Brief on Iran (BOI – 115)

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Iran- Human Rights (Women, Minorities, Ethnics)

24 Ethnic Minority Baha’is sentenced to 193 years in prisonimage8

OIAC

Reporters: The treatment of Baha’is in Iran has not changed since Hassan Rouhani took office.
Mohsen Qanbari, a judge in a so-called court in the city of Gorgan, said the 24 Baha’is have been sentenced for “propaganda against the system [the Iranian regime]”.
The Iranian regime’s judiciary in Golestan Province has sentenced 24 Baha’i citizens to a total of 193 years in prison.

Two Baluchi Juvenile Offenders Executed in Iranbaluchi

Iran Human Rights

According to close sources, two Baluchi prisoners were hanged to death at Yazd Central Prison on drug related charges.
The executions were reportedly carried out on Monday February 1. According to the Baloch Activists Campaign, the names of the prisoners are Khaled Kordi and Moslem Abarian. A relative of Khaled Kordi confirms to Iran Human Rights that both prisoners were under the age of 18 at the time of their arrests. Iranian authorities carried out the executions without informing the family members of the prisoners.

Nurse Was Fired For Signing Letter to Iran’s Parliamentnurse

OIAC

Ms. Farhadi, an ICU nurse at Rajaii Hospital, was summoned to Evin Prison on January 21, 2016, to serve her one-year prison sentence.
Ms. Farhadi had been arrested on October 8, 2014, along with 70 others for submitting a letter to the mullahs’ parliament demanding freedom of imprisoned teacher of mysticism, Mohammad Ali Taheri, who was on hunger strike at the time.

Ms. Farhadi went on hunger strike for eight days before she was released on bail. She was told during interrogation in the notorious 209 ward of Evin, to write a paper against her teacher but she refused. In a summary trial, she was sentenced to one year imprisonment and three lashes of the whip. Ms. Farhadi is an ICU nurse in heart surgery section and worked at Rajaii Hospital but was expelled from her job on the orders of the court judge.

Ex-BBC journalist jailed in Iran before foreign minister’s UK visitjournalist1

The Guardian

Authorities in Iran have arrested a former BBC journalist on the eve of a visit to London by Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister.
Bahman Daroshafaei was taken to jail on Wednesday after facing a series of interrogations, according to sources in Tehran. Daroshafaei is of dual Iranian-British nationality and is a former employee of the BBC’s Persian service, which is loathed by the Iranian establishment.

Human Rights Situation in Iran Must Not Be Overlooked.overlooked

OIAC

José Bové, a prominent French Member of the European Parliament, told thousands of supporters of the Iranian opposition at the ‘No To Rouhani’ rally in Paris on Thursday that the appalling human rights situation in Iran must not be overlooked.

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to carefully consider the risks of travel to Iraniran travel

OIAC

This replaces the Travel Warning for Iran of August 5, 2015, to reiterate and highlight the risk of arrest and detention of U.S. citizens, particularly dual national Iranian-Americans, in Iran. All U.S. citizens should stay current with media coverage of local events and carefully consider nonessential travel.
Various elements in Iran remain hostile to the United States. Since the United States and Iran reached a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to address the international community’s concerns over Iran’s nuclear program on July 14, 2015, Iran has continued to harass, arrest, and detain U.S. citizens, in particular dual nationals.

Iran- Terrorism Activities (Middle-East)

Europe and the US are ‘courting’ one of the biggest contributors to Syria’s civil warIrans FM

Business Insider
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass

On Thursday, Chatham House will be hosting an event in London entitled “Overcoming Regional Challenges in the Middle East” but, perversely, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, is scheduled to address that conference. Worse still, it is further planned that he will address the UK Parliament earlier that day. Conspicuously, this comes just one week after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited Rome and Paris for high-level trade talks, and subsequent to the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that effectively allows Iran the means to further extend its influence across the Middle East and the globe.

Syrian rebels are losing Aleppo and perhaps also the waraleppo

Washington Post

…….In its determination to see the peace talks get underway, the United States had pressured the rebels’ allies, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, to curtail supplies of weapons, leaving the rebels vulnerable to the new offensive, according to rebel commanders.
This latest battle also has the potential to trigger a major new humanitarian crisis. The United Nations’ inability to deliver aid to towns besieged by government forces had emerged as a major obstacle in the stalled talks. With rebel-held Aleppo almost entirely surrounded, there is a risk that hundreds of thousands of people living there soon could be cut off entirely.

Don’t be Deceived by Rouhani’s Moderationrouhani_moderation

Iran Freedom

When 2015 drew to a close, I was dismayed to see that many leading Western policy makers were still clinging to the notion of a moderate Iranian regime. At the same time, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran was continuing to exploit the moderate appearance of his regime in order to encourage more Western conciliation and deflect further scrutiny. Now sanctions have been lifted on Iran by Western powers, the insincerity of Rouhani’s regime has become more visible.
Cartoon by Kianoush Ramzanpour

Iran rewards IRGC leaders who captured US sailorsship

Al Manitor

Five Iranian commanders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who were behind the detention of 10 US sailors who trespassed into Iranian waters near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf, received Fath medals from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Jan. 31.

Far too soon to celebrate a changed Iran: The Guardianchanged iran

The Guardian

When 2015 drew to a close, I was dismayed to see that many leading Western policy makers were still clinging to the notion of a moderate Iranian regime. At the same time, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran was continuing to exploit the moderate appearance of his regime in order to encourage more Western conciliation and deflect further scrutiny. Now sanctions have been lifted on Iran by Western powers, the insincerity of Rouhani’s regime has become more visible.

Iran- Nuclear Activities

Follow Iran’s Moneymoney

Forbes

Throughout the two-year negotiation with Iran that produced the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1, the Obama Administration kept Congress in the dark about the substantive package of mutual undertakings being negotiated at the talks. Members’ resentment at being excluded was evident during the hearings to review the JCPOA, and even many Democrats who ultimately backed the Administration criticized the overall bargain of nuclear restraints obtained and concessions granted to Iran by the U.S. and its negotiating partners.

Iran: $100B in Assets ‘Fully Released’ Under Nuclear Dealiran nuclear1

ABC News

Iran said Monday it now has access to more than $100 billion worth of frozen overseas assets following the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal with world powers.
Government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht said much of the money had been piling up in banks in China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey since international sanctions were tightened in 2012 over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Push for new Iran missile sanctions divides Democratsmissile

The Hill

An early push in the Senate to pass new sanctions targeting Iran’s ballistic missile program is threatening to divide Democrats.
While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are still hashing out the specifics, the issue is already splitting Democrats into two camps: Lawmakers who believe recent sanctions from President Obama go far enough and those who think Congress needs to further crackdown on Iran.

U.S. judge orders explanation of Iran prisoner dealjudge

Al Arabiya

A federal judge has challenged the U.S. government’s move to drop charges against an Iranian man accused of sanctions violations as part of a U.S. prisoner trade agreed with Iran last month.
Federal prosecutors filed a motion on Jan. 16 to drop the case against Alireza Moazami Goudarzi, an Iranian man accused in 2012 of trying to buy aircraft parts for Iran, including those for military aircraft engines.

U.S. Republican questions timing of $1.7 billion Iran payment, hostage releaseRepresentative Ed Royce (R-CA) leaves a Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington

Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A powerful U.S. lawmaker on Wednesday demanded Secretary of State John Kerry provide an explanation of a $1.7 billion claim settlement paid to Iran just as Tehran released American prisoners last month.
Republican Ed Royce, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote that the timing of the settlement and the administration’s failure to brief Congress “has led some to express concern that the payment represents a de facto ‘ransom’ for the release of American hostages.”

Marie Harf: Iran Nuclear Deal Gave $50 Billion Extramarie

Inquistr

On Twitter, Marie Harf has been soundly criticized for the way she has defended the outcome of the Iran nuclear deal. Reports claim that the Obama White House and State Department accidentally gave $100 billion to Iran instead of the promised $50 billion, apparently doubling the agreed upon amount. This stunning math error has some critics on Twitter declaring, “The stupid burns my eyes!” To make matters worse, the U.S. Department has admitted the money could be used to fund terrorism around the world.

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