‘Old Dreams:’ German-Iran Relations Turn Sour

The body was discovered on Thursday in the undercarriage of the Airbus that arrived at Frankfurt airport from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport after the passengers of flight LH 601 had left the aircraft and the A340 had been moved to a hangar for maintenance.

“In a routine check of a Lufthansa plane coming from Tehran after landing in Frankfurt, a dead body was found in the plane’s landing gear bay,” Lufthansa said in an email seen by Iran International, adding that Tehran flights will be suspended until circumstances of incident are clarified.

Director General of Imam Khomeini International Airport Saeed Chalandari said Lufthansa’s representative informed them about the incident by phone, adding that the issue cannot be followed up without written documents. Iran’s Foreign Ministry also announced that no documented evidence has been received from the German side yet.

The incident comes amid nationwide turmoil in Iran, ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman who was detained by the Islamic Republic's so-called morality – or hijab -- police for "improper attire" and died in police custody.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said earlier in the week that Berlin is mulling over more restrictions for entry of individuals affiliated with the Islamic Republic beyond an already announced EU sanctions package over Tehran’s human rights violations, adding that visas will be issued to holders of service and diplomatic passports only where absolutely necessary.

Germany has a large Iranian population, tens of thousands of which took to the streets of Berlin on October 22 in solidarity with the ongoing antigovernment protests in Iran. 

"A bombing in Mo'ali Abad Street in Shiraz was detected and foiled by the Revolutionary Guards intelligence," Sepah news said, without giving further details.

There is no possibility to verify IRGC's claim, as the ideological-military-business organization and also Iran's Intelligence Ministry in the past have made numerous similar claims without presenting any evidence. In most cases no public trial of suspects were held or even names released.

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The IRGC-linked Fars News quoted “an informed security source in Shiraz” as saying that the remotely-controlled bomb was found and neutralized by security forces and intelligence ministry agents after the gun attack on Shahcheragh shrine.

Wednesday's shooting, which was claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) group, killed 15 including children and injured dozens more at the Shahcheragh shrine. Officials said they had arrested a gunman who carried out the attack at the shrine. The attack took place amid widespread antigovernment protests across the country which began nearly two months ago following the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, on September 16.

The Iranian government has organized nationwide demonstrations against the shooting following Friday prayers. Funerals were also due to take place for the victims. Officials said they had arrested a gunman who carried out the attack at the shrine.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed on Thursday to retaliate against those threatening the country's security without further elaboration as to whether this meant those responsible for the attack, protesters, or both.

"We will take revenge for the blood of the martyrs of Shiraz," said Tehran Friday prayer Imam Haj Ali Akbari about the attack on the shrine.

Many Iranians did not trust the authorities or believe that ISIS was responsible for the attack. They accuse the regime of being behind the attack or orchestrating it to blame protesters at home for causing unrest and insecurity and justify harsher crackdown against opponents.

Putin sent his condolences to his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in connection with the terrorist attack in Shiraz in a message published on Thursday on the Kremlin website.

"Please accept my sincere condolences on the tragic consequences of the terrorist act in Shiraz. It is hard to imagine a more cynical crime than the killing of civilians, including children and women, inside the walls of a religious shrine. We have once again seen that terrorism violates not only laws but also human morals," Putin said.

Putin’s vows for support against terrorist activities in Iran can be construed as a greenlight to support the Islamic Republic in its crackdown on the antigovernment protests that have engulfed the country since the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

In addition to Iranian authorities such as the Supreme Leader and President Ebrahim Raisi, several other supporters of the regime in Tehran are trying to link the terrorist attack to the ongoing protests but many Iranians are not convinced the regime had no part in it, saying it is a scenario for cracking down harder on protesters.

Earlier in the day, the secretary general of Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said those fanning the flames of recent riots in the Islamic Republic are responsible for the horrendous attack that killed at least 15 people.

On Thursday, the White House also expressed concerns that Russia may be advising Tehran on best practices to suppress the ongoing protests in Iran.

On October 23, US Special envoy for Iran Rob Malley sent out a tweet that became a source of controversy and triggered a strong backlash from Iranian-Americans and others. Malley wrote that protesters in Iran wanted “their government” to respect them and safeguard human rights, while clearly, they simply reject the Islamic Republic and want a secular, democratic government.

Iranian activists began an online campaign against Malley, even demanding his resignation.

Malley on Monday admitted that his choice of words was wrong, in an interview with Iran International, and the new line from the State Department became, “We cannot speak on behalf of Iranian protesters.”

Reporters on Wednesday asked the deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel again how the US would characterize the demands of the protesters, or what is the US government’s understanding about their demands.

Patel, again avoided an answer, saying that no one in the US government “should claim or can claim to speak for these protesters; only they can do that. And we, our role is to continue to take steps and take practical efforts to use the tools at our disposal to hold the regime accountable for what we are seeing happen across Iran.”

But pressed further, Patel did begin to characterize the aspiration of the Iranian protesters. “What we are seeing is the Iranian people demand basic human rights, rights of expression, as this started in the death of Mahsa Amini, and we’re seeing the Iranian people make their voices heard. But I don’t have any other specific assessment to offer.”

Saying that the Iranian people want “basic human rights” is not much different from what Rob Malley said a few days earlier.

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Meanwhile, Iranian activist and women’s rights advocate Masih Alinejad has launched an online petition demanding Malley’s resignation that has collected nearly 100,000 signatures.

Tehran has been claiming from the start of the protests that the United States and “other enemies” are behind the unrest, because Iran has become “too powerful,” as President Ebrahim Raisi said this week, and they want to weaken it.

It is not clear if the Biden Administration is concerned that if it speaks about the real demand of the protesters, it might help Iran’s unsubstantiated claims, or it is just loath to uttering ‘regime change’, a term more popular with the former Trump administration.

Former President Donald Trump who pulled the United States out of the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran imposed ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions on Tehran and his administration officials had no qualms about calling the clerical regime the main cause of trouble in the region.

Otherwise, the White House has been outspoken about the need to condemn the Islamic Republic for its violent crackdown on unarmed protesters. The administration has imposed sanctions on a series of Iranian officials and also adopted a tough position against Iranian drone deliveries to Russia that have terrorized Ukrainian civilians.

In a video message released on social media, the deceased journalist, Reza Haqiqatnejad’s elderly mother, Beigomjan Raisi, who said she had not seen her son for more than six years, pleaded with authorities to let her see and bury his son. Haqighatnejad, 45, passed away at Berlin ten days ago after six months of battling with cancer.

“I had not seen him for six years, and I wasn’t aware of his illness in the past six months. They finally let me bring his body to the country, but now the Revolutionary Guards [IRGC] or police have abducted his body from the airport,” she said.

Haqiqatnejad who worked for Radio Farda, a US-sponsored Persian news network based in Prague, died on October 17 and his body was repatriated to Iran for burial on October 25.

IRGC forces reportedly took the body to an unknown location after his coffin arrived at Shiraz airport. The family had made arrangements for burial at a cemetery in Shiraz and acquired all the relevant permits but according to Haqiqatnejad’s relatives and friends, security forces have been pressuring the family of the deceased journalist to agree to his burial in a cemetery outside the city.

Haqiqatnejad, a seasoned journalist had to leave Iran following escalation of pressure on journalists during the 2009 protests against disputed presidential elections. He focused on corruption in Iran during his three years at Radio Farda and produced many reports on financial corruption and the IRGC as well as the clampdown on journalists and protesters in the current wave of protests ignited by the death in custody of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

Haqiqatnejad’s last tweet was about the confrontation of schoolgirls in the city of Karaj with a government official who was visiting their school, booing the official out of their school.

The abduction of Haqiqatnejad’s body has drawn numerous reactions by social media users, who say the Islamic Republic’s authorities are even afraid of his dead body.

Popular Iranian former football (soccer) player Ali Karimi -- who is currently abroad and has been charged in absentia for supporting the ongoing antigovernment protests – addressed the Iranian government's spokesman, saying that the Islamic Republic are telling him it is safe to return to Iran, yet they are refusing even to handover Haqiqatnejad’s dead body to his family.

Describing him as a "brilliant journalist," RFE/RL President and CEO Jamie Fly said the Iranian regime’s manipulation of Haqiqatnejad’s family was "disgraceful and disgusting" and that the family deserves to be allowed to bury him without regime harassment. He was "passionate about freedom and justice for his fellow Iranians, and a champion of the voiceless until the end," Fly added.

A twitter user shared one of Haqiqatnejad’s tweet about Iran’s Supreme Leader, calling on people to repost it when Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei passes away. In the post, Haqiqatnejad had highlighted the track record of Khamenei’s decisions during the Covid-19 pandemic. This record, he had said, was enough to see how he led the country to a catastrophe.