Iran Focus
London, 22 Jul – In an article written on June 29 by Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, and published on the Focus Online website two weeks prior to the court hearings that faced two Iranians in Germany, the former German Justice Minister talked about the issue of Iran’s espionage against the Iranian Resistance, in particular against members of the main opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK).
Iran Focus
London, 22 Jul – Michael J. Totten writes in World Affairs: In 1997, US President Bill Clinton added Iran’s People’s Mujahadeen (Mujahideen Khalq in Persian, or MEK) to the list of designated foreign terrorist organizations, and in 2012 his wife Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took them off. One of them erred and erred badly.
He points out that the MEK fought hard against the Shah Reza Pahlavi before and during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Afterward, when the Islamist faction led by Ayatollah Khomeini emerged the strong horse in the ensuing struggle for power, they fought the new government alongside Iran’s leftist movements and lost.
By Hamid Yazdan Panah
Each year the Iranian resistance holds a massive convention in Paris calling for democratic change in Iran. The event draws tens of thousands of participants, more than a hundred elected officials and dignitaries from various countries, and brings together a multitude of political groups and factions. This year things felt a little different, as the event not only garnered significant attention worldwide, but also reflected the steady and deliberate pace at which the Iranian resistance continues to sustain its movement.
Iran Focus
London, 21 Jul – An Argentinian judge has requested that Singapore and Malaysia arrest an Iranian adviser who stands accused of planning the worst terrorist attack in the South American country’s history.
Ali Akbar Velayati was the Foreign Minister of Iran when the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires was bombed in 1994, which killed 85 people. The belief is that Tehran masterminded the attack and Hezbollah carried it out.
Iran Focus
London, 21 Jul – The United States blacklisted three members of al Qaeda living in Iran on Wednesday.
The US said that these three had helped the terrorist organisation in times of war by providing financial assistance, logistics and negotiating with Iranian authorities.
Since the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, Iran has held several high-ranking members of al Qaeda but the conditions they were kept in is unclear.
Iran Focus
London, 21 Jul – Saudi Arabia has recently vocalised its support for the Iranian Resistance in what has been called a “redrawing of some lines of history.”
At the Free Iran rally in Paris earlier this month, Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal spoke before 100,000 supporters of the Iranian opposition groups, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), to declare his support for their leader Maryam Rajavi, and to call for the overthrow of Iran’s theocratic regime.
Iran Focus
Brussels, 20 Jul – EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced the lifting of “multilateral and national” sanctions on Iran on 16 January this year, saying the nuclear deal showed that intense diplomacy could resolve even “the most difficult issues”. However, this new position came despite the EU sanctions still imposed on Tehran due to its poor human right record and links with terrorist organizations.
Iran Focus
Geneva, 20 Jul – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has released an update on the Iranian refugees stuck in Camp Liberty in Iraq.
This update focuses on how well solutions have been put in place to aid refugees in this area, specifically in terms of relocation.
Over 1,700 residents have been relocated to safe countries, which accounts for over half of the original refugees. The UNHCR hopes to have moved all residents out of Iraq before the end of 2016 with a combination of international efforts and middle-eastern movements.
Iran Focus
Berlin, 20 Jul – An Iranian Intelligence Agent has been convicted in Germany of spying on Iranian Resistance members living abroad.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has welcomed this conviction of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) agent and has urged foreign governments to prosecute and expel other regime spies.
Iran Focus
Brussels, 19 Jul – More than 90 Belgian Politicians on today, 19 July, called for relations with Iran to be predicated on an improvement in their human rights situation.
In a video of the remarks by Dirk Claes, Mayor of Rotselaar, Honorary Senator, and President of Belgian Committee of Parliamentarians and Mayors for a Democratic Iran, we hear about the Belgian peoples’ concern over human rights violations in Iran, which have degenerated under the regime of President Hassan Rouhani. Under this so-called ‘moderate’ leader, women are being ever more repressed, and journalists have been sent to prison, among many other abuses.
