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Syria owes Iran $50 billion according to leaked documents from Irans Foreign Ministry, with fears for Assads possible assassination creating fear in Tehran the money may never be recouped.

The revelations came after the hacktivist group Uprising till Overthrow', affiliated with the Albania-based opposition Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) group, hacked the Islamic Republics Foreign Ministry servers, disabling 210 sites and onlineservicesand leaking a large batch of documents.

Minutes from a meeting of Irans Supreme National Security Council show Syrias debt goes back to a long-termagreement signed between the two countries in January2019, under former president Hassan Rouhani.However, the debt has been building for much longer, with roughly $11bn worth of oil given to Damascus from 2012 to 2021.

A combination of aid in the form of military support and cash, the total amount of debt to Iran is estimated to be about$50 billion, though the document said the final amount is still being calculated.

In the first six months of the Iranian year 1400 (from March 2021 to September 2021), whenPresident Ebrahim Raisi was in office,one million barrels of oil were sent to Syria but the Syrians allegedly demanded two million barrels per month.

The commander-in-chief ofIransRevolutionary Guards Hossein Salami proposed a 1.5 million barrel exportfor the second half of the yearupon the suggestion by Esmail Qaani, commander of IRGCs Quds Force a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations, read the document.

Esmail Qaani, commander of IRGCs Quds Force

One of the paragraphs of the document referred to Supreme Leader Ali Khameneis urgency to cash in on Syrias debts, fearing a repeat of its investment in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

One of the first Muslim countries to provide support for the Bosnian Muslims in the Bosnian War (199295), theIRGCsentmore than five thousandtonsof arms to the Bosnian Muslims.In spite of massive investment, Tehran's leverage in Bosnia and Herzegovina has decreased significantly, proving a poor asset for the regime.

The document stressed the necessity of having all terms agreed by the two nations parliaments to prevent Irans expulsion from Syria under any circumstances as may happen if Irans proxy leader, President Bashar al-Assad, should be assassinated, a concern raised in the documentation.

It stated that the new term of Assad issensitive and could lead to his elimination, urging that if the document is notfinalized soon,"billions of dollars of Irans assets willbe put in serious danger.Syria is a key strategic asset for Iran as it wields power through its proxies across the region.

The extent of Iranian military expenditures and financial aid to Syria to keep Assad in power is unknown but is believed to have run into billions ofdollarsat the expense of the Iranian people.

But Syria is in the midst of a massive regional power-shift, causing concern to Tehran. In the last month, Assad and hisaideshave met with key figures in countries including the UAE and Turkey as several regional powers see the benefits of bringing Assad, one of Iran's regional puppets, in from the cold, in a bid to lure him away from Tehrans destabilizing influence.

Last week, Syria was also readmitted to the Arab League after more than a decade in isolation, though Qatar said it would not resume diplomatic ties with Syria until its domestic crisis is resolved.

Iranian parliament member, HeshmatollahFalahatpisheh, announced in May 2020 that the country had invested$30 billionin Syria and must recoup it. With reconstruction costs estimated at $250-$400 billion, Syria urgently needs to improve economic ties with regional countries.

Most recently, Iran has been using the earthquake disaster to smuggle weapons and military equipment into Syria to arm its regional proxies within shipments marked as humanitarian aid.

It is not the first time the Uprising till Overthrow' succeeded in hacking and deactivating several regime websites and services. In June 2022, ithackedover 5,000 security cameras of state bodiesand 150 websites belonging to TehranMunicipality,displayinganti-regime slogans on thewebsitesand releasing internal data.

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Syria Owes $50 Billion To Iran, Leaked Document Reveals -

The report, by Iranian daily Donyay-e Eqtesad, said specialists were leaving Iran in pursuit of better opportunities in larger numbers than GPs, whose annual emigration rate after the height of the Coronavirus pandemic had already increased two-fold.

It said between 6,000 to 10,000 specialists were leaving the country every year.

The figures could not be independently verified.

Donyay-e Eqtesad said the variation was due to the fact that authorities were refraining from publishing official records.

It anonymously quoted a specialist as saying that in the Iranian calendar year of 1398, at the end of which the pandemic started, some 3,000 specialists had left the country; in 1400, i.e. two years later, that figure had risen to 5,000.

An Iranian health official said last week that over 800 Iranian midwives had emigrated last year.

The COVID-19 pandemic strained the medical community in all countries. But reports say large numbers of Iranian doctors and nurses decided to emigrate to other countries in the wake of the contagion.

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More Specialists Migrating From Iran Than GPs: Daily - Iran Front Page - Iran Front Page - IFP News

Checks on Irans nuclear programme by international experts fell sharply last year, according to data from the UN atomic watchdog.

Inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were down 10% in 2022.

The agencys director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, revealed in an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News that his inspectors had been seriously affected by Irans decision to end monitoring agreements created under the now defunct 2015 JCPOA deal.

The fall in inspections comes amid mounting international concern over Irans nuclear programme, after the Islamic Republic has already removed cameras and surveillance equipment.

Experts fear the regime may be closing in on its ambition to build a nuclear weapon with ever greater brazenambition, and with the international community increasingly handicapped in its ability to monitor Irans progress.

Tehran continues to protest that its nuclear programme is peaceful, to the disbelief of experts in the outside world.

Grossi wrote in the annual IAEA Safeguards Implementation Report: Iran has yet to clarify and resolve the outstanding safeguards issues.

He added: There is important and significant work ahead of us on this matter.

On a visit to Tehran in March after Iran was found to be producing uranium of almost weapons-grade purity, Grossi had called for greater transparency by the Islamic Republic but welcomed its high-level assurances.

But whatever has been said in public, the newly disclosed data reveals an increasingly uncooperative Tehran.

The news will dismay domestic observers in Iran who fear that the regimes obstructive approach will only prolong sanctions amid a continuing economic crisis.

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Fears Mount Over Iran Bomb As Nuclear Inspections Fall Sharply -

GENEVA (9 May 2023) UN Human Rights Chief Volker Trk today expressed dismay at the frighteningly high number of executions this year in Iran, and called on authorities to follow the lead of most other States and to abolish the death penalty or halt all executions.

On average so far this year, over 10 people are put to death each week in Iran, making it one the worlds highest executors, said Trk. Since 1 January, sources say at least 209 people have been executed -- mostly for drug-related offences and a disproportionately high number representing minorities. The exact number of executions is unknown due to lack of Government transparency, and the figure is likely to be higher.

At this rate, Iran is worryingly on the same track as last year when around 580 people were reportedly executed, said Trk. This is an abominable record, particularly when you consider the growing consensus for universal abolition of the death penalty.

Only a small number of States still impose and apply the death penalty .

On Saturday, Iran executed Habib Chaab, a Swedish-Iranian from the Ahwazi Arab minority, forcorruption on earth, a capital offence under Irans strict interpretation of Islamic law.Reports on Monday said Yousef Mehrdad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare were executed for crimes including blasphemy.

Sources say at least 45 people, including 22 from the Baluch minority, were executed in the last 14 days alone. Most were executed for drug-related charges.

Imposing the death penalty for drug offences is incompatible with international human rights norms and standards, said Trk.

The Human Rights Committee, the body responsible for the authoritative interpretation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is clear on prohibiting imposition of the death penalty for any but the most serious crimes crimes of extreme gravity, involving intentional killing. Drug offences do not meet this threshold.

The High Commissioner urged the Iranian authorities to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

ENDS

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Iran: Frightening number of executions as Trk calls for end to ... - OHCHR

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - Iran has continued supplying weapons and drugs that fuel the Yemen war despite its agreement to restore diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking said on Thursday.

The Chinese-brokered accord reached in March, talks between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, and a ceasefire that largely has held despite expiring in October have boosted prospects for an end to the conflict.

But, Lenderking told reporters in an online briefing on his latest visit to the region, Iran is still supplying arms and drugs that help fuel the war that erupted in 2014 and has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

"The Iranians have continued to smuggle weaponry and narcotics toward this conflict and we are very concerned that this would continue despite the benefits that would come from a Saudi-Iran deal. So I think that is a space we have to watch," Lenderking said.

"Despite the fact that we welcomed an agreement between the Saudis and the Iranians, I remain concerned about Iran's role," he said, contending that Tehran has trained Houthi fighters and equipped them "to fight and attack Saudi Arabia."

Iran denies arming the Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital Sanaa after ousting the government and control large swaths of the country.

The war widely has been seen as a proxy fight between Saudi Arabia, which led a military coalition that intervened in 2015, and Iran.

U.S. officials have accused Iran of violating U.N. resolutions by supplying the Houthis with drones and missiles for cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia, although there have been no such strikes in more than a year.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and left millions dependent on international aid.

The Saudi-Iran deal alone will not end the conflict, which only can be settled through negotiations between the Yemeni sides, Lenderking said.

The United States will not reopen its embassy in Sanaa until it is confident the war is over and a "very firm and irreversible" peace process is underway, he said.

Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Doina Chiacu;

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Iran still smuggling weapons, narcotics to Yemen, U.S. envoy says - Reuters