Asharq Al-Awsat: 100,000 Iranians rally in Paris

Some 100,000 Iranians rallied in Paris on Saturday to voice their demand for regime change in Iran at a rally organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the Asharq Al-Awsat's English edition wrote on Sunday.

Conference on one year after Nuclear Deal

Today, July 8th 2016, three conferences were held in Paris . The second conference entitled ‘one year after Nuclear Deal’

the Moderator  was Lincoln Bloomfield, former assistant US secretary of state for political military affairs from 2001 to 2005.

Panelists, were Mitchell Reiss, former director of policy planning at the U.S. Department of State on Iraq, Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict,  Bruno Tertrais, Senior Research Fellow at the Foundation pour la Recherche Stratégique, Francis Townsend, former Homeland Security Advisor to United States President and TV personality Senator Robert Torricelli, Member of the US Senate from 1997 to 2003 and served 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives,  and Robert Joseph, US Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation and the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and Int’l Security until 2007

 Excerpts  from the Conference:

 Lincoln Bloomfield: We are going to discuss whether there was a spirit as well as the letter to the agreement? Did Iran come to the table only because of economic duress? Why did Iran come to the table? How do you explain Iran’s engagement in Syria and Yemen? Does moderation have a different meaning in Iran? Why didn’t Rouhani make on his promises? Are these signs of progress in Iran, or signs of severe weakness? I am joined by Mitchell Reiss, Bruno Tertrais, Francis Townsend, Senator Robert Torricelli, and Robert Joseph

Mitchell Reiss :Since the end of WWII, the US had 3 objectives in the Middle East. Arab-Israeli peace, flow of oil, preventing any single party rising to power. Iranian regime threatens all three. The State Department labeled the Iranian regime as a state-sponsor of terrorism. The Obama Administration shamelessly reached out to Iran without any conditions. The regime is using funds from nuclear deal to mask its secret nuclear and ballistic missile activities. There is no apparent strategy of how the US is going to organize its battlefield and to appeal to the population. There is no forum for dissident voices and human rights advocates. Tehran continues to stir up unrest in the region. The next US President needs to promote a comprehensive policy on Iran and promoting regime change

Bruno Tertrais : We must have to have a practical policy, not to think Iran would disappear. We have less information now about the Iranian nuclear program than we did last year. The deal created a special procurement channel that has not been used even once. The Obama Admin’s hope to change Iran’s behavior after the nuclear deal, this bet has failed. I think Tehran has a great responsibility in the sectarian violence in the 2000s, just as the USSR was in the outbreak of WWII. It has been helped immensely to the survival of the murderous regime of Bashar Assad. I don’t think the Islamic Republic would afford to drop the Bashar Assad regime. The nuclear deal has had zero effect on the regime’s behavior. The nuclear deal has not changed the Iranian regime’s domestic repression. There were more than 20 limb amputations in Iran in 2015. The supreme leader has made several rabid anti-American speeches. The illusions about change in the Iranian regime have been shattered

Bloomfield: There have been recent German Intelligence reports that the Iranian regime has been trying to procure nuclear materiel outside the deal. There is much evidence on the effect of Iran on the rise of Daesh

Frances Townsend: There have increased attacks on women, more amputations, more executions. The deal has served as cloak for the Iranian regime to cover this aggression. We have seen Gen. Soleimani, a known terrorist, leading Iranian forces in other countries, including Bahrain. The external aggression of the Iranian regime has been historically unprecedented. US indifference to this is troubling to me, giving them a green light that they can continue. I worry deeply about the political situation between Iran and the Saudis. I am deeply concerned that with the three ISIS attacks in Saudi Arabia, the Iranian regime might take advantage. Thinking of the increasing sectarianism the Iranian regime promotes is cause of concern. Under the cloak of this agreement, Iran has become more vocal and there has been more physical abuses. President Obama has not applied his values and standards to the case of Iran. It’s time to rethink our policy on Iran and the region

Bloomfield: As for the accidental stampede in Mecca, Rouhani proposed a regime change and called the management of Mecca incompetent

Robert Torricelli: We find ourselves in a life and death struggle with the Iranian regime on how this planet is going to be governed. This struggle is going to be settled by destruction. There is no chance that Iranians are not going to cheat and there is no chance our gov’t is going to catch them. Iranians are pretending to be saying the truth, and we are pretending to believe them. Today, with Barack Obama as President, having spent 3 trillion dollars on the war in Afghanistan, we are not prepared for that conflict. The regime agreed to retreat from making the bomb, because the majority of people didn’t want it. A new group of leaders are going to face an old problem. We know how to destabilize tyrannical governments that are economically weak; I don’t know why we aren’t doing it? I hope that in the coming Clinton Admin, all our weapons are used

 Robert Joseph: One year later, where are we? What did we learn? We learned six lessons. First, Iran maintains and continues to pursue nuclear capability. It continues to operate a nuclear enrichment facility. On the surface, the regime has complied with a number of key articles of the agreement, but they have not eliminated them. They have taken some steps where they have been monitored. But Iran is not complying with a number of key provisions of the agreement. Iran is pursuing over 100 times to acquire illicit technologies. Iran has successfully stonewalled IAEA, and have successfully frustrated IAEA attempts. The recent identification of uranium particles from samples of Parchin indicates the regime was no doubt following a nuclear weapon. The only purpose for long range ballistic missiles is to deliver nuclear weapons. Still Iran has many ways to circumvent the agreement. Third, the regime has expanded its support for terrorist groups and allies, giving them funds from unfrozen assets. An estimated 70.000 occupational force size in Syria. The regime can become more brutal, and it can go nuclear in short order. Fifth, we have learned that the policies of the P5+1 have failed. We have learned that we must change course dramatically. We must recognize that the regime will not moderate, we must pressure it from every direction. We must stop the serial concessions being given to the regime in the economic field. We must counter the Iranian destabilizing activities wherever they are, we must support the Iranian Resistance to this regime, this is the most important thing we should do. Churchill, said: "never give in and never give up “This is the type of determination we need for dealing with the Iranian regime

Bloomfield: Focus on this question, is the Iranian regime succeeding or failing? Khamenei wants all Muslims to view him as substituting the 12th Imam, but he has a handful of paid militias following him. Did Iran come to the table because of lack of legitimacy?

Reiss: I would say the regime is stronger, because they are 40 years in power. There is no imminent threat to topple them. They are massively interfering in others’ affairs without any counter force. Obama said they need to live with the Iranian regime, these are unprecedented words by a US President

Tertrais: The Islamic Republic is dangerous, but the Iranian influence in Iraq is less. Iran has lost a lot of prestige in the Sunni world. The price of oil which is very low compensates the assets they are receiving. I do think they are not as strong in reality today

Townsend: They came to the talks from a position of weakness, but we failed to exploit and increased their strength. Now they have access to international markets, and use their cash to fund their aggression. The abandonment of the Saudis, is the most public betrayal of Saudis by the US. Our strategic allies think that by making the nuclear deal, the US has made a strategic choice of allies

Torricelli: I see separation of US and Saudis inexplicable, it is deeply distressing. I cannot count the number of times Egyptians and Saudis were defended by the US. It is mission impossible for the regime to control the young Iranian nation over a generation

Robert Joseph: At the tactical level, the Iranian regime might seem stronger; but I think the Senator is right. The notion of free and democratic Iran has a tremendous appeal to all generations in Iran. We need to support that notion. We have to regenerate our leadership and support the Iranian people, I don’t think there is any snap-back sanctions provision going to work. It takes years to snap back the sanctions. There are so many political factors involved in this Iranian cases. They are already in violation, the game does not play that way. I don’t think there is any snap-back sanctions provision going to work. It takes years to snap back the sanctions.

Tertrais: Iran is already much beyond the threshold, much higher than Germany, etc. They have invested strongly in their program. Iran’s violations are coming in a few years time. It is a question of who is going to be smarter

Reiss: In US, only one-third of people took up arms and beat the British Empire, so a small group of dedicated people can overcome the regime

http://iranfreedom.org/en/events/upcoming-events/grand-gathering-2016/1445-conference-on-one-year-after-nuclear-deal

Linda Chavez: Islam Needs a Reformation

Islamic terrorism has become the single biggest threat to stability in the world. Attacks killing many hundreds have occurred over the past 18 months in Bangladesh, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Egypt, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, France, the United States and elsewhere. But fighting this threat will require more than drone attacks to take out leaders of groups such as the Islamic State — or even full-scale assaults to recapture territory claimed by the terrorists, as we did recently in Iraq.

Maryam Rajavi's Interview with Circa News

Maryam Rajavi says women have an important role in stopping terror groups and repression against ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle-East. https://youtu.be/dFIHiSpCE7g
http://iranfreedom.org/en/news/women/1440-maryam-rajavi-s-interview-with-circa-news

Congressman Brad Sherman's message to July 9 gathering in support of Maryam Rajavi

 Congressman Brad Sherman's remarks : Hello to my fellow parliamentarians, people of Paris and Madam Rajavi,

I am United States Congressman Brad Sherman from California's best named City Sherman Oaks, for 20 years I have served on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, for the past 20 years I focused on preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon and on implementing an American foreign policy that reflects our values and our dedication to Human Rights.

Camp has previously been targeted with several fatal attacks over the years.

By Harriet Sinclair

July 5, 2016 16:16 BST

More than 40 people were injured after Camp Liberty in Iraq was bombarded with missiles, following an eight-day blockade that prevented food and medicine from reaching the camp.

The former US military base near Baghdad is home to members of the People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), leftists who were exiled from Iran after the Islamic revolution in 1979. It has been targeted by forces loyal to Tehran several times in recent years

The National Council of Resistance of Iran blamed militias affiliated with the IRGC Quds Force, a special unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, for the missile bombardment and called on the UN Security Council and the European Union to condemn the attack.

Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI hailed the heroic perseverance of the residents of Camp Liberty and wished a quick recovery for those wounded in the criminal attack.

She added that the attack demonstrated that the religious dictatorship ruling Iran is terrified of the PMOI/MEK and the Iranian Resistance, which it views as an existential threat.

Since the camp's current residents have been there – after they were forced to move there from Camp Ashraf in 2012 – there have been several fatal attacks, in addition to the massacre carried out at camp Ashraf in 2011 that left 36 dead and hundreds wounded.

In 2013, three separate attacks against Camp Liberty left 12 dead and more than 170 wounded, while in 2015 another 20 residents of the camp were killed in a rocket attack.

The NCRI has also long complained that the standards at the camp are poor, and that it has been designated a temporary transit location rather than a refugee camp in order to avoid having to meet the minimum standards for refugee camps.

http://ncr-iran.org/en/news/ashraf-liberty/20648-ibt-iranian-exiles-blame-missile-blitz-at-camp-liberty-on-tehran-s-revolutionary-guard

Political Prisoner Invites People to Support the ‘Free Iran’ Gathering

prisoner being held in Iran’s notorious Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison, who has denounced the continuing violation of human rights by the theocratic regime in Iran, as well as its meddling in the region. 

From his prison cell in Gohardasht, north-west of Tehran, Shahin Zoghitabar has invited all Iranians to support and participate in the Iranian Resistance’s “Free Iran” gathering in Paris on July 9.

Iran: Maryam Naghash Zargaran returned to Evin Prison

Christian prisoner Maryam Naghash Zargaran returned to the women’s ward of Evin on June 27, 2016, without completing her medical treatment.

 The Prosecutor's Office refused to extend the medical leave for this severely ill prisoner of conscience and forced her back to prison by threatening to confiscate her bail.

Maryam Naghash Zargaran was granted a medical leave on June 6, 2016, after 11 days of hunger strike when she protested the undetermined state of her case, deprivation from medical treatment, and cancellation of her conditional release.

This new Christian convert was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment on the charge of acting against national security. Her charges have not been officially relayed to her, but she is presently serving the four years in Evin's women's ward.

Originally published here:
http://www.women.ncr-iran.org/index.php/iran-women-news/2822-iran-maryam-naghash-zargaran-returned-to-evin-prison

Political prisoner writes to UN about abuses in Iran

Iranian political prisoner, Hassan Sadeqi, who is currently behind bars in Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) Prison in Karaj, north-west of the Iranian capital, has written an open letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council protesting the authorities’ refusal to allow him to visit his wife imprisoned in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.

Iran: Criminal orders to execute three Arab minority political prisoners; call to save their lives

of the religious fascism ruling Iran has condemned to death three young political prisoners from Hamidiyeh of Ahwaz (southern Iran). The names of these prisoners, from the Arab minority, are Qais Obaidavi, 25, B.A. in Law, his 20-year-old brother Ahmad Obaidavi, and their cousin Sajjad Obaidavi, a law student. They are charged with so-called “Moharebeh (enmity against God)” and “corruption on Earth.”

Sir David Amess MP: Iran should be ashamed of its execution record

British politician Sir David Amess has pledged his support to the upcoming Free Iran gathering and called on his colleagues throughout Europe to do the same.

A “Moderate”’s “Hero”

A moderate or a hard liner, whatever name we give them, the two fractions inside Iranian regime have their discrepancies. Parliament, economy, international relations as well as mosques and religion are platforms each fraction uses to push the other side off the edge and to get a bigger piece of cheese. Nevertheless what brings discords within factions of Iranian regime is what that has unified them. Khamenei, the Supreme Leader or  Rouhani, the president, or other mullahs, whether a member of parliament or chief director of prisons, all have a common terrifying nightmare day and night. That is how to keep the lid on the bottle not to let the monster come out. The deprived citizens of Iran are looking for a chance to disseat the so called “Islamic Republic” of Ayatollahs.  It happened once in 2009 and can happen in 2016. This is why Rouhani calls the daily executions as the “will of God” and Khamenei tries to export his “Islamic Revolution” to Iraq, Syria or. ....

Everything for Pursuing Terrorism

US administration’s persistence to sell the world the idea that the final nuclear deal will bring rulers in Iran to propriety of behavior led to a meeting in London on May 12^th in which US Secretary of State John Kerry tried to persuade European financial institutions to facilitate business with Iran. Mr. Kerry did not come out of the meeting as a winner. International sanctions imposed over Tehran’s nuclear activities were lifted in January, but other U.S. and European sanctions remained unchanged. A few days later on May 17 David Lipton, the first IMF senior management official to visit Iran since the 1979 revolution, said in an interview in Tehran, “The best thing the government can do, and the banks can do, is to bring those standards up to international levels and try to reassure foreign partners, banks and otherwise that Iran’s banks are safe to deal with”.  As Bloomberg reported Lipton advised that “Iran must bolster anti-money laundering and terrorism-financing laws if it wants to reconnect to the global economy”.

IRAN: Municipal workers protest in Ahwaz

NCRI - protest in front of the municipality building in District 4 of Ahwaz, south-west Iran, demanding the release of their recently-detained colleagues.

During the protest, which was held on Wednesday, the workers claimed that no news has yet been released about the current condition of the detained workers.

One protester said: "After a one-day temporary detention at the police station, the detained workers were transferred to Sepidar Prison in Ahwaz on Tuesday (June 14)."

Iran insisting to turn women's veiling into political dilemma, why?

In any discussion on women's clothing and veiling, the first thing is to distinguish between the question of veiling and the Iranian regime's manipulation of this issue, turning it into a tool for suppression of women and subsequently the society in general.

Wearing clothes was an achievement of human civilization. It is a genuinely progressive social phenomenon, changing and evolving in accordance with cultural, economic, political and artistic development of human societies. Weather conditions, culture, type of job, social traditions, etc. have always had significant impact on defining the clothes people wear in any community.

One another tragedy in our world

The world strongly condemns Orlando massacre and extends condolences to US people

We strongly condemned the massacre of innocent people in Orlando as savage terrorism and a crime against humanity. We express our condolences to Orlando residence and offer our most sincere sympathies to the families of the victims.

Yearning for a world full of love, kindness and starts

Truly, what does our society need today?

I would love a world that the blueness of its sky is home to beautiful white clouds raining over the soil of my deprived country. A world where love and friendship fills the hearts of nations that have witnessed nothing but cruelty.

I want to see a world where we no longer witness the cries of two brothers weeping over the dead body of their kid sister killed in Aleppo as a result of vicious bombings by the Central dominion!!

I am dreaming of a day when poor boys selling flowers in Tehran’s streets are no longer insulted by passing drivers, a world where such innocent children are not forced to endure the hardship of helping their families make ends meet.

Iran: silent army of unemployed people will topple the regime

Neglecting population and housing numbers in the past few years, and lack of adequate planning by the government, have led to a major unemployment crisis in the society, in a way that one can say a silent army of unemployed people will lead to the toppling of any government, warned Secretary-General of Iran’s House of Economics.

“For each college student we must consider two unemployed individuals with lesser education. This means in the next few years we need to create 15 million new jobs,” Massoud Daneshmand said.

“Around $70,000 dollars is needed for every new job; meaning we need a budget of $10 billion to have the college students graduating in the next few years entering the job market not end up unemployed. The government cannot provide for such a budget and there is a need for foreign investment,” he continued.

Iran: IRGC training special terrorist units in Farur Island

IRGC admits training foreign terrorist in “special Nedsa unit”

On Monday, June 6^th the commander of the Revolutionary Guards Navy admitted Iran is training foreign troops to carry out terrorist attacks abroad.

“Our special unit was both in operation and training mode, providing training in a wide variety of fields for various forces inside the country and abroad receiving training especially focused for special units…” Fadawi said in an interview with the IRGC-associated Fars news agency. “Foreign troops who could not speak Farsi would only repeat what their instructors were saying over and over again.”

Iran: mullahs’ despicable social and economic results

 Skyrocketing unemployment in Iran

40 million of Iran’s workforce are unemployed.

More than 75% of the unemployed are educated individuals.

A person dies every 8 hours due to drug addiction.

18 million of 55 million city population living in outskirt areas.

150,000 to 200,000 homeless sleeping in the streets in Tehran’s 12^th district alone.

As the sale of blood, kidney and liver has become a normality, the sale of eyes has gained high demand in the market recently.

Unprecedented unemployment and poverty, and this phenomenon expanding to the vast majority of the people from all walks of life is the end result of the mullahs’ massive theft from Iran’s natural resources, riches and even ordinary people’s pockets.