Page 7 - IRANRptNov18

is a long process involved when it comes to the EU arranging practical backing to maintain trade and investment with Iran.
The EU announced as far back as 2016 that it had plans to open an office in Tehran to liaise directly with Iran. However, countless EU missions to the country have failed to make much headway on the issue with the Iranians. Some hardline elements in Iran continue to insist that such an office would amount to a form of neo-imperialism.
In November last year, Iranian First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said the establishment of an EU office in Tehran was on the agenda of the foreign ministry. He said such an office could facilitate the implementation of bilateral agreements.
2.3 Iranian journalist detained after report showing new labour minister link to corruption probe
Iranian journalist Saba Azarpeik has reportedly been arrested and detained in Tehran after publishing government documents on social media which purportedly show that newly appointed Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare Mohammad Shariatmadari has some kind of link to a corruption probe, according to local reports.
No details of the corruption case, or how ex-industry minister Shariatmadari is related to it, have been released.
Shariatmadari added to the confusion, by tweeting: "Although she revealed some old documents about our own probe into graft, I don’t like seeing her detained."
Azarpeik is no stranger to prison. She was previously arrested while working for financial weekly Tejarat-e-Farda —a sister publication of D onya e-Eqtesad and the Financial Tribune . After that arrest, she was in Tehran’s Evin Prison after being charged with “propaganda against the state” and "dissemination of falsehoods”.
Police reportedly arrested the journalist on this occasion at her apartment in the capital.
Shariatmadari was announced as the new labour minister by President Hassan RouhanionOctober28. S hariatmadariresignedfromhispostasindustry minister just over a week ago after becoming increasingly sidelined following a cabinet decision to split his ministry in two.
2.4 Iran charges five wildlife activists with national security crimes punishable by death
Five Iranian animal rights activists and environmentalists from the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation have been charged with national security crimes punishable by death.
The five were arrested in January alongside at least another half a dozen people, one of whom—according to reports from officials that have been met with deep scepticism—hung himself in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. Even
7 IRAN Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com