As we've gone to press, we have been assessing a number of key developments throughout the past ten days. We have been assessing the aftermath of the Sulemaini assassination and the shooting of the Ukrainian Airline as we extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the loved ones.
In the aftermath of the Sulemaini assassination, Iran worked to take advantage of this to try and have the World forget the protests of November as it worked to elevate him by virtue of such postings on his pious views--and his acceptance of death. The postings noted below were supposedly written by him before he left Syria for his final trip to Iraq:
The elevation of him to the position of martyrdom as he embraced the Third Imam as Khomeini looked on was part of this propaganda Effort. There were attempts made, though, to deflate the myth they tried to build up, too.
Iran promised a response--and the Supreme Guide noted that they "slapped the United States" as Iran thereafter attacked US Bases. There were reports that it Iran had already given advance notice and what ended up was a show for domestic consumption. This was as President Trump initially threatened during this effort to bomb Cultural Sites which prompted the discourse below which subsequently forced President Trump to revise his thinking in this regard:
Even though 1500 people lost their lives in November, nothing was done and the Government dismissed the protesters as foreign-inspired agitators. However, the Supreme Guide (Supreme Leader) of the Government, Ali Khameini, went to see the family of Sulemani and thereafter other senior members of the ruling establishment went there as well:
As the Government in Tehran put on a nationwide show for Sulmeinai's Funeral, a sense of the true sense of what the ordinary faces of Iran was evident as it noted this slogan: "Trump-Right on!!!"
The aftermath of the tragedy of the Ukrainian Airlines flight was quite profound. Iranian Authorities first denied it and tried to deflect--until the National Command authority in Iran issued a statement admitting the shooting of the airline. The Commander said they are responsible --yet again played the blame game which has been the strategy by Iranian Authorities.
The life stories of these innocent souls has been heart breaking to be witness to--all of them were at the prime of their lives and had their entire life in front of them. What we found especially sickening was one of the mouth pieces of Iran's Supreme Guide, stating that now that The Revolutionary Guards had admitted their mistake, the World should not shed crocodile tears--We join all in telling him that as we grieve, we will make sure to stay on it. 80% of the passengers were going back to Canada--and later on today the Canadian Prime Minister is due to visit Edmonton where 31 of the victims called home. The mother and daughter in this picture perished:
As we went to press with this special edition of Notations, we were seeing reports of protests throughout Iran. Protests have sprung up yet again in Iran targeting the Supreme Guide demanding his resignation--one of the leading celebrities that joined the protests was the Award-Winning Director Jafar Panahi at Amir Kabir University along with Tehran University--This image of the women standing up to Security Forces was telling:
Leading Iranian Papers have been noting how the Government had lied and how whatever credibility the Islamic Republic was destroyed--and how the people have arisen. There have been resignations and threats of resignation by members of Parliament as well in light of the profound lies at hand.
President Trump released a series of Tweets in Farsi expressing support and noting to the authorities in Iran that the World was watching. We were also seeing reports that the Emir of Qatar was due to arrive in Tehran later on today--this is as Javad Zarif had gone on to Oman for the funeral of Sultan Qaboos who had just passed away.
Profound challenging times.....
