Posts

Showing posts from July, 2022

The truth about the Iranian regime’s new president

-
Image
  By Sadegh Pashm-Foroush The day after the announcement of the results of Iran’s sham presidential election, Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei summoned the remaining members of the government of former regime president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19. In his remarks to them—indirectly addressing new regime president Massoud Pezeshkian—he warned him and reminded him of the “model” of the president in the regime. The supreme leader repeatedly mentioned Raisi and said, “He is truly a model; we must all learn from him.” He then reiterated the concept of “heartfelt belief and practical commitment” to the regime, which Pezeshkian, like all the election candidates, had committed to. Khamenei stated, “Dear Raisi demonstrated as a model that one can possess these mental, heartfelt, and practical qualities as the president of a country and follow them in practice.” Of course, before the sham election, Pezeshkian repeatedly stated that he would continue Raisi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ebrahim Raisi’s Record: Iran Likely Exceeds 2021’s Total Execution Figures

-
Image
  Written by  Shamsi Saadati A number of human rights organizations joined in a campaign this past week to call attention to what they called a “horrifying wave” and a “spree” of executions in Iran. A statement from  Amnesty International  reiterated the content of earlier reports finding that over 250 executions were carried out across Iran in just the first half of 2022. The month of July has seen substantial further increases, in line with the statement’s observation that upwards of a dozen prisoners have been executed at one time as part of the ongoing spree. According to Iran Human Rights Monitor, at least 11 individuals were hanged on Saturday, June 23, after the preceding Wednesday and Thursday had seen a total of eight executions. The same source offered a slightly higher estimate than Amnesty International for the total number of executions in the first six months of 2022, noting that it exceeded the estimate for all of 2020. By some accounts, the past month...
Post a Comment
Read more

Would Borrell’s New Draft Save JCPOA, or Buys More Time for Iran’s Regime?

-
Image
  Written by  Shahriar Kia On Tuesday, July 26, the European Union’s foreign policy chief announced that he had introduced a new draft text for the re-implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. An earlier draft had apparently been on the table in Vienna when negotiations among signatories of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action were suspended in March and remained on the table when those negotiations briefly resumed in Doha earlier this month. At both negotiations and in a number of intervening statements, the Iranian regime rejected that draft while demanding additional concessions, primarily from the United States. It was not immediately clear what new concessions had been included in the new draft, but they were presented to Tehran and the international community as the last available compromise on outstanding issues. “I have now put on the table a text that addresses, in precise detail, the sanctions lifting as well as the nuclear steps needed to restore the JCPOA,” J...
Post a Comment
Read more

34 years later, the 1988 massacre is haunting Iran’s regime

-
Image
  By  Matin Karim 34 years ago, Iranian regime supreme leader made the fateful decision to eradicate the Iranian opposition, ordering all political prisoners with ties to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) to be immediately executed. Following Khomeini’s order, on these same hot summer days, in July and August of 1988, every day, thousands of political prisoners were being hanged in prisons across Iran. The 1988 massacre ended with the execution of more than 30,000 political prisoners, most of whom were members and supporters of the MEK. The regime went to extreme measures to hide this heinous crime against humanity, hiding the bodies in unmarked mass graves, keeping families in the dark about the fate of their loved ones, threatening parents to not hold funerals for their children, and later destroying any possible evidence about the mass murders. The 1988 massacre became a turning point for the regime and became a defining factor in the power hierarchy of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Brussels court ruling signals another blow to Iran’s regime, pro-appeasement circles

-
Image
  By  Matin Karim The Brussels Court of First Instance convened on Thursday, July 28, and   extended   a ban imposed on the extradition of   Assadollah Assadi , the Iranian regime’s convicted and imprisoned diplomat-terrorist. This ruling will keep Assadi behind bars for another two months when a substantial case hearing has been scheduled for September 19. Assadi and his three accomplices are serving up to 20 years in prison for their role in a thwarted bomb plot targeting the “Free Iran” gathering held in 2018 just north of Paris in support of the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ) and NCRI President-elect Mrs.   Maryam Rajavi , the main target of the foiled bomb plot. The rally was attended by tens of thousands of freedom-loving Iranians and NCRI supporters, along with hundreds of dignitaries from across the globe. This ruling has once again been another defeat and reminder for the mullahs’ regime and the pro-app...
Post a Comment
Read more

MEK Resistance Units and the power of Iran’s democratic alternative

-
Image
  By  Matin Karim As part of the Free Iran 2022 campaign, 5,000 members of Resistance Units sent video messages, supporting the Iranian opposition’s yearly convention and reiterating their resolve to overthrow the theocratic rule of the mullahs in Iran. Messages came from every corner of Iran, and they had a common theme, “We can and we must,” a slogan that was popularized by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). “We can and we must break the chains of despair.” “We can and we must free our country from the clutches of the mullahs.” “We can and we must overthrow the mullahs’ regime.” “We can and we must build a free and prosperous Iran.” “We can and we must celebrate freedom.” The resistance units held up photos of Mrs. Rajavi, who has become a symbol of hope and freedom for millions of people who are fed up under the tyrannical rule of the mullahs. The Resistance Units are a network of activists associated with the Peopl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why has Khamenei’s strategy failed in Iran?

-
Image
  54 executions in just 30 days including 11 executions on July 23 alone. On this same day, authorities   hanged   political prisoner Iman Sabzikar in public in Shiraz, south-central Iran. This is the first public hanging in two years and part of the Iranian regime’s latest report card of executions, and a chapter of the mullahs’ horrific human rights violations record. The rate of executions in Iran is escalating in horrific fashion. 255 were executed in 2020 366 were executed in 2021 And 266 prisoners (more than the entire year 2020) have been executed in the first half of 2022 until the end of June, according to   Iran Human Rights Monitor . Iranian regime Supreme Leader   Ali Khamenei , when appointing   Ebrahim Raisi   as his regime’s president back in August of last year, described the measure as “full of meaning” due to the fact that “new individuals have new initiatives.”  And in his Nowruz (Iranian calendar New Year) message on March 21 h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Iran: First public hanging in two years amid growing wave of executions

-
Image
  By  Mahin Horri On Saturday, July 23, Iranian authorities hanged political prisoner Iman Sabzikar in public in Shiraz. This is the first public hanging in two years. Shiraz’s rebellious youths had countered the security forces last February when they maliciously harassed two youths at the Bid-Zard police station. During those clashes with the State Security Force (SSF), IRGC Colonel Ali Akbar Ranjbar, the deputy chief of the SSF station who had attacked the people, was killed. Sabzikar, a worker from Juneqan, was arrested, brutally tortured and sentenced to death under the regime’s “Qisas” law. The chief prosecutor in Fars province described Sabzikar’s execution as such: “Dealing quickly with the case was placed on the agenda, and a preliminary verdict was issued based on retributive laws.”  Quoting the chief prosecutor, the IRGC affiliated Fars News Agency wrote, “After preparation for execution of the verdict, he was executed at the place of the incident at 5:40 am.” ...
Post a Comment
Read more