Iran news in brief, January 15, 2019

Iran news in brief, January 15, 2019

1- Iran Regime Announces Failure of Satellite Launch

Iran Regime said it conducted a satellite launch, but the rocket failed to reach orbit.

Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi told state TV that the rocket carrying the Payam satellite failed to reach the "necessary speed" in the third stage of launch.

The reported launch, on January 15, came amid growing warnings from the United States about Tehran's rocket tests and accusations they violate United Nations resolutions.

Tehran is facing increasingly harsh warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

2- Military Cargo Plane Crashes Near Tehran - 15 Reported Killed

Iran's army has announced a cargo plane that crashed in Iran's Alborz province, west of Tehran on Monday was a military plane and that 15 out of the 16 people on board had been killed, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"A Boeing cargo 707 place carrying meat from Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan had an emergency landing at Fath airport today ... the flight engineer has been dispatched to the hospital," the army said in a statement carried by Fars.

Fath airport is located near the city of Karaj, east of Tehran.

3- Iran Regime's Economic Stalemate

On Sunday, January 13, A top Iranian conservative politician has indirectly attacked the government of President Hassan Rouhani, saying Iran’s government management system is “stuck in mud” and has demanded economic affairs to be delegated to the military.

The IRGC already has a vast economic empire in Iran, which has been criticized by many, including Rouhani, who in 2017 called the Revolutionary Guards “the government with rifles”.

Critics see IRGC’s economic role as one of the impediments to economic reform and a source of nepotism and corruption.

4- Protests by Retired Teachers in Tehran

On Sunday, retired Iranian teachers held demonstrations in front of the headquarters of the Association for Teachers’ Fund in Vanak, Tehran. The protesters held banners that read, “Give us our share.”

The retired teachers have been regularly protesting to the government neglecting their basic rights. In December, the teachers held demonstrations in protest to the insufficient budget that the regime has allocated to them. The retired teachers have been holding demonstrations in front of government buildings including the Budget and Planning Organization, and in different cities including Tehran, Isfahan, Rasht, and Yazd. While the value of rial has plummeted, the regime has refrained from balancing the salaries of education sector workers.

5- Rubio Slams NY Times for 'Absurd Criticism' of Bolton Over Iran

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) slammed The New York Times on Monday for what he called its "absurd criticism" of John Bolton after the paper warned the national security adviser could "precipitate a conflict with Iran."

"This is an absurd criticism of Amb. Bolton," Rubio wrote his more than 3.6 million followers on Twitter.

"Shia militias in Iraq are proxies of & controlled by Iran," he added. "They want to use them to kill our troops but have deniability. Any attack by Shia militias against U.S. should be treated as an attack from Iran."