According to Iran Human Rights (IHR), a woman sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder was executed in the early hours of March 13 in Rasht Central Prison. Maryam (Massoumeh) Karimi has been established as her identity. Maryam Karimi was charged with murdering her husband alongside her father, Ebrahimi Karimi. IHR reported on February 22 that they had been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions after their final visit together. The execution was postponed for unknown reasons, and only Maryam’s sentence was carried out today.

Torching pictures of Khamenei and Soleimani continue

On January 31st, the defiant youth set fire to the pictures of Ali Khamenei, religious fascist regime’s Supreme Leader, and torched pictures of top terrorist Qahssme Soleimani, commander of terrorist Quds Force, in Tehran and also in Isfahan, Shiraz, Ahvaz, Rasht, Golestan, Ilam, Behbahan, and Kamyaran.

On September 26, 2019, Leila Zarafshan became the 95th woman to be executed since the regime President Hassan Rouhani took office. She was hanged early Thursday morning in the Central Prison of Sanandaj.

Zarafshan was sentenced to death five years ago for the murder of her husband and was imprisoned in the Central Prison of Sanandaj until her execution. Research indicates that women who kill their husbands tend to be victims of domestic abuse. Under the misogynistic Iranian regime, women are subjected to forced marriages and have few rights. Domestic violence is rampant, and abused women find themselves without legal protection or financial resources to leave the marriage.

Leila Zarafshan’s execution was not published in state-run press or media. This is common practice when women are executed in Iran.

A Grisly Record

Iran, with a population of 80 million people, executes more women than any other country. It also holds the record for the most executions per capita. The regime uses the death penalty as a suppressive tool to maintain its tenuous hold on power and to silence those who speak against its corrupt and incompetent policies. 80 percent of Iranians live below the poverty line, and the resulting economic and social unrest have led to widespread protests calling for regime change. The mullahs have responded with further crackdowns on dissent, including an increase in executions, floggings, and lengthy prison sentences. These punishments are carried out in a judicial system that largely ignored due process.

Other Executions

The regime’s crackdown has hit women particularly hard. Seven women were executed during a three-month period this summer.

• On August 25, 2019, a 38-year-old woman was executed in Mashhad Central Prison.
• Maliheh Salehian was hanged in the Central Prison of Mahabad.
• Zahra Safari Moghadam, 43, was hanged in the Nowshahr Prison.
• Arasteh Ranjbar was hanged in the Central Prison of Urmia
• Nazdar Vatankhah was also hanged in the Central Prison of Urmia. She and Ranjbar had both already served 15 years in prison.

 

The actual number of executions is likely to be much higher because most executions in Iran are carried out in secret.

Protests over Rouhani’s Presence at U.N.

Leila Zarafshan was one of ten people who were executed by the Iranian regime on Thursday. While these executions were taking place, regime President Hassan Rouhani attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Thousands of Mujahedin-e Khalq/MEK supporters protested Rouhani’s presence at the U.N. this week, citing the regime’s human rights record and warmongering. The MEK believes that Rouhani and the Iranian regime have no place in an organization that is meant to promote world peace and stability.

Staff Writer

Ms. Megan Rapinoe, U.S. women’s soccer star received FIFA’s best woman player of the year in Italy on Monday, September 23^rd. Rapinoe paid tribute to Sahar Khodayari dubbed as the “Blue Girl” for her courage of standing to the Iranian regime. She called Sahar as a source of inspiration.

Similar remarks were made about Sahar by many women soccer players, including the members of Germany, Italy, and Sweden’s national teams.

FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino has said that he hopes the Iranian regime would end the unacceptable situation by the start of World Cup games on September 19th.

The “Blue Girl” with her death echoed the Iranian women’s struggle against mullahs’ misogynic regime. Iranian women are not only banned from participating in many social events such as watching football matches in stadiums, but they are unofficially considered second class citizens by the ruling mullahs in Iran.

Sahar was arrested in March for attempting to enter Azadi Stadium. A judiciary official said she was charged with “insulting the public by defying the dress code for women,” and “insulting the law enforcement agents.”

Her sister told the state-run ROKNA news agency, “Security forces noticed my sister as she was attempting to walk into the stadium. When she resisted, they arrested her.”

She adds: “After my sister was sent to (Qarchak) Prison in Varamin, she was badly terrified and hurt emotionally until being freed on bail. Then she went to the courthouse to take back her cellphone. There, something happened, and she overheard that she must stay in prison for six months. My sister set herself on fire and is now in hospital in dire conditions.”

European football’s governing body (UEFA) said on Tuesday it would tell member clubs and national teams not to play games in countries where women do not have full access to stadiums.

This situation rapidly turns every social problem that stems from the mullahs’ tyranny into a crisis for the regime. As an example, the self-immolation of Sahar Khodayari in protest to her arrest for trying to enter the Azadi Stadium to watch a soccer match. Her tragic death rapidly turned into a vast social issue, forcing the mullahs to take a position. In their most recent sermons, the regime’s Friday prayers leaders have echoed the regime’s panic and fear of social discontent which could erupt at any moment. The regime’s nightmare, as it has been repeated by its supreme leader Ali Khamenei are the Mojahedin -e Khalq (MEK) and their resistance units.

The Iranian regime is against dissident athletes. Case in point is the captain of Iran’s national soccer team Habib Khabiri executed in 1983.

Khabiri was Iran national football team’s captain in 1979. He played center back. “Habib a genius in Iran’s football at the time,” says Hassan Naebagha, formerly Khabiri’s teammate and colleague and now a member of the NCRI, adding “he was the best Asian player of his time. He was a two-footed player who, despite being relatively short, could win every one-on-one battle thanks to his athletic ‘little Hercules’ body.”

Habib Khabiri was arrested in 1983 by the mullahs’ oppressive regime. Putting Khabrir under extensive tortures and pressures to break him down in front of Khomeini’s TV cameras, the regime eventually executed him by firing squad on June 21, 1984, for his supporting the PMOI/MEK.

They can act as a strong catalyst turning social unrest into a widespread uprising. It happened in January 2018 and it can happen anytime.

Staff Writer

 

The Iranian Regime has denied basic human rights to the Iranian people, especially women, for 40 years now, but the pro-democracy movement has remained strong and active, despite vicious reactions by the Regime.

On occasion, this resistance has been visible to the world, such as for the 2009 protests against the rigged election and the nationwide uprising in January 2018. In every uprising, protest, and pro-democracy movement, women have been at the forefront and, according to women’s rights advocate Dr. Maria Ryan, that is no accident.

She wrote for The Hill on Thursday, September 12, 2019, that the mullahs have targeted Iranian women with “repressive, misogynistic laws and execution”, explaining that a female soccer fan died from self-immolation last week because she expected to be jailed for attending a football match.

Women are crucial to resisting Iran's regime https://t.co/6SuivoN5sP

— Maria Ryan (@MariaRyanNH) September 12, 2019

Ryan spoke at the annual conference of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in July, at Ashraf 3, the new home of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK), during a panel entitled “Women in the Iranian Resistance: Defying the Misogynist Regime, Paying the Price of Freedom”.

Ryan wrote of that event: “I met many brave women who survived the mullahs’ brutal crackdown. Many said they had suffered in torture chambers for long years. They shared their stories with me, their personal suffering and the loss of loved ones.”

She continued: “They explained that, while living in Iran, they were not able to choose their own clothes or their professions; a girl as young as nine years old could be married, they said, and a man could have multiple wives. They were forced to leave Iran and were promised safety in camps inside Iraq, they recounted to me, only to be targeted by bombs and gunfire. Several of them said they lost many of their friends to these attacks.”

Ryan said that daily life had become so difficult for many Iranians that growing numbers are turning to drugs to dull the pain or selling their organs to make ends meet. She said that, despite this, the women she met “inspired” her with their “determination, loyalty, patriotism and faith”.

Maryam Rajavi accompanied by lawmakers, dignitaries and women rights activists in Conference “Iran Uprising and The Role of Women”- Paris – February 17, 2018#WomenForce4Change #Iran pic.twitter.com/kpNys2qtCj

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) February 17, 2018

She explained that the NCRI and its members want basic freedoms and are preparing to serve as an interim government if the Iranian people overthrow the mullahs.

Ryan said: “Whether or not you believe that regime change in Iran is truly just around the corner, I am absolutely convinced that with such women in the ranks of the resistance, the change will come to Iran.”

 Staff writer

On Tuesday, February 26th, a young woman was brutally beaten in an Iranian prison and tied to the rails in the hallway of the prison for several hours as reported by Irannewswire.org and a number of other outlets.

Arrested for Not Observing Hijab

The 25-year-old woman, known only as “Zahra,” was stopped and arrested on a street in central Khoy in West Azerbaijan Province on Sunday, February 24th for a violation of the mandatory hijab.  She was then taken in front of a judge, who transferred her to prison for “arguing” with him. It is not clear what the argument entailed.

Beaten in Prison

On Tuesday, February 26th, Zahra was helping another woman at the prison with her child at around 10 PM. A prison guard verbally abused her for “not observing the lights out” and claimed that she was being too loud.

Zahra argued with the guard, and then more guards arrived and brutally beat the young woman, despite the lack of physical threat posed by her. According to reports, the beating ripped Zahra’s clothes and dislodged her prosthetic leg.

Tied to Hallway Rail

After the violent beating, guards dragged Zahra to the prison hallway and tied her to the rails there. She was left in the hallway for five hours until other prisoners begged guards to release her and allow her to return to her cell to sleep.

Morality Police

Iranian women are often subjected to violence at the hands of the regime and its agents. Women found in violation of the mandatory hijab may be arrested or beaten in the street by the so called morality police. Last year a young woman was beaten in the street and dragged on the ground by morality police after she was accused of improper veiling.

#Iran
Female officer shown slapping woman and wrestling her to floor because her hijab was loose#پليس_داعشى pic.twitter.com/r616MWInH8

— IRAN HRM (@IranHrm) April 22, 2018

A bystander took a video of the incident, which shows the woman’s hair barely visible underneath her scarf. After the severe beating, her friend shouts that she has a heart condition and threatens to file a complaint against the female morality officer who carried out the attack. The officer responds, “You can’t do anything.”

An official of the theocratic regime claimed in January that allowing Iranian women to choose their clothing would lead to the end of the regime.

Jafar Dolatabadi, Tehran’s Chief Prosecutor said, “The enemy is trying to turn chastity and the hijab into a choice.”
He continued, “Therefore they have instigated some people to take off their hijab, trying to make their plans operational, but they were met with the decisive approach of the judiciary and the police.”

The regime has refused to take action to make Iran a safe place for women. The regime parliament refuses to raise the marriage age or pass a law criminalizing domestic violence, claiming that both laws would destroy families.

Insulting and brutalizing a young woman under the bogus pretext of improper veiling once again revealed the inhuman and anti-Islamic visage of the ruling mullahs of #Iran.

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 19, 2018

The MEK and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) believe that the women of Iran deserve better. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI, has a ten-point plan for the democratic future of Iran that includes gender equality and separation of religion and state. The women of Iran have been denied their voices for forty years. The time has come for women to take back their freedom. The MEK is proud to be part of that effort.

February marks the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, and the Iranian regime is using the occasion to celebrate the fact that it has managed to hold onto power: a lukewarm achievement at best.

Iranian women felt the sting of oppression under the mullahs’ rule immediately and have suffered daily for the last forty years. It is hard to understate how drastically life changed for women in Iran after 1979 and how deeply this has altered Iranian society.

Second-class Citizens

The regime’s misogynistic views toward women are documented well before the 1979 Revolution. In 1962, Ruhollah Khomeini previous regime Supreme Leader wrote a letter to the Shah of Iran, conferring his extremist views under the banner of Islam, saying that the “interests of the state are better served by preserving the religious teachings of Islam and calmness of the heart.” He advised that women should no longer be allowed to vote.

#Iranian women are fighting stronger than ever and paying the highest price in the struggle for #humanrights #justice #freedom #democracy #workersrights #childrights #environmental justice #womensrights #separationofchurchandstate & more! #FreeIran pic.twitter.com/2T6Y8lzg5T

— NCRIWomen'sCommittee (@womenncri) February 13, 2019

After the Shah’s monarchical dictatorship was overthrown in the 1979 Revolution, Khomeini seized control of the country and established the clerical regime that is still in place in Iran. Shortly after the Revolution, Khomeini abolished the Family Protection Law, which gave women family rights. Soon afterward, female judges were banned from working in the judiciary, and social services for women were canceled.

 

Almost overnight the women of Iran were relegated to the status of second-class citizens, and over the past forty years, their treatment has worsened under the mullahs’ rule. Under regime law, Iranian women must comply with mandatory hijab, a dress code that includes strict standards for modest dress and veiling. The regime has cracked down on its enforcement of hijab over the years, and women who are found to be out of compliance may be beaten in the street.

 

In 2014, a number of Iranian women were the victims of acid attacks and stabbings. According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s (NCRI) Women’s Committee, these attacks were carried out by gangs backed by the Iranian regime.

For 40 years, Islamic fundamentalism in #Iran has placed enmity with women at the core of its crimes, intimidating the entire Iranian society through the repression of women. https://t.co/JEAf8NtPWM

— NCRIWomen'sCommittee (@womenncri) February 15, 2019

An estimated 87 women have been executed since current regime President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013. In the summer of 1988, tens of thousands of women were executed during the 1988 Massacre of  political prisoners, mainly MEK members. These women, who included elderly women, pregnant women, and teenagers, were executed for exercising their freedom of expression.

Advocating for Women’s Rights in Iran

 

The NCRI’s Women’s Committee partners with women’s rights organizations across the world to draw attention to the plight of Iranian women and to advocate for equal rights in Iran.

 

The NCRI, the democratic alternative to the ruling regime, offers hope to the people of Iran who want to live outside of the shackles of the oppressive theocracy. The NCRI and its leader, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, will not allow women to be treated as second-class citizens in a free Iran. This commitment is spelled out in Mrs. Rajavi’s ten-point plan for the future of Iran, which guarantees gender equality and equal representation in government.

Tomorrow's #Iran: 10 point plan for a #freeIran presented by @Maryam_Rajavi
In light of recent events in the aftermath of #IranProtests, many are wondering what would Iran after the mullahs look like?
4 more information on the NCRI & its viewpoints visit: https://t.co/bRdGSul2Gx pic.twitter.com/zDR1OC5l6b

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 26, 2018

Women in Iran, says Mrs. Rajavi, are “paying the price for freedom and turn the page of history in their homeland.” The women who are protesting on the streets of Iran today are ensuring that their daughters and granddaughters can live as equals alongside their sons and grandsons.

 

The NCRI’s Women’s Committee supports the people of Iran in their protests against forced marriages of girls and violence against women. This is not a fight for just the women of Iran. Men are part of the protests for equality, and international activists have taken up the cause of equality for Iranian women.

 

Khomeini said that equality between women and men is “in fundamental violation of some of the most crucial rulings of Islam and in defiance of some of the explicit commandments of the Quran.” The MEK believes that this is a false and misogynistic representation of Islam.

 

Despite forty years of oppression, the women of Iran refuse to be silenced. Society benefits when strong women are free to raise their voices. The women of Iran will no longer wait for permission to do so.

Staff Writer

The Iranian regime parliament’s Legal Commission defended the rejection of a bill which would have completely banned child marriage in Iran. The “Child Spouse Bill,” which was introduced into the regime parliament in 2016, would have completely banned marriage for girls under the age of 13 and boys under the age of 16.

Hassan Nourozi, the spokesperson for the parliament’s Legal Commission, justified the bill’s failure in comments that were broadcast on state-run media.

“For a girl who is alone and has no one, marriage is definitely a game changer,” he said.

#Iran regime has always promoted #childmarriage, hence facilitating rape & #VAW https://t.co/5gFFFEH6aK pic.twitter.com/MPvkkgfdej

— NCRIWomen'sCommittee (@womenncri) August 4, 2016

The Child Spouse Bill

The Child Spouse Bill would prohibit marriage for girls under the age of 13 and boys under the age of 16. Girls between the ages of 13-16 and boys between the ages of 16-18 would need parental consent and permission from the court to marry. Girls over the age of 16 and boys over the age of 18 could marry without permission.

Child Marriage Statistics

#Iran: 12-year-old commits suicide to evade forced #childmarriage https://t.co/hbuNkNbhob pic.twitter.com/HyUZzgp1gS

— NCRIWomen'sCommittee (@womenncri) August 3, 2016

Official sources cite at least 37,000 registered marriages of girls between the ages of 10-14 in Iran in 2017. There are 24,000 divorcées under the age of 18 in Iran. 15,000 of those women are under the age of 15.

A 2017 Iranian media report said that 17% of girls in Iran married when they were under 18 years of age.

Contradictions in Current Law

In his defense of Parliament’s rejection of the bill, Nourozi said, “In our opinion, there are some problems in the proposed bill because many of the criteria are not acceptable. According to the representatives in the Legal Commission, a 15-year-old girl is not considered a child … and is fit to marry.”

Nourozi noted that Sharia law, Qom jurisprudence, and Iranian and Lebanese experts all say that girls enter puberty at the age of nine. He compared the experience of his grandmother with Iranian girls in 2018, saying, “My own grandmother was married at 9 years of age and did not have any problems.”

 

He added, “Our point is that if a girl who does not have a father and has problems can marry a 17-year-old young (man), and there is no problem with that.”

 

Statistics contradict Nourozi’s contention that girls marry 17-year-old boys. Most underage girls are forced to marry much older men. In 2013, over 41,000 girls under the legal age were registered for marriage, but only 300 underage boys were registered.

 

Shahnaz Sajad, an official at the Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs, said in an interview with the state-run ILNA news agency that child marriage results from poverty, cultural deprivation, and addiction.

“What percent of 13-year-old girls or under 13 year-olds in our society think about marriage with a 14 or 16-year-old boy?” Sajad asked. “These cases are very rare.”

She added, “When the father of a 12-year-old girl forces her to marry because she does not want to marry, the legitimacy of such a marriage is legally and religiously problematic.”

#Iran: The mullahs’ parliament continues 2 refuse to pass a bill seeking to raise the minimum age of marriage 4 girls.. Those who defend 2 preserve the #Iranian regime turn a blind eye on the psychological & physical damages of #childmarriage on #girls https://t.co/HyUpvBbjKU pic.twitter.com/cp6TQqjndG

— NCRIWomen'sCommittee (@womenncri) June 1, 2018

The MEK is opposed to the regime’s oppression of women, including child marriage. The MEK and the Iranian Opposition offer a democratic alternative to the religious dictatorship, in which men and women can have equal representation in government. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Opposition, has a ten-point plan to restore democratic rule to Iran after the fall of the mullahs’ regime and to ensure that child marriage is a thing of the past.

Staff Writer

 

 

On Thursday, the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) condemned the savage beating of a young woman who was accused of “improper veiling”. The MEK (PMOI) joins them in their condemnation of this human rights abuse by Rouhani’s regime repressive “Morality Police” (Gasht-e Ershad).

 

The NCRI and MEK (PMOI) urge all organizations supporting women’s rights and human rights to stand with them in strong condemnation of this brutal attack by the regime’s suppressive forces.

 

The beating took place in Tehran on Wednesday, April 18th. The Morality Police attacked the young woman, claiming that she was improperly veiled, and beat her into unconsciousness. The brutal attack occurred despite the protestations of the woman’s friends, who said that she had a heart condition.

 

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, responded to the savage attack, saying that the brutal beating once again illustrated the ugly, inhuman and anti-Islamic face of the misogynous ruling regime in Iran.

Insulting and brutalizing a young woman under the bogus pretext of improper veiling once again revealed the inhuman and anti-Islamic visage of the ruling mullahs of #Iran.

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 19, 2018

She also called upon the Iranian youth “to confront such disrespect and violation of Iranian women’s dignity and not to allow their sisters to be attacked by Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and their mercenaries”

I urge the courageous young people of #Iran to confront such disrespect and violation of Iranian women’s dignity and do not allow their sisters to be attacked by revolutionary guards and mercenaries.

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 19, 2018

The violent enforcement of the strict women’s dress code, or hijab, in Iran is a means of controlling women and restricting the actions of Iranian society as a whole. Iranian women have fought against this oppression for 40 years and continue to do so, despite the brutality of the suppressive forces of the mullahs’ regime.

 

Mrs. Rajavi called upon the youth of Iran to counter this violence and repression against women by the Revolutionary Guard and its mercenaries and to stand up for their sisters and not allow them to be insulted, abused, and suppressed.

Staff Writer