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Townhall, May 17, 2022 by Ken Blackwell
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's presence at the headquarters of the largest Iranian opposition movement this week marked a significant moment in US-Iran policy. Its impact on the strategic US outlook toward Iran may be indirect or momentarily hazy, but its historic connotation will be neither short-lived nor inconsequential. It has the potential to persuade a shift in focus to an American policy orientation that has been dangerously discounted for far too long.
In November 2019, Iran was shocked by the most unprecedented nationwide protests in its history. In January 2020, the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, delivered a major public speech, in which he blamed the main opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) for organizing the protests. This is a critical point that Western policymakers ignore. Read More
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A State Department spokesman tweeted out support for the protesters, saying they 'have a right to hold their government accountable.'
Fox News, May 16, 2022
Protests in Iran continued Monday as more Iranians took the streets to show their disdain for the regime in Tehran. Over the weekend reports said up to five people were killed following a crackdown by authorities. A semi-official government news agency put the number of dead from the protests at one according to the Associated Press.
The protests began last week when the government slashed food subsidies on eggs, milk, chicken, and cooking oil leading to price rises of some 300%. Since then, protests have spread to many areas of the country and according to observers have taken on a much more anti-government current.
Protesters, showing no fear of retribution by the state security services have been heard shouting, "Death to Khamenei! Death to Raisi!" referring to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who has promised to create jobs, lift sanctions, and rescue the economy. Read More
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Reuters, May 17, 2022
HERZLIYA, Israel, May 17 (Reuters) - Iran is working on advanced uranium centrifuges at new underground sites being built near its Natanz nuclear plant, Israel's defence minister said on Tuesday, giving figures that appeared to go beyond those published by a U.N. watchdog.
Centrifuges are used to purify uranium for civilian projects or, at higher levels, to make bomb fuel. Iranian progress in the field is being watched by world powers trying to resurrect a nuclear deal with Tehran, which denies having military designs. Read More
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News From Inside Iran
Compiled by NCRI
This informative bulletin is updated regularly
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Radio Farda, May 18, 2022
Authorities in Tehran are attempting to break a strike by bus workers that has hampered transportation in the capital and threatens to merge with separate antigovernment protests around the country calling for the end of Iran's clerical regime amid a worsening economic situation.
Bus drivers and other employees of the Tehran Bus Company have staged strikes since May 16, fueling a transportation crisis that has led the city to use police buses and drivers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a powerful branch of the military, to keep routes open.
It was unclear if there were public rallies on May 18. But the bus employees, angered by the government's failure to deliver fully on a promised wage hike and undeterred by the arrest of their union leader as well as 12 strikers, have vowed to continue their protest action until municipal authorities pay up. Read more
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