Iran in Syria: Russia Took Over

Iran in Syria: Russia Took Over: by Heshmat Alevi It appears that Iran literally gained nothing from the Moscow conference, meaning that its participation was mere of a ceremonial nature. 'The regime in Tehran is the source of the crisis in the region and killings in Syria; it has played the greatest role in the expansion and ...

Afghan official: IRGC cooperates with the Taliban and are actively fighting alongside them

Afghan official: IRGC cooperates with the Taliban and are actively fighting alongside them: Al-Arabiya, 29 Dec. 2016- Afghan officials have accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of fighting alongside the armed factions fighting the government in the west of Afghanistan. Head of the Farah Province council Jamileh Amini said that IRGC cooperates with the Taliban militias and ...

Iran: Demonstration by 'Siah Jamegan' shareholders

Iran: Demonstration by 'Siah Jamegan' shareholders: A group of residents of the Iranian city of Mashad, gathered in front of the city hall, protesting against fraud committed by the officials of the residential building project titled “Boroujerdi”. The protestors held banners accusing the general manager of the “Siah Jamegan” club of fraudulent ...

Oil prices slide as U.S. supply data shows unexpected spike

Oil prices slide as U.S. supply data shows unexpected spike: MarketWatch, 29 Dec. 2016- Oil prices fell in Asia trade Thursday after an industry group data showed U.S. crude inventories likely expanded last week, upending the market’s expectations for lessened growth or a contraction. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for ...

Turkey aims to establish Syria ceasefire before new year, foreign minister says

Turkey aims to establish Syria ceasefire before new year, foreign minister says: Reuters, 29 Dec.2016- Turkey aims to establish a ceasefire in Syria before the new year, and will act together with Russia as a guarantor of the deal, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday. In an interview with broadcaster AHaber, Cavusoglu also said all foreign fighter groups ...

Iran, Russia ties with Taliban stoke Afghan anxiety

Iran, Russia ties with Taliban stoke Afghan anxiety: KABUL, AFP, 29 Dec.2016- Allegations over Russia and Iran's deepening ties with the Taliban have ignited concerns of a renewed 'Great Game' of proxy warfare in Afghanistan that could undermine US-backed troops and push the country deeper into turmoil. Moscow and Tehran insist their contact with ...

Colombia Congress approves amnesty for thousands of FARC rebels

Colombia Congress approves amnesty for thousands of FARC rebels: AFP, 29 Dec. 2016- Colombia's Congress on Wednesday passed a law granting amnesty to FARC rebels as part of the country's peace deal, a development the government hailed as 'historic.' 'Thanks to the Congress which in a historic vote approved the amnesty law, first step toward consolidating peace,' ...

Shocking Report Shows Iran’s Poor Dwelling in Graves

Shocking Report Shows Iran’s Poor Dwelling in Graves: Asharq Al-Awsat, 8 Dec. 2016- Shocking footage of homeless people spending their nights in empty graves outs ide Iran’s capital surfaced, shocking the cleric-led regime. Shahrvand daily had first issued a report touching on the subject on Tuesday. Images were shot in Shahriar, some 20 kilometers ...

Berlin cancels Iran modern art exhibit after bureaucratic run-ins

Berlin cancels Iran modern art exhibit after bureaucratic run-ins: An exhibition on art from Iran has been canceled after Iran's President reportedly refused to issue papers for the artworks to be exported to Berlin. The cancellation comes after serious accusations of Holocaust denial. DW, Dec. 27, 2016 - It was supposed to be a major highlight for the cultural ...

Tehran; Images of homeless living in graves shock Iran

Tehran; Images of homeless living in graves shock Iran: Tehran, Asia One, Dec. 27, 2016 - Images of homeless drug addicts living in empty graves just outside the Iranian capital have deeply shocked the public Shahrvand newspaper on Tuesday published the images in a report on the homeless people - about 50 men and women - who dwell in a cemetery in the ...

Iran's Oil Industry University Graduates staged a protest in front of the Iranian parliament.

Iran's Oil Industry University Graduates staged a protest in front of the Iranian parliament.: A group of graduate students from the Iranian University of Oil Industry staged a demonstration in front of the parliament, protesting their non-employment in the Iranian ministry of oil, on Sunday, December 25. The protestors held signs demanding a solution to their unemployment problem. The ...

Russia, Turkey prepare for a meeting on Syria in Kazakhstan

Russia, Turkey prepare for a meeting on Syria in Kazakhstan: Orient TV, Dec. 28, 2016 - Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey have communicated about preparations for a possible meeting on Syria to be held in Kazakhstan. The ministry said Sergey Lavrov and Mevlut Cavusoglu continued to exchange views on the ...

Iran: Demonstration by 'Siah Jamegan' shareholders

Iran: Demonstration by 'Siah Jamegan' shareholders: A group of residents of the Iranian city of Mashad, gathered in front of the city hall, protesting against fraud committed by the officials of the residential building project titled “Boroujerdi”. The protestors held banners accusing the general manager of the “Siah Jamegan” club of fraudulent ...

Iran Threatens to Snatch Custody from British Mother unless Her Child Joins her in Evin Prison

Iran Threatens to Snatch Custody from British Mother unless Her Child Joins her in Evin Prison: London, Iran Focus 23 Dec - A British woman, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a 37-year old charity worker has been held in custody at Evin Prison since being detained by the Revolutionary Guard Corps, is being pressured to take her daughter into prison with her, or give up custody. A person of dual ...

Iran political prisoners on hunger strike in critical condition

Iran political prisoners on hunger strike in critical condition: London, Iran focus, 24 Dec - On Thursday December 22nd 2016, the political prisoner Arash Sadeghi is on hunger strike for the continuous 60 days. At the night of 21st December 2016, due to his critical condition, he was transferred to the infirmary outside the prison to inject IV. In the past days, ...

Iran: 40 boys and girls arrested at a party in Orumieh

Iran: 40 boys and girls arrested at a party in Orumieh: Security forces in the Iranian city of Orumieh raided a party, arresting 40 young boys and girls taking them to the judiciary, according to the Iranian regimes commander of security forces in the city of Orumieh. Iran regime has been condemned internationally for raiding peaceful parties where ...

Justice, Iranian regime style: Brutal public hangings to crackdown on dissent

Justice, Iranian regime style: Brutal public hangings to crackdown on dissent: Iran’s present administration can only be described as a terrorist regime, which uses various violent methods with which to intimidate the population, showing the citizens of cities, towns and villages across the country, how dissenters will pay the ultimate price through capital punishment, should ...

Turkey Moves Arms to Syria Border, Seeks Trump's Backing in War

Turkey Moves Arms to Syria Border, Seeks Trump's Backing in War: News Max, Sunday, 25 Dec 2016 - Turkey’s military deployed tanks and guns on the Syrian border as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged joint action with the Trump administration against Islamic State in its de facto capital, Raqqa. The deployment, including long-range guns and armored personnel ...

Pope pays tribute to Iraqi Christians persecuted by Islamic State

Pope pays tribute to Iraqi Christians persecuted by Islamic State: VATICAN CITY (Reuters) December 26, 2016 - Pope Francis paid tribute on Monday to Middle East Christians who have clung to their faith during persecution by Islamist militants, saying there are more Christians martyrs now than in the Church's early days. The pope spoke to thousands of people in St. ...

How Iran actually lost in Aleppo

How Iran actually lost in Aleppo: By Heshmat Alavi American Thinker, December 26, 2016 - Following a historic period of perseverance, Syrian rebels and their families were forced to evacuate eastern Aleppo after its liberation back in 2012. An unjust, intense war was launched upon Aleppo by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and ...

Qatar and Saudi Arabia Praised the Resolution Against the War Criminals in Syria

NCRI - Qatar and Saudi Arabia praised the UN resolution on investigating war criminals in Syria adopted in the morning of Thursday December 22, according to Aljazeera.

Alya Al-Thani, Qatar’s representative to the UN, said that the adoption of the UN resolution to probe war criminals in Syria, is a clear message to all human rights violators that they will be brought to justice, no matter how much time has passed.

On the other hand, Manal Hassan Radwan, first secretary at Saudi Arabia’s mission at the UN, also said that her country hopes that this resolution is going to reduce the crimes committed against the Syrian people and stop their forced displacement and also put an end to the presence of the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards in Syria.

The draft resolution on war crimes and crime against humanity, provided by Qatar and Lichtenstein, was supported by 105 countries, while 52 countries abstained from voting and 15 countries voted against it.

The resolution asks for establishing a special team to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence as well as to prepare cases on war crimes and human rights violations perpetrated during the Syrian conflict.

The resolution was opposed by the Syrian regime and its allies, headed by Russia and the Iranian regime.

Maryam Rajavi’s Christmas and New Year’s Greetings

Christmas is the day when the world was blessed to see the birth of God's great prophet.

Merry Christmas to all Christians in Iran and around the world.

Christmas is the day of joy, hope and salvation of mankind.

https://youtu.be/5vp46vi5MaY

SYRIA: MEK exposing new details on the Iranian regime’s involvement in occupying the city of Aleppo

SYRIA: MEK exposing new details on the Iranian regime’s involvement in occupying the city of Aleppo: The Media Express, December 22, 2016 - Shahin Gobadi, spokesman of the main Iranian opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), exposing new details on the Iranian regime’s involvement in occupying the city of Aleppo, Syria. Gobadi provided details on the number ...

Pentagon: Iran Seeking New Missiles, War Equipment

Pentagon: Iran Seeking New Missiles, War Equipment: Washington Free Beacon, December 21, 2016 - Pentagon officials are downplaying declarations by Iran that it is spending some $1.7 billion provided by the United States on new advanced weapons systems, while also acknowledging that the Islamic Republic continues to build its military arsenal at an ...

Arab, European Foreign Ministers called on Iran to stop interference in other countries’ affairs

Arab, European Foreign Ministers called on Iran to stop interference in other countries’ affairs: Cairo, Asharq Al Awsat, 21 Dec. 2016 - The fourth ministerial meeting between the League of Arab States and the European Union adopted a new roadmap for cooperation, stressing unified stances on the situation in Libya and Yemen and condemning crimes perpetrated by the Syrian regime in Aleppo. ...

How Obama's Iranian nuclear deal enabled tragedy in Aleppo

How Obama's Iranian nuclear deal enabled tragedy in Aleppo: By AMIR BASIRI Washington Examiner-21 Dec. 2016- In his year-end press conference, President Obama reflected on the tragedy that has befallen Aleppo, Syria, where Iranian-backed militias and Russian warplanes helped Syrian dictator Bashar Assad reclaim the city and conduct a crime against humanity ...

4,000 rebels leave Aleppo in 'last stages' of evacuation

4,000 rebels leave Aleppo in 'last stages' of evacuation: AFP, Dec. 22, 2016 - More than 4,000 fighters left rebel-held areas of Aleppo, the Red Cross said Thursday, in the 'last stages' of an evacuation clearing the way for Syria's army to retake the city. A week into the rebel withdrawal from the east of Syria's second city, the evacuation of fighters ...

Iran: Why the Mullahs Will Not Reform from Within

Iran: Why the Mullahs Will Not Reform from Within: by Heshmat Alavi Iran's entire power structure and most of its civil society are centralized under the personal control of the Supreme Leader. In this way, Iran's dictatorship is every bit as entrenched as North Korea's, making the idea of traditional regime change a pipe dream.  The mullahs ...

Time for a Principled Approach on Iran

Time for a Principled Approach on Iran: By Heshmat Alavi American Thinker, December 21, 2016 - The time has come to reassess, readdress, and readjust the course of action in Western foreign policy in respect to Iran. Last year’s nuclear deal between the international community and Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of ...

Fall of Aleppo shines harsh light on UN

Fall of Aleppo shines harsh light on UN: AFP, Dec. 22, 2016 - The warning from the UN envoy could not have been starker: Pounded by a near-daily barrage of air strikes, Aleppo would be totally destroyed by Christmas unless the United Nations stopped the carnage. During the weeks that followed Staffan de Mistura's distress call in early ...

Iran regime proxies, Hezbollah group in Syria using U.S. military vehicles, official says

Iran regime proxies, Hezbollah group in Syria using U.S. military vehicles, official says: December 22, 2016 – Hezbollah militants in Syria are using American armored personnel carriers originally supplied by the U.S. to the Lebanese army, World Tribune citing a senior military officer. In an intelligence briefing to foreign reporters on Dec. 21, the senior Israeli officer showed a ...

SYRIA: MEK exposing new details on the Iranian regime’s involvement in occupying the city of Aleppo

SYRIA: MEK exposing new details on the Iranian regime’s involvement in occupying the city of Aleppo: The Media Express, December 22, 2016 - Shahin Gobadi, spokesman of the main Iranian opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), exposing new details on the Iranian regime’s involvement in occupying the city of Aleppo, Syria. Gobadi provided details on the number ...

Iran’s Use Of Extremism To Gain Political Leverage Must Be Confronted

Iran’s Use Of Extremism To Gain Political Leverage Must Be Confronted: By: HESHMAT ALAVI Daily Caller, Dec. 15, 2016 - Ever since day one in 2011 when war erupted in Syria Iran has been dispatching tens of thousands of troops to shore the Syrian military. These efforts were parallel to Iran’s decades of support for Shiite extremist groups such as the likes of the ...

Iran sanctions extension act to become law without Obama's signature: White House

Iran sanctions extension act to become law without Obama's signature: White House: Reuters, Dec 15, 2016 - A bill extending U.S. sanctions against Iran for 10 years will become law without President Barack Obama's signature, but will not affect implementation of the international accord limiting Iran's nuclear program, the White House said on Thursday. The announcement represents ...

Iran: Freezing cold weather and no heaters in Prison

Iran: Freezing cold weather and no heaters in Prison: According to the reports recivied from inside Iran's Gohardasht Prison, west of Tehran despite freezing cold weather, the prison authorities have refrained from providing heaters to prisoners in Gohardasht Prison, located in Karaj, west of Tehran. The hot water has cut off and all heating elements ...

Iranian regime and Hezbollah militants captured by Yemeni army

Iranian regime and Hezbollah militants captured by Yemeni army: Al Arabiya, 16 December 2016 - Yemeni armed forces have captured large number of militants including Iranian experts and Hezbollah members in al Jawf Governorate, northwest Yemen, according to a Yemeni official. Amin al Ikamai, Governor of the Jawf said in a press conference, Thursday: “During the ...

Sanctions against Iran regime extended without Obama’s signature

Sanctions against Iran regime extended without Obama’s signature: The Washington Post, December 15, 2016 - Sanctions against Iran were officially extended for another decade Thursday, even though President Obama did not sign the legislation, a symbolic move intended to show the White House’s disapproval of the bill. The sanctions renewal, which passed Congress ...

The ‘power of lies:’ Uncovering the Iranian regime’s policy

The ‘power of lies:’ Uncovering the Iranian regime’s policy: As far as the Iranian regime is concerned, deals are made to be broken, but not until its leaders have gained all of what they were seeking. The regime’s policy has always been to seek out weak leaders, either enemy states or those of its so-called allies, and to exploit them for whatever goal they ...

Iran: Three Kurdish youth arrested west of the country

Iran: Three Kurdish youth arrested west of the country: According to reliable sources inside Iran, three young Kurdish activists were arrested early this week in the town of Gharah-Gol near the city of Bukan, western Iran. The suppressive security agents involved in arresting these youths raided their homes first and arrested them after searching their ...

More than 4500 goldsmith and jewelries shut down in Iran

More than 4500 goldsmith and jewelries shut down in Iran: Tehran's president of Gold industry, Mohammad Kashti-Ara revealed that more than 4,500 goldsmith and jewelries have been shut down in Tehran and other cities during past two years. A top dealer in the jewelry business cited Kashti-Ara as saying on Thursday, Dec. 15, that the gold industry ...

Amnesty International: Anti-death penalty activist violently arrested - Freedom Messenger

Amnesty International: Anti-death penalty activist violently arrested - Freedom Messenger: Iranian human rights defender and anti-death penalty campaigner Atena Daemi was violently arrested on 26 November and taken to Evin Prison to begin serving a seven-year prison sentence

Critically sick Iranian political prisoner on hunger strike in danger - Freedom Messenger

Critically sick Iranian political prisoner on hunger strike in danger - Freedom Messenger: Spending his 10th day of hunger strike, the severely weakened political prisoner Behnam Mousivand was taken to Gohardasht prison’s medical unit, and from there to a hospital outside the prison on Tuesday December 13.

US's Inaction Towards Iran Regime’s Expansionism - Freedom Messenger

US's Inaction Towards Iran Regime’s Expansionism - Freedom Messenger: Iran is looking to expand its anti-US sentiment from the Middle East to South America by implementing Shite Islamic centres across the continent.

Samanth Power to Russia, Assad and Iran: 'Is there literally nothing that can shame you?'

Samanth Power to Russia, Assad and Iran: 'Is there literally nothing that can shame you?': The US Ambassador to the United Nations has accused the Syrian regime, Russia and Iran of carrying out barbaric 'crimes' in Aleppo. Addressing an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Samantha Power said: 'To the Assad regime, Russia and Iran, your forces and proxies are carrying out ...

Iran sanctions extension act to become law without Obama's signature: White House

Iran sanctions extension act to become law without Obama's signature: White House: Reuters, Dec 15, 2016 - A bill extending U.S. sanctions against Iran for 10 years will become law without President Barack Obama's signature, but will not affect implementation of the international accord limiting Iran's nuclear program, the White House said on Thursday. The announcement represents ...

Aleppo rebel evacuation under way after ceasefire deal Video

Aleppo rebel evacuation under way after ceasefire deal Video: Reuters, Dec 15, 2016 - An operation to evacuate thousands of civilians and fighters from the last rebel bastion in Aleppo was under way on Thursday, part of a ceasefire deal that would end years of fighting for the city and mark a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The ...

Russian leader Putin arrives in Japan for summit

Russian leader Putin arrives in Japan for summit: NAGATO, Japan (AP) December 15, 2016 — The Latest on Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan (all times local): Russian President Vladimir Putin has landed at an airport in western Japan for a two-day summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. His Rossiya Airlines plane ...

Despite Obama's decline to sign Iran sanctions renewal, it still becomes law

Despite Obama's decline to sign Iran sanctions renewal, it still becomes law: Los Angeles Times, Dec. 14, 2016 - In an unexpected reversal, President Barack Obama declined to sign a renewal of sanctions against Iran but let it become law anyway, in an apparent bid to alleviate Tehran's concerns that the U.S. is backsliding on the nuclear deal. Although the White House had ...

Iran frees criminals if they volunteer in Syria - Al Arabiya - Freedom Messenger

Iran frees criminals if they volunteer in Syria - Al Arabiya - Freedom Messenger: Iranian authorities are pardoning some of their most notorious criminals from its prisons as long as they agree to volunteer to fight in Syria

Iran: conditions of political prisoner on hunger strike deteriorates severely

Iran: conditions of political prisoner on hunger strike deteriorates severely: Political prisoner Arash Sadegh, on his 45th day no hunger strike, once again began suffering from breathing and heart rate problems. He was transferred to the prison clinic and placed under oxygen. The clinic resident doctor described his conditions as very concerning. In the past few weeks ...

Petraeus sees 'downsides' to Iran nuclear pact

Petraeus sees 'downsides' to Iran nuclear pact: Dubai (AFP) December 10, 2016 - A global deal to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions contains elements 'of great concern', retired US general David Petraeus, seen as a contender to be Washington's top diplomat, said on Saturday. The agreement took effect in January following its signing last year after ...

Amnesty urges Iran to release Kurdish prisoner, give medical care

Amnesty urges Iran to release Kurdish prisoner, give medical care: LONDON, Kurdistan24, Dec. 10, 2016 – Amnesty International (AI) warned Iran regime about the health of a Kurdish prisoner hostage who was denied urgent medical care. Zeynab Jalalian, a 34-year-old political activist, was arrested in 2008, received an unfair trial, and was convicted only based on ...

Iran: numerous protest rallies in Tehran, Ilam

Iran: numerous protest rallies in Tehran, Ilam: Different groups of people from a verity of work force and ethnic backgrounds staged numerous protest and rallies on Sunday in the capital Tehran and also in Ilam, western Iran, making their voices heard for their demands. In Tehran retired workers of the Tehran Baharestan Steel Company rallied ...

Iranian people clash with repressive riot police in Tehran

Iranian people clash with repressive riot police in Tehran: On Thursday, December 8th the residents of the Bayhaghi complex in Tehran fought back a raid staged by Tehran special riot police and municipality agents who were dispatched to force the locals to evacuate the complex. Clashes broke out as regime agents forced 200 workers to evacuate this complex ...

Protest rallies in Four Major Iranian cities

Protest rallies in Four Major Iranian cities: People from various parts of Iran in the cities of Tehran, Mashhad, Neishabour and Sarkhoon staged protest rallies. In Tehran, people demanding their homes under the Pardis housing project rallied outside the regime’s Ministry of Road & Construction to voice their protests. They were protesting ...

Conference on Human Rights Abuses in Iran and EU Policy

Conference on Human Rights Abuses in Iran and EU Policy: Press Release for Immediate release - Thursday 8 December 2016 - Brussels, European Parliament On the eve of the Human Rights Day, European lawmakers held a conference at the European Parliament on Wednesday 7 December. They strongly condemned the violations of human rights in Iran and urged the ...

Emboldened Iran hawks eager to press Tehran on nuclear violations under Donald Trump

Emboldened Iran hawks eager to press Tehran on nuclear violations under Donald Trump: By David R. Sands The Washington Times , December 8, 2016 - Hawks critical of the Obama administration’s outreach to Iran over the past eight years were in a distinctly upbeat mood as they took over an ornate Senate caucus room Thursday to promote their cause. The incoming Trump administration, ...

What Iran without Ayatollahs mean?

What Iran without Ayatollahs mean?: Al Arabia, 9 December 2016 - On Iran’s Student Day, students from various universities from all over the country took to the streets to protest. Disenchantment with the ruling Shiite clerics in the Islamic Republic is high. Iran has a very young population - approximately 60 percent of Iran’s 80 ...

Ex-Sen. Lieberman ‘Hopeful’ About Administration Change ‘When it Comes to Iran’

Ex-Sen. Lieberman ‘Hopeful’ About Administration Change ‘When it Comes to Iran’: By Patrick Goodenough | CNS News, December 9, 2016 – Former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman may have supported Hillary Clinton for president, but he told an Iranian-American audience Thursday that he viewed the shift from the Obama to Trump administrations as “hopeful” with regard to U.S. policy ...

Iran: political prisoner transferred to Tabriz Prison

Iran: political prisoner transferred to Tabriz Prison: Political prisoner Morteza Moradpour has been transferred from Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, to Tabriz Prison in northwest Iran, while more than 45 days have passed since his hunger strike. Kept in solitary confinement and under inhumane conditions until his transfer, he informed his ...

Kerry denounces Syria 'WAR CRIMES' after new round of talks in Paris

Kerry denounces Syria 'WAR CRIMES' after new round of talks in Paris: Western powers on Saturday urged the Syrian regime and Russia to let civilians leave east Aleppo as air strikes targeted the last remaining rebels there, with US Secretary of State John Kerry saying the 'indiscriminate' bombing amounts to war crimes. Saturday saw a new round of diplomacy on Syria ...

Four people killed in cargo train explosion in Bulgaria

Four people killed in cargo train explosion in Bulgaria: Reuters, Sofia, 10 December 2016 - Four people were killed and another 25 were injured after a cargo train derailed and exploded in the northeastern Bulgarian village of Hitrino, demolishing at least 20 buildings, police said on Saturday. Two of the train’s tanks, carrying propane-butane and ...

Students chant 'Political prisoners must be freed' during speech by regime official - Freedom Messenger

Students chant 'Political prisoners must be freed' during speech by regime official - Freedom Messenger: 'Political Prisoners Must be Freed,' chanted students in Iran

Political prisoners sews his lips, starts hunger strike - Freedom Messenger

Political prisoners sews his lips, starts hunger strike - Freedom Messenger: A political prisoner has staged a hunger strike in a prison in Iran after sewing his lips to protest the inhuman condition of prisons

Inside Iran’s regime: Student tortured for FIVE years ESCAPES to tell of horror - Express - Freedom Messenger

Inside Iran’s regime: Student tortured for FIVE years ESCAPES to tell of horror - Express - Freedom Messenger: Shabnam Madadzadeh, 29, was kept in a tiny cell, beaten and interrogated during her agonising years behind bars.

US Congress to Crack Down on Business with Iran, Leading US Lawmaker Says

US Congress to Crack Down on Business with Iran, Leading US Lawmaker Says: The Weekly Standard، 9 Dec. 2016- Lawmakers will crack down on business with Iran under the Trump administration, warning interested companies that they could wind up funding illicit Iranian activities and slapping sanctions on entities linked to Iran's military, according to a leading House ...

U.S. Congress passes $618.7 billion annual defense bill

U.S. Congress passes $618.7 billion annual defense bill: WASHINGTON, Reuters, 9 Dec. 2016- The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed a compromise version of an annual defense policy bill on Thursday without controversial provisions such as requiring women to register for the draft or allowing contractors to make religion-based hiring decisions. Ninety-two ...

As Aleppo falls, diplomats foresee Iran and ISIS rise

As Aleppo falls, diplomats foresee Iran and ISIS rise: By MARGARET BRENNAN CBS NEWS CBS, 9 Dec. 2016- Aleppo’s fall will not end the brutal Syrian war, but now diplomats are haggling over “which direction it falls,” according to a Western diplomat. That is, will it be a bloodbath? Or can Secretary of State John Kerry negotiate a pathway out for the ...

Hundreds of men from east Aleppo missing: U.N. rights office

Hundreds of men from east Aleppo missing: U.N. rights office: GENEVA, Reuters, 9 Dec. 2016- Hundreds of men from eastern Aleppo have gone missing after leaving rebel-held areas, the United Nations ' human rights office said on Friday, voicing deep concern that government forces could be mistreating them. Syrian government forces pressed on with their ...

South Korea Parliament Votes to Impeach President Park Geun-hye over corruption scandal

South Korea Parliament Votes to Impeach President Park Geun-hye over corruption scandal: SEOUL, South Korea, New York Times, 9 Dec. 2016- South Korea’s Parliament voted on Friday to impeach President Park Geun-hye… who rose to power with strong support from those who revered her father, the military dictator Park Chung-hee. The vote against Ms. Park, the nation’s first female leader, ...

Decades-old appeasement policy vis-à-vis Iran must end

Decades-old appeasement policy vis-à-vis Iran must end: Freedom Star, Dec 3, 2016 - The West, specifically the United States, must close the book on over three decades of appeasement with Iran, said Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi at a conference in Paris on Saturday, November 26. If the international community is serious about bringing an end ...

Iran: Rouhani talks the talk, but doesn’t walk the walk

Iran: Rouhani talks the talk, but doesn’t walk the walk: Iranian regime president Hassan Rouhani made a number of remarks on Thursday, December 1st, shedding light on the mullahs’ deceptive nature. “… there is a lot of talking, without any serious meaning. We must fix the sewage system. We must fix the water system. We must fix the hospitals, education ...

Iran: political prisoner’s health conditions failing Evin Prison

Iran: political prisoner’s health conditions failing Evin Prison: Political prisoner Arash Sadeghi has been on hunger strike for over 40 days in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison . He was transferred to Taleghani Hospital after his blood pressure dropped significantly and “began vomiting blood clots.” Physicians have reported the conditions of this political ...

Report points to Iran sending arms to rebels in Yemen

Weapons seized in the Arabian Sea indicate Tehran is arming Houthi rebels in Yemen, British-based activists have said in a report. The shipments included guns made in Iran, Russia and possibly North Korea.

The suspected pipeline leads from Iran to the coast of Somalia and then across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, Conflict Armament Research said in a report on Wednesday.

"This report provides evidence suggesting Iran is playing a hand in supplying weapons to the conflict in Yemen," said Jonah Leff, the director of operations for the arms research group.

Australian, French, and US warships have seized some 4,500 weapons while raiding three traditional Middle Eastern boats, so-called dhows, in February and March of this year. According to the report, the arms shipments included 2,000 assault rifles "characteristic of Iranian manufacture" and 64 Hoshdar-M Iranian-made sniper rifles, all of them new.

The western ships found light machine guns, suspected to be of North Korean origin, in two of the three dhows. The guns had the same serial number sequence, "which suggests that the material derived from the same original consignment," the report added.

Two of the boats were made by Iranian shipbuilder Al Mansoor, whose yard is next to an Iranian Revolutionary Guards compound.

"Since 2012, Al Mansoor dhows have been involved in multiple cases of trafficking in heroin, cannabis, and more recently, weapons," according to the report.

The investigators also indentified 100 Iranian rocket launchers and nine Russian-made anti-tank missiles. United Arab Emirates previously reported finding an anti-tank missile from "the same production run" in Yemen.

While admitting that their findings were "relatively limited," the researchers point to "significant quantities of Iranian-manufactured weapons and weapons that plausibly derive from Iranian stockpiles."

Iran denies allegations

Saudi Arabia has long accused Iran of using Houthis to fight a proxy war against the government in Yemen. The Sanaa regime is backed by the oil-rich kingdom.

However, both the rebels and the officials in Tehran deny this claim. Iranian foreign ministry also rejected the allegations in the latest report.

"It is not true, and Iran has never provided weapons to Houthis or any other group in Yemen," the official told Reuters. "But we have always supported and will continue to support oppressed groups and nations."

Experts believe it is very hard to control smuggling in the region, with Yemen torn by fighting and Somali marine forces struggling with poor training and equipment.

dj/gsw (Reuters, AFP)

Will Iran’s Syria Policy Change After the Election of Donald Trump?

London, 29 Nov - In his article for The Daily Caller, Heshmat Alavi, a political and rights activist focusing on Iran, writes about the unexpected turn of events for Iran, with the election of Donald Trump as the new president of the United States. Now the Iranian regime is weighing its policy approach, foreign in particular. 

The appeasement policy adopted by U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration was taken full advantage of, using its windfall to fuel the Syrian War of ally Bashar Assad. Almost half a million Syrians have been killed, and more than 10 million have been displaced inside or outside the country.

A new administration in Washington has disturbed Tehran, who must now determine how to maintain its grip over the region, with a special focus on Syria. 

Protests began peacefully in Syria, but Assad opened fire on demonstrators. The Syrian people then took to arms and formed the Free Syrian Army in August 2011, inflicting major defeats to Assad’s forces. 

Considering Syria its 35th province, Iran deployed its Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) to assist the troops fighting against Syrian opposition forces. Alavi writes, “As the opposition advanced, Assad followed Iran’s orders in launching chemical weapons and mass murdering civilians in a suburb near Damascus back in 2013. Unfortunately, the international community failed to respond adequately, as Obama literally held back any possible measures by the West to safeguard his legacy defining nuclear deal with Iran.” 

As the war in Syria dragged on, it paved the grounds for the rise of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). Alavi says, “Yes, Daesh is to blame for numerous atrocities. Yet it goes beyond doubt that Iran, Assad and former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki launched massive crackdown campaigns against Sunnis in both countries in the name of battling Daesh.” 

“ISIS was created by Assad releasing 1,500 prisoners from jail and Maliki releasing 1,000 people in Iraq who were put together as a force of terror types,” said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in an interview with Fox News. 

Iran sought Russia’s involvement to provide air cover for its ground attacks, when confronted with major advances made by Syrian opposition forces in 2015. Iran increased its forces in Syria to 60,000 and launched “Operation Moharram” aimed at retaking areas from opposition control, including the strategic city of Aleppo. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also ordered the regular army’s 65th Division to Aleppo. 

“With the Assad military suffering major catastrophes and dwindling down to less than 50,000 troops, Tehran rallied more than 70,000 non-Iranian and Iranian forces in the Levant. The budget Iran has allocated to its Syria campaign ranges around $100 billion, most sent under the disguise of Khamenei’s office to facilitate the process,” Alavi states. 

Senior Iranian military commanders regularly inspect the situation on the ground, and many high-ranking officers, including Hossein Hamedani, a senior IRGC commander, have been killed. 

The IRGC has placed all pro-Assad forces fighting in Syria into five sectors, consisting of four fronts (north, south, middle and costal) under a central command post, the “Glass Building,” which is strategically adjacent to Damascus International Airport. 

The IRGC is also keeping a very close eye on all fronts, resulting in the role of the Assad army being significantly downgraded. 

Alavi writes that, “The IRGC Quds Force, commanding all pro-Assad forces in Syria, has established a complex command structure, consisting of Airborne, Navy, Air Force, the Missile Unit, Engineering and Communications & Electronic Warfare branches. IRGC Ground Forces are the main sector, fighting parallel to members of the Lebanese Hezbollah, along with foot-soldiers recruited from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. More than a dozen Iraqi Shiite groups, including the notorious Badr Organization, Kata’eb Hezbollah, Assa’eb ahl Al Haq are involved in the Syria conflict. 

Iran’s presence in Syria has been reported thusly by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

IRGC forces: 8,000 to 10,000

Iranian Regular Army: 5,000 to 6,000

Non-Iranian mercenaries:

• Iraqi militias: Around 20,000 (from 10 groups)
• Afghan militias (“Fatemiyoun”): 15,000 to 20,000
• Lebanese Hezbollah: 7,000 to 10,000
• Militias from Pakistan (“Zeinabiyoun”), Palestine, and elsewhere: 5,000 to 7,000 

It’s been estimated that paying for all non-Syrian forces fighting to maintain Assad in power, along with fees for their families, widows and etc., is costing Iran somewhere between $80 to $90 million, accumulating to about $1 billion over the span of one year. “Add these costs to those needed for extremely expensive military weapons and equipment, along with billions provided by Khamenei’s office to maintain Assad’s government intact, we come to realize the position of the Syria dossier for Tehran,” writes Alavi. 

President-elect Donald Trump will be inheriting a very complicated Syrian situation. Iraq and Yemen are also facing devastation. As a result, the Middle East is truly on the brink of a conflict of global proportions. 

11 Arab states have recently issued an unprecedented letter to outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemning Iran’s involvement across the Middle East. This follows a resolution by a House of Representatives seeking sanctions against Syria. 

Alavi concludes by saying, “The incoming Republican administration under Donald Trump needs to fully comprehend the destructive nature of Iran’s presence across the region, and how this phenomenon has rendered newly spread terrorism across Europe and beyond.”

Iranian-American Communities Issue a Statement Against the Iranian Regime’s Lobbyists

London, 29 Nov - Various groups of Iranian-American communities have joined together to issue a statement against the Iranian Regime’s lobbyists who have attempted to smear the democratic Resistance forces.

The letter, penned by leaders from the Northern California, South Texas and Missouri, branches of the Iranian-American Community, decried the Regime’s attempt to paint the Resistance as terrorists and murderers when the Regime is the leading state-sponsor of terrorism and the world leader in executions per capita.

Ahmad Moeinimanesh, Executive Director of the Iranian American Community of Northern California, Ali Soudjani, President of the Iranian American Community of South Texas, and Kasra Nejat, President of the Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri, wrote: “Of late, we have seen particularly venomous and defamatory propaganda targeting former U.S. officials who addressed scores of conferences and seminars we organized on U.S. policy on Iran.”

They write that the reason that they care so much about the US-Iran policy is that they know the brutality faced by ordinary Iranians; indeed, they face it themselves once.

The statement read: “Many of us have lost family members due to repression in Iran, and many have relatives among the ranks of the main Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK).”

The MEK have always been targeted by the Regime, from the 1988 massacre which killed 30,000 political prisoners to the attacks on Camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq over the past few years.

The MEK members were not even safe in exile in Iraq- they had to be moved to safety in Albania in 2016.

The statement continued: “Because of our personal histories, we also appreciate the freedoms and opportunities of life here in the United States perhaps more deeply than most. Our communities’ members are generally very successful, taxpaying professionals, committed to paying it forward, and using our good fortune to promote the secular, democratic, and non-nuclear Iran that best serves the interests of our homeland, Iran, and our new home, the United States.”

The Iranian Resistance receives bi-partisan support in the US and across many Western countries, thanks in no small part to the intelligence provided by the MEK in relation to Iran’s nuclear programme and role in terrorism.

The statement finished: “Iranian-Americans are loud and proud about the work we have accomplished, about the distinguished officials who have joined us in our call for policy change, about the support we have received from our Congressional representatives, and most of all about the alarm bells we have set off in Tehran.”

Think of Iranian Christians: Listen to their cries for freedom

BY DONYA JAM

As an Iranian-American, it is very natural that the U.S. policy on Iran matters to me. And as the child of Iranian Christians, the fate of Christians in Iran is of particular interest to me. 

The existence of the Christian community in Iran dates back centuries and is a major part of the history of the country. For centuries, Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians got along fine in Iran. We were all Iranians and our religion was not an issue at all.

After the ayatollahs took over in 1979 things changed for the worse. The religious persecutions began and restrictions became more and more institutionalized. Many Christians and Jews fled. But some stayed in their native country, where they are given token representation in parliament so the Iranian regime can maintain the illusion of legitimacy.

The situation of the Iranian Christian minority did not see any improvement subsequent to President Hassan Rouhani assuming office. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom confirmed this when its 2015 annual report noted that an increased number of religious minorities have been jailed under Rouhani; the very man that the Obama administration depicted as a “moderate.”

The Obama administration did all it could to sell the nuclear deal as a victory, at best it has deferred the ultimate questions about how to deal with the regime in Iran, and at worst it has emboldened their belligerence in the region. A successful policy vis-a-vis the regime in Tehran has seemingly eluded Republicans and Democrats for the last 16 years.

In all fairness, it is time to try something new, for our own sake and for the sake of Iranians.

While we face the threat of terrorism at home and the increase of sectarian conflicts abroad, there are no easy solutions to these problems.

A common denominator underlying the rise of ISIS, and the spread of instability and fundamentalism is none other than the regime in Tehran. No one can deny this. Yet at every turn in the past eight years we were told that the only solution is one which engages the mullahs and strengthens their grip on power. The time for such thinking is at an end.

The regime has been reluctant to make good on promises of change, and thus far has continued its brutal repression of dissidents while maintaining an aggressive policy in the region. The question of how to guarantee a long term shift in the behavior of the Iranian regime remains unanswered. The only long term policy that can guarantee a fundamental change of behavior in Iran and that sets an example for hope and change abroad is one which recognizes the legitimate rights of the Iranian people to bring about democratic change and topple the theocratic fascist state in Iran.

It is time that the United States firmly aligned itself with the forces in Iran and in the Middle East which embrace democratic change, freedom and liberty, and secular governance. The Iranian people and their organized resistance should be our primary negotiating partners and allies, not the ruling mullahs.

The principal opposition to the Iranian theocracy, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) is one such organization. The MEK has long served as an example of an organization whose principal aim has been to combat Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism that emanates from it. Khomeinists engaged in widespread repression of the MEK, and the West remained silent as they executed tens of thousands of MEK activists.

Today the MEK is the most integral part of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a coalition of Iranian opposition organizations that support a secular future for Iran. One which guarantees freedom of speech, the rights of ethnic and as well as religious minorities, and calls for strict equality between men and women. In fact the NCRI is led by a woman, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, whose leadership and platform stands as the direct antithesis of Islamic fundamentalism.

Mrs. Rajavi advocates for a new future for Iran. This includes a ten point plan for a democratic secular republic free of nuclear weapons, capital punishment, and tolerant to all religions, ethnicities and ideas. This plan would not only end the threat of Iran’s nuclear program, but would usher in a new era of cooperation and stability between the United States and Iran, as well as the entire region. It would address instability from Syria to Yemen and all throughout the region.

The new administration has a historical opportunity for a historical change in one of the hotspots in the world. The new approach is both moral and politically savvy.

Saudi Arabia’s Daily Al-Riyadh: Maryam Rajavi Said the World Should Act Against Iran Regime

NCRI - Al-Riyadh Newspaper printed in Saudi Arabia, published a report on Monday 28th November 2016 regarding the summit held in Paris. The report reads:"the president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi stated that the US policy was disastrous for the Iranian people over the past 16 years and this policy has generously contributed to the Mullahs' regime."

-

A conference entitled "The call to Justice; prosecuting the perpetrators of crimes against humanity in Iran and Syria" was held in Paris and Maryam Rajavi said that the people, the Resistance of Iran and the countries of the region expect US government to revise its Policy since a new government is taking the office. Many Iranians, prominent political and legal figures and parliamentarians participated in the conference from France, Europe and other countries of the region as well as the authorities of the Syrian opposition.

Maryam Rajavi stressed that the war and insecurity particularly the issue of ISIS will not be resolved in the current condition unless the Iranian regime ends it’s meddle in the region and especially in Syria. Any partnership with the Mullahs for dealing with ISIS is disastrous since it strengthens the regime and its terrorism and ISIS will gain a political and social power as well. The people of Iran resent the dirty war that is going on in Syria however by the nonsense words such as defending the shrine Khamenei tries to justify the bloodsheds and the occupation of Syria.

The six world powers granted Iran the unjustified privileges during the nuclear talks. They also ignored the resolutions of the Security Council which were not implemented by the Iranian regime. Nevertheless, the nuclear deal produced an inverse result although it was the only opportunity for the Iranian regime to remove the crises. The increasing hunger and indigence have shattered people's life. The internal gangs do not support the Mullahs as before and they cannot be controlled anymore. In addition to that, they also have no power to impose against the social protests. The guardianship of the Islamic Jurist has reached a deadlock today. Under such circumstances, it is easier to dismantle the current regime and to establish a pluralist Republic.

Maryam Rajavi said:"we, the people of region expect the international community to halt its policy of giving concession to the Mullahs' regime and to stop being silent and inactive towards the crimes of the Iranian regime in the region. The international community also has to respect the demands of the people of the region as well as the struggle of the Iranians for achieving freedom."

Al-Riyadh Newspaper also wrote:"it should be noted that the French and Colombian figures, the judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, judge of the International Criminal Court (in office till 2003) and the Mayor of the 5th arrondissement of Paris participated in the conference. Some members of the Syrian opposition had a speech about the bombings and crimes which are committed by the brutal regime of Assad. They also discussed that Assad's regime is considerably supported by Russia and the Iranian regime. A number of political prisoners who have left Iran recently talked about their experiences and observations regarding the widespread repression exerted on the Iranian people. At the end, a photo exhibition was held about the horrible massacre of 1988 and the execution of 30 thousand political prisoners."

Ex-Euro MP: Iran gives Trump chance to restore lost U.S. credibility in Middle East

After the unexpected election of Donald Trump as president of the United States of America, a new reality emerges not only for Americans but also for Europeans, in their relationship with the Iranian regime, former European lawmaker Alejo Vidal-Quadras wrote on Tuesday, November 29, for United Press International

"As a candidate, Trump rallied against the nuclear deal with Iran as 'one of the worst deals ever negotiated' and pledged to renegotiate on terms that favor the United States and its allies. He has also cast himself as a strong opponent to Islamic extremism in very forceful terms, another indication that the U.S. relationship with Iran could be in for big changes", wrote Dr. Vidal-Quadras.

Even without a complete renegotiation of the deal, there is much that Trump can still do in combating the Iranian regime's nuclear ambitions and sponsorship of extremism in the Middle East and around the world, he added. 

"The first action a Trump administration can undertake is simply enforcing the rules on the books. The Iranian regime has violated international agreements and raised concerns about its ballistic missile program. This flagrant violation must come at a price. Trump can put a halt to the huge trade deals between American companies and Iran and can introduce new sanctions accordingly. In doing so, he would send a clear message to the Iranian regime, enforce international law and lessen the threat around the Middle East." 

"Another action the new U.S. administration can take is to stand up against the practice of kidnapping that the Iranian regime has been using to receive ransom payments. They abducted American soldiers on a patrol in the Gulf this year and have been kidnapping American and European citizens in the past who they let languish in horrid conditions in prison until they extract their ransom. This is a technique that goes back to the Iranian revolution in 1979 and continues to be used because the American government has been paying the price instead of inflicting a price for Iran's aggression." 

"Another action that the new administration should take is to make it clear to Iran that the era of the impunity of its unbridled egregious meddling in the region from Iraq to Yemen, and particularly in Syria, is over. The case in point is Syria. The Assad regime is guilty of a multitude of atrocities against its citizens and Tehran has been its main backer in the past five years in his slaughter of the Syrian people." 

"But the key action is to go where it hurts the ruling clerics the most: reaching out to Iranian people and their resistance. This is Tehran's Achilles heel. In a policy initiative on Iran in 2015, 40 former senior U.S. officials who held national security positions in four administrations, called for a new attitude in U.S. policy toward Iran and the Iranian opposition. They called for a new approach toward the largest, most established and best organized democratic opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, led by Maryam Rajavi. The key component of the NCRI, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, has maintained an extensive popular support among Iranians at home and abroad, despite a brutal repression including the execution of dozens of thousands of their activists by the regime. It must be remembered that it was the MEK who blew the whistle and revealed Iran's concealed nuclear program in 2002." 

"Rajavi's steadfast message to political and religious leaders around the world over a period of many years is summarized in her 10-point plan for the future of Iran, a political program that would resolve the country´s most dangerous and destabilizing challenges. The plan would restore political legitimacy through universal suffrage, guarantee rights for all citizens and particularly women and minorities, end the cruel excesses of the judiciary by re-establishing the rule of law, finish the nightmare of fundamentalist Islamic dictatorship by separating church and state, protect property rights, promote equal opportunity and environmental protections, and – last but certainly not least – seek a non-nuclear Iran, free of weapons of mass destruction." 

Dr. Vidal-Quadras added that President George W. Bush famously stated in his 2005 state of the union speech: "If the Iranian people stand up for their liberty, America stands with them." But in 2009, when millions of pro-democracy Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran calling for freedom and regime change, President Barack Obama didn't move a finger and let them be crushed by the tyrants. 

He added: "The next four years could dramatically shift U.S. policies in the world. If proactive on Iran, Trump could usher in long-term stability in the Middle East, decrease the likelihood of nuclear proliferation and contain the refugee crises. He has an excellent opportunity to restore the lost credibility of the United States in this context and the European Union should be an active partner in such an undertaking". 

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a Spanish professor of atomic and nuclear physics, was vice president of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014. He is currently president of the Brussels-based International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ).

Think of Iranian Christians: Listen to their cries for freedom

BY: DONYA JAM 

The Hill, Nov. 29, 2016 - As an Iranian-American, it is very natural that the U.S. policy on Iran matters to me. And as the child of Iranian Christians, the fate of Christians in Iran is of particular interest to me.
The existence of the Christian community in Iran dates back centuries and is a major part of the history of the country. For centuries, Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians got along fine in Iran. We were all Iranians and our religion was not an issue at all.
After the ayatollahs took over in 1979 things changed for the worse. The religious persecutions began and restrictions became more and more institutionalized. Many Christians and Jews fled. But some stayed in their native country, where they are given token representation in parliament so the Iranian regime can maintain the illusion of legitimacy.
The situation of the Iranian Christian minority did not see any improvement subsequent to President Hassan Rouhani assuming office. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom confirmed this when its 2015 annual report noted that an increased number of religious minorities have been jailed under Rouhani; the very man that the Obama administration depicted as a “moderate.”
The Obama administration did all it could to sell the nuclear deal as a victory, at best it has deferred the ultimate questions about how to deal with the regime in Iran, and at worst it has emboldened their belligerence in the region. A successful policy vis-a-vis the regime in Tehran has seemingly eluded Republicans and Democrats for the last 16 years.
In all fairness, it is time to try something new, for our own sake and for the sake of Iranians.
While we face the threat of terrorism at home and the increase of sectarian conflicts abroad, there are no easy solutions to these problems.
A common denominator underlying the rise of ISIS, and the spread of instability and fundamentalism is none other than the regime in Tehran. No one can deny this. Yet at every turn in the past eight years, we were told that the only solution is one which engages the mullahs and strengthens their grip on power. The time for such thinking is at an end.
The regime has been reluctant to make good on promises of change and thus far has continued its brutal repression of dissidents while maintaining an aggressive policy in the region. The question of how to guarantee a long-term shift in the behavior of the Iranian regime remains unanswered. The only long term policy that can guarantee a fundamental change of behavior in Iran and that sets an example for hope and change abroad is one which recognizes the legitimate rights of the Iranian people to bring about democratic change and topple the theocratic fascist state in Iran.
It is the time that the United States firmly aligned itself with the forces in Iran and in the Middle East which embrace democratic change, freedom and liberty, and secular governance. The Iranian people and their organized resistance should be our primary negotiating partners and allies, not the ruling mullahs.
The principal opposition to the Iranian theocracy, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) is one such organization. The MEK has long served as an example of an organization whose principal aim has been to combat Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism that emanates from it. Khomeinists engaged in widespread repression of the MEK, and the West remained silent as they executed tens of thousands of MEK activists.
Today the MEK is the most integral part of the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ), a coalition of Iranian opposition organizations that support a secular future for Iran. One which guarantees freedom of speech, the rights of ethnic and as well as religious minorities, and calls for strict equality between men and women. In fact, the NCRI is led by a woman, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi , whose leadership and platform stands as the direct antithesis of Islamic fundamentalism.
Mrs. Rajavi advocates for a new future for Iran. This includes a ten-point plan for a democratic secular republic free of nuclear weapons, capital punishment, and tolerant to all religions, ethnicities, and ideas. This plan would not only end the threat of Iran’s nuclear program but would usher in a new era of cooperation and stability between the United States and Iran, as well as the entire region. It would address instability from Syria to Yemen and all throughout the region.
The new administration has a historical opportunity for a historical change in one of the hotspots in the world. The new approach is both moral and politically savvy.