Spring of freedom

Mohammad Reza Sabbaghian, member of Iran’s Majlis (parliament) A member of Iran’s Majlis (parliament) acknowledged on Monday that people are increasingly frustrated and are literally cursing regime official wherever they appear in public. Describing this  phenomenon  to other Majlis members during an open-door session, Mohammad Reza Sabbaghian said, “We need a closed-door session to be able to say things we cannot talk about in an open-door session.” “There are some things that, due to the reactions it could create, cannot be said in public. People are really having problems and wherever they see us, start cursing us and calling us bad names… people are unhappy. They live in poverty while we are paid a few million tomans (referring to the Iranian currency) and we are not happy, let alone the people who get a fraction of this amount!” Sabbaghian added. Explaining an encounter he had with a woman in a market, he said this woman approached him and said “I have to ...

Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, resigns  Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, government spokesman for Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani and head of the Plan & Budget Organization, has resigned from all his posts, according to the Fars news agency. Rumors regarding changes in Rouhani’s cabinet were mentioned in the Iranian regime’s state-run media outlets. Regime analysts consider these developments in line with the ongoing economic crisis and the United States pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Considering Nobakht’s other positions, the plunge of the Iranian currency and a crumbling economy may also be further reasons of his resigning. Keep in mind that his resignation could very well be aimed at saving humiliation for the regime in comparison to Rouhani or even Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei themselves getting involved to sack their senior officials. On June 18 th , Massoud Nili, known as Nobakht...

This file photo taken on August 20, 2016 shows USAs Jden Michael Tbory Cox (red) wrestling with Irans Alireza Mohammad Karimimachiani in their mens 86kg freestyle quarter-final match An Iranian wrestler says his managers told him to intentionally lose to a Russian competitor to avoid facing an Israeli wrestler in the next round. Ali Reza Karimi late Monday told the semi-official ISNA news agency that only one minute before the end of a Sunday round of the U-23 World Championship in Poland his coaches told him to throw the match to avoid facing an Israeli wrestler. He says: “In a moment, my whole world seemed to come to an end.” Israel and Iran are bitter adversaries and Iranian athletes traditionally refrain from competing against Israelis. Iran’s government usually rewards such behavior. Karimi says he was beating Russian Alikhan Zhabrailov when coaches told him to lose. Iran’s sport ministry in a statement praised Karimi for supporting “human values.”