Iran And Its Proxies See Opportunity In Israel’s Crisis

In an interview with RTÉ's Six One News, Phelan, a Paris-based tourism consultant, said he had been detained in Iran in October, marking his fifth visit to the country.

Phelan was arrested amid anti-regime protests that erupted across the country after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September. Allegedly, Phelan had been capturing images of the protests and a mosque that had been set ablaze.

In mid-May, Iran eventually released Phelan, who had been sentenced to 6.5 years in prison on charges of "providing information to another country."

During his time in detention, Phelan faced severe physical and psychological hardships, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He recounted the haunting words of a judge who warned him that he would "die in prison." This threat was a part of what he described as "white torture," a tactic employed to break prisoners psychologically.

"There are nightmares. I don't sleep well, I'm on sleeping tablets - nightmares of being on the floor and being kicked by somebody," Phelan noted.

Human rights organizations have raised concerns over what they call "hostage diplomacy" by Iran, where an undisclosed number of Western prisoners are being held. These individuals face charges of espionage or other alleged crimes, and some have been languishing in detention for extended periods without access to legal representation or a fair trial.

In response to the allegations, the Islamic Republic maintains that the prisoners are lawfully held for valid reasons and denies any wrongdoing.

Mansour Haqiqatpour, a former lawmaker, local governor general and a former deputy commander of IRGC Quds Force, told the Khabar Online website that the policy of purification, which has effectively excluded all political groups other than hardliners from the government, has silenced key figures in both leading political factions, reformists, and conservatives.

Haqiqatpour said: "During the fasting month of Ramadan Supreme Ledaer Ali Khamenei called for a competitive, safe and secure election. More than 30 days have passed since he made the statement, but nobody has come up with a strategy to make that happen.”

Rhetorically he asked, "Who should do that? The Guardian Council? The state television? The Expediency Council? the Interior Ministry or the President's Office? The state TV has not discussed the issue even once."

However, it remains uncertain if Khamenei will allow all regime factions and politicians to run in the March 2024 parliamentary elections. The Guardian Council, under his supervision, disqualified most reformist and moderate candidates in the 2020 parliamentary and 2021 presidential elections.

Haqiqatpour continued, "We did not have a good turnout in the parliamentary elections of 2020 and the presidential elections of 2021."

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He further expressed concern, saying, "It is a shame that the turnout in elections in Turkey is around 80 percent, and we in Iran have been facing turnout rates as low as 20 to 25 percent." He warned Iranian leaders that a failure to achieve a 60-percent turnout in next year’s elections would be a serious setback.

Politicians and sociologists have been saying since 2020 that a low turnout means that the regime lacks legitimacy and that its social support is in decline, while it claims to be a cradle of democracy in the region and a powerful state backed by its people. 

President Ebrahim Raisi has recently said that it was clear based on polls before the 2021 election that he was going to win. Haqiqatpour pointed out that since major candidates such as former Speaker Ali Larijani were not allowed to run that surely made Raisi the only viable winner.

Asked about his way out of the political impasse, he said: "We should allow political competition,” and added that “unfortunately, rational individuals in both of the leading political factions are left out of political competition. Everyone including the moderates should be represented in the elections. 

Haghighatpoor complained about the monopoly of power given to hardliners. "We should break the isolation created by hardliners. Left and right should cooperate,” and "Protesters should not be called the advocate of regime change. They just wanted their grievances to be heard. 

In another development, Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi, a member the National Security Committee of the parliament told Rouydad24 website in Tehran that "The country's economic situation is extremely bad." Jahanabadi warned the country's leaders: "The reality is different from what you see on TV. The people in the streets see the prices in the shops and they realize the realities when they put their hand in their pocket to make a payment." 

Meanwhile, another Iranian lawmaker, Mohammad Reza Sabbaghian Bafghi highlighted the difference between the living standards of officials and the people. "Officials enjoy good food and live in good houses, but the people do not have enough money and they cannot afford paying their rent."

He further warned the officials that price rises are beyond what people can tolerate. Bafghi said in parliament on Sunday: "Three out of every four Iranians complain about the rising prices. The high cost of housing is backbreaking and when we go to our constituencies, we are ashamed before those who voted for us. " He added: "The President should be accountable for that."

The hiker, whose identity remains undisclosed, conveyed details of the attack, which targeted tourists, to Faraz news website on Tuesday. He recounted that the attackers were “approximately 18 or 19 years old, wearing cargo pants, and concealing their faces with keffiyehs."

"They targeted both men and women, but the men seemed to bear the brunt of their aggression. Unfortunately, my teammate now faces a life of paralysis due to the impact of the shocker on his back," he said. A shocker – or electroshock weapon is an incapacitating weapon that delivers an electric shock that temporarily disrupts muscle functions. It does not normally cause lasting damage but can cause permanent disability to muscle or nerve tissue.

The attack occurred on Friday when a group of tourists was exploring the picturesque mountainous region of Opert, situated on the border of Semnan and Mazandaran provinces. The assault was orchestrated by an unidentified armed group.

Pictures shared on social media revealed that the attackers were armed with firearms and electric shocker devices. In addition to the paralyzed hiker, multiple individuals sustained injuries and bruises.

During the attack, the group justified the assault, citing it as a response to "hiking on the third night of Muharram," a time when Shiites mourn the martyrdom of their third Imam.

Iran International has been unable to independently verify these details, and so far, no official reactions have been reported regarding this incident.

However, over recent years, there have been numerous reports of restrictions imposed on Iranian tourists and nature enthusiasts.

This recent attack coincides with the regime's ongoing push for obligatory hijab, adding to concerns over personal safety and freedom of expression.

"I had previously warned against such methods that go against the law and Sharia during a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council," Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said in response to the scandal, following similarly critical remarks made by hardliner lawmakers on the parliament floor.

This is a typical response by regime officials in Iran who usually advocate ‘killing the messenger’ when faced with evidence of corruption or forbidden activities by insiders. 

Meanwhile, what Sharia in Iran clearly forbids is homosexuality among men, which it says is punishable by death.

The video that has gone viral on social media since Wednesday allegedly shows Reza Seqati (Seghati), a married man and the director general of the Islamic Culture and Guidance ministry in the northern Gilan Province who has close ties with the hardliner Paydari Front, engaging in sex with a young man, apparently at a ministry guesthouse. 

A few days after the publication of the video, the Islamic culture and guidance department announced that it had suspended Seqati and referred his case to the judiciary for further investigation.

Ghalibaf added that such matters could only be made public after the alleged crime is proven and a judge’s order is acquired. 

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The presidential administration, the judiciary and senior clerics have so far remained silent about the revelation. 

Hardliner lawmakers, Mojtaba Zolnouri and Kazem Delkhosh, had complained that the official should not be judged before investigations by judicial and law enforcement officials are completed and he is found guilty. 

The situation is completely different when it comes to dissidents or protesters. Not only they are often arrested without a warrant by plainclothes agents and taken to unknown locations, but immediate reprisals against their family members follow, and they spend month in prison without being indicted.

Zolnour who is deputy speaker has also said those who published the video had committed a much bigger crime than the person they made revelations about and demanded their punishment.

But another conservative member of parliament, Morteza Mahmoudvand blasted the silence and apparent inaction of parliament and top officials during a session Tuesday. He urged President Raisi to intervene "in the name of God," and called for the minister of Islamic guidance to resign.

The hardliners' silence or attempts to downplay the significance of the official's sex video have angered many Iranians. They argue that ordinary people are harshly punished for what the authorities consider 'immoral' actions, but when it involves regime loyalists, leniency seems to be the prevailing approach.

The reformist Mardomsalari newspaper highlighted on Saturday that the mere removal of Seqati from his position and the silence of hardliners regarding his alleged wrongdoing, where they would typically raise a storm if someone with different political affiliations were involved, is proof of hardliners' double standards in ethical and moral matters.

“Would they be so compassionate if a person from the rival political camp had done the same thing or would call him an agent of the CIA and Mossad in Iran who had taken money from the West to morally corrupt the [Iranian] youth,” Mardomsalari asked. 

The paper also drew attention to reports of Seqati’s close affiliation to former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, one of the leaders of the ultra-conservative Paydari group, his brother Vahid Jalili, and their political circle. 

Photos of Saeed Jalili and Seqati have been widely circulating on social media. Some news websites and social media users have speculated that the publication of the video may have something to do with internal conflicts in the hardliner camp and was meant to bring disgrace to Jalili and his immediate associates. 

Most social media users have expressed anger about Seqati’s hypocrisy as he was well known for his efforts to encourage hijab as an Islamic “value” but engaging in homosexuality which is a very serious offense in Islam and punishable by death according to Iran's Islamic Penal Code. 

The addition of the high precision Abu Mahdi missiles to the naval fleet will extend Iran’s ability to counter electronic warfare in the region. According to Iran's Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani “the missile system has been outfitted with cutting-edge artificial intelligence in its command-and-control systems.”

At a ceremony to mark the acquisition, which was attended by senior military officials, Ashtiani said the Abu Mahdi missile enables Iran “to counter electronic warfare tactics and adeptly evade radar systems, while also enabling it to autonomously chart its optimal flight path.”

The missile, which is domestically manufactured, is named after former Iraqi militia commander, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, who was killed in a US raid outside Baghdad's international airport in January 2020 along with former IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani.

It is designed on basis of Kh-55 cruise missiles that Iran purchased from Ukraine 20 years ago, according to military analysts.

Iran has long sought to maintain its missile program independent of US and global sanctions tied to its nuclear program. However, recent geopolitical developments, notably the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have brought the perceived threats of Iran's missile program into sharper focus for the West.

The regime continues to provide military support, including drones, to Russian forces and its proxies across the region. Iran, nevertheless, claims that its missile program is entirely geared towards deterrence, with the aim of upholding regional stability.