The rift between those in the Iranian regime who want to reopen the country right away and those advocating a month-long lockdown to minimize future coronavirus deaths was put on sharp display this week in the regime’s Majlis (parliament).

Former Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi has written an op-ed urging the European Union to hold Iranian regime officials accountable for the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, mainly Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) members, and supporters, in Iran because no one has been brought to justice in the past 30 years.

Terzi wrote that this impunity is the result of Western governments’ silence over the crimes of the regime and appeasement of the mullahs.

At a conference in July 2018, Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said that the international community was made aware of the massacre almost as soon as it began, but Western governments refused to say anything to stop or expose the crime against humanity.

Terzi wrote:

“The world should have grown more and more receptive to that message as it witnessed the public conduct of the Iranian regime. But somehow, that conduct has never overcome the Western world’s misguided optimism about the potential for political reform within the Islamic Republic. That optimism was perhaps never on clearer display than following the election of President Hassan Rouhani in 2013, which paved the way for the signing of the Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action two years later.”

 

EU Conference on 1988 #MEK Massacre and New #Iran Policy
https://t.co/QcryEmxPN1#FreeIran @USAdarFarsi

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) October 25, 2019

He highlights that this is something that “seriously undercuts” Europe’s commitment to human rights, especially when the Regime is covering up more evidence of the massacre with each passing year and conducting more crimes like it. Survivors and relatives of its victims are demanding accountability, justice, and closure, which means that the world should listen.

Terzi said:

 “Both Khamenei and Rouhani are committed to upholding the legacy of the 1988 massacre, which primarily targeted the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK) and sought to stamp out any serious challenge to a dictatorial system that was then still struggling to secure its hold on power. In March of this year, Khamenei appointed one of the leading perpetrators of the massacre, Ebrahim Raisi, as the new head of the judiciary. And Rouhani has twice appointed members of the 1988 ‘death commissions’ to the position of Justice Minister.”

This means European leaders should use international pressure to bring those who took part in the massacre of the MEK members and supporters to justice or they will only further “embolden the regime’s domestic terrorism” and therefore cannot claim a commitment to human rights.

Now is the time for the EU to speak out and address the regime’s terrorism and cyber-attacks in #Europe.
Former Italian FM @GiulioTerzi: #Pompeo’s Brussels Visit Is Opportunity to Address #Iran Threat. #FreeIran #MEK #WeSupportMEK @USAdarFarsi https://t.co/WR3WOaCET0

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) September 4, 2019

Terzi said:

“It’s clear that their efforts will continue even if the only endpoint is the Iranian regime’s overthrow. But it would be a shameful start to relations with a new, democratic Iran if none of its prospective international had heeded the call for justice for all those who died at the hands of a system that denied democracy to the Iranian people for so long.”

Approaching the phony parliamentary election in Iran, Rouhani, President of the mullahs, said last Wednesday in a show style speech:

“You cannot find any Majlis, Parliament in Iran, better than the first one, there was no observation like this, there was no Guardians Council… even the Mujahedin (PMOI/MEK) participated “.

This remark was the starting point of a new war inside the Iranian regime that still continues. This is not the first time Rouhani nagged at the Guardians Council; true, he has never criticized the Guardians Council for the sake of the Iranian people. It is usual, on the occasion of elections, in order to have a bigger share in plundering and looting the people; he starts pretending he is against the Guardians Council.

The Guardians Council is leverage for Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Iranian regime, to omit any candidate who is not in his favor.

Since the foundation of the totalitarian regime of the mullahs, elections have always been a source of a fight inside the regime; every faction seeks its own share of power. Undermining the Guardians Council, Rouhani tries to rock the boat. However, this time the issue is not just the Guardians Council, but the MEK as well, when Rouhani said: “No Parliamentary election was like the first one; even MEK participated.”

Rouhani has always been a top official in this regime. Participating in all suppressions, killings, and crimes against humanity, Rouhani has headed the Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council for sixteen years. Finding Khamenei weaker than ever and the deep social unrest Rouhani dared to cross the regime’s red-line, talking about the MEK. He is also worried about being pushed aside by Khamenei in the next election.

Miscalculation of Rouhani

After the uprising in January 2018 in Iran, all political equations have deeply changed when Iranians chanted “Reformists, Conservatives, The game is over!”; Rouhani’s deceptions do not work any longer. Public protests on a daily bases across the country are the source of fear for the mullahs. Protests of the population of Lordegan, workers of Arak’s Azarab industry, the population of Isfahan for the shortage of water, are just some examples. People demand to overthrow this regime in its entirety.

This is the generation of the December 2017-January 2018 uprising whose resolve has culminated in the formation of resistance units and 1,000 Asharfs or bastions of freedom. #Iran pic.twitter.com/WIjgcyCwy6

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) February 6, 2019

There is no doubt, that the only organization that is capable of restoring the people’s right is the MEK, that is the reason why Rouhani as the president of this regime crosses Khamenei’s red line and talks about the MEK.

Staff Writer

 

Regime President Hassan Rouhani has hit back at his critics within the regime. In a speech that was broadcast from the state media, he blasted his political rivals on Saturday evening at a meeting with reporters from state-run media, calling them “traitors” and escalating the internal disputes within the regime.

The Supreme Leaders Rebuff

Rouhani’s comments came after the regime Supreme Leader Khamenei turned down his requests for more power and authority. In the wake of tighter US economic sanctions, Rouhani argued that “the country needs an agenda and a commander.”

#Iran Infighting Shows Weakness and Fear of Mullahshttps://t.co/8uNEImTlnM pic.twitter.com/terHcfgxvT

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 3, 2019

“The fact that Iran’s ship could not dock in foreign ports for 10 days to unload is unprecedented in our history,” he said.

Rouhani believed he could be that commander and implored the Supreme Leader to amend the constitution to grant him more power. His requests were met with resistance. Khamenei insisted that there is nothing wrong with the existing constitution. He said that if Iran has problems it stemmed from “our officials.”

Squabbling Over 2015

In an unprecedented escalation of infighting between various rifts within the regime for more power, Rouhani in his rebuttal, protested recent remarks from the Supreme Leader putting the blame for the failed 2015 nuclear deal with the P5+1 squarely on his shoulders. He reminded Khamenei that in 2004, the Supreme Leader had agreed to hold a public referendum to decide if the regime should enter negotiations with the international community.

“I asked the Supreme Leader to place the nuclear issue before the people based on Article 59 of the constitution. I explained and even sent a written letter to him, in addition to expressing my thoughts in person. He considered the reference to this article as a positive measure and agreed. However, there was no mentioning of when this [referendum] would be carried out,” Rouhani complained.

A Vulnerable Regime

The regime appears more vulnerable than ever. Internal rifts have widened in the run-up to the Majlis elections (the Iranian parliament). Many in the regime are concerned that the public’s increasing impatience and distrust of the government will harm regime-affiliates in the upcoming elections.

Some voices would like to see public dissent and opposition crushed further to avoid the loss of votes. “If this is true it would be the biggest act of treason against the Iranian nation and history,” Rouhani said.

Infighting Within the #Iran Regime Factions Escalates, After the U.S. Senate New Sanctions. https://t.co/TkglNKsRbh pic.twitter.com/dwjDFzyFM4

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 19, 2017

Hossein Maghsoudi, a member of the Majlis, called the pro-Rouhani camp, “an enemy larger than America.” He suggested that Rouhani and his acolytes were gunning for a war with the US to further expand the presidential powers and plunder the country.

Another member named Hossein Ali Shahriari suggested that Rouhani’s tenure as president had engulfed the country in “corruption, bribes, injustice, and discrimination.”

Rouhani and his allies have attacked the media, questioning why they won’t disseminate his propaganda claims that his administration is supplying natural gas to ten new villages a day and providing clean water to 30 new villages each month. “You should publish the government’s successes,” he said.

Safeguarding the Regime

The only thing all factions have in common is their pursuit to save the regime at all costs. Rouhani has made it clear that he will do whatever it takes to maintain the mullahs’ grip on power. He will kill as many political opponents as it takes, run roughshod over Iranian human rights, plunder the country’s wealth and resources and watch as Iranians get increasingly poorer and more desperate.

“People may have lesser to eat at nights and live in hardships. In my opinion, this is not important. This is not our priority,” he said.

This demonstrates that under the existing regime, Iranians will not find their fate improved. They will continue to suffer at the hand of the mullahs.

Staff writer

The 10^th of October was the 16^th World Day Against the Death Penalty. To mark the occasion, Friends of a Free Iran issued a press statement expressing their concern over the current use of capital punishment in Iran.

10th October #European & #WorldDayAgainstTheDeathPenalty #Iran holds highest number in global executions
Statement by Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament#HumanRights #DeathPenalty @Europarl_EN @FedericaMog @davidmcallister @EP_President @Maryam_Rajavi @eu_eeas pic.twitter.com/wcOLJS7QFo

— Firouz Mahvi (@FirouzMahvi) October 10, 2018

A Violent and Barbaric Regime

The clerical regime carries out more executions per capita than any other regime or government on earth. The mullahs’ regime accounted for more than half of all the executions in the world in 2017.

In 2018 so far, the regime has executed more than 230 Iranian citizens, among them, were political prisoners, women, and juvenile offenders.

In just a month of September alone, Friends of a Free Iran report, 33 Iranians were hanged, including nine political prisoners, whose only crime was disagreeing with the hard-line, dogmatic ideology of the clerical regime.

Remembering 1988 Massacre of MEK Activists

2018’s World Day Against the Death Penalty holds a special significance. It marks the 30^th anniversary of one of the darkest chapters of Iran’s history.

In the summer of 1988, the regime rounded up more than 30,000 members of the Iranian opposition, the majority of which came from the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK). The men and women were detained, then executed on the orders of the regime’s leadership.

The most difficult part for the families of the victims, as well as MEK members today, is that those responsible for the crimes have escaped punishment. Many hold senior positions in Rouhani’s cabinet today.

The Friends of a Free Iran press release mentions Rouhani’s Justice Minister, Alireza Avaei. Avaei played a central role in the 1988 massacre. He was a member of the “death squad” that ordered and carried out many of the arrests and executions that summer.

State-Sponsored Terrorism

Friends of a Free Iran also took the opportunity to denounce the Iranian regime’s engagement in state-sponsored terrorism. 2018 has seen the clerical regime plot two plots on European soil against the MEK, both of which were foiled in the late stages.

In June, an Iranian diplomat working at the Iranian embassy in Vienna provided a Belgian-Iranian couple with explosive material. The pair were going to attack the MEK’s Grand Gathering event in Paris with an explosive-laden vehicle.

The terrorist plots, according to Friends of a Free Iran, represent the violent nature of the clerical regime. Its statement condemned the regime for “attacking its own people inside Iran and… planning terrorism on the [sic] European soil”.

Friends of a Free Iran lamented the silence from the European community. It urged the European heads of state to take a harder approach towards Iran.

The statement read, “we must tell Iran that any acts of terror in Europe is absolutely unacceptable and will have serious consequences”, adding, “we are disappointed that our European governments and the EU [are] still trying to be nice with this brutal regime”.

Finally, the statement implored the international community to “be on the side of the people of Iran and not with the mullahs”. Only then can Iran make progress on human rights.

Staff Writer

There have been signs that the Iranian regime has been dealing with instability within the leadership for some time. The Minister for Labour and the Economic Minister were both removed from their positions in recent weeks, and Rouhani appeared before MPs on August 28^th to explain the country’s woeful economic situation.

Rouhani answered five questions on the economy. Four of the responses were unsatisfactory. Among the 82 MPs that witnessed the session, approximately 75% felt that his answers to questions on unemployment and inflation were not acceptable.

An Economy in Crisis

In the last six months, the rial has plummeted in value against the dollar. Its value is around half of that at the beginning of 2018. Poverty is creeping up, with many Iranians struggling for economic survival.

One-third of the population now live below the international poverty line based on regime sources, with one in ten living in conditions that amount to “absolute poverty” (the reality is a lot worse). Mohsen Hashemi, Chairman of Tehran’s Council, puts the blame squarely at the regime’s doorstep. He said the mullah’s “quick and careless formation of policies” has destroyed the economy.

A Web of Deceit

During the hearing with MPs, Rouhani spouted fabricated figures and statistics as he attempted to put a positive spin on his government’s five-year tenure. Rather than acknowledge his government’s failings, he instead blamed the economic crisis on the perceptions of the Iranian people.

“All of a sudden, people’s perception of Iran’s future changed, and this is a major problem”, he said. “Banking irregularities and the economic boom and the currency prices are all important issues, but they all pale in relation to the issue of public trust and hope”, he added.

Rouhani pinpointed the uprisings in December and January, as the moment that the current economic crisis began. “Suddenly the circumstances in the country changed”, he said.

President Rouhani also blamed his counterpart in the United States, Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the JCPOA on the 2017/2018 uprisings. He said that the “domestic turbulence and international threats frightened the people”.

Playing Down Reports of Factional Infighting

Finally, Rouhani attempted to dispel rumors of infighting within the regime leadership. Previously he had criticised the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of extensive smuggling, accusing the organization of smuggling billions of dollars across international borders. However, during questioning, Rouhani praised the IRGC for its role in preventing smuggling.

In refusing to give an accurate representation of his government’s role in creating the economic crisis and performing a U-turn on smuggling accusations within the IRGC, Rouhani demonstrated to the people of Iran that he has no interest in offering solutions to the country’s worsening economic situation. His answers demonstrate a leader burying his head in the sand to avoid the harsh realities of the situation, more concerned with smoothing over factionalism within his own government than improving the lives of the population.

The economic crisis ravaging the Iranian population looks set to worsen before it gets better. But one thing is certain: As seen in slogans of protesters in recent protests across Iran, shouting “Death to the Dictator” they well know that it is the entirety of the regime that is responsible for the corruption and mismanagement of the economy and that the only solution to the problem is regime change in Iran.

Staff Writer

The Iranian regime unleashed a wave of violence against prisoners in Iran this week. The regime brutally executed 19 prisoners across the nation’s prisons, with eight of the 19 hung in a mass execution at Gohardasht Prison in Karaj province.

On April 17^th, the wave of violence began with the execution of a prisoner in Tabriz. The next day, the hanging of the eight martyrs took place in Gohardasht Prison. On the same day, Bahman Varmazyar, a sports coach imprisoned in Hamadan, was executed by the regime. Five days later, on April 23^rd, five prisoners from Urmia Prison were hanged, three from Kermanshah and one prisoner interned in Ilam were also sent to the gallows.

It was not just those that the regime executed that met their end this week. Mohsen Parvas took his own life on the 21^st of April. He committed suicide in protest at the appalling conditions and overwhelming pressures on him in prison. Another 31-year-old, Nasir Zoraghi, died following restrictions on his access to medical assistance. He collapsed following a stroke in Zahedan Central Prison.

Many of those executed had endured show trials and arbitrary suspension of their human rights. They were prisoners like Ramin Hossein Panahi, a Kurdish political prisoner who had his death sentence upheld this week by the Iranian Supreme Court. His trial lasted less than an hour.

His lawyer described his illegal treatment at the hands of the Iranian authorities. There was no evidence pointing to Panahi’s charge of “taking up arms against the state”. He was unarmed when he was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

While in prison, Panahi has been subject to torture, apparent from the marks and bruises on his skin. He was also only permitted to speak to his legal counsel on one occasion. On that occasion, the meeting took place under the watch of Iranian security agents.

These show trials and brutal executions are a violation of international law. It represents the Iranian regime attempting to maintain its weakening grip on power through the brutal administration of violent reprisals towards its critics.

The rise in executions is a desperate attempt to intimidate the public, who are taking to the streets to express their discontent, given the growing protests in objection to the reign of terror and corruption and the growing poverty.

The authorities wave of executions is unacceptable. It is time to put an end to these arbitrary executions, show trails, torturous interrogations, and illegal imprisonments. The Iranian people must mobilize and throw off the shackles of the regime.

Staff Writer