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A prominent politician in Iran says none of the country's political factions can do anything to ensure a high turnout in the upcoming parliamentary election.

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, former reformist President Mohammad Khatami's chief of staff told Rouydad24 website on Wednesday that "if the people do not feel that it is a free election, they will not take part in it."

"My understanding is that the Guardian Council is not going to soften its policy on the disqualification [of reform-minded candidates]. It is not likely that those who have gone out of their way to create a unified political system will come short of their hardliner policies."

Other Iranian media outlets such as Khabar Online have also pointed out during recent days that ten months before the vote in March 2024, there is no election mood in Iran unlike previous rounds when campaigns started at least a year before the elections. In the meantime, many Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have expressed concern about a likely low-turnout next March.

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the chief of staff of former reformist President Mohammad Khatami

Khamenei told Iranian officials in late March that a high-turnout election will make the country powerful and will stop international pressures on the Islamic Republic. He called for a "healthy election" as he was aware of criticisms of the way the latest Iranian elections were held in 2020 and 2021 presumably under his supervision.

Many politicians, particularly reformist figures such as Abtahi and Mohsen Mirdamadi, the leader of banned reformist party Mosharekat have said that the regime in Iran has lost its social capital, a polite word for legitimacy, as a result of the disputed presidential election of 2009 and the protests that have rocked Iran since 2017.

Abtahi added that those who currently hold the power in Iran are not interested in increasing the turnout in the upcoming elections, as only a low turnout can ensure their victory.

Meanwhile, lawmaker Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh told Khabar Online website on Wednesday that the current ultraconservative-dominated parliament is working hard in extraordinary sessions to pass an amendment to Iran's Election Law to serve the hardliners by giving even more power to the conservative-dominated Guardian Council to disqualify any candidate who does not belong to the ultraconservative camp.

Lawmaker Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh

Ghezeljeh characterized the new legislation as "a law against the republican system," however, he said that hardliners are working hard to enact the legislation before the upcoming elections.

On Tuesday, prominent conservative politician Mohammad Javad Bahonar had said that the Majles should not be involved in changing the Election Law, as the incumbent lawmakers tend to manipulate the legislation to ensure their own re-election.

Ghezeljeh said that in the draft amendment the Guardian Council has been given the power to disqualify even those who get elected. He said such a legislation will weaken the parliament altogether.

Some Iranian politicians have also expressed concern about the next presidential election which usually takes place in the year after the Majles election.

Former lawmaker Gholam AIi Jafarzadeh Imenabadi

Former lawmaker Gholam AIi Jafarzadeh Imenabadi said in an interview on Wednesday that President Ebrahim Raisi's chances for re-election is limited. "He can score only if they put him in front of an empty goal post," he said.

Imanabadi reiterated that "In a competitive election neither Raisi nor 90 percent of current lawmakers have any chance to get re-elected."

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Irans Hardliners Work On Draft Bill To Further Restrict Elections -

A news website in Iran has warned that high inflation was detrimental in the fall of the Roman Empire, as the government conceals data to hide galloping prices.

Fararu website, considered to be moderate in Irans government-controlled media environment, wrote on Thursday that as Roman emperors reduced the silver content of their Denario coins, the foundations of the empire began to crumble.

Meanwhile, another website, Ecoiran quoted a central bank source on Wednesday as saying that inflation in the first Iranian month of the year (March 21-April 20) rose by 68.7 compared to the same period last year. Just in that one-month prices jumped 5.2 percent, with the previous month witnessing another substantial hike of 6.6 percent.

If true, this would represent a nearly 20-percent jump compared to the inflation rate last reported by the government in early 2023.

The Central Bank of Iran and the Statistical Center of Iran have not released figures on point-to-point inflation for the past two months, comparing prices to the same months in the past year.

The period in question coincides with persisting low exchange rates for the Iranian currency, rial, which has nearly halved in value since mid-2022.

One year ago, the rial was trading at around 300,000 to the dollar, while in early May it dropped to as low as 550,000.

A woman shopping in Tehran with Iranian currency in hand

Rials huge drop tells the story of inflation in Iran. The country has to import a large part of its food, animal feed, medicines, raw materials and finished goods it needs. As the local currency loses value, imports become more expensive and higher prices have to be passed on to consumers.

The alarming comparison with the Roman Empire is not too far-fetched, as Iran faces a more immediate danger of rebellion by ever-impoverished masses.

Although large-scale anti-regime protests in the fall of 2022 were driven by social and political oppression, but the current economic crisis was also making hopeless young people restive. Also, labor unrest began to rise in 2023, as workers real incomes declined.

It is important to note that price inflation is highest in the food sector, which even last year was estimated to have been between 70-100 percent. Reports began to emerge as early as 2021 that Iranians were cutting down on consumption of meat and dairy products. Recent reports have spoken of lower-income families cutting down on nutritious food and unable to afford many types of fruits and vegetables.

Iran has been suffering from lack of economic growth for more than a decade as international sanctions reduced its oil export revenues that were vital for financing an inefficient government and its more inefficient control of the economy.

But the regime has insisted to stick to its controversial nuclear program that brought about the sanctions in the first place. A brief respite came in 2016-2017, when the JCPOA accord with world powers lifted UN-imposed sanctions, but former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and imposed unilateral sanctions in 2018.

Inflation soon began to surpass 20 percent and the rial started to nosedive, eventually losing value by 12-fold.

Even politicians loyal to the regime have begun harshly criticizing President Ebrahim Raisis government for its inability to address the crisis, but almost no insiders openly say that the decision to resolve the nuclear dispute lies with the Irans anti-West ruler Ali Khamenei.

Irans high inflation rate is just behind other a few other troubled economies in the world, such as Venezuela, Sudan, Argentina and Zimbabwe.

Read more:
In Absence Of Official Stats, Media In Iran Say Inflation Is At 70% -

Salman Rushdie has voiced his support for the women of Iran in their struggle against the oppression of the Islamic Republic.

The celebrated author told Iran International: "I have sympathy with the women of Iran, they have fought so hard. I wish them luck.

Rushdie was speaking while attending a gala event of artistic freedom campaigners PEN America on Thursday, when Iranian writer and human rights advocate Narges Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award.

Rushdie was left with serious injuries including the loss of an eye when he was stabbed last August. The attempted murder is believed to have been inspired by the fatwa issued by the Islamic Republics founder Ruhollah Khomeini against Rushdie for his novel The Satanic Verses.

Earlier this year, the Islamic Republic said it will grant 1,000 square meters of farmland to the man who stabbed Rushdie on stage at a lecture in New York State, 24-year-old Hadi Matar.

Freedom To Write award recipient Mohammadi has been in and out of prison over the past decade. She is currently in Evin Prison in Tehran on charges of spreading propaganda and has been subjected to prolonged solitary confinement and intense psychological torture, PEN America said.

Mohammadis husband, journalist and activist Taghi Rahmani, who lives in Paris and has also been jailed in Iran, accepted the award on her behalf.

In a written message, which was read out from the stage during the event, Mohammadi called for an end to the Islamic Republics misogynist, oppressive and theocratic regime.

Founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, PEN America is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of literature and human rights.

Read more from the original source:
Salman Rushdie Backs Iran's Women In Their Struggle -

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Irans president warned Afghanistans Taliban rulers on Thursday not to violate water rights of the Iranian people over their shared Helmand River, the state-run IRNA news agency reported..

President Ebrahim Raisi said his government is determined to defend Irans water rights.

We will not allow the rights of our people to be violated, he said and warned the Taliban to take his words seriously, emphasizing the importance of Helmand River, which flows from Afghanistan into Iran .

Raisi spoke in a Pakistani border town on Thursday, during his first official visit to the neighboring country in 10 years, to inaugurate the first of six markets along the Iran-Pakistan border.

He also urged the Afghan Taliban to allow Iranian hydrologists to check the water levels of the river, which originates in the Afghan Hindu Kush mountain range.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 after the United Sates and NATO pulled out of the country following two decades of war.

Iranian officials have always stressed the importance of the implementation of the 1973 Helmand River treaty between Iran and Afghanistan, which envisions shared water resources.

Drought has been a problem in Iran for some 30 years, but has worsened over the past decade, according to the U.N.s Food and Agriculture Organization. The Iran Meteorological Organization says that an estimated 97% of the country now faces some level of drought.

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Iran warns Afghanistan's Taliban rulers not to violate its water rights ... - The Associated Press

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Leaked confidential information from Irans Ministry of Foreign Affairs reveals that a so-called former member of the MEK, who was interviewed by Lusia Hommerich for the German magazine, Spiegel, was actually an agent of the Iranian regime. Gholamreza Shekari was hired by the Iranian Embassy in Tirana and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence to pose as an opponent of the regime and spread disinformation to demonize the Iranian resistance.

One leaked document contains a letter from Shekaris mother, who refers to him as a collaborator of the Ministry of Intelligence. She requests that the Foreign Ministry facilitate her sons return to Iran, citing that he has been doing all kinds of cooperation with the Embassy of the Islamic Republic, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Army Protection, and the Nejat Group. She also mentions that he has taken risks to separate other members and expose the terrorist nature of the MEK publicly.

In February 2019, Spiegel magazine published an article titled Prisoners of the Rebellion, in which they interviewed Shekari under the guise of a former member of the MEK. He claimed that he was tortured by the MEK and made several accusations against the organization and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The NCRIs office in Germany filed a complaint with the Hamburg court regarding the lies contained in the article.

After an urgent hearing, the Hamburg court ruled in favor of the NCRI office and ordered Spiegel magazine to remove the contested allegations from its February 16 issue against the MEK and its members in Albania and not to repeat those claims.

Shekari has made similar false allegations to other Western media outlets. In one example, in an interview with UK Channel 4 to dramatize the case, his face was not shown. Reporters and the editorials of both Spiegel and Channel 4 were warned about agents of the Iranian regime making such false claims. In the case of Spiegel, specific information was provided to its editorial before the publication of the article about Shekai and his connection with Irans Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).

Shekari is one of the employed agents of the MOIS based in Albania and was arrested twice in 2022 due to suspected connections with the regimes intelligence and terrorist network. The Albanian police have interrogated him and 19 other suspects, and he is currently being held in a closed camp since his second arrest on November 10, 2022.

Excerpts of a letter from Shekaris mother from a leaked document:

I, Zumoroad Amini, the wife of martyr Mir Ali Shekari (mother of Gholamreza Shekari), who for four years did hard work herself and other family members with all the hardships in order to destroy the organization of the hypocrites, and thank God that we were able to play a role with other families. We did play a very important role in this matter, which has finally caused the escape and relocation of the members of the hypocrites from Iraq to Albania.

Considering that my son Gholamreza has announced his separation for a year and a half and has been doing all types of cooperation with the Embassy of the Islamic Republic (Ministry of Intelligence, Army Protection, Nejat Group) and has been trying to free and separate other members and expose the terrorist nature of the mentioned organization publicly and doing so have taken the risk of his life and safety.

Now that the organization is on the verge of destruction Please consider my efforts and unhesitating cooperation regarding my childs return (to Iran) and take the necessary measures and show your grace and love to the expectant mother.

Thank you, Zumoroad Amini.

Background:

On May 7, a dissident group from Iran, Ghiam ta Sarnegouni (uprising until regime overthrow), took control of 210 websites, apps, servers, and databases belonging to Irans Ministry of Foreign Affairs, obtaining tens of thousands of classified documents. A collection of documents reveals the extent to which the regime utilizes these so-called former members against the MEK.

For over 40 years, the Iranian regime has attempted to eliminate its primary opposition group, the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), by using repressive tactics such as executions, massacres, imprisonment, torture, propaganda, and defamation. One of the regimes primary tactics for discrediting the MEK is to utilize individuals expelled from the organization. By recruiting such individuals and concealing their identities as mercenaries for the Iranian regime, the regime aims to give credence to their lies and utilize them against the MEK in the international community and the media.

Gholamreza Shekari is one such individual who was recruited by the Iranian embassy in Tirana, Albania, and became an agent for Irans Ministry of Intelligence. For years, he disseminated false information about the MEK while posing as a regime opponent. Many respected Western media outlets cited him and used him as a source in various articles against the MEK.

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Leaked Documents Reveal Iranian Regime's Agent as a Source of ... - National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)