April 1 – Political analysts in Iran accused Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi of being unable to bring about fiscal reform and lift the country out of its economic crisis.

Iran is facing unprecedented water shortages, workers’ protests and a sharp rise in poverty with an estimated one-third of Iranians living under the poverty line.

The analysts also said Raisi had failed to deliver on promises he made during elections last year, and said he had given in to demands by the regime.

A UK inquiry into Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention in Iran has been launched.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was continuously detained by the regime on charges which were called baseless by the US and the UK and her case had been linked to a longstanding multimillion dollar debt owed by the UK to Iran.

The mother-of-one’s release happened on the same day the debt was settled. Britain’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee could look at why the case took so long to resolve, its connection to the historic debt and Iran’s hostage taking practices.

The detained dual national Morad Tahbaz, ended his hunger strike in prison following a short-lived release from jail.

Tahbaz, who has cancer and has contracted Covid-19 twice in detention, was told he would be given leave by the Iranian government at the same time detained British-Iranians Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori were freed.

Iranian officials released Tabaz on March 16, but detained him again two days later despite an agreement in place to put the 66-year-old on furlough.

And several women who had traveled to watch a World Cup qualifier football match between Iran and Lebanon in Mashad were allegedly pepper-sprayed by security officials and blocked from entering the stadium.

A large number of women — who had been promised tickets by the government — could be seen chanting and protesting at the stadium gates in videos shared across social media.

Videos on the internet appeared to show women in pain after being sprayed by security staff. Iran’s state television did not cover the incident.

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