IRAN:Maryam Rajavi: Iran regime will collapse when Assad is toppled in Syria

Maryam Rajavi: Iran regime will collapse when Assad is toppled in Syria

NCRI - The mullahs' regime in Iran will collapse once Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is toppled, Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, told the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday.

In a major interview that took up a full page of the newspaper, Mrs. Rajavi said that the Iranian regime is founded on three main pillars: obtaining a nuclear bomb, absolute domestic suppression and export of terrorism and extremism abroad.

Mrs. Rajavi pointed out that Tehran’s strategy is based on interference in the internal affairs of other countries, warmongering and export of terrorism; however, the regime’s regional plots failed after the start of the Decisive Storm operation against its proxies.

 “The Iranian regime can be defeated once and for all in Bahrain if it is confronted with a decisive alliance formed by regional countries,” Mrs. Rajavi said, adding that the Iranian regime is close to drowning in the quagmire of Syria’s civil war.

Mrs. Rajavi pointed out that the Iranian regime would collapse consequentially should al-Assad be toppled in Syria, which is why Iran's regime has been trying to keep Assad in power at any cost.

 “If Assad falls out of power in Damascus, then the Iranian regime will evidently follow and collapse in Tehran,” Mrs. Rajavi said.

 “It’s dying,” Mrs. Rajavi said, expressing the current state of affairs of the Iranian regime. “It has faced defeat in Yemen. The fronts in Syria and Iraq are in effective escalation, and the regime has sent 60,000 Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) soldiers and affiliated militias to fight in Syria,” Mrs. Rajavi added.

When asked about the Iranian regime's nuclear danger, Mrs. Rajavi explained that the regime has only “temporarily” lost its ability to manufacture a nuclear arsenal and will soon resume what it had long planned for.

IRAN: Ex-governor of Yazd injured in Syria war

IRAN: Ex-governor of Yazd injured in Syria war

NCRI – A former Iranian provincial governor was injured last week fighting in north-western Syria in the country’s civil war to keep dictator Bashar al-Assad in power, the Iranian regime’s state media have acknowledged.

The state-run news website Tabnak reported on Thursday, April 14 that Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh a former General of the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and former governor general of Yazd Province, was injured during clashes in the south of Aleppo.

Fallahzadeh was injured on April 12 when the vehicle carrying him was hit by a mortar shell. He was transferred to Tehran for treatment the following day, the report said.

Fallahzadeh was the Governor of Yazd, central Iran, for six years during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Several other IRGC officers were killed in the recent clashes on the southern outskirts of Aleppo, according to a report by Al-Arabiya.

IRAN:How hypocritical the trip to Tehran is from the perspective of a dissident

How hypocritical the trip to Tehran is from the perspective of a dissident

The parade of Western leaders, with their shared weaknesses.

The young Zanjani speaks: “The mullahs haven’t changed”

Il Foglio - April 14, 2016

By Cynthia Martens

Paris. Elham Zanjani has never been to Iran. Her parents left their home country in the 70s, and she was born in Montreal in 1978 and raised in Toronto. Though Zanjani speaks fondly of Canada, as a young girl she was troubled by the knowledge that far away, cousins whom she had never met were living a totally different sort of life.

“You always have in the back of your mind,” she says in an interview with Il Foglio. “How is it possible that I could grow up in a place where I could do sports, I could swim, I could think freely, go to the mall, listen to music, eat what I want and start building the future that I want – but my cousins, the same age as I was, didn’t have the same rights,” she says, noting that the girls had to wear full black chadors. Contact with loved ones in Iran was limited, due to the regime’s aggressive monitoring of phone calls.

The scar of Camp Ashraf

Zanjani’s concern for her relatives eventually blossomed into a desire to work with the Iranian resistance. As a college student in Canada, she was interested in physiotherapy, but instead of finishing her studies, left everything for Camp Ashraf, a city in Iraq near the border with Iran that was home to many political refugees and former prisoners of the Iranian regime. Though she initially expected her stay to be brief, Zanjani stayed for well over a decade, working at the local hospital and putting her language skills – in addition to English, she speaks French, Farsi and a bit of Arabic – to use as an interpreter.

“I got to improve my Farsi, and got to really understand my background much more,” she recalls.

A relatively peaceful life in Ashraf took a turn for the worse after U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq, and residents of the camp experienced several attacks from Iraqi forces guided by a prime minister, al-Maliki, who was sympathetic to the Iranian regime. Zanjani was directly hit by a grenade. Getting proper care for her extensive arm and leg injuries was complicated, and Zanjani eventually returned to Canada, where she recovered.

NCRI’s Shahin Gobadi comments on Jordan’s decision to recall Iran envoy

Shahin-Gobadi

NCRI - Following the Jordanian government's decision to recall its envoy to Iran, Shahin Gobadi of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) made the following remarks:

“We welcome the decision of the Jordanian government to recall its ambassador from Iran. It is time for all countries in the region to sever all ties to the clerical regime, which is the godfather of export of Islamic extremism and terrorism.

Syrians show their resentment for Iran regime’s support for Assad

Syrians show their resentment for Iran regime’s support for Assad

NCRI - Residents of the Syrian towns of Kafr Zita and al-Lataminah, north-west of Hama, have contributed to an online campaign over the weekend exposing and condemning the Iranian regime's support for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in the massacre of the people of Syria.

Syrians of all ages have held placards in particular pointing out that the Iranian regime’s meddling in Syria has increased since Hassan Rouhani took office as President in 2013. Many of the placards had messages directed at the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini who visited Iran over the weekend to hold trade discussions with the mullahs’ regime. Some also criticized Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi for meeting with the Iranian regime’s officials in Tehran last week.

Mogherini’s trip was condemned by Mohammad Mohaddessin, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Some of the banners from Hama, Kafr Zita and al-Lataminah read:

#No2Rouhani Dear Federica Mogherini: These diplomatic visits mean that you do agree on Iran interferences in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. Do you??! - Syria – Keferzaita

Since Rouhani came to office their interferences in Syria have increased. #No2Rouhani - Kefer Zaita - Syria

He [Rouhani] is responsible for all the crimes committed by the Iranian regime in Syria during past 2 years. Kefer Zaita - Syria

Rep. Ed Royce: People of Iran are disenfranchised by the mullahs’ regime.

Rep. Ed Royce: People of Iran are disenfranchised by the mullahs’ regime.

NCRI - U.S. Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, on Thursday addressed the threats posed by the mullahs' regime in Iran during a strategic conversation on U.S. foreign policy at the Stimson Center.

Rep. Royce took part in the forum event with Ambassador Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr., a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs and current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Stimson Center.

Rep. Royce said that the people of Iran are being “disenfranchised” by the mullahs’ regime.

He rejected the outcome of the regime’s sham Parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections in February, pointing out that candidates that were not loyal enough to the regime’s Supreme Leader Militarywere automatically disqualified.

"The election was in fact between the hardliners in Iran and the very hardliners in Iran. At the end of the day every one of those candidates was picked by the ayatollah," he said.

U.S. policy towards the Iranian regime has not succeeded in changing Khamenei’s attitude, he said.

“If we look at the number of people put to death and the political prisoners in Iran last year, it was much higher than the year before. It is a number which is going up.”

Iraqi merchants wishing to purchase residents’ property are barred from Camp Liberty

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran

A blatant hampering of the resettlement

The Governmental Committee tasked to suppress Camp Liberty residents headed by Faleh Fayyad prevented two groups of Iraqi merchants who wanted to purchase residents’ property from entering Camp Liberty on Thursday, April 14, 2016. Similarly, on the previous day, two other merchants who had come to purchase the property were turned back at the entrance to the airport area

This inimical behavior is being implemented despite the fact that the sale of the property in Liberty is one of the requisites for the transfer of residents out of Iraq. The Government of Iraq had already declared its consent with the sale of residents’ property. Residents wish to sell their property to provide for part of their resettlement expenses. It seems that in addition to imposing pressures on and psychological torture against residents, another objective of the suppression committee in preventing the sale of the property is to repeat a scenario of systematic plundering and stealing of the PMOI property that it has already executed in Camp Ashraf.

IRAN: Exclusive: Women in Iran face dual discriminations

 

#Iran Exclusive: #women in Iran face dual discriminations

#Iran Exclusive: #women in Iran face dual discriminations

Women in Iran carry the burden of a dual discrimination. Both the judicial system in the country and the strict interpretation of Sharia laws by the fundamentalist mullahs have been combined to ignore the basic human rights of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Not only the discrimination against women in Iran is legalized, but also institutionalized. Although one could argue that women’s rights are violated in many countries, and that women are suppressed in many Muslim countries under the “sharia law”, but Iran remains unique as its crackdown is embedded in the constitution, and civil and administrative laws.

British MPs urge EU’s Mogherini to cancel Iran visit amid execution spree

British MPs urge EU’s Mogherini to cancel Iran visit amid execution spree

NCRI - The following is the text of a press release by the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom calling on European Union foreign policy chief, Ms. Federica Mogherini, to cancel her upcoming visit to Tehran in light of the appalling human rights record of the mullahs' regime:

Press Release: British MPs urge EU Foreign policy chief to cancel Iran visit amid execution spree

The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom (BPCIF) regrets the decision by EU Foreign policy chief, Ms Federica Mogherini, to visit Iran on April 16, 2016.

The planned visit to Iran by Europe’s most senior official on foreign affairs and similar travel by other European state officials is highly inappropriate considering the regime's domestic repression and destructive policies abroad.

During the “moderate” administration of Hassan Rouhani, nearly 1000 people were executed in Iran last year alone, including juveniles in violation of international law. At least 47 journalists and social media activists were reportedly detained in the country as of January 2016, according to reports by the UN Special rapporteur for Iran and Amnesty international.

This is in addition to Tehran's destabilising actions and support for terrorist groups in the region as well as pressing ahead with its missile programme in clear defiance of the international community and regional concerns.

The EU should not allow itself to be deceived by Rouhani's charm offensive and his unfulfilled promises of “moderation” and instead pay close attention to the bellicose rhetoric coming out of Tehran. The Iranian Supreme Leader, who holds the ultimate power in the country, declared recently that “missiles, not talks, are key to the regime's future” emphasising that “Those who say the future is in negotiations, not in missiles, are either ignorant or traitors.”

IRAN:Letter of protest by Iranian political prisoner Reza Akbari Monfared to Italy’s PM

Letter of protest by Iranian political prisoner Reza Akbari Monfared to Italy’s PM

NCRI – The following is the English translation of a letter of protest by Iranian political prisoner Reza Akbari Monfared to the Prime Minister of Italy over his planned trip to Iran.

Mr. Akbari Monfared has written the letter from Iran’s notorious Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran, to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi reiterating that the Italian Premier’s trip to Tehran on Tuesday would only embolden the mullahs’ regime to commit more crimes.

Iran:Lord Maginnis: Italy’s Renzi is sending an ill-advised signal with Iran visit

Lord Maginnis: Italy’s Renzi is sending an ill-advised signal with Iran visit

While few will deny the principle that compromise is the essence of politics and that pragmatic solutions can be helpful within any democratic, pluralist society, this week's visit to Iran by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will, under the prevailing circumstances, send a totally inappropriate message to the ayatollahs, Lord Maginnis of Drumglass argues.

"Compromise at the cost of integrity should be not only shunned but guarded against, particularly when that compromise comes at the expense of dignity and freedom," Lord Maginnis wrote on Monday on the UK website Politics Home.

"In an attempt to underpin the Vienna Agreement of October 18th past rush we appear to have devised another 'de facto' compromise that is being made on the issue of human rights and democratic freedom for ordinary Iranians. That is a compromise that I, for one, am not willing to make. Many of my colleagues from both of Houses of the UK Parliament and other European parliaments share a similar opinion," wrote the Independent member of the United Kingdom's House of Lords."Recent coverage of Iran appears skewed in favour of a narrative surrounding reform and moderation, yet few seem to remember that this is not the first time the regime has played this card. During the Presidency of Mohammad Khatami, Iran played the moderate card to perfection and fooled many in the West. This not only alleviated pressure on the regime, but also gave it time to pursue its nuclear programme secretly, while notionally engaging in cordial relations with the West. Today is no different!"

"Under President Rouhani, Iran has recently reached a 25 year high for executions, despite his supposedly 'moderate' image abroad. The victims included political dissidents who are activists of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (the PMOI), the principal Iranian opposition movement, along with ethnic and religious minorities. In real terms, according to UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed, Iran has actually escalated its crackdown on human rights over the last few years, leaving little doubt as to the true nature of this government."

"If that were not evidence enough of the nature of this regime, one need look no further than its support of mass murder in Syria and its continual involvement in terror and instability throughout the region. This is not behaviour that warrants compromise or cordial relations. It is belligerence being rewarded by seemingly wishful thinking."

EU imposes sanctions on Iran regime over human rights abuses

EU imposes sanctions on Iran regime over human rights abuses

NCRI - The European Union on Monday extended sanctions against 82 officials of the Iranian regime until 2017 over "serious human rights violations" in the country.

The 28-nation bloc has frozen assets and placed travel bans against the Iranian officials since 2011 because of the human rights violations in Iran. It has renewed the sanctions every year since.

Jordan, Saudi Arabia reject ‘interference’ by Iran regime

Jordan, Saudi Arabia reject ‘interference’ by Iran regime

After the arrival of Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince to Jordan on Monday, both Riyadh and Amman said in a joint statement that they reject the Iranian regime's “interference” in the region, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.

Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was welcomed by Jordan’s King Abdullah on Monday on the same day Saudi King Salman finished his five-year visit to Egypt, the report added.

NCRI calls on Italian PM to cancel trip to Iran - The National

NCRI calls on Italian PM to cancel trip to Iran - The National

The Iranian Resistance has called on Italy's prime minister to cancel a visit to Iran next week amid fears it will be used by Tehran to legitimize human rights violations in the country, Scotland's The National reported on Friday.

"Iran has an economy worth $400 billion (£283.8bn) and European countries are keen to re-establish trade ties," the paper wrote.

"However, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said more than 2,300 people had been executed there during [Hassan] Rouhani’s regime – according to a UN special rapporteur, the highest figure over the past 25 years."

"The NCRI said the Tehran regime 'manipulates such visits against the highest interests of the people of Iran and against peace and tranquillity in the region'."

Shahin Gobadi of the NCRI told The National: “The Iranian regime is very egregious and only feeds Tehran’s propaganda. It has no interest in improving Iran’s conduct at home or abroad."

“Actions talk louder than words and under Rouhani the human rights situation is becoming much worse. Just yesterday a report by Amnesty International put Iran far ahead of any other country in terms of executions in 2015.”

“Look at Iran’s conduct regarding missile tests, or for sending weapons abroad. In recent weeks three ships containing Iranian weapons destined for Yemen’s Houthis were intercepted by the French, Australian and American naval forces in international waters.”

Mr. Gobadi said it was unlikely that Italy would condemn human rights issues in a meeting with Rouhani, in which case the premier’s visit should be called off, the report said. If it went ahead as planned, it would send a message to Iranians that such behaviour was acceptable.

IRAN: Germany charges 2 Iranians with spying on opposition members – AP

Germany charges 2 Iranians with spying on opposition members - AP

BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors have filed espionage charges against two Iranian men accused of spying on exiled opposition members for Iranian intelligence.

Federal prosecutors said Friday that the indictment against 31-year-old Maysam P. and 33-year-old Saied R. was filed March 22 at a Berlin court. The two men's full names weren't given in keeping with German privacy rules.

Prosecutors say both men once belonged to the opposition group known as the People's Mujahedin of Iran, or MEK.

Iran: Another young woman acid attacked in Tehran

A young woman was attacked with acid in the evening of April 4, 2016, in Tehran's Gol-ha Street. Neighbors who heard her screams took her to hospital to find out that her face and part of arms had been burnt in an acid attack.

IRAN:Excerpts of Amnesty International's 2015/2016 report on violation of human rights in Iran:

Womenremained subject to discrimination under the law, particularly criminal and family law, and in practice.

Women and girls also faced new challenges to their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Parliament debated several draft laws that would further erode women’s rights, including the Bill to Increase Fertility Rates.

Iran:Mullahs take advantage of Italian PM’s visit to Iran; Iranian Resistance calls for cancellation of the visit

The Iranian Resistance calls for cancellation of the Italian Prime Minister's visit next week to Iran. The Iranian Resistance is worried that the terrorist, religious dictatorship ruling Iran would take advantage of the visit to step up human rights violations and export of terrorism and fundamentalism. The clerical regime manipulates such visits against the highest interests of the people of Iran and against peace and tranquility in the region.

More than 2300 people have been executed in Iran during Rouhani's tenure as president of the mullahs' regime. He said executions are "divine decrees or legislations passed by the parliament" that need to be carried out. According to the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, the number of executions in 2015 was the highest over the past 25 years.

The Iranian regime has test-fired ballistic missiles in recent months in flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231. These missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

 Also in the past weeks, three Iranian vessels were seized in international waters while attempting to transfer arms to the Houthis in Yemen in breach of UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

Iran:Nowruz celebrated at National Assembly of France

Nowruz celebrated at National Assembly of France

Maryam Rajavi: The people of Iran celebrate Nowruz more enthusiastically than ever; their message is a strong desire for regime change in Iran.

NCRI - The following is the text of remarks by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, at an event celebrating the Persian New Year in France's National Assembly on Tuesday, April 5 2016:

Dear friends in the French houses of parliament,

Honorable supporters of the Iranian Resistance!

In the beginning of the Iranian New Year concurrent with the advent of spring, I wish you, your families and the great nation of France, a year filled with progress and advancements.

The New Year's celebration or Nowruz has been the most important feast of Iranians for thousands of years. Nowruz literally means the renewal of the nature, time and year, and the people's hearts, visions and fate. In fact, this makes up part of the Iranian people's outlook on the world that does not tolerate the status quo and calls for change for better.

The mullahs' religious fascism has not been able for the past 37 years to prevent the celebration of Nowruz. And Iranians have celebrated Nowruz more enthusiastically than ever with their message and demand of regime change and demise of the clerical regime. This has been the Iranian people's consistent desire over the past year demonstrated in 6500 acts of protests.  bragged about bringing about moderation, instead he brought about more executions in Iran and more war in Syria.

Now, he wants to spread the mullahs' repression to Europe. Just a few days ago, he cancelled his visit to Austria because the Austrian Government turned down the Iranian regime's demand to prevent the demonstrations of supporters of the Iranian Resistance. Rouhani fears public expression of outrage over his visit similar to what happened in France.

The mullahs said people would have greater purchasing power after the nuclear accord, but the assets released after lifting of the sanctions went to the coffers of the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and was spent on the wars in Yemen, Syria and Iraq, leaving the people of Iran ever more destitut

Today, the regime has at least 60,000 troops and paramilitary forces in Syria. The mullahs detest the present ceasefire and seek to keep Bashar Assad in power by destroying the opposition. However, a victory in Syria will no longer be conceivable for the mullahs.

U.S. Congress investigates deception in Iran nuclear deal – report

U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo

The United States Congress is investigating whether the Obama administration misled lawmakers last summer about the extent of concessions granted to Iran's regime under the nuclear deal, as well as if administration officials have been quietly rewriting the deal’s terms in the aftermath of the agreement, the Washington Free Beacon reported, quoting sources and a formal notice sent to the State Department.

The concerns come after statements from top U.S. officials last week suggesting that Iran's regime is set to receive greater weapons and sanctions relief, moves that the administration had promised Congress would never take place as White House officials promoted the deal last summer.

“When multiple officials—including Secretary Kerry, Secretary Lew, and Ambassador Mull—testify in front of Members of Congress, we are inclined to believe them,” Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.) told the Washington Free Beacon.