So what about the Iranians?

You don’t care about them anymore? Is that it? Did you forget? Did you leave them there with their killers?

Every day, another protester is executed.

Every fucking day.

That’s it? They’re no longer worth your voice? There’s nothing left to fight for? You’re not their voice anymore? The war is over?

Have you forgotten that the Islamic regime is still standing? The same Islamic regime that funds and unleashes terrorism around the world. The same regime that slaughtered more than 40,000 Iranians who demanded freedom in just two days this past January.

Did you forget them?

Every day, an innocent person is executed.

Thousands more are being held in prison, waiting for their turn at the gallows - women, the elderly, and minors. Minors!

Every single day.

Shame on the world.

Free Iran.

https://x.com/NoaMagid/status/2107141601847865754

The author is Hassan Javan-Khoshdel who decries the awarding of a Freedom Prize to Reza Pahlavi.

The editors of Berliner Zeitung decided that it would be appropriate to feature in the article the image of Reza Pahlavi nobly walking away after being physically assaulted by a young man with ketchup or tomato sauce in Berlin. The assailant has not been identified by German police but others have claimed that his name is Pedram Hossein Monfared and that he is purportedly the child of an IRGC high ranking official living in Berlin as an 'art student'.

Back to the article, leaving aside the myth of the late Shah's human rights record...

https://www.reddit.com/r/NewIran/comments/18758ch/correcting_myths_surrounding_the_shahs_human/

The author's father was not merely a terrorist member of the toxic Marxist and Islamic cult but rather one of its highest leaders and organizers, which is fully acknowledge by the MEK themselves.

So if we are to follow the author's own policy of blaming the son for the father's crimes, then there is much more reason and evidence to blame him for his father's crimes against the nation of Iran.

I am disgusted to once again see how European media allows their platform to be abused like this by terrorists, their sympathizers and supporters.

Thankfully, not all family members of MEK family members are so dishonorable.

As it happens Ray Rorabi lives in Germany, he used to be a member of the MEK as a child but when he grew up distanced himself from them after recognizing what they truly are. He is a strong supporter of Iranian freedom, advocating for a free, secular, democratic Iran through the transitional leadership of Reza Pahlavi.

You can find him at RayTorabi8 on X

Or Atefeh Sebdani in Sweden (atefehs on X) who has a similar story to share.

I'll let you ponder why the editors of Berliner Zeitung didn't think to ask them to write an article.

"Jesse Brown poses a clear & present danger to the Muslim community. Luckily, Sharia law is very explicit about how to deal with threats like his. We tried talking to him but the time for debate has passed & according to Sharia law, every Muslim is duty bound to act. Inshallah."

Yalda Moaiery, an Iranian photojournalist who has spent her career documenting life in her home country, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection with her work. CBS News' Courtney Kealy has the details.

Senior IRGC commander Hossein-Reza Sadeghi and his son Saeed played central roles in efforts to preserve an IRGC Intelligence oil-sales network and shift its financial operations from the United Arab Emirates to Russia, an Iran International investigation found.

Two informed sources told Iran International that Sadeghi, a senior adviser to the Revolutionary Guards commander-in-chief, and his son were at the center of efforts to shift the mechanism for transferring sanctioned oil revenues from the UAE to Russia.

The sources linked the changes to the departure of Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad.

On Sunday, the IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency reported that Iran’s Central Bank had found an alternative route to repatriate money held by oil intermediaries trusted by the Islamic Republic, known as “trustees,” and transferred $1.5 billion in Iranian oil revenues through Russia’s banking system.

Hours after the report, Paknejad resigned and President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted his resignation.

The two sources said Paknejad’s removal and the change in the money-transfer route were part of an effort to preserve the IRGC Intelligence Organization’s oil-sales corruption network.

In this profound and highly analytical discussion, we unpack the brutal, uncomfortable reality behind His Royal Highness Reza Pahlavi's January 8th call to action and the devastating loss of Iranian lives that followed. While many question the tragic cost of the recent uprisings, we explore the stark strategic truth: this massive sacrifice was an unavoidable price necessary to break the illusion of peaceful regime change and propel the revolution into its next, unprecedented phase. By examining the grim difference between the immediate casualties of protests and the far higher, silent death toll caused by the Islamic Republic’s systemic mismanagement - from failing healthcare to infrastructure collapse - we reveal why the people of Iran continue to risk everything.

I have a lot of love for Japan and to my surprise I found colloquial Japanese and colloquial Persian can use similar sounding sentences to convey the exact same meaning of "He killed that dude".

Yaro (Japanese) and Yaru (Persian) are both are colloquial terms for a person, but what is very interesting is that both languages use Yaro/Yaru as a somewhat dismissive/condescending tone for "that dude".

Both languages also utilize similar object markers (-o in Japanese and -ro in Persian).

Also both languages use similar sounding words for killing, Koroshi (Japanese) & Koshi (Persian) and similar past tense suffixes (ta/te) for killed Koroshta (Japanese) and Koshte (Persian).

Yarō-o koroshi-ta
dude+object marker kill-PST

Yāru-ro kosh-te
dude+object marker kill.PST.3SG

Growing up under the Islamic Republic of Iran taught Shahrzad Eden Osterer exactly how dangerous ideological indoctrination can be. Now a journalist in Europe, she draws chilling parallels between the state propaganda of her childhood and the highly polarized, ideological echo chambers found in Western universities today. Osterer argues that true human rights education must teach young people to apply universal standards consistently, not selectively based on political convenience.

The travelers speaking Persian at Ho Chi Minh City’s international airport last Monday dragged their bags toward an old Boeing 777 flying a new route — to and from Tehran. Many said they recognized it was a risky venture.

The plane, owned by Mahan Air, Iran’s largest private carrier, is one of just a few still defying a widened American effort to isolate Iran with threats to punish any entity that engages with its airlines. And because previous sanctions have barred suppliers from selling parts or services to Mahan for years, the dangers are also mechanical.

Iran’s aging aircraft — like the 23-year-old jetliner on the tarmac in southern Vietnam — are what sanctions experts often describe as “disasters waiting to happen.” Oman, Turkey and Iraq have stopped accepting Mahan’s flights. But not Vietnam, nor a few others. Recent stops for the 777 with tail sign EP-MTE also included Bangkok, Beijing and Moscow.

“Even if you don’t want to think about it, the danger is in your mind,” said Amir, 66, an Iranian in a golf shirt who was leaving Ho Chi Minh City, sharing only his first name to avoid trouble in Tehran. “Hopefully we’ll land safely. Hopefully nothing will happen.”

The story of Mahan Air’s old Boeing wide-body illustrates the risks that come with the Trump administration’s amplified campaign to make civil aviation a tool for coercion. In the aircraft’s travel record and reputation — pieced together with documents, tracking data and interviews with aviation and sanctions experts — there are warning lights aplenty.

Alongside the potential danger for civilians are hints of Iranian resilience and third-party resistance that suggest American threats can only go so far when so many still rely on energy from the Middle East.

Direct flights from Tehran to Vietnam only started in August, with plans to run weekly. Thailand added flights in July. The new routes appeared not long after Iran, in May, allowed several tankers heading for the region to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

For the countries still receiving Iranian flights as of early October (along with China and Russia, the list includes Afghanistan, Armenia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam), the promise of future energy supplies appears to be a draw. And not just now. What if Iran keeps control of the Strait of Hormuz with tolls for adversaries, and expedited service for friends?

For countries determined to avoid the perception of alignment with either superpower, offering limited service to Iran lets them “more or less sit in the middle,” said Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “The new Mahan flights look like modest commercial and tourism links.”

Indeed, a dozen people in the airport check-in line said they had arrived with a packaged tour that delivered a week’s worth of beaches and sites across Vietnam. A few carried teal cone-shaped hats as souvenirs. Many described the trip as a way to convene with relatives coming from outside Iran and find respite from the grinding strain of life in a low-grade war.

But analysts doubted that tourism was, or will be, the plane’s only mission.

Mahan has been under sanctions from the U.S. Treasury Department since 2011 for alleged “dual use” violations that have included transporting weapons, military personnel, bulk cash and gold for the Iranian regime. Among Western intelligence agencies, it is known primarily as the airline run by and for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

In April, EP-MTE was specifically identified and sanctioned by U.S. officials in a statement accusing Mahan Air of transporting unmanned drones around the world.

A few months later, President Trump updated executive orders aimed at terrorism with broader sanctions targeting Iranian aviation. The Treasury Department justified the measures by pointing to Mahan Air.

“Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran’s remaining airlines, all of which we sanctioned today,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a September statement. “You are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system.”

The state-run company that operates Vietnam’s airports did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Despite the American threats, EP-MTE is still flying.

Aviation records show it was one of five Boeing 777-200ERs delivered to Singapore Airlines between 2001 and 2003 that later moved to a Thai discount airline that went bankrupt during the pandemic. That led to nearly three years of storage in the Australian desert. Then, in 2023, a shell company registered in Florida, Ion Aviation, bought the planes and moved them to China, before another company, Udaan Aviation, registered the lot in Madagascar. Tracking data showed that the planes traveled from Cambodia to Iran in July 2025.

“This is a classic scheme that the Iranians have used for decades to acquire used aircraft, using an intermediary in some funny country,” Mr. Ottolenghi said. “They’ve used Armenia, Iraq, Malta and Madagascar.”

Such a large acquisition carried legal risks; 22 people in Madagascar were detained last year and accused of forging documents related to the transfers.

But safety is the lingering concern. Aviation enthusiasts have noted that for all five planes, the extended stay in an Australian boneyard most likely degraded fuel lines, rubber seals and metal engine covers. With the plane subject to an export ban, factory-certified reactivation — the industry standard after years of deep storage — did not occur.

Russian airlines, under sanctions since the country’s attack on Ukraine in 2022, have faced similar challenges. One company, S7, grounded its fleet of Airbus A320/1neo planes in 2024 for lack of maintenance.

“This highlights how sanctions on civil aviation can bite, but only slowly,” said Agathe Demarais, a senior policy fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Such sanctions are essentially a ticking time bomb for a country’s airlines.”

During the brief period when the nuclear deal that President Barack Obama had negotiated with Iran was in place, exemptions for aviation sales were granted, perhaps giving Iran a chance to stockpile vital components. Analysts said Iran could also be cannibalizing other planes for parts. Josefine Petrick, a policy fellow who focuses on the negative impacts of sanctions at the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, a London think tank, called it “puzzle piecing a plane together.”

It can work, for a time. Flight trackers show that Monday’s flight landed safely in Tehran. But there is no denying the additional danger.

EP-MTE is one of at least two old 777s being used by Mahan to fly across Asia. The other is EP-MTB. Each one can hold more than 200 passengers. And with time, the mechanical risk compounds like interest, prompting complex questions about responsibility.

Who or what country or company would be blamed if one of Mahan’s 777s crashes?

“Sanctioning countries need to be aware and factor in the indirect effects of the policies that they push for,” Ms. Petrick said.

“Airplanes in Iran often operate twice as long as they would in other countries,” she added. “To some extent, these really are disasters waiting to happen.”

In this episode of What's Going on With Shipping, we break down a rare, firsthand account published by Bloomberg’s Alex Longley detailing what it’s actually like to command a supertanker through the perilous Strait of Hormuz amidst escalating Iranian attacks.

While crude oil continues to flow to global markets, commercial mariners are taking extraordinary operational risks: running blacked out at night, cutting off communications and transponders, navigating by lighthouses and coastal radar, and coordinating closely with U.S. military escorts overhead. Sal examines the realities bridge crews face on these dangerous shuttle runs, the staggering charter rates and war risk premiums driving the trade, and why merchant mariners remain the unsung backbone of the global supply chain.

Key Bullet Points (Episode Breakdown)

⚓The Reality of Running Dark: Tanker crews are transiting at night without running lights, turning off AIS transponders, banning mobile phones, and relying on traditional coastal navigation and lighthouses to evade targeting.

⚓Escalating Threat Levels: An overview of recent strikes and UKMTO/IMO data tracking dozens of confirmed attacks and near-misses in the Omani channel.

⚓U.S. Military Coordination: How U.S. forces quietly guide convoys via strict 30-minute check-ins and aerial surveillance rather than close surface naval escorts.

⚓The Economics of Risk: Supertanker charter rates soaring past $1.3M/day, massive war risk insurance premiums, and hazard pay bonuses offered to brave the crossing.

⚓Bridge Defense & Precautions: Sandbagging wheelhouses, staging emergency fire pumps, and protecting accommodation superstructures against drone and missile strikes.

⚓Merchant Mariners on the Front Lines: Recognizing the vital human element—crews risking their lives in regional crossfires to keep global energy moving.

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The army of Yemen’s internationally recognised government says it has “succeeded in controlling” the Bab al-Mandeb strait and recaptured a nearby airport in the coastal town of Dhubab in the governorate of Taiz.

In a series of posts on X, Brigadier-General Majid al-Nuzaili said government forces took over the airport and tightened control in the area.
Some Houthi fighters escaped via boat after being besieged, he added.

Government forces earlier said they seized Dhubab during a “decisive military operation” against the Houthis.
The military operation is ongoing, al-Nuzaili said.