Latest news with #IranWire
Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Saudi government frees Iranian cleric Gholamreza Ghasemian after being arrested for ‘obscene concerts' remarks
Iranian cleric Gholamreza Ghasemian (Image credit: X/InfoSudLiban) Iranian cleric Gholamreza Ghasemian, who was arrested for his controversial 'obscene concerts' remarks, was freed by the Saudi government on Thursday, ISNA reported. Saudi authorities arrested Ghasemian on Monday while he was performing rituals of the hajj in Mecca after a video went viral. In a veiled attack on the Saudi government, Ghasemian, dressed in a white pilgrimage robe, had accused them of turning the Qibla -– the direction Muslims face in prayer -– into "a place for gambling houses, centres of debauchery, and obscene concerts".His comments referred to the social changes made in recent years by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto leader. ISNA confirmed that Gholamreza Ghasemian is currently on his way back to Iran, following efforts by Iranian officials to secure his release. 'Obscene...': Iranian Cleric's Viral Video 'Insult' Rocks Saudi; Tehran Hajj Visas Halted I Details Earlier, reacting to the arrest, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, on Tuesday evening, said on X, "Iran in no uncertain terms condemns any attempt to harm Muslim unity, particularly in the spiritual atmosphere of the hajj." "We are determined to not allow anyone to sabotage relations with our brotherly neighbours, including the progressive path of Iran and Saudi Arabia", Araghchi added. Expressing his personal opinions, Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir described the cleric's arrest as "unjustified and unlawful". The controversy has strained ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia. According to the Iran Wire, Riyadh has now suspended Hajj visas issuance for Iranians. Riyadh's move has affected Iranian pilgrims participating in this year's Hajj.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump admin urged to support striking Iranian truckers: 'Potential to paralyze regime'
Iranian truck drivers have widened their labor stoppage to include more than 100 towns and cities across the country, while the clerical regime launched a violent crackdown on strikers in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj. Iranian experts have long urged successive U.S. administrations to provide strike pay and other forms of aid to restive workers in the Islamic Republic, with a view to improving human rights and causing regime change from within. Truckers are a key industrial force that helps keep the worsening Iranian economy above water. Iran Ramps Up State Executions Amid Nuclear Talks With Us Alireza Nader, a Washington, D.C., expert on Iran's regime who studies Iranian labor unrest, told Fox News Digital, "The Trump administration should offer loud support to the truckers-this would give Trump even more leverage in the nuclear negotiations. And organizations such as the AFL-CIO can play an important role in bringing the trucker strikes to international attention." The U.S. is engaged in talks with Iran's regime to dismantle its illegal nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief. Read On The Fox News App Nader added, "The nationwide trucker strikes have the potential to paralyze the regime as it faces increasing vulnerability. The trucker strikes can be even more effective if other sectors of Iran's economy go on strike, especially the energy sector and other transportation sectors." Many opponents of the clerical regime want the U.S. government to take a page from former President Ronald Reagan's playbook against the now-defunct communist Poland via organized support for workers and their unions. U.S. administrations cooperated prior to the collapse of the communist Soviet Union with the free American labor movement to inject democracy into trade unions in the largely closed communist societies. The core economic issues animating the work stoppage, which started on May 18 in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, involve working conditions and reduced insurance costs. According to the independent diaspora news organization IranWire, the spike in insurance coincided with a downsized medical care. Iran Accused Of 'Covering Up' Death Toll In Port Explosion Amid Uprising Fears The Union of Iranian Truckers and Heavy Vehicle Drivers is also demanding remedies for the lack of roadside aid for graft in the allocation of cargo. The truckers are also seeking the amelioration of expensive spare parts, freight brokerage fees and diesel quotas. Greater security on the long stretches of Iranian highways is also demanded. "A driver who protests for his bread and dignity is not a rioter," the truckers' union stated, adding, "Protest is not a crime, but our legal right," reported IranWire. Lisa Daftari, an Iran expert and editor-in-chief of the Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital, "The latest nationwide truckers' strike is not an isolated incident—it is only the latest manifestation of deep disenchantment among Iranians who are denied dignity and proper rights in every industry. Over the past 46 years, we have witnessed waves of protest across a patchwork of sectors and communities, each uprising pointing to a single, overarching truth: the Iranian people are not just sending a message to their government, but to the entire world, urging support in their quest for freedom and basic rights." She added, "This is a fundamental demand, but as history has shown, it is not easily achieved under a government that has proven itself incapable of reform or of delivering the life Iranians deserve." In 2019, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) urged Tehran to release detained workers' rights activists. In 2018, the Teamsters Union, which represents most truckers in the U.S., issued solidarity support for truck drivers on strike in more than 290 Iranian article source: Trump admin urged to support striking Iranian truckers: 'Potential to paralyze regime'
Fox News
27-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Trump admin urged to support striking Iranian truckers: 'Potential to paralyze regime'
Iranian truck drivers have widened their labor stoppage to include more than 100 towns and cities across the country, while the clerical regime launched a violent crackdown on strikers in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj. Iranian experts have long urged successive U.S. administrations to provide strike pay and other forms of aid to restive workers in the Islamic Republic, with a view to improving human rights and causing regime change from within. Truckers are a key industrial force that helps keep the worsening Iranian economy above water. Alireza Nader, a Washington, D.C., expert on Iran's regime who studies Iranian labor unrest, told Fox News Digital, "The Trump administration should offer loud support to the truckers-this would give Trump even more leverage in the nuclear negotiations. And organizations such as the AFL-CIO can play an important role in bringing the trucker strikes to international attention." The U.S. is engaged in talks with Iran's regime to dismantle its illegal nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief. Nader added, "The nationwide trucker strikes have the potential to paralyze the regime as it faces increasing vulnerability. The trucker strikes can be even more effective if other sectors of Iran's economy go on strike, especially the energy sector and other transportation sectors." Many opponents of the clerical regime want the U.S. government to take a page from former President Ronald Reagan's playbook against the now-defunct communist Poland via organized support for workers and their unions. U.S. administrations cooperated prior to the collapse of the communist Soviet Union with the free American labor movement to inject democracy into trade unions in the largely closed communist societies. The core economic issues animating the work stoppage, which started on May 18 in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, involve working conditions and reduced insurance costs. According to the independent diaspora news organization IranWire, the spike in insurance coincided with a downsized medical care. The Union of Iranian Truckers and Heavy Vehicle Drivers is also demanding remedies for the lack of roadside aid for graft in the allocation of cargo. The truckers are also seeking the amelioration of expensive spare parts, freight brokerage fees and diesel quotas. Greater security on the long stretches of Iranian highways is also demanded. "A driver who protests for his bread and dignity is not a rioter," the truckers' union stated, adding, "Protest is not a crime, but our legal right," reported IranWire. Lisa Daftari, an Iran expert and editor-in-chief of the Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital, "The latest nationwide truckers' strike is not an isolated incident—it is only the latest manifestation of deep disenchantment among Iranians who are denied dignity and proper rights in every industry. Over the past 46 years, we have witnessed waves of protest across a patchwork of sectors and communities, each uprising pointing to a single, overarching truth: the Iranian people are not just sending a message to their government, but to the entire world, urging support in their quest for freedom and basic rights." She added, "This is a fundamental demand, but as history has shown, it is not easily achieved under a government that has proven itself incapable of reform or of delivering the life Iranians deserve." In 2019, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) urged Tehran to release detained workers' rights activists. In 2018, the Teamsters Union, which represents most truckers in the U.S., issued solidarity support for truck drivers on strike in more than 290 Iranian cities.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Iranian climber who competed without hijab leaves country: family
An Iranian sports climber, widely praised in 2022 for competing without a hijab at the height of nationwide protests, has left the country, her brother and an Iranian official said. Elnaz Rekabi gained global attention in October 2022 when she took part in championships in South Korea without wearing the headscarf required for women in the Islamic republic. She returned home and largely vanished from public view, with some Persian-language media based outside Iran reporting she had been placed under house arrest and banned from competing abroad. The protests erupted in September 2022 after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini who had been arrested for allegedly flouting the obligatory headscarf rule. The movement lasted for months before fading in the face of a deadly crackdown. Rekabi has left Iran, her brother Davood wrote in an Instagram story quoted by the IranWire website and Iran International television channel, that also expressed hope she could return in the future. Iran International also shared another Instagram post by a fellow climber showing Rekabi training on an indoor wall in a vest and without a headscarf. It said that according to its information she had moved to Spain. In Iran, the ISNA news agency also said that she had moved to Spain and quoted the head of Iran's National Olympic Committee Mehdi Alinejad as saying he was aware of Davood Rekabi's Instagram post. "If they want to pursue their professional sports, they should be in Iran. The National Olympic Committee has supported Rekabi for the past two years, and she herself will acknowledge this," he told reporters on Tuesday. But he added: "Everyone has the choice over where to live." It is not clear when and under what circumstances Elnaz Rekabi left Iran. In another development, the International Federation for Sport Climbing announced last month that Rekabi has been appointed as the "athlete role model" for sport climbing in the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar in 2026. It said her role was confirmed in a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland between the climber herself, IFSC president Marco Scolaris and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach. IranWire and other outlets have reported previously that the IOC had been closely watching her case and were deeply concerned over her inability to travel outside of Iran. At the time of the incident she had issued an apology on Instagram and insisted her bare-headed appearance had been "unintentional". Some reports suggested she had been pressured by Iranian officials while in South Korea although this was vehemently denied by Iran's Seoul embassy. sjw/jh/dv
