Iran (February 5, 2021)
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1a)
Why the Biden administration has set itself up for failure on the Iran nuclear deal
By Scott Ritter
February 2, 2021
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/514410-biden-administration-iran-nuclear-deal/
„[…] According to Obama, by entering the JCPOA, the US made it possible to “strengthen the hand of those more moderate forces inside of Iran.” The JCPOA was “not dependent on anticipating those changes. If they don’t change at all, we’re still better off having the deal.” Obama’s point of view was driven by US intelligence assessments which, in 2015, put Iran’s “breakout times” at two or three months. By entering the JCPOA, the US was “purchasing for 13, 14, 15 years assurances that the breakout is at least a year … that – that if they decided to break the deal, kick out all the inspectors, break the seals and go for a bomb, we’d have over a year to respond. And we have those assurances for at least well over a decade.” The important takeaway is what Obama said next. “And then in years 13 and 14, it is possible that those breakout times would have been much shorter, but at that point we have much better ideas about what it is that their program involves. We have much more insight into their capabilities. And the option of a future president to take action if in fact they try to obtain a nuclear weapon is undiminished.” In short, if Iran did not use the JCPOA as a vehicle to understand that it did not need a nuclear program, and voluntarily abandon its nuclear activities, then the US would take action that would prevent the ‘sunset clauses’ from ever expiring. Unfortunately for Obama, Biden, and the proponents of the JCPOA, Trump wasn’t willing to play that game. Recognizing that the underlying logic behind the Obama approach to the JCPOA was predicated on the belief that Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions were only being temporarily delayed by the ‘sunset clauses’, Trump simply withdrew from the agreement, moving the time for presidential action forward by a decade. In many ways, Trump’s approach to Iran, while fundamentally flawed, was at least honest. The same cannot be said about the Obama administration which negotiated the original deal, or the Biden administration which is now compelled to deal with the fallout of Obama’s deceit and Trump’s actions in response to that deceit. Time is running out for Biden and Blinken if they hope to revive the JCPOA. Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament has set a deadline of February 21 for the US to lift sanctions that had been reimposed when Trump removed the US from the JCPOA. If the US fails to act, then Iran will likely suspend the enhanced inspections of its nuclear sites by the IAEA, and further increase its uranium enrichment capacity. […]“
1b)
How to Do “Regime Change” Correctly: a Blueprint for the Biden Administration
By Sasan Fayazmanesh
January 29, 2021
How to Do “Regime Change” Correctly: a Blueprint for the Biden Administration
„[…] Everything terrible that happens in the country is the fault of the enemy, weather true or not. Yes, much of economic troubles in Iran are the result of sanctions, but not all, as even some politicians in Iran occasionally admit. Mismanagement, corruption, ineptness, ignorance, backwardness, internal feuding, have all contributed, along with brutal sanctions, to the faltering economy. So, President Biden, here is a simple blueprint for achieving your goals, including a “regime change”: Lift the sanctions. Stop imprisoning Iranians on flimsy charges of violating these sanctions. Stop assassinating Iranians. Stop sabotaging Iranian nuclear and non-nuclear facilities. Stop threatening Iran. Stop sending B52s, warships, and drones to the Persian Gulf. Stop interfering in Iran’s internal affairs. Stop even condemning the Islamic Republic for violating human rights. Afterall, as one of the greatest purveyors of violence around the world, the US is in no position to talk about human rights. Your condemnations ring hollow. In short, leave the Islamic Republic to its own devices! […] If you do these, you will have a much better chance of achieving your stated and unstated goals. Without enemies at the gate, the Islamic Republic will have no use for highly enriched uranium or massive amount of low enriched uranium. It will have no use for long range-missiles. It will have no reason to act belligerently in the Persian Gulf. Above all, without enemies, the Islamic Republic will have no one to blame for when it comes to social and economic woes in Iran. It will have to become fully accountable to its own citizens for whatever ill the society faces. It will have to respect civil rights and liberties. Otherwise, it will face the wrath of a population that has always fought against tyrannical rule.“
1c)
U.S. negotiation strategy in view of Washington Institute for Near East Policy
By Azin Sahabi
January 27, 2021
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/457455/U-S-negotiation-strategy-in-view-of-Washington-Institute-for
„In the coming weeks, TRANSITION 2021 memos by Washington Institute for Near East Policy will address the broad issues facing the Biden administration in the West Asia region. These range from the region’s strategic position in the context of Great Power competition, Iran’s nuclear program, and how to most effectively elevate human rights and democracy in West Asia. Arab-Israel normalization diplomacy, Red Sea security as well as challenges and opportunities in northwest Africa will be addressed. In advance of the event, the think tank’s comments on the Islamic Republic of Iran is worth deliberating. “Less for less” to get “more for more” Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, provides an approach to reengaging Iran in nuclear diplomacy to preserve what he calls U.S. negotiating leverage and strengthen American alliances in Europe and across West Asia. He proposes an alternative “less for less” approach toward Iran for the U.S. to get “more for more”. […]“
1d)
Sen. Rand Paul Questions Sec. of State Nominee Blinken on Regime Change
January 19, 2021
transcript:
Klicke, um auf 210125-Uebersetzung-Rand-Paul-Blinken-und-englische-Fassung.pdf zuzugreifen
1e)
Meet Antony ‘Blinkered’ – Biden’s Choice for America’s Top Diplomat
By Finian Cunningham
January 26, 2021
Meet Antony ‘Blinkered’ – Biden’s Choice for America’s Top Diplomat
„Blinken does not seem to have repented from his fundamentalist belief in American imperial goodness, notwithstanding his appeal for “humility”. Barring an earthquake in Washington, Antony Blinken is set to become the new U.S. Secretary of State and America’s top diplomat. The youthful and telegenic Blinken (58) takes over from Mike Pompeo who was America’s representative to the world under the last Trump administration. […]“
1f)
Rumored Iran envoy gets big boost after smear campaign tries to take him down
By Matthew Petti
January 28, 2021
Rumored Iran envoy gets big boost after smear campaign tries to take him down
„Two hundred foreign policy professionals and 29 organizations issued an open statement on Thursday in support of Robert Malley’s rumored appointment as special envoy to Iran, marking the latest salvo in a proxy war over the Biden administration’s policy towards the Middle East. Jewish Insider first reported last week that President Joe Biden was considering appointing Malley, a veteran diplomat and CEO of the International Crisis Group, as a special envoy to Iran. The rumors set off a smear campaign among hawks who oppose diplomatic engagement with the Iranian government. […]“
1g)
Pentagon reassures Middle East partners on deterring Iran
The US military is signaling its show of force against Tehran may continue as the State Department explores paths toward a renewed nuclear agreement.
January 29, 2021
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2021/01/pentagon-iran-biden-blinken-nuclear.html
„As the Biden administration weighs next steps with Iran, the Pentagon is reassuring regional partners that deterrence remains central to US strategy toward Iran. “Iran continues to be a malign actor in the region, continues to support terrorism throughout the Middle East, and they still pose threats to our partners and friends there,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters in his first press briefing under the new US administration Thursday. “They still have an active ballistic missile program and they have been recently re-spinning centrifuges,” Kirby said, adding, “We still have national security interests in the Middle East and in the Persian Gulf specifically.” The US military will continue its efforts to shield Washington’s partner states from the “acts of terrorism that Iran continues to propagate throughout the region,” Kirby said. […]“
1h)
Iran’s Zarif tells RT he was never ‘buddies’ with Biden but hopes new US admin will rethink policy of ‘economic terrorism’ (VIDEO)
January 28, 2021
https://www.rt.com/news/513860-zarif-biden-buddies-iran-nuclear-deal/
„[…] In an interview with Oksana Boyko, host of RT’s Worlds Apart, the top Iranian diplomat said it would be a mistake to think that his personal relationship with Biden could help trigger a major diplomatic breakthrough between the two longtime rivals. Zarif said his history with Biden can be traced back nearly 20 years, when he served as Iran’s envoy to the UN. But he insisted that his interactions with the Delaware senator were strictly professional. […]“
1i)
Biden Wants to Return to the Iran Deal. He Can Start Here.
There is a window now to restore America’s credibility and bring more stability to the Middle East.
By Majid Takht-Ravanchi
January 27, 2021
„Dr. Ravanchi is Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations and his country’s highest-ranking diplomat in the United States. He helped negotiate the 2015 nuclear agreement, from which former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States in 2018, and which President Biden has said he wants to rejoin. Iran is now in violation of some terms of the agreement but has said there is a window to revive the deal. […]“
1j)
Iran Angles for Advantage on Biden’s Priority List
With a combination of threats, provocative acts and public appeals, Iran is jostling for attention from an administration preoccupied with spillover crises from the Trump years.
By Farnaz Fassihi and Rick Gladstone
January 27, 2021
„Iran has threatened to block nuclear inspections next month, and further increased production of fuel that could be enriched for use in bombs. It has seized an American ally’s cargo ship. And it has incarcerated yet another American citizen on spying charges. These are just some of the steps Iran has taken in recent weeks in what is seen as part of an increasingly impatient strategy to pressure President Biden, who has said he wants to reverse many actions taken by his predecessor, Donald J. Trump. Those reversals include returning to the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord, abandoned by Mr. Trump, which had severely constrained Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s adversaries have long seen that program as a path toward the country building nuclear weapons, but Tehran insists that it has always been intended only for peaceful purposes. […]“
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2a)
Iranian Official Quashes Rumour That Israeli F-35s Set Off Air Raid Sirens in Tehran
By Ilya Tsukanov
January 31, 2021
„Air raid sirens were heard wailing in Tehran on Friday night, spooking local residents and prompting the spread of a number of theories online about what could have caused the incident. The last time sirens were activated was during the Iran-Iraq War, which saw Iraqi forces lobbing missiles, some armed with chemical munitions, into Iranian cities. […] where they supposedly carried out reconnaissance in Bandar Abbas, Isfahan, and Shiraz. Iranian media dismissed the claims, pointing out that an elementary analysis of the F-35’s range characteristics (1,700 km to 2,200 km) would make it impossible for the Israelis to fly all the way from Israel to Iran and back in stealth mode without refuelling, with refuelling planes unable to conceal their positions. Tehran also says that it has the advanced strategic and mobile radar capabilities necessary to detect enemy aircraft, including those with stealth capabilities. In June 2019, the Khordad-3, an Iranian-made medium-range missile system, shot a stealthy $220 million US Global Hawk surveillance drone out of the sky over the Strait of Hormuz. […]“
2b)
A Missile Defense “Manhattan Project” in the Middle East
By Michael Knights
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
December 30, 2020
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/missile-defense-manhattan-project-middle-east
„One of the fruits of Arab-Israeli normalization should be more robust U.S.-led missile defense collaboration between states that face the greatest threat from Iran. On December 15, Moshe Patel, head of the Israel Missile Defense Organization, publicly signaled that his agency was interested in working with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, building on the existing U.S.-Israeli cooperation in the missile defense sector. These states share an obvious community of interest: all of them are threatened by Iran’s fast-developing missile, rocket, and drone forces. […]“
2c)
INSS Simulation: War in the Middle East – the 14th Annual Conference
Moderator: Brig. Gen. (ret.) Itai Brun, Deputy Director for Research and Analysis at INSS Participants: Fyodor A. Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs • Sima Shine, Head of the Iran Program at INSS • Dr. Ebtesam al- Ketbi, President of the Emirates Policy Center • Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitsan Alon, Head of Matrix Defense • Prof. Eyal Zisser, Vice-Rector of Tel Aviv University • Shimrit Meir, Middle Eastern Affairs Analyst
The Institute for National Security Studies, Tel Aviv University
January 27, 2021
2d)
Senior Iranian officials dismiss Israeli threat of military action as nothing but ‚psychological warfare‘
By Press TV
January 27, 2021
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/27/643965/israel-iran-military-war-psywar
„Senior Iranian officials have dismissed Israel’s recent threat of „offensive options“ against the Islamic Republic as desperate “psychological warfare,” mostly meant to prevent a possible US return to the 2015 nuclear deal. Israel’s army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi, said on Tuesday that the regime’s military was revising its attack plans against Iran, claiming that any US return to the Iran nuclear deal would be “wrong.” Kochavi said that he had instructed the military “to prepare a number of operational plans, in addition to those already in place” against Iran, adding, “It will be up to the political leadership, of course, to decide on implementation but these plans need to be on the table.” […]“
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3a)
Iran: Colonial powers militarizing Indian Ocean to sell more arms, advance own economic goals
By Press TV
February 4, 2021
„Iran’s defense minister has warned against attempts by outsiders to provoke an arms race in the Indian Ocean and turn it into a weapons stockpile, saying colonial powers are militarizing the strategic region to sell more arms and advance their own economic interests. […]“
3b)
Pentagon sends aircraft carrier Nimitz home from Middle East
The USS Nimitz spent more than 270 days at sea conducting exercises with the Indian navy and seeking to deter Iran from retaliating for last year’s killing of Qasem Soleimani.
By Jared Szuba
February 3, 2021
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2021/02/uss-nimitz-aircraft-iran-biden.html
„The US Navy’s Nimitz carrier strike force has left the Middle East after a nine-month deployment abroad that was extended to keep pressure on Iran, the Pentagon confirmed Tuesday. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby declined to tell reporters whether any specific event had influenced Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to send the carrier home, nor whether the United States’ assessment of the potential for hostile Iranian activity in the region had changed. “It is a balancing act between requirements and the capabilities on hand,” Kirby said, adding, “The secretary believes that we have a robust presence in the Middle East to respond.” “It would be imprudent for us to think this is based on a specific piece of intel in a specific part of the world,” he said. USNI first reported the decision to bring the Nimitz back to the United States. Following a late December decision to send the supercarrier home, the Nimitz was ordered to return to the Middle East in early January amid public threats from Iranian leaders against US officials. […]“
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4a)
UN Court Takes on Iran-US Sanctions Case
By Danny Kemp
February 3, 2021
https://www.bourseandbazaar.com/news-1/2021/2/3/un-court-takes-on-iran-us-sanctions-case
„The UN’s top court ruled on Wednesday that it can take on Iran’s bid to overturn US nuclear sanctions reimposed by the administration of former US president Donald Trump. Iran’s foreign minister swiftly hailed the decision as a „victory“ in the case launched three years ago at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Tehran alleges that Trump breached a 1955 friendship treaty between the two countries when he pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal — to the dismay of European allies — and reactivated the sanctions. Washington had said the Hague-based ICJ did not have jurisdiction and must throw out the case. It also argued the sanctions were necessary because Iran posed a „grave threat“ to international security. But judges at the court rejected all the US objections. International Court of Justice President Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said the tribunal „finds consequently that it has jurisdiction…. to entertain the application filed by the Islamic Republic of Iran“. […]“
4b)
International Court of Justice claims jurisdiction to hear Iran’s dispute against US sanctions
February 3, 2021
https://www.rt.com/news/514511-un-court-iran-us-sanctions-dispute/
„The highest UN court for international disputes between states has ruled that it does have jurisdiction to hear a case brought by Iran challenging US sanctions against Tehran. On Wednesday, a panel of 16 judges ruled that the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, has jurisdiction in the dispute. The case against the US was first brought to the ICJ in 2018 by Tehran, which accused Washington of breaching a 1955 friendship treaty between the two countries when the Trump administration imposed sanctions. The sanctions were imposed after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal, accusing Tehran of having breached its commitments to the international agreement despite UN watchdogs saying the country was compliant. […]“
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5)
Iran Agrees to Free South Korean Ship’s Crew
In return, South Korea pledged speedy action to address Iran’s complaints about $7 billion impounded there as a result of U.S. sanctions.
By Choe Sang-Hun and Farnaz Fassihi
February 2, 2021
„Iran has agreed to free the 19-member crew of a seized South Korea-flagged ship, both countries said Tuesday, in what appeared to be the first significant gesture by the Iranians to de-escalate the problem since impounding the vessel a month ago. The Iranian move may also have been intended to send an indirect signal to the Biden administration, which has indicated it wants to avoid a further deterioration in relations with Iran after they worsened sharply under former President Donald J. Trump. In return for the release of the crew, the South Korean government said it had pledged speedy action to address Iran’s complaints about its inability to access $7 billion in Iranian money that has been frozen in South Korean banks because of American sanctions reimposed by Mr. Trump. […] South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the decision to free the crew members came during a telephone conversation on Tuesday between Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, and his South Korean counterpart, Choi Jong-kun. […]“
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6)
Iran steel industry adamant against sanctions
Press TV
January 29, 2021
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/29/644122/Iran-steel-industry-prospects-
„[…] While the average global growth in steel production was negative in 2020 — touching near -1 percent, Iran marked a 13.4-percent rise in the sector. Uzbekistan’s steel production grew by 42.6 percent, and Moldova’s output increased by 18.7 percent, Tehran Times cited the latest report the World Steel Association (WSA) on Friday. According to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, the country produced 29.03 million tons of steel during 2020 compared to the last year’s figure of nearly 25.6 million tons. Meanwhile, the global association states that crude steel production in the world fell 0.09 percent to stand at 1.829 billion tons in 2020. According to the WSA figures, Iran was the 10th top steel producer of the world in 2020, a similar standing to the past two years. Iran produced 2.6 million tons of crude steel in December 2020, which was 19.2 percent higher than the figure for December 2019, the report confirmed. The average global production growth in the mentioned month was 5.8 percent. As the world’s top producer, China produced 1.052 billion tons of crude steel in 2020, up 5.2 percent compared to 2019. India and Japan ranked second and third in the world with of 99.5 million and 83.1 million tons of production, respectively. The production of South Korea, Japan, and India as the leaders of the industry, however, decreased by 6 percent, 16.2 percent, and 10.6 percent, respectively. […]“
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7a)
Russia To Aid Iran In Major Sanctions-Skirting Energy Megaprojects
By Simon Watkins
December 28, 2020
„Alongside the continued development of its huge West Karoun oil fields, the completion of the supergiant South Pars non-associated gas offshore sector (including the implementation of Phase 11 operations), and the finalisation of the crude oil transfer pipeline from Guriyeh to Jask, Iran’s core focus in the current sanctions environment is to optimise the output and revenues from its already world-scale petrochemicals sector. This has always played a key role in Iran’s ‘resistance economy’ model – the concept of generating value-added returns by leveraging intellectual capital into business development wherever possible. In the last week or so, Iran has launched another three major petchems projects and discussed further co-operation with Russia in the sector. […]“
7b)
Iran’s Oil Sector is Breaking Out
By Esfandyar Batmanghelidj
January 24, 2021
https://www.bourseandbazaar.com/articles/2021/1/23/irans-oil-sector-is-breaking-out
„In August 2019, Mike Pompeo took something of a victory lap. Speaking to MSNBC, he declared that the Trump administration had “managed to take almost 2.7 million barrels of [Iranian] crude oil off of the market.” A few months prior, the United States had reimposed secondary sanctions on Iran’s oil sector, revoking eight waivers that allowed Iran’s major oil customers to temporarily continue purchasing Iranian oil. Without the waivers, just one major buyer remained—China. At the time of Pompeo’s boast, China was buying a negligible volume of Iranian oil in direct violation of US sanctions. Beijing protested loudly about the extraterritorial impact of US sanctions, but proved unable or unwilling to instruct its major refiners, banks, and tanker companies to sustain the previous level of imports from Iran. […]“
7c)
Iran Can Solve Turkmenistan’s Natural Gas Dilemma
By Amin Noorbakhsh
January 25, 2021
https://www.bourseandbazaar.com/articles/2021/1/25/iran-can-solve-turkmenistans-natural-gas-dilemma
„Bordering Iran on the northeast, Turkmenistan is a Central Asian country with a population of 6 million. What Turkmenistan lacks in population it makes up in enormous energy reserves. Domestically produced natural gas accounts for 80 percent of the feedstock used for electricity production. In 2006, discovery of the world’s second largest natural field, Galkynysh, saw the country become the country with the fourth largest natural gas reserves worldwide. […] Considering the difficulties associated with facilitating exports to Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and China, Turkmenistan and Iran have an opportunity to enter new gas deals on the basis of clear mutual benefits. Iran’s strategy to become the natural gas hub of the region depends on developing several gas corridors with its neighbors—gas-rich Turkmenistan ought to be a key partner in this strategy.“
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8a)
Nasrallah: ‘It was Iran’s Soleimani who convinced Putin to enter Syria war’
January 25, 2021
Nasrallah: ‘It was Iran’s Soleimani who convinced Putin to enter Syria war’
„Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah recounts how assassinated Iranian General Qassim Soleimani held a two-hour long meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and convinced him to militarily enter the war in Syria in support of the government in Damascus and its allies. […]“
8b)
Why the US Deep State won’t forgive Russia and Iran
By Pepe Escobar
January 28, 2021
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/56267.htm
„In a stunning interview to the Beirut-based al Mayadeen network, Hezbollah’s secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah has outlined how Maj Gen Qassem Soleimani – assassinated by an American drone strike at Baghdad airport a litle over a year ago – was instrumental in convincing Russia to help Syria militarily in its war against Salafi-jihadis. […]“
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9)
Iran Backs Afghan Ceasefire, Envoy Underlines
By Tasnim News Agency
February 4, 2021
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2021/02/04/2446487/iran-backs-afghan-ceasefire-envoy-underlines
„A special envoy of Iran reaffirmed Tehran’s support for ceasefire in Afghanistan and the neighboring country’s republican system of government. In a meeting with Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar, the Iranian foreign minister’s special envoy for Afghanistan said Iran supports ceasefire in the neighboring country and maintenance of its republic system. […] In a meeting with a political delegation of the Taliban in Tehran on January 31, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran would support an inclusive and Islamic government in Afghanistan involving all ethnic groups. The top Iranian diplomat also emphasized that people of Afghanistan, who are the Taliban’s fellow countrymen, should not be targeted in operations.“
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10)
Belgium slaps Iranian diplomat with 20-year jail term over foiled bomb plot in landmark ruling
February 4, , 2021
https://www.rt.com/news/514591-belgium-iranian-diplomat-jailed/
„An Iranian diplomat accused of plotting to bomb a meeting of an emigrant opposition group has been jailed for 20 years in Belgium. The diplomat’s accomplices also received lengthy prison terms. An Antwerp court sentenced Assadolah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat formerly based in Vienna, Austria to the maximum 20 years behind bars on Thursday. It is the first time an Iranian official has been put on trial and sentenced by an EU member state for terrorism offenses. Reporters were not allowed into the courtroom to hear the verdict, with the whole building heavily guarded by police backed by armored vehicles and helicopters. „The ruling shows two things: A diplomat doesn’t have immunity for criminal acts… and the responsibility of the Iranian state in what could have been carnage,“ Belgian prosecution lawyer Georges-Henri Beauthier told reporters outside the court. […]“
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11)
German-Iranian’s Detention in Tehran Violates International Law, Says German Lawmaker
By Natasha Phillips
January 27, 2021
German-Iranian’s Detention in Tehran Violates International Law, Says German Lawmaker
„A judge in Iran has told the German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi, who is being detained in Tehran’s Evin prison, that her case cannot go to court unless she confirms the charges brought against her, and that only “trusted lawyers” can access prisoners’ files. The judge’s demands have been condemned by a German parliamentarian. […]
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12)
Alternative Workers News – Iran
Issue No. 130
February 1, 2021
Klicke, um auf awni-no.-130.pdf zuzugreifen
“According to Haft Tappeh Sugarcane workers’ syndicate, 28 workers were summoned to court following a complaint of Omid Baygie- the employer of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane company on 12th January, 2021. The workers ‘Syndicate of Tehran an suburbs (Sherkat -e- Wahed) has issued a statement, whilst defending the workers ‘demands, also condemning the summon of progressive workers, and the prosecution against them. It is necessary that with our nationwide unity and solidarity, whilst conspiracy of the Islamic regime and the employer of Haft Tappeh. […]“
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13)
Signal is blocked in Iran and no one will admit to ordering it
Restrictions on messaging app placed after huge migration from WhatsApp, as government and judiciary blame each other for decisionIranian
By Rohollah Faghihi
January 29, 2021
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-signal-blocked-no-admit-ordering
„[…] This is not the first time Iran has witnessed a widespread migration on social media platforms. In 2018, WhatsApp was the beneficiary when the judiciary banned one of its main rivals, Telegram. Iranians flocked to the app due to reports it had high levels of encryption, while authorities urged the use of local messaging apps, which are far less secure. […]“
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14)
How To Repair The U.S.-Iranian Relationship
In order to understand how it might happen, it is essential that we learn the full history.
By Daniel Larison
February 3, 2021
„[…]In order to understand how the U.S.-Iranian relationship might be repaired and turned into something more constructive, it is essential that we learn from the full history of that relationship that extends beyond the usual grievances of 1953 and 1979. Luckily, there is an outstanding new book on the history of U.S.-Iranian relations that does just that. John Ghazvinian’s America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present is an impressive scholarly work that traces the development of U.S.-Iranian relations from the earliest days of traders and missionaries up through the disaster of the “maximum pressure” policy of the last four years. It is a story of multiple wrong turns and missed opportunities, but it also reminds us that there was a time when the U.S. stood up for Iranian national rights and Iranians saw America as a potential ally. That suggests that there could be a more constructive and normal relationship in the future, provided that we learn how to avoid stumbling into the same pitfalls that have plagued the relationship for most of the last century. […]“
Amir Mortasawi (alias Afsane Bahar) (امیر مرتضوی (افسانه بهار 