Monday, July 31, 2017
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Friday, July 28, 2017
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
THOSE WHO MASSACRED PMOI MEMBERS SHOULD BE REWARDED, SENIOR IRANIAN OFFICIAL SAYS
Ahmad Khatami, a board member of the Iranian regime’s Assembly of Experts, used the Tehran Friday prayers sermon to express his anger over the ever-increasing scope of the justice movement related to the 1988 massacre. He called for the perpetrators of the atrocity of executing over 30,000 political prisoners to be awarded medals.“Then we see some people who on their websites switch the place of martyrs and murderers.
It was a divine move by [Iranian regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini] to force the [PMOI (People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran)] out of the country. All those who acted based on these orders should be rewarded with medals… however, those who on their websites have switched the place of martyrs and murderers should repent and beg for forgiveness,” he said.
This senior Iranian official, involved in many of the regime’s crimes, continues to be infuriated over the July 1 Iranian opposition rally held in Paris. He made ridiculous remarks against the former Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, blaming the 1953 coup d'etat on him for not thanking the mullahs for their support, and for instead feuding with mullah Abolghasem Kashani, a figure hated by the Iranian people for his relations with 1953 coup perpetrators.
Mullah Abbasian, another Friday prayers imam, made similar remarks in this regard:
“During the election season we witnessed how a number of people sought to change the PMOI’s image and criticized those who stood against the PMOI (MEK)… Hat’s off to the judge who executed PMOI members,” he said.
A few days ago, former intelligence minister Ali Fallahian, sought by Swiss, German and Argentine prosecutors through international subpoenas, also expressed his concerns over the justice movement.
“Regarding the PMOI (MEK) and all other groups who are mohareb [at war with God]… [Khomeini] ordered it… the ruling for all of them is execution… [Khomeini] constantly emphasized to beware they don’t slip out of your hands… [Khomeini] would always say be careful in this regard… before and after the 1988 issue. If a judge didn't sentence them to death, he would have acted incorrectly,” he said.
“Regarding the PMOI (MEK) and all other groups who are mohareb [at war with God]… [Khomeini] ordered it… the ruling for all of them is execution… [Khomeini] constantly emphasized to beware they don’t slip out of your hands… [Khomeini] would always say be careful in this regard… before and after the 1988 issue. If a judge didn't sentence them to death, he would have acted incorrectly,” he said.
“I want to discuss my first analysis, and that is the [PMOI] rally in France… the sheer fact that they are permitted to hold a rally there is practical support for terrorism…,” he said at Tehran’s Friday prayers.
Former intelligence minister Ali Fallahian, a leading official involved in the 1990s chain murders in Iran, referred further to the scope of the 1988 massacre of MEK members.
“This was [Khomeini’s] orders… these people should always be executed, before and after the 1988 case. [Khomeini] would constantly say be careful they don’t slip out of your hands. He would say we should act based on our religious duties and don’t wait for history to judge us,” he said. Fallahian also acknowledged that many people were arrested in the early years after the 1979 revolution simply for selling newspapers, or procuring food and other necessities for the PMOI.
These horrific remarks are only a tip of the iceberg of an intense chorus launched by the regime's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to justify the 1988 massacre, especially after his failure in engineering the recent presidential election and attempting to have his favored candidate, mullah Ebrahim Raisi, known for his direct role in the 1988 massacre, replace the incumbent Hassan Rouhani.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
CALL ON U.N. : NOBEL LAUREATES CONDEMN EXECUTIONS BY IRAN REGIME PERPETRATORS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
A group of Nobel laureates expressed grave concerns over continuing human rights violations in Iran. 21 Nobel laureates from the United States, Canada, Germany and Norway issued a letter asking United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to use his good offices “through the UN Human Rights Council to closely monitor the human rights situation in Iran,
inform the world of the violations taking place in that country and to strongly condemn such violations …” and “an immediate halt to intractable arrests, torture and arbitrary executions. The perpetrators of such executions must be held accountable.” Pejman Amiri an Iranian dissident and freelance writer wrote in an article in ‘News Blaze’ on July 22, 2017 and the article continues as follows:
The 21 Nobel laureates have praised the Secretary-General’s last report on the human rights situation in Iran, in which he referred to the 1988 massacre of more than 30,000 innocent human beings in Iran on the charge of loving freedom, said Dr. Richard J. Roberts, a Nobel laureate in medicine from the US who led the initiative. The 1988 massacre has currently become a very challenging internal matter for the brutal clerics in Iran.
The prominent laureates reiterated their previous communications with the UN about the fate of members of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq who were under constant missile barrage attacks.
“In previous communications, we had expressed our utter abhorrence over the massacre of refugees in camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq, all of whom were opponents of the crackdown and human rights violations in Iran. We also voiced our support regarding their safe and sound transfer outside of Iraq. Fortunately, under international community supervision, these residents have now been transferred to other countries, including Albania.
We are witness to your direct efforts as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in aiding the issue of Ashraf and Liberty residents, and we express our humble gratitude,” they wrote.
Nobel Laureates Condemn Executions in Iran.
Nobel Laureates.
From 2011 to 2016, as the top UN refugee officer, Guterres UNHCR supported a safe and secure transfer of MEK members out of Iraq. He personally intervened with former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to prevent attacks against the residents. Al-Maliki and Iran-backed Shiite militias regularly stormed the MEK members at the behest of Tehran.
“We are seeking that you in your new position call on the Iraqi government to pay the compensation to these Ashraf and Liberty residents for their property in Iraq, valued at $600 million. During their confinement in Iraq the government did not permit them to sell their property and refused to provide compensation. This money would have allowed the residents to pay for their current accommodation in Albania, which from a humanitarian perspective is both necessary and vital,” the Nobel laureates’ letter to Guterres continues.
“In addition to our scientific obligations to advance science and improve human life, we also consider defending human rights across the globe as our duty. We believe the two endeavors of science and human rights must advance in lock-step to establish a better world. The wanton trampling of basic human rights in the 21st century is completely unacceptable,” they added, shedding light on their motivation behind this humanitarian initiative to condemn executions in Iran as it has highest number of executions per capita in the world.
Executions have continued since the May farce presidential election in Iran that the incumbent Hassan Rouhani remained in the presidency. For the past few months many people have been hanged in public. The hangings are despite the Iranian regimes’ lobbyists around the world, particularly in the U.S., portraying the Iranian government and Hassan Rouhani as moderate.
In the early days of this regime after the 1979 revolution, Rouhani had called for the public execution of dissidents during Friday prayers. His justice minister is a member of a four-man commission that supervised the execution of more than 30,000 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience back during the 1988 massacre.
Currently, the relatives of the executed victims are active in social media calling for justice to be done and bring the henchmen and those who ordered the executions to justice. The Nobel laureates letter to the United Nations Secretary General emphasizing that “The perpetrators of such executions must be held accountable” is certainly giving a new international dimension to this issue and a stronger voice to the demand for justice to be done.
Not necessary to put war back on the table; Iran is at war
Hamid Bahrami
Two years have passed since the signing of the ineffective nuclear agreement between world powers and Tehran, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Regional hegemony
Iranian authorities confess that the greatest threat to theocracy is not a foreign enemy, like the US, but popular protests, especially by the disenfranchised poor people and youthirHamid Bahrami
After the agreement
Not a foreign enemy
IRAN'S MISSILE PROGRAM STEPPED UP AFTER NUCLEAR DEAL
American Thinker, June 22, 2017 - Less than a week after the U.S. Senate adopted sweeping new sanctions targeting Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and two days after Tehran launched a series of missiles at territories inside Syria while claiming to target ISIS, the Iranian opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran ) held a press conference in Washington on Tuesday, June 20, unveiling new information about dozens of IRGC missile sites.
On the orders of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the IRGC has accelerated its ballistic missile activities and tests following the Iran nuclear deal, representatives of the NCRI U.S. Office said.
Sources associated with the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the main NCRI coalition member, and inside Iran's Defense Ministry and IRGC confirmed that Khamenei has specifically tasked the IRGC Aerospace Force with carrying out this initiative.
The locations of 42 sites were verified by the Iranian opposition, all being affiliated with the IRGC's production, testing, and launching of missiles.
'A dozen of these sites were revealed for the very first time. Among the 42 sites, 15 are part of the regime's missile manufacturing network,' said NCRI U.S. Office deputy director Alireza Jafarzadeh in the press conference. 'These 15 centers include several factories related to a missile industry group and together form a web of dozens of missile production facilities,' he added.
The PMOI/MEK sources were able to provide intelligence on four very important missile sites located in the cities of Semnan in the east of Tehran, Lar in south-central Iran, and Khorramabad in western Iran, as well as near the city of Karaj, west of Tehran. Iran has recognized only two of these sites as ballistic missile facilities.
These IRGC missile sites have been constructed based on blueprints provided by North Korea, and experts from Pyongyang have been on the scene throughout the process, according to PMOI/MEK sources.
During the past two decades, the Iranian opposition has provided the international community with accurate reports of Iran's clandestine nuclear and ballistic missile activities. The recent revelations made in Washington make the sanctions proposed by the Senate all the more necessary to adopt a firm policy against Tehran.
Iranian officials are in consensus on the need for nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload, all in order to maintain their grip on power. Iranian president Hassan Rouhaniunderscored in late May how the regime's missile activities will go forward unabated.
Tehran is known as the central banker of international terrorism. Iran's meddling in neighboring countries and support for terrorist proxy groups in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen have already plunged the region into an inferno.
On that note, Iran's state-run Mashreq daily wrote on Iran launching missiles into Syria on Sunday:
Although Iran had many different options to respond to ISIS' terrorist attack, it chose to launch missiles from its soil [.]... [T]his may have messages for Washington.
'The primary reason for launching these missiles was in no way ISIS,' Jafarzadeh said.
U.S. officials, alongside their Arab counterparts in the recent Riyadh conference, underscored strong positions against Tehran and its meddling across the region. Targeting ISIS and claiming that these attacks were in response to the June 7 terrorist attacks in Tehran are only pretexts for the mullahs' hollow threats.
Prior to Iran's measures having any military weight, these actions are aimed at elevating morale among the rank and file, especially the IRGC. These elements are currently terrified, as the U.S. has become active in Syria and intensified its sanctions against Tehran, and America's top diplomat is emphasizing a policy of supporting regime change during the evaluation of a comprehensive Iran policy.
It has become a known fact that Tehran lacks the capacity and will to halt is ballistic missile policy.
'There is no difference between a change in behavior and regime change,' Khamenei stressed on May 10.
In contrast to the ruling mullahs in Tehran, the Iranian people welcome change and deplore the regime's nuclear and missile programs and abhor the mullahs' meddling across the region.
It is high time that the international community adopted a united and firm policy on Iran based on the following pillars: imposing sweeping sanctions targeting Iran's missile program and blacklisting the IRGC for its role in directing Iran's support of terrorism
Monday, July 24, 2017
FORMER INTELLIGENCE MINISTER TALKS ABOUT 1988 MASSACRE OF MEK PRISONERS IN IRAN
INU - Ali Fallahian, a former Intelligence Minister of Iran, participated in an interview with Tarikh Online – a state-affiliated news website, earlier this month. He admitted that the Supreme Leader at the time, Ayatollah Khomeini, ordered the execution of anyone linked to the Iranian opposition (MEK) in a fatwa in 1988.
During the summer of 1988, more than 30,000 political prisoners, most of whom were members or supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK), the main Iranian opposition group, were executed.
He said that the fatwa ordered the execution of the MEK members who insisted on maintaining their beliefs. To deal with the logistics of it, a commission was formed, he said. This is what has become known as the “Death Commission”. Fallahian said that the purpose of the commission was in actual fact to see who would be pardoned instead of being executed.
He explained that the people could have escaped execution by saying that they no longer hold their beliefs and do not support the MEK or any other opposition. If they declared their commitment to the Supreme Leader they wo
uld have remained alive.Mr. Hossein-Ali Montazeri released an audio recording of him warning the other members of the death commission about what they were partaking in. He said that such an act would go down in history as an unforgettable and horrific event. He was also concerned that it was not a good image of Islam. Fallahian said that he also clashed with Khomeini on other matters, and he was instructed to carry out his religious duties, in this case to participate in the 1988 massacre, without any regard for “history’s judgement”.
The Iranian regime has commented that the people who were executed in 1988 were armed when they were arrested, but Fallahian explained that this was not the case. Not all of the people who died were part of armed rebellion activities. Fallahian said that they did not distinguish between those who were armed and those who were not – if they were faced with a member of the MEK then they were treated as if they were armed.
The interviewer, clearly shocked by what they were hearing, asked Fallahian to clarify what he said. They asked him that if someone was carrying a MEK newspaper, would they have been arrested. Fallahian said yes, because they were part of the MEK.
The people of Iran are still waiting for justice despite repeated calls by the international community.
Iran's Supreme Leader and Anti-MEK Movie
Iran's Supreme Leader and Anti-MEK Movie
On July 15th state media in Iran fully covered the remarks of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei about a movie called, “The Adventure of Midday”.
Following the ignominy of this movie which was produced against the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran ( PMOI/MEK), the news agency of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) released the news about the meeting of Iranian regime's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with film producers which depicts Khamenei’s role in the production of this movie. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was also involved in the production of the movie in February/March 2017.
The news was first released by the IRGC following confessions and protests among various government bands due to the ignominy of this scandalous film. It was then published by other state-run news agencies.
According to state-run news agencies, in the meeting with his underlings who produced the movie, Khamenei who was after production of it against the MEK said: “This film ‘Midday Adventure’ was very good. All the components of the movie were great; it was a great director; excellent play and great stories. The film was well-made.”
This is completely unprecedented on the Khamenei’s end as the supreme leader to explicitly take a position like this about a movie, but if we take a look at the regime’s current conditions and especially how Iranian youths feel, we will come to realize that Khamenei’s remarks not only are not strange but actually are quite necessary.
This movie resembles various events of the 1980s and the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). These developments had become the main riddle for all the youth who have not seen that day and age. Tens of thousands of young MEK members and other brave Iranian youths lost their lives struggling for a free Iran then and ever since.
Public executions, tortures to death, horrific prisons and interrogations, all awaited those political prisoners. Many who already were serving their prison sentences were also executed.
Sentences were announced through state TV and radio as follows:
Sentences were announced through state TV and radio as follows:
MEK members need no court procedures, kill them wherever you see them on the streets! If you find them injured, finish them! Don’t take them to hospitals!
The MEK have no reverence, spill their blood and spoil their belongings! They don’t even have the right to file a complaint!
Judges should not accept MEK complaints!
Those MEK members arrested must be thrown off heights (such as a mountain)! Or their right hands and left feet amputated, or…
These remarks from regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei and the mullahs’ “judges”, have been published in state media, leaving no room for denial.
“We were wrong! At the very beginning of the revolution we should have taken a number of them and set them on fire… they would have been finished then!” Khomeini once said.
Today’s generation seeks to know for what crime the MEK members have been sentenced to death, raided and tortured. What did the MEK members and sympathizers do to deserve such criminal fatwas?
And when today’s youth refer to state bodies to seek answers for their questions, they will not find adequate answers in so-called investigated books, documents or other evidence provided by the state, nor even in articles or movies. All they here is ‘hypocrites’ in reference to MEK members.
And when today’s youth refer to state bodies to seek answers for their questions, they will not find adequate answers in so-called investigated books, documents or other evidence provided by the state, nor even in articles or movies. All they here is ‘hypocrites’ in reference to MEK members.
From the very first day of the revolution they revolted against the establishment and imam, they took up arms and killed all the people, young, old, men, women, children… (Something like Frankenstein!) Khomeini was forced to issue a fatwa to defend Islam and Muslims, and he ordered the MEK to be killed as soon as possible and in the harshest way possible! Period!
To legitimize their crime they began describing the MEK as being apostates and accusing them of false crimes!
Of course, the mullahs never said anything about the MEK’s efforts to keep a 2½ year period of peaceful political atmosphere in Iran! By tolerating all sorts of attacks and humiliation exerted on them by Iranian regime’s agents.
Of course, they say nothing about the 71 MEK members who were criminally killed by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) during this period! For participating in peaceful protest rallies.
Of course, the mullahs fail to say they weren’t willing to accept even one MEK complaint!
The mullahs still refuse to officially announce the names and descriptions of the MEK members who were brutally killed, their “official” sentencing, and how they were prosecuted and murdered.
The mullahs continue to refuse publishing files about which MEK members were killed, where are they buried, neither the MEK killed after 20 June 1981, nor those murdered during the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners!
Even after nearly four decades, the mullahs continue to refuse holding any dialogue about those incidents… To cloak their crimes, they conduct interviews after interviews, write articles, novels, stories, and even TV and silver screen movies… all attempting to demonize the MEK and legitimize their own measures as legal actions!
This is exactly where today’s generations ask questions: “If the MEK are truly what you say they are, why you don’t publish their judiciary files? Why don’t you publish their names? Why you do not show their graves even to their family members?
Why have you started to destroy their unmarked graves across the country? (MEK graves in Tabriz, Mashhad and other cities)
These questions became even more serious when youths heard from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani how in the past 38 years Iran has been a country of executions! In other words, this country has been built on the foundations of executions and suppression!
This is why Khamenei is forced to literally speak in defense of anti-MEK movies!
MEK: The Opposition the Iranian Regime Wants to Silence
MEK: The Opposition the Iranian Regime Wants to Silence
For the Iranian regime, staying power means oppressing all voices that challenge their rule, particularly the human rights abuses and strict laws on everything from who you can socialize with to how you dress in public. Yet, one group has been the main focus of the regime’s efforts to suppress and undermine their voice in support of a free Iran. That group is the MEK.
When the MEK was removed from the U.S. list of terrorist groups, Iranian regime House Speaker Ali Larijni said during his speech on June 23, “Now it’s you (the United States) who are sponsor of terrorism and even mother of terrorism, yet you accuse the Iranian regime of sponsoring terrorism. Your accusations are shameful…Today, the Americans removed the MEK from their list of terrorist groups.”
News agencies, including the Fars agency under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have revealed the concerns of the regime over what they see as a dangerous turn of events, now that Camp Liberty’s residents have been relocated to Europe. On June 20, Fars reported that the move was a reminder of (MEK’s) declaring war against the regime.
After adding a few more claims against the MEK, the article went on to reveal the regime’s fear of another uprising, such as those that occurred in July 1999 and 2009. “The group’s (MEK’s) increased activities and their efforts for creating chaos and making a creeping coup was so intense over a period of time that many thought it was over for the regime on July 9, 1999. Their coordination was even further revealed during the 2009 uprising,” said the Fars news agency.
The press in Iran is controlled by the regime and the IRGC, so it is a source of frustration that thanks to satellite television, the opposition is able to expose the regime’s activities. These include the exposing of insecure, bankrupt institutions belonging to state entities, such as the IRGC, a move aimed at informing the Iranian people.
“Some satellite channels linked to MEK have released a clip showing that Samen institution has gone bankrupt, scaring investors into rushing to Samen Bank branches,” said a regime official.
But this is nothing to the latest efforts of various families to receive justice for their loved ones killed in the 1988 massacreMEK: The Opposition the Iranian Regime Wants to Silence of political prisoners. Fearing the spread of this movement, regime leader Ali Khamenei has spoken out against this movement, which focuses on justice for those MEK members executed.
According to Khamenei, “We’ve recently been hearing some tribunes attacking regime’s records during the 80’s. I recommend those who are thoughtful not to mistake executioners for martyrs when judging the 80s events. Iranian people were oppressed at the time. Terrorists, MEK, their supporters and those who raised them and constantly blew them persecuted the Iranian people. They did bad things. The Iranian people were forced to take a defensive position.”
By Iranian people, Khamenei meant nothing more than his own ruling class of mullahs. The fact is that the 80s is the decade when 30,000 political prisoners were massacred, and the decade when pregnant women, 13-year-old girls, and 70-year-old mothers were part of those who were killed.
Following Khamenei’s speech, a rush of state-run media and other outlets launched a wave of attack and false accusations against the MEK, a move which was even further escalated a few days later following Khamenei’s fire-at-will order. These supporters of the Iranian regime called MEK the killers and that the order from Khomeini was meant to protect the country by killing anyone, including MEK members and supporters, who still stood their ground and supported the MEK.
What it boiled down to was anyone considered pro-MEK was a threat to the regime, and this was true even if they did nothing against the regime but support an alternative set of political ideals. Efforts to portray the MEK and political prisoners massacred during the 80s as executioners were significantly increased in Friday prayer events and the regime’s media following the ISIS attacks in Tehran.
While acknowledging the massacre of MEK members in 1988, Assadollah Imani said in Shiraz Friday prayer show, “if MEK had not been repressed in 1988, you were faced with such plights everyday over the past 20 years. Khomeini knew well how to deal with MEK.”
The attacks on the MEK in the media aren’t limited to just the leaders and supporters of the MEK, but are also showing the cracks within the factors of the regime itself. In Mashhad, the city’s Friday Prayer Imam Alamolhoda attacked Rouhani for the increased popularity of the MEK and the movement seeking justice for victims of the 1988 massacre.
“Today, we are faced with such a problem. To gain power and push away their rivals, they defend (MEK) so much that the supreme leader is forced to shout not to mistake executioner for martyr. Those claiming to run the regime are actually defending the MEK,” said Alamolhoda.
Others argue that the release of the Hassanali Montazeri audio tape detailing the roles of the death commissions in the 1988 massacre has benefited those groups who would like to see the end of the regime’s repressive fundamentalism.
“The audio file was released right when counter-revolutionary elements and media had prepared their same old programs against the Iranian regime to mark the anniversary of the execution of MEK members. Besides, MEK was holding a gathering in Paris at the time,” said the Judiciary’s Mizan news agency.
“The audio file was released right when counter-revolutionary elements and media had prepared their same old programs against the Iranian regime to mark the anniversary of the execution of MEK members. Besides, MEK was holding a gathering in Paris at the time,” said the Judiciary’s Mizan news agency.
The publication of an audio recording of Mr. Montazeri’s meeting with four officials of the regime responsible for the 1988 massacre has sent shock waves throughout the regime.
That gathering is being held again in Paris on July 1. During this gathering, the opposition will lay out their case for a Free Iran, one that doesn’t include the fundamentalism and repression of the regime. As part of this event, speakers from various leadership bodies in the international community will show their support for the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a coalition of opposition movements determined to create a peaceful regime change.
The above-mentioned facts are just a handful of the whole sack of the weight, popularity, and effect of the MEK in today’s Iran. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, has called for the formation of the movement to obtain justice for the victims of the 1988 massacre.
“This is a very important document attesting to several basic realities. First, the audio clip contains explicit confessions by those responsible for the massacre regarding their participation in an ongoing genocide. It shows that Khomeini and his entourage contravened even their own procedures and routines and were directly involved in the massacre. It also indicates that the religious tyranny solidified the foundations of the next repugnant Velayat-e-Faqih (absolute clerical rule) as a result of this genocide,” said Rajavi.
The rise of Khamenei was concocted during the massacre of political prisoners, which was orchestrated by the highest officials at the time, namely Ali Khamenei, Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ahmad Khomeini.
Another point made by Mr. Montazeri is that Khomeini had been deliberating about the massacre starting three or four years before it actually occurred and as his son repeatedly stated, he had decided to execute all “the Mojahedin, including those who read their newspaper, to those who read the magazines, and those who read flyers.”
Khomeini feared the MEK’s deep roots in Iranian society and the movement’s strength and determination. In a letter, which he wrote a few months later to Montazeri, Khomeini explained the reason for the latter’s ouster as heir to the supreme leader, “It has now become clear that after me, you will give up this country and the dear Islamic revolution of Iran’s Muslim nation to liberals and through them to the (Mojahedin).”
The reality is that the increasing popularity of the MEK is seen by the regime as a dangerous development. All the efforts of the mullahs have been focused on pretending the events of the 1980s never happened, minimizing the crimes, or even attributing them to the MEK itself. This strategy was formulated by Khomeini himself and has continued in the decades since.
The NCRI and their supporters have called on the international community to support the people of Iran in their demand for the prosecution of the Iranian regime’s leaders. As human rights advocates and international bodies have continued to demonstrate Iran’s record of repression, this movement by the opposition to obtain justice and freedom for this country includes changing the direction of Iran’s influence in the Middle East as well. The United Nations and the UN Security Council must adopt political and legal arrangements for the international prosecution of leaders of this regime on the charge of committing crimes against humanity.
A formal international condemnation of the 1988 massacre is a necessary step towards ending all the mass executions within Iran, an episode that was recently repeated in the concurrent execution of 25 Sunni prisoners. Finally, the movement to obtain justice is a relentless campaign by our compatriots and all supporters of the Iranian Resistance for the international prosecution of Khamenei and other regime leaders for committing genocide and crimes against humanity.
Keyvan Salami
Iran’s Most Feared Mullah Acknowledges Massacre of Political Prisoners
Iran massacred over 30,000 political prisoners in summer of 1988 and kept a lid on this atrocity for three decades. In this year’s presidential election a conservative cleric by the name of Ebrahim Raisi, one of the perpetrators of the massacre, was selected as a main candidate, resurfacing the 1988 massacre and forcing regime officials, one after another, to confess about the carnage.
Last week in an unprecedented interview, former Iranian intelligence minister Ali Fallahian revealed the mindset behind the 1988 mass execution. Fallahian, described as “perhaps the most feared mullah in Iran” by Newsweek, is wanted by Interpol for his involvement in the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed 85 people in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In his interview Fallahian explains whoever had any relation with the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) was condemned to death.
“Imam [Khomeini] said you must execute those who are steadfast in their beliefs,” he said referring to the Iranian regime founder. “We couldn’t let them go and couldn’t keep them in jail. If we had kept them in jail, we would have had a bunch of people over our head telling us don’t keep them in jail. So a 3-man team of judges and ministers was assigned to oversee these cases, release those who were eligible and execute those that were not,” he continued.
In the summer of 1988 Khomeini issued a religious decree calling for the massacre.
“Whoever at any stage continues to belong to the (PMOI/MEK) must be executed. Annihilate the enemies of Islam immediately! … Those who are in prisons throughout the country and remain steadfast in their support for the MEK are waging war on God, and are condemned to execution … It is naive to show mercy to those who wage war on God,” the decree reads in part.
A committee of four men was formed to implement the order, and in a matter of a few months over 30,000 political prisoners were executed, mostly members and supporters of the main opposition PMOI/MEK.
“The principal point was to execute all prisoners, except those who were eligible for parole?” asks the interviewer.
“They were supposed to check and see and talk to the prisoners to find out if they still adhere to their beliefs,” Fallahian responds.
“What was the benchmark for evaluating who is steadfast and who is not?” asks the interviewer. “To say that I believe in the PMOI and don’t believe in you,” Fallahian explains.
Last year the revelation of an audio tape and unpublished letters of the late Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, former successor to Khomeini, shed light on new dimensions of this grave crime. Pregnant women and girls as young as 14 and 15 years old were among those executed, Mr. Montazeri wrote.
A democratic alternative to the Iranian regime – 'Free Iran' rally highlights MEK's role in Iranian resistance
During the 'Free Iran' rally in Paris on July 1, the mood was festive and clearing upbeat, as speakers discussed the movement of MEK members from Iraq to Albania.
Still, the highlight of the event was the keynote address by Maryam Rajavi, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) President-elect. She noted that there was an alternative to the current regime and its extremism.
"Since last July, the Iranian Resistance has hoisted the banner of seeking justice for the victims of the massacre of political prisoners 29 years ago, turning it into the main focus of political discourse in Iran today," said Rajavi.
She noted that in the recent Iranian elections, which many speakers called a "sham", that the slogan of the resistance was "No to the executioner, no to the charlatan". It was a slogan that was widely embraced by the Iranian people, and referenced the attempt by Khamenei to elect Raisi, a member of the death commission in the 1988 massacre.
But many of the speakers and delegations also spoke of the real possibility of regime change in Iran, as they noted major changes on the international scene. Speaker after speaker from the United States pointed to the new policies of the Trump administration, while others acknowledged the Obama administration for its efforts to remove the MEK from the terrorist list.
Rajavi said there is alternative to the Iranian regime and it is the Iranian resistance.
"It is relying on political prisoners, who reaffirmed their support recently for this gathering from the depth of their cells and dungeons. It is relying on women, workers, teachers, professionals, and selfless youths. It is relying on their unsparing love and generous support, those who barrow money and sell their houses and properties to help keep this Resistance independent, strong, and solidified," said Rajavi.
She noted that the Resistance has continued to fight for freedom and stood by what it has said and promised.
"The Iranian nation is proud to have created a democratic alternative through resistance and great suffering and sacrifice. This decisive asset,…did not exist at the time of the Shah," said Rajavi. She acknowledged that this left a vacuum that allowed the regime to grow and take root.
As part of her discussion of the Resistance, she acknowledged the contributions of Massoud Rajavi, who has been a leader in the Resistance, but also active in encouraging those in Camp Liberty to keep fighting and maintain the struggle for freedom.
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Iran: At least 2300 pre-school kids live in prisons
Iran: At least 2300 pre-school kids live in prisons
The number of pre-school children who live in Iranian prisons along with their mothers has reached 2300.
Mohammad Javad Fat’hi, member of the judicial committee of the Iranian parliament, announced on July 22, 2017, that 2300 kids are in prisons along with their parents, a situation which is “very strange” and “needs to be deliberated on.”
Fat’hi urged the Prisons Organization to provide a “transparent statistics on the number of imprisoned mothers,” adding, “Concealing the figures do not solve any problems, although the high numbers could be really regrettable.” (The state-run T.News website, July 22, 2017)
The number of children living with their mothers in “horrible” conditions in Iranian prisons had been previously set at 200 by Shahindokht Molaverdi, Rouhani’s deputy in women and family affair. She said women’s prisons “do not have desirable conditions.” (The state-run Fararou website, May 5, 2015)
It becomes clear that 2300 is not the final number and should be considered as minimum.
The presence of so many small children in prisons in Iran is tragic while international laws oblige all governments to refrain from issuing prison sentences for women who have to take care of children and their prison sentences must be replaced by alternative punishments including “suspension of detention.”
Iran’s Most Feared Mullah Acknowledges Massacre of Political Prisoners
Iran’s Most Feared Mullah Acknowledges Massacre of Political Prisoners
Iran massacred over 30,000 political prisoners in summer of 1988 and kept a lid on this atrocity for three decades. In this year’s presidential election a conservative cleric by the name of Ebrahim Raisi, one of the perpetrators of the massacre, was selected as a main candidate, resurfacing the 1988 massacre and forcing regime officials, one after another, to confess about the carnage.
Last week in an unprecedented interview, former Iranian intelligence minister Ali Fallahian revealed the mindset behind the 1988 mass execution. Fallahian, described as “perhaps the most feared mullah in Iran” by Newsweek, is wanted by Interpol for his involvement in the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed 85 people in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In his interview Fallahian explains whoever had any relation with the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) was condemned to death.
“Imam [Khomeini] said you must execute those who are steadfast in their beliefs,” he said referring to the Iranian regime founder. “We couldn’t let them go and couldn’t keep them in jail. If we had kept them in jail, we would have had a bunch of people over our head telling us don’t keep them in jail. So a 3-man team of judges and ministers was assigned to oversee these cases, release those who were eligible and execute those that were not,” he continued.
In the summer of 1988 Khomeini issued a religious decree calling for the massacre.
“Whoever at any stage continues to belong to the (PMOI/MEK) must be executed. Annihilate the enemies of Islam immediately! … Those who are in prisons throughout the country and remain steadfast in their support for the MEK are waging war on God, and are condemned to execution … It is naive to show mercy to those who wage war on God,” the decree reads in part.
A committee of four men was formed to implement the order, and in a matter of a few months over 30,000 political prisoners were executed, mostly members and supporters of the main opposition PMOI/MEK.
“The principal point was to execute all prisoners, except those who were eligible for parole?” asks the interviewer.
“They were supposed to check and see and talk to the prisoners to find out if they still adhere to their beliefs,” Fallahian responds.
“What was the benchmark for evaluating who is steadfast and who is not?” asks the interviewer. “To say that I believe in the PMOI and don’t believe in you,” Fallahian explains.
Last year the revelation of an audio tape and unpublished letters of the late Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, former successor to Khomeini, shed light on new dimensions of this grave crime. Pregnant women and girls as young as 14 and 15 years old were among those executed, Mr. Montazeri wrote.
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By INU Staff INU - Ali Fallahian, a former Intelligence Minister of Iran, participated in an interview with Tarikh Online – a state-... -
ANALYSIS: Unveiling the secrets of Iran’s 1988 massacre By Heshmat Alavi Special to Al Arabiya English Saturday, 22 July 2017 ...
