One Basij Member Fatally Shot, Three Injured In Southern Iran Attack
Gunfire by two unidentified assailants in Iran's Fars province on Saturday led to the death of one Basij member and injuries to three others.
Gunfire by two unidentified assailants in Iran's Fars province on Saturday led to the death of one Basij member and injuries to three others.
Esmail Qezel-Sofla, the deputy for political and security affairs of Fars Province Governor Office, provided details of the attack, stating, "The assailants strategically positioned themselves in the southern vicinity of the Nurabad Mamasani and employed hunting rifles to carry out their assault. The victims sustained injuries from the chest upwards, and the perpetrators swiftly fled the scene following the attack."
Intelligence, security, and law enforcement agencies have launched an intensive operation to identify and apprehend the suspects, as stated by Qezel-Sofla who said one of the injured victims has been transported to a hospital in Shiraz, while the remaining two are currently receiving medical treatment at local healthcare facilities. The victims, he said, are "stable".
The armed attack occurs in the midst of a series of attacks targeting military and paramilitary forces in various cities across Iran, against the backdrop of ongoing protests in recent months. The protests emerged in response to the death of Mahsa Amini while in morality police custody and the subsequent suppression of demonstrators. Such attacks have been directed at military personnel, law enforcement officers, and even clerics.
Critics see a hasty plan to sell off government properties and companies as a way of "plundering Iran’s resources in the course of liquidating the country’s national assets."
Conservative news website Alef has quoted Ahmad Tavakkoli, the head of the Iranian NGO, Transparency and Justice Monitor, as saying in a letter to lawmakers, the heads of the three powers of the government and the privatization board that the plan "should be totally rejected."
The media reported in January that Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, Roads Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, and four other officials will form the Privatization Board. Reports at the time said that an order issued by the heads of the three powers of the government bars critics of disclosing details of transactions and suspends for two years all legislations that might prevent these transactions.
The members of the Privatization Board have asked for immunity against all criticism and possible legal prosecution.
The scheme is reminiscent of previous privatization efforts that led to huge corruption cases, when people bought public assets at a fraction of their market value often simply to sell valuable lands or borrow large sums from banks against the assets.
Tavakkoli, who is also a member of Iran's Expediency Council, a non-elected body whose members are appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, also said that Khamenei has revoked his endorsement of the privatization plan. Tavakkoli is an established conservative politician, who belongs to the ‘principlist’ camp, which has lately been overshadowed by ultraconservatives who control the parliament and President Ebrahim Raisi’s administration.
While the plan is presented as an effort to make the economy more efficient and raise money for the cash-strapped government, critics believe there are powerful people involved whose only interest is to buy valuable lands at low pieces.
Criticizing Raisi’s privatization and other economic plans administration, Tavakkoli said the economic situation is so bad that "If an average Iranian worker saves one third of his monthly income to buy a house, it will take him 135 years to be able to afford buying one." He further warned that if the government undertakes to implement the shady privatization plan, this will be an end to many Iranians' hope to own a house."
Stressing that this is the third letter he is writing about privatization, Tavakkoli further warned that this plan will entail heavy losses and other consequences for the Islamic Republic as it extensively violates the rights of the nation.
Echoing previous warnings by other politicians and commentators, Tavakkoli argued that the plan will create new opportunities for corrupt individuals. He further accused the seven high-ranking members of the privatization board of planning to take advantage of their immunity before the law to spread financial corruption.
Meanwhile, former deputy culture minister Hossein Entezami in a tweet on Friday called Tavakkoli's letter "shocking." He added that "the seven members of the Privatization Board and their colleagues who enjoy permanent immunity from prosecution, have [so far] received 54 trillion rials ($108 million) for working on the board." He added: "I wish Vice President Mohammad Mokhber and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf will cease to insist on implementing the privatization plan."
Rafael Grossi, Director General of UN nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), made the rare public statement on Saturday amidst the national rallies taking hold in Iran and abroad around the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini.
It is the latest move to stonewall inspectors by the Iranian regime, which just recently withdrew the designation of another experienced IAEA inspector for Iran.
“With today’s decision, Iran has effectively removed about one third of the core group of the Agency’s most experienced inspectors designated for Iran,” Grossi said in a statement.
“This measure, while formally permitted by the NPT Safeguards Agreement, has been exercised by Iran in a manner that affects in a direct and severe way the ability of the IAEA to conduct effectively its inspections in Iran.”
Grossi strongly condemned Iran's "disproportionate and unprecedented unilateral" decision, saying it will affect the IAEA's verification activities in Iran.
He admitted that it is both “a step in the wrong direction” and “constitutes an unnecessary blow to an already strained relationship between the IAEA and Iran in the implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement”.
In reaction to the IAEA statement, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said the country's decision to withdraw the designation of several IAEA inspectors is based on its rights under the Article 9 of Iran-IAEA Safeguards Agreement (INFCIRC/214).
Earlier this week, another meeting of the Board of Governors of the IAEA continued with no effective step to address the questions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran is known to have expanded its program significantly since 2018, when the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal – or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
On Wednesday, three signatories of the deal, UK, France, Germany (E3) delivered a joint statement at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting, in which they condemned Iran’s lack of transparency with regards to its nuclear program.
However, despite their emphasis on Iran’s non-compliance, the E3, much like the US, fell short of introducing measures that would ensure Tehran’s cooperation with the IAEA. On the contrary, just in August the Biden administration agreed to release $6 billion of Iran’s funds blocked in South Korea due to US sanctions, in exchange for five US citizens held hostage in Tehran.
In the State Department’s press briefing Wednesday, Spokesperson Matthew Miller refused to comment on why a resolution condemning Iran’s non-cooperation was not introduced at the IAEA meeting. Pressed by a reporter, Miller said the Biden administration would only work with other members “to clearly express that Iran should cooperate fully with the IAEA.”
This was in line with a joint statement delivered to the IAEA Board of Governors meeting on behalf of the US and 62 other member states, including all EU countries, Turkey, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
In January, IAEA inspectors at Fordow detected undeclared centrifuge configuration changes as well as particles of uranium enriched up to 83.7%. In March, Grossi visited Iran and brought back an agreement that was hailed as a breakthrough by both sides but deemed insufficient and non-binding by its critics.
The agreement (or the Joint Statement) stood on the premise that Iran had “expressed its readiness” to “provide further information and access” and “allow the IAEA to implement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities” on a “voluntary” basis.
Six months on, the premise seems to have been shaky at best. According to the IAEA, Iran has accumulated enriched uranium (5-60%) far beyond JCPOA limits
Iran continues enrichment in Fordow, where inspectors detected undeclared particles of uranium enriched at 83.7%.
In Saturday’s statement, Grossi urged the regime to come back to the table. “Without effective cooperation, confidence and trust will continue to be elusive and the agency will not be in a position to discharge effectively its verification mandate in Iran and provide credible assurances that nuclear material and activities in Iran are for peaceful purposes,” he said.
