Iran is world primary state sponsor of terrorism, says prominent UK think-tank

Originally Posted by: Vijeta Uniyal

May 12, 2016

One year after the Obama-backed Nuclear Deal came into effect, Islamic Republic of Iran remains the leading sponsor of international terrorism, says a policy paper published by British policy think-tank Henry Jackson Society. According to the report released on Wednesday at the House of Lords in London, Iran maintains a large and lucrative illegal financing network to bypass the remaining sanction that are in place to stop Tehran from funding terrorist outfits and regime.

Iran: amputation hand of a defendant as punishment

Cutting hands and limbs of defendants are still a common punishment in Iran

The medieval punishment of cutting hands and limbs of defendants are still a common means in Iran run by the clerical regime. This practice which has been condemned by all international rules and regulations is most of the times done in public and in front of eyes of innocent bystanders including children and women.   

Recently in the city of Mashhad, north-east Iran the fingers of a defendant in his 30s was amputated, the latest in a line of draconian punishments handed down and carried out in recent weeks. 

Iran: growing number of suicides amongst youth

The painful and unfortunate tragedy of numerous suicides in Iran have been gradually on the rise in the past few weeks, with the main reason behind this social phenomenon being widespread poverty and a new wave of hopelessness the people face in Iran under the mullahs’ rule. One may conclude that unfortunately suicide in Iran is considered the last method of protest for the people. When people sees no prospect for the evaluation and resolution of the never-ending dilemmas in a society ruled by fundamentalist mullahs, this is how the youth react and show their protest to the incompetence and repressive measures imposed by the ruling elite.

IRAN: CRACKDOWNS CONTINUE DISPITE RELEASE OF SOME POLITICAL PRISONERS

The Associated Press reports that on Tuesday, the cartoonist and social activist Atena Farghadani had been released from Evin Prison, in line with an earlier reduction of her sentence from a staggering 12 years to only 18 months.

However, despite the greatly diminished punishment, human rights advocates lament the fact that the appeals court upheld any punishment whatsoever, given that her charges were based on her having drawn and shared a cartoon depicting Iranian officials as animals in order to protest policies that restricted the rights of women and greatly reduced access to birth control.

IRANIAN PRISONER KNOWN AS A LEADING LADY FOR JOURNALIST

In a ceremony in Paris on May 2, Reporters Without Borders declared four journalists to be heroes and heroines of 2016; amongst them was Ms. Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian political prisoner, lawyer, and human rights activist.

During this ceremony, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo expressed her support for all those who work for freedom of expression. She presented City of Paris medals to the chosen journalists and praised their endeavors, saying that the gates of the French capital will always be open to them.

Mohammadi has been arrested many times for her human rights activities. She was last arrested on 5 May 2015 at her home by judicial security agents without prior notice and was transferred to the notorious Evin Prison in northern Tehran. The arrest initiated a six-year prison sentence that had already been handed down in March 2011.

IRAN: ROUHANI BACKS ONGOING EXECUTIONS AND HARSH PUNISHMENTS

The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran has indicated that in 2015 alone, the regime carried out executions of at least 966 people. Groups like the NCRI have been keeping track of hangings so far this year and have seen similar trends. The NCRI indicates that at least 55 people were executed in the month of April alone, and that another 10 were hanged in just the first three days of May.

Most of the victims of this capital punishment are reportedly non-violent drug offenders. Meanwhile, some individuals are condemned to death in Iran for offenses that would not be recognized as crimes in other modern nations. Many of these are vaguely defined under terms like “enmity against God,” which clearly reflect the government’s ongoing commitment to its theocratic identity.

Iran: censorship, elimination of foreign & Sunni book in Tehran Book Exhibition

Tehran Book Exhibition

Ali Fereidooni, an official in charge of the Tehran Book Exhibition from Iran’s Ministry of Guidance, admitted to the practice of censorship in the book showcase.

“To this day a number of books have been rounded up as they have not met the context standards of the exhibition,” he said on Friday, May 6^th in an interview with the state ILNA news agency. “These books, in the Arabic, religious and foreign language books contained improper images.”

500 truck drivers on strike in northern Iran

500 truck drivers went on strike and staged a rally outside the Sarbandar terminal in northern Iran, according to reports received from inside the country. These truck drivers staged their strikes and protests on Thursday and Friday, May 5^th and 6^th, demanding higher pay for long range loads. The current pay is very low and they have extreme difficulties making ends meet due to skyrocketing prices.

Various drivers attacked the director of this terminal for neglecting their requests. Due to the strike staged by the truck drivers a large amount of goods scheduled to be transferred to different areas have been left in this terminal. This is the third strike staged by these truck drivers in the past few months.