A 1988 MASSACRE AND THE TRUTH ABOUT ‘MODERATE’ ROUHANI

A 1988 MASSACRE AND THE TRUTH ABOUT ‘MODERATE’ ROUHANI

jcpoa, Iran, protest, FreeIran, Humanrights, Iranian Opposition, 1988Massacre, MaryamRajav

By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh 

Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani is making a tactical shift once again. This time he is appeasing the hard-liners publicly and revealing the actual agenda of his administration after achieving the Supreme Leader’s economic objectives.
Rouhani used the UN pedestal last week to shower praise on Tehran’s theocracy. His stale slogans smack of desperation and deception.

Isolated and generally regarded as a pariah, the regime and its familiar figures try to stick to the same plot and project an image of a powerful and rational player.

Brush aside the forced rhetoric and the ugly truth reveals itself: A regime that has hanged over 3,100 people under Rouhani alone, securing the world record for the highest number of executions. Dozens of young people are among the victims, securing another record; the world’s last remaining executioner of children.
While the Islamic Republic attempts to portray having a democratic electoral system, Rouhani does not represent the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people. He represents the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the Revolutionary Guard Corps. His Cabinet consists of veteran intelligence and security officers with dark pasts. This includes his justice minister, Alireza Avai, who was involved in the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.
Rouhani’s former justice minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi was on the “death committee” for these executions and recently said he was proud to have carried out “God’s commandment” in 1988 against these activists from the Mujahedin-e Khalq, the leading opposition. Many of the relatives of the victims believe that Rouhani represents a gang of thugs and mass murderers, rather than the will of the Iranian people.
Tehran’s regional policy is no better, with military and missile budgets skyrocketing under Rouhani, leading to the regime’s belligerent agenda in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and other hotspots in the region.
No wonder the Iranian people want a new Iran, free from a regime that diverts their wealth and scarce resources toward suppression, missiles and terrorism.
As US President Donald Trump said in his address to the UN General Assembly last week, the regime’s main victims are the Iranian people. “The entire world understands that the good people of Iran want change,” he said.
And “change” was the message echoed by thousands of Iranian-Americans and their supporters who gathered outside the UN headquarters in New York to protest against rogue Rouhani’s presence last Wednesday.

They called for democratic change by the Iranian people and their organized opposition movement, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
Moreover, the protesters pointed to at least 11,000 recorded protests inside Iran against the regime over the past year as a sign of the Iranian people’s preparedness to implement democratic change.
A powerful message was delivered by NCRI’s President-elect Maryam Rajavi, who said: “It is time for the world community, especially western countries, to end appeasing the mullahs’ regime. Any diplomatic and commercial relations with the regime must be conditioned on a halt in torture and executions.”
Among the other speakers were House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), former senator Joe Lieberman, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton, and former senator Robert Torricelli.
Congressman Engel said: “Change can come from within. There are many young people in Iran who have only known oppression. I want to pledge to you that I will work with all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, work with all the government officials, keep the pressure on the regime.”
Senator Lieberman called for investigations into the 1988 massacre: “It’s time for a truth commission in Iran the way there was a truth commission in South Africa after the end of apartheid.”
John Bolton said the “safest way to guarantee peace internationally, peace in the Middle East, peace for the people of Iran, is to overthrow this regime and have a free and fair election.” A memorial for the victims of the 1988 massacre was also on display at the rally.
Many of the suspected mass graves in Iran as a result of the massacre remain undiscovered. Tens of thousands of families are demanding answers. The international community should break its silence over the 1988 massacre.
Washington should lead the way. The first step is to establish an independent investigation. More broadly, as part of a new policy that rejects both appeasement and war, America should support the Iranian people and the organized opposition of Iran toward the ultimate goal of democratic change. This is the first time since 1979 that the White House, regional powers and the international community have had the momentum to exert the needed pressure.
A new Iran shines on the horizon. It shone brightly in New York. Let us hope it is shining just as bright for the White House.

How to Stop Iran in Its Post-Deal Destabilization Game

Hoabilization Gamew to Stop Iran in Its Post-Deal Dest

The solution presented by Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi ensures a non-nuclear Iran

Iran, jcpoa, FreeIran, Humanrights, Iranian Opposition, IRGC, MaryamRajavi, PMOI, Rajavi, MEK, 

Every three months, there's a deadline for a U.S. “recertification” of the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). As that deadline approaches, discussions in the Beltway heat up as to what is the right approach toward a government which complies with the letter of the deal but not the “sprit," despite signing off on the contract with six world powers in 2015, which limits its bomb-making capabilities for at least 10 years. 

If nothing has been learned from the behavior of mullahs in Tehran over the past 40 years, one thing is obvious; they succumb only when their back is against the wall. Case in point is the eight-year-old Iran-Iraq war, which left hundreds of thousands dead, and billions of dollars in losses just on Iran’s side. It ended when Supreme Leader Khomeini was convinced that the regime was only steps away from a crashing defeat and subsequent collapse.

Many Iran watchers in the West regrettably fail to notice the nature and structure of mullahs’ hierarchy, which is built on the foundation of Velayat-e faghih (Guardianship of Jurisprudence), and the absolute rule of the Supreme Leader - Ruhollah Khomeini in the 1970s and 1980s, and now Ali Khamenei. These two pillars of power simply mean ruling with an absolute iron fist at home and exporting its brand of Islamic ideology (terrorism and fundamentalism) abroad. There are no “moderates” or “hardliners” in Iran. 

There are talks in the media even among the staunch supporters of the Obama administration on one hand and the White House’s inner circles on the other as how to continue putting a tight leash on Iran beyond 2026 or 2031 when the JCPOA expire

Iran: In an act of protest, Atena Daemi refuses to undergo surgery

Iran, politica peisoer, Humanrights, 
Political prisoners should be released in Iran 

Political prisoner Atena Daemi was returned to Iran’s Evin Prison after she did not agree to be hospitalized with handcuffs and shackles.

Her mother, Massoumeh Nemati, explained that Atena Daemi had to undergo gallbladder surgery at the Khomeini Hospital (on Monday, September 25, 2017).

Based on orders from the warden of Evin Prison, however, she was supposed to keep her handcuffs and shackles all the time while in hospital. She did not agree to this form of hospitalization and was returned to Evin Prison.

According to Mrs. Nemati, the warden of Evin had already banned Atena from having a companion or any visits. She wondered, “I do not understand how a prisoner, who has been imprisoned for her beliefs, could escape from the hospital? Where can she escape to?”

Mrs. Nemati also pointed out that the representative of Tehran’s Prosecutor, Haj MOradi, had made some promises. “Yesterday, Atena's father met with Haj Moradi, who verbally promised that she would not be handcuffed or shackled. He said she could even have visitors and even a companion. Today, after Atena was returned to prison, her father once again went to the Prosecutor’s Office but was told that they could do nothing and that the orders of the prison’s warden had to be carried out,” Mrs. Nemati said.

Iran Maryam Akbari denied medical leave and treatment

Iran: Maryam Akbari denied medical leave and treatment

Humanrights, Iran, MEK, 1988Massacre, 
Political prisoners should be released in Iran

Iranian political prisoner Maryan Akbari Monfaredneeds medical treatment but Evin Prison authorities refuse to let her go to a hospital for treatment.

Maryam Akbari’s husband in an interview said, “Despite her detention for nearly eight years, she continues to be denied the right to a prison leave and does not enjoy any of her legal rights.”

Hassan Jaafari added, “Members of my wife’s family were executed in the 80’s and her siblings are members of the Mojahedin (PMOI/MEK). At the time, they were in Camp Ashraf in Iraq, and my wife had spoken to them several times on the phone. And this is her charge. I was present when my wife was tried at the 15th Branch of the Revolutionary Court. I was holding my young daughter. Judge Salavati told my wife, ‘You are paying the price for your brothers and sister.’ Then, I was left with three young girls whose mother has been in prison for six and a half years… It is nearly seven years that they’ve taken away my wife and I am left behind with three girl children. I have to constantly go to the Prosecutor’s Office and to the prison and then there’s work and the children,” he added. 

U.N. Special Rapporteur Tells Iran Regime: Abolish Torture and Release Detainees

U.N. Special Rapporteur Tells Iran Regime: Abolish Torture and Release Detainees

Iran, MEK, Humanrights, 1988Massacre

The violation of human rights in Iran should end

NCRI - Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, was interviewed by Al Arabiya’s studios in the United Nations about the current situation in the country.

She said that in many areas in the country there are serious violations of human rights - from rule of law, denial of due process, discriminatory laws, people being discriminated against on religious and ethnic grounds and torture. She said that she believes the Iranian government is beginning to look into these violations, however the steps being taken to address then are “very tiny”. The government knows that there are issues that need to be addressed, but she emphasised that it cannot continue to let them drag on because awareness is rising across the world.

With regards to protesters in Iran that seek an improvement of the rights situation, Jahangir said that she will not discourage them from speaking up, despite the fact that they risk detention and torture. She reminded them that it is the right of every citizen in the world to speak up for their rights and against incidents where rights are violated.

ISJ Publishes Report Detailing a 'Review of Iran's Nuclear Weapons-Related Conduct in the Last Two Years'

FreeIran, Iran, Iranian Opposition, IRGC, MaryamRajavi, NCRI, PMOI, Rajavi, MEK, 

BRUSSELS, Sept. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Committee In Search of Justice (ISJ), a Brussels based NGO, has published a new research report titled "Review of Iran's Nuclear Weapons-Related Conduct: Two years after the implementation of JCPOA and IAEA report on Possible Military Dimensions of Iranian nuclear program."  

(http://isjcommittee.com/2017/09/isj-report-review-irans-nuclear-weapons)

Focusing on the past two years, the 24-page report drew upon publicly available information including the nuclear agreement (JCPOA), particularly its T-section, Tehran's position and replies in reference to "Final Assessment of IAEA on Past and Present Outstanding  Issues regarding Iran's Nuclear Program", evidence of Iran's illegal procurements for its nuclear weapon and  missiles programs, reports of its ballistic missile tests, and the April 2017 revelations by the opposition group,  the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) regarding a previously unknown location that might be involved in the nuclear weapons program.

In a previous report, on November 20, 2014, ISJ provided a thorough review of questions regarding the Iranian nuclear program and especially its possible military dimensions. (http://isjcommittee.com/2014/11/examining-10-warning-signs-iran-nuclear-weapons-development)

The new report contains discussion of the August  2016 execution of Shahram Amiri, the Iranian nuclear expert who had escaped to the US in 2009 but returned to Iran in 2010. The report reviews Amiri's background and his research credentials, then establishes that he was a source in confirming the military nature of the Iranian nuclear program. The report pointed out that this is why he was executed one year after the conclusion of JCPOA negotiations.

ISJ recommends the following steps for a credible verification to ensure that Tehran's nuclear weaponization program has been abandoned: 

1. All organizations affiliated with the organ responsible for manufacturing a nuclear weapon must be thoroughly inspected by the IAEA, its experts made immediately available for unrestricted interviews, and the results made public.

2. In accordance with the spirit of the nuclear agreement and to ensure transparency on the part of Iran, immediate and unhindered access to military sites must be guaranteed.

3. Tehran must be prevented from continuing activities related to missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, as such activities are in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231.

ISJ (http://isjcommittee.com/) was registered in 2014 as a NGO including former officials and other dignitaries with an interest in promoting democracy and peace. Its President, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a former professor of nuclear physics, was vice president of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014.

Is Iran’s enhanced ballistic missile capability a calculated move?

FreeIran, Iran, Iranian Opposition, IRGC, MaryamRajavi, NCRI, PMOI, Rajavi, MEK, 

The ruling regime in Iran is the father of terrorism and the acquisition of nuclear warheads for the region and the world is very dangerous.

As the North Korea nuclear standoff and the future of Iran’s nuclear deal has absorbed an all-too enormous amount of international attention, a more important prism on Iran’s regional hostility must not go neglected.

During the United Nations General Assembly the controversial nuclear pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), took center stage once again. All the while Tehran has throughout the years overtly and covertly pursued a massive campaign hinging on meddling and extending its lethal ideology of Islamic fundamentalism across the Middle East.

The rendered atrocities can be witnessed across the region, especially in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. This threatens the very fabric of the Middle East populace and bears the potential of plunging this flashpoint region into an abyss of proxy wars resulting in nothing but infernos of carnage.