Iran Arrests Two More French Citizens As West Increases Pressure

The crisis in health care is just one aspect of the overall economic crisis, precipitated by a centralized and often mismanaged economy, and for the past years, US sanctions.

Most medicines in Iran are produced locally by quasi-governmental companies that import the raw material from other countries. When the Iranian currency began to lose value in early 2018, the government offered a fixed exchange rate for essential goods, mainly food and medicines. However, earlier this year, the new administration of President Ebrahim Raisi eliminated what was in fact a government subsidy. Now, food and medicine producers must buy dollars at rates seven times higher to import their raw materials, which has disrupted production.

Deputy chairman of pharmaceuticals producers, Ali Fatemi told Aftab News in Tehran that when an economic sector is controlled by the government and is managed according to “a command economy” it is not surprising that a situation like the current shortage would emerge. The government sets unreasonably low prices and then stops subsidies, which makes it impossible for its companies to but raw materials and produce, he said.

To partially alleviate the shortage, the Iranian government allows medicines, such as antibiotics and simple cough syrups to be imported from India, Fatemi explained, and as a result the country spends much more foreign currency, instead of importing the raw materials.

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Apart from pharmaceuticals, inflationary recession has gripped other sectors, according to Fararu website in Tehran. As prices have risen at least by 40 percent for two consecutive years, consumers have lost their purchasing power and demand has fallen. This has led to a “domino effect for producers and factories” that must stop operations. This in turn creates more unemployment and less consumer demand.

Iran’s currency has fallen by more than 15 percent since early September when it became clear that a nuclear agreement with West was not a realistic expectation.

Since early 2018, when the United States signaled its intention to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA, Iran’s rial has fallen tenfold from 35,000 to the dollar to 350,000 on November 12. When the US did withdraw from the accord in May of that year, it imposed damaging oil and banking sanction on Iran. This further devalued the rial and led to very high inflation, which coupled with the inefficiencies of a government-controlled economy, has impoverished tens of millions of people.

Ehsan Soltani, an economist in Iran told the website that while food prices have risen eightfold since 2018, wages, at most, have increased threefold.

“In recent years with rising inflation, economists warned officials about ‘inflationary recession’, but the government did not pay attention at all,” Soltani explained.

In fact, from cautious statements by many officials, especially in the previous Iranian government headed by President Hassan Rouhani, it was apparent that they were aware of the dire situation, but they had no control over the country’s foreign policy, which had brough about crippling US sanctions.

But Iran’s 83-year-old anti-Western ruler, Ali Khamenei, has the last word on foreign policy and only he could allow a new nuclear deal to be signed that would lift the most damaging sanctions.

Iran’s economic growth in the past decade has been zero and Soltani compared Iran to its neighbor Turkey. “Just look at Turkey…and see the high rate of growth it has achieved in the past ten years, adding tremendously to its foreign currency revenues, while we have faced economic and infrastructure decay.”

The “Volunteer Committee to Follow-Up on the Situation of Detainees” reported torture, sexual harassment, threats of rape, not having access to medical services, and the detention of some detainees in secret locations.

The committee announced that it was able to identify over 1,600 prisoners, including 65 minors.

“These prisoners include 969 ordinary citizens, 393 students, 145 civil activists, 42 journalists, 40 political activists, 38 women's rights activists and 26 attorneys.”

According to this committee, some others have been threatened with arrest and harassment of their family members.

“A female prisoner has been openly threatened with rape. The interrogators told her and other detainees “If you are raped here, you cannot protest! Your want to get naked, and you must pay for it!” The government and its agents accuse anti-hijab protesters of improper attire and nudity.

Another detainee has told activists that some protest prisoners are kept with criminals, and they have been sexually abused by them.

According to this report, some injured people who have dozens of shotgun pellets in their bodies were left unattended.

At least 14,000 people have been arrested during the recent protests. However, Kazem Gharibabadi, secretary of Iran's High Council for Human Rights denied the arrest of so many people but did not provide any official information about the number of detainees.

Swedish authorities have identified the two as, Peyman Kia, 42 and Payam Kia 35. One of these two brothers has also been indicted for alleged gross unauthorized handling of secret information.

Reportedly the older brother has been working with Sweden's Domestic Intelligence Agency for years.

“It has been a complex investigation concerning a crime that is very difficult to investigate and the suspicion concerns very serious criminality directed against Sweden's intelligence and security system," National Security Unit chief prosecutor Per Lindqvist said.

He noted that this case is about confidential and very sensitive information but refused to give further explanation.

According to the charge sheet obtained by AP, these two brothers have provided information to the Russian Military Intelligence Department (GRU) between September 28, 2011 and September 20, 2021.

It adds that Peyman Kia, obtained this information from various security and intelligence institutions of Sweden when he was working at Sweden's Domestic Intelligence Agency and the Swedish Armed Forces. The other brother also helped to make contact with “Russia and the GRU including matters of surrender of information and receipt of compensation.”

They were arrested in September and November 2021. Both have denied any wrongdoing, Swedish media reported. The brothers face up to life imprisonment if convicted. A life sentence in Sweden generally means a minimum of 20-25 years in prison.

According to the letter signed by the two countries' ambassadors., the request called for the session "to address the deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially with respect to women and children."

At least one-third of the UN Human Rights Council's voting members backed the proposal, as is required for meetings outside of the body's normal agenda, meaning its convening is a formality.

According to the German diplomatic mission in Geneva, dozens of others also signed up, bringing the total number of backers to 44. 

Earlier in the day, the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister warned the UN Human Rights Council over organizing any session to discuss the situation. 

Alleging that the Islamic Republic has "deeply exercised restraint" in the ongoing unrest – which has left over 300 protesters dead and about 15,000 detained, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that such a meeting should be held for countries that "promote violence and terror."

In a phone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Thursday night, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned of the “negative consequences” of the UNHRC’s “political measure” on cooperation between the Islamic Republic and the West, referring to calls for a special meeting over the deadly clampdown on the current protests across Iran. 

Alleging that the Islamic Republic has "deeply exercised restraint" in the ongoing unrest – which has left over 300 protesters dead and about 15,000 detained, he told the UN chief that such a meeting should be held for countries that "promote violence and terror."

“The UN Human Rights Council should hold sessions for governments that are encouraging violence and terror, not for the Islamic Republic of Iran which is a true defender of human rights and has exercised great restraint during recent riots,” he said. 

Amir-Abdollahian added that “Contrary to the UN Charter, a few Western countries exploited the peaceful demands in Iran and encouraged violence and offered tutorials on building weapons and Molotov cocktails on media and social networks which led to the killing of police and insecurity in Iran.”

Iranian officials have been accusing “enemies” of fomenting protests, but so far have not presented any evidence.

He also claimed that “technical” negotiations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are at “appropriate” levels, despite remarks by the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog. Rafael Mariano Grossi said Wednesday Iran did not offer anything new during a recent meeting in Vienna to resolve major differences.