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.”

European parliamentarians quizzed Zarif about human rights violations in Iran

Zarif

EU-Iran relations should not improve at the expense of human rights, members of Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament said in Tuesday’s debate with the Iranian regime’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

In his first-ever visit to the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, members told him “the human rights situation in Iran, the death penalty, public executions and the prosecution of bloggers and journalists are unacceptable and will serve as a litmus test for future relations,” according to a report published on the Parliament’s website.

Reuters reported: “European parliamentarians quizzed Zarif about alleged human rights violations in Iran, Iranian defense spending and nuclear activity and Tehran's stance on Middle East conflicts that have killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes, spurring a large influx of refugees into Europe.”

Iran a major prison for journalists - RSF

RSF-logo

Iran is the world's third biggest prison for journalists, the press freedoms group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a report published on Tuesday.

At least 18 journalists are confirmed to be in detention in Iran, RSF said in its annual "Round-up of journalists killed worldwide 2015."

Earlier this month RSF published a separate annual Round-up of journalists detained, held hostage or disappeared in 2015," in which it wrote: "Those held in Iran include several arrested in November, the latest of many journalists to be accused of membership of 'espionage networks.'”

That report added that in Iran under the mullahs' rule "the judicial system is controlled by the Supreme Leader and is manipulated by the Revolutionary Guards in order to gag reporting critical of the regime."

RSF's website lists the Iranian regime's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a Predator of Freedom of Information.

Maryam Rajavi: Freedom in Iran is solution to crisis and instability in Middle East

MaryamRajavi: Freedom in Iran is solution to crisis and instability in Middle East

Maryam Rajavi: Freedom in Iran, key to crisis and solution for instability in the Middle East

In the present circumstances, mullahs wage a barbaric war of oppression against the people of Iran. This can be particularly seen in the mass and arbitrary executions described by Amnesty International as "a sinister picture of the machinery of the state carrying out premeditated, judicially-sanctioned killings on a mass scale."

The average number of executions under Rouhani has reached to about 1000 per year. This is the highest record in the past quarter of a century. In addition, there are several thousands more on the death row in various prisons across Iran. These executions indicate the regime’s instability. When a regime feels threatened even by concerts and theatres, it is shaky. A regime that imprisons young web bloggers, poets, cartoonists, journalists and film-makers, is unstable.

The proponents of cooperation with this regime do not take into consideration the Syrian experience or the experiences in Iraq and Yemen. If it were not for the Iranian regime's direct support for Bashar al-Assad, there would not have been a refugee crisis or the 300,000 Syrians who have been victimized. If it were not for the mullahs' support for Iraq's former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his criminal policies, there would have been no opportunity for the ISIS to develop.

The Middle East needs peace, stability and democracy. This would be possible through regime change in Iran