Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council tacitly rejected reports about his nephew’s relations with the owner and builder of a collapsed 10-story building in Abadan.
Speaking at a ceremony on Tuesday honoring the victims of the disaster, Ali Shamkhani tried to negate reports about his family’s connection with Hossein Abdolbaghi, the owner of the Metropol twin tower.
He said that while local and national authorities were doing their best to remove the physical debris and investigate the technical aspects of the incident, dissidents spread baseless rumors to mislead citizens.
So far, rescue workers have recovered 37 bodies, while reports say more than 30 people remain missing.
Iran International published two documents Friday that suggested a connection between Abdolbaghi and Mowud Shamkhani, Ali Shamkhani’s nephew, and other local officials who may have used their influence to help Abdolbaghi participate in large municipality-funded projects.
During the same ceremony, Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi Shahroudi, Khuzestan’s representative in the Assembly of Experts, expressed doubt about Abdolbaghi’s reported death, calling for an investigation.
Authorities are accused by journalists and social media users of covering up his escape and claiming that he died in the incident.
Abdolbaghi, 40, was a well-known entrepreneur in Khuzestan with alleged strong connections with influential officials and centers of power.
The collapse of the building has led to ongoing protests in Abadan as well as in several other cities across the southwestern Khuzestan province who have been taking to the streets to demand accountability.
While Iran's president is struggling amid deteriorating economic situation and protests, lawmakers are again calling for impeachment of his economic ministers.
The move could be an attempt to divert attention from the sharp devaluation of the Iranian currency in the recent days, which has brought the rate of exchange for the US dollar to an all-time high of 318,000 rials. The devaluation heralds more inflation, already standing above 40 percent with food prices rising sharply in May. It could also be an attempt to show that the parliament or Majles is active as protests to government corruption and ineptitude continue.
However, it could be just as well a genuine attempt by Majles to make things right as the government seems to be incapable of mitigating the country's problems with its current makeup.
During the past months lawmakers trying to impeach several ministers including Labor Minister Hojjat Abdolmaleki and Industry Minister Reza Fatemi Amin, complained that there is more than enough support for the impeachment motion, but the Majles presidium opposes to move, apparently to give more time to Raisi and his ministers to catch up with worsening crises in the country.
This time it is different as according to ILNA website in Tehran, a member of the Majles presidium, Ahmad Amirabadi told the state TV on Monday, "We are waiting for the President to reshuffle his cabinet,” urging parliament members to wait.
Speaking on national television, Amirabadi said at least three or four ministers, one vice president and several provincial governors need to be replaced, without mentioning any names.
Amirabadi accused some of Raisi's ministers of thinking only about the interests of their hometowns, as if they are a member of parliament. He added: "It is good that current [hardliner] lawmakers helped a revolutionary government to take over the affairs of the state, but this should not lead to undermining of the parliament's supervisory role."
Meanwhile, in a May 31 report, moderate news website Rouydad24 said that parliament may not be willing to extend the time it gave Raisi to reshuffle his ministers, and lawmakers have already started to warn Raisi and even threaten him over the imminent impeachment of his ministers.
The website quoted several lawmakers as having said that "The Majles should quickly table impeachment motions if Raisi refuses to make changes in his cabinet." The lawmakers have also said: "Majles is considering to impeach five to six cabinet ministers, but the cases of the labor and industry ministers are being discussed more seriously."
Lawmaker Lotfollah Siahkali told Rouydad24 that "some of these ministers will certainly lose their post if they are ever summoned to the Majles." Apart from the two ministers, according to Amirabadi, there is also strong support for the impeachment of Communication Minister Isa Zarepour.
The move to impeach ministers seems more serious than ever as Majles Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who a few months ago suggested to delay radical moves, last week changed his tune: "If the government's missions are not accomplished, the Majles might use its supervisory authority including impeachment and legal action."
The Biden Administration finally voiced some support for the ongoing protests in Iran when journalists asked the State Department for a comment on Tuesday.
Anti-government protests have been taking place in many locations in Iran since early May, but since last week a new round of demonstrations have particularly rocked the oil-rich Khuzestan Province. The collapse of a 10-story building belonging to a well-connected businessman who ignored warnings, killing dozens of people angered residents of Abadan who have been taking to the streets to demand accountability.
The US administration remained silent which did not go unnoticed by Iran watchers and activists, who began asking questions on social media, while the Iranian government deployed thousands of specially trained “anti-riot” troops who confronted the protesters with tear gas, military weapons and systematic arrests.
The State Department spokesperson Ned Price was asked in his Tuesday press briefing if he had any comments or message to the Iranian people, considering that the protesters say they do not believe the Islamic Republic regime when it says the United States is Iran’s enemy.
Price said that the administration has “spoken very clearly about the ongoing protests” and “in the past spoken directly to the people of Iran”, saying “we stand with the Iranian people.” He added, “we call on the Iranian Government to respect the right of the Iranian people to peaceful protest, and not to repress what are their fundamental demands.”
The spokesperson was referring to earlier protests not the current round of demonstrations going on for a week. Also, observers pointed out that the administration has not gone beyond the level of the State Department spokesperson to voice support. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and even Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley have been silent.
This contrasts sharply with the Trump Administration, which voiced strong support for Iranian dissidents and protesters and leads to a perception among Iranians that the administration does not want to jeopardize the nuclear talks it started over a year ago to revive the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions, JCPOA.
Former State Department official Len Khodorkovsky in an opinion column for Iran International Tuesday spoke about how influential media in the West rarely mentions the protests in Iran. “As President Joe Biden is negotiating the latest version of the JCPOA, many in the media who supported the original deal want him to succeed, and are reluctant to draw attention to anything, like the protests, that may sabotage those efforts.”
Andrew Ghalili, an analyst at JINSA tweeted that US statements on protests in Iran have not gone beyond the State Department spokesman, adding, “This gets more unacceptable every day…”
Another Iran watcher, Jason Brodsky with the United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) advocacy group pointed out that the State Department’s social media posts in Persian completely ignore events in Iran and showcase topics such as the Grand Canyon and Virginia and Maryland shorelines.
Opinion - Anti-regime protests are spreading across Iran again. The unrest stems from a 10-story building collapse in the south-western city of Abadan.
Iranians are blaming the death toll of almost 30 people on the ruling regime’s corruption and mismanagement, the permanent features of the Islamic Republic’s governance model.
But you wouldn’t know about the protests from the news. Coverage of Iran in the West has been dominated by nuclear negotiations, but there’s always been another story—about the Iranian people’s yearning for freedom.
Iranian People v. Iranian Regime
Over the 43 years of its existence, the Iranian regime’s ineptitude has affected every Iranian. Failure to pay salaries has spawned protests by truckers, teachers, oil industry workers, and many other laborers. Students have held rallies to reject “Stone Age” restrictions at universities. Construction of hundreds of dams and water rerouting schemes have dried out many water sources, depriving Iranian farmers of a living and driving them to the streets in thirst and desperation.
Each flare up of popular unrest has been distinctly characterized by anti-regime sentiments. Chants of “Death to the dictator,” “Shame on Khamenei, let go of the country,” “Mullahs get lost,” and “Our enemy is here; they lie that it is America!” have routinely conveyed the people’s anger at the revolutionary government’s broken promises. And each prominent protest has been brutally crushed.
In 1988, the regime massacred more than 5,000 dissidents. In 1999, Iran’s version of “Tiananmen Square” ended with seven dead, 200 wounded, and 1,400 detained. 2009 brought the “Green Movement,” which resulted in more than 100 deaths. Then, in a span of a few days in November 2019, 1,500 Iranians were mowed down by the regime’s security forces. The victims included at least 17 teenagers and about 400 women.
Now, thousands of Iranians are back on the streets, risking their lives. But do protests really happen if no one hears about them?
Media Blackout of Iranian Protests
The Islamic Republic of Iran is perennially designated as one of the world’s worst human rights abusers. Yet, deadly protests in Iran rarely get reported in the Western media.
You’ve probably heard of the Russian lawyer Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned and imprisoned by Putin, but have you heard of Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian lawyer who was sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes for defending women who object to the Islamic Republic’s compulsory hijab laws?
The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was front-page news for months. Not the kidnapping and murder of Iranian journalist Ruhollah Zam. Nor the torture and execution of wrestler Navid Afkari. Nor the arrest and death of environmentalist Kavous Seyed Emami.
A prominent Iranian blogger and Internet freedom activist Hossein Ronaghi became so fed up with this phenomenon he risked his freedom to condemn the Western media for “failing the Iranian people.” Ronaghi wrote: “In Iran, we protest as loudly as possible and post videos online, but the reality is not reflected in most Western media reports.”
Why are Oppressed Iranians Invisible in the West?
One explanation may be the Islamic Republic’s repressive environment for journalists. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls Iran one of the world’s ten worst countries for press freedom. It’s nearly impossible to report critically about the government of Iran from Iran. This is a double-edged sword that compromises the truth. It not only leads to more favorable coverage of the theocratic regime, but also more critical coverage of Western governments that respect press freedom.
Another possible reason is the Western media’s “JCPOA bias.” In the lead up to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (aka the Iran nuclear deal), many purportedly objective publications cheered the Obama Administration’s marquee foreign policy initiative. Then Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes even bragged about the media “echo chamber.” That Faustian bargain came at the expense of the “Green Movement,” which President Obama sacrificed at the altar of the Iran deal.
Today, history is repeating itself. As President Joe Biden is negotiating the latest version of the JCPOA, many in the media who supported the original deal want him to succeed, and are reluctant to draw attention to anything, like the protests, that may sabotage those efforts.
Hossein Ronaghi, the Iranian blogger, was arrested following the publication of his first article. After a stint in prison, he doubled down with a plea to the West: “This is our message from inside Iran: Don’t enrich our torturers, don’t capitulate to our captors. You would be sacrificing your own national security and selling out the Iranian people at the same time. And when the regime shuts down the internet during our protests and tries to murder us under the cover of darkness, don’t stay silent.”
Len Khodorkovsky is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Senior Advisor to the U.S. Representative for Iran.
Opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily the views of Iran International
After the collapse of a building in Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan Province triggering protests, commentators in Tehran shed light on the root cause of the disaster.
Reformist activist Davoud Soleimani wrote in a commentary in Etemad newspaper that "the collapse of the Metropol Tower is a miniature symbol of the dynamics prevailing in Iran's government." This is an utterly polite way of saying that the way local and national governments as well as security forces are handling the people's reactions following the catastrophe is shambolic.
Soleimani warned the government that "some of the country's problems cannot be solved simply through the use of force."
He attributed some of the shortcomings in Abadan, where the incident happened, to the government's faulty structures, which in turn gave way to the corruption that led to sloppy construction methods, ultimately killing more than 30 people.
However, Soleimani pointed out that Iran has fairly good laws about regulating construction work and safety, but influential individuals at the municipality and elsewhere in the country's management can always circumvent the laws.
He added that the government should remember the lessons learned from the incident and prevent disregard of safety regulations by influential individuals. Soleimani further pointed out that it is bad when a reporter who had warned about the possibility of a collapse was threatened and silenced by the authorities.
Meanwhile, former lawmaker Davoud Yousefian Molla told Etemad Online in Tehran about the ambiguities surrounding the event. "It is still not known why the search and rescue mission is taking so long. Also, we still do not know who is responsible for compensating the losses sustained," he said, adding that because of widespread distrust, many still do not believe the owner of the building was killed under the debris as the government says.
"The government is working hard to secure the people's trust, but the situation is not good, and the chaotic performance of the authorities leave little room for trust," said Yousefian.He added: "The Interior Minister, the Red Crescent Society and the local governor are at the site of the collapse, but their presence makes no difference as there is no proper search, rescue and relief plan in place."
Yousefian further said, "The fact that we still do not know the identity of those buried under the debris and do not know who is responsible for what happened and who is in charge of search and rescue operations adds to the sense of distrust among the people." He added that this distrust has accumulated over time and is not solely related to this particular event."
Yousefian charged that Iranian officials have been lying to the people since former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency. "People used to call former President Hassan Rouhani a liar even before he began to speak. The reason for this is the lack of trust among the people," he said.
In another article in the reformist Shargh newspaper, Iranian commentator Amir Nazemi wrote that "protesters in Abadan know that the dead cannot be brought back to life. What they protest against are corruption, lawbreaking and ignoring the value of life." He added that no concession can calm down the protests but what can relieve the situation is creating an atmosphere for reviewing and correcting the process of decision-making in Iran."
Nazemi called for the government's confrontation with corruption, empowering supervisory bodies and facilitating "e-petitions" and whistleblowing and making sure that those who sign petitions and blow whistles live without fear of judiciary’s reprisal.
Following the release of a list of 129 unsafe buildings in Tehran, the former head of the City Council of the capital said Monday security authorities had been against the publication of the list in the past.
In an interview with Ensaf News on Monday, Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani said that the list had been available since at least 2020 but security authorities pushed to bury the list of high-risk buildings in Tehran. Ensaf News last week published the list, citing the fire department.
Ghodratollah Mohammadi, the new head of Tehran Fire Department, who said on Sunday that "we will definitely publish the list of 129 high-risk buildings in Tehran with the coordination of the prosecutor's office," rejected the validity of the list on Monday. "It is invalid and has nothing to do with the Tehran fire department," he said.
He had said on Sunday that there are more than three thousand cases of such buildings in the capital.
The issue of unsafe buildings has become hot as protests began last Monday, when a 10-story building collapsed in Abadan, leaving 34 people dead and an equal number missing. It quickly became apparent that the owner was a powerful and well-connected businessman who had disregarded regulations and building codes, being backed by officials, who might have had their own financial interests.
Anti-government protests continue in Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province as large number of security forces have been mobilized to crack down.