Hundreds of executions and compulsory headscarves in Iran
In Iran According to Amnesty International, around 100 people were executed in January and February. Most of those executed had been convicted of drug-related offences. Amnesty International has accused Iran of using the death penalty to repress ethnic minorities.
A Kurdish activist was executed in the central prison of Urmia on Friday. According to the Iranian human rights organization Hengaw, which is based in Norway, he is a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDPI), which is banned as a terrorist organization in Iran. Mohieddin Ebrahimi, 43, was convicted in 2018 of party membership and charges of taking part in an “armed insurrection”. Five others were executed with him. Only China carries out more death sentences than Iran.
The Islamic Republic wants to get back to this with new measures and penalties compulsory headscarf for women, which has been disregarded by many women since the protests began. Bijan Nobaweh, a member of parliament’s culture committee, said there was a new set of penalties for women who violated the obligation to wear a headscarf. The deputy said that women who have been warned several times should have their Internet and mobile phone connections blocked.
Instead of the moral police patrolling the streets, surveillance cameras in public spaces are to identify women who are not wearing a headscarf. In the past few days, court orders have closed shops and hotels in which women did not wear a headscarf. Meanwhile, a member of the parliamentary presidium has contradicted Nobaweh’s statements, indicating indecisiveness in the Islamic Republic’s leadership.
hope for Saudi investment
A week after signing an agreement to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Republic is stepping up efforts to defuse tensions with other Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf as well. Last week, the Secretary-General of the National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, visited the United Arab Emirates and a delegation of Iranian parliamentarians traveled to Bahrain. Nasser Kanaani, spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said his country is ready to improve ties with Bahrain. Apparently talks are already taking place about resuming diplomatic relations, which were broken off seven years ago.
Iranian state media are hailing the China-brokered normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia as the beginning of a new era in world politics, with China taking over from the United States as the leader in the Middle East. However, some critical voices point out that China’s diplomacy is still being put to the test.
In Iran, the normalization that has been initiated with Saudi Arabia is fueling hopes of Saudi investment. The Saudi Finance Minister Muhammad Jadaan gave corresponding information last Wednesday. However, Iranian economists also pointed out that as a prerequisite Iran must join the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which fights money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of weapons of mass destruction. To do this, Iran would have to give up its sanctions bypass network.
