Iran: Former MP Accuses Senior Officials of Ignoring Pleas to Stop Crackdown on Protests

 People protest against increased gas price, on a highway in Tehran, Iran November 16, 2019. (Reuters)
People protest against increased gas price, on a highway in Tehran, Iran November 16, 2019. (Reuters)
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Iran: Former MP Accuses Senior Officials of Ignoring Pleas to Stop Crackdown on Protests

 People protest against increased gas price, on a highway in Tehran, Iran November 16, 2019. (Reuters)
People protest against increased gas price, on a highway in Tehran, Iran November 16, 2019. (Reuters)

A video interview with former Iranian MP Mahmoud Sadeghi revived talks about the Iranian authorities’ crackdown on the popular protests that swept the county in 2019 over the hike of petrol prices.

The interview revealed details of a closed-door meeting between deputies in the former parliament and senior officials in the security services, including the Secretary-General of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani. Sadeghi said that the senior security officials have ignored calls to stop the killing of protesters.

Iran witnessed massive protests in mid-November 2019 in wake of the government’s sudden decision to raise gasoline prices by 300 percent.

The protests began in the outskirts of the oil city of Ahvaz, in the southwest of Iran, before spreading across the country, prompting the authorities to cut off internet service and use live ammunition to disperse the demonstrators.

Minister of Interior Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said in an interview last summer that about 230 people died in the protests, adding that some were killed by unlicensed weapons.

Sadeghi said that the security officials responded by “no” when he asked them during that meeting about whether the authorities found evidence on the role of Iranian opposition groups and parties in the protests and strikes.

“They definitely didn’t find anything; all of the protesters were civilians…,” the former MP told the interview, adding: “I told Mr. Shamkhani at the time: What would you do if the people did not withdraw? Would you kill them? Shamkhani replied: “We will strike.”

In the first official response to Sadeghi’s statements, the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for National Security hinted at prosecuting the former deputy, saying his account was “false” and “unrealistic.”

The new information revealed by Sadeghi come a month after Shamkhani made controversial remarks in an interview with the state ISNA news agency, blaming the administration of President Hassan Rouhani for “mismanagement” and “lack of coordination” in implementing the decision to raise the fuel prices.



Iran: Partnership Pact with Russia Doesn’t Include Defense Clause

Tehran and Moscow have boosted their military and political cooperation in recent years. Maxim Shemetov / POOL/AFP
Tehran and Moscow have boosted their military and political cooperation in recent years. Maxim Shemetov / POOL/AFP
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Iran: Partnership Pact with Russia Doesn’t Include Defense Clause

Tehran and Moscow have boosted their military and political cooperation in recent years. Maxim Shemetov / POOL/AFP
Tehran and Moscow have boosted their military and political cooperation in recent years. Maxim Shemetov / POOL/AFP

Russia and Iran will sign a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty on Friday during a visit to Moscow by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, cementing ties between two of the world's most heavily sanctioned countries.
The agreement comes just three days before Iran-hawk Donald Trump enters the White House and as Moscow and Tehran seek to formalize their close relationship after years of deepening cooperation, said AFP.
Iran has supplied Russia with self-detonating "Shahed" drones that Moscow fires on Ukraine in nightly barrages, according to Ukrainian and Western officials, while both nations have ramped up trade amid Western sanctions.
The new treaty will strengthen Tehran and Moscow's "military-political and trade-economic" relations, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, without providing further detail.
Tehran has given little information about Friday's pact, but ruled out a mutual defense clause like the one included in Russia's treaty with North Korea last year, Russian state media reported, citing Tehran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi.
The two sides had been working on a new treaty for years, with their current relationship governed by a 2001 agreement that they have renewed periodically.
'Global hegemony'
Russia says its upcoming pact with Iran and the already-signed treaty with Pyongyang are "not directed against any country".
"The treaty ... is constructive in nature and is aimed at strengthening the capabilities of Russia, Iran, and our friends in various parts of the world," Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.
It is set to be valid for 20 years, Russia's TASS news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Iranian ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made building ties with Iran, China and North Korea a cornerstone of his foreign policy as he seeks to challenge what he calls as US-led "global hegemony".
Both Russia and Iran are under heavy Western sanctions that include restrictions on their vital energy industries.
At a summit of the BRICS group in Kazan last year, Putin told Pezeshkian he valued "truly friendly and constructive ties" between Russia and Iran.
Pezeshkian's visit to Russia comes just days before Trump returns to power.
The US president-elect, who has made repeated military threats against Iran, is seeking a rapid end to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The agreement comes a month after a rebel offensive overthrew Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad -- who was heavily supported by both Moscow and Tehran -- and as Israel and Iran's ally Hamas gear up for a ceasefire in Gaza.