Iran Regime Officials Advise Students To Study In North Korea
A top university professor in Iran has harshly criticized comments by a science ministry official regarding study opportunities for students in North Korea.
A top university professor in Iran has harshly criticized comments by a science ministry official regarding study opportunities for students in North Korea.
After meeting with the North Korean ambassador, the head of the Student Affairs Organization of the Ministry of Science said professors and students can take advantage of exchange programs with the isolated country.
Prof. Mehdi Zakerian said, “I have studied and lived in the United States and France, I have not been to North Korea, but I know there is not even the possibility of accessing the Internet in this country.” He was speaking to Khabaronline website in tehran.
“How is that the children of our officials study in the US and Europe, but advise other students to go North Korea to study?” he asked.
Many Iranian regime insiders have sent their sons and daughters to study and live in North America and Europe, while they continue to support the anti-West rhetoric and policies of the Islamic government. Some regime officials said in recent years that up to 4,000 family members of current or former officials live in the West.
Canada in October banned 10,000 members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards from entering its territory and reports say that Ottawa is investigating to see if there are undesirable individuals currently living in the country.
The regime has given a 10-day deadline to the American company Meta Platforms, the owner of WhatsApp Messenger and Instagram, to establish offices in the country if they want its applications unblocked. The purpose of this move is to have control over its activities, a demand snubbed by the company.
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are also blocked. Instagram is the only major international platform still accessible, which Iranians use extensively to conduct ecommerce. This is one major impediment to parliament’s plan for shutting down all foreign social media networks.
The demand had already seemed unreal, but many believe that the regime wanted to have an excuse to block the media platforms for good as it seems unable to stop the flow of information about the protests both within the country and to the outside world.
"If Meta does not respond to our letter, this could be the prologue to a permanent block," National Cyber Centre chief Abolhassan Firouzabadi said in a newspaper interview on Saturday.
In remarks that were denied later, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi had threatened to permanently block WhatsApp and Instagram.
The Islamic Republic moved a couple of time to cut access to world Internet and replace it with an intranet which can be controlled by its intelligence services but one of the hurdles has always been the country’s banking network, which operates through the Internet. But on Sunday, Iran’s Interbank Information Transfer Network electronic banking system ordered all its subsidiaries to change their domains from .com extensions to .ir, which is dedicated to Iranian domains.
Many experts have expressed concerns about the move. Mohammad Mahdi Shariatmadar, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the FinTech Association, called the "sudden" decision worrisome, saying that "I don't think new or even old payment partners will be able to continue operating with this method."
Milad Jahandar, the CEO of one of the online payment companies, said that the right to choose a domain is an obvious right of any company, noting that such a level of restriction in which the regulator even determines a domain name is unprecedented in the world.
Since January, Iran’s hardliner parliament has been discussing ways to intensify Internet censorship by establishing an intranet that would essentially ban foreign social media networks which allow Iranians to receive uncensored information and communicate with others.
The government has blocked thousands of websites in Iran for nearly 20 years both for ideological and political reasons. Almost all news and political websites not controlled by the government are inaccessible except by special software people need to use to get around the filtering.
Since the current round of protests began across the country in mid-September, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers are working with the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to give Elon Musk’s satellite Internet service Starlink clearance to operate in Iran. The SpaceX CEO is trying to connect its internet services to users across Iran, a move that would be seen as the end of the Islamic Republic internet restriction policies.
In October, the US Department of State released a statement condemning Iran’s restrictions on access during nationwide protests over the death of Mahsa Amini.
“The United States is pleased to join the Freedom Online Coalition’s consensus Joint Statement on Internet Shutdowns in Iran,” reads the statement.
The Freedom Online Coalition is made up of 34 governments that collaborate to advance internet freedom worldwide.
Antigovernment protests continued overnight on Saturday in several cities with reports of security forces kidnapping at least two young women from their homes in Tehran’s neighborhood of Ekbatan.
A large disturbance also broke out in the Central Prison of Karaj, where some of the arrested protesters were being held. According to state media, at least one prisoner was killed during the unrest. Apparently, a fire and tumult broke out when prisoners blocked the entrance of a ward and chanted slogans against the regime and its ruler Ali Khamenei following the transfer of an inmate on death row to solitary confinement.
In addition to daily protests on streets and sit-ins at universities, strikes continued among employees of many industries, particularly in oil, gas and petrochemical sectors. On Sunday, firefighters in the northeastern city of Tabriz held a demonstration outside the city council building, protesting their low salaries and work conditions. Setting fire to trash cans and government buildings, especially those of the seminaries and bases of Basij paramilitary forces, has become a regular method of protests during the past three months.
Grassroot groups and activists have also announced calls for another three-day nationwide protests and strikes starting Monday, for December 19, 20, and 21.
The voices of condemnation by some Iranian religious and political figures, even regime insiders are increasing against the regime’s human rights violations aimed at quashing the ongoing protests that show no sign of ending.
In a statement on Sunday, hundreds of intellectuals and cultural figures as well as activists strongly condemned the executions of protesters describing them “systematic murders by the regime.” Famous writers, sociologists, and university professors are among the signatories, and their number is still growing.
The signatories said the Islamic Republic has executed two protesters since the beginning of the “Woman, Freedom, Life Movement” in mid-September, while its strategy of intimidation and executions has not managed to ensure its legitimacy and is on the brink of collapse.
The regime has so far executed Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, both 23, and based on the latest report by Iran Human Rights Organization, 39 other people are at risk of execution on charges of “war against God” and “corruption on earth.” The Oslo-based group also added that at least 469 people, including 63 children and 32 women, have been killed by security forces in the current nationwide protests in Iran.
It also noted that there is serious concern about the imminent execution of six protesters after one detainee with a confirmed death sentence was transferred from the general ward of Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj to solitary confinement and at least five protesters detained in the western city of Oshnavieh charged with ‘moharebeh’ were transferred from Urmia Central Prison to an unknown location. Moharebeh is an Islamic-Arabic term that in the lexicon of the Iranian regime means “fighting God” and its punishment is death.
