Syrian opponent chides Iran’s support for Assad

 George Sabra

London, 10 May - A senior member of Syria’s democratic opposition has said that the fight against Bashar al-Assad is a joint battle with Tehran. George Sabra from the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) told Simaye Azadi (INTV), an Iranian opposition television channel, that the IranianIranian opposition was an ally.

Sabra praised Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, for her outspoken position on Aleppo and the war-crimes perpetrated by Assad with the aid of Tehran.

Forced marriage of under 15-year-old girls on rise in Iran ruled by pervert mullahs

Underage marriages have become commonplace in Iran

Forced marriages of girls 15 years old or even younger have become commonplace in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan Province, south-eastern Iran, according to a report published on the website of the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ).

Studies show that underage marriages take place in single parent families or families where the parents are illiterate, drug addicts or psychologically disturbed as well as in families that are struggling with a low income.

In Baluchistan, many girls below the age of 15 are forced into marriage, the report said.

Iranian Dissidents Mark Passing of Dissident Mehri Jannatpour

Mehri Jannatpour - Dr. Mohammad Maleki

On December 3rd 2015, Iranian dissident and activist Mehri Jannatpour passed away. Jannatpour was remembered for her bravery and perseverance as a political activist in Iran over the last 40 years. This included three separate terms served in prison for her support and affiliation with the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), one of Iran’s principal opposition organizations.

During her imprisonment Jannatpour was subjected to cruel mistreatment and torture, yet she remained steadfast in her beliefs and resistance. Not only was Jannatpour a symbol of resistance as an uncompromising dissident, but she was also remembered for her dedication and care as a mother. Her children were raised to continue her path of resistance and defiance, and remain actively involved in confronting the Iranian regime and its crimes.

Mehri Jannatpour was honored by Iranian dissidents at her funeral service, including Dr. Mohammad Maleki, the first post-revolution Chancellor of Tehran University, who, like Jannatpour has continued to stand with dignity and defiance in the face of the dictatorship in Iran despite his old age.

Maleki delivered a eulogy on December 5th in which he praised Jannatpour as an activist and as a mother, and lauded the path chosen by her children. Including one of her children who is residing in Camp Liberty, Iraq, which was recently the target of a despicable terrorist attack.

 “But, they are persevering and are as solid as a mountain. They are this mother's children. How fortunate she was! There are many who come into this world, "enjoy" life and die. But the fulfillment experienced by such mothers is different.”

Maleki continued his eulogy in open defiance of the regime by openly praising the path taken by Jannatpour and her children. This path includes standing with the PMOI against the regime in Iran. The penalty for such a stance is normally death, yet Maleki spoke unwaveringly and resolute in his praise for this path, and referenced the 1988 massacre against members of the PMOI as proof that violence and repression cannot crush this movement.

“I am reminded of a quote by the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri who wrote to Khomeini in a letter that rest assured, an idea cannot be killed through murder. You have killed so many, you have beaten so many, you have destroyed so many.”

He added, “This will be so as long as there are people who care for their people, and as long as there are people who say "seek freedom from cradle to grave."

Very rarely is such public defiance exhibited in Iran, and in such a bold fashion and in such powerful forum. At one point Maleki even states, “Let them hear me, and record me, those who are responsible for this.” Whether you agree with the political ideology expressed by Jannatpour or Maleki, it is impossible to deny their courage and the price they have paid in fighting for freedom in Iran.

The speech given by Maleki was just as remarkable as the life lived by Ms. Jannatpour. Both embody the passion and bravery of Iran’s history, people and hopes.

Maleki has led silent protests outside of Evin Prison to call for the release of political prisoners, and has been in and out of prison himself over the last decade. Maleki’s courage as an elderly man mirrors that of Jannatpour, and his bravery against the brutal regime is an inspiration to all Iranians.

Hamid Yazdan Panah is an Iranian-American human rights activist and attorney focused on immigration and asylum in the San Francisco Bay Area.

URGENT ACTION: JUVENILE OFFENDER FACES THE GALLOWS AGAIN

Salar Shadizadi

Juvenile offender Salar Shadizadi has been rescheduled for execution on Saturday 28 November.

Juvenile offender Salar Shadizadi has been rescheduled for execution on Saturday 28 November, despite the prohibition on the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders under international law and standards, and his right to be granted a re-trial under Iran’s own domestic law.

Salar Shadizadi, now aged 24, was sentenced to death by Branch 11 of the Provincial Criminal Court of Gilan Province in December 2007 for stabbing his childhood friend. He was 15 years old at the time. The sentence was upheld by Branch 37 of the Supreme Court in March 20 08 and approved by the Head of the Judiciary in May 2013. Since then, the authorities have twice scheduled the execution and later postponed it. They have, however, failed to take the steps necessary to ensure that Salar Shadizadi is granted a re-trial, even though the General Board of Iran’s Supreme Court has ruled that all those on death row for crimes committed when they were under 18 are entitled to receive a re-trial based on the new juvenile sentencing provisions of Iran’s 2013 Islamic Penal Code.

Salar Shadizadi was arrested in February 2007 and charged with the murder of a friend when he was 15 years old. He was not granted access to a lawyer at the investigative stage and was only allowed to retain a lawyer when his case was sent to court for trial. He says that he was also tortured and otherwise ill-treated during the investigative stage. In a will letter written from prison in November 2015

Appeasing Iran’s mullahs emboldens regime - Ken Blackwell

shahqayeq

A recent series of arrests of dissidents and a wave of executions in Iran show that the regime's President Hassan Rouhani is anything but a 'moderate,' said Amb. Ken Blackwell, a former Cincinnati mayor and U.S. ambassador to the UN human rights commission.

Amb. Blackwell writing on Monday in Townhall described the case of a young activist of the main opposition group People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, or Mujahedin-e Khalq, MEK) whose parents were arrested last week by the fundamentalist regime in Iran.

Shaqayeq Azimi is an aspiring, joyful girl of 22 with a full life ahead of her. She is also an Iranian dissident, committed to challenging the repressive theocracy that rules her home country.

Recently she learnt that both her father Mahmoud and her mother Fatemeh Ziae were arrested on October 11 by the Iranian secret police in a raid on their home in Tehran. The regime has been characteristically secretive about the arrests, so Shaqayeq has been unable to obtain any information about where her parents have been taken, or what their current condition is.

This is not the first time that her parents have been arrested, but given the nature of the regime, each such incident poses grave dangers.

Fatemeh endured five years’ imprisonment and torture in the 1980s for supporting the principal Iranian opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). She was arrested again in February 2009 for visiting her relatives in Camp Ashraf, then the place of residence for thousands of Iranian dissidents in Iraq. This so-called crime landed her in jail for two years, where poor conditions and mistreatment contributed to acute health afflictions. She was arrested for yet a third time in June 2013, again on political charges.

Shaqayeq’s father was a political prisoner during the Shah’s regime and has been arrested several times since the 1980s including in 2011 and 2013 for supporting the MEK.

Iran’s political prisoners write to EU Parliament chief

EU Parliament

As political prisoners in Iran’s prisons, we urge you not to victimize human rights of the political prisoners and those executed for trade and economic deals. Your relations with Iran without taking into account and condemning the grave human rights violations in Iran would make the sword of the regime’s executioners sharper over our head and would encourage the mullahs to increase the daily executions of the youth in this country.

As political prisoners, we wouldn’t welcome you shaking hands with the dictatorship ruling our homeland. However, if this is your decision to come to Iran, would you be kind enough to come to the prisons and torture chambers of this regime and visit us too so that we could inform you of the latest appalling situation of human rights violations in this land? We call on you to condemn the blatant human rights violations and arbitrary executions in Iran in your press conferences.

Sec. Tom Ridge: Dangerous deal with Iran’s mullahs

Tom Ridge

Speaking on the sidelines of a major protest against the Iranian regime's President Hassan Rouhani outside the United Nations building in New York, on Monday September 28, Tom Ridge, former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary and Governor of Pennsylvania told The Blaze that U.S. President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with the Iranian regime could make the world less safe.

UN chief: No improvement in human rights in Iran under Rouhani

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized Iran’s regime for gross violations of human rights in a report to the 70th session of the UN General Assembly.

Concurrent with the presence of the regime’s President Hassan Rouhani in New York, the UN chief referred to numerous human rights violations in Iran in the past year in his annual report to the General Assembly on Friday, September 25.

There has been a steady upward trend in the number of executions from 2008 to 2015, with a peak of at least 750 in 2014,” the report said.