nassim: February 2018

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

U.S. troops in Syria could have an indirect impact in thwarting Iran

Washington Examiner, Feb. 27, 2018 - The head of U.S. Central Command told Congress Tuesday that American troops are in Syria solely for the purposed of defeating the Islamic State, and not to counter the influence of Iran.
“Countering Iran is not one of the coalition missions in Syria,” Gen. Joseph Votel said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. Yet he suggested U.S. troops could have an indirect impact in thwarting Iran.
“That said, I think one of the most effective things that we can do in this particular area is built strong relationships,” he said.

Al Arabiya, 28 February 2018-- The United States, Britain, France, and Germany have condemned Iran on Tuesday in a joint statement for breaking UN law prohibiting the supply of arms to Yemen.

Their statement comes a day after Russia vetoed a resolution put forward by Britain condemning Tehran. The resolution would also condemn Iran for arming Houthi militias.

Following the Russian veto, the Security Council unanimously adopted a technical resolution which renews the current arms embargo without any reference to Iran.

For months now, the United States has been pressurizing to condemn Iran and to enforce sanctions upon the country after Houthi militia fired ballistic missiles towards Saudi Arabia in 2017.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) February 28, 2018 - U.S. President Donald Trump discussed Iran’s “destabilizing activities” and other security and economic issues in separate telephone calls with senior Saudi and Emirati leaders on Tuesday, the White House said.
In calls with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin

Geneva, Reuters, February 28, 2018 - As Iran’s justice minister addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday, protesters rallied outside against the senior official who is on European Union and Swiss sanctions lists over alleged involvement in violations including arbitrary arrests and a rise in executions while he was president of the Tehran judiciary.

Alireza Avai was a senior judiciary official during the 1980s and the Mujahedin-e Khalq, an Iranian opposition group, accuses him of playing a role in the Islamic Republic’s execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.

He said a recent reform of its drug laws should lead to fewer executions after the UN Secretary-General said he remained alarmed about their high number - nearly 500 last year.

Orient Net, 28 February 2018 -- A senior US disarmament official said on Wednesday that Russia has violated its commitments as guarantor of the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile and preventing the Assad regime from using them.

The 1st Branch of the Zahedan Revolutionary Court presided over by Bameri, sentenced Abdullah Qanbarzehi, to five years in prison for “cooperating with dissident groups”. The 25-year-old political prisoner was arrested by the Intelligence Agency in Zahedan and was subjected to interrogation along with torture for one month in solitary confinement in the Zahedan Information Office. The Miracle Bed is a common method of torture for obtaining confessions from prisoners, especially in the Zahedan Intelligence Detention Center. In this type of torture, the prisoner is tied to the bed and is flogged until he stops resisting and makes confessions that can be used against him.

By Heshmat AlaviSpecial to Al Arabiya EnglishTuesday, 27 February 2018

As the world continues to fail in stopping the bloodshed of innocent people in Syria, Iran seeks two main objectives of saving face back home & raising the price any possible deal in the future that is becoming more and more likely now.

The Assad regime is continuously bombing innocent people in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, killing at least 500. Rescue workers are continuously pulling dead civilians from the rubble. As the United Nations Security Council has adopted a 30-day ceasefire resolution, it has become crystal clear that strong actions need to back-up such demands.

WARNING: Dana Rohrabacher said the Iranian regime's days are numbered

The Republican said the end of the Islamic Republic is in sight, saying the regime could be kicked out of power “in the blink of an eye”.

Protests in the country have continued this month after first erupting late last year due to anger at soaring unemployment and economic problems.

These spiraled into bigger demonstrations as citizens vented their anger at the regime ruled by religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But despite Tehran clamping down on the protests, with hundreds of demonstrators rounded up and arrested, Mr. Rohrabacher said they signal the end for the regime.

He was speaking

For years, the Iranian regime has been struggling to rein-in access to Internet services because it knows full-well providing unharnessed access to the Internet will defeat its censorship machine. The mullahs ruling Iran had a first-hand experience of what the Internet can do in 2009 when images and videos of the regime’s brutality toward peaceful protesters were broadcast worldwide on social media networks.

And with the advent of secure, encrypted messaging applications, keeping tabs on and monitoring Internet traffic has become even harder for the state.

Iran: Massenverbrecher Avaei bei UN in Genf

Ein Krieg ist schlimm, ein Bürgerkrieg ist furchtbar, der Krieg in Syrien ist nur noch grauenvoll. Die Allianzen wechseln, mancherorts bekämpfen sich Gruppen, die woanders koalieren – wer blickt da noch durch?! Und mittendrin „leben“ Zivilisten unter ständiger Todesangst. Als syrische Truppen und ihre Verbündeten den Osten der Stadt Ghouta angriffen, starben allein an einem Tag hunderte Zivilpersonen, darunter viele Kinder. Schon im Jahre 2013 waren hier durch den Einsatz von Sarin etwa 1.500 Menschen getötet worden. Die blutigen Gesichter kleiner Kinder sind in diesem schändlichen Krieg, der von

Iran State-Run Media Not Holding Administration to Account

London, 27 Feb - The state-owned Iranian media has been emphasizing the statements made by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei regarding the problems that Iran is facing without questing his motives or his actions according to a leading Iran expert.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, an Iranian-American political scientist, wrote an op-ed on Arab News decrying the Iranian Press for failing to hold the senior officials to account, while acknowledging that the intrinsic links between those at the top of the administration and those running the media make it impossible for the officially sanctioned journalists to serve as the fourth estate.

The Etemad newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is a former military officer, stated that Khamenei is “fully aware of (people’s) criticisms”, making it seem as though he would soon do something to address crippling poverty, but Dr. Majid Rafizadeh advises that this is just part of Khamenei’s good cop, bad cop strategy.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh wrote: “This shrewd policy is one of the reasons that Khamenei has been capable of ruling for nearly three decades (he is the second longest-serving dictator in the region)… In his tactical and crafted speech, he acknowledged that people are suffering because of the economy, unemployment, and injustice.”

In this way, Khamenei can look like he is on their side and separate himself from the establishments (both religious and political) that the Iranian people have problems with, whilst blame these problems on anonymous officials who do not listen to people’s concerns.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh wrote

The international community has made an unprecedented commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment, in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In a bold measure, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced his initiative to achieve parity at senior levels by 2021, and across the board by 2028. For his part, he appointed 17 women and 15 men to the senior management groups of the United Nations but stressed that “the changes needed are not just to recruitment systems and staff rules, but to our own attitudes and approaches.”

The UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) set this year’s theme, “women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work,” and made specific recommendations[1] to all member states to take steps to fulfill their commitments towards planet 50-50 by 2030.

On the eve of the International Women’s Day, a grand meeting entitled “Women in Political Leadership” was held in Tirana, Albania.

The ceremony featured the Iranian Resistance's President-elect Maryam Rajavi as the keynote speaker as well as a number of distinguished politicians, personalities and women's rights activists from different countries who addressed the conference and declared solidarity with the Iranian Resistance and its pioneering women.

The presence of a group of 1000 Iranian Resistance's women who resisted 14 years in camps Ashraf and Liberty in this IWD ceremony was the focal point of attention and speeches in this conference.

The Iranian Justice Minister is a known perpetrator of the 1988 massacre of 30.000 political prisoners, one of the greatest unanswered crimes in Iran’s modern history

The British Committee for Iran Freedom is shocked over the reports of Iranian Justice Minister Ali-reza Avaee’s plan to visit the United Nations headquarters in Geneva to address the UN Human Rights Council next week.

The Iranian Justice Minister is a known perpetrator of the 1988 massacre of 30.000 political prisoners, one of the greatest unanswered crimes in Iran’s modern history. He was added to the EU and UK sanction’s list in 2011, and again in April last year, for human rights violations, arbitrary arrests, denials of prisoners’ rights and an increase of execution, as President of Tehran Judiciary.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, the late Ms. Asma Jahangir, documented this massacre in her latest report and said “Between July

Geneva

February 27, 2018

The United States is appalled to learn that the government of Iran is sending its Justice Minister, Seyyed Alireza Avaei, to address the UN Human Rights Council. Minister Avaei oversaw the summary executions of Iranians in the late 1980’s. As the recent head of the Tehran judiciary and current Minister of Justice, Avaei oversees systematic arbitrary arrests and detentions of Iranians engaging in peaceful political and civic activism, and imprisons them in a network of facilities notorious for suspicious deaths, the use of torture, and denial of medical care.

People's Protests Continue in Different Parts of Iran

As Nowrouz (Iranian New Year) approaches, the low-income strata who live in a deplorable situation, are facing more difficulties. Part of the protests of the workers and the toilers took on February 25 and 26 is as follows:
Monday, February 26:

NCRI Staff

NCRI - The Iranian community in Switzerland, supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), on Tuesday, held a rally in front of the UN Headquarters in Geneva against Alireza Avaei, Justice Minister of the clerical regime, at the Human Rights Council.

Avaei has been directly implicated in the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, the majority of whom were members and supporters of the main opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), in 1988. He was a member of the Death Commission in Khuzestan Province that sent many political prisoners, including juveniles, to execution during the massacre.

@AFP http://AFP.com : https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/protests-sanctioned-iran-minister-addresses-un-rights-meet-doc-11e5ja1#.WpWtad8w9nl.twitter … https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/protests-sanctioned-iran-minister-addresses-un-rights-meet-doc-11e5ja1#.WpWtad8w9nl.twitter …

What Are #Iran Regime's Criminals Doing in the #UN #HumanRights Council?

https://ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/24397-what-are-iran-regime-s-criminals-doing-in-the-un-human-rights-council …https://ncr-Iran.org/en/news/human-rights/24397-what-are-Iran-regime-s-criminals-doing-in-the-un-human-rights-council …

U.S. Congressional Representatives Call on West to Support #Iranian People's Desire to Change

https://ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-protests/24400-u-s-congressional-representatives-call-on-west-to-support-iranian-people-s-desire-to-change …

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Generational tensions in Iran point to looming crisis

By Iman Zayat

The Arab Weekly, February 25, 2018 - Can the aging mullahs of Iran lead a predominately young country of more than 81 million people, the majority of whom are eager to live a more liberal lifestyle?

What do young Iranians know of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which their mullahs and leaders are keen to export to Arab and Islamic countries in the region?

What is their view of this outdated ideology, which is based on a complex combination of nationalism, political populism, and Shia religious radicalism?

In a commentary published in Foreign Policy magazine in January, Dennis Ross argued that Iran’s

OIAC strongly denounces the planned appearance at the United NationsHuman Rights Council (UNHRC) by Iranian Justice Minister Alireza Avaei,
We call on the United Nations Human Rights Council to resend its invitation to Avaei and urge it instead to consider rightful grievances of the 1988 massacre victims.”
— OIAC

WASHINGTON, DC, February 23, 2018, /EINPresswire.com - Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC) strongly denounces the planned appearance at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) by Iranian Justice Minister Alireza Avaei, a perpetrator of the 1988 massacre of some 30,000 political prisoners.
We protest against providing this

Orient Net, 25 February 2018-- Iranian military chief of staff said Iran and Assad regime will continue attacks on Eastern Ghouta, according to Reuters, but will respect a UN resolution demanding a 30-day truce elsewhere across Syria.

The Iranian official claimed that opposition-held areas in Rural Damascus “are not covered by the ceasefire and clean-up (operations) will continue there,” the semi-official news agency Tasnim quoted General Mohammad Baqeri as saying.

Assad militias, however, targeted on Sunday (Feb. 250 opposition-held areas not only in Eastern Ghouta but also in Hama province, according to our correspondents.

Twelve civilians, including

By Rachel O'Donoghue

Daily Star, 25th February 2018 - The Republican said the end of the Islamic Republic is in sight, saying the regime could be kicked out of power “in the blink of an eye”.
Protests in the country have continued this month after first erupting late last year due to anger at soaring unemployment and economic problems.
These spiraled into bigger demonstrations as citizens vented their anger at the regime

Breitbart, Feb. 24, 2018 - Western leaders are expressing horror at the siege of Eastern Ghouta in Syria, which is amounting to mass extermination of innocent civilians, potentially including tens of thousands of innocent women and children. The siege and the mass extermination are being led by Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad and backed by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Supreme Leader Seyed Ali Khamenei. All three of these people – al-Assad, Putin, and Khamenei – are massively committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and all three should be condemned as the worst kinds of war criminals, the worst war criminals so far this century.
Hundreds of people

Iranian women political prisoners Golrokh Iraee and Atena Daemi are held in horrible conditions in a small, dark room in Qarchak Prison while they are denied having telephone contacts or family visits.

This was tweeted by Atena Daemi’s father on Thursday, February 22, 2018. Mr. Hossein Daemi said the lives of these imprisoned women are in danger.

According to Mr. Daemi, his daughter Atena and Golrokh Iraee who is still on hunger strike, are not well.

Since February 1, they have been deprived of having telephone contacts or going for fresh air after dervish women were transferred to the same ward. They are also deprived of shopping at the prison’s store and their conditions resemble solitary confinement. At the same time, they are

With the attack last week that killed 17 people at a school in Parkland, Florida, it is easy to miss the humanitarian crisis that occurred across the globe in Syria. On Tuesday, hundreds of civilians, including children, died when Syria's government and its allies executed a direct strike on a rebel stronghold in eastern Ghouta — where Syrian forces used sarin in 2013, killing an estimated 1,500 people

Read Full Article Here Iran Justice Minister's Participation at UN Appalling | Newsmax.com
Urgent: Do you approve of Pres. Trump’s job performance? Vote Here Now!

New cyber revelations from the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK), the Iranian opposition movement, about the scope of mass surveillance by the Iranian regime are significant. Why? They show the desperation of the Iranian regime in confronting the uprising that began nationwide last December and has continued to this day.

On February 17, Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, addressed the conference "Women Force for Change, Iran Uprising and the Role of Women". During her address, she spoke about the role of women in standing up to the regime."Iran's uprising is not only for the overthrow of a political regime but is a revolt against religious fundamentalism. This would be a blissful dawn, not only for the people of Iran but for all the peoples of the region and the world," said Rajavi

A group of those who consider the Iran Deal as a “disarmament project” to overthrow the regime. An overseas regime broker named Houshang Amir Ahmadi says:

“The process proceeds in such a way that Iran must first be disarmament and economically weakened and disordered in the country and eventually overthrow the government; politics is the policy of overthrowing the regime”

KHAMENEI APOLOGIES FOR LACK OF JUSTICE IN IRAN, AS IF HE HASN’T HAD THE ABSOLUTE POWER IN HIS HANDS OVER THE PAST 29 YEARS

Iran freedom staff

Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, stated an unprecedented excuse on behalf of the Islamic Republic after signs of the public desire of radical changes in Iran in recent months’ protests, saying authorities need to work harder at bringing justice in the country.

He included himself as the aim of the critics of injustice in the country beside the government, the parliament, and judiciary.

Criticizing lacking justice in a country from the tongue of the Supreme Leader could have been a good news for the suppressed people, just should it was expressed truly.

Hamidreza Amini, a Telegram channel administrator, was detained on December 2, 2017. He has illegally transferred to Fashafuyeh Prison a few days ago from Evin Prison and has started a hunger strike. Hamidreza has been charged with publishing lies, blasphemy and insulting the officials of the Islamic Republic. His wife, Sudabeh Namdar Zanganeh, said that she had gone to court every day during this time but was not given any answers. “They told me to go home and not say anything. If you say something (they told me), you will also be put behind bars,” she said.
According to Sudabeh Namdar Zanganeh, Hamidreza went on a dry hunger strike on February 17. His health deteriorated and he passed out two times. He has been told to introduce the other admins of his Telegram channel in order for them to comply with his demands.

On Sunday, February 18th, Flight No. 3704 of Aseman Airlines, Iran's 3rd airline company with a fleet of 29 planes, left Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport at 8:03 am local time, heading for Yasuj. The plane, with 66 aboard, including six crew, never reached its destination, crashing into a mountainous region near the town of Semirom, close to Isfahan

Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has a way of imagining that Iran's citizens are fools. After making a belated confession about all the injustice to Iran within the mullahs' regime, he then went and created some more injustice by dispatching the regime's repressive forces for a new attack on a group seen as a terrible threat to their power: a gathering of dervishes in Tehran. The contrast was quite striking.

Read
more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/02/irans_top_mullah_pours_out_the_tears_and_flapdoodle__and_then_sends_the_goons_to_beat_up_the_dervishes.html#ixzz57rlY9vRi
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Dervishes in Tehran Attacked by Iran Regime’s Suppressive Forces

While Khamenei made a belated confession to injustice by the mullahs’ regime, a gathering of Dervishes in Tehran was attacked by the Iran Regime’s Forces.

On Sunday, February 18, in fear of the nationwide uprising and public anger and hatred, Khamenei, the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader, belatedly confessed to injustice by the mullahs’ regime which he leads.

Khamenei said: “We are completely aware of the people’s criticisms, and their complaints. We have been told; others have been told too and these words are conveyed to us … When we say they could criticize, it doesn’t mean that they only criticize the government or the judiciary or the parliament; no, somebody may also criticize me too.”

He added, “We are a retarded injustice, there is no doubt about it; we acknowledge, and we admit this … Regarding

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran or Mojahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) is a political group dedicated to the realization of a free and democratic Iran, but how did it start?

On September 6, 1965, the MEK was founded by three engineers Mohammad Hanifnejad, Said Mohsen, and Ali-Ashgar Badizadgan.

They had previously been involved with the Freedom/Liberation Movement, created by Medhi Bazargan in May 1961, which advocated for the democratic principles that were laid out in the Iranian constitution following the 1905 resolution. The group had been allowed to peacefully assemble and advocate for political freedom and the separation of powers for two years.

However, in 1963, Ruhollah Khomeini gave a public speech criticising the monarchy and was arrested. In response, large free speech and anti-monarchy protests broke out across Iran, which the Freedom Party supported.

These protests were violently put down by the Shah’s police, with thousands of people dying in what would become known as the June Uprising. Following the protests, the Shah outlawed pro-democracy groups, like the Freedom Party, and imprisoned their leaders. Bazargan was sentenced to ten years in prison.

The MEK founders knew that the fight for democracy

by Poorang Novak

It is no secret that the Iranian Regime (both Mullah and Shah) have used disinformation campaigns to attack and discredit the Iranian Resistance group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

One of those disinformation campaigns is the ‘Islamist Marxist’ label that the Shah’s Secret Police (SAVAK) originally used to disparage the MEK in order to undermine its support among the devout Iranian people because the Shah was scared of the MEK’s potential to mobilize Iranians- particularly the youth- against the monarchy. The Shah and SAVAK also used it to disparage other political opponents of the monarchy.

Inequality among Iranians could trigger new waves of protests

Riyadh, The Alriyadh Daily, 21 February 2018 - A recent scientific research conducted by the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies has said that the growing inequality among the people in Iran could pose real challenges for President Hassan Rouhani ’s government. The research gave clear-cut evidence of what sparked the unexpected protests that rocked Iran last December.
According to the research, titled “The protests put spotlight on the weaknesses of the Iranian regime,” and conducted by co-researcher at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Mona Alami, the protests exposed the weaknesses of the Iranian regime, threatened by internal discord and continued social discontent due to high rates of unemployment and corruption.

Washington, Reuters, February 21, 2018 - The US State Department said on Tuesday the United States would consider supporting the involvement of other countries in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in the future if it believes it would be helpful in reaching an accord.

Asked about Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' call on Tuesday for international peace talks, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: 'If at some point we believe that other countries could be helpful to the peace process, we would certainly be willing to bring them in.'

'Is the time right for that right now? I'm not sure we've decided that, but that is certainly something that could happen in the future,' Nauert added.

By Mahdavi Nasim

Since its inception after the 1979 revolution, the clerical regime in Iran has taken advantages of the espionage charge as an effective weapon against its opponents and rivals.

So that any opposition was cracked down by the blatant force or sometimes more delicately by enforcing low, the accusation of espionage following by assassination in the most cases.

Overwhelming in internal and external fatal crises, the regime is entering to the 40th year of its time, and to tackle the crises feels like need more excuses to use spying label, so not just people and countries but animals, birds and insects, reptiles, and if possible trees and flowers are also tagged as spying.

The sentence of100 lashes for a man identified by his initials as M.Gh was carried out in the northern city of Rasht on charges of murder and rape, the state-run Rokna news agency reported on February 15, 2018.
He will receive another 80 lashes for drinking alcohol in the next phase of the implementation of the sentence.

On Thursday, February 15, the Ahwaz Intelligence Department announced the execution of two young Arab men. The two have been identified as Seyed Habib Rahmani and Mehdi Hardani. Thirty-year-old Rahmani was married and had three children. His family was threatened by the Intelligence Department that they could not hold a funeral for their son. The Intelligence Agency also confirmed the execution of Mehdi Hardani and announced it to his family. It is not clear why he was arrested or executed.

Iran: At least 70 dervish women protesters taken to Qarchak Prison

Seventy of the women arrested during the dervishes’ gathering in Golestan Haftom Ave. in Tehran have been brutalized and taken to the Quarantine Ward 3 of the notorious Qarchak Prison in Varamin.

A spokesman for the State Security Force acknowledged that at least 300 people were arrested during a raid on the protest gathering of dervishes in Tehran launched on Monday night, February 19 and carrying on until Tuesday morning, February 20, 2018. The actual number of those arrested must be considered higher.

A large number of

A conference entitled, “Women Force for Change, Iran Uprising and the Role of Women,” held in Paris on Saturday, February 17, 2018, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day.

The keynote speaker at this conference was the NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi.

by Poorang Novak

Why? Because of the public

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) is a political group dedicated to bringing freedom and democracy to Iran.

They derive their political beliefs from a modern and tolerant version of Islam that is fully compatible with modern society – the exact opposite of the ruling mullahs’ Sharia Law, which is intolerant, extremist, genocidal, non-democratic, and misogynist – and the MEK believe that their interpretation is the true meaning of Islam.

In 1982, MEK leader Massoud Rajavi, said: “The Islam we want is nationalistic, democratic, progressive, and not opposed to science or civilization. We believe there is no contradiction between modern science and true Islam, and we believe that in Islam there must be no compulsion or dictatorship.”

This combination of tolerant religion and politics means that the MEK enjoys broad public support amongst the Iranian people and people all over the world, but it is also why the mullahs fear the MEK.

Today, we will look

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

The Iranian Justice Minister is a known perpetrator of the 1988 massacre of 30.000 political prisoners, one of the greatest unanswered crimes in Iran’s modern history

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Wednesday, February 21, 2018