Iran Focus
London, 27 Dec – The names of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA) have finally been removed from Australia’s Foreign Ministry’s terrorist organizations list. Australia is the last government, and country, in the world who used this labelling against Iranian Resistance, and now it breaks apart.
Iran Focus
London, 27 Dec – Ali Mo’ezi, a political prisoner in Iran, wrote about Hassan Rouhani’s statements in the “Charter of Citizens Rights”, in a letter from prison, dated December 23. “The President of executions, Rouhani, has announced the Citizens Rights on paper in the framework of Velyat-e Faqih (Supreme Leader’s) absolute dictatorship,” he said.
Iran Focus
London, 27 Dec – London, 27 Dec – An Iranian court has accepted an appeal from convicts who stormed and ransacked the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran during protests earlier this year, Al Arabiya.net reported on Monday.
Mostafa Shabana, a lawyer representing some of the defendants, said in a press conference that six out of the 19 suspects were sentenced to six months in jail, while some received suspended sentences, and others were declared innocent of the charges, the report said.
Iran Focus
London, 24 Dec – On Thursday December 22nd 2016, the political prisoner Arash Sadeghi is on hunger strike for the continuous 60 days. At the night of 21st December 2016, due to his critical condition, he was transferred to the infirmary outside the prison to inject IV.
In the past days, due to the increased concentration of blood, the doctors expressed their concern regarding the risk of myocardial infarction as well as dangerous condition for the political prisoner.
On the 60th day of hunger strike, Arash Sadeghi is suffering from kidney and gastric problems, coughing up with blood clots, severe weight loss (19kg) and insomnia.
Iran Focus
London, 23 Dec – According to an article in the Economic Times on December 23, Iran says the United States has already violated the nuclear deal and has now threatened to build atomic-powered ships in retaliation.
Earlier this month, US lawmakers renewed a law called the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), extending its provisions for another decade. The ISA was first introduced in 1996, and aimed to stop foreign investment in Iran’s oil and gas sector, in an effort to cut off funds that could be used for its nuclear program, or to fund terrorist groups.
Iran Focus
London, 23 Dec – A British woman, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a 37-year old charity worker has been held in custody at Evin Prison since being detained by the Revolutionary Guard Corps, is being pressured to take her daughter into prison with her, or give up custody.
A person of dual British-Iranian nationality, Mrs. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was on holiday visit-ing her parents in Tehran. She was arrested at the check-in desks of Imam Khomeini International Airport. Her daughter, Gabriella, was left in the care of her grandparents after the arrest, as the child’s British passport was retained by the authorities, leaving Gabriella trapped in Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 23 Dec – On the very day that the UN General Assembly condemned violations of human rights in Iran, its president, Hassan Rouhani, published a statement, “Charter of Citizens Rights”, which merely repeats the Constitution and laws of the clerical regime, albeit rearranged. It’s shocking that this occurred in the midst of the justice seeking movement for the 1988 Massacre has gained strength both inside and outside Iran.
During 2013 election, Rouhani announced the same statements, and now he’s reusing them for next year’s election. What’s interesting is that he announced the initial report on implementation will be due after the election.
Iran Focus
London, 22 Dec – A report by an Iranian opposition group provides information that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were a significant force that helped retake Aleppo from rebel fighters.
Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Shahin Gobadi, spoke in a video conference widely circulated on Wednesday. The video seems to be a follow-up to a report collated by the MEK and released to The Washington Times on Tuesday.
“The forces that occupied Aleppo were actually the IRGC and foreign mercenaries under their command,” said Gobadi, who identified the Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, the Afghan Fatimiyoun militias and the Pakistani Zeynabiyoun militias as the main forces under IRGC command in Aleppo.
Iran Focus
London, 22 Dec – With its recent victories in the Middle East, and its decades of isolation, Iran believes it can withstand the uncertainties of a Trump presidency. However, its apparent belief that it will dominate the region are overblown, experts say. Although Iran has rarely commented on its role in the Syria, suddenly self-congratulations abound, at the imminent defeat of rebel forces in Aleppo.
The Daily Mail reports on December 22, that in a press briefing top foreign policy adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Yahya Safavi, told reporters last week, “The liberation of Aleppo… reinforces the political strength of Islamic Republic of Iran. The new American president must accept the reality that Iran is the leading power in the region.”
Iran Focus
London, 21 Dec – The state-run newspaper, Shargh, reported on a formal seminar that discussed the disaster of child marriage in the country on Sunday December 11th. The article was entitled, “Children do not get married; they are traded instead.” The article continued, “currently 43 thousand of those children that get married are aged 10 to 15 and 2 thousand of them are separated or divorced from their spouses.”
There merely excerpts from a report that was presented at the seminar on child marriage, which was held in the Amphitheater Hall of the University of Science and Technology to investigate the causes and consequences of child marriage in the marginalized neighborhoods of the country.
