Politicians Call For Reforms In Iran, Replacing Cabinet Members

The protesters paid homage to the victims killed by the Islamic Republic, lighting candles, and placing flowers next to their photos.

About two million of Sweden's population is made up of immigrants with different religions, and the government provides financial assistance to their religious centers, including the Imam Ali Mosque in Stockholm, affiliated to the Islamic Republic.

However, Iranians living in Sweden, human rights and political activists believe Imam Ali Mosque is not a place of worship, but a "nest of espionage for the Islamic Republic".

In the past year, Swedish media published numerous reports about Imam Ali and other mosques, including in Malmö, saying that temporary marriages are practiced in these mosques, calling it "legal prostitution".

Some Swedish parliamentarians have also called for the closure of such places because, according to them, these mosques, specifically the Imam Ali Mosque, receive funding from non-democratic governments such as the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In the past weeks, Iranians also gathered in front of the Islamic Center in Frankfurt and Hamburg, calling them dens of Islamic Republic espionage and demanding their closure.

In the meantime, Iranians living in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin, Copenhagen, Auckland, etc., held gatherings on Saturday to express support for the Iranian people's uprising against the Islamic Republic.

Thousands of Baluch citizens took to the streets in Zahedan Friday for the 16th consecutive week and chanted “Down with the Dictator” and “Khamenei is a murderer; his rule is illegitimate”.

The Sunni Baluch population have held protests in Zahedan every Friday after prayers since September 30 when government forces cracked down on demonstrators, killing more than 80 people.

Reports say a new round of detaining Baluch teenagers and youths is underway since Friday, and according to Hal Vash website, which monitors events in Sistan-Baluchestan province and those affecting Iran's Sunni minority, police forces arrested several young Baluch men in different neighborhoods of the city.

While Iran’s Judiciary claimed earlier this week that thousands of protesters have been freed, it arrests more people, and those released face legal charges that can send them back to prison.

"The families of the detained citizens have held gatherings in front of the police station demanding the release of their children," added Hal Vash.

Based on the report, security forces have arrested several Afghan and Uzbek nationals living in Zahedan, threatening residents not to do business with these Sunni people.

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On the other hand, regime forces and plainclothes agents arrested Baluch people who did not have identity documents or were not carrying it.

The pressure on Baluch citizens has began since Wednesday with setting up checkpoints at several roads leading to Zahedan.

Mowlavi Abdolhamid, the outspoken Sunni leader of Zahedan delivered yet another fiery sermon Friday protesting the doubling of checkpoints. “Seven stop and search checkpoints have turned into fifteen,” he said.

Abdolhamid has become an effective critic of the Islamic Republic since September, speaking freely even against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Although the regime could arrest him anytime, that would lead to further trouble with Sunnis, and especially the Baluch population who regard them as a community leader and an advocate of their grievances.

The new measures included at least fifteen concrete block stop and search checkpoints on roads leading to Zahedan to control the flow of cars into the city, with security forces demanding identification and often questioning passengers. Internet connection has also been heavily restricted in the province since protests began four months ago.

“A government that does not listen to the voice of the people does not deserve to rule,” said Mowlavi Abdolhamid in his Friday sermon in Zahedan, capital of the restive Sistan-Baluchestan Province.

In recent weeks, the Islamic Republic has threatened and arrested dozens of citizens in Sistan and Baluchestan and beefed-up security in Zahedan with the aim of ending the routine protests on Fridays.

The detainees were mostly teenagers and young people, and according to Baluch activists, many of them are under pressure to "give forced confessions".

Since the beginning of protests in Zahedan and other cities of the province, many citizens have been detained with the fate of many remaining unknown.

According to Hal Vash, the regime has sent private messages to Mowlavi Abdolhamid through influential tribal figures, threatening to arrest him and destroy Makki Mosque in which he delivers sermons.

The increase of threats, along with mass arrest of Baluch youths, has raised concerns about the possibility of another brutal attack by the regime on Zahedan protesters.

The US dollar was trading well above 440,000 rials in Tehran’s unofficial market where cash dollars and Hawala money transfers take place. The new demand for dollars came after a couple of weeks when the rial hovered around 400,000 to the dollar.

One year ago, the dollar was around 300,000 rials and it was gaining strength every time there was hope of a nuclear agreement with the United States and its Western allies. But those hopes evaporated first in March, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine as 12 months of talks in Vienna came to an end, and finally in September when the last attempt to bridge the gaps fell apart.

An agreement to revive the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA would have lifted US economic sanctions, allowing Iran to sell more crude at higher prices and secure revenues for the government.

The Islamic Republic’s government and parliament are now in the midst of examining a budget draft for the new Iranian year starting March 21. Confusion, uncertainty, and lack of clarity surround the budget bill that is said to carry a 50-percent deficit and a 50-percent annual inflation rate.

Although street protests have lost their intensity, most pundits in Tehran and even many regime insiders do not consider the current situation stable. Any day and any event can trigger more nationwide protests, as the clerical regime has lost its legitimacy in the eyes of many citizens, especially the younger generation.

Abbas Akhoundi, a conservative lawmaker told local media this week that as a result of a failing foreign policy, Iran lags behind its development plans, international trade has been disrupted, inflation is beyond control and poverty can be seen everywhere while the society in on the verge of collapse.

Other politicians compared Iran with neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan, saying that their currencies are more stable despite decades of instability.

However, Iraq’s currency has begun to decline for a totally different reason than economic weakness. The Wall Street Journal reported January 19 that the United States has begun to monitor dollar banking transactions from Iraq, stopping wire transfers that lack transparency and full information about the sender and the recipient. This has led to shortages of dollars for imports and cash dollar banknotes have risen around 10 percent against the Iraqi dinar.

However, this is also related to Iran as the US suspects Iraq’s banking system is being used by Tehran to hide its illicit dollar transactions through the international banking system.

US sanctions on Iran not only penalize countries and companies that buy oil from Tehran but also bans its dollar transactions. The sanctions have also led to a de facto international boycott of Iranian banks that have been cut off from the global SWIFT transaction network. As a result, exports and imports cost at least 25 percent more for the Iranian government and companies.

Since its deadly suppression of popular protest in the past four months that has killed around 500 civilians, the Islamic Republic has become more isolated in the world and Western countries continue to issue more sanctions, adding to the prevailing economic uncertainty and the fall of the rial.

Jahanabadi further charged that Iranian officials do not believe in governance as an expertise and try to “re-invent the wheel” instead of learning from 200 other countries.

"Iranian politicians are constantly reinventing the wheel. They never ask themselves how their counterparts in 200 other countries treat and manage their national currencies and foreign exchanges. They do not believe in banking as a knowledge-based practice and an expertise. With all that I wonder why we are so complacent and always believe that we can correct the world," the lawmaker said.

He drew attention to the fact that officials during the past weeks claimed that the fall in the value of Iran’s currency was the outcome of the protests. But they never ask themselves why it keeps falling even when the streets are calmer.

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Jahanabadi explained that when society is volatile, some people tend to invest in real estate in other countries. This has happened during the protests in 2017-2019. In 2022, a lot of capital left Iran for purchasing properties in Armenia, Georgia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Furthermore, at times of unrest, many shift their capital to gold and foreign currencies to prevent the devaluation of their assets. Iran’s rial has fallen more sharply and is more vulnerable than even in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jahanabadi maintained that almost everyone knows that “our political, economic, foreign and cultural policies need reform, but no one knows who should start that reform.” However, he added: "As one of 290 Iranian lawmakers, I think this country needs essential reforms. We need to change the structures, methods, views and policies." He added that as a result of the current situation buying a house, a car and finding a job have been turned into a dream for many young Iranians. Why shouldn't they be depressed and desperate?"

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Meanwhile, reformist politician Hassan Rasouli has said in an interview that Iranians' demands are miles apart from views held by officials. Top officials regularly make many false claims. He argued that the political system’s main responsibility is to be responsive to the wishes of the people and this requires comprehensive, long-term and realistic plans.

Rasouli added that the current situation leaves no hope of improvement. Problems in Iran's domestic politics have left no international respect for Iran.

He was probably referring to the government's violent and ruthless reaction to recent protests in Iran and its ignorance of challenges in the international arena. What the officials have been doing in this regard so far, Rasouli said, has been nothing other than simply ignoring or denying problems, while inefficiency is visible in all economic, security, cultural and social matters.

On Thursday, economist Bahman Arman had said that decisions in the government are affected by the influence of a group that is against development and progress. He was probably referring to the intervention of ultraconservative figures, mainly the members of Paydari Party in the affairs of the government, and individuals like former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili who offer suggestions to the Raisi Administration on many matters including the nuclear issue without being accountable for the consequences of their intervention.

Like Rasouli, Arman also said that the government does not have an intelligent roadmap and as a result makes too many errors without trying to compensate for them later. As a result, said Rasouli, divides between the people and the government are likely to further widen and Iran's vanishing middle class is likely to be turned into a needy class, although government officials will probably continue to brag about a "progress" that as they claim makes Iran's enemies jealous.

The arrest was reported by Kamelia Sajjadian, a mother whose son, Mohammad Hassan Torkaman, was shot dead by the security forces during protests in the northern city of Babol in September. 

She said in a tweet on Thursday that her friends informed her the stonemason and his coworkers were arrested for the crime of measuring the grave to make a tombstone, adding that “I have never seen such brutality anywhere in the world.” 

“A government that considers itself a regional power is afraid of the stone on a dead person's grave,” she noted. 

The 39-year-old Hosseini – with no apparent family members -- was one of the loneliest victims of the regime’s crackdown, and his hanging drew massive reactions on social media where Iranians can speak freely. Grieving over his execution, people regularly gather at his grave and shower it with flowers and distribute food and sweets in the honor of their new hero, as is customary by bereaved families in Iran. 

The regime hanged Hosseini along with Mohammad Mahdi Karami for allegedly killing a member of the security forces during protests that were triggered following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody in September. The convictions were not based on a criminal charge related to the murder per se, but they were charged with ‘moharebeh’, meaning “war against God”, a vague religious concept. 

In the past few weeks, the Islamic Republic prevented the installation of a stone on the grave of Mohsen Shekhari, the first protester that the regime executed. Later, they broke the tombstone that was installed stealthily.