Policy on Iran and Desperate Attempts to Discredit the MEK

‌By Farzin Hashemi- Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NCRI
Over the past week, once again policy on Iran was widely discussed in the media. Simultaneously, in recent weeks there has been more growing call for a new approach toward Iranian opposition, the #MEK. The announcement by the US National Security Advisor that “Iran is officially on notice” drew much attention. This position was followed by more Tweets from President Trump and a new round of sanctions, raising the prospect of a change of policy in the US approach towards Iran. As far as the Iranian Resistance, and its components including the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (#MEK/#PMOI), is concerned imposing sanctions against a number of individuals and companies affiliated to the clerical regime for their role in missile proliferation is a positive step in confronting the illegitimate and terrorist dictatorship whose record includes 120,000 political executions. Simultaneously, they are engaged in a massive disinformation campaign to discredit the democratic opposition, the #MEK and the coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), led by its President-elect Maryam Rajavi. By spreading fake news about the #MEK/#PMOI, originated from the Ministry of Intelligence of the mullahs’ regime and the intelligence section of the IRGC, their objective is to convey this false message that there is no viable opposition and the world must accept and deal with the religious dictatorship ruling Iran. Thus, the core of the issue is not their debunked allegations but their hidden agenda to maintain the policy of appeasement.

Ending up appeasment policy with mullahs in Iran

Appeasement of Iran Must End
A tumultuous year lies ahead. With a new administration taking the helm in Washington, the French elections upcoming, then the sham “elections” in Iran, and unprecedented developments in the making in the Middle East and on the international stage.
2017 has begun with enormous concerns for the mullahs in Iran. With the death of former Iranian regime president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran’s establishment witnessed the fall of one of its two pillars. With the regime weakness bringing joy to the Iranian population, the mullahs are left terrified of a repeat of uprisings on the model of 2009. This is especially significant with crucial presidential “elections” coming in May. The Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the most ruthless factions of his regime have the main source of distributing terrorism and instability across this flashpoint region. In fact, their presence in Syria guarantees the mullahs’ continued rule back home. No political solution is possible in the Levant as long as the IRGC and their Shiite militias are present in the country. Thus, if we seek peace in this land, the only serious path forward lies in expelling the mullahs from Syria. The main party in detriment from a ceasefire and eventual peace in Syria is none other than Tehran. Today’s Iran has an alternative with a democratic agenda based on respecting religious freedoms, universal suffrage, separation of church and state, and gender equality. The voice of this alternative should be heard, as proposed by nearly two dozen senior top U.S. officials in a hand-delivered letter to President Donald Trump. This alternative is none other than the National Council of Resistance of Iran under the leadership of Maryam Rajavi, who years ago presented her vision for a future Iran in a 10-point-plan.

Iran: Activist woman arrested, her fate remains unknown

Shahnaz Akmali lost her son, Mostafa Karim-Beigi, during the 2009 uprising in Iran

In the early hours of Wednesday, January 25, 2017, anti-death penalty and human rights activist, Shahnaz Akmali was arrested by plainclothes agents and taken to an unknown location.
Ms. Akmali lost her son, Mostafa Karim-Beigi, during the 2009 uprising in Iran and has been active since then to demand the rights of victims of execution and political prisoners and their families.
A source close to Karim-Beigi family said, "Five or six plainclothes agents went to Ms. Akmali's residence and searched the house thoroughly. They confiscated and took away with them all of her belongings including her electronic communication devices."

UN Urges Iran Not to Execute Man Convicted While a Juvenile

FILE - A police cameraman takes video footage of the hanging of a convicted murderer at Jamshidieh park in Tehran, Oct. 27, 2002.

The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is urging Iran to stop the execution of a man who was a juvenile when sentenced in 2012. Sajad Sanjari was 15 years old when an Iranian court sentenced him to death for fatally stabbing a man. In 2014, he was granted a retrial under a new Islamic Penal Code, but the following year, a provincial criminal court rejected his argument that he acted in self-defense against a would-be rapist. The court confirmed the death sentence, saying Sanjari was mature enough to understand the nature of his crime. This ruling was upheld by Iran's Supreme Court last year.
A spokesman for the human rights office, Rupert Colville, says Iran is one of a few countries that still executes juvenile offenders. He says the use of capital punishment on anyone under the age of 18 is a violation of international human rights law. "At least five juveniles were reportedly executed in Iran last year,” Colville said, “and at least 78 people reportedly remain on death row for crimes they committed when they were under 18, although the actual figure may be much higher than that. " The number of executions in Iran is difficult to pin down, Colville tells VOA, because of the opaque system of government. "According to various NGO [non-governmental organization] sources, the number of people executed in 2016, last year, was over 500 — 530 according to some,” Colville said. “The vast majority is said to be for drug offenses."

Under international law, the death penalty may be imposed only for the most serious crimes — those involving intentional killing. Human rights experts say drug-related offenses do not meet that bar. The United Nations is calling for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty in Iran because of the high number of executions and concerns that defendants do not receive fair trials. Iran As a party to the ICCPR & is legally obliged 2 forbid torture & other cruel,inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Maryam Rajavi President-elect of NCRI urges referral of the clerical regime's dossier of crimes to the UN Security Council The religious fascism ruling Iran has kicked off the New Year with merciless executions en mass. The execution of at least 57 prisoners, mostly youths, has been registered in Iran since the beginning of 2017. Twenty of the victims were hanged on Saturday, January 14, 2017, in Gohardasht Prison, the Central Prison of Karaj, the Lakan Prison of Rasht, and the Dizelabad Prison of Kermanshah.

Iran's Middle East ambitions more dangerous than nuclesar threat

Iran, chasing a strategic objective of safeguarding its very existence, sees its interests in hindering any efforts to reach a lasting peace, while canvassing its role as an effective party in the war against ISIS.
It is worth noting that hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians seeking life under a free state are paying the price of Khamenei’s ruthless dictatorship. Iran’s meddling in the region and provoking sectarianism have rendered increasing fundamentalism and the rise of Daesh and al-Qaeda. Parallel to appeasing Iran to maintain the mullahs at the negotiating table, silence and inaction seen from the West in the Middle East, especially by the Obama administration, have further intensified the Levant inferno and complicated regional conditions, especially Syria. To this end, Iran has been the main benefactor as a result. The status quo further proves a warning issued by Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). “Four years ago I warned the threat of the mullahs’ meddling in Iraq is 100 times more dangerous than its nuclear ambitions,” Rajavi said in a speech on June 30, 2007 in Paris. Although Iran failed to obtain nuclear weapons thanks to continuous NCRI revelations, Tehran’s destructive meddling and crimes carried out by affiliated Shiite militias in Iraq, Syria and abroad are far more dangerous. This campaign has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people throughout the region, leveled cities and displaced millions.
Tehran’s interventions in the Middle East have brought any and all efforts to establish peace, stability, and security to a complete halt. Of course, this is not due to Tehran’s strength and capabilities. In fact, it is all the byproduct of inaction, silence, and policy of appeasement adopted by the West vis-à-vis Iran, and 16 years of strategic mistakes by Washington in this flashpoint region of the globe.

Maryam Rajavi addresses the French National Assembly: Middle East Developments, French and European Approaches

Occupying Iraq and delivering the country in a silver plate to Iran, parallel to disarming the leading organized opposition entity, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), were all gifts provided by the West and U.S. to the leading state sponsor of terrorism. Without a doubt any involvement of Iran in the war against Daesh will only register as an aberration in establishing regional peace and security, forcing the international community to pinpoint resources on derivatives of Iran’s terrorism crusade.

Solution
Of course, true and lasting Middle East peace and security are only possible through regime change in Iran and the establishment of a democratic and secular government in Tehran. This is the objective set by the Iranian opposition under Mrs. Rajavi’s leadership. Her 10-point-plan for the future Iran, enjoys the support of thousands of MPs, political, religious, legal and civil dignitaries across the globe. Abi-partisan letter signed by 23 former top officeholders in the past five administrations to the president-elect urges the incoming Trump administration "to establish a dialogue with Iran's exiled resistance, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)," which has called for free elections to establish a secular, democratic, non-nuclear republic in Iran as well as an end to what it calls Tehran's "religious dictatorship." Middle East stability can only be achieved in bringing an end to Iran’s meddling in Syria and across the region. With Iran evicted from the Middle East all forms of fundamentalism, including Daesh, will have no reason to exist. And naturally, the West will be relieved of the current wave of lethal terrorist attacks.

Eric Shawn exclusive: Calls for a new #Iran policy

Iran - Maryam Rajavi: With the Death of Rafsanftni one of the Two Pillars of the Ruling Theocrascy Collapses

IRANIAN EXILED OPPOSITION   

Maryam Rajavi, the leadr of the political arm the Iranian opposition group mujahedeen-e-Khalq,(MEK/PMOI) said in a statement that she hoped the Iranian regime would fall apartwith Rafsanjani's passing. “With the death of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the two pillars and key to the equilibrium of the religious fascism ruling Iran has collapsed and the regime in its entirety is approaching overthrow,” she said. Maryam Rafavi said Over the past 38 years, whether under Khomeini or afterwards, Rafsanjani played a critical role in suppression at home and export of terrorism abroad as

well as in the quest to acquire nuclear weapons. Rafsanjani who had always been the regime's number two, acted as its balancing factor and played a decisive role in its preservation. Now, the regime will lose its internal and external equilibrium. #MaryamRajavi:In 2006,#Rafsanjani was implicated by #Argentinian investigators in 1 of the deadliest instances of #Iran'ian #terrorism abroad. A 1994 suicide truck bombing of the AMIA Jewish

community center in #BuenosAires, in which 85 people were killed.