by Jubin Katiraie
The Iranian Resistance held a ceremony to commemorate the 30,000 victims on the 1988 massacre of political prisoners on August 19, at the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) headquarters in Tirana, Albania.
This August marks the 29th anniversary of the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 and the first anniversary of the movement calling for justice for the victims.
Iran Focus
London, 20 Aug – The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) in a statement called for the immediate release of the political activist, Reza Shahabi. According to the statement, the Iranian authorities were asked to stop prosecuting Reza Shahabi and Ebrahim Madadi as well. Additionally, five syndicates of workers in France requested the immediate release of Reza Shahabi. These syndicates claim that the leaders of the Iran regime are responsible for Reza Shahabi and his poor health condition. Based on the statement, Reza Shahabi’s health condition is already failing since he faced poor conditions as well as the inhumane treatments during his previous imprisonment.
Iran Focus
London, 19 Aug – President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi, had a message for the participants of the Paris Int District Exhibition of the 1988 Massacre of 30,000 political prisoners during 1988 in Iran.
This exhibition was the initiative of Mr. Jean-François Legaret, the Mayor of Paris municipality District 1. It was attended by several French mayors, including Armand Jacquemin, mayor of Moussy Le Vieux, Jean-Claude Jegoudez, mayor of Grisy-Sur-Seine, and Jacky Duminy, mayor of Ors, as well as relatives of the victims and people who spent years in Iranian prisons. Additionally, Scottish politician, Struan Stevenson, President of the “European Iraqi Freedom Association” and former President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq, took part in this exhibition and supported the call by the head of the opposition.
Iran Focus
London, 19 Aug – The formation of an international Commission of Inquiry into the massacre of some 30,000 political prisoners in Iran during the summer of 1988 has been called for by Human Rights defenders, dignitaries, European politicians and the Iranian Resistance, who aim to bringing those responsible for this crime against humanity to justice.
This human rights issue should be at the core of the West’s policy on Iran, and they have urged the UN, EU and the US to put the issue of human rights in Iran on top of their agenda.
On Thursday, August 17, 2017, the call was made during an exhibition about the 1988 massacre, that took place upon the initiative of Mr. Jean-François Legaret, the Mayor of Paris municipality District 1. At this municipality.
Iran Focus
London, 19 Aug – In Ardebil prison, Northwest Iran, a group of political prisoners wrote a letter of support for the political prisoners who are on hunger strike in Gohardasht prison near Tehran. This letter urges the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, as well as the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, to take immediate action to save the lives of these prisoners.
Following an indefinite hunger strike, special guards raided Ward 4, Hall 12, and forced transfer of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience to Hall 10 after beating them, according to an article published by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on August 1st.
Iran Focus
London, 19 Aug – Meetings to negotiate a new alliance have been taking place between senior officials from both Iraq and Saudi Arabia over the past six months. The discussions have focused on leading Iraq away from Iran, whose influence has grown in that country since the 2003 ousting of Saddam Hussein. This alliance would give Riyadh a leading role in rebuilding war-torn Iraq, and boost Baghdad’s credentials across the region. In fact, Riyadh may play a significant role in the reconstruction of the predominantly Sunni cities of Mosul, Fallujah, Ramadi and Tikrit.
Iran Focus
London, 18 Aug – During the presidential campaign, newly-elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed to appoint female ministers to his Cabinet. However, he has failed to do so and is facing harsh criticism from critics and supporters alike.
Earlier this week, he encouraged support for his list of proposed members of Parliament. He said that he wanted women and young people to occupy high-level position and had kept a place for at least three female ministers. However, he said that this “didn’t happen” without providing further explanation.
Iran Focus
London, 18 Aug – As Iranian President Rouhani introduced his new cabinet to parliament on Tuesday, he made remarks that showed his concern over the consequences of new sanctions for human rights abuses, export of terrorism, and ballistic missile development. However, his remarks also revealed that regime has not abandoned the nuclear weapons program.
He warned, “If Americans want to return to those experiences, Iran certainly in a short time – not weeks and months but hours and days – will return to a more advanced situation than the start of negotiations.”
Iran Focus
London, 18 Aug – A rights group said on Wednesday that the repeated and indiscriminate shelling of populated neighborhoods of Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, was perpetrated by Houthi militia and forces loyal to deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and were in violation of the laws of war.
During the artillery bombardment over a 10-day period in May, at least 30 civilians were killed, and more than 160 were injured, in the shelling by Houthi-Saleh forces. This attack on the populated areas of Taiz “has taken a terrible toll on civilians,” according to Sarah Leah Whitson, the rights group’s Middle East director, who demanded, “Their commanders should immediately halt these indiscriminate attacks.”
Iran Focus
London, 17 Aug – The Taliban wrote an open letter to Donald Trump advising him against sending more troops into Afghanistan would be self-destructive as the military situation is “far worse than [he] realizes”.
A senior Taliban official told Reuters that they had chosen to directly address Trump on Tuesday to coincide with the White House debates on American policy towards Afghanistan.
In the letter to Trump, the Taliban wrote: “Previous experiences have shown that sending more troops to Afghanistan will not result in anything other than the further destruction of American military and economic might.”
