“Nearly seven months after Iran’s security forces killed several hundred protesters in November 2019, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said implicitly for the first time on Saturday May 30 that the number of those killed was around 200. While Iran has been hiding the actual number of those killed in the violent crackdown that followed the nationwide protests in November, independent news agencies and human rights watchers put the number at up to 1,500.” See “Iran Minister Downplays November Protest Death Toll In First Official Acknowledgement,” Radio Farda, May 31, 2020.
And we have another new official, the speaker of Parliament, who makes a similar disturbing statement. “Iran’s new parliament speaker says talks with US ‘futile’,” AFP, May 31, 2020. Notably, Speaker Ghalibaf also “vowed revenge for the US drone attack in January that killed Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Guards’ foreign operations arm. “Our strategy in confronting the terrorist America is to finish the revenge for martyr Soleimani’s blood,” he told lawmakers in a televised address. … This, he said, would entail “the total expulsion of America’s terrorist army from the region”.” This is despite Iran’s earlier official statements that using ballistic missiles against American bases in Iraq was sufficient retaliation.
Many persons, including Iranians, follow and cheer for football/soccer. Iran’s government has lied to its citizens, though, regarding its communications with FIFA for years, and has put the country’s membership in jeopardy. “FIFA Threatens Iran With Suspension From World Football,” Radio Farda, May 31, 2020. Here is the full story. “FIFA, the international governing body of football (soccer), has set a short deadline for the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) to either amend its statues or face global suspension. In a letter received on May 29, FIFA has objected to FFIRI’s recently drafted statues, demanding its amendment according to FIFA’s rules. FFIRI has until June 5 to comply or face an international suspension, the state-run Mehr News Agency reported on May 30. FFIRI submitted its updated draft statues to FIFA in mid-May. FIFA had previously banned FFIRI from holding its elections due to concerns over potential government interference in its affairs. Earlier, in April, an official in charge of running Iran’s Football (soccer) Federation for almost a decade had stepped forward, openly admitting that the association had frequently lied to the world governing body about its independence from the government. Speaking on a local radio show in Tehran, Iran’s former football chief Ali Kafashian declared that despite FIFA’s regulations, the Iranian soccer association has always been under the government’s direct control. FIFA rules decree that a national football federation should remain autonomous and independent from the national government. Mehr’s report does not mention FIFA’s objections in detail but says the letter refers to eighty cases that should be addressed, including reducing the role of the Islamic Republic’s sports minister in deciding FFIRI internal affairs. Moreover, one of the main objections that FIFA has made to FFIRI’s amended statutes is that the federation’s independence is not mentioned in the draft. The statutes should explicitly state that no external organization -in this case, the government – has the right to interfere in the football affairs, FIFA has asserted in the letter. “We deem that a failure to comply with this directive would result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies for further action,” the letter reads.”
“On Friday, May 22, the State Department “Fact Sheet” maintained that the Shi’ite clergy-dominated Iran, since its establishment four decades ago, has carried out more than 360 assassinations, terrorist plots, and terrorist attacks in more than forty countries across the globe.” See “Special Representative Hook Calls Iran’s Regime ‘Marxist Theocracy’,” Radio Farda, May 31, 2020.
“Iran Arrests Two In Death Of Woman Resisting Demolition Of Her House,” Radio Farda, May 31, 2020.
“What’s Wrong With Iran’s Fake Aircraft Carrier,” H.I. Sutton, Naval News, May 31, 2020.
“Coronavirus pandemic rises freight rate between Iran, Qatar by 3 folds,” Tehran Times, May 31, 2020.
Just a voice, not a government like Russia, but supporting the Regime, which encourages Iran to not move toward normalcy. “Iranian people are victims of Trump’s decisions: Colorado University professor,” Tehran Times, May 31, 2020.
“Iran ‘likely’ to give Ukrainian airplane black box to France – report,” Aaron Reich, Jerusalem Post, May 31, 2020.
“Top Iran body denies negligence in teenage girl’s killing,” AFP, May 31, 2020. Below are some quotes. Iran’s Guardian Council denied Saturday that the killing of a teenage girl by her father was the result of “negligence” due to a delay in its approval of a new law to protect children and teenagers. According to Iranian media, Romina Ashrafi was killed in her sleep on May 21 by her father, who decapitated her in the family home in Talesh in northern Gilan province. The reports said she ran away after her father refused her permission to marry a man 15 years older, but was detained and taken home. The legal age to marry in Iran is 13 for women. Kadkhodaee said the council had indicated to parliament that it had some “objections” concerning the text of the bill and that lawmakers could have met in an emergency session to further discuss the draft law. But he added: “One law alone cannot resolve such problems (apparent ‘honour’ crimes) which have a cultural, social and even economic dimension.” Iranian media reported that after authorities detained the teenager, she told a judge she feared for her life if she was sent home. But what most outraged public opinion was that the girl’s father was likely to face a lenient punishment of just three to 10 years in prison, which could be further reduced, according to the Ebtekar newspaper.