The Iran Echo Chamber Smears Politico

Barack Obama in his White House office with Ben Rhodes

-Nothing has been more tedious over the last year than the constant reminders that good journalism is “now more important than ever.” The implication, of course, is that solid, groundbreaking reporting was not as essential so long as a liberal Democrat was in power. I’ve long assumed that the factotums mouthing such clichés lack the self-awareness to understand the true import of their words. But maybe I’ve been wrong. Recent days brought evidence that, no, liberals really mean it: The only meaningful investigative work is that which reflects poorly on Republicans.

Earlier this week, for example, Politico Magazine published a story by Josh Meyer headlined “The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook.” This epic and copiously sourced piece relates how, “in its determination to secure a nuclear deal with Iran, the Obama administration derailed an ambitious law enforcement campaign targeting drug trafficking by the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, even as it [Hezbollah, not the Obama administration] was funneling cocaine into the United States.”

The law-enforcement program in question is called Project Cassandra, which for eight years “used wiretaps, undercover operations, and informants to map Hezbollah’s illicit networks, with the help of 30 U.S. and foreign security agencies.” However, as investigators came closer to unraveling the globe-spanning conspiracy, “the Justice Department declined requests by Project Cassandra and other authorities to file criminal charges against major players such as Hezbollah’s high-profile envoy to Iran, a Lebanese bank that allegedly laundered billions in alleged drug profits, and a central player in a U.S.-based cell of the Iranian paramilitary Quds force.” Linger over that last item for a second.
Meyer cites “dozens” of interviews and documents as evidence. He quotes a veteran U.S. intelligence operative — the sort of guy whose every utterance is anonymously paraded in the newspapers and magazines so long as it’s anti-Trump — who says, “This was a policy decision, it was a systematic decision.” And the reason for this systematic decision, presumably, was to make Hezbollah’s Iranian backers more willing to deal with the Obama administration on nukes.

Meyer points to congressional testimony from former Treasury official Katherine Bauer, who said last February, “These investigations were tamped down for fear of rocking Iran and jeopardizing the nuclear deal.” President Obama, in other words, slow-walked counter-narcotics efforts for the inane “greater good” of paying Iran billions to pretend to shut down its nuclear program for ten years. This is the very definition of “stupid stuff.”

Meyer is not an ideologue, not a partisan, not a quack. He worked for the Los Angeles Times, for NBC News, and for the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative before joining Politico as a senior investigative reporter. And his story is solid. He explores different angles and gives his subjects fair comment. He’s produced a classic example of the good journalism that our betters tell us we need more than ever.
 Except our betters don’t like it, not one bit, because it reflects poorly on the most significant (yet dubious and controversial) achievement of Barack Obama’s second term. In a tactic familiar to opponents of the Iran deal, the criticism is aimed not at the facts behind Meyer’s article but at Meyer himself. “It’s a shabby neocon hit piece,” says Valerie Plame’s bestie Joe Cirincione. “A disgusting hit job by both the cabal of people with this agenda and by the reporter who paid lip service to the criticisms of this group,” says Brian O’Toole, a “non-resident senior fellow” at the Atlantic Council. Neocon . . . cabal . . . I wonder whom these guys are referring to? (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.)

“Non-fact based anti-Iran Deal propaganda,” sneers former deputy national security adviser and creative-writing expert Ben Rhodes. “The story is so manufactured out of thin air that it’s hard to push back except to say that it’s a figment of the imagination of two very flawed sources,” says Tommy Vietor, who has a podcast. Note that Vietor is obviously wrong: The piece has far more than “two very flawed sources.” Note as well that neither Rhodes nor Vietor ever actually bother to challenge those sources or the facts provided to Politico.

Vietor went on to tell Meyer over Twitter that Meyer’s “on the record sources have undisclosed anti-Iran deal bias.” And Ned Price, who worked for Rhodes, called the Politico article an “anti–Iran deal screed” based on sources with “undisclosed anti Iran deal bias.” For shame! Before we go any further, let me disclose my anti Iran deal bias right now.
 A Twitter lefty named Adam Khan expanded on these McCarthy-like observations, warning that if journalists “go out of their way to hide experts’ links to donors’ agenda, that should be a big red flag.” Writers should know better than to quote the cabal of neocon donors with agendas, is his point.

So weak was the response to Meyer’s scoop that by the end of their Twitter exchange Vietor was wishing him happy holidays and saying it’s “not personal just disagree on policy.” Vietor missed the memo; we say Merry Christmas in Trump’s America. Besides, Meyer wasn’t writing about policy. He was relating information. What former Obama officials were reacting to wasn’t some innovative argument against the Iran deal, but damning evidence of Obama’s reckless disregard for national security in pursuit of a fantastic rapprochement with Iran. 

— Matthew Continetti is the editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon, where this column first appeared.

Iran is holding the world hostage with its human rights violations

Iran human rights violation has taken the world hostage

 Last week, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tacitly threatened that Tehran would resume its nuclear program if European states doubled down on its ballistic missile program and terrorist ventures. (Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Pool Photo via AP)

As the Trump administration tries to rally the world to face off with the Iranian regime on the multitude of threats it poses to world peace and security, Tehran is using every tool at its disposal to prevent a unified global front from taking shape.

Last week, Iran’s foreign minister tacitly threatened that Tehran would resume its nuclear program if European states doubled down on its ballistic missile program and terrorist ventures. This week, the regime tried a different tactic.

In a program broadcast on Iran’s state-owned TV, Ahmadreza Djalali, an imprisonedIranian dual-national with Swedish citizenship, “confessed” to spying on Iran’s nuclear program for foreign countries. Given Iran’s history of extracting confessions fromprisoners through torture and threats, it’s easy to deduce how reliable Djalali’s revelation is.

Sweden happens to be one of the nonpermanent members of the U.N. Security Council. Coincidentally, after U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley provided strong evidence that Iran was behind in a missile attack against Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on November 4, Sweden’s U.N. ambassador refrained from confirming that Iran was the culprit.

Djalali is not the only foreign national the Iranian regime is holding as hostage and as a bargaining chip in its foreign policy. British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari Radcliff is also lingering in jail along with several American citizens arrested on dubious national security and espionage charges. Iran has a long history of using human rights abuses and hostage-taking to pursue its political goals. But its greatest hostages are its own people.

The rulers of Iran are well aware and acknowledge that the stark majority of the country’s population is yearning for regime change, and they’ve only managed to maintain their grip on power through sheer violence. Since the early 1980s, the Iranianregime has shut any form dissent down through incarceration, torture, and execution. The most recent instance was the 2009 uprisings that followed Iran’s contested presidential elections. Unfortunately, the international community lack of interest in addressing Iran’s blatant human rights violations enabled the regime to crack down on the protests with impunity.

During the presidency of the self-proclaimed “moderate” Hassan Rouhani , there has been an uptick in the number of executions. That too has been largely ignored by the international community.

However, the aspirations of the Iranian people for living in a free and democratic state have not lessened.

In a recent signed petition to the U.N. secretary-general, 30,000 Iranian citizens called for a probe into the mass murder of political prisoners in the summer of 1988. The event, which has become known as the “1988 massacre,” involved the execution of more than 30,000 dissidents in Iran’s prisons in the span of a few months. The executions were ordered and orchestrated by the highest authorities within the regime, many of whom continue to hold positions of power. The regime subsequently imposed a total media blackout on this crime against humanity, and the international community has refrained from further investigating the 1988 massacre.

“Human rights is the weak spot of the Iranian regime,” a member of the 1988 Truth Group, which has been documenting the massacre and organized the petition, told me on secure chat.

“The West’s silence on human rights in Iran has been a boon to the regime, which has taken advantage of it not only to continue its crimes against the Iranian people, but also to threaten those countries as well,” added the correspondent, who did not want to be named due to security concerns. “A good place to start reversing course is calling for an investigation into the 1988 massacre and holding its perpetrators to account.”

The biggest force of change in Iran are the people themselves. They oppose the terrorist meddling in the Middle East region and reject its extremist ideology. They’ve been its longest-suffering victims. Neither do they have any stake in the regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

A focus on Iran’s human rights record will empower this force for change and weaken the regime’s grip on power both inside and outside the country. This will be a critical component of any firm global policy toward Iran.

Amir Basiri (@amir_bas) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is an Iranian human rights activist.

Argentine judge orders arrest of former president Kirchner

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

An Argentine judge on Thursday ordered the arrest of former president Cristina Kirchner for allegedly covering up Iranian involvement in a 1994 bombing at a Buenos Aires Jewish center that left 85 people dead.

FRANCE 24, 08 December 2017-- Judge Claudio Bonadio also called on the Senate to begin procedures to strip her of her parliamentary immunity, which requires a two-thirds majority.

The 64-year-old former president held a press conference in Buenos Aires to hit back at the charges, saying the order seeking her arrest was 'an excess that violates the rule of law.'

Kirchner, who has long claimed herlegal woes are politically motivated, accused center-right President Mauricio Macri of 'manipulating' the justice system to 'persecute the opposition.'

In a press conference frequently interrupted by applause from her supporters, she described Bonadio's main charge of 'treason against the Fatherland' as 'an insult to the intelligence of Argentines.'

Bonadio also ordered the arrest of former foreign minister Hector Timerman and several other former officials in the Kirchner government, including former top aide Carlos Zannini.

The ex-head of the Federal Intelligence Agency, Oscar Parrilli, was placed under house arrest and ordered not to leave the country.

Cover-up or 'act of foreign policy'?

Kirchner stands accused of signing a 2012 deal with Tehran to allow Iranian officials suspected of ordering the attack on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) -- which killed 85 people and wounded 300 -- to be investigated in their own country, rather than in Argentina.

Bonadio asserts that this was part of 'an orchestrated criminal plan' to cover up the alleged involvement of Iranian officials in return for lucrative trade deals with the Islamic republic.

The charges have been rejected several times by courts as lacking substance, but the case was reopened in February this year.

The former head of state said in court that a memorandum of understanding with Tehran -- passed by the Argentine congress but not by Iran -- 'had one aim: to allow an investigation into the Iranians accused in the AMIA attack, so that the case could move forward.'

She has argued in the past that since Iran and Argentina have no extradition agreement, and Argentina does not carry out trials in absentia, there was no other way to proceed with the investigation.

Kirchner told the press conference that the signing of the memorandum in 2012 'was an act of foreign policy that cannot be prosecuted.'

'From the legal point of view, it is nonsense -- a real excess that violates the rule of law.'

'We have been here for 23 years and no one has been put behind bars for this,' she lamented.

'The case was absolutely paralyzed because Iran does not extradite its compatriots. What we did was to act within the framework of international law.'

Senate vote

The AMIA attack is the subject of several parallel cases as prosecutors are also looking into whether the country's leadership at the time had conspired to obstruct the investigation.

Among those facing trial separately are former president Carlos Menem (1989-99), the judge who led the investigation for its first 10 years, the ex-head of the intelligence agency, two prosecutors and a representative of the Jewish community.

Kirchner, who stepped down after two terms in 2015, won a Senate seat in elections in October, giving her immunity in a slew of corruption cases stemming from the 12 years she dominated Argentina's politics with her late husband Nestor.

The Senate, which is due to convene on December 10, will now have to consider a vote on lifting her immunity at the judge's request, for which a two-thirds majority is needed.

Kirchner's leftist alliance in the Senate has a total of 32 seats in the 72-seat Senate, but only around a dozen senators are in the Kirchner camp.

Macri's center-right Cambiemos alliance has 25 seats in the upper house.

Dead prosecutor

The case is based on charges first levelled two years ago by crusading prosecutor Alberto Nisman. He was found shot dead in his Buenos Aires apartment on January 18, 2015, four days after formally accusing Kirchner of a cover-up.

The Jewish center bombing case is the most serious for Kirchner, who is facing trial in several other cases involving corruption and money-laundering stemming from her years as president.

Several prominent members of her former government have been detained on corruption charges in recent weeks, including ex-public works minister Julio De Vido and Amado Boudou, her vice president from 2011-2015.

Argentine investigators accuse five former Iranian officials -- including former president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati and ex-Republican Guard head Mohsen Rezai -- of ordering Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah to carry out that bombing. Iran denies any involvement.

The attack -- which followed a 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people -- devastated Argentina's Jewish population, the largest in Latin America at about 300,000 people.

Eighteen executions across Iran as MEPs visit Tehran

Iran regime has executed 18 prisoners as MEP visits the country

Iran executed 18 prisoners from the 22nd to the 29th of November. Ten of these hangings were carried out in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, including the mass execution of nine prisoners on Wednesday, November 29th. Six prisoners were executed in Tabriz Central Prison on November 22nd and the 26th. Two prisoners were hanged in the prisons of Babol (northern Iran) and Qaen (eastern Iran) on November 28th.
Continuous executions by the mullahs’ regime, coinciding with a visit by the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Iran to Tehran, proves the fact that moderation is nothing but an illusion and deception in the religious fascism ruling Iran. The murderers ruling Iran, unable to confront increasing protest movements across the country, cannot afford to stop executions, torture and lashing for even a few days.
The Iranian people, no longer willing to tolerate this regime, abhor any aid provided to the repressive and corrupt mullahs’ regime. They also condemn despicable economic deals with a regime that plunders this nation and spills their blood.
Visits by foreign delegations to Iran under any excuse and/or pretext only encourage the criminal mullahs to continue and expand their crackdown, executions and harsh security measures. Any relations with this regime must hinge on improving Iran’s human rights situation, especially halting all executions.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran

Sanctions are not keeping aid from reaching Iranian earthquake victims

Sanctions dont hurt the people, the regimes negligence does

- The devastating earthquake that struck the western regions of Iran last week has triggered a nationwide crisis, leaving hundreds dead and thousands wounded.
But while the victims are still reeling in aftermath of the disaster, apologists of the Tehran regime abroad, who have no regard for their plight, are trying to take advantage of the situation to further their political ends. No more than a couple of days following the earthquake, Trita Parsi, the president of National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a well-known lobby for the Iranian regime, took to the media to claim U.S. sanctions are hindering donations and humanitarian aid from reaching the affected people.
'President Trump has not shown any human side that would extend itself to a country and the people like Iran,' Parsi said in an interview with Al Jazeera. 'If sanctions are really hindering emergency aid after an earthquake, I think that really shows the problematic aspect of the sanctions.”
What’s missing in Parsi’s arguments, which he has repeated in similar interviews with other outlets, is how the Iranian regime has already made a debacle of the disaster relief and is preventing aid that already exists in the country from reaching the victims.
According to reports by state-run media, the disaster has left more than 500 people dead and 8,000 wounded. One Iranian member of parliament from the Kermanshah, the province that was hit hardest by the earthquake, estimated the casualties to be well above 1,000. The Iranian regime’s response, not nearly as efficient as its speed and efficacy in cracking down on social protests, leaves a lot to desire. The same MP said that only 10 percent of the struck regions have received minimal help.
Since the signing of the nuclear accord in 2015, the Iranian regime has received an infusion of cash and economic incentives. But none of it has trickled down to the Iranian people, and it has been mostly spent on fueling the regime’s intervention in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Therefore, when disasters such as last week’s earthquake strike, the people are left on their own.
Images and video obtained from the affected regions show victims of the quake left to spend the night in the freezing cold without tents and blankets. In a video posted on Facebook, a father whose 16-year-old son was crushed under the rubble of their home accuses the government of sending aid to neighboring Arab countries but neglecting the needs of its own people. Social media networks are filled with similar videos and posts that express outrage at the regime for abandoning the people in times of need.
The Revolutionary Guards, the notorious military body that takes orders from Iran’s supreme leader, were dispatched to the struck areas ostensibly to help in relief efforts. But their effective mission was to prevent protests against the regime’s poor handling of the situation.
According to reports obtained by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, people from around Iran have rushed to help the victims. But government forces are preventing the arrival of public aid to affectd areas, and are taking possession of individual donations and goods under the excuse that it should be distributed through state-controlled institutions.
Meanwhile, according to NCRI , state security forces and those same institutions have stolen a considerable amount of these donations. “If the regime did not steal people's aid and did not obstruct their distribution, the earthquake problem would be solved,” a statement by the NCRI reads.
On the second day after the earthquake, the regime officially declared the rescue operation had ended, declared the situation as normal, and advised people to return to their homes and avoid gatherings and congestions. Meanwhile, the Iranian people continue to search the ruins of their homes for the missing, sometimes with nothing more than their bare hands.
Of course, none of this matters to Parsi and his ilk, whose sole purpose is to justify the crimes of the Iranian regime. In this regard, they are shamelessly trying to use the people’s suffering as an excuse to push for the lifting of pressure from a regime whose only role was exacerbating an already bad situation.

Amir Basiri (@amir_bas) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is an Iranian human rights activist.

Sanctions are not keeping aid from reaching Iranian earthquake victims

Sanctions dont hurt the people, the regimes negligence does

Domestic unrest is Iran regime’s worst nightmare

Protesters in Tehran demand justice against regime-affiliated institutions

Rising protests, demonstrations and the regime's executions point to

 regime's worst nightmare

UK Blasting News, 19 November 2017 - Reports are piling up about the Iranian regime's destructive meddling in the region. Lebanon's prime minister has resigned, citing growing Iranian influence through Hezbollah. Bahrain said #iran terrorism was behind an explosion at a major oil pipeline on Friday. And US officials say that a ballistic missile fired by pro-Iran militias in Yemen toward the Saudi capital bore 'Iranian markings.' So dangerous were the regime's regional adventures that France suggested on Monday that new sanctions could be imposed on Iran over its ballistic missile program.

Growing domestic unrest

Iran depends on its regional meddling as a show of force, intimidating neighbors and warning global leaders to back off.

But events at home tell a very different story. Growing domestic unrest has plagued the regime and reveals to the international community the biggest chink in Iran’s armor.

That chink was on display on October 29th, as the regime launched a massive crackdown to prevent a planned gathering marking International Cyrus Day, in memory of the ancient Persian emperor known to be the author of the world's first human rights charter. His choice by the people was not accidental, and Tehran officials got the message. Reports indicate the government deployed more than 6,000 Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Basij and Intelligence Ministry agents to prevent the gathering from getting out of control.

Further #Domestic unrest surfaced in the growing number of protests by ordinary investors who discovered their life savings in state-run institutions had been plundered.

The Iranian regime has usurped billions from ordinary people’s investments to fuel its wars across the region. After 38 years, this has left the Iranian people in dire straits. Rampant corruption and pervasive mismanagement add to the problem, leaving little hope for any improvement in economic or social conditions.

Poverty and executions

“The middle-class in Iran has been all but extinguished,” a report by Iran Human Rights Monitor indicates, adding that a majority of Iran’s 80-million populace currently lives in poverty. City walls are filled with hand-scrawled advertisements by people willing to sell various body parts, such as kidneys for $2,000, to survive.

Protests are mushrooming in cities across the country, responded to by the regime with arrests and other harsh measures. The per capita rate of executions in Iran is the world’s highest. Self-described “moderate” president Hassan Rouhani is known to have carried out over 3,100 executions during his tenure. Tehran’s human rights violations include issuing long prison terms for dissent, torture, public hangings and even mass executions.

Yet, political prisoners are bravely challenging this system.

The theocracy is also widely known for its practice of repressing ethnic and religious minorities, involving persecution, discrimination, and cultural and economic marginalization.

Iran cannot but resort to such measures, knowing it lacks all social support. When Rouhani’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that all Iranians are supporters of the murderous Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (after Washington imposed sanctions on the IRGC), thousands of Iranian citizens reacted angrily in social media, rejecting Zarif's abhorrent claim.

End of policy of engagement

Developments across the globe in the past year or so have given Iranians hope that the times are changing. For eight years, the ruling regime fed off the engagement policy adopted by the Obama administration, which turned a blind eye to the domestic crackdowns and foreign meddling. To their dismay, President Obama turned his back on Iran’s people during the 2009 uprisings, in contrast to the expressions of support and solidarity they have received from the current administration under #president Trump. This is a welcome change.

On three different opportunities, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has voiced the Iranian people’s desire for freedom.“There are strong feelings and values inside of Iran that we want to promote in terms of one day the Iranian people being able to retake control of their government,” he said during his recent trip to India.

In the United Nations General Assembly and in his October 13th Iran policy speech, President Trump sent a message of unity, describing Iran’s population as the primary victims of the regime’s atrocities. “We stand in total solidarity with the Iranian regime’s longest-suffering victims: its own people. The citizens of Iran have paid a heavy price for the violence and extremism of their leaders. The Iranian people long to -- and they just are longing, to reclaim their country’s proud history, its culture, its civilization, its cooperation with its neighbors,” the President said.

That longing is being expressed on a daily basis, as the Iranian people give voice to their discontent and anger in protests, demonstrations, and messages of dissent on banned social media platforms. It is time for the international community to stand up and stand with them. That is the regime's worst nightmare.

Ali Safavi is a member of Iran's Parliament in Exile, National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). A sociologist by career, Safavi studied and taught at UCLA, California State University Los Angeles and the University of Michigan from 1972 until 1981. An activist during the anti-Shah student movement in the 1970s in the US, Safavi has been involved in Iranian affairs since then and has lectured and written extensively on issues related to Iran, Iraq, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and the Middle East.

Iran Dominates Third Committee Discussions on Human Rights

Justice for the victims of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran

October 26, 2017 - ASMA JAHANGIR, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, said the report she was presenting was her first since assuming the mandate and covered the first six months of 2017.  She expressed concern over the rate of executions, with at least four juvenile offenders executed since the beginning of the year, and 86 more known to be on death row.  Reports of torture were also deeply concerning, as were those of harassment, intimidation and prosecution of human rights defenders.
She continued to receive reports of violations against the freedom of expression, with numerous journalists describing harassment and intimidation by State agents.  There was an emerging pattern of arbitrary deprivation of liberty of dual nationals, she said, noting that her report detailed individual cases.  She noted that “vehement” reactions to social media campaigns protesting mandatory dress codes, among other factors, indicated that much work remained to realize those commitments.  She also voiced concern about the situation of ethnic and religious minorities, as she had received reports of their arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and prosecution.  Her report contained recommendations to reform the judicial system, and she suggested that killings committed in 1998 be addressed.  Her mandate’s ongoing dialogue with Iran required an enabling political environment, at both national and global levels.
The representative of the United States expressed concern over Iran’s denial of a country visit to the Special Rapporteur, condemning Iran for imprisoning peaceful activists and unjustly detaining foreign nationals.
The representative of Saudi Arabia said Iran was suffering from inadequate policies and supporting terrorist practices around the world.  Iran also was denying massacres from 1987 and called on the international community to investigate those incidents. “All problems” in the Middle East stemmed from Iran.
The representative of Papua New Guinea, referring to sources used by the Special Rapporteur in her report, asked about their credibility and the criteria used in selecting them.  He also asked about the reasons for Iran’s lack of response to the Special Rapporteur’s communications and about other approaches being used to engage with Iran.
The representative of the United Kingdom supported calls to freeze use of the death penalty in Iran and expressed concern over the treatment of religious minorities in that country.  She asked what efforts were being taken to implement Iran’s Charter on Citizens’ Rights.
The representative of Ireland, associating himself with the European Union , expressed concern over the alarming rate of executions in Iran and called for a moratorium on the practice.  He also expressed concern over lack of progress in the promotion of women’s rights.
The representative of Norway expressed concern over executions in Iran, particularly those of juveniles, and asked if there were signs of changes regarding the practice.
The representative of Germany, associating himself with the European Union, acknowledged Iran’s efforts to host refugees, but expressed concern over executions and urged the lifting of all death sentences issued to minors.  He asked what engagement the Special Rapporteur was pursuing with Iran.
The representative of Canada, expressing concern over the execution of minors and mistreatment of minority groups, expressed hope Iran would engage with the international community.
The representative of Switzerland, noting violations to human rights in Iran, including corporal punishment, asked how the criminal code concerning minors was being amended.
The representative of the European Union referred to the alarming rate of executions in Iran, requesting information on drug legislation that would not use the death penalty.
Ms. JAHANGIR, responding, said meetings and dialogues with representatives of Iran had paved the way for a mutual understanding of the situation.  She expressed concern about the flaunting of the rule of law, saying Iran should invite her to visit.  In the critical areas of due process and the lack of judicial independence, even a visit by a thematic Special Rapporteur would be able to bring out the concerns she felt.  She had received information from Iranians living inside and outside the country, which was then checked, and if it could not be verified, it was omitted from the report, she said.
Women’s rights were a concern because the Charter for Citizens’ Rights said certain rights ought to be respected, she said.  Thus, the laws and policies discriminating against women must be struck down.  The Charter was comprehensive, and if enforced, could alleviate the miseries people felt from violations of their rights.  As far as the juvenile death penalty was concerned, she cited a case involving two juveniles, due to be executed, and the Government’s positive role in helping the aggrieved families find forgiveness.  She expressed concern about violations of the freedom of expression and acts of intimidation.

Are Iranian people aligned with US national interests?

President Donald Trump

Al Arabiya, 18 October 2017 - Following a week of political roller coaster, doubts and strategic calculations, the US foreign policy team unveiled its new policy on Iran and measures to address the catastrophic nuclear deal, better known as the JCPOA.

During a 20-minute speech on 13 October, President Trump laid out the major points of this new policy, which include the decertification of the JCPOA and designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pursuant to the global terrorism Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.

Aside from decertifying the nuclear deal, the announcement of President Trump marks a major policy change that effectively ends the two-decades long failed policy of appeasement against Iranian regime and its malignant role in four corners of the world.

In 1997, in order to satisfy Tehran’s ruling theocracy, the then President Clinton designated Iran’s main opposition group, the PMOI/MEK as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. This decision helped regime to spread its hegemony and terrorism around the Middle East and the world under the pretext of “Dialogue between Civilizations”.

“ The regime has consistently prolonged its grip on power by capitalizing on international conflicts, especially disagreements between Western democracies and its allies ”

Hamid Bahrami

Now, the US policy has shifted to cut the regime’s tentacles and protect the US, its allies and their interests in the region. Immediately after President Trump’s speech, the EU expressed its concern over the US abandoning the JCPOA.

On the other hand, Israel and Saudi Arabia welcomed the new policy toward Tehran. The Iranian society and community abroad for their parts looked for the reactions on the announcement, first from the regime itself and second from the main Iranian opposition movement, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

A few hours after President Trump’s speech, the Iranian citizens witnessed the so-called moderate President Hassan Rouhani’s twitchy eyes while he read his statement which was full of deceptive lies and obvious contradictions. 

End of the appeasement era

Although, expressing support for the NCRI is punishable by death in Iran as the regime cracks down on popular dissent, a majority of Iranian social media users shared the statement by NCRI’s President-elect Maryam Rajavi as she welcomed “the end of the appeasement era.”

Indeed, the Iranian people always welcome any increased pressure on the Iranian regime and specifically its brutal paramilitary force, the IRGC, which plays a key role in suppression of civil society. Furthermore, the IRGC is the main force behind the crippling economic corruption, which have sparked thousands of popular anti-regime protests around the country during the last few months.

The designation of IRGC as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) will not only affect the regime’s vital arteries but also break the ubiquitous repression and atmosphere of fear in Iran.

To uproot the cancer that is the IRGC, the US should concentrate its efforts inside Iran. Nearly all of Iran’s financial systems are in IRGC’s hands, which it utilizes to fund and arm terrorist groups, with the full knowledge of the Rouhani government that earlier this year decided to increase its budget.

Hence, all companies and countries that trade with any section of the regime are practically risking to fund and engage with the IRGC. 

Anti-regime protests

Today, there is a significant growth of anti-regime protests across Iran, most of them related to economic and civic demands. Considering that the Iranian people are just weighing opportunities to overthrow the entire regime, it will be helpful if the US highlights human rights issues and recognizes the Iranian Resistance movement, the NCRI.

Following these actions, the IRGC will get stuck in a domestic crisis and consequently expelling it from the region will be less expensive. The theocracy in Tehran will try to bypass sanctions and strengthen its capabilities by exploiting the lack of a coherent Iran strategy between the US and the EU. 

Indeed, the regime has consistently prolonged its grip on power by capitalizing on international conflicts, especially disagreements between Western democracies and its allies.

In this regard, one must ask the EU countries and European leaders why they are so eager to appease a corrupt regime in Tehran that has no future and that only survives by persecuting its own people and spreading terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism.

What is obvious, both the US and the Iranian people’s national interests are aligned and the EU should know that dictators will not last forever.

___________________________

Hamid Bahrami is a former political prisoner from Iran. Living in Glasgow, Scotland, he is a human rights and political activist, and works as a freelance journalist. Bahrami has contributed to Al Arabiya English, American Thinker, Euractive, Newsblaze and Eureporter as his work cover’s Iran’s Middle East actions and domestic social crackdown.

Trump and Macron discuss how to deny Iran all paths to nuclear weapon

They discussed ways to continue working together to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon

Oct. 6, 2017- According to a White House statement US President Donald Trump spoke with President Emmanuel Macron of France on Friday, Oct. 6, 2017 .

 The statement said ' The two leaders discussed joint counterterrorism operations in the Sahel region of Africa to defeat al-Qa'ida and other terrorist groups.  They reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  They also discussed ways to continue working together to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon.