Republican Lawmakers Fight Raisi Visit To US

Atousa Pourkashiyan's game against fellow exiled Iranian Mitra Hejazipour at the FIDE World Women's Team Championship 2023 in Bydgoszcz, Poland, was a sad day for Iranians who see the game's best competing for different countries. 

Last year, Pourkashiyan was among the several female athletes across Iranian sport, who over recent years have chosen to shun the hijab on the world stage. The seven time Iranian women's champion, now competing for the US, played against Hejazipour Wednesday, who now represents France. She was expelled from the national team back in 2020 for refusal to wear the hijab.

Hejazipour, now known as the French chess queen, said: "While playing against Atousa, I wondered what has led us to a point where we are not even members of the same continent today?"

Also at the match was Sara Khadem al-Sharieh, who emigrated to Spain following a controversial game last year in which she competed for Iran without her headscarf, knowing she and her family could never return home after the bold statement in support of the protests in the wake of Mahsa Amini's murder in morality police custody.

Sariolghalam also insisted in an interview with Khabar Online that membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS will not help Iran unless it maintains healthy relations with the rest of the world. The biggest service Iranian lawmakers, policy makers and decision-makers can do to the nation is trying to relieve the country of the sanctions and pave the way for constructive international relations. 

A graduate of the USC and the Ohio State University, Dr. Sariolghalam who teaches at the Beheshti University in Tehran, suggested in this interview that Iran should start liberalization before democratization and prioritize economic development before starting political development as a way out of its current crisis. 

He also added that having experts as members of the parliament is part of the way out of the crisis. He said the main concern for officials should be one of economic development because a country without an income cannot have social or cultural growth. 

Emphasizing the need for expertise within the government, Sariolghalam highlighted that economic development and governance are akin to sciences like medicine and engineering. He went on to state that holding numerous conferences each year is not necessary to grasp this concept. He further underscored that given the current state of affairs in Iran, the country cannot progress in a manner comparable to the development seen in countries like South Korea, Singapore, Mexico, Brazil, and Indonesia.

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Hinting at the pitfalls of government and military control of the economy, he pointed out that in countries like China, Turkey, and Mexico, governments separated the realms of resource management and ownership to foster development. Conversely, India achieved development when its military recognized the necessity of separating ownership from the state.

Sariolghalam said officials need to understand that high significance is attached to expertise in Qatar and Saudi Arabia to ensure their development. He added that the ability to communicate with the outside world should be a key criterion for appointing ministers and electing lawmakers. He warned that during the next 20 years, a vast gap will emerge between Iran and Arab countries.

He also cautioned that Iran cannot grow if the government wishes to control 95 percent of all resources and leave only 5 percent for the private sector. Elsewhere in the interview, Sariolghalam said the West's problem with Iran is not about the nuclear issue, it is about Iranian officials' attitude toward Israel and the Jewish people. The JCPOA could not solve the conflict between Iran and the West and that is why it was not successful.

Meanwhile, in another interview with Khabar Online, former commander of the IRGC navy Hossein Alaei, who has been known as an academic in the Iranian universities as well as a reformist political figure during the past three decades, said that "halfway through President Ebrahim Raisi's four-year term of office, the government is beginning to realize that Iran's economic problems will not be solved unless the sanctions are lifted."

He also added that Iran's membership in international organizations such as BRICS and SCO can be helpful only in the absence of sanctions. Speaking about the hindrances to Iran's development, Alaei said that US sanctions are the main obstacle. 

The former commander emphasized that Iranian officials must alter their approach towards the West, particularly the United States. He regarded Iran's enmity with the US as the nation's most pressing issue, noting that the current sanctions make it unlikely for any country to consider cooperating with Tehran. He urged a reduction in this perilous level of hostility towards the United States.

"All officials should make economic development their number one priority," Alaei underlined.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the community expressed its concern and anguish over the relentless oppression of the group of roughly 300,000 by the regime.

The focal point of the community's announcement is the unanimous passage of House Resolution 492 by the United States House of Representatives.

The crucial resolution, entitled Condemning the Government of Iran's State-Sponsored Persecution of the Baha’i Minority and Its Continued Violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights, was introduced by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky [D-IL], supported by a bipartisan group of 28 cosponsors.

House Resolution 492 chronicles the sustained and egregious abuses suffered by the community in Iran since 1979, providing an irrefutable record of their persecution. The resolution emphatically calls on the regime of Iran to immediately cease its persecution of the Baha’is and denounces its continued violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The community's statement also reveals alarming statistics about the recent surge in persecution, beginning in June last year. During this period, over 300 incidents of raids, arrests, arraignments, sentencings, property confiscations, and denials of higher education have been documented. The pattern of oppression continues unabated, with nearly 60 Baha’is arrested or imprisoned, 26 receiving sentences or jail terms, and 59 Baha’i-owned properties forcibly sealed by authorities.

The lawyers, who had gathered outside the judiciary’s headquarters in Tehran, said the new reforms particularly hinder the lawyers who defend politically motivated cases including activists, dissidents, journalists, and artists targeted by the state.

The messages conveyed by their signs were unequivocal: "Lawyers' independence safeguards the defense of people's rights" and "Without independent lawyers, defendants are left defenseless."

Over time, Iranian bar associations have faced increasing pressures from governmental bodies and the judiciary. They have gradually seen their autonomy and authority erode through the enactment of various laws and a series of protests were seen at bar associations across the country in August.

On August 21, Iranian lawmakers passed a new bill that imposes a mandate on bar associations to comply with decisions made by the Regulatory Board of the Ministry of Economy, effectively rendering them as extensions of the government. The legislation restricts the possibility of challenging the decisions of the Regulatory Board in the Administrative Justice Court.

Among its provisions, the resolution confers authority upon the Ministry of Economy to issue, renew, and revoke attorney licenses. Lawyers contend that this move contradicts international legal standards and established regulations.

The plenary session opened in Strasbourg to discuss the effectiveness of European measures “one year after the murder of Mahsa Amini” in custody of the Islamic Republic’s hijab police that ignited the Women, Life, Freedom protests, the boldest revolt against the regime since its establishment in 1979.

Opening remarks by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola a day earlier sounded vapid as she reiterated that “Parliament proudly stands with the brave, defiant women and men who continue to fight for equality, dignity and freedom in Iran...” She also “strongly” condemned the Iranian regime for “taking EU and dual nationals hostage” and called for “the immediate release of EU official Johan Floderus and Professor Ahmad Reza Jalali.”

EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell opened similarly, claiming that "the EU has stood united over the past 12 months on Iran.” “The last 12 months marked a clear change in our relations with Iran. We've adopted nine consecutive rounds of sanctions...Our relations with Iran are at a low point, but we need to keep diplomatic channels open."

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After Borrell, dozens of MEPs took turns decrying what they dubbed as toothless measures against the regime that failed to prevent killing of protesters, taking hostages, supplying arms to Russia and wreaking havoc across the region through the Revolutionary Guards as well as its proxy militias. Their demands included labeling the IRGC as a terrorist outfit, more comprehensive sanctions against the regime's human rights abusers, and refusing any negotiations with the regime until all EU citizens unjustly held are freed.

German MEP Hannah Neumann said, "Mr. Borrell, it's time to clearly spell it out: The EU's Iran policy of the last 44 years has failed. Stop meeting regime representatives! Start meeting the many different people that advocate for a free Iran! Stop financial flows of the regime and start exploring avenues for the diaspora to send home remittances for strike funds!”

“Spell out the truth: This regime terrorizes its own citizens and the whole region, it systematically uses rape to force political prisoners into confessions, and it is already preparing to crack down on the protests planned for September 16 (the death anniversary of Mahsa Amini). Mr. Borrell, you have to stop stabilizing a brutal regime while the people in Iran are prepared to die for its downfall!" she added.

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Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister, denounced EU’s approach and strategy on the Islamic Republic, saying, “Let's be honest: the policy and the strategy of Europe towards Iran is purely symbolic. It has nothing to do with stopping the regime.”

“This parliament wants another approach! I request that in two months, we revisit this matter on the plenary of this parliament so that we can see the change in your strategy and that you can also convince your colleagues, the ministers of foreign affairs, because a new course of action is not solely your responsibility,” he added.

“What is happening in Iran is a disgrace. It's a regime of violence and murder,"Verhofstadt underlined.

Charlie Weimers, a Swedish conservative democrat, noted that “EU leaders have expressed support for the protests against the mullahs. But the EU has continued its failed policy of appeasement.”

He called on all the decision makers to “unite -- from left to right -- for a new EU policy: Maximum support for the people. Maximum pressure on the regime.”

Bart Groothuis, a Dutch MEP, called on the bloc to “expel all Iranian ambassadors from Europe” and cut diplomatic ties “until all European hostages are freed."

Borrell, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, took the floor again after the MEPs, saying, “I don't think it is acceptable to say that the European Union supports this regime, which is what I just heard... You've expressed your moral indignation, and that's okay, but I don't think that that is actually going to solve miraculously the problems.”

"We've been working to help support Iranian women in their fight for their fundamental rights and will continue to do so. We are also working with the member states to try and solve many of the cases of European citizens that have been illegally detained in Iran. And we're trying to help and provide support for them to come back to Europe,” he stated.

Regarding calls for the designation of IRGC as a terrorist group, Borrell reiterated his earlier position that a national authority or court should find the IRGC complicit in terrorism before the EU takes a step to designate it.

Borrell claimed that "At the moment, we don't have that, and well, I can't take this step. We need the unanimity of the 27 member states and that is the basis. So, I'm afraid I can't do this. If you think that I'm wrong, tell me why."

His remarks came despite numerous efforts by MEPs and activists to provide the necessary groundwork for the EU to act on calls to list the IRGC as a terror group. In July, two MEPs stated that according to the “Common Position 2001/931/CFSP, Article 1(4) which sets out the parameters for the inclusion of persons and entities on the EU terrorist list,” the IRGC can be listed without any legal barriers. In June, a similar line of arguments was put forth by Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi, citing a group of French-Iranian lawyers who reasoned that there are no legal obstacles for the EU to blacklist the Revolutionary Guards.

In January, the European Parliament overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on the EU and member states to designate the IRGC as a terrorist group, as it does not have such an authority. If the resolution garners enough support, it is then upon the national governments of the EU member states to make the final decision. The listing of the IRGC must have a unanimous vote by all 27 EU members in the EU Council.