Iran news in brief, June 26, 2019

Iran news in brief, June 26, 2019

Tehran University Student Leila Hosseinzadeh Sentenced to 3.5 Years

The 3.5-year sentence for Tehran University student activist Leila Hosseinzadeh was upheld by the Revision Court of Tehran Province. She is also banned from leaving the country for two years.

Leila Hosseinzadeh, secretary of the central council of students at Tehran University, was arrested during the nationwide uprisings of January 2018, and released on bail after some time.

On Monday, June 24, Branch 36 the Tehran court informed her of her sentence. Leila Hosseinzadeh has been sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment on the charge of “association and collusion against national security” and another one year for “propaganda against the state.”

Plundered Depositors Rally in Tehran Against State-Run Firms

Clients of two state-run firms rallied on Tuesday in Tehran, demanding their stolen savings returned. Depositors of the Caspian and Thamen al-Hojaj credit firms gathered outside the regime’s Central Bank to hold their protest gathering as more creditors from across the country are protesting the mullahs’ destructive policies.

The Caspian credit firm is known to be linked to the recently terrorist-designated Revolutionary Guards.

The chants included: “What do people want, their rights acknowledged.”, “No nation has seen such injustice”, “Only in our country, we do see nationwide plundering”

Australia Open to Joining International Effort Against Iranian Regime

The Australian government has left the door open to joining a co-ordinated international effort to ratchet up pressure on the Iranian regime, saying Australia is "in consultation with our allies and partners" as tensions mount between Washington and Tehran.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to discuss how to deal with Tehran when he meets with world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, in Japan for the Group of 20 summit this weekend. Mr Morrison has previously said renewed sanctions against the Iranian regime remain on the table if it continues to destabilise its region.

New Paper Exposes Iran Regime's Abuse of Mek

US Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield Jr., a former defence and foreign policy official who served three presidents in the Pentagon, the White House and the State Department, has published a new scholarly paper on the Iranian regime and its treatment of the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin or MEK. The paper, entitled ‘The Ayatollahs and the MEK–Iran's Crumbling Influence Operation’, tells the shocking true story of the mullahs’ decision to attack the MEK’s peaceful political rallies in June 1981.

In his paper, Bloomfield states that the regime's attack on the MEK on June 20, 1981, was the moment in Iran's modern history most “fraught with lasting implications”, more so than even the 1979 hostage crisis. He said that on that day Iran’s political space was “extinguished” as the regime turned to bloodshed.

But why would the mullahs seek to destroy their opposition? Because the regime was threatened by the democratic rights that the MEK was advocating for and the mass public support they were receiving.

Bloomfield wrote: "The truth is that the mullahs and their supporters, having ridden the Iranian revolution to power, ended up betraying it. They shot their way to power, and since that fateful day in June of 1981, they have relied on lethal force and coercion, not popular will, to maintain it."

The paper is available through the University of Baltimore College of Public Affairs.

Ted Cruz Files Amendment to Pay for Downed Drone From Iranian Regime's Frozen Assets

Senator Ted Cruz has officially filed to have the federal government recoup the losses for a drone shot down by the Iranian regime by extracting the drone's value in cash from Iran's frozen assets.

"Yesterday I filed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that begins process forcing Iran to pay for the U.S. drone they shot down, using frozen Iranian funds," the Texas Republican senator tweeted.

The U.S. froze approximately $100 billion in Iranian assets held in international accounts following the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

Cotton Says Iranian Regime’s Foreign Minister Won't Be Able to Spend Iranians' Money in '5-Star Restaurants'

US Senator Tom Cotton mocked the Iranian Regime’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for lashing out against the “hard-hitting” sanctions against the regime, saying Zarif will no longer be able to spend “his people's money in five-star restaurants.”