Iran's judiciary declares criticism of Middle East policy punishable by law

The Iranian public prosecutor's office is threatening critics of the country's Middle East policy with legal action. "Due to the delicate situation in the region, reports in the press and social media that cause unrest will soon be classified as a criminal offense," the public prosecutor's office announced in a press release. In the past few days, a newspaper reporter and two bloggers have already been arrested and charged for this, the public prosecutor's office announced on the justice portal Misan.

The background to the threats is the overthrow of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad a few days ago. Assad was a key ally of the Iranian leadership within the so-called resistance axis against arch-enemy Israel. The change of power in Syria has enormously weakened this Iranian foreign policy doctrine and put Tehran in need of an explanation.

Critics in the country accuse the leadership of having supported Assad for years with billions of US dollars for nothing. The billions should instead have been invested in their own country to avoid getting caught up in the current desolate economic crisis.

The rapid fall of Assad also led to chaos on the Iranian currency market. The national currency, the rial, reached a record low, and currency brokers in Tehran fear that the rial will lose even more value as a result of the crisis.