Nov 28, 2019, 14:38 pm
(This post was last modified: Nov 28, 2019, 15:13 pm by Resurgence. Edited 4 times in total.)
At least eight individuals with ties to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were arrested in Iran during protests over a fuel price hike, the country’s official state news agency IRNA reported.
Those detained “had received CIA-funded training in various countries under the cover of becoming citizen-journalists,” Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said, as cited by the outlet.
Six were reportedly arrested attending street riots while “carrying out CIA orders,” while two others were apprehended as they were trying to “send information abroad.”
They had all received orders to attend protests and prepare reports, "especially videos," the intelligence agency said.Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei earlier blamed the protests on a “grave, extensive and very dangerous conspiracy” by the US to sow discord in Iran.
Khamenei released a statement Wednesday thanking the Iranian people for quashing the chaos, after pro-government demonstrations popped up to counter the protests over the fuel price rise.
Western politicians and media attempted to seize on the news of demonstrations, hoping that there may be a "revolution" in the works, but the situation has largely calmed down over the past days.
https://www.rt.com/news/474486-iran-arre...-protests/
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Related News:
Iran says hundreds of banks were torched in 'vast' unrest plot
Iran’s top leader on Wednesday denounced an outbreak of deadly unrest as a “very dangerous conspiracy” as authorities reported about 731 banks and 140 government sites had been torched in the disturbances.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the protests amounted to a plot that Iranians had defeated, referring to the worst anti-government unrest in Iran since authorities put down demonstrations against election fraud in 2009.
The disturbances began on Nov. 15 after the announcement of gasoline price hikes, but quickly turned political, with protesters demanding top leaders step down.
In response, the government has blamed “thugs” linked to exiles and the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia for stirring up the street unrest.
“A deep, vast and very dangerous conspiracy that a lot of money had been spent on ... was destroyed by the people,” Khamenei said in a meeting with members of the paramilitary Basij force which took part in the crackdown against protests, according to his official website.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli meanwhile said about 731 banks and 140 government sites were torched in the unrest.
More than 50 bases used by security forces were attacked and approximately 70 gas stations were also burned, he said, in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency, without specifying where the attacks took place.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-...SKBN1Y10GY
----------------------------------------------------
How Trump's sanctions are crippling Iran's economy
The US move to reimpose sanctions on Iran and choke off the last remaining sources of Tehran's oil revenue has crippled the Iranian economy. For many ordinary Iranians, it's becoming increasingly hard to get by.
US President Donald Trump has slapped fresh sanctions on Iran as part of his "maximum pressure" campaign against the Middle Eastern nation. Trump's executive order on Monday targeted none other than Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his associates, with financial sanctions.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Trump's order will lock up billions of additional dollars in Iranian assets.
Tehran and Washington are currently locked in a bitter standoff, and escalating tensions have fueled fears of an unintended slide toward a military confrontation between the two sides, particularly after Iran shot down a US spy drone over the Persian Gulf last week.
The US has also beefed up its military presence in the region and blacklisted Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a "foreign terrorist organization." In response, Iran declared the US a "state sponsor of terrorism" and American forces in the Middle East and beyond as "terrorist groups."
Last year, Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the landmark nuclear deal that Iran and six world powers struck in 2015. He has since reimposed wide-ranging sanctions, aimed at putting an end to Iran's oil exports, crippling its main source of foreign exchange and forcing Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
The US moves have hit the Iranian economy hard. While the oil-rich nation's crude exports have been down, inflation and unemployment have risen drastically.
Iran, which sits on the world's fourth-largest oil reserves and second-biggest gas reserves, shipped over 2.5 million barrels per day of crude in April 2018, the month before Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal. That figure was down to about 400,000 to 500,000 barrels per day in May, reported Reuters news agency, citing industry sources.
The lifting of international sanctions in 2016 spurred rapid growth in Iran, with the country's economy expanding by more than 12% in 2016. But the reimposition of sanctions last year dealt a massive blow. The Iranian economy, the second-largest in the region behind Saudi Arabia's, shrunk by 3.9% last year, estimated the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In 2019, IMF forecasts say, Iran's economy will shrink by a massive 6%.
Frustration over the sanctions is running high among Iranians, who have seen the value of Iran's currency, the rial, plummet by about 60% over the past year. Inflation is up to 37% and the cost of food and medicine has soared by 40% to 60%, according to EU figures.
"In the last weeks and months, the prices of daily products have increased dramatically for every Iranian," Michael Tockuss, managing director of the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, told DW. "The sanctions are not specific anymore; they're not directed against special companies or against the rulers of the country. Instead, they hit average Iranians all over the country."
Many foreign companies, including carmakers like Daimler and Peugeot and oil group Total, have wound up their operations in Iran in recent months. This has driven up the jobless rate in the country, with overall unemployment currently hovering around 12%.
Iran's young people are bearing the brunt of unemployment even more. The youth unemployment rate is close to 30% in a country where almost 40% of the 80 million people are under 25.
A parliamentary report last September warned that rising unemployment could threaten the country's stability. The report also said that if Iran's economic growth remained below 5% in the coming years, unemployment could hit 26%.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says his country is facing "economic war." But Washington stresses that economic pressures on Tehran are directed at the government, not at the Iranian people.
Observers say that should Iran follow through on enriching uranium beyond the permitted levels, the nuclear deal could collapse entirely. In that case, UN sanctions would also be reimposed, a move that could devastate the already crisis-hit economy.
https://www.dw.com/en/how-trumps-sanctio...a-49335908
-----------------------------------------------------
US urges social media platforms to block Iran officials
The US State Department on Saturday called on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to suspend the accounts of Iranian government leaders until Tehran re-establishes internet coverage throughout the riot-torn country.
The government imposed a near-total Internet blackout more than a week ago amid violent protests.
***********************************************************************************************************************************
Personal Note to Readers:
Western media tries to spin the internet blackout as an attempt by Iranian leaders to silence the Iranian people.
However, the blackout was wise because the CIA uses artificial accounts through social media to sow discord in the countries they are trying to disrupt and overthrow.
This reportedly happened in Bolivia recently before the coup there:
1.) The State Department allocated $100,000 to enable a company called “CLS Strategies” to mount a disinformation campaign through social media.
2.) The CIA station in La Paz reportedly assumed control of the Whatsapp network in the country in order to leak false information. More than 68,000 fake anti-Morales tweets were released.
No doubt, US intelligence (and their accomplices) were frustrated at not having internet access in Iran to manipulate the Iranian people.
**************************************************************************************************************************************
Here is the US spin of the matter:
Brian Hook, special US representative for Iran, said:
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/us-...li=BBqdmGR
Those detained “had received CIA-funded training in various countries under the cover of becoming citizen-journalists,” Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said, as cited by the outlet.
Six were reportedly arrested attending street riots while “carrying out CIA orders,” while two others were apprehended as they were trying to “send information abroad.”
They had all received orders to attend protests and prepare reports, "especially videos," the intelligence agency said.Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei earlier blamed the protests on a “grave, extensive and very dangerous conspiracy” by the US to sow discord in Iran.
Khamenei released a statement Wednesday thanking the Iranian people for quashing the chaos, after pro-government demonstrations popped up to counter the protests over the fuel price rise.
Western politicians and media attempted to seize on the news of demonstrations, hoping that there may be a "revolution" in the works, but the situation has largely calmed down over the past days.
https://www.rt.com/news/474486-iran-arre...-protests/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related News:
Iran says hundreds of banks were torched in 'vast' unrest plot
Iran’s top leader on Wednesday denounced an outbreak of deadly unrest as a “very dangerous conspiracy” as authorities reported about 731 banks and 140 government sites had been torched in the disturbances.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the protests amounted to a plot that Iranians had defeated, referring to the worst anti-government unrest in Iran since authorities put down demonstrations against election fraud in 2009.
The disturbances began on Nov. 15 after the announcement of gasoline price hikes, but quickly turned political, with protesters demanding top leaders step down.
In response, the government has blamed “thugs” linked to exiles and the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia for stirring up the street unrest.
“A deep, vast and very dangerous conspiracy that a lot of money had been spent on ... was destroyed by the people,” Khamenei said in a meeting with members of the paramilitary Basij force which took part in the crackdown against protests, according to his official website.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli meanwhile said about 731 banks and 140 government sites were torched in the unrest.
More than 50 bases used by security forces were attacked and approximately 70 gas stations were also burned, he said, in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency, without specifying where the attacks took place.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-...SKBN1Y10GY
----------------------------------------------------
How Trump's sanctions are crippling Iran's economy
The US move to reimpose sanctions on Iran and choke off the last remaining sources of Tehran's oil revenue has crippled the Iranian economy. For many ordinary Iranians, it's becoming increasingly hard to get by.
US President Donald Trump has slapped fresh sanctions on Iran as part of his "maximum pressure" campaign against the Middle Eastern nation. Trump's executive order on Monday targeted none other than Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his associates, with financial sanctions.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Trump's order will lock up billions of additional dollars in Iranian assets.
Tehran and Washington are currently locked in a bitter standoff, and escalating tensions have fueled fears of an unintended slide toward a military confrontation between the two sides, particularly after Iran shot down a US spy drone over the Persian Gulf last week.
The US has also beefed up its military presence in the region and blacklisted Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a "foreign terrorist organization." In response, Iran declared the US a "state sponsor of terrorism" and American forces in the Middle East and beyond as "terrorist groups."
Last year, Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the landmark nuclear deal that Iran and six world powers struck in 2015. He has since reimposed wide-ranging sanctions, aimed at putting an end to Iran's oil exports, crippling its main source of foreign exchange and forcing Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
The US moves have hit the Iranian economy hard. While the oil-rich nation's crude exports have been down, inflation and unemployment have risen drastically.
Iran, which sits on the world's fourth-largest oil reserves and second-biggest gas reserves, shipped over 2.5 million barrels per day of crude in April 2018, the month before Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal. That figure was down to about 400,000 to 500,000 barrels per day in May, reported Reuters news agency, citing industry sources.
The lifting of international sanctions in 2016 spurred rapid growth in Iran, with the country's economy expanding by more than 12% in 2016. But the reimposition of sanctions last year dealt a massive blow. The Iranian economy, the second-largest in the region behind Saudi Arabia's, shrunk by 3.9% last year, estimated the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In 2019, IMF forecasts say, Iran's economy will shrink by a massive 6%.
Frustration over the sanctions is running high among Iranians, who have seen the value of Iran's currency, the rial, plummet by about 60% over the past year. Inflation is up to 37% and the cost of food and medicine has soared by 40% to 60%, according to EU figures.
"In the last weeks and months, the prices of daily products have increased dramatically for every Iranian," Michael Tockuss, managing director of the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, told DW. "The sanctions are not specific anymore; they're not directed against special companies or against the rulers of the country. Instead, they hit average Iranians all over the country."
Many foreign companies, including carmakers like Daimler and Peugeot and oil group Total, have wound up their operations in Iran in recent months. This has driven up the jobless rate in the country, with overall unemployment currently hovering around 12%.
Iran's young people are bearing the brunt of unemployment even more. The youth unemployment rate is close to 30% in a country where almost 40% of the 80 million people are under 25.
A parliamentary report last September warned that rising unemployment could threaten the country's stability. The report also said that if Iran's economic growth remained below 5% in the coming years, unemployment could hit 26%.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says his country is facing "economic war." But Washington stresses that economic pressures on Tehran are directed at the government, not at the Iranian people.
Observers say that should Iran follow through on enriching uranium beyond the permitted levels, the nuclear deal could collapse entirely. In that case, UN sanctions would also be reimposed, a move that could devastate the already crisis-hit economy.
https://www.dw.com/en/how-trumps-sanctio...a-49335908
-----------------------------------------------------
US urges social media platforms to block Iran officials
The US State Department on Saturday called on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to suspend the accounts of Iranian government leaders until Tehran re-establishes internet coverage throughout the riot-torn country.
The government imposed a near-total Internet blackout more than a week ago amid violent protests.
***********************************************************************************************************************************
Personal Note to Readers:
Western media tries to spin the internet blackout as an attempt by Iranian leaders to silence the Iranian people.
However, the blackout was wise because the CIA uses artificial accounts through social media to sow discord in the countries they are trying to disrupt and overthrow.
This reportedly happened in Bolivia recently before the coup there:
1.) The State Department allocated $100,000 to enable a company called “CLS Strategies” to mount a disinformation campaign through social media.
2.) The CIA station in La Paz reportedly assumed control of the Whatsapp network in the country in order to leak false information. More than 68,000 fake anti-Morales tweets were released.
No doubt, US intelligence (and their accomplices) were frustrated at not having internet access in Iran to manipulate the Iranian people.
**************************************************************************************************************************************
Here is the US spin of the matter:
Brian Hook, special US representative for Iran, said:
Quote:"The regime shut down the internet because they're trying to hide all of the death and tragedy that the regime has been inflicting on thousands of protesters around the country."
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/us-...li=BBqdmGR