January 22, 2023
"We are ready to reciprocate. But we ask the Westerners to think carefully so that the window of opportunity for diplomacy is not closed," said the Speaker of Iran's Islamic Council.
Iran will recognize the armies of the European countries operating in the region as terrorist organizations, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf said Sunday, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.
“We identify the armies of European countries in the region as terrorist groups and organizations, and we will take the necessary measures to deal with them,” he was quoted as saying during a meeting of the country’s legislature.
Iranian lawmakers vote in response to IRGC vote in Europe
His announcement comes on the heels of a vote taken by the European Parliament last week to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the main branch of Iran’s armed forces, as a terrorist organization. The vote passed with the overwhelming majority of 598 in favor and nine opposed.
The decision to recognize the IRGC as a terrorist group has previously been made by the US, Israel, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The UK was set to join them, the Telegraph reported earlier this month.
Among the countries that have made the decision to classify the IRGC as a terrorist organization, Ghalibaf singled out Israel as Iran’s primary opponent in the matter.
“The European Parliament’s decision to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the terrorist list showed that the pro-Zionist front has made the European countries make serious miscalculations,” he said.
Iran stranded diplomatically amid ongoing protests
Relations between Iran and European nations have worsened as the regime in Tehran was accused of committing numerous human-rights violations, including torture and execution of anti-regime protesters.
The regime executed former deputy defense minister Alireza Akbari, a dual Iranian-British citizen, earlier this month. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the execution was “callous and cowardly.”
The anti-regime protests, which began last September after the “morality police” killed Mahsa Amini, have continued. Amini was a young woman who was beaten to death for wearing her hijab improperly. Within 120 days of the protests, Iran had killed more than 500 people.
The Iranian regime sponsors terrorist groups throughout the region, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
“I really hope that Europe can free itself from the influence of the child-killing Zionist regime and adopt a more rational policy.”
Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf
“I really hope that Europe can free itself from the influence of the child-killing Zionist regime and adopt a more rational policy,” Ghalibaf said.
Iran
would use the tools at its disposal to take necessary countermeasures against
the militaries of the countries that it labels as terrorist groups, he said,
without specifying what those countermeasures would be.
Iran is worried about EU targeting IRGC - analysis
Seth J. Frantzman
January 22, 2023
Iran’s leadership is increasingly worried about the prospects of European countries targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The concern can be seen in recent rhetoric in Iran’s media and also statements by members of the regime.
Iran’s concerns are clear because it now knows that the IRGC could be targeted for sanctions not only by the US but also in Europe, and this will make it more difficult for the IRGC to use front companies and seek to exploit loopholes abroad.
Iran’s export of drones to Russia and Russia’s use of those drones to terrorize people in Ukraine has helped tip the scales against Iran in Europe. Evidence has shown that drones include numerous parts manufactured in the West. These parts were exported to Iran via complex networks of Iranian front companies or other methods and the parts did not appear to have military uses until Iran repurposed them for use on the drones.
How has Iran responded to European nations targeting the IRGC?
According to Iran International, a media site critical of the regime, “the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the parliament speaker threatened Europe on Saturday that listing the IRGC as a terror group will bring consequences.” Meanwhile, pro-Iran media Fars and Tasnim News had similar articles bashing the EU. Iran’s president has said that “the enemies' actions against the IRGC are doomed to failure.” He added: "No army and no armed forces have done more than the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to fight terrorism and reduce the evil of terrorists in the region.”
Iran knows that the West has sought to label the IRGC a terrorist group so they try to present this as ironic, noting that the IRGC has fought terrorism. From the Iran regime’s point of view, the IRGC has helped fight ISIS and thus has fought terrorism.
Meanwhile, the speaker of Iran’s parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf slammed the European Parliament’s recent vote condemning the IRGC. The Iranian claimed the EU was now involved in a “pro-Zionism” trend. “First of all, I must clarify that after the extensive and long sanctions that the Western front, especially the United States, has imposed against the Iranian people, such actions will not have any serious legal effects, and the pro-Zionism trend is more about creating a media space to intimidate the Iranian people,” he said.
“I must clarify that after the extensive and long sanctions that the Western front, especially the United States, has imposed against the Iranian people, such actions will not have any serious legal effects, and the pro-Zionism trend is more about creating a media space to intimidate the Iranian people.”
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf
Qalibaf stated that any action against the IRGC, including sanctions or inclusion in imaginary lists such as “so-called terrorist groups,” is an insult to the entire Iranian nation. “We observe a dangerous trend in the group of Western countries, especially Europeans, towards terrorist behaviors and support for terrorism against the Iranian nation, which can lead to Iran deciding on a range of countermeasures.”
He then threatened that Iran would treat European countries and their forces in the Middle East as “terrorists” if the IRGC is sanctioned in Europe. This is the same threat that Iran made against US Central Command after the Trump administration sanctioned the IRGC. Iran has targeted US forces in Iraq and Syria.
The Iranian speaker of parliament said “we are ready to reciprocate. But we ask the Westerners to think carefully so that the window of opportunity for diplomacy is not closed. On the one hand, they cannot claim that the doors of negotiations are open, and on the other hand, they cannot officially confront a part of the political structure and identity belonging to the Iranian people.”
Iran’s officials are now being encouraged in this line of rhetoric. They are also being told to accuse Europe of being controlled by “Zionists.” Iran doesn’t realize that its supply of drones to Russia is what has caused the IRGC to be put in a new spotlight.
It remains to be seen how Iran may retaliate. It could try to target and kidnap more Europeans or dual citizens who travel to Iran. It could try to target European forces in the region.
‘Shayda’ Review: Powerful Debut Feature Shines a Timely Light on an Iranian Woman’s Resilient Spirit
Tomris Laffly
January 19, 2023
Zar Amir Ebrahimi of 'Holy Spider' delivers a quietly commanding performance as a brave domestic violence survivor who demands a life on her own terms.
In resiliently fighting for their human rights and dignity, Iranian women were deservedly named TIME magazine’s Heroes of the Year in 2022. Their fierce uprising erupted last fall, after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was arrested by the morality police for not fully complying with the government’s antiquated dress code, and died three days later in police custody. Set in the ’90s in an Australian city, writer-director Noora Niasari’s quietly powerful “Shayda” doesn’t, on the surface, have a direct connection to these recent events. But one can’t help but detect the same strength and heroic spirit in the film’s eponymous protagonist, a young Iranian woman who demands a free life on her own terms, away from the shadow of her abusive husband, and the patriarchal norms and codes of conduct that suffocate her existence.
If “Shayda” (with Cate Blanchett among its executive producers) skews too predictable at times and reaches an ending you can spot from the first act, that’s because the male abuser’s playbook is often predictable too. In that regard, we know the likes of Shayda’s husband both in real life and across various American and international films, from “I, Tonya” to “Herself” to “Custody.” We’re acquainted with the patterns in which these men behave, intimidate, game the system and somehow manage to convince the authorities that they are changed and, therefore, deserve a new chance. Not unlike some of the aforementioned titles, “Shayda” shows what happens when that new chance is granted to such violent abusers, who often have no intention or capability of renouncing their entitlement.
Still, there is hope for Shayda (the terrific Zar Amir Ebrahimi, a recent Cannes winner for “Holy Spider”) at the film’s outset. We meet her as she gets settled at a secret women’s shelter along with her adorable young daughter Mona (seven-year-old Selina Zahednia, remarkably adept), an observant character based on the filmmaker’s own experiences: She, too, was raised by a courageous mother who found refuge in one such center when Niasari was just five years old. Under the protective wing of the home’s generous and no-nonsense director Joyce (Leah Purcell), Shayda puts on a brave face for the impressionable Mona and claims small pockets of sanity and self-worth in her daily life. On the one hand, she prepares for the arrival of Nowruz (Persian New Year); on the other, she attempts to integrate herself with the shelter’s other residents, despite occasional being subjected to casual racism and prejudice.
In sensitively rendered scenes, we witness Shayda’s phone calls with her fretting mother in Iran: Old-fashioned yet concerned, she insists that Shayda return to her husband Hossain (Osamah Sami) in order to avoid further gossip and ill-will from narrow-minded friends and relatives. “At least he is a good father,” she cluelessly insists. Shockingly enough, the law aligns with this toxic line of thinking, granting Hossain— who’s adamant to return to Iran — unsupervised visitation rights that derail Shayda’s newfound sense of freedom and safety. At first, Hossain commits to a false image of a new and improved man who just wants to be with his family and support the dreams of his wife, a former academic with a scholarship tragically revoked by conservative customs. But having survived even sexual violence in Hossain’s hands, Shayda knows better. And so do we.
Niasari nimbly and steadily deepens “Shayda” with a filmmaking style that carries traces of a documentarian’s off-the-cuff alertness, braiding it with qualities akin to a thriller. Through DP Sherwin Akbarzadeh’s fluid and immersive camera movements, the film’s opening is a perfect example of this verité-style intensity, as Shayda tries to familiarize Mona with different safety touch-points at an airport, in case Hossain tries to abduct her. Elsewhere, the filmmaker similarly makes sure that the idea of Hossain feels as terrifying as his image throughout, while we trace Shayda’s growing discomfort across malls, parks and nightclubs as she opens up to her liberated friend Elly (Rina Mousavi) and develops feelings for Elly’s relative Farhad (Mojean Aria).
Along with the rest of the troubled women in the shelter, these two characters seem somewhat underdeveloped, retrofitted to a complex narrative as obvious mouthpieces. But Ebrahimi overcomes these minor shortcomings, with a performance that’s deceptively simple, even regal, in conveying Shayda’s internalized battles through understated moments, with nothing more than a delicate look or a pregnant silence. Equally impressive are Zahednia as the wordlessly traumatized Mona — Niasari clearly has a special way with child actors — and Sami, a villain both blood-curdling and disturbingly familiar. The greatest asset of “Shayda,” however, is its unmistakably feminine spirit of perseverance, one that runs wild and free in this promising debut.
Netanyahu: United front between US and Israel on Iran
Tovah Lazaroff
January 22, 2023
The United States and Israel are working toward a united front when it comes to combating the dangers from Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of his weekly government meeting on Sunday.
He spoke after US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited Jerusalem and Ramallah on Thursday and in advance of the pending trip of US Secretary Antony Blinken to the region.
A common challenge
“His visit came at a special time, one of serious challenges to our national security and of serious opportunities for peace with our neighbors," Netanyahu said as he alluded to his push to expand Israel's ties with Arab countries in the region.
“Our talks focused on the regional security challenges, especially Iran, as well as ways for cooperation between us against this common threat,” Netanyahu said.
“I was impressed that there is a genuine and mutual desire to reach understandings on this issue, which is of decisive importance to the security of the state," Netanyahu explained.
"The discussions on the issue will be held between Jerusalem and Washington in the coming weeks,” Netanyahu said.
Iran had in the past been a source of tension between Jerusalem and Washington in light of US support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which is now dormant, thereby allowing for a new joint understanding.
Iranian execution of street protestors has also helped galvanize global opinion against the Islamic regime, particularly around the issue of sanctions which Israeli has always argued is an effective tool.
European Union foreign ministers are expected to agree further sanctions targeting members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps at their meeting in Brussels on Monday, a spokesperson for the German Foreign Office said on Friday.
Some EU member states want to go further and classify the Guards as a whole as a terrorist organization.
Asked at a regular government news conference in Berlin whether sanctions could hamper diplomatic efforts to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, the spokesperson said: "The focus of our policy currently is increasing pressure on the Iranian regime.”
Iran's troubled currency fell to a record low against the U.S. dollar on Saturday.
The dollar was selling for as much as 447,000 rials on Iran's unofficial market on Saturday, compared with 430,500 the previous day, according to the foreign exchange site Bonbast.com.
The rial has lost 29% of its value since nationwide protests following the death in police custody of a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, on Sept. 16.
The unrest has posed one of the biggest challenges to the theocratic rule in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The economic Ecoiran website blamed the continued fall of the rial on an apparent "global consensus" against Iran.
"Increasing political pressures, such as placing the Revolutionary Guards on a list of terrorist organizations, and imposing restrictions on Iran-linked ships and oil tankers... are factors pointing to a global consensus against Iran, (which may affect) the dollar's rate in Tehran," Ecoiran said.
The European Parliament called on Wednesday for the EU to list Iran's Guards as a terrorist group, blaming the powerful force for the repression of protesters and the supply of drones to Russia. The assembly cannot compel the EU to add the force to its list, but the text was a clear political message to Tehran.
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