The World record holder female
swimmer, Elham Sadat Asghari, does not receive any form of government support
in Iran. According to this Iranian female swimmer whose world records have been
registered by Guinness World Records, she does not receive any form
of support from the government. In an interview with the official news agency,
IRNA, she said, “People like me who set world records do so without having a
coach or receiving any support from the Federation. We even have to pay the
expenses of going to training camps from our own pockets.” Elham Sadat Asghari,
35, set world record for the first time in 2017, swimming 4200 meters with
handcuffs. Then she set another record in Italy swimming 3500 meters with
handcuffs. The second time, she set a higher record for 5300 meters swimming
with handcuffs in 2019 and her name was registered by Guinness for the second
time.
Previously, the NCRI
Women’s Committee had reported on the deplorable conditions of the Iranian women’s rowing
team in Bandar Abbas. These female athletes have to step in mud mixed with black water in order
to step into their boat. All around their exercise area is covered with sharp
shells which injure their feet. There is not even a trash can nor any water
taps so that they can wash their hands and feet after their exercise. They have
to buy their own ores. The boat given to the Iranian women’s rowing team is one
that was being used ten years ago in Tehran and has been repeatedly repaired.
The boat weighs around 200 kilograms and has no wheels, so members of the
Iranian women’s rowing team have to carry it to the exercise area on their own.
******
Twenty days after her arrest,
Kurdish civil activist Zahra Mohammadi remains in undetermined conditions. Zahra
Mohammadi, director of Nojin Social and Cultural Association, was arrested
on May 23, when agents of the Intelligence Department of Sanandaj raided
her residence. Simultaneously two other members of Nojin Association were also
arrested. On May 30, Zahra’s family were able to visit her after eight days. Nevertheless,
they have no news of her since. Zahra Mohammadi is 28 and
holds an M.S. degree in geopolitics from the University of Birjand, capital of
south Khorasan Province. The Kurdish civil activist had been teaching Kurdish
language in Sanandaj and its surrounding villages for ten years. She was one of
the founders of Nojin Social and Cultural Association founded in 2013. She
was voted to direct the association. Nojin Association is a social and
culturally active association with branches in Sanandaj, Kamyaran, Dehgolan,
Saqqez and Baneh among other cities.
In an earlier development
on May 16, 2019, security forces raided Koolan village near Marivan and
arrested seven Kurdish civil activists including three women. Daimen Fat’hi,
Somayyeh Rouzbeh, and Mojdeh Mardoukhi were among the Kurdish civil activists
who intended to hold a gathering at the cemetery of Koolan village in protest
to the murder in Marivan of a young woman by the name of Narmin Vatankhah. The
ceremony was dispersed when security forces raided the gathering and arrested
some of the participants.
******
Female students of Zeinabiyeh High
School in Kamyaran went on strike in protest to the school’s demand that they
pay for their exam sheets. On Sunday, June 9, before the exam started, Zeinabiyeh
High School’s deputy principal lined up the girls and told them to pay 50,000
tomans each for the price of their exam sheets. But the students resisted and
went on strike, something that forced the city’s governor and the director of
the Department of Education to take back their word. The students then went to
the class and took their exams. Kamyaran is located in the western
Iranian province of Kermanshah.
******
Defrauded clients of Azim Khodro
held a protest gathering outside the Judiciary’s building in Tehran on
Wednesday, June 12. On Tuesday, June 11, a group of defrauded investors of
Talay-e Samen held a protest to receive their unanswered demands.
On Monday, June 10, a group of
defrauded investors of Caspian financial institute and Turk activists including
a large number of women held a protest gathering in support of Abbas Lessani,
the Turk activist who is imprisoned in Ardabil Prison, and demanded his
release. On the same day a group of residents of Toulian village held a protest
against repeated disruption of drinking water pumping to their village. They
also protested the government’s water and sewage policies and their management
of water distribution to the villages in the central part of the province. They held their protests outside the governor’s building
in Dehdasht, capital of the city of Kohgiluyeh. Toulian is located 7 kms
away from Dehdasht. (The state-run Tasnim news agency – June 10, 2019)
******
Iranian regime’s State Security
Force has further ramped up pressure on women by tightening up the regime’s
rules on compulsory veiling. The acting commander of the State Security Force,
Ayyoub Solaimani, once again declared that women commit an obvious crime
by removing their veils, and police deals with them.
A reporter asked Solaimani, “Why
should drivers of taxi agencies account for their passengers’ removing of their
veil?” He answered, “The legal responsibility of any car is with the owner.
Just like the passenger’s failure to fasten the seat belt, for which the car
owner must account before the law, drivers must note and be committed to their
legal responsibility. They must not allow their passengers to break the law by
removing their veil. All agencies must emphasize on their rules for observing
the veil and Islamic principles.” (The state-run media – June 11, 2019) Three days ago, a taxi driver
working with the SNAP Company gave a warning to his passenger whom he
considered improperly veiled. He dropped her in the middle of the way in a
place where she had no access to other transportation. The woman later
published on her twitter account the details of how she had been mistreated by
this driver. (The state-run ROKNA news agency – June 10, 2019)
In another development, the State
Security Force in Mazandaran identified and arrested a group of men and women
who were riding boats in a dam while dressed in swimming suits. More arrests
are expected. (The state-run ROKNA news agency – June 8, 2019)
The State Security Force of
Kermanshah also announced that 611 people, including 64 women, had been
arrested during the month of Ramadan for defying the SSF’s warnings.
Mohammad Reza Amou’ii, social
deputy of the State Security Force Command in Kermanshah Province, made the
announcement, adding that they had sealed up the food shops and restaurants
which had broken the regime’s rules. They had also given warnings to 4,166
persons who had openly eaten in public during Ramadan. (The state-run Fars news
agency – June 9, 2019)
