Iran- Human Rights (Women, Minorities, Ethnics)
Iran: Imprisoned Human Rights Defender in Urgent Need of Medical Treatment
Iran Human Rights
Iran Human Rights (SEPT 27 2017): The imprisoned human rights defender, Athena Daemi, was transferred to a hospital for a gallbladder removal surgery but was sent back to prison without having the surgery done because she refused to be in handcuffs and shackles. Iran Human Rights (IHR) calls for the unconditional release and immediate treatment of Athena Daemi.
According to a close source, Athena Daemi, an imprisoned human rights defender in women’s ward of Evin Prison, was supposed to have a gallbladder removal surgery at Imam Khomeini Hospital on Monday September 25. But she was returned to prison because she had to be in handcuffs and shackles during the time she was hospitalized. This was despite the fact that the Prosecutor’s Representative had promised that she wouldn’t be in handcuffs and shackles during her treatment.
“They (the authorities) say that prison regulations require them to do so, although female prisoners who are imprisoned for non-political crimes are sent to hospital without handcuffs and shackles,” Said Masume Nemati, Athena’s mother, to IHR.
A 1988 Massacre And The Truth about ‘Moderate’ Rouhani
Arab News
Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani is making a tactical shift once again. This time he is appeasing the hard-liners publicly and revealing the actual agenda of his administration after achieving the Supreme Leader’s economic objectives.
Rouhani used the UN pedestal last week to shower praise on Tehran’s theocracy. His stale slogans smack of desperation and deception. Isolated and generally regarded as a pariah, the regime and its familiar figures try to stick to the same plot and project an image of a powerful and rational player.
Brush aside the forced rhetoric and the ugly truth reveals itself: A regime that has hanged over 3,100 people under Rouhani alone, securing the world record for the highest number of executions. Dozens of young people are among the victims, securing another record; the world’s last remaining executioner of children.
Three Executions On Murder Charges
Iran Human Rights
Two prisoners were executed, one at Kerman prison and another at Tabriz Central Prison. The total number of the executions in Urmia on Tuesday has increased to two.
Execution of Prisoner in Kerman
According to a report by ISNA and the deputy of Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office for Central Kerman Province, a prisoner who was charged with murder was hanged at Kerman prison. According to the same source, the prisoner, identified as Gh.N., murdered his brother-in-law with a knife in a quarrel on April 3, 2013.
“The victim, Ahadi, was a close relative of the murderer’s and there was no intention of murder. But it all happened extremely fast,” Amine Salari explained.
The official sources that reported the execution of this prisoner didn’t mention the exact date of it, however, it appears that the execution was carried out on Thursday September 28.
Iran: Afghan Children Recruited to Fight in Syria
Human Rights Watch
(Beirut) – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has recruited Afghan immigrant children living in Iran to fight in Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. Afghan children as young as 14 have fought in the Fatemiyoun division, an exclusively Afghan armed group supported by Iran that fights alongside government forces in the Syrian conflict. Under international law, recruiting children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities is a war crime.
Human Rights Watch researchers reviewed photographs of tombstones in Iranian cemeteries where the authorities buried combatants killed in Syria, and identified eight Afghan children who apparently fought and died in Syria. Iranian media reports also corroborated some of these cases and reported at least six more instances of Afghan child soldiers who died in Syria. For two of the reported cases, researchers reviewed photographs of tombstones that indicated the individual was over the age of 18, but family members of these deceased fighters told Iranian media that they were children who had misrepresented their age in order to join the Fatemiyoun division. This indicates that instances of Iran recruiting children to fight in Syria are likely more prevalent.
U.N. Special Rapporteur Tells Iran Regime: Abolish Torture and Release Detainees
Iran Freedom
Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, was interviewed by Al Arabiya’s studios in the United Nations about the current situation in the country.She said that in many areas in the country there are serious violations of human rights – from rule of law, denial of due process, discriminatory laws, people being discriminated against on religious and ethnic grounds and torture.
She said that she believes the Iranian government is beginning to look into these violations, however the steps being taken to address then are “very tiny”. The government knows that there are issues that need to be addressed, but she emphasised that it cannot continue to let them drag on because awareness is rising across the world.
Iran- Terrorism Activities (Middle-East)
Saudi Prince Warns Over Iran Regime’s Destabilizing the Region
Iran Freedom
The Head of the Center for Research and Islamic Studies of Saudi Arabia warns over the Iran regime, stating that 200 thousand Iranian troops are currently present in 5 countries including Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen.Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud in an interview with the Arabic Sky News stipulated that Iran’s meddling in the countries of the region has become clear to all and the Iranian rulers are proud of their measures.
He then referred to Iran’ deal with super powers stating that this agreement is one of the means of the Iran regime to advance its goals in the region. Prince Turki bin Faisal added, “The Iran regime pretends that the deal stabilizes the situation of the region and Iran feels responsible for the conflicts taking place in the world.”
He then regretted the Qatar’s cooperation with the Iran regime adding that any cooperation with Iran would endanger the peace and stability of the region. Moreover, the Arab states and Muslims will be threatened since the Iran regime has goals in these countries, as it has explicitly announced.
Iran ‘Could Use Houthis to Disrupt Key Maritime Routes’
The National
Analysts say Iran could threaten oil flow through the strategic Bab el Mandeb strait but navy monitoring hopes to mitigate any risk. Heightened tensions between the US and Iran has raised concerns that Tehran could organise Houthi attacks on merchant ships passing through strategic trading routes in the Gulf.
“There will be concern over the potential of Iran being in a position to threaten maritime traffic through the Bab el Mandeb,” said Jon Lee, an analyst at Dorian Risk Consulting.
“Tensions between Iran and the US in the Straits of Hormuz are likely to increase. By extension, those tensions are also a concern for Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, and western nations who rely on the region for energy supplies. Iran could in the near future use the Houthi as surrogates to threaten the Bab el Mandeb as well, giving Tehran the ability to control or influence maritime traffic through two of the most important chokepoints in the world,” said Mr Lee.
Saudi Prince Warns Over Iran Regime’s Destabilizing the Region
Iran Freedom
The Head of the Center for Research and Islamic Studies of Saudi Arabia warns over the Iran regime, stating that 200 thousand Iranian troops are currently present in 5 countries including Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen. Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud in an interview with the Arabic Sky News stipulated that Iran’s meddling in the countries of the region has become clear to all and the Iranian rulers are proud of their measures.
He then referred to Iran’ deal with super powers stating that this agreement is one of the means of the Iran regime to advance its goals in the region. Prince Turki bin Faisal added, “The Iran regime pretends that the deal stabilizes the situation of the region and Iran feels responsible for the conflicts taking place in the world.”
He then regretted the Qatar’s cooperation with the Iran regime adding that any cooperation with Iran would endanger the peace and stability of the region. Moreover, the Arab states and Muslims will be threatened since the Iran regime has goals in these countries, as it has explicitly announced.
Iran’s Challenges in Rouhani’s Second Term
Vocal Europe
The second term of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has officially begun. His first four years were experienced by the people of Iran, the region and the international community. It is necessary to discuss the challenges his second term will pose.
The most important matter in Iranian politics is the issue of hegemony, authority and power. As long as the regime is formed around the supreme leader, known as the velayet-e faqih, the presidency and his executive branch will literally be functioning to his service and demands. In such a structure, the president in the Iranian regime, now Rouhani, literally enjoys no authority. Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami once described his role as a mere “procurer.” Considering the fact that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has blessed the nucleardeal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Rouhani’s role is to provide for the establishment’s best interests while dodging and sidestepping international demands.
Iran- Nuclear Activities
Trump May Make Congress Decide Future of Iran Nuclear Deal
The New York Times
WASHINGTON – In the midst of a nuclear crisis with North Korea, the Trump administration signaled on Tuesday that it is paving the way for a simultaneous standoff with Iran, suggesting it could refuse to certify that Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear accord. But the administration could leave it up to Congress to decide whether to withdraw from the deal.
In a speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, Ambassador Nikki R. Haley, the United States representative to the United Nations, presented the administration’s argument that Iran was in violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of the agreement. But by not actually withdrawing from the accord, President Trump could avoid a direct breach with the other signatories – Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – which appear to agree with international inspectors that Iran has complied with its direct obligations in the agreement.
Time Running Out For Permanent Iran Nuclear Deal
United Press International
With only days to go before U.S. President Donald Trumpmust decide if he will grant the Iranian regime compliance with the nuclear deal on Oct. 15, the sands of time are rapidly running out for Tehran’s rulers.
Trump told a meeting of the United Nations in September that the deal was “an embarrassment” to the United States. If Trump refuses to certify Iran’s compliance with the deal, which seems highly likely, Congress will have 60 days to decide whether to reapply the crippling sanctions lifted by former President Barack Obama after the deal was signed.
There is increasing speculation that the Iranian regime is financing North Korea’s nuclear program, despite worldwide condemnation and the imposition of heavy sanctions against Kim Jong Un’s rogue state even by China. A former U.S. senior diplomat has said that when Iran wants nuclear weapons it simply has to write a check and hand it to the North Koreans.
U.S. National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster said in September, “The President has already declared that the Iranian regime is not living up to its obligation. They are certainly not living up to the spirit of this agreement. Instead of contributing to regional peace and security, as the deal calls for, Iran is using proxy forces and a terrorist network to foment violence and victimize innocents across the greater Middle East. The Iranian regime is seeding these networks with increasingly destructive weapons as they try to establish a bridge from Iran to Lebanon and Syria.”
Rouhani’s Government Putting Faith in EU to Preserve the Nuclear Deal
Iran Freedom
With the US stance on the nuclear deal becoming clearer, Hassan Rouhani’s government and his band are looking to Europe for preserving the pact.
But since internal contradictions within the regime rule over its every aspect, there’s a conflict of interest, and opinions as a result, between regime’s rival bands in this regard as well.There’s also a strong disagreement between regime’s two rival bands over Europe’s ultimate stance on the nuclear deal,
with Rouhani’s media and guys counting on Europe to stand beside the regime to the end and defend its stance against the United States.
“Looking to Europeans regarding the fate of the nuclear deal, Rouhani claimed at the end of his visit to New York ‘they (Europeans) expressed their support for the nuclear deal during our meetings and said they’ve made the US aware of their viewpoints as well. Europe’s approach will hugely affect the way we will behave.” (State-run Mehr news agency, September 20, 2017)
