By Ehsan Qaraee
In this series of articles, I will discuss the 8-year war between Iran and Iraq during the 1980’s, and the history behind it. In order to cover the many aspects of this historical event, I will focus on a few points in each article.
The Iranian regime called this conflict the “Imposed War” or “Holy Defense”. However, the question remains, was this war really an act of defense, or was it imposed on the nation?
By Hamid Yazdan Panah
A recent article by the Daily Beast is making headlines and further exposing the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) for what is, a tool to promote economic ties with the mullahs in Iran.
The expose, entitled The Shady Family Behind America’s Iran Lobby , ran this past Tuesday provides an exhaustive background on the connections between NIAC, the Namazi family, and the Iranian regime, underscoring how these three seemingly disparate interests relentlessly pursued the removal of sanctions on Iran, each for their own benefits.
Washington, 18 Sep – A former Iranian political prisoner has described his experience during the seven years he spent in Iran’s jails. Karim Moradi, an Iranian human rights activist and member of the Society of Iranian Political Prisoners, gave his account of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran in an article on Friday in TheHill.com:
London, 6 Sep – Eleven months after the arrest of Nahid Gorji in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, and considering her decreasing psychological conditions while in detention, there is still no precise information about the status of her dossier and the charges raised against her, the main Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has reported.
Iran Focus
Tehran, 16 Sep – Iranian political prisoner Ramezan Kamal Ahmad, 34, detained in Gohardasht Prison, Karaj, west of Tehran, has been on hunger strike since Saturday, 12 September, protesting his poor physical condition and severe pain in the arms and legs resulting from being beaten, and also being shot while arrested.
London, 15 Sep – In the Jask seaport next to the Persian Gulf in southern Iran, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Navy has initiated the demolition of an ancient castle that belonged to the Persian Empire of the Sassanid era, according to a report on the website of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
London, 15 Sep – Shahrokh Zamani, an Iranian political prisoner, was found dead in his prison cell on Sunday with his mouth full of blood and a bruised head. A 51-year-old labour activist and painter, Mr. Zamani was arrested in June 2011 and was being held in Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) prison in Karaj, north-west of the Iranian capital Tehran. The following text is an English translation of a letter by Mr. Zamani which he wrote exactly one year ago today to his daughter from prison (published by the National Council of Resistance of Iran)
London, 15 Sep – US President Barack Obama’s policy win last week in preventing Congress from blocking the nuclear agreement with Iran will do little to improve his sagging approval ratings amongst the American people.
A new CNN/ORC poll finds 59% of Americans disapprove of the way Obama is handling the U.S. relationship with Iran, and about half would have preferred Congress reject the deal. Few believe Iran will abide by its terms, and a growing number consider the country a serious threat to the US.
The Wall Street Journal – OPINION, COMMENTARY
Cleaning Up After the Obama Team’s Iran Deal
Show Tehran the ways it may lose what it won at the gaming tables in Vienna.
By MICHAEL B. MUKASEY
Tehran, 13 Sep – Iran has discovered an unexpectedly high reserve of uranium and will soon begin extracting the radioactive element at a new mine, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi said on Saturday.
Any indication Iran could become more self-sufficient in its nuclear programme will be closely watched by world powers, which reached a landmark deal with Tehran on 14 July over its programme. They had feared the nuclear activities were aimed at acquiring the capability to produce atomic weapons.
