السيد الرئيس يستقبل رئيسة المجلس الوطني للمقاومة الإيرانية في الخارج ...

Iran:More Arrests of Iranian Youths for Mixed Gender Partying.

 Authorities in Iran have arrested at least 50 young men and women who attended a mixed-gender party.

"Families must be more vigilant regarding their children to make sure they do not end up in such circumstances”, says Mojtaba Vahedi, the head of the judiciary in Damavand, east of Tehran.

A report on Friday, July 22, by the state-run Tasnim news agency said more than 50 young men and women were arrested at a party that was organized via social networking.

Security forces monitoring social media obtained a warrant after ‘carrying out the necessary investigations’, and judicial files have been opened against those arrested at the party, Tasnim quoted Vahedi as saying.

Iran:More Arrests of Iranian Youths for Mixed Gender Partying.

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Iran:Lord Maginnis: the Iranian Resistance has the momentum

Iran:Lord Maginnis: the Iranian Resistance has the momentum

 Lord Ken Maginnis argued that the Iranian Resistance, in the shape of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), is building significant momentum against the regime in Tehran.
Reflecting on both the absence of moderation in the regime and the abundance of it in the opposition led by Maryam Rajavi, Lord Maginnis called on Western governments to re-think strategy towards Iran.

A year on from the nuclear deal with the regime, he argued, the twin hopes of a non-nuclear Iran and a moderate Iran have foundered. A covert nuclear programme continues (confirmed by German intelligence) with a parallel initiative in ballistic missile development. President Rouhani, Lord Maginnis said, "has exceeded the brutality and extremism of his predecessor," citing both the regime's support for Assad and a range of terrorist groups and the record number of executions taking place within Iran.
Lord Maginnis presented a contrasting snapshot of the Resistance, reflecting, in particular, on the July 9 rally of 100,000 Iranians. Noting not just the numbers of supporters who made their way to Paris from across the globe, he also saw huge significance in the nature of non-Iranian allies present at the rally. 

Iran:Iranian Intelligence Agent Convicted in Germany

Iran:Iranian Intelligence Agent Convicted in Germany

Berlin, 20 Jul - An Iranian Intelligence Agent has been convicted in Germany of spying on Iranian Resistance members living abroad.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has welcomed this conviction of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) agent and has urged foreign governments to prosecute and expel other regime spies.

The agent, Meysam Panahi, was spying on members of the NCRI and the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/ MEK). Despite posing as a refugee, Panahi had worked as a spy for three years and helped to recruit extra people to the Intelligence Agency, receiving 28,600 Euros from the MOIS in at least 30 payments.
The spies would then travel to Iran to receive espionage training with help from the Iranian embassies in Europe.

Germany’s prosecution said that Iran’s Intelligence Ministry created “secret networks” in the country to spy on and spread lies and half-truths to discredit the Iranian Resistance.

Iran:Former EU Commissioners Warn Against Deals with Iran

Iran:Former EU Commissioners Warn Against Deals with Iran

Brussels, 20 Jul - EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced the lifting of “multilateral and national” sanctions on Iran on 16 January this year, saying the nuclear deal showed that intense diplomacy could resolve even “the most difficult issues”. However, this new position came despite the EU sanctions still imposed on Tehran due to its poor human right record and links with terrorist organizations.

As the European Union now moves towards more business dealings with Iran, former Commissioners Karel de Gucht and Louis Michel have urged EU institutions and member states to make any dealings conditional upon Tehran improving its human rights record.

Michel, father of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, was European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid between 2004 and 2009. De Gucht was in charge of the trade portfolio between 2010 and 2014. Both men played an important role in forging the EU’s business relationships with other countries over the last decade.

Iran hangs 18 prisoners, including at least one woman, in just two days

 Iran hanged 18 prisoners, this past weekend; with 16 executions on Sunday alone.

Eleven prisoners were hanged in Qezelhesar Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran, on Sunday, but only two have been identified; Saeed Saberi and Moslem Bahrami. The charges have not been specified but at least one member of this group was a woman.

Two men were hanged on Sunday, in a public square in the city’s Mehshahr District, according to the state-run Tasnim news agency. They have only been identified by their initials Q. J. and M. R.

Still on Sunday, another three men were hanged in prison in Birjand, eastern Iran. Mansour Zafarani, Yousef Barahoui, and Qassem Delshad were accused of drugs-related charges.

On Saturday, two unidentified prisoners aged 40 and 49, were hanged in Lakan Prison in Rasht, northern Iran, according to the state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

Iran hangs 18 prisoners

Iran: Iranian Artist Talks About Oppression and Art

Atena Farghadani drew a cartoon mocking Iran’s parliament in protest of her country’s anti-birth control policies. For this, she was arrested by the Revolutionary Guard in the summer of 2014.

In her July 15 interview with Michael Cavna of the Washington Post, after she was released from prison, the Iranian artist says: “I’m stuck in a limbo.” referring to the mental weariness and the physical problems caused by her imprisonment. “At the moment,” she continues, “since I’ve arrived at the certainty that there is miracle lying in the art of drawing and painting, I’m more determined to continue doing it than ever.”

Atena is an inspiration to many. Her creative and political resistance has influenced the community of artists and their supporters around the world. Paintings, drawings and cartoons have flooded in from her fellow artists for the #Draw4Atena call to arms.

While imprisoned at in the gruesome Gharchak prison she went on a hunger strike. She says, “What bothered me the most was to see inmates — many of whom were victims of the economic and cultural poverty in the Iranian system — who were not treated like human beings; their most basic rights were violated. I consider Gharchak prison as a graveyard of time …”                               

Atena Farghadani

Iran:Ex-US Ambassador: Iranian regime intends to incorporate Iraq, Syria and Lebanon

mark-ginsberg

Ambassador Ginsberg argues that Iran’s regime has become more immoderate following the nuclear agreement last July: "The record of meddlesome, terror-laden interference throughout the Middle East by Tehran is growing longer by the day." In addition, he argues, the regime’s current President Hassan Rouhani is hanging more people than the "notorious Ahmadinejad."

The list of Iranian threats to international security is long: increased funding of Hezbollah and Hamas; a proxy war in Yemen against the U.S. and Saudi-backed government; ballistic missile tests in violation of existing Security Council resolutions; and "massively" deploying the Revolutionary Guard inside Syria to defend Assad. However, for Ginsberg, the focus of his main concern is Iranian action in Iraq.

Iran Freedom grand gathering July 9, 2016

Iran:Maryam Rajavi calls on the U.S. and the UN to guarantee Camp Liberty’s security until all residents depart Iraq

Maryam Rajavi

Missile attack on Camp Liberty

Following tonight’s missile barrage on Camp Liberty by militias affiliated with the terrorist Quds Force, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, hailed the heroic perseverance of the residents of Camp Liberty and wished a quick recovery for those wounded in the criminal attack.

She said that the missile attack on Camp Liberty, especially following an inhumane eight-day siege, blocking fuel, food and medicine from entering the camp, demonstrated that the religious dictatorship ruling Iran is terrified of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and the Iranian Resistance, which it views as an existential threat.

For this reason, Mrs. Rajavi noted, the mullahs’ regime opposes any solution for Camp Liberty residents that would ensure their safety and security and tries to obstruct it. The only acceptable options, as far as the regime is concerned, are to either compel Camp Liberty residents to surrender and abandon their struggle or to physically eliminate them.

She called on the UN Security Council, the European Union and their member states to decisively condemn the criminal missile attack on Camp Liberty. Mrs. Rajavi said now that no doubt remains as to the Iranian regime’s intentions to cause more bloodshed at Camp Liberty, there is added urgency for the United States and the United Nations to take action to guarantee and provide safety and security for the residents of Camp Liberty until such time when all of them have departed Iraq. She emphasized that this would be consistent with the repeated and written guarantees the U.S. and the UN have given regarding the safety and security of Camp Liberty residents.

More than 50 missiles rained down at Camp Liberty, several of which landed outside the camp. The assault caused major destruction and fire in the camp, with missile craters seven feet wide and five feet deep. Based on reports received until midnight, 40 resident had been injured in the attack.

Iran:Struan Stevenson explains why he supports the “Free Iran” rally in Paris

Struan Stevenson

Struan Stevenson, former Conservative MEP representing Scotland in the European Parliament from 1999 until his retirement in 2014, is the current President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA).  Mr. Stevenson, also chaired the Friends of a Free Iran Intergroup (Caucus) in the European Parliament, and was President of the Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq from 2009 to 2014.

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Iran: Political prisoner Ali Moezzi invites all to participate in “Free Iran” gathering

political prisoner Ali Moezzi

Iranian political prisoner Ali Moezzi, who is father to two members of the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), has sent a message from Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison declaring his support for the annual gathering of the Iranian Resistance held in Paris on 9 July.