Iranians Abandon Political Factions Ahead Of Elections

In a statement to local media, Abolfazl Amouei, a member of the Iranian Parliament and spokesperson for the National Security Commission stated that "Russia is contributing to the cybersecurity of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The agreement, which focuses on information and intelligence cybersecurity, was proposed by the Iranian government last year. Despite facing accusations of extensive cyber attacks, Iran received parliamentary approval for the bill in December.

The approved bill, originating from an agreement signed three years ago by former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, consists of nine articles. It primarily addresses joint efforts to counter cyber threats, strengthen information security measures, and foster cooperation between the two nations. Notably, the legislation includes a clause specifying the exchange of information and collaborative prosecution of criminal offenses between Iran and Russia.

The deepened political, military, communication, and cyber ties between Tehran and Moscow have elicited concerns among Western nations and their allies. Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) recently issued a warning about potential collaborative efforts by Russia, Iran, and China to influence upcoming elections, including the 2024 United States elections. The warning highlighted the possibility of authoritarian regimes targeting "election infrastructure, campaigns, and voters" through cyber means.

Iran's government networks have been hit multiple times by hacking groups, increasing in the wake of the 2022 uprising, while in December, its gas station networks were hit, reducing activities by 70 percent. 

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Monday, “Recent movements by the United States and the United Kingdom in the Red Sea threaten the security of the region.” 

The Times reported on Monday that the UK military is gearing up for a series of airstrikes against Yemen's Houthis. The plan involves collaboration with the US and potentially another European country to launch a barrage of missiles at predetermined targets, either in the sea or within Yemen, where the militants are based. 

According to British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, “If the Houthis continue to threaten lives and trade, we will be forced to take the necessary and appropriate action.” Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Shapps said the UK is "willing to take direct action" and "won't hesitate to take further action to deter threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.”

The Times said the UK and US are about to issue an ultimatum against attacking commercial vessels, citing a UK government source as saying that the statement would be a “last warning” and if the Houthis failed to stop the attacks, the response would likely be “limited” but “significant”.

Also on Sunday, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he had a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian about the attacks in the Red Sea, “which threaten innocent lives and the global economy.” Cameron said he made clear to his counterpart that “Iran shares responsibility for preventing these attacks, given their long-standing support to the Houthis.”

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Iran's state media quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying, "The Israeli regime cannot be allowed to commit massacres of women and children and genocide in Gaza and set the region on fire, while the stopping of a Zionist ship in the Red Sea is seen as endangering the security of this economic waterway." No official readout of the call was released to the media. 

During his Monday press conference, Kanaani again denied Tehran’s role in the attacks, despite saying that such accusations by the UK lack substance because the UK has a clear role in the Middle East's long standing crisis. Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that the Islamic Republic should continue its support for the “Resistance Front”, referring to the regime’s proxies.

Since the Gaza war broke out on October 7, sparked by Hamas’s invasion of Israel, Iran’s Yemeni proxy announced it would be joining the war on Israel in a bid to force a ceasefire amid Israel's relentless retaliatory attacks. Missiles and drones have been targeting Israeli soil as well as international shipping and US interests. Following the US support of Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of the October 7 attacks, which saw 1,200 mostly civilians murdered and 240 or more taken hostage, the US has come under further attacks in Iraq and Syria.

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The escalation in the maritime route which accounts for around 12 percent of global trade and oil, connecting Asia to Europe, has led the US to form a more than 20-member international coalition in the face of the aggression, Operation Prosperity Guardian. Several shipping companies have either ceased activity or taken longer routes, causing major delays and costs to journeys.

According to The Times, eight of the 20 ships attacked in the 30 days before Christmas were either UK-registered, had British citizens in their crew or carried goods for the UK.

As the UK and the US reportedly attempt to persuade other European countries to collaborate in forthcoming operations to secure the Red Sea, one of the world's most crucial maritime trade routes, Khamenei’s mouthpiece, the hardliner Kayhan daily proudly proclaimed the success of their "resistance doctrine" on Monday. The paper proclaimed that the region has been transformed and "Soleimanicized", referring to the slain IRGC-Quds force commander seen as the architect of Iran’s network of proxy militias.  

Employees of a petroleum company, affiliated with Iran's Offshore Oil Company in Hormozgan province, gathered once again to voice their dissatisfaction and protest the neglect of their demands.

Likewise, official and contractual employees of the Ministry of Oil, employed at the Aghajari Oil and Gas Exploitation Company, resumed protests against the disregard for their demands including the complete removal of salary caps, elimination of retirement age restrictions, and reimbursement of excess tax deductions.

Prior to this, Iranian oil industry employees had staged strikes, advocating for salary and wage increases to address economic concerns.

In a separate development, workers from the terminals and petrochemical reservoirs in Bandar Mahshahr held a demonstration outside their company's building, protesting the lack of attention to their demands.

Simultaneously, after eight consecutive days of strikes, employees of the Iranian National Steel Industrial Group declared their intention to prolong the strike until their demands, including salary and wage increases, are met.

The trend continued with retirees from the Social Security of Ahvaz and Shush expressing dissatisfaction with poor living conditions and unmet demands, rallying in front of the Social Security Organization and the Governorate building.

Retirees from the steel industry in Mazandaran and Esfahan also gathered in front of the Pension Fund, emphasizing their grievances.

In 2023 alone, Iran has witnessed at least 320 labor-related gatherings and 111 labor strikes, with the majority of protests centered around demands for improved wages and working conditions.

Sánchez had been detained in Tehran amidst an extensive Middle East tour on his way to Qatar but is understood to have been arrested after visiting the grave of Mahsa Amini, the symbol of the 2022 uprising who died in morality police custody. 

Before his unexplained disappearance in October 2022, Sánchez, a former paratrooper and devoted Real Madrid supporter, documented each leg of his extensive journey on social media. Starting his expedition in January 2022, he traversed Europe, Turkey, and Iraq before facing over a year of detention in Iran.

“The embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is pleased to announce the release of Santiago Sanchez Cogedor, the only Spanish citizen detained in Iran,” the Iranian Embassy in Spain posted on social media. “His release comes amid friendly and historic relations between the two countries and in accordance with the law.”

Tehran is known to be holding over 10 Western nationals, with accusations from governments and NGOs suggesting that Iran is employing them as leverage in negotiations involving its own citizens.

The release was a "humane and legal" step, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday, without giving further details.

On Sunday, she was commemorated at Tehran's Azadi Stadium before her repatriation to the United States for burial.

Born in the southern Iranians city of Shiraz in 2000, Mohammadi died on December 24 at the age of 23 in a car accident near the city of Bam in eastern Iran where she played for the city’s Khatoon FC, the winner of the 2022-2013 Iranian league title.

“Melika was also a women’s right activist and large empowering force to younger generations,” her teammates at Emory women’s soccer team for which she played for two years wrote on Instagram.

Female fans of Esteghlal FC honoring the memory of Mohammadi at a match in Tehran on December 30.

“She really wanted to empower other women in Iran and had plans for setting up several soccer schools in Iran with her own money to help other girls whose training opportunities are very limited,” a family member told Iran International.

The memorial during which Mohammadi’s flag-draped coffin was carried by military guards was attended by Mohammadi’s parents and other family members, friends, some sports officials, and several athletes.

Mohammadi’s sister, Aida who was wearing her sister’s number 18 national team shirt, and several others, ran a victory round at the stadium Sunday in her honor.

This was the first time such a ceremony was being held for a female athlete at Azadi Stadium. As a woman, Mohammadi had never practiced or played there due to an unwritten ban.

Women have not even been allowed to watch men’s matches at Azadi and other stadiums for four decades, except in a few rare cases, due to the ban. The world’s soccer authority (FIFA) has tried to convince the Islamic Republic for nearly a decade to lift the ban on women attending stadiums to watch male players. In recent months the ban has been relaxed somewhat.

Women’s matches are also never shown on TV.

Mohammadi’s coffin being carried at Azadi Stadium

Mohammadi started playing soccer from a very young age. She was invited to play for the national girls’ soccer team at the age of eleven and later to the under-17 team and the national women’s team.

Most recently, Mohammadi played as a midfielder for the national women’s soccer team. She played a pivotal role in her team in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asia Cup, the first ever win in the games for Iran's women’s team.

Since the age of 13, when she moved to the United States with her family, Mohammadi had also simultaneously played for Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland as well as Emory University of Atlanta, Georgia, from where she received her Bachelor of Science in anthropology and human biology.

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To be able to play for the national team in Iran and study in the US, she had to travel back and forth between Iran and the United States throughout these years.

Her mother said in a speech at the memorial ceremony at Hafezieh Stadium of Shiraz that her daughter decided to play in the Iranian league and the national team to help “shatter the glass ceiling” keeping Iranian women from success.

In the past few days Mohammadi has been remembered by fans with posters, silence, and chants at several matches.

Video posted by former national team coach, Maryam Irandoust, shows Melika and her teammates singing on a train during a tour.

“Iranian women who do not have a share of Azadi Stadium are only given their right of presence there after they die, ... Melika Mohammadi is truly commemorated only when women can freely be [allowed] presence at Azadi,” one of the tweets about the event read.

“Alas that Melika came to Azadi Stadium, for the first and last time, in these circumstances,” the very popular former TV football commentator and producer Adel Ferdosipour, who attended the ceremony at Azadi Stadium, told reporters referring to the unwritten ban on women’s team practicing and playing at the stadium like men’s team.

“Melika darling, you were the reason … Iranian female soccer players could go Azadi Stadium, a stadium where they had never trained there even once,” Hajar Dabbaghi, another national soccer team player wrote on Instagram while criticizing male soccer players for failing to show up at Melika’s remembrance.

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