What Is Iran’s Syria Policy After Donald Trump?

The election of Donald Trump as the new president of the United States came as an expected turn of events. The mullahs took full advantage of the appeasement policy adopted by U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration, especially to fuel the Syria war in support of ally Bashar Assad.
Yet with a new administration in Washington, Tehran is extremely disturbed over how to maintain its grip over the region, with a special focus on Syria. Considering Syria its 35th province, Iran deployed its Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) to take command of the troops fighting against Syrian opposition forces.

The rise of ISIS
The war in Syria, dragging for years due to Iran’s meddling, paved the grounds for the rise of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL).
“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 a previous interview with Fox News. 
The role of Russia
Iran doubled the number of its forces in Syria to 60,000 and launched “Operation Moharram” aimed at retaking vast areas from opposition control, including the flashpoint strategic city of Aleppo. Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei also ordered the regular army’s 65th Division to Aleppo.
Extent of Iran’s meddling in Syria
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.
Senior Iranian military commanders are regularly inspecting the situation on the ground and numerous high-ranking officers, including Hossein Hamedani, a senior IRGC commander, have been killed.
Blueprint of Iran forces in Syria
To exert greater control over the entire war front, the IRGC has structured all pro-Assad forces fighting in Syria into five different sectors, consisting of four fronts (north, south, middle and costal) under a central command post. Known as the “Glass Building,” the command center is strategically adjacent to Damascus International Airport to provide a fast escape route for Iranian commanders in case the Syrian capital shows signs of falling.
Talking in numbers
One can reach a more extensive image of Iran’s presence in Syria when referring to the number of troops, as were reported by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
Looking ahead
It is quite obvious that President-elect Donald Trump will be inheriting a very complicated Syria dossier from his predecessor. Iraq and Yemen are also facing devastation due to Iran’s involvement and export of extremism and Islamic fundamentalism. As a result, the Middle East is truly on the brink of triggering a conflict of global proportions and consequences.
11 Arab states have recently issued an unprecedented letter to outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemning Iran’s meddling across the Middle East. This measure, followed by a House of Representatives resolution seeking sanctions against Syria, have sent strong signals to Tehran.

Why We Shouldn’t Worry About Giuliani’s Ties to an Iranian Resistance Group

By ROBERT G. TORRICELLI November 28, 2016

First, I want to be clear about one thing: This isn’t about Rudy Giuliani. Arguably the broadest and most impressive bipartisan coalition in a generation has supported the MEK in its campaign for regime change in Iran. This includes two former chairmen of the joint chiefs, two former CIA directors, a former attorney general and the former chairs of both political parties. The ideological range includes everyone from Howard Dean and Patrick Kennedy to Newt Gingrich and John Bolton. 

The annual gathering of Iranians in Paris in the presence of President-elect of the Iranian Resistance and a group of their supporters 

From this perspective, the outlier isn’t Rudy Giuliani; it’s Daniel Benjamin. Let’s review a little history: The MEK was part of the coalition opposing the shah of Iran in the late 1970s, where it resisted the regime through political and military action. Its leadership was devastated by the shah’s secret police both by execution and imprisonment. The vacuum of leadership was briefly filled by a Marxist group that was rejected by the incarcerated MEK leaders. Many of these Marxist leaders were killed by the shah or by the mullahs after their ascent to power in 1979, and the MEK eventually regained its original leadership. As soon as it became clear that the mullah’s ambition for Iran was a theocracy, the MEK became an opposition group and fled into exile in Paris and Iraq. Some current and former State Department employees, including Mr. Benjamin, have a different concept. 

They remain committed to the idea that the MEK was a terrorist organization—a notion, I believe, which stems from an illusion of American reconciliation with the mullahs. In 1997, a group at State succeeded in convincing President Bill Clinton to place the MEK on the State Department list of terrorist organizations. Some claimed at the time that this decision was mainly intended as a goodwill gesture to Iran. The State Department gave as its reasons the MEK’s long record of violence, but I can tell you that as a member of the Foreign Relation Committee, I reviewed the State Department file on the MEK and found no evidence, no testimony and no reason for the designation except placating Tehran. Mr. Benjamin may quarrel with his efforts but it's important to note that voices in the American foreign policy establishment as diverse as Senator McCain, Secretary Clinton, Deputy Secretary Blinken and John Kerry’s own personal representative on the MEK, Jonathan Weiner disagree. Each has thanked Rudy Giuliani and the other Americans involved in these efforts.The president-elect may or may not choose Mr. Giuliani as secretary of state. What shouldn’t happen is for countering Tehran and assisting our country to be seen as anything other than a valuable contribution to his consideration.

Iran - Ahmad Montazeri Receives Jail Sentence without a lawyer on charges of "acting national security"

NCRI - Trial of Ahmad Montazeri without a lawyer in the Special Clerical Court on charges of “acting against national security”
Today November 27, late Ayatollah Montazeri’s son Ahmad Montazeri was sentenced to imprisonment and defrocking, according to an announcement by the Montazeri’s official website. Due to publishing his father's audio files on the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran, on charges of "acting against national security and propaganda against the publication of secret documents" Ahmad Montazeri has been sentenced to 21 years in prison and defrocking by the Special Clerical Court.
Iran sentences son of dissident cleric to 6 years in prison
Iran Ahmad Montazeri Sunday Special Clerical Court to six years in prison for carrying a tape recorded voice of her father's release thousands of prisoners sentenced to death in 1988 at the end of its war with Iraq condemned.
For years, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who died in 2009, the country's ruling Islamic establishment of imposing dictatorship in the name of Islam was accused, and with his criticism following the disputed presidential election in June of the same year.

Tancredo: Left Targets Giuliani for Fighting Terrorism too Energetically

MayorRudy Giuliani for fighting Iran-sponsored terrorism too aggressively. Well,duh!

In a week that saw “Fake News” become the number one topic of debate among mainstream journalists, Politico decided to double down on stupidity and serve up a prime example of fake news. The Washington post dutifully echoed the false accusations to give the lie a cloak of respectability not bestowed by Politico.

Giuliani’s alleged violation was participating in events sponsored by an anti-Iran exile group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI-MEK), a group that has widespread bipartisan support in Congress and that even John Kerry’s State Department admits has provided valuable intelligence on Iran’s nuclear weapons program.The PMOI/MEK is the largest and most influential member of the coalition of anti-Mullah groups, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which acts as a government in exile while aiding pro-democracy forcesinside Iran.Many members of Congress in both political parties have supported the work of the PMOI/MEK, including Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Rep. Ed Royce, and Sen. John McCain. Other prominent supporters include Newt Gingrich, John Bolton, former CIA Director James Woolsey, and Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz. I, too, while a member of Congress and also more recently, have participated in PMOI/MEK-sponsored conferences and can personally bear witness to the group’s anti-terrorism credentials.The fallacious, unproven charges repeated by Politico‘s headline that the PMOI “killed Americans” is based largely on an incident inside Iran back in the 1970’s, before the Mullahs came to power and 25 years before the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States.There has never been a shred of evidence that any members of the current PMOI were involved in those events, yet the American left is now using those discredited allegations to smear one of our nation’s fiercest anti-terrorism warriors, Rudy Giuliani.The charges against PMOI-MEK dredged up by Politico have been refuted by multiple investigations and are no longer given credence even by Obama’s State Department. For nearly two decades, those allegations arising from events in the 1970’s were used as a basis for listing the PMOI/MEK as a terrorist organization.

• However, secret cables later revealed that the reason for that State Department listing in 1997 was Iran’s insistence on the listing as a condition for “normalizing” diplomatic relations.
• In 2012, the State Department removed the group from that list because of the lack of evidence to justify it– and after a federal court agreed there was no basis under federal law for the erroneous listing.

So, why is the political left suddenly so interested in smearing Rudy Giuliani?Could it have anything to do with Giuliani being one of two or three individuals on Donald Trump’s short list for Secretary of State? Do Democrats fear that the former NYC mayor might take the U.S. State Department in a new direction in opposing Iran’s vast network of financing for terrorist groups worldwide?If the American news media establishment had an ounce of integrity, this Politico smear campaign against Giuliani would be laughed out of town. Instead, in  an act of sheer desperation, prominent parts of the establishment media have joined the lynch mob. Obviously, this tells us more about the left’s motives and goals than it does about Giuliani.The establishment media have run interference for Obama’s Iran policy for eight years, and apparently prefer Mitt Romney over Rudy Giuliani as President Trump’s Secretary of State. Hopefully, that might be enough to tip the scales on that imminent decision in Trump Tower.

Iran Lobby’s Yellow and Biased Smear Campaign Against MEK

IranFreedom - Tehran has taken nearly full control over Baghdad thanks to the Obama Middle East Doctrine. One victim of such a failed policy has been the country of Iraq, as Iran gained enormous influence over it under President Barack Obama’s watch.
“Iran is taking over Iraq,” U.S. President-elect Donald Trump emphasized during the campaign back in October.
Iran has continuously meddled in all aspects of Iraqi life, be it political, social, economicand military issues. After Obama rushed to pull all U.S. troops out of the country, Tehran jumped to the occasion and took full advantage.
Baghdad has been influenced heavily by Tehran through a long list of Shiite political parties and ruthless militia groups.

Iran was also able to launch numerous deadly attacks against its legitimate and democratic opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), stationed in Iraq at the time. The MEK is known to have first blown the whistle on Iran’s clandestine nuclear weapons program and provided accurate intelligence on Iran’s meddling in Iraq and the entire Middle East.
In its effort, the MEK has unprecedentedly gained the support of thousands of prominent politicians on both sides of the Atlantic, and amazingly both sides of the aisle in Washington politics. Following the recent U.S. presidential election results, the regime in Tehran is currently terrified over the various candidates weighed by Trump for his administration.
Congress support for Iran opposition.

Iran’s lobbyists like Dan Benjamin launching a yellow and biased smear campaign, due to serious concern about the likes of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, Ambassador John Bolton and others having such close relations with the President-elect.
As a result of Obama’s failed foreign policy in the Middle East the nations of Iraq, Iran, Syria and beyond have endured enormously harsh conditions. The U.S. administration and Congress have the opportunity to correctly reverse these mistakes.
Evicting Iran from Iraq is the accurate policy that will provide the interests of all nations across the region, and the United States as well. This is the prelude for change in Iran and allowing the Iranian people decide their own fate.

Iran - Art and Artists are not crime

In Iran after revolurion 1979 Art and Artists are crime and this job is impermissible. Amnesty Internationl and renowned Iranian music band Kiosk are calling on artists and members of the public around the world to join a #FreeArtist campaign to demand that Iran immediately and unconditionally release jailed artists, including a musician and a filmmaker who are on hunger strike in Tehran Evin Prison.
Iran filmmaker Keywan Karimi

begins prison sentence in Tehran
Paris: Iranian filmmaker Keywan Karimi, sentenced to 223 lashes and a year in jail for a film he made about graffiti, started his prison sentence in Tehran on Wednesday, his French producer said.
Karimi, 31, ran into trouble with the powerful Revolutionary Guards over his documentary “Writing on the City”.
”Karimi spent 15 days in solitary confinement in 2013 when a trailer for the film was released on YouTube, accused of making “propaganda against the regime” and “insulting religious values”. Since then several other charges were added including drinking alcohol, having extramarital affairs and making pornography, the filmmaker told AFP in a telephone interview in May, decrying the allegations as “ridiculous”.
He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2015 but after an international outcry in which acclaimed Iranian directors including Jafar Panahi and Mohsen Makhmalbaf rallied to his support, five years of the term were suspended.
In May, during the Cannes film festival, more than 30 major European film organisations appealed to the Iranian government to grant him clemency.
But the filmmaker told AFP the sentence was “final” and that he had no intention of leaving Iran, although he hoped the penalty would be delayed as long as possible.
“I am not a political activist,” Karimi told AFP. “I am not being sent to prison because I oppose the regime but because I am a filmmaker.”
He had added: “The fact that my artistic activity is seen as an act of political opposition says a lot about the situation in Iran.”
Karimi has made several short films including “Broken Border” (2012), a documentary about petrol smuggling, and premiered his first feature-length movie “Drum” at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

Source: http://gulfnews.com/news/mena/iran/iran-filmmaker-keywan-karimi-begins-prison-sentence-in-tehran-1.1934476#.WDao7cOhF7Y.twitter

https://twitter.com/NaderNseraj904/status/801468340736839681

It's time to change U.S Policy on Iran regime

NCRI - It would be in the Iranian people’s interests, and a pre-requisite of peace and stability in the region, for the Trump administration to adopt a firm Iran policy, argues Heshmat Alavi in The Hill. The following is the text of his op-ed which was published on November 22:
The U.S. presidential elections and the victory of Donald Trump alludes to the end to a long era. After all, Iran benefited significantly from the past 16 years of appeasement adopted by the past two U.S. administrations.
MAJOR MISTAKES UNDER TWO PRESIDENTS

George W. Bush launched a war with Iraq, shifting all attentions from Tehran to Baghdad, and opening the doors of Mesopotamia to Iran’s lethal meddling. Barack Obama extended a helping hand to the mullahs, providing a green light for the regime to severely crack down on the Iranian people. Obama’s foreign policy pillar of engagement with Iran resulted in the toughest period for the Iranian people ever since Eisenhower and the 1953 coup d'état against Iran’s sole democratically elected government. The mullahs received the ultimate life support as the Obama White House refused to implement many of the measures included in the already misguided nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to full extent.
Thus, it goes beyond doubt that an end to the Obama tenure will be considered a severe blow to Iran. In the past 16 years, Tehran was able to take full advantage of Washington’s strategic mistakes to further plunge the entire region into chaos, as we see now in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. The U.S. policy on Iran in the Bush and Obama administrations increased the suffering of the Iranian people.
WHAT TO EXPECT

Whether Trump remains loyal to all his election campaign pledges is a legitimate question. From Tehran’s point of view, however, this new White House will be completely different from a Hillary Clinton White House. More importantly, however, are appointees of Trump’s probable administration lineup. This team has been completely against Iran. Tehran is already terrified of the likes of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Ambassador John Bolton.
FINAL THOUGHTS
A new American president with a firm stance will have a major impact on politics inside Iran. Does this mean the new American administration will completely put aside the entire appeasement policy and stand alongside the Iranian people?
Time will tell.
A new era in U.S.-Iran foreign policy began Nov. 8. With Trump’s election, a complete restructuring is in the making for Washington. The Trump administration adopting a firm Iran policy is in the Iranian people’s interests, and a pre-requisite of peace and stability in the region. The more this regime is terrified of a Trump presidency, the more it proves how Obama played completely into the mullahs’ hands.
The election of Donald Trump marks a new beginning, and the mullahs themselves understand this best.

Iran - Who is MEK?

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2016 / PRNewswire-USNewswire

 Formed in 1965, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK), the largest and best-organized Iranian opposition movement, is the main component of the coalition, National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which acts as the parliament-in-exile. The NCRI and MEK, have been committed to a secular, democratic, non-nuclear republic; gender equality; freedom of religion, thought, press, and association; support for peace in the Middle East; and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The president-elect of the NCRI is Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, who addressed a rally of 100,000 in Paris, well attended by dozens of prominent speakers from all over the world. 

A. The MEK role was critical in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb

The MEK has been instrumental in exposing Iran's nuclear weapons program. Relying on a vast network inside Iran, MEK revelations of the weapons program significantly contributed to the world peace and the national security of the United States. If it were not for the MEK nuclear revelations, Tehran would have had the bomb by now. Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) told a House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing "We all owe a debt of gratitude to the MEK for bringing this information to the world, and causing the United States and the world to focus on the problem." 
B. MEK exposed the terrorist network of Iran
The MEK has played a key role in exposing the terrorist operations by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and its entity, the Qods Force. MEK's actionable intelligence on Qods Force operations in Iraq saved many lives, and thwarted many terrorist operations by the Iranian regime. MEK documented the details of the Qods force production and shipment of advanced EFP's (Explosively Formed Projectiles), the number one killer of U.S. forces in Iraq. MEK also exposed Iran's involvement in the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 American servicemen.
C. MEK enjoys extensive bi-partisan support in U.S. Congress
Over the past two decades, MEK has gained extensive support among a large bi-partisan group of members of congress. Congress strongly rejected MEK's FTO designation, which it viewed as a goodwill gesture to Tehran, as 99 members (52 D and 47 R) called for the group's delisting. Secretary Clinton revoked the designation in 2012, after being urged by the U.S. Court of Appeals- DC Circuit.
D. MEK has been leading the opposition against the regime at home and abroad
MEK has been in the forefront of opposition to the mullahs since early days of the 1979 revolution, when it soon become the number one target of the Iranian regime's repression. The rulers of Iran view the MEK as an existential threat due to its support at home, and undermining the regime's Islamic extremist ideology among a vast majority of the Iranian population, especially the youth. MEK's modern, tolerant and democratic view on Islam has been the antithesis to the Islamic fundamentalists and the velayat-e faqih system. The MEK has been the main victim of repression in Iran. In summer 1988, the Iranian regime, by direct order of Supreme Leader Khomeini, massacred 30,000 political prisoners, most members of MEK. Over 100,000 of its members have been murdered since 1981, and many of its supporters are currently jailed in notorious prisons across the country. Most of those arrested and sentenced to death after the summer 2009 uprising in Iran, belonged to the MEK.
CONTACT: Ali Safavi, 202-747-7847, www.ncrius.org
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/who-is-the-mek-300366385.html
SOURCE National Council of Resistance of Iran-U.S. Representative Office

Yesterday 14 November was tweet stome for 8 political prisoners in two diffrent prisons of Iran in Urmia and Tehran. Among them are tow artist, Hossein Rajabian filmmaker and Mehdi Rajabian musician. The brothers are currently serving 3-years prison terms. In Iran under mullah's rule art is considered a crime and artist is also criminal. A third artist Keywan Karimi has also been sentenced to six years’ in prison for “insulting Islamic sanctities”, also related to his artistic work and is at imminent risk of imprisonment.
On 8 November 2016, Amnesty International called on artists and members of the public around the world to join a #FreeArtists campaign to demand that Iran immediately and unconditionally release jailed artists, including a musician and a filmmaker who are on hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin Prison. To day we have also tweet storm to support the artists imprisoned. Their imprisonment is yet another nail in the coffin for freedom of expression in Iran. The human right to liberty is sadly so undervalued by the Iranian authorities that they are prepared to condemn individuals to years in jail just to silence artistic voices that they deem as ‘anti-Islamic’ and ‘anti-revolutionary’.
“Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee is the latest young writer and activist to be caught up in Iran’s relentless crackdown on artistic expression. Her imprisonment for peacefully voicing her opposition to stoning is a terrible injustice and an outrageous assault on freedom of expression. It is also a shocking and deeply disturbing display of support for the cruel and inhuman punishment of stoning,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. NCRI- According to reports from Iranian prisons, the political prisoners Rasoul Razavi, Morteza Morad Pour
and Hossein Ali Mohammadi were still on
hunger strike on 12 November.  

What happened for political prisoners in 1988 in Iran? It's the question which Maryam Akbari Monfared asks of the Iran Regime. She only wrote it to find an explanation for the death of her sisters and brothers who were members of PMOI. She wants to know why her sisters and brothers were executed without any specific reason while they had already been serving their time in prison. How could they consider these issues as a crime and an act against the national security while it occurred 28 years ago? Maryam Akbari Monfared Prisoner of conscience, who is serving a 15-year sentence in Tehran's Evin Prison, is being denied access to medical treatment. 

She is facing reprisals after filing a formal complaint that seeks an official investigation into the mass killings of political prisoners, including her siblings, in the summer of 1988. Amnesty International, 3 November 2016. Her brother political prisoner, Reza Akbari Monfared in a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur protested against the constraints imposed by the Mullahs' regime to her sister, Maryam Akbari Monfared.The political Prisoners support 1988 Massacre lawsuit by Maryam Akbari Monfared and they also condemned the pressure by prison officials against her.

It's time to rethink the U.S. policy toward Iran

 After eight years, the Obama administration has run its course. The next president will have the chance to right the wrongs and correct past mistakes by taking the right side and standing with the people of Iran and the region, who have suffered the most at the hands of the mullahs and have the greatest potential to bring change that can put Iran and the Middle East on the path toward the re-establishment of peace and stability.
After signing the nuclear deal with Iran, President Obama, who Was very satisfied of his foreign policy toward Iran, expressed hope “to have conversations with Iran that incentivize them to behave differently in the region, to be less aggressive, less hostile, more cooperative, to operate the way we expect nations in the international community to behave.” Last Thursday, State Department Spokement Mark Toner admitted just how misplaced those hopes were by saying, and added: Iranian behavior in the region that is, frankly, not positive, that is unconstructive.
Obama had to hope that Iran cooperate in resolving the issues in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. A year after the nuclear deal, not only has the Iranian regime failed to manifest a modicum of cooperation on the crises riddling the region, but Iran’s contribution to the resolution of the Syrian conflict has been the dispatch of tens of thousands of troops to shore up the Assad regime and prolong a crisis. During this time, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), has benefited the most from the economic incentives of the nuclear deal, has spent the cash windfall to send arms to the Houthis in Yemen. And in Iraq, Iran-backed militias continue to keep the country on the precipice of sectarian strife. General Hossein Salami, the Deputy Chief of the IRGC, during a speech he delivered on the anniversary of the occupation of the U.S. embassy in Tehran also threatened that Iran would scrap the nuclear deal and reactivate its centrifuges if the U.S. didn’t stand up to its commitments.

NCRI - Conference in Italy: "Justice for Victims of 1988 Massacre in Iran"

On November 7, as reported by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a conference was held in the main hall of the Central University of Sassari, in #Italy, to commemorate the 30 thousand martyrs of the #1988massacre in Iran, to support the “Justice Seeking Movement”, and to condemn the repression of women by the clerical regime of #Iran. The mayor of Sassari, the director of the Amnesty International, and Italian representatives participated in the conference. A delegation of the Iranian Resistance also attended and made a speech.

Dr. opened the conference, and the guests and speakers were introduced. The political-cultural advisor of Sassari's Mayor, Raffaella Sau, welcomed the delegation of the Iranian Resistance and said, ”I want to express my gratitude to the Association of the Iranian youths in Italy for holding the conference. I also thank those who resist in order to attract the worldwide attention. I appreciate you for your activities which shape our public opinion against violence and genocide in your country.” Elahe Arjmandi, a member of the Women's Commission of NCRI, spoke about the Massacre of 1988, in which 30,000 political prisoners were executed under Khomeini's Fatwa. She declared that that the Martyrs maintained their resistance at the gallows, 

and talked about the brutality of Khomeini and the death commissioners.  She emphasized on the role of that leaders still active in the regime played in the Massacre of 1988, as well as the current wave of executions. She stressed that these leaders will be tried, and this is what the Justice Seeking Movement advocates. Elham Zanjani was the next speaker. She described the regime’s repression of women and stated that women’s role in Iran is to stand against the fundamentalism which has arisen from the system of ‘Velayat e Faqih’ (the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist). Among the 120,000 martyrs of Iranian resistance, there were a significant number of women and girls who were the members of Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK/PMOI).  Despite suppression, the regime could not scare the youth off. They were inspired by the struggle of the women at the forefront of demonstrations and protests against the clerical regime. Samira Nariman was the next speaker. She spoke on behalf of the Association of the Iranian youths in Italy, and explained the activities of the Iranian youths' Association in Europe and America in supporting the Justice Seeking Movement. Next, Dr. Stefania Fusco and Dr. Maria Cristina Carta discussed the misogynistic laws of the regime, and the suppression of women in Iran as a fundamental basis of the clerical regime. They pledged their support to the Justice Seeking Movement and stressed on the necessity of bringing justice to the perpetrators of the Massacre of 1988. Mr Nicola Sanna, the mayor of Sassari, was the last speaker. Appreciating that the conference which was held in honor of the martyrs of freedom, he said, ”I congratulate the ladies who participated in this conference since the president of the Iranian Resistance is a woman and this contains a significant concept and message. The women lead the resistance at the national and international levels and they are the actual champions of freedom and democracy.”  He continued, “We and our city are on the side of the freedom fighters and the revolutionaries. We welcome the delegation of the Iranian Resistance and we support their struggle for freedom and democracy.”

IRGC Deputy Chief Boasts:Iran will send the deal to museum, if US don't honor its commitments under the JCPOA

Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hussein Salami warned on Thursday that if the US fails to honor its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran will send the deal to museum and return to the first point. “The Iranian government has promised the nation that if the US fails to honor its commitments under the nuclear deal, it will nullify the deal and resume nuclear activities,” the Iranian commander added. 

Foreign hostages is a lucrative business for Mullah regime in Iran

It's because the Iran regime now more need to stand up economy That's because the Iran regime is desperately needed to Prop up their  economy and ransom them to their respective countries for handsome amounts. What led us here? The failed policy aimed at taming the nefarious activities of the Iranian regime through concessions and appeasement. America was forced  for the release of Saeed Abedini and the other hostages to give ransom $ 400 million. In fact, recent months have seen a significant increase in the Iranian regime's actions against foreigners visiting the country. Since the January prisoner swap, at least six dual-national Iranians have been arrested, and others have received heavy prison sentences from the Iranian regime's judiciary under bogus charges of acting against the state. 
Iranian officials are making multi-million dollar demands for the release of some of the prisoners, and according to sources close to the Iranian regime, demands might be raised to as much as $2 billion. 
This is further proof that January's ransom has only whetted the appetite of the mullahs for more. To their benefit, foreign nationals have a voice abroad that will offer them a measure of reprieve and immunity from the horrors that have become the notorious hallmark of Iran's prisons. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the tens of thousands political prisoners executed without fair trials, and the thousands of inmates who continue to linger in Iran's dungeons, awaiting their fate under conditions that a recent United Nations report describes as deeply troubling. The next U.S. president will have a chance to adopt the right approach and show some backbone and determination. In the meantime, lives will be hanging in the balance.

Iran - Reza Akbari Monfared writes revealing letter to Asma Jahangir

NCRI - In a letter to Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur, Reza Akbari Monfared points to some of the pressures and humiliations applied by the Iranian regime’s judiciary and prosecutor against political prisoners who want to meet their families.

Maryam Akbari Monfared- Political Prisoner

About two months ago in August 2016, I, Reza Akbari Monfared, wrote a letter to condemn the 1988 massacre and the criminal executions of my sisters and brothers. My sister, Maryam Akbari Monfared, too, wrote a similar letter, demanding that we at least be informed of the burial place of our sister and brothers. Now following these letters, due to a continuous monitoring by the Human Rights Council as well as the Special Rapporteur, Mrs. Asma Jahangir, the judiciary who avoids officially depriving me and my sister of meeting our families, has in an apparent attempt to disrespect and humiliate the political prisoners, issued new regulations and rules according to which family visits for prisoners are conditional on being handcuffed and shackled as well as wearing the prison uniform. 

They know that political prisoners will reject such terms as dishonorable, so they have made up such conditions to put prisoners under pressure and deprive them of their rights without being faced with human rights criticisms. For information of #HumanRights Council, Mrs. Asemeh Jahangir, I and other political prisoners have not agreed to such terms. We refused to meet our families under these conditions and are ready to pay the price. Because we believe that those who should be handcuffed and shackled and be introduced to everyone while wearing prison uniforms, are the likes of Khamenei’s panegyrist (Saeid Toosi) so that people’s children are safe from his crimes, not the political prisoners who have been charged due to vindicating their rights as well as their people’s rights.”

Political prisoner Reza Akbari Monfared

Gohardasht Prison, Karaj

Iran - 11 Years of imprisonment for the labor activist, who defendes of laboar rights

Jafar Azimzadeh and Shapur Ahsanyrad-labor activists

NCRI - Criminal justice regime in the Saveh summoned two labor 

activists that named Jafar Azimzadeh and Shapur Ahsanyrad for retrial two months ago. 

On Thursday, June 30, 2016 the mullahs’ regime was forced to finally back down and temporarily free Jafar Azimzadeh and unwavering political prisoner after 64 days of hunger strike, promising to reevaluate his case in a fair trial. After four months On 15th October 2016, the lawyer of the two labor activists announced that each of them was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment. News Agency of Iran regime Ilna reports each client was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment foe establishing the labor-related organizations and the free union of the Iranian workers. And each labor activist was additionally sentenced to 1 year of imprisonment for making propaganda against the regime as well. 
The lawyer of Jafar Azimzadeh said, the branch 101 of the Criminal Court 2 of Saveh is currently investigating another case for his clients due to charges such as disturbing the public opinions. These sentences have been issued while the Revolutionary Court sentenced Mr. Azimzadeh to 6 years of imprisonment and 2 years of deprivation from any cyberspace and media activities in March 2017.

Iran - The strike of staff of Namazi Hospital in Shiraz

NCRI - One year after the nuclear deal, Iran regime has still the economic crisis is still. The staffs of Namazi hospitals to protest the payment status, went on strike and stopped working for one day. Mohammad Edraki the supervisor of Namazi hospital  announced the situation is actually critical. The medical insurance and social security has not paid the money to this medical education center for 6 months, and we are also concerned about that. Namazi hospital administrators said that despite repeated follow-ups, the physicians of Namazi Hospital has not yet received any other payments except their monthly salary for a year and even during this time no productivity bonuses have been paid. Dr. Edraki said:  all of the leading authorities are aware of this issue but so far they have not taken any measure to resolve it. During the day, over 30 thousand people ply across the hospital halls and a high percentage of those are the patients. This figure shows that the number of visiting patients increases and the staffs' job become harder. Therefore, it is important to address the aforementioned problems of this hospital."

Iran - Maryam Rajavi: "Rise and stand up to the policy of executed by the ruling religious dictatorship"

Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance

Messages of Maryam Rajavi on the World Day Against Death Penalty: I hail the brave men and women who were executed by Iran's ruling religious dictatorship in the battle for freedom. More than any other party, the World Day Against the Death Penalty targets the Iranian regime that has so far executed 120,000 political prisoners who were serving their prison sentences, but were hanged just for their political beliefs. Mrs Rajavi said: According to Khomeini's fatwa, any prisoner who continued to adhere to the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), had to be executed.

The number of executions including political executions in Iran over the past one year exceed the number of executions carried out in most of the years of Khamenei's rule. The mass executions of 25 Sunni Kurds on August 2, 2016, and the executions of three Arab political prisoner on August 17, 2016, are just to name a few examples. According to the report by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Ahmad Shahid, nearly 1,000 people were executed last year in Iran. Then, in March 2015, Rouhani's Interior Minister Rahmani Fazli admitted, "Undoubtedly, part of the dirty money of drug trafficking gets funneled into the country's politics, elections and transfer of power." The death penalty faces growing opposition and general detestation in Iran, as well. The movement to obtain justice for victims of the massacre in 1988 has expanded in recent months cornering the mullahs with regards to continuing the executions.

Maryam Rajavi: I call on the international community to provide the arrangements for the prosecution of the clerical regime's leaders, particularly its leader Khamenei, in the international courts for the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. We call on western governments to make their relations with the Iranian regime contingent on a moratorium on executions. The Iranian people and Resistance will bring justice to the clerical regime for violating their human rights. This Resistance has rise up to create a society that bears no trace of the death penalty, torture, and inhuman verdicts issued under the mullah's regime. 

NCRI - The Trudeau Government is facing strong Calls to Take a Tough stand Against Iran Regime

Irnian-Canadians held rally to trial the perpetrators of 1988 massacre in Iran.

Iranians Resistance in Canada are demanding to inquiry into the mass executions of political prisoners at the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988 and also Canadian Friends for a Democratic Iran are pursuing.
OTTAWA- Iranian residents in Canada is calling on the Canadian's government to add a tough new element to its annual United Nations resolution on Iran's dubious human rights record - an International call for a war crimes investigation. The group, which calls itself Canadian Friends for a Democratic Iran, will make the request later today at a press conference on Parliament Hill. Canada has taken the lead each year since 2003 in sponsoring a resolution at the UN condemning Iran's human rights record. Now, Golestaneh's group wants the government to up the ante by asking the UN to launch an investigation into the events as part of that annual resolution.