What will 80 lashes do to Narges Mohammadi, a campaigner against the death penalty, and spokeswoman for the Defenders of Human Rights Centre in Iran? She was found guilty of “propaganda against the system.” “Iran sentences activist to 30 months jail, flogging,” Arab News, AFP, May 27, 2021.
“Iran’s Khamenei backs hardliner versus hardliner presidential vote,” Parisa Hafezi, Reuters, May 27, 2021.
Bizzaro, on two fronts. First, why would the Iranian Health Ministry have a picture of the dead Quds Force leader on the wall? His life activities didn’t have too much to do with health, instead the opposite. Second, Iranians have been moaning for months about the need from more inoculations. Why export? The home crowd needs these. “Iran Says Mass Producing Covid 19 Vaccines, Ready For Export,” Kashmir Observer, May 27, 2021.
“Iran: Ukraine Airline Victims’ Families Harassed, Abused,” HRW, May 27, 2021.
“New Iranian Underwater Weapon Hints At Technology Advances,” David Hambling, Forbes, May 27, 2021.
On the other hand, after reading Max Boot’s op-ed from yesterday, take Mike Rogers’ piece. Rogers is former chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Read it and decided who has the better argument. Rogers says Iran helped Hamas build up to some 30,000 rockets and mortars, especially the most advanced. And the article names and quotes Hamas officials crediting Iran for its support. Rogers says, “Iran’s policies in the Middle East have done nothing but bring ruin to the region, destabilize our allies and foment violence in areas that need assistance and support, not more arms and munitions. “Iran’s destabilizing role has been exposed in Gaza,” Mike Rogers, op-ed, The Hill, May 27, 2021.
“Iranian agents linked to terrorist plot in Sweden against dissidents,” Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post,” May 27, 2021.
“Alarmists, including current Secretary of State Antony Blinken, warned that delivering on a decades-old promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem would set fire to a regional tinderbox. Many of the same detractors said taking Iranian terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani off the battlefield would spark a war. In both cases, the opposite happened. Our potential partners, Arabs and Jews alike, saw that it was possible to break out of antiquated molds and approach old problems with new ideas – and would-be troublemakers realized there were real consequences to malign actions.” See “Ex-US intel chief to ‘Post’: Biden is surrendering to Iran,” John Ratcliffe, Jerusalem Post, May 27, 2021.
“How Hamas Is Strengthening the Turkey-Iran-Qatar Axis,” Maya Carlin, National Interest, May 27, 2021.
The selected and very limited options for the next presidential election bode poorly for the country. “The Islamic Republic’s Republic Is Dying,” Sina Toossi, Foreign Policy, May 27, 2021.