Iran And Its Proxies Should Behave, Says US Special Envoy

Her daughter, Maryam Klaren, made the announcement on Tuesday, explaining that the 68-year-old’s movement is limited to within a one-kilometer radius of her apartment in Tehran.

Klaren expressed hope that her release marks the initial step towards securing the unconditional freedom of her mother.

Taghavi was arrested in Tehran and, as detailed by her daughter, endured psychological torture during her detention. Reports indicate that she was confined to solitary confinement in the notorious Ward 2-A of the Revolutionary Guards at Evin Prison for a staggering 220 days.

Narges Mohammadi, a civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, also in Evin, issued a warning about Taghavi's lack of access to medical care from prison in a letter in mid-June.

Mohammadi highlighted the denial of proper nutrition, quality air, and space for movement, coupled with the absence of medical and health care. Taghavi's history of a herniated disk, prolonged psychological and nervous pressure, and continuous interrogation in solitary confinement, exacerbated her condition.

Taghavi remained deprived of access to a specialist physician until February 2022. After months of delays, significant pain, and torture, she was finally transferred to a hospital in April 2023.

It is unknown how many dual-nationals are held prisoner in Iran as the Islamic Republic uses hostage diplomacy to exert pressure on Western countries to fulfill its own demands.

Speaking to followers, Khamenei emphasized on Tuesday: "Everyone should make efforts to mobilize the people," underscoring the significance of the masses. He pointed out that "A limited number of people, let's say two million [in Gaza], have effectively challenged Israel and the United States, despite the latter’s immense power," unintentionally acknowledging his perceived arch-enemy. 

The turnout in Iran's latest elections were between 20 to 40 percent in 2020 and 2021, but conservatives now predict a turnout between 5 to 8 percent in March. Iranians seem to be deeply annoyed by the indifference of the regime and its officials to their demands for more freedom and improved economic conditions.

The inflation rate is officially just under 50 percent, but for some essential commodities, such as foodstuff it is much higher. On the other hand, the regime's brutal crackdown on the 2022 nationwide protests, which left hundreds killed and blinded, as well as the hardliners' insistence in making life harder for everyone by passing medieval laws about hijab, meting out lashing sentences to women, and making the Internet inaccessible, has increased the extent of dissent in the country.

Meanwhile, the Raisi administration's inefficiency to solve the country's economic and foreign policy problems has become more evident with its inability to keep the country safe. Around 90 people were killed and twice as many were seriously wounded in an ISIS attack last week in the city of Kerman, where the government bused in school children and their mothers to pay tribute to the former commander of the IRGC Qods Force, Qasem Soleimani, on the fourth anniversary of his death.

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Raisi's blunders elicit sad laughter from people every single day. One day, he states the obvious, saying he has discovered that the mothers of all students are women, while on another occasion, he struggles to read from a prepared speech. On Tuesday, he said that "inefficient individuals in every office should be transferred to another department."

Not all blunders are made by Raisi. His Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi who is under pressure to explain his failure to prevent the terror attack in Kerman, said in an interview that the food delivery company ‘Snap Food’ should change its name because "food" is an English word. He was obviously mindless of the fact that "snap" was also an English word. On the other hand, thousands of other companies also need to change their brand names if the government seriously wishes to do away with foreign words. 

Culture Minister Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili also claimed on Monday that a million visitors came to Iran during only one month to enjoy concerts! This comes while concerts are not allowed in some Iranian provinces due to the influence of hardliners such as Friday Imam Ahmad Alamolhoda, who happens to be Raisi's father-in-law. Several Iranian singers including Toomaj Salehi are in jail for supporting the protests, and the best Iranian singers and musicians are in Los Angeles, although their music is popular among people in Iran. 

Khamenei, whose Guardian Council has barred nearly all moderate and reformist candidates from running in the March election, and effectively restricted political participation to ultraconservatives, knows that he can no longer ask the people or order them – for instance by issuing a fatwa [religious decree] – to take part in the elections. So, he resorts to ordering officials and institutions to push the people to the polls in any which way they can.

Meanwhile, he tried to intimidate the nation by saying that not voting is playing into the hands of the United States and other enemies of the Islamic revolution.

Khamenei said, "The masses can do anything." But he probably forgot that he ordered his commanders to suppress the masses. Only in one protest in 2019 his security forces killed at least 1,500 people from among the masses. In the meantime, Khamenei has done little to pacify a disgruntled nation that has lost all hope in any positive change.

The sentencing was confirmed by Yarrahi's attorney, Zahra Minooei, who explained that, as per Islamic penal law, the most severe aspect of the punishment, one year of imprisonment, is enforceable.

Minooei further disclosed that Yarrahi is currently temporarily released on bail amounting to 150 billion rials (approximately $300,000). This follows the attorney's announcement in October regarding Yarrahi's temporary release from Evin Prison, where he had been detained since August 28. Yarrahi gained attention for releasing protest works during the 2022 Iranian people's uprising against the Islamic Republic.

The singer's detention, triggered by the release of his protest music video titled "Rousarieto" (Your Headscarf), sparked widespread reactions from activists and public figures. In a show of solidarity, social media users shared dance videos featuring the controversial song.

According to Mizan News Agency, the media outlet of the Iranian judiciary, a legal case had been initiated against Mehdi Yarrahi for releasing the song. The media outlet labeled the song as "illegal and contrary to the ethics and norms of Islamic society."

Yarrahi was accused of various charges, including "producing, sending, distributing, and publishing obscene and immoral content through computer and telecommunication systems, encouraging people towards corruption and obscenity," as well as "propaganda against the system."

The star’s conviction occurs at a time when other singers, such as Toomaj Salehi and Saman Yasin, have been imprisoned for months due to their support for the uprising.

Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary stated on Tuesday: "The primary suspect in the case, charged with unintentional manslaughter, has been in custody since the beginning of the investigation, and no bail order has been issued for his release."

Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, the lawyer representing some of the families of the victims of the PS752 airliner reported on Monday that during the investigation into the complaint against the perpetrators and accomplices of the incident, only the primary suspect had been detained, and he has now been released.

Tabatabaei said: "The primary suspect has served more than half of his sentence, and since the sentence was not final, he has been released on bail. The other suspects are not arrested yet until their sentences are finalized."

Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was targeted by Revolutionary Guard missiles on the morning of January 8, 2020, moments after takeoff. All 176 passengers, including a fetus, were killed.

In April, the Tehran military court sentenced the operator of the system, responsible for firing the missiles at the plane, to 13 years in prison and ordered him to pay compensation.

Among the military personnel accused, none of the high-ranking military or government officials of the Islamic Republic are named.

On Monday, marking the fourth anniversary of the downing of the plane, many Iranians inside and outside the country honored the memory of the victims of the tragedy. Some families of the victims gathered at the crash site in Shahedshahr, blaming the Islamic Republic directly for the incident.

During the Monday ceremony, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is looking at ways to list the Guards, which shot down the Ukrainian airliner by two missiles shortly after taking off from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people onboard, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

He criticized the Iranian government's "disregard for the rule of law" and expressed Canada's ongoing efforts to responsibly designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, citing sanctions against select IRGC officials.

"We know there is more to do to hold the regime to account and we will continue our work, including continuing to look for ways to responsibly list the IRGC as a terrorist organization," Trudeau said. 

The Iranian government claimed in a 2021 report that the airliner was shot down accidentally after being "misidentified" by an air defense unit as a "hostile target" — a conclusion Canadian safety officials say Iran failed to support with evidence.

Canada has been wrestling with designation of the IRGC as a terrorist entity for years, but calls grew louder after the Flight PS752 incident. Canada’s federal government has referred to the IRGC as a terrorist organization, described its leadership as terrorists, announced measures to make its senior members inadmissible to Canada, and has listed the outfit’s extraterritorial expeditionary division Quds Force as a terrorist entity. 

However, despite numerous calls from the federal Conservative party, activists and even US lawmakers as well as the families of victims of the Ukrainian flight, the government has refused to designate the whole entity as a terrorist entity under the country’s Criminal Code. In June, Canada's Senate passed a non-binding motion to designate the the Guards as a terror organization, echoing a similar motion in 2018. The country's Liberals supported the Tory motion in the House of Commons back in 2018, but have not done so since. 

Trudeau’s government argues that such a listing would be a blunt-force approach that could affect low-level people who were forced to serve in the force as part of their mandatory military service. According to the CIA, conscripts make up more than 50 percent of the IRGC.

In addition to the prime minister, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez and Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman attended Monday's ceremony in Richmond Hill. 

Lantsman, who serves as Canada’s opposition deputy, criticized Trudeau's government for its handling of Iranian officials on Canadian soil, promising a definitive designation of the IRGC as a terrorist group. Canada’s Official Opposition emphasizes the need to end legal activities of IRGC members in Canada and their luxurious lifestyles funded by embezzled Iranian money.

Lantsman repeated her party's call to designate the IRGC a terrorist organization, saying "This evil act of murder ... underscored a truth that our country has known for a very long time — the IRGC is a terrorist group." 

She highlighted that “the IRGC terrorists have given safe harbor in Canada by a Liberal government without the courage to ban them. To this day, over 700 IRGC terrorists have been able to legally operate on our soil and live in luxury with the money they stole from the Iranian people.” 

Critics argue that existing measures, including expanded sanctions and amendments to the Magnitsky legislation, are insufficient to address the issue of regime-connected officials residing in Canada. The debate surrounding the designation of the IRGC continues, with members of the diaspora expressing concerns about accountability for crimes committed abroad by those holding Canadian citizenship.

In November, the Canadian opposition leader, running to be the next prime minister, said the IRGC poses the most significant security threat to his country. Describing the IRGC as the “most sophisticated, well-financed terror group on Planet Earth,” Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada's Conservative Party, said that the group was also behind the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, and is an ally of Hezbollah, which has been designated in Canada as a terrorist group.

The ceremony for the fourth anniversary of the downing of Flight PS752 was held a few hours after Canada, Britain, Ukraine, and Sweden filed a complaint with the UN civil aviation agency against Iran. The four countries, announcing their complaint to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, said Tehran had used “weapons against a civil aircraft in flight in breach of its international legal obligations."