Iran Spying Conviction For Frenchman Is 'Political', Lawyer Says
An Iranian court Tuesday convicted French national Benjamin Briere of espionage, sentencing him to eight years in prison, French news network BFM TV reported.
An Iranian court Tuesday convicted French national Benjamin Briere of espionage, sentencing him to eight years in prison, French news network BFM TV reported.
Briere, 36, has been held in Iran since May 2020, when he was arrested after flying a helicam - a remote-controlled mini helicopter used to obtain aerial or motion images - in the desert near the Turkmenistan-Iran border.
Briere was charged with spying and "propaganda against the Islamic Republic". He had through his lawyers consistently denied wrongdoing.
Briere’s lawyer, Philippe Valent, said the spying charges was the result of a "purely political process", and added that his family was worried about his mental and physical health.
In recent years, Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Briere's trial came as the United States and parties to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, including France, tried to revive the pact after then-US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the agreement in 2018.
US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley told Reuters on Sunday that he could not imagine reaching an agreement without prisoners in Iran being released.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests. Western powers have long demanded that Tehran free their citizens, whom they say are political prisoners.
Reporting by Reuters
A group of former Iranian prisoners detained because they had converted to Christianity has issued a statement demanding the right to education for Persian-speaking Christians.
In an open letter published on United Nations’ International Day of Education, January 24, they protested to what they called a violation of their basic human rights, including the right to study.
“The Islamic Republic expels Persian-speaking Christians and our children from schools and universities,” they said, noting that this was only one form of discrimination against them. The signatories called on other Iranians not to remain silent about their deprivation of the right to education.
While established Christian churches − including Armenian, Assyro-Chaldean, Greek Orthodox, and Catholic - are allowed to practice, they are required to admit to services only existing members and not to accept converts. New churches cannot be set up.
As they do not use Persian in services these churches have limited appeal to Persian speakers. Iranian Protestants, by contrast, carry out services in Farsi and are sometimes committed proselytizers.
While Iran frowns on Baha’ism, atheism, eastern or esoteric philosophies and cults, the constitution recognizes Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Judaism. Those born into Christian, Jewish or Zoroastrian families enjoy a certain freedom of worship. Armenian and Assyro-Chaldeans Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians all have representatives in the Iranian parliament.
Reporters Without Borders has expressed concern for the lives of three jailed political activists in Iran who have been transferred to detention centers known to mistreat prisoners.
In a statement on Monday, the rights group – also known by their French abbreviation RSF – denounced the transfer of Alieh Motallebzadeh, Narges Mohammadi and Keyvan Samimi Behbahani, describing it as an attempt to break the resistance of these prisoners of conscience.
RSF deputy director Antoine Bernard condemned the move and said it is meant to deprive them of care, as was the case of Baktash Abtin, who died of Covid-19 complications after he was denied timely treatment earlier in January.
Samimi Behbahani was transferred from Evin late last week to Gohar Dasht Prison in Karaj, also known as Rajai Shahr, where mostly murderers and common criminals are held. The 73-year-old has said he will stage a hunger strike, if he is not moved back to Evin, where Iran keeps most of its political prisoners.
Motallebzadeh and Mohammadi were moved from Evin to Qarchak women’s prison, also known as Shahr-e Rey prison, where health and sanitary conditions are very poor with an ill-equipped infirmary and no proper sewer.
Earlier in the week, Mohammadi was sentenced to eight yearsin jail and 70 lashes in a five-minute trial.
Persecution of human rights and political activists and execution have increased since hardliner president Ebrahim Raisi took office last August.
Iranian universities have fired four professors of social sciences in less than a week, in what critics see as further political cleansing of academia.
Sharif University of Technology in Tehran fired Mohammad Fazeli, a professor of sociology on January 21. Then, Shahid Beheshti University dismissed Arash Abazari, lecturing philosophy on the same day, and on January 24 the University of Tehran fired lecturer Reza Omidi and the Iranian human rights news agency broke the news of the dismissal of Arezoo Rahimkhani by the Islamic Azad University in Andimeshk.
The four lecturers and professors were not political activists, and their public record shows they maintained a relatively low profile.
Following the dismissals, while some observers criticized university students for their silence in the face of the firing, some students argued that these and other professors never took part in any campaign to support the rights of hundreds of students who were expelled or harassed for political reasons.
Others criticized professors for their silence, warning that it could be their turn to be fired the next day. Iranian lawyer Mohammad Moghimi opined that the dismissals were a sign of totalitarian rule in the universities.
Hessamoddin Ashna, an aide to former President Hassan Rouhani, wrote in a January 22 tweet that it is not fair and rational to deprive Shahid Beheshti University of a professor such as Mohammad Fazeli. Ashna then encouraged academics to write to President Ebrahim Raisi about the matter.
In another tweet, Ashna said that the dismissals were the result of jealousy among some academics. Others noted that Abazari, a young academic whose book was published by the University of Cambridge Press was dismissed by an old former academic who is alien to modern knowledge.
Meanwhile, former lawmaker Ali Motahari wrote in a tweet on the same day that "firing a knowledgeable and pacifist professor such as Mohammad Fazeli is a threat to freedom of expression." Motahari reminded that his father, a famous ayatollah, was never fired from his university post under the Shah, although he had given a speech against the monarch and had even been briefly jailed for his Islamic political activism.
In the meantime, Javad Safari , a retired professor of Chemistry at the University of Hamadan took his own life reportedly because he was not paid for some time and was not able to make ends meet, social media activists revealed.
An Iranian academic on Twitter wrote that university professors in Iran are being paid around $300 per month, less than what labor groups say is the minimum income needed to survive just above the poverty line.
Pooya Movahhed, a social media activist referred to the Cultural Revolution immediately after the Islamic revolution of 1979 and wrote, since then Iranian officials have been getting rid of modern academics in the interest of their reactionary colleagues who believe in the ideological party line.
Meanwhile, academic Sohrab Salehi warned Higher Education Minister Zolfi on Twitter to be wary that academics are silent in the face of the dismissal of their colleagues. "Those who are silent are more dangerous than those who are vocal. Those who protest still have hope of reforms, but those who are silent do not believe the system can be reformed," he warned.
Cleric and academic Rahmatollah Bigdeli said in a 22 January tweet: "We took part in the revolution so that even Marxist professors would be able to work in universities, but under Presidents Ahmadinejad and Raisi, the universities are getting rid of even [devout] Muslim elites who were once invited by Raisi to come back from abroad and teach at the universities."
Some manufacturing companies in Turkey have halted production temporarily after Iran cut gas flows last week for up to 10 days due to a “technical problem.”
Companies affected include car parts maker Ege Endustri , cardboard manufacturer Kartonsan and defense and automotive parts maker Katmerciler.
Turkey is almost fully dependent on imported gas from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, which suspended gas flows to the country last Thursday, saying there was a technical fault at a pressure-boosting station in Turkey.
However, Iranian officials have been warning consumers in recent days to conserve gas, as the country cannot pump sufficient supplies when usage is highin cold or hot weather.
Ege Endustri said on Monday it will stop output at a factory until the weekend due to power cuts, and cardboard manufacturer Kartonsan said it was stopping production until further notice due to limited gas supply.
Iran said its gas exports to Turkey had resumed on Friday but a Turkish official said those supplies were lower than the required volumes. Turkey has denied that the problem was due to a fault at a pressure station on its side.
Turkish authorities have announced planned electricity and natural gas cuts to large consumers in industrial zones and electricity-generating power plants due to limited supply from Iran.
Iran provided 16% of Turkey's natural gas needs in the first 10 months of 2021, according to the latest official data.
Reporting by Reuters
Lebanese Sunni Muslim leader Saad al-Hariri said on Monday he was stepping back from politics partly blaming Iran’s intrusive role in Lebanon.
The move turns the country's sectarian politics on its head as the country grapples with a financial crisis and may delay the upcoming parliamentary election.
Hariri, three times prime minister, also called on his party not to run any candidates in May's vote, indicating several factors were behind his decision, including Iranian influence -- a reference to the heavily armed Shi'ite group Hezbollah.
Hariri's Future Movement has long been the biggest representative of the Sunni community, controlling one of the largest blocs in parliament that also included members of other sects - seats which others can now win.
In a televised address, Hariri said he had decided to "suspend any role in power, politics and parliament", his voice breaking with emotion as he spoke in front of a portrait of his father.
"I am convinced that there is no room for any positive opportunity for Lebanon in light of Iranian influence, international disarray, national division, sectarianism, and the collapse of the state," he said.
The move injects huge uncertainty into Lebanese politics just months ahead of the election, in which Hezbollah's adversaries had hoped to overturn a majority it won with its allies in 2018. It is to be seen whether Hariri’s dramatic decision can galvanize more support against Hezbollah.
The move is bound to focus more attention on Iran’s interventions in regional countries, strongly opposed by Israel and Sunni Arab states in the region. Tehran supports the Hezbollah by providing arms and money both to expand its influence and threaten Israel. As the United States negotiates to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and lift sanctions, countries concerned over Iran’s policies have urged a comprehensive deal to change Tehran’s conduct.
Hariri’s father, Rafik Hariri, was assassinated with a huge bomb that exploded as his motorcade drove by in 2005, killing him and many others. Suspicions strongly fell on Hezbollah and Syria for eliminating a strong political figure close to Saudi Arabia.
Some analysts have said a boycott by Lebanon's largest Sunni movement, which would leave the Sunni political scene in disarray, may lead to calls for a delay.
While Hariri has remained Lebanon's leading Sunni since inheriting his father's political mantle, his political fortunes have waned in recent years, with his position weakened by the loss of Saudi support. Future lost a third of its seats in 2018, some of them to Hezbollah-allied Sunnis.
Hariri's announcement comes as Lebanon suffers an economic meltdown which the World Bank has described as one of the sharpest ever globally. The sectarian elite has failed to take steps to address the crisis even as the bulk of the population has fallen into poverty.
Walid Jumblatt, Lebanon's leading Druze politician, told Reuters the announcement was "very sad because we are losing a major pillar of independence and of moderation". "It means a free hand for Hezbollah and the Iranians," he added.
With reporting by Reuters
