Iran news in brief, May 20, 2019

Iran news in brief, May 20, 2019

Trump Warns Iranian Regime as Rocket Hits Near U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

After a rocket landed near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, President Donald Trump tweeted an ominous warning to Tehran saying, " If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!"

Reports say there were no casualties as a rocket exploded less than one kilometer from the U.S. Embassy Sunday evening. It was the first such rocket attack since September in the Green Zone -- a high security area where many foreign and Iraqi officials, including the parliament and the prime minister, are based.

A spokesman said the U.S. will not tolerate such attacks and that it will hold Iran responsible "if any such attacks are conducted by its proxy militia forces."

Political Prisoner Announces Hunger Strike

Political prisoner Akbar Bagheri has started a hunger strike since Wednesday, May 15, to protest his abrupt transfer from Evin Prison to the Great Tehran Penitentiary.

He has gone on dry hunger strike to demand his transfer back to Evin Prison.

Suffering from intestinal bleeding, Akbar Bagheri was taken to hospital in April but returned to jail after two days without receiving adequate medical treatment.

Akbar Bagheri is in serious condition and needs to be transferred to a hospital for care and possible surgery.

Following his Wednesday transfer, he was held in a quarantine ward and denied access to medical treatment.

Political prisoner Akbar Bagheri, a supporter of the opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, was arrested on February 21, 2018, during a protest by swindled investors of the Caspian credit firm, linked to the Iranian Regime’s Revolutionary Guards, in front of the regime’s parliament.

IRGC Raids Modelling Agencies for 'Promoting Vulgarity'

The Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards have raided three underground modelling agencies, accusing the companies and the women there of flouting strict Islamic dress codes, state-run news agencies reported on Saturday.

General Mohsen Karimi, a Guards commander in the central city of Arak, said staff at the agencies had been arrested for “promoting vulgarity”, partly through sharing portfolio pictures of models on social media.

US Sanctions Force Hezbollah to Cut Spending on Fighters

Re-imposed US sanctions have affected the Iranian regime’s ability to finance Hezbollah, its proxy in Lebanon, forcing the militia group to cut expenditure by recalling fighters in Syria and laying off employees at its television channel Al-Manar, according to a report published by The Washington Post.

The brunt of Hezbollah’s spending cuts has affected its fighters and their families, who will now be denied from receiving free medicines and even groceries.

US sanctions have also forced Hezbollah to either furlough its fighters or reassign them to its reserve units, one official said, where they would receive lower salaries or no pay at all.

Kabul-Based Iranian Bank Closed Over Money Laundering Charges

The Central Bank of Afghanistan on Sunday confirmed that a Kabul-based Iranian bank, the Arian Bank, has been closed over money laundering charges.

Central Bank spokesman Aimal Ashoor said the Arian Bank’s license was canceled by the Central Bank due to “money laundering” and because the bank “could not operate better and did not follow the Afghanistan banking policies”.

Arian Bank is an Afghan-based joint venture between the Iranian regime’s Bank Melli and Bank Saderat.

Iran's Regime Threatens the World's Economic Interests

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir told a press conference on Sunday: “Iran has threatened the world’s economic interest through threatening to close the maritime routes, and has conducted terrorist operations in Saudi Arabia and the region”.

Al-Jubeir accused the Iranian regime of seeking to destabilize the region and urged the international community to take responsibility to stop it from doing so.

Al-Jubeir said that the world “perceives the IRGC as a terrorist organization.”