Mediaboss Marketing

Iran Protests-The repressive forces of the Iranian regime are suppressing the demonstrators-November 2019

The critical situation of Iranian society and the prospect of an uprising and the overthrow of the clerical regime have reached such a point that the state media is compelled to admit it. On August 1, the state-run website Etemad Online, in an article, under the context of an interview with a researcher, addressed the issue of social media and the hashtag #NoExecutionsInIran #_. It acknowledged that while social media only connects people, what causes these protests is the explosive situation that is rapidly taking shape in Iranian society.

It also acknowledged that Iranian society is in a state of uprising and that any dissatisfaction would quickly turn into protests. The article reflects the explosive situation of Iranian society. Translation of parts of the article is as follows:

Etemad Online state-run website -1 August 2020:

Collective actions and social protests are the results of social contradictions and feelings of relative deprivation, poverty and inequality or tyranny and authoritarianism, and illegitimacy. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the vital role of communication in the formation and functioning of social movements.

Digital communication networks are an integral part of social movements and street actions. Sometimes the pressure in cyberspace receives a proper response due to the fear of mobilization in real space

Some mistakenly think that communication technology alone and without the involvement of people can bring change, while communication technology serves as to link the people.

And what worries the proponents of maintaining the status quo and forcing them to repress or retreat is the bond between people in an autonomous space; That was, the case in the city or was the case by creating the hashtag #NoExecutionsInIran #_

Whether governments want it or not, the street is an undeniable part of the protest. Social media not only does not prevent people from going to the streets, but it also facilitates them to be in the streets.

The governments must decide, either to allow for legal street protestsor wait for the streets to be occupied by the people.

When the crisis pervades the existing structures when corruption has advanced to the Peak of Mount Damavandwhen poverty and inequality have doubled sufferings of people, and the devaluation of the national currency has made the poor poorer and the rich richer, when the disgusting smell of discrimination, has made a society hateful, it is not difficult to predict the future.

Uprisingsare the product of crises in peoples living conditions. It is an unbearable situation that forces dissatisfied people to protest. In fact, peoplesdistrust of governing institutions is an essential factor in protests and uprisings. People do not participate in protests for fun or entertainment; they take the risk to fight for a better life. In protest movements, the relations among the protesters is very important. Social media provides these links in the best possible way. But not to prevent themto gotothe street, but on the opposite,to facilitate themto go tothe street.

Whether virtual or real, every act is an exercise in creating an autonomous space and preparing for collective action andoccupying the streets. Didnt you see the protests of November 2019 just a few months ago?

Despite the persistence of crises and the inability of the governing system to reduce and resolve the current structural crises, collective action both virtual and real has no end; As I have said many times, the Iranian society is in a state of the uprising until further notice.

Read more here:
Iranian Society Is in an Explosive State, and Any Dissatisfaction would Trigger a Protest - NCRI - National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

Posted by Robert Pasbani on August 1, 2020 at 1:43 pm

The government of Iran is continuing its crusade against heavy metal music in the country, trying to censor bands and imprison them for the crime of playing heavy metal. The latest band is notable Iranian death metal band Arsames.

Earlier this month, members of the band was arrested. Metal Injection has seen the official document of the arrest which reads "The band Arsames was arrested and charged with 15 years in jail for being in satanic metal band and being against the Islamic government."

The band has been active since 2002, despite playing death metal being considered illegal in the country. The government recognizes metal as "satanic music", which is not allowed to be played in the country. They have played festivals all over the region, in countries like Turkey, Dubai and Armenia. Oh, and by the way, they friggen' shred!

Metal Injection has learned that after being arrested, the band members paid bail and are currently safe and not being held in prison, as they await the start of their trial.

We are working on getting more information and talking to the band. They are trying to keep a low profile to avoid any further trouble at the moment. We are rooting for the band and will you keep you posted on any developments.The band does not have any crowdfunding going at the moment, but if you want to help them out, buy something on their Bandcamp page.

You can follow the band on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.

We previously chronicled the journey of another Iranian metal band, Confess, who were also arrested and charged for playing heavy metal. They fled the country and are currently working on new music.

What do you think? LeaveaComment

Read more:
Iranian Metal Band ARSAMES Arrested, Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison For "Playing Satanic Music" - Metal Injection

Mr. Schiff, who is the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Friday on MSNBC that he had been urging Bill Evanina and others in the intelligence community to level with the American people about whats going on. He said the warning gave a false sense of equivalence between what Russia is doing, what China is doing, what Iran is doing.

Mr. Schiff and the other three authors of the letter have been briefed extensively on the intelligence, and thus are prohibited from violating classification rules by describing what they have seen.

But Mr. Schiff, a frequent target of harsh criticism from Mr. Trump because he was the Democrats manager in the impeachment trial in the Senate, added, I think that our adversaries, in particular the Russians, are going to amplify the false messages that the president is putting out about, Well, you cant trust absentee ballots, even though thats how the president votes.

Some intelligence officials expressed surprise at the lawmakers letter and insisted they were not trying to play down the threat of interference from Moscow or signal that China was a greater challenge. They said Mr. Evaninas statement was meant to be the beginning of a series of public statements, according to an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The official said the statement did not play down the threat of Russian interference, but lawmakers had to understand that the 2020 contest would be different from 2016s.

It is unclear whether those statements, however, deter further action by American adversaries. But it is clear that 2020 will not be the same as 2016 the Russians know that they cannot use the same playbook, and Iran and China both seem poised to play a greater role.

The question is whether they will be on the same side, or working against each other.

After the 2016 election, American intelligence assessments concluded that the Russians ultimately intervened on Mr. Trumps behalf. But this year, Republicans and Democrats who have reviewed the intelligence have come to different assessments about whether Russia hopes to swing the election to Mr. Trump, or if President Vladimir V. Putin is simply intent on eroding confidence in the American electoral system.

Read the original:
U.S. Warns Russia, China and Iran Are Trying to Interfere in the Election. Democrats Say Its Far Worse. - The New York Times

A Ukraine minister says a preliminary analysis of flight recorders has revealed that Iran illegally shot down a passenger jet from his country over Tehran.

Yevhenii Yenin, Ukraines deputy foreign minister, made the declaration in a Twitter post Friday.

Story continues below advertisement

A spokeswoman for the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa confirmed the legitimacy of the tweet but said her government had no further comment.

The declaration sheds light on what could become an opaque investigation, because Iran has become the official investigator even though its military shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on Jan. 8 shortly after it took off from Tehran.

All 176 people on board were killed, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents and dozens of others with connections to Canada.

Under Annex 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Iran becomes the lead investigator for the crash because it was the State of Occurrence.

That also gives Iran full control over what information is released publicly about the contents of the flight recorders.

Story continues below advertisement

Yenins tweet appeared to clash with Annex 13 requirements, as it lifted the veil on what has been a long, stalled process by Canada, Britain, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Sweden _ the countries that lost citizens when the plane was destroyed _ to force Iran to co-operate.

Grateful to all partners who helped bring this moment closer, Yenin tweeted, saying the black boxes were read out and deciphered successfully. The transcript confirmed the fact of illegal interference with the plane. We are waiting for the Iranian side for the first round of talks next week.

Trending Stories

The tweet offered no additional explanation.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is publicly pressing Iran to share the contents of the flight recorders.

That analysis now needs to be shared promptly with the international community to ensure a complete, credible and transparent flight safety investigation, Champagne tweeted on Thursday.

Story continues below advertisement

Champagne said earlier this week the flight recorders would form one part of a flight safety investigation as well as an international criminal investigation to identify the people responsible for shooting down the plane.

Iran initially denied it shot down the plane but was forced to admit responsibility after video footage on social media showed a missile striking the jet. The tragedy unfolded as Iran fired missiles at American military bases inside neighbouring Iraq after the U.S. killed a top Iranian general.

Two investigators from Canadas Transportation Safety Board took part in examining a readout of the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from the downed plane after they arrived in Paris earlier this week after a long negotiation with Tehran.

That was a long-anticipated development due to what Champagne has branded as Iranian stalling.

Irans delegate to the International Civil Aviation Organization told the UN agency on March 11 that the flight recorders would be sent to Ukraines aviation investigators by March 25, but later blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for a delay.

The TSB said in a statement on Friday that a team of international investigators had completed a preliminary analysis of the data from the flight recorders of the Ukrainian passenger jet shot down by Iran in January.

Story continues below advertisement

The TSB noted international law prevented the sharing any specific information, but Canada is urging Iran to release factual information from the recorders as soon as possible.

In an interview earlier this week, TSB chair Kathy Fox said Canada wants Annex 13 changed but that is a long process that likely wont affect the current investigation.

The current law still permits Iran to ask for help from another country or designate another country to lead the investigation. That was the case when Ukraine turned to the Netherlands to lead the probe into the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 by pro-Moscow Ukrainian rebels over eastern Ukraine six years ago.

Fox said in a statement on Friday that this initial review of the data is an important milestone, but she stressed the investigation is far from over.

Story continues below advertisement

Fox said she knows families are seeking answers to the tragedy.

2020 The Canadian Press

Here is the original post:
Irans shooting of plane that killed 176 was illegal: Ukrainian minister - Globalnews.ca

Baghdads pivot away from its neighbour is increasingly extending to their shared resources You have 1 free article remaining

Subscribe now for unlimited access or become a Bronze Member for free

For queries seeour FAQor contact us

Subscribe Bronze Sign-up Member Login

Iraq has been giving Iran the cold shoulder in recent months as the new government in Baghdad cosies up to Washington and pivots to build closer ties with Riyadh. And the divergence is also evident in field complexes that sit on both sides of the border.

The western part of the giant Iraqi Majnoon oilfield and Irans Yaran and Azadegan fields are parts of a shared formation. The overall Majnoon field holds c.38bn bl of oil in place and has been earmarked to reach a production capacity of 500,000bl/d in 2021.

The fields on the Iranian side are part of the West Karoun oilfield cluster, along with the giant Azar and Yadavaran fields.

A source who advises both oil ministries tells Petroleum Economist that West Majnoon and Azadegan are examples of coordinated work and targets between the neighbours. But the reality appears somewhat different.

Iraq has benefitted from the presence of IOCs and international oilfield services and equipment (OFSE) firms to develop its fields, But Iran is hobbled by sanctionsthe lifting of which is unlikely be an immediate priority even if Joe Biden takes office as president in the US in Januaryand continues to share its field development work among local firms.

Baghdad has therefore been able to rapidly increase output from joint fields, resulting in swift depletion and pressure loss. Tehran has been unable to keep pace, having relied too heavily on Russian and Chinese companies to provide capital for joint field developments that have, in most cases, not come to fruition. The imbalance has resulted in a production ratio of 3.2/1 in Iraqs favour.

The increased presence of IRGC contractors has added to the threat of additional punitive measures by the US Iranian government source

The West Karoun region is thought to hold 50-100bn of oil in place. But its recovery rates have fallen to just 6pc and are unlikely to improve unless and until IOCs are allowed to return and deploy cutting-edge technology

With Iraqs enthusiastic drilling draining resources, Tehran has awarded a flurry of contracts to try to redress the balance. But these may serve more to hinder Iran in the longer term than help it.

Strategic talks remain ongoing with Beijing, and reports have emerged that state-controlled Cnooc and PetroChina may sign new contracts for projects in West Karoun. But Irans state oil firm NIOC and its subsidiaries have instead handed contracts to local firms. Deals have been signed in the last few weeks that promise production increases at Yaran and South Azadegan, from which PetroChina was expelled in 2014 for lengthy project delays.

Tehran has no intention of stopping there. Oil minister Bijan Zanganeh expects contracts to be agreed for all of Irans shared border oil and gas fields by the end of President Hassan Rouhanis term in mid-2021.

Discussions are ongoing on contracts for the oil layer of the giant South Pars gas field (which, on the other side of a border, is Qatars North Field, and again is the subject of more intense exploitation by an Iranian neighbour), as well as for the Changuleh, Forouzan, Reshadat and Sohrab oilfields. Zanganeh also told Iranian media that a local firm would soon be contracted for the 12.5tn ft offshore Farzad-B gas field.

While Tehran will likely herald the success of local companies and of its so-called resistance economy, the deep involvement of these domestic firms is likely to pose problems for any future partnership with foreign players. Of the 23 new contracts awarded so far, 19 have been awarded to domestic firms15 [of which have] connections to Khatam-al Anbiya Construction and other businesses connected with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), an Iranian government source tells Petroleum Economist. The increased presence of IRGC contractors has added to the threat of additional punitive measures by the US.

Iraq has also been contracting for drilling work as it continues to raise production capabilities, despite commitments it has made to cut output under the new Opec+ deal. US OFSE firm Weatherford has been recently hired to drill 20 wells at the Al-Nasiriyah oilfield over the next 18 months.

c.22pc Increase in flows from Iraqs northern fields

But with the country having cut just 650,000bl/d of production in May compared with an Opec+ requirement of 1.06mn bl/d, Basra Oil Company and the IOCs developing the countrys southern oilfields were asked to trim a further 300,000bl/d and 350,000bl/d, respectively. And, to make up for historic non-compliance, Baghdad also agreed to make further compensatory cuts of 70,000bl/d in July, 314,000bl/d in August and 313,000bl/d in September.

However, data firm Refinitiv suggests that, despite these pledges, Iraqs oil exports have increased through July, with flows from northern fields growing by c.22pc and those from the south remaining unchanged.

It remains to be seen whether Iraq will eventually be forced into line, most likely by its new ally in Riyadh. But even if it manages to avoid further cuts, its momentum towards its lofty production targets of 8mn or even 9mn bl/d has been checked. And this perhaps not just by the cuts it has made. There are, for example, growing concerns about the commerciality of the third phase of the West Qurna-2 concession, which was due to have doubled production to 800,000bl/d by 2025.

But Iraqs key issue to realising its full production potential remains water. Its giant southern fields require vast volumes to maintain well pressure and increase recovery, a problem for which the Common Seawater Supply Facility (CSSF) was intended to be a silver bullet. However, years of delays caused by civil unrest, political instability, corruption and commerciality concerns mean the CSSF remains a distant prospect and, with it, so do Iraqs dreams of joining the big league.

See the original post:
Iraq and Iran move further apart - Petroleum Economist