Iran Focus
London, 13 Oct – The MailOnline has interviewed former Iranian political prisoner Farzad Madadzadeh and Paria Kohandel, the daughter of an Iranian political prisoner, who have given harrowing accounts of their torment in Iran.
The following is the full text of the MailOnline article:
10 October 2015
A note by the Author:
Today marks the World Day against Death Penalty and provides the international community a chance to reflect on the effectiveness and morality of capital punishment. Of particular concern is Iran, which not only leads the world in per capita executions, but receives substantial funding from the United Nations and the West in support of a drug program that executes hundreds with little to no due process. Ironically the UN Secretary General put out a call today to end the use of executions in cases involving drug crimes, yet UNODC continues to support and fund Iranian authorities as they undertake a record pace of executions.
By Hamid Yazdan Panah
Iran Focus
Strasbourg – 8 October 2015 – For Immediate Release
More than 100 Euro MPs Urge President of European Parliament to Call for Ending Executions in Iran, during his visit to Tehran
On the occasion of the European Day Against Death Penalty, the Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament (FOFI) which consists of Euro MPs from different political groups held a meeting in Strasbourg. They strongly condemned the mass executions in Iran under the “moderate” President Hassan Rouhani with over 2000 death sentences carried out since he took office two years ago. They noted that Rouhani himself has defended these executions and has stated clearly on Iranian TV that death sentences “are the law of God” and must be implemented.
Iran Focus
Strasbourg, 8 Oct – At least 115 Members of the European Parliament have written to the parliament’s President urging him to pressure Iran to end executions and other human rights violations. The following is the full text of the letter:
Mr Martin Schulz
President of European Parliament
Iran Focus
London, 7 Oct – “If there is one principle that the United States values it is liberty. So when thinking of the US’s relationship with worldwide movements for freedom and democracy, one would expect it to support them as a matter of course,” said Ambassador Ken Blackwell, a former Cincinnati mayor and US ambassador to the UN human rights commission in an article in the Town Hall.
The following is the text of an Op-Ed by Ambassador Blackwell on Neglect of US Principle and Commitments Abroad, published in townhall.com.
Washington, 6 Oct – Bill Clinton’s administration gathered enough evidence to send a top-secret communique accusing Iran of facilitating the deadly 1996 Khobar Towers terrorist bombing, but suppressed that information from the American public and some elements of U.S. intelligence for fear it would lead to an outcry for reprisal, according to documents and interviews.
Before Mr. Clinton left office, the intelligence pointing toward Iran’s involvement in the terror attack in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. servicemen and wounded hundreds was deemed both extensive and “credible,” memos show.
Iran Focus
Sana’a, 3 Oct – Yemen’s government has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Iran, Yemeni state media reported.
State news agency Saba, citing an unidentified person at the Yemeni presidency, said President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government “has taken the decision to expel the Iranian ambassador to Yemen, withdraw the Yemeni envoy to Tehran and close down its diplomatic mission in Iran”.
Iran Focus
London, 3 Oct – The international human rights group Amnesty International on Friday condemned “absurd” new charges against Atena Farghadani, a satirical cartoonist, who is currently serving a prison sentence in Iran.
“The trial of satirical cartoonist Atena Farghadani and her lawyer on a charge of ‘illegitimate sexual relations falling short of adultery’ after they shook hands is not only absurd and extreme but clearly politically motivated”, said Amnesty International ahead of her court session starting on Saturday in Tehran.
By Ehsan Qaraee
In my previous article, I discussed how Khomeini was looking for a solid alibi to justify his actions in order to pursue conflict, along with his use of psychological warfare. At last Saddam gave Khomeini that alibi by executing
Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Sadr. Sadr was a Shia cleric and founder of the Islamic Dawa Party (the party that would later be led by Nouri al-Maliki), who fought against the Iraqi regime in order to establish an Islamic state similar to Iran in Iraq. Saddam arrested Sadr and his sister on 5th of April 1980 in the Iraqi city of Najaf and three days later executed them. It was the best opportunity that Khomeini could get. Immediately, he and his propaganda system began to make the most out of this incident.
By Hamid Yazdan Panah
This past week I attended a large protest outside the United Nations General assembly in New York City. The event was notable for many reasons. It was by far the largest and most organized protest outside of the UN. It included thousands of Iranian-Americans voicing their opposition to the Iranian regime and to Hassan Rouhani. It also included a number of Arab-Americans from Syria and Yemen who were there to call for an end to Iranian intervention in their countries. But this is not what impressed me. What impressed me was the leadership of Iranian youth in this protest, I know this because I was there and worked alongside other young people to make this protest a success.
