranian analyst Morad Veisi said in an analysis for Iran International that Pezeshkian is playing the same part that proreform Abdolnasser Hemmati played in the 2021 election. Although he ultimately received less than the number of invalid votes, his presence gave the government the cover to pretend that ‘reformists’ were represented in that election.

It is based on these narratives that seasoned commentators in Iran, such as Abbas Abdi, have said that "If the official assumption is that Pezeshkian has no chance to be elected president and his presence is meant only to boost the turnout, I suggest to get him out of the game immediately so that the errors made in 1997 and 2013 will not be repeated. "

Abdi was referring to fact that Mohammad Khatami's landslide victory in the 1997 and Hassan Rouhani's victory in the 2013 elections against key conservative figures came as surprise for Iranian hardliners including the Supreme Leader.

Abdi added that "The current election is most likely to end in the first round," meaning that Pezeshkian may win the election if disillusioned voters put their weight behind him. In that case, Abdi said, that those who endorsed Pezeshkian's credentials will be held accountable for the consequences of their decision.

Iran's last parliamentary and presidential elections in 2020, 2021, and 2024 have witnessed dwindling turnout. Segments of voters who have lost hope in elections as a means to improve their worsening economic situation could potentially give a 'reformist' candidate the edge needed to rise to the top.

Others in the expose include Mohsen Rezaei, a former IRGC commander with deep political ties, whose recent appearances suggest significant cosmetic alterations.

The revelation has sparked discussions about the hypocrisy and vanity of state figures who traditionally promote a facade of austerity and religious and moral purity to the public.

According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Iran ranked 12th highest for cosmetic surgery procedures as of 2022. That climbed from 18 in 2016, with 80 percent of patients women.

Rhinoplasty is the most common procedure, followed by liposuction, eyelid surgery, abdominoplasty and breast augmentation.

So common has the practice become that last year, interior minister Ahmad Vahidi said people who had radically changed their appearance through cosmetic procedures would need to apply for new ID documentation.

“The authentic Iranian face is being distorted through invasive procedures,” Babak Nikoumaram, chair of the Iranian Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgeons told the Financial Times earlier this year. “Incongruous western beauty standards are forced upon Iranians.”

The Swedish police have classified the threats as "serious and real," underscoring the dangerous conditions faced by those critical of the Iranian government, at home and abroad. 

It comes on the back of revelations last month of Iran recruiting Swedish gangs to carry out such plots abroad, including on Jewish and Israeli targets. Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, also confirmed the reports saying Swedish gangs were part of a Europe-wide plot from Tehran against Israeli embassies. 

The threats against Iran International staff have become a recurrent issue, stemming back to 2022 when London's Metropolitan Police revealed plots against staff in London. Last year, the threats reached a climax with the UK's MI5 saying it could no longer protect the team, forcing a temporary relocation to the US.

Kazem Gharibabadi, head of the Iranian Judiciary's Human Rights Headquarters, recently branded the network as "terrorist" and directly threatened its staff. The statement followed shortly after condemnation from UN experts regarding the ongoing threats and acts of violence against Iran International's personnel, including a violent knife attack on presenter Pouria Zeraati.

The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently acknowledged that Iran's terror plots across Europe and its involvement with criminal networks in Sweden are “deeply concerning.”
"It is deeply concerning that a foreign power, in this case, Iran, has allegedly used criminal networks to commit or instigate crimes in Sweden. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires to stress how seriously we are taking this information," the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ Press Office told Iran International on Sunday.

Khezrnejad, a vocal critic of governmental policies, was initially detained on November 19, 2022, following his speech at a memorial for Asad Rahimi, a victim of the protests in Bukan, where he openly criticized the government's suppression of protests following the death in morality police custody of Mahsa Amini. The death of the Kurdish-Iranian was the trigger for the biggest anti-government uprising since the founding of the Islamic Republic.

The Urmia Revolutionary Court, after holding Khezrnejad in temporary custody for over a year, convicted him on December 20, 2023, for "corruption on earth," sentencing him to death. Additional charges included 15 years for "damaging the integrity or independence of the country," and one year for "propaganda against the system." The sentences were later affirmed by Branch 41 of the Supreme Court, presided over by Judge Ali Razini.

Mizan, Iran's judicial news agency, claims a displayed remorse and pledge for better conduct from Khezrnejad, alongside pleas from prominent Sunni scholars, led to the reduction of his sentence to life imprisonment. 

During his detention, reports from the Hengaw Human Rights Organization highlighted that Khezrnejad endured severe torture, resulting in coerced confessions.