Realtor Arrested In Iran Over Sale Of Apartemnt To A Dog
A real estate agency is sealed off and its owner arrested in Iran after a video went viral of the property agency transferring the ownership of an apartment to a dog.
A real estate agency is sealed off and its owner arrested in Iran after a video went viral of the property agency transferring the ownership of an apartment to a dog.
The footage showed an Iranian couple signing a contract transferring the title of their apartment to their small furry white dog Chester.
In the video, which seems like a practical joke, the agent is shown describing the property while Chester's owner places his pawprint on the deed.
Iran’s police issued a statement on Sunday announcing the arrest and the shutdown of the agency, with Tehran’s deputy prosecutor Reza Tabar mentioning “issuing an invalid contract for an apartment unit” as the reason behind the arrest. He added that “this action is illegal and was meant to demean the norms of society.”
The Islamic Republic regime views keeping dogs as a symbol of Westernization that can be dangerous and should be prohibited. Dogs are generally considered 'impure' in Islam and banned in public places by some majority-Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia. Iranian parliamentarians in November proposed a bill banning selling and keeping of pets.
Lawmakers backing the measure claimed the ban was meant to protect public health. While working dogs have always been common in Iran’s rural areas and on farms, keeping pets has only recently become fashionable in urban areas despite occasional police crackdowns.
The New York-based rights watchdog said Saturday that regime authorities have arrested at least a dozen activists and intensified pressure on a wide range of peaceful dissidents ahead of the anniversary of the nationwide rallies that swept the country beginning in Spetember 2022, following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
The uprising -- dubbed the Women, Life, Liberty movement -- has been the boldest challenge against the clerical autocracy since its establishment in 1979. The regime brutally cracked down on the antigovernment protests, killing more than 500 people and arresting over 22,000 others.
“Iranian authorities are using their go-to playbook of putting maximum pressure on peaceful dissidents ahead of the anniversary,” said Tara Sepehri-Far, senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The arbitrary arrests of a dozen activists are aimed at suppressing popular discontent with ongoing impunity and rights violations.”
In recent weeks, the Islamic Republic regime has intensified its intimidation campaign to discourage potential unrest, detaining civil and human rights activists and students as well as harassing families of protesters who died during the crackdown, with reports coming from several provinces, including Tehran, Gilan, Kordestan, West Azarbaijan, and Esfahan (Isfahan).
At least 12 people were arrested in Gilan province this week, including five women's rights advocates, a photographer, a poet, a graphic designer, and three pharmacists. The General Intelligence Office of the province issued a statement saying it had arrested a network of 12 people “who were planning to disrupt security” and were participating in trainings aimed at a “soft overthrow” of the regime, without providing any evidence. Hengaw Human Rights Organization, a Kurdish rights group, said Thursday that at least 15 people have been arrested in Kurdish majority cities in the past few days.
The intelligence ministry and the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) intelligence organization (SAS) have been reaching out to individuals who were arrested during the anti-regime protests. They are warning them not to participate in any demonstrations on the anniversary of the protest movement, according to sources in Iran who spoke to Iran International.
On Thursday, August 17, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei held a meeting with a large group of Revolutionary Guard commanders and praised them for their performance - which has resulted in the deaths of 500 civilians with thousands more injured and tens of thousands arrested. So far, seven protesters have been executed, and several others face execution. Earlier in the week, hardliner cleric and member of the Iranian Assembly of Experts Ahmad Khatami issued a stern threat against any future protesters, saying that they would be met with forceful suppression, as if the current rounds of suppression are not forceful.
Sepehri-Far noted, “The street protests may have slowed down but the authorities are continuing their crackdown, targeting veteran civil society and human rights defenders,” adding, “UN member states that are in dialogue with Iran should put the rights defenders’ plight at the center of their engagement.”
In addition to arrests and other intimidation tactics, the regime is about to finalize a new hijab bill, whose details have already led to debates even among the regime officials. The enactment of stricter hijab measures is expected to re-ignite further protests. The uprising that was sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini in September has made it increasingly difficult for the clerical regime to enforce the mandatory Islamic dress code.
To avoid the public backlash over the violent enforcement of hijab laws, the Islamic Republic has recently begun implementing a wide range of measures from public humiliation tactics to using traffic cameras to identify women without hijab.
According to a document obtained by Iran International, the regime has also banned gas stations managers from supplying fuel for women who ride motorcycles, which is forbidden in the Islamic Republic.
Political analyst Ali-Hossein Ghazizadeh said Friday on X that the Intelligence Ministry’s campaign of arrests and intimidation has been “unprecedented” even for the Islamic Republic. He noted that when a society is determined to revolt, security measures can only delay it for so long, predicting that “The people will return to the streets, with even stronger motivations to overthrow this regime. Motivations that the Islamic Republic itself is providing for them.”
Without providing names or details about the detainees, the intelligence minister even claimed that despite foreign pressures some of the “spies have been executed.”
Iran executed Iranian-Swedish political activist and former leader of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA) Habib Chaab (Asyud) in May.
In January, Iran executed British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari, after sentencing the former Iranian deputy defense minister to death on charges of spying for Britain.
Khatib, who is a hardliner cleric, was addressing the 24th assembly of senior Revolutionary Guard officers in Tehran, where he praised Iran’s multiple intelligence services for working together to thwart “enemy conspiracies” and domestic threats.
Khatib reiterated the regime’s ideological precept that “the enemy” continues to plot against the Islamic Republic, which has become a “global power.” He claimed that “50 intelligence services” around the world have set up “Iran desks” to be able to confront “a new global power.”
The term “enemy” is a favorite word used by Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei to refer to the United States, Israel and their allies and partners, but Khatib did not elaborate about who these 50 adversaries around the world are.
Although Iran has released several European high-profile hostages this year, including French and Belgian prisoners held on spying charges, it is not clear how many more are left behind.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who spoke in May after the release of two French hostages, said more work is needed “because there are, unfortunately, too many who are detained without reason in Iran.” Apparently, four French citizens and numerous other Europeans remain incarcerated in Iran.
While intelligence minister Khatib boasted about holding European “spies” he did not mention the five American hostages who were released into house arrest earlier this month after a deal with the Biden administration to unblock $6 billion of Iran’s money in South Korea.
The deal has triggered a lot of criticism in the United States, where politicians and some analysts have voiced fear that essentially paying $1.2 billion per hostage will embolden the Islamic Republic and other adversaries to take Americans hostage. Iranian hardliners certainly see the deal as ransom payment by the United States.
A firebrand senior ayatollah, Ahmad Alamolhoda on Friday called the release of Iran’s frozen funds by the US “a humiliation” and a “ransom” in exchange for “their spies.” The cleric is close to Khamenei and is the father-in-law of President Ebrahim Raisi.
Khatib also reiterated that “the enemy’s” aim is to destabilize Iran and reduce participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections in March. The regime has blamed anti-government protests on US and Israeli plots, while it killed more than 500 civilians, injured thousands and has arrested around 22,000 since last September.
Regime politicians and many analysts in Iran believe that voter turnout will be low in March, simply because hardliners prevented other regime loyalists to run both in the 2020 parliamentary and in the 2021 presidential elections. People see no real choice and are deeply angered by the current economic and political crises. They do not believe that Khamenei will change his Anti-West foreign policy and sanctions will continue to increase hardships they face.
