London, 17 Aug – An Iranian Resistance group has called on international human rights bodies to launch an inquiry into the torture of Sunni political prisoners in Iran.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran released a statement asking the UN Human Rights Council, which is meeting next month in Geneva, to launch an inquiry into the torture of the Sunni political prisoners before their mass execution on August 2.
By Hamid Yazdan Panah
Iran is a hot commodity. Whether it is being sold as a misunderstood land of mystery, or eyed as a potential business or investment opportunity, it is difficult to find a narrative which does not reduce the country to a means to a particular end. Historically, this included the vilification of Iran as an anti-western wasteland, divorced from historical context, geopolitical significance and diversity.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Aug – Despite its claims of moderation, the government of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has been taking increasing measures to limit women’s rights for freedom in the recent years. One of the ways the Iranian government is clamping down on women’s freedom is by limiting and dictating what they can wear. Women across Iran are now forced to wear the Chador – full black cover – in order to receive various public services, reports the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
London, 14 Aug – There is international expectation that the next U.S. president will adopt a new policy regarding Iran which recognizes the Iranian people’s demand for democratic change, argues Shahriar Kia, a press spokesman for members of the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK).
London, 14 Aug – Saudi Arabia is pivoting towards support for the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin (PMOI or MEK), Joseph Hammond argues in a recent edition of The National Interest.
A 9 August article in The National Interest highlights the attendance of Saudi Arabia’s Prince Turki al-Faisal at the MEK’s annual “Free Iran” rally in Paris.
In his article for The Hill, Shahriar Kia, talks about the recent executions in Iran, when on August 2 a possible 33 people were sent to the gallows.
In his article for the August 12 edition of The Washington Post, Brian Murphy talks about Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who once was the hand-picked successor to the revolution’s leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
After Iran’s Islamic revolution, in 1988, the country’s leader-in-waiting faced a decision. Montazeri could stand by while Iran stepped up a campaign of mass executions, torture and gulag-style imprisonment, or he could follow his conscience and speak out.
Iran Focus
London, 11 Aug – A leading Syrian opposition official has stated that the key to ending the Syrian crisis is evicting Iran.
Suheir Atassi, a member of the High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian opposition, said that the civil war in Syria and the human loss, as a result, would not have continued if it wasn’t for the Iranian regime’s support of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and their besiegement of Aleppo and Daraya.
An audio recording of Iranian Regime members acknowledging the 1988 massacre, has been published for the first time.
The recording, obtained by theNational Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), features Hossein-Ali Montazeri, former heir-apparent to the supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini, discussing the 1988 slaughter of political activists from the opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK).
In an interview with Al-Arabiya, a leading Iranian activist has decried the executions in Iran as a form of “terrorism” designed to “silence [it’s] citizens”.
Hashem Khastar, a former political prisoner and member of the teachers’ union, said: “I condemn these mass executions which happened against our brothers from the Sunni sect and everyone condemns these executions that happened in mock courts that resemble dark rooms”.
