Iran news in brief, January 23, 2019
US Urges Coalitions Against Iran Regime's 'Malign Meddling'
The US wants to build more coalitions in the Middle East to counter the “very real” threat of Iran’s malign meddling in the region, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.
Speaking via video link, Pompeo said the US was committed to a “secure and stable” Middle East and had assembled a “global coalition of nations to confront Iran and support the aspirations of the Iranian people.”
“Those are places where Iran is truly the malign actor, and that is why we are so happy with the coalition we have built,” he said.
Iran: Retirees Protesting in Tehran, Raising Significant Demands
Retirees rallied outside the Iranian Regime’s Labor Ministry in Tehran on Tuesday, protesting the authorities’ refusal to reply to their demands. The protesters were chanting:
“Political prisoners must be released”
“Cannons, tanks, documentaries are no longer effective,” referring to the regime’s domestic crackdown and a so-called documentary aired by state TV of two activists supposedly “confessing to their crimes.”
Iranians inside the country and abroad have condemned these broadcasts, accusing the regime of resorting to its known practice of obtaining “confessions” under torture.
Retirees in Iran have a long history of holding major rallies against the mullahs’ regime.
Iran Arrests 72 Young Partygoers for Dancing
At least 72 people have been detained at a mixed-gender party, in Sari, the capital city of Mazandaran province, the local Prosecutor General has disclosed.
The state-run ILNA news agency quoting Younes Hosseini reported Tuesday that the young partygoers were arrested while dancing in a mixed party.
“Holding of a mixed party, non-observance of religious standards, consuming alcoholic beverages, etc. are criminalized, and such cases would be quickly dealt with.” Hosseini said.
12 Iranian Soldiers Killed in Israeli Strike on Syria, Watchdog Says
Twelve soldiers belonging to Iran regime’s Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in Sunday’s IAF airstrikes on Syria, the UK-based NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed on Tuesday.
The report said a total of 21 people were killed in the strikes – among them six Syrian soldiers and 15 non-Syrian nationals, 12 of whom were IRGC soldiers – making it the deadliest attack by Israel so far in the war-torn country.
Iran Regime's Suppression of Minorities
A Baha’i citizen, Soheil Haghdoost, was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment on the charge of “propaganda against the state” for announcing and following up regarding his business’s forced closure. Also, he has been sentenced to a year in prison in March 2018.
Belgium Extends Sentence for Iranian Regime Terrorist Involved in Plot Against Opposition Conference
According to Belga news agency, the verdict was given by the first branch of Antwerp’s criminal court. The verdict underlines that Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian regime diplomat, and three other Iranian agents were complicit in an attempt against the yearly gathering of the PMOI/MEK.
Before his arrest, Assadi was serving in the Iranian regime’s embassy in Vienna, Austria, where he had been coordinating the regime’s spying and terrorist activities since 2014. Assadi was arrested in Germany in the course of a failed attack on the June 30 Iran Freedom rally. He was subsequently stripped of his diplomatic immunity and extradited to Belgium to be tried for orchestrating the attack and personally handing 500 grams of TATP explosives to the supposed hit team.
