January 10, 2023
US Navy forces recently found a fishing boat transporting over 2,000 rifles from Iran to Yemen.
The ship was traveling on a route known to provide lethal aid to Yemeni rebels.
Over the last few months, US forces have intercepted weapons from Iran multiple times.
US Navy forces recently intercepted a fishing vessel smuggling thousands of AK-47 rifles from Iran to Yemen, the US military said on Tuesday.
The vessel, which was crewed by six Yemeni nationals, was sailing through the Gulf of Oman on January 6 when it was caught, US 5th Fleet said in a statement. A team from the patrol coastal ship USS Chinook discovered and boarded the ship with support from fellow Cyclone-class patrol ship USS Monsoon and the guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans. Navy forces found that the ship was carrying 2,116 AK-47 assault rifles.
The vessel was traveling along a route historically understood to be used for the transfer of lethal aid to Yemen's Houthi rebels — a violation of a UN Security Council resolution and international law, 5th Fleet said.
Iran is the main backer of the Houthis, who have fought a devastating years-long civil war against Yemen's internationally recognized government. The bloody conflict has previously been characterized by experts as a proxy war between regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition in support of the government.
US Central Command's Gen. Michael Kurilla said in a statement that the "illegal flow of weapons from Iran through international waterways has a destabilizing effect on the region."
"We are committed to the security and stability of the region and the enforcement of international law," Kurilla, who is the CENTCOM commander, added. "Alongside our partner forces, CENTCOM will deter and interdict this kind of lethal material into the region whether it comes by air, land, or sea."
Over the past few months, US forces have intercepted several vessels transferring lethal aid from Iran to Yemen. In November, 5th Fleet seized a "massive amount" of explosive chemical material that can be used to fuel ballistic missiles. A few weeks later, the service said it recovered more than 50 tons of ammunition and rocket parts.
The recent shipment "is part of a continued pattern of destabilizing activity from Iran," Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, who commands US Naval Forces Central Command, US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, said in a statement.
"These threats have our attention. We remain vigilant in detecting any maritime activity that impedes freedom of navigation or compromises regional security," he added.
Malign Iranian activities have been reported in waters off the coast of Middle East countries multiple times in recent weeks — sometimes leading to run-ins with US Navy and US Coast Guard vessels. In December, for example, an Iranian patrol vessel tried to use spotlights to blind the bridges of US Navy ships as they were operating in international waters.
Iran has sentenced woman to death, UN official says
January 10, 2023
Geneva, Switzerland - A United Nations official said on Tuesday that a woman is among the 17 people reportedly facing execution in Iran for taking part in anti-government protests.
Two executions are imminent, Middle Eastern region human rights officer Mohammad Alnsour said in Geneva on Tuesday.
The UN's high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, appealed to the government in Tehran to suspend the executions.
So far, four participants in demonstrations have been executed.
According to Türk, the charges against the accused have been vague and the minimum guarantees for fair trials not respected. Alleged confessions were extracted through torture, his office said.
"The weaponization of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights – such as those participating in or organizing demonstrations – amounts to state sanctioned killing," Türk said.
The nationwide protests against the repressive course of the government and the Islamic system of rule in Tehran were triggered by the death of the Iranian Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in September.
She died in police custody after being arrested for violating Islamic dress codes.
More Signs That the Iran Can’t Be Reformed
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Some observers interpret recent events in Iran as signals that Tehran might be moderating its law enforcement practices. These supposed indications include comments by Iran’s attorney general that the operations of the Morality Police would be suspended, as well as a conciliatory statement by Iran’s supreme leader that women with bad hijab practices are still children of the revolution.
But the appointment of hardliner Ahmad-Reza Radan as national police chief is the latest reminder that the Iranian system is unreformable.
Radan was born in 1963 in Esfahan Province and began his career with service in the Basij and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — as is tradition among commanders of the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic. He fought during the Iran-Iraq War, and he later served as provincial LEC commander in multiple provinces — Kurdistan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Khorasan Razavi, and later Tehran.
Radan’s promotion to the senior ranks of the LEC — especially the key Tehran commandership — coincided with the election of conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president in 2005. Ahmadinejad installed hardline figures throughout the Interior Ministry, which nominally oversees the LEC. At the dawn of Ahmadinejad’s administration, the infamous Morality Police was formed “to spread the culture of modesty and hijab.” In 2007, Radan proclaimed that the police “start…a drive against women who wear improper dress. Tight trousers tucked inside long boots while wearing short overcoats are against Islamic codes. Wearing a hat or cap instead of scarves is also against Islamic dress codes.” That same year, Radan launched a “Public Security Plan,” showcasing video recordings of arrests and beatings of criminals. He was known for shuttering barber shops over offensive hairstyles.
In recognition of his adherence to Islamic Republic mores and brutality, Radan received another promotion when in 2008 he was named deputy chief of the LEC. It was during his tenure that Radan formed an integral part of the dragnet that suppressed the 2009 Green Movement demonstrations. He not only was part of the top brass when the crackdown occurred, but also “personally participated in the beatings and ill-treatment of detainees” at the Kahrizak Detention Center. For this record, the U.S. government sanctioned him in 2010. The European Union soon followed, imposing restrictive measures on him in 2011. Radan was such a practiced batterer that Tehran dispatched him to Syria as deputy chief of LEC in April 2011. There, he conferred with Syrian authorities and “provided expertise to aid in the Syrian government’s crackdown on the Syrian people,” for which he was sanctioned in 2012.
Radan left his post as the deputy chief of LEC in 2014. Later he became the head of LEC’s Center for Strategic Studies. This put him notably outside the chain of command during the presidency of Hassan Rouhani, who was considered more pragmatic than Ahmadinejad and spoke out publicly against some police excesses, saying “you can’t send people to heaven by the whip.” During this period, in 2017, the commander of the LEC in Tehran Hossein Rahimi called for a ”society-oriented, educational approach” to those found to be violating Islamic values. But this amounted to changes in enforcement that were cosmetic and short-lived. Despite Rouhani’s rhetoric, the Mullahs remained in control, with Ayoub Soleimani, Ashtari’s then-deputy chief, playing a leading role in suppressing anti-hijab protests in July 2019. As the U.S. Treasury Department noted in his sanctions designation, “he issued statements that the security forces would forcefully confront women who were not abiding by the Iranian dress code.”
Radan’s career outline is broadly consistent with his predecessor, Hossein Ashtari. Both served as deputy LEC chiefs, although Radan had more provincial command experience, whereas Ashtari served as head of the LEC’s Intelligence Protection Organization. Notably, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei decided not to promote Qasem Rezaei, Ashtari’s deputy commander. This stands in contrast to Ashtari’s own direct elevation from deputy commander to commander.
This move by the supreme leader likely signaled a desire for Radan’s ideological orientation and skillset. Radan once framed improper hijab practices as “part of the enemy’s soft war against us.” His ascendance at LEC would demonstrate the Iranian establishment’s desire to more fully reinvigorate the atmosphere that was in place during the Ahmadinejad era. That, combined with Radan’s experience at the helm of multiple provincial LEC commands in restive provinces, and his experience during the 2009 Green Movement, signals Khamenei’s desire for a more hardened figure in the top LEC job.
Khamenei has reshuffled police commanders amid protests before. In 2000, in the aftermath of student protests in July 1999, Khamenei replaced Hedayat Lotfian with Ghalibaf as LEC chief. There have been indications Khamenei was dissatisfied with the LEC’s performance, even criticizing Ashtari. He hinted at this in Radan’s appointment announcement, highlighting the need for improvements to capabilities, dignity of personnel, and training. In fact, Ashtari served less time in the post — over seven years — than his immediate predecessor, Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, who was LEC chief for close to a decade.
Radan’s ascendance is a signal from Khamenei that rather than being serious about responding to the Iranian people’s demands, he is doubling down, fearing that compromise begets expectations for more compromise. This explains why revolutionary sentiment is in the air, with the gap between state and society widening over a system at a dead end.
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