TEHRAN: Three Iranian labor rights activists have been released more than two years after their arrest, their lawyer told AFP on Wednesday.
“My clients Keyvan Mohtadi, Reza Shahabi and Hassan Saidi were released Sunday after the judiciary commuted their sentences,” the lawyer Hossein Taj said.
All three had been sentenced to six years in prison after convictions for conspiracy against the state.
In addition to being a labor activist, Mohtadi was a translator for French nationals Jacques Paris and Cecile Kohler who remain in prison after they were arrested in May 2022 and accused of spying.
Mohtadi, 38, was arrested alongside his wife Anisha Asadollahi the same month in their home in Tehran.
Shahabi and Saidi, unionists working for Tehran’s public bus authority, were arrested in April and May 2022 respectively.
The lawyer Taj said the three had been released following a decision to commute their sentence on appeal.
He added that said the three were subject to a pardon from Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei decreed in February 2023.
Iran releases three labor rights activists: lawyer
https://arab.news/jz5n9
Iran releases three labor rights activists: lawyer
- All three had been sentenced to six years in prison after convictions for conspiracy against the state
Syria’s growth accelerates as sanctions ease, refugees return
- Economy grows much faster than World Bank’s 1% estimate, fueling plans for currency’s relaunch
NEW YORK: Syria’s economy is growing much faster than the World Bank’s 1 percent estimate for 2025 as refugees flow back after the end of a 14-year civil war, fueling plans for the relaunch of the country’s currency and efforts to build a new Middle East financial hub, central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh has said.
Speaking via video link at a conference in New York, Husrieh also said he welcomed a deal with Visa to establish digital payment systems and added that the country is working with the International Monetary Fund to develop methods to accurately measure economic data to reflect the resurgence.
The Syrian central bank chief, who is helping guide the war-torn country’s reintegration into the global economy after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime about a year ago, described the repeal of many US sanctions against Syria as “a miracle.”
The US Treasury on Nov. 10 announced a 180-day extension of the suspension of the so-called Caesar sanctions against Syria; lifting them entirely requires approval by the US Congress.
Husrieh said that based on discussions with US lawmakers, he expects the sanctions to be repealed by the end of 2025, ending “the last episode of the sanctions.”
“Once this happens, this will give comfort to our potential correspondent banks about dealing with Syria,” he said.
Husrieh also said that Syria was working to revamp regulations aimed at combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which he said would provide further assurances to international lenders.
Syria’s central bank has recently organized workshops with banks from the US, Turkiye, Jordan and Australia to discuss due diligence in reviewing transactions, he added.
Husrieh said that Syria is preparing to launch a new currency in eight note denominations and confirmed plans to remove two zeroes from them in a bid to restore confidence in the battered pound.
“The new currency will be a signal and symbol for this financial liberation,” Husrieh said. “We are glad that we are working with Visa and Mastercard,” Husrieh said.
