British-Iranian mother of one-year-old girl detained without charge in Iran

A British-Iranian mother and charity worker has been detained by the Iranian regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), separated from her one-year-old baby daughter and held without charge in solitary confinement.

The family of charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 37, is issuing an urgent appeal for British Prime Minister David Cameron to overturn her “outrageous and arbitrary” detention, The Independent reported on Monday.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s British passport was confiscated, along with that of her baby, Gabriella, when she tried to return to London after a two-week holiday visiting family in Tehran.

After being stopped at the check-in desk on April 3, she was transported to an unknown detention facility some 1,000 km away in Kerman Province, the report said.

Speaking to The Independent, her British husband Richard Ratcliffe said his wife was being interrogated daily and had been given no access to a lawyer or to see her daughter, who is being cared for by her grandparents. The family understands she has been made to sign a confession under duress, but does not know its contents.

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.

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."

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.

Iraq: West Must Learn the Bitter Lessons of Ramadi in Mosul

Struan Stevenson

Press release by the President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA), Struan Stevenson, 12 February 2016

The European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA) calls upon the UN, US and EU to learn the lessons of Ramadi and not allow the wanton slaughter of the Sunni population of Mosul in the looming battle to liberate that city. Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has conducted an international tour to bolster support for the impending battle for Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, which was captured by ISIS (Daesh) in June 2014. Abadi visited Washington DC, pleading with Obama for more US airstrikes and for US military personnel to train Iraqi forces. He also wants military equipment and cash. Abadi also visited Erbil in Northern Iraq, where he asked Kurdish President Masoud Barzani to pledge assistance from the Peshmerga in the forthcoming battle to liberate Mosul.

Mosul is in Nineveh Province, Northern Iraq; it is home to over two and a half million people. Strict restrictions have been placed on the local population with only trusted traders being allowed to leave and return to the city. The remaining, largely Sunni population has been held hostage. Daesh captured vast quantities of modern American weaponry when the Iraqi army fled and the city has become an almost impregnable fortress. US military commanders who are advising the Iraqis estimate that it may take another year before Mosul can be recaptured.

Ashraf - uesday marks the second anniversary of the Camp Ashraf massacre. Fifty two unarmed and defenseless.

2ndanniversary of massacre of PMOI members in Camp Ashraf

Iraqi SWAT forces who carried out the

 murder of PMOI (MEK) members in

Camp Ashraf, September 1, 2013

Then-Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Maliki's military forces had executed many residents with their hands tied behind their backs, execution-style, during the September 1, 2013 massacre. Wounded residents, all of who were 'protected persons' under the Fourth Geneva Convention and were "guaranteed" protection by the US and UN, were shot dead in the camp's clinic.