{"id":1822,"date":"2022-05-26T13:24:48","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T13:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1822"},"modified":"2022-07-06T13:38:55","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T13:38:55","slug":"as-millions-face-poverty-irans-government-dissolves-largest-ngo-for-the-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1822","title":{"rendered":"As Millions Face Poverty, Iran\u2019s Government Dissolves Largest NGO for the Poor"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 26, 2022 \u2013 While millions of Iranians are struggling to make ends meet, the Iranian government has shut down the country\u2019s oldest and largest independent non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on poverty alleviation, the Imam Ali Popular Student Relief Society (IAPSRS).<\/span>\u201cThe Iranian authorities are so threatened by any independent individuals and organizations that they sever lifelines for the Iranian people even when they are needed most,\u201d said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).<\/span><\/p>\n

An appeals court\u2019s decision to uphold a preliminary ruling issued last year to dissolve the NGO, commonly referred to as the Imam Ali Society, comes at a time when the Iranian people face debilitating inflation and growing poverty.<\/span><\/p>\n

The government in Iran has meanwhile been violently repressing protests that erupted earlier this month over skyrocketing food prices. Scores of activists and protesters have been arrested under the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi and protesters have been killed by security forces.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIranian society is facing intensifying state suppression that is aimed at eliminating grassroots, civil society activists and organizations through all means\u2014from killing defenseless protesters to handcuffing individuals who are trying to alleviate hunger,\u201d said Ghaemi.<\/span><\/p>\n

Court Ordered NGO to Pay for \u201cStudy\u201d That Was Never Carried Out<\/span><\/p>\n

The preliminary court order to dissolve the IAPSRS was issued in March 2021 upon request by the Interior Ministry, which was then operating under President Hassan Rouhani, and was followed by the detention of several of the organization\u2019s senior staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

Branch 28 of the Appeals Court in Tehran province upheld the ruling, the IAPSRS announced in a statement on May 23, 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe case judge decided to refer the matter to a panel of experts and the IAPSRS paid 15 million tomans (497 USD, free market rate) in fees to conduct a study about its activities,\u201d the statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the study was not implemented, and no report was presented by the expert panel. Also, the indictment contains unproven opinions and accusations,\u201d the statement said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Established in 2009, the Imam Ali Society is the only NGO in Iran with UN advisory status and is a member of the UN\u2019s Economic and Social Council. It is devoted to providing services and support to impoverished families and children.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was shuttered through an unprecedented and unlawful judicial process, with the state\u2019s security-intelligence establishment arresting the organization\u2019s staff under manufactured accusations that were never proven.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reacting to the Appeals Court ruling, Iranian human rights lawyer Saeid Dehghan noted that the direct intervention of the Supreme Leader\u2019s Office, the Intelligence Ministry, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps\u2019 (IRGC) Intelligence Organization in this civil matter was unprecedented.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, it was the Revolutionary Court that would issue revolutionary decisions in such cases,\u201d he tweeted.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 26, 2022 \u2013 While millions of Iranians are struggling to make ends meet, the Iranian government has shut down the country\u2019s oldest and largest independent non-governmental organization (NGO) focused<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[553],"class_list":["post-1822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","tag-imam-ali-popular-student-relief-society-iapsrs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1823,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822\/revisions\/1823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}