Regime Fortifying Streets Amid Measures For Protests Anniversary

Although no announcement could be found on CFR’s website, a member of the Council, Iranian Jewish well-known writer Roya Hakakian wrote a post on X sharing information that she was invited to the meeting but turned down the invitation. Iran International wrote to the Council on Foreign Relations asking for clarification but has not received a response at the time of this publication.

The date of the meeting is not clear, but Raisi will attend the United Nation’s annual General Assembly taking place in New York City from September 18-26.

Hakakian replied to the invitation saying, “Thank you for this invitation, which, I'm afraid, I must decline. While I am an absolutist when it comes to the value of dialogue, I see the presence of Ebrahim Raisi at the Council on Foreign Relations as a political baptism for a man who has been implicated in countless crimes…”

Raisi, a hardline cleric, who is fully loyal to Iran’s authoritarian rule Ali Khamenei, was elected president in June 2021, in a vote that excluded all the main candidates by a decision of the Guardian Council, a constitutional body composed of Khamenei supporters which reviews candidate credentials. The review is an opaque process and reasons for rejecting a candidate are never transparent.

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Before becoming a president by Khamenei’s anointment, Raisi spent almost four decades in the Islamic Republic’s notorious “Judiciary”, also controlled by Khamenei since the early 1990s. It was there in 1988 when he was appointed to a small and secret “death commission” that decided to execute thousands of political prisoners serving their sentences.

In an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes last September Raisi did not deny his involvement.

Young men and women belonging to opposition groups, some violent, were summarily tried without due process and up to 5,000 were killed in prisons.

“Dialogue is reserved for those with whom we have disagreements. For criminals like Raisi, the only venue for conversation must be a court of law,” Hakakian wrote to CFR.

But Hakakian and many other Iranian Americans are furious not just for Raisi’s culpability in one crime in 1988, but also for his role and responsibility as President during the Women, Life, Freedom protests that rocked Iran after Mahsa Amini’s death in hijab police custody last year.

As young people came into the streets to demand answers for her death, security forces armed with shotguns and military grade weapons began shooting them, a behavior that occurred repeatedly for months. The real death toll has not been announced but human rights groups have estimated that more than 500 civilians were killed, hundreds seriously injured and around 22,000 arrested. After hasty trials without due process, seven people were hanged and several face execution and the death penalty.

Raisi and his government have repeatedly said that the protests were riots instigated by the United States and have not held any law enforcement agent of official responsible. In December, he vowed “no mercy” in dealing with the protesters.

“As a proud naturalized American citizen, I cannot help but think that providing such a storied platform to such a man will be legitimizing him, and it is, therefore, an insult to the memory of the protestors who were, and are, fighting for democracy, and it is, therefore, profoundly unamerican,” Hakakian told the Council on Foreign Relations.

It described the Iranian regime's systematic use of sexual violence with the aim of "instilling fear, shame, and silence" in victims as reprehensible.

The US Department of State, in a post on its Persian-language page on the X social media network on Friday, wrote: "The use of sexual violence by the Iranian authorities further demonstrates the courage of Iranians against such reprehensible actions aimed at intimidating them."

This department emphasized Washington's commitment to continue supporting the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Iranian people and collaborating with allies and partners to hold human rights violators accountable.

Maroufian, a detained journalist in Evin Prison, announced in an audio file released on Thursday that she had been sexually assaulted during her detention. She also stated that she had gone on a hunger strike in protest to the suffering imposed on her and other women by the government.

This journalist, who had recently been released on bail, was rearrested August 30 in a violent manner.

She began a hunger strike in Evin Prison last week, demanding unconditional release and the restoration of her dignity, as well as punishment for the officials who had beaten her during her detention.

However, Mizan News Agency, affiliated with the Iranian judiciary, dismissed Maroufian’s disclosure as a "claim" and stated that she and her lawyer had not registered any complaint in this regard.

The Iranian government routinely denies reports about torture, harassment, or sexual assault on prisoners and has not addressed the disclosure or complaints of women and men in custody in this regard.

The ruling in favor of the three children of Abbas Amir-Entezam was announced by Herischi and Associates, a Washington-based law firm that represented them in a US federal court in the District of Columbia. 

The law firm sued the Islamic Republic and the Revolutionary Guards in July 2019 on behalf of Amir-Entezam’s children -- Ardeshir, Anoush, and Elham – who were 2, 6, and 9 at the time of his imprisonment. 

Herischi and associates have also represented the families of ten crew members of Sanchi oil tanker, family of Omar “Chicho" Mahmoudzadeh, a US citizen who was killed in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack in Iraq, the families of victims of the Ukrainian flight PS752 which was shot down by Iran’s air defenses on January 8, 2020, shortly after it took off from Imam Khomeini Airport, Tehran, and US-based activist Masih Alinejad. 

The plaintiffs who never saw their father again were awarded $3.25m in compensatory damages and $3.25m in punitive damages for a total of $6.5m each. Amir-Entezam passed away in Tehran in July 2018 at the age of 86. The fine is to be collected from Iranian funds in the US allocated to provide compensation to American victims of international terrorism. 

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Amir-Entezam was a France and US-educated civil engineer was appointed as deputy prime minister and government spokesman in the interim cabinet formed by Mehdi Bazargan immediately after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. He was sent to Sweden a few months later as ambassador when some political groups objected to his qualifications.

Amir-Entezam was summoned from Sweden and was arrested upon his arrival at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport in December 1979, soon after revolutionary students took over the US embassy in Tehran and was later charged with spying for the United States based on embassy documents the students had seized. 

These documents were minutes of the meetings between Amir-Entezam and the US ambassador and other diplomats in Tehran when he was deputy prime minister. 

Amir-Entezam who was one of the first political prisoners, and the longest-held, in the Islamic Republic, always insisted the charges of espionage and said these had held routine diplomatic meetings. 

He also alleged that he had been a victim of the prevalent anti-American atmosphere in the country at the time, created by the Soviet Union and the Toudeh party in Iran which upheld Soviet interests. 

The former official and diplomat was reportedly held in solitary confinement for over 550 days without access to lawyers during which time he was subjected to many tortures. He was subsequently sentenced to death by a revolutionary Court. 

The death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment with Bazargan’s help. It took seventeen years before Amir-Entezam was allowed to leave the prison and live in his own house, under constant supervision. 

Even his limited freedom did not take long, and he was sent back to prison three months later in 1998 after criticizing Assadollah Lajevardi, the warden of the Evin Prison where he had been held, in an interview with the Voice of America, and calling him “an executioner”. 

Amir-Entezam was released and sent back to prison twice more after that for objecting to the principle of a ‘Supreme Leader’ being the absolute ruler of the country and proposing a referendum on the Constitution in his interviews and writings. In 2003 authorities decided to release him from prison due to serious health issues but he was never allowed to leave the country. 

Some Iranians have criticized the ruling and similar cases when US courts awarded monetary judgments to plaintiffs to be paid from Iran’s funds in the United States. They argue that these funds belong to the Iranian people and should be returned once the Islamic Republic ceases to exist.

Vahid Afkari, who continues to be incarcerated in solitary confinement, stands as a symbol of resilience in the face of injustice and remains an enduring source of inspiration for many across Iran.

Navid Afkari, a talented wrestler, was apprehended in August 2018 amid widespread protests against escalating prices and economic hardships in Shiraz. Tragically, he was executed on September 12, 2020, following a trial marred by inconsistencies and irregularities.

In a poignant letter addressed to his brother Vahid, Habib Afkari wrote "Every day you endure in solitary confinement, bearing the weight of suffering and pain, you understand that you are paving the path towards a brighter future for our nation. You are the one forgotten and abandoned in that dim cell, yet you steadfastly cling to your faith, believing that your unwavering resolve will hasten the day of freedom."

Vahid Afkari has been sentenced to 33 years and 9 months in prison, accompanied by 74 lashes, following a controversial trial. He has endured three years of solitary confinement.

Afkari’s sister, Elham, who was also arrested by Shiraz's intelligence office in November 2021, regained her freedom several months later after receiving a five-year suspended sentence.

The latest audio recording released by Navid Afkari has prominently featured a phrase that has resonated widely over the past three years: "They search for the neck for their noose."

The verdict comes in response to charges of "causing harm to public modesty" brought against her, though the verdict has been suspended for five years, likely in a bid to keep the situation calm amidst rising angst as the country nears the one year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.

It is believed Kazempour appeared in court on August 28 to face the charges. Following the suspension, the court stipulated that should she commit any similar "crimes" during this period, she will not only receive lashes but also face punishment for her subsequent “misconduct”.

The incident that led to Kazempour's trial occurred during the annual assembly of the Tehran Construction Engineering Organization. She had been barred from running as a candidate for the board because of her not wearing her hijab correctly. In response, Kazempour removed her headscarf completely and took to the stage, making a brief statement asserting, "I don't recognize the assembly that doesn't allow candidates to run because they don't wear a headscarf." Her actions were met with applause from many of the participants and her story of defiance became one of the many which has made headlines since September's uprising.

Kazempour is one of thousands of women who have cast off their headscarves in the wake of Amini's death, the young Kurdish-Iranian arrested for not wearing her hijab properly and subsequently fatally beaten in police custody. Women have been seen burning headscarves in the streets leading to a harsh response from the regime including increased surveillance and bans on entry to public places for those flouting the law.