Iran news in brief, January 29, 2018

Iran news in brief, January 29, 2018

EU Delays Payment System for Iran Amid U.S. Warnings

The EU has reportedly delayed registering an alternative financial channel to help the Iranian regime, say reports coming from Brussels on Monday January 28.

Reports from Brussels Monday morning said that the release of the conclusion on Iran has been "postponed" due to differences over one of its ten articles.

EU Agency Says Iran Likely to Step up Cyber Espionage

Iran is likely to expand its cyber espionage activities as its relations with Western powers worsen, the European Union digital security agency said on Monday.

the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) said in a report: "Newly imposed sanctions on Iran are likely to push the country to intensify state-sponsored cyber threat activities in pursuit of its geopolitical and strategic objectives at a regional level,".

A Member of Iran Council Says He Received a Death Threat Over FATF

A member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council (EDC) has said that after its latest meeting on Saturday, January 26, he was threatened with death.

Majid Ansari told ISNA news agency: “This is the peak of despotism when some think whoever opposes their views is a traitor”.

The EDC, which is a constitutional arbiter between parliament and the Guardian Council met on Saturday to decide about the fate of legislation related to anti money laundering and terror financing demanded by an international watchdog and Western countries.

Iran Says to Continue Working on Satellite Technology Despite Western Pressures

“Iran has no scientific or operational restriction for increasing the range of its military missiles, but based on its defensive doctrine, it is continuously working on increasing the precision of the missiles, and has no intention to increase their range,” Ali Shamkhani, a close aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by state broadcaster IRIB.

Iran’s minister of defense said on Tuesday that the nation’s missile capabilities were non-negotiable, dismissing a call by European countries and the United States that its missile technology should be curbed.

Political Prisoner Majid Asadi Denied Medical Access in Raja'i Shahr Prison

Iranian authorities have deliberately deprived prisoner of conscience Majid Asadi of the special medical care he requires.

Majid Asadi, having been sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 for his peaceful human rights activities, suffers from multiple diseases including ulcers, duodenal ulcer, liver cyst, waist disk, and spinal rheumatism.

However, authorities at Raja’i Shahr prison, in Karaj, a city north-west of Tehran, have repeatedly impeded his access to medical care.

Human Rights Watch Condemns Iran for Mass Arrests and Abuses in Annual Report

Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized Iran for “widespread arrests” of protesters and activists in its 2019 annual report into human rights violations around the world, citing specifically the thousands of arrests made during the nationwide anti-government protests in the winter of 2018, as well as the arrests of environmentalists and women who protested against compulsory hijab.

In the report, which draws on events from late 2017 to November 2018, HRW also condemned Iran’s shadowy “security apparatus” and “suppressive and non-accountable Judiciary” for their work to suppress human rights.