Iran Police Appoint New Chief For Flashpoint Province, Repeat Threats

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser elaborated on the Thursday announcement about Canada making it easier for Iranians who wish to extend their temporary status in Canada, allowing them to apply for a new permit from inside the country. 

In his virtual interview with Mahsa Mortazavi, he said the measures were meant to help those Iranians who fear for their safety and prefer to stay longer in Canada after their temporary visa expires rather than return home amid an uprising in Iran, now into its six months and gaining more momentum. 

Fraser said as per their new regulations, Iranians studying, working or visiting family or any other temporary stay can get an extension of two years. The application process will be up and running as of March, he added. 

In addition to the new measures, the Canadian government also plans more options for other Iranians, who wish to immigrate to Canada. He, in particular, mentioned the special program that Canada has for people who seek refuge because they are being persecuted as human rights defenders. 

“We’re seeing and hearing stories from the Iranian community in Canada that there are many individuals who are vulnerable as a result of them standing up for human rights in Iran,” he said, adding that they are looking at the options to expand access to this stream. 

Answering a question about the situation of many Iranians who fled to Turkey in recent months to escape persecution by the regime, he said the situation is very challenging. He acknowledged the “extraordinary danger” they are facing in Turkey – considering Ankara’s close relations with Tehran and its proximity – saying Canada wants to do more to facilitate the protection of vulnerable individuals. 

He noted that there are certain unique challenges in Turkey, some of which are outside the control of the Canadian government and related to Turkish regulations, such as the documents needed to exit Turkey. 

He promised they are going to consider other options for the Iranians who have fled and are staying in third countries, such as Turkey. 

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Amid nationwide protests, ignited by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September, economic hardship and uncertainty about their future, more and more Iranians are emigrating, and Canada is one of the top destinations. However, since going directly to Canada needs a long process in addition to money, many have to go to nearby countries. The accelerating exodus is not limited to medical and engineering professionals anymore as many business owners have also started to transfer their businesses to neighboring countries where business is easier. 

Fraser also talked about the sanctions and inadmissibility provisions on Iranian individuals connected to the Islamic Republic and especially to the Revolutionary Guard. He insisted that anyone the top 50-percent regime officials would not be admitted. He explained that in addition to their list of sanctions on specific individuals, Ottawa is also putting in place regulations that can track down such individuals inside Canada and remove them from the country.

Canadian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Rob Oliphant told Iran International late in January that Ottawa needs to have a coordinated front against the atrocities of the Islamic Republic and the IRGC, both inside Canada and abroad.

He said the quickest action the Canadian government can take is limiting the activities of the Islamic Republic “through both the immigration act as well as through the special economic measures act that targets sanctions on those in the IRGC who are most directly responsible for the atrocities which they are committing on behalf of the regime.”

Groups of pensioners and workers from the bakery union, steel companies and sugar factories among others continued their strikes, that started during the week as bad news about rising prices daily jolted ordinary people. 

Bakers held a gathering in Tehran, while workers of Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane complex in the southwestern Khuzestan province, the Esfahan Steel Company in central Iran, and workers in several southern cities, where most of oil and gas companies are located, were on strike. 

The steel company’s strike, which started Saturday, went through the night while security forces used water cannons to disperse the protesting workers, but they gathered again and stopped the work of more sectors, as well as the night shift in the sprawling complex, a protester told Iran Interntional. According to him, parts of the Esfahan Steel Company are closed, and the governor of the city has visited the steel mill. He added that no cameras are allowed in the company and the place is swarming with security forces. The company, called Zob Ahan in Persian, is directly controlled by the country’s Ministry of Industries and Mines, and is Iran's third largest steel producer and is the largest factory producing steel for construction.

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Some of the retirees of the company also gathered in front of the company’s pensioners fund building on Sunday to protest against their conditions. In videos released to social media of the rally in provincial capital Ahvaz, people are heard chanting slogans such as “Leave Syria, solve our problems!”

In some other cities of the oil-rich province such as Shush, Shushtar, and Dezful as well as the central city of Kerman, pensioners held rallies and chanted slogans. 

Even the veterans of the Iraq-Iran war held a gathering on Sunday and asked for their overdue pensions. 

On an accelerating freefall in recent days, the rial lost value on Sunday to touch over 600,000 against the US dollar but bounced back a little to retreat again. The rial’s plunge to 575,000 Saturday exacerbated chaos in several of Iran's major markets and brought many businesses to near standstill. 

The government’s official rate of over 420,000 for the dollar on Saturday meant very little. Availability of foreign currency at that rate is very limited, which drives buyers to the black market, leading to speculations that the Central Bank of Iran injected a vast amount on Sunday to slow the devaluation. 

However, the government is also incapable of major changes in the market as is itself strapped for cash, sending Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to neighboring countries to find ways for funneling foreign currency through them. 

An informed Iraqi source told Iran International on Thursday that the recent trip by Amir-Abdollahian to Baghdad was focused on ways to retain the flow of foreign currency from the neighboring country. Washington has imposed new restrictions on dollar transfers to Iraq as the Arab country’s banking officials believe there is widespread money laundering sending funds to Iran and Syria.

According to Iran International sources, the IRGC’s Quds (Qods) force is laundering money for the regime with cooperation from the Islamic Republic’s embassy and several cover companies to take revenues from oil and gas exports back to Iran. The laundering network is managed under the supervision of Hamed Abdollahi, the commander of the Quds Force Unit 400 of the IRGC, which directs terrorist operations abroad. Some of the members of his family and a former IRGC official Mahmoud Hassani-Zadeh work in the operations. 

Earlier in the month, Iran International obtained information that the Islamic Republic is suffering from heavy financial losses because such a large amount of its money is blocked in Iraq by US banking sanctions.

The rial fell from 35,000 to more than 600,000 against the US dollar in exactly five years. This led to very high inflation, officially at more than 50 percent, which has impoverished tens of millions of Iranians. An Iranian economist says the role of US sanctions in causing economic chaos in Iran has been significant.

Younes Panahi said on Sunday that "It was found that some people wanted all schools, especially girls' schools, to be closed."

"It has been revealed that the chemical compounds used to poison students are not war chemicals, and the poisoned students do not need aggressive treatment, and a large percentage of the chemical agents used are treatable," he told a press conference.

Homayoun Sameh Najafabadi, a member of the health committee of the parliament, also confirmed in an interview with Didbaniran website that the poisoning of female students in schools of Qom and Borujerd is intentional.

These statements are made in a situation that earlier Youssef Nouri, the Minister of Education called the reports about the poisoning of schoolgirls "rumors", claiming that the students taken to the hospital had "underlying diseases".

However, on Sunday, Majid Monemi, the deputy governor of Lorestan, said 50 female students of a high school in Borujerd, western Iran, were poisoned again.

The serial poisoning of students in Iran started in December in the religious city of Qom and spread to several other cities.

The government has not determined the cause of the poisonings, but some local media say it could be the work of religious zealots who want to prevent girls from attending school.

Teenage schoolgirls joined the antigovernment protests last year and many removed their hijab in protest.

In a new directive, Iran’s FDA, which operates under the supervision of the ministry of health, also ordered pharmacies to put the obligatory hijab "instructions" in the view of their clients as well.

According to the directive, pharmacy managers are responsible for monitoring the way female employees are covered. Before an owner opens a pharmacy, s/he is required to give a written commitment in this regard.

In the past weeks, at least two pharmacies in Tehran and Amol in the north have been sealed off due to the “improper” hijab of their female employees.

In another development, Shiraz University has summoned those students whose hijab was deemed insufficient to participate in "mandatory hijab counseling" sessions.

According to the Telegram channel of the country’s Student Union Council, the students whose "improper hijab or removal of hijab" has been reported to a special committee are asked to participate in the counselling sessions.

In the past days, several reports have been published about pressure and threats against students over their hijab.

In a recent move, Tehran University threatened that students who do not comply with hijab regulations will be subject to "disciplinary action".

According to reports received by Iran International, education authorities do not allow these students to continue their studies, and the directors of some schools, in cooperation with security institutions, have banned their presence in classrooms.

Some families say the school administrators have told them that the presence of the protesting children in school may have a "negative effect" on other students.

Asghar Baqerzadeh, the Deputy Education Minister had said there is no problem for students who "were active in the recent protests” to continue their studies.

Also, serial poisonings in girls' schools that have endangered the lives of hundreds of children continue at different locations.

In the latest case, Iranian media reported that students of a high school in Boroujerd showed severe poisoning symptoms and 44 students were hospitalized.

This is the third time mass poisoning have been reported at this school in the past week.

The serial poisoning of students in Iran started in December in the religious city of Qom and spread to several other cities.

The government has not determined the cause of the poisonings but some local media say it could be the work of religious zealots who want to prevent girls from attending school.

Teenage schoolgirls joined the antigovernment protests last year and many removed their hijab in protest.