A large number of members of European parliament released a statement regarding Iran’s abuse of human rights. The 265 MEPs said that they condemned Iran’s disregard for human rights and called for an inquiry to be commissioned so that the 1988 massacre in which more than 30,000 political prisoners were executed can be investigated. They also want to see those responsible for this crime against humanity face justice and stand before the International Court of Justice.
Members of the House of Representatives raised numerous questions at a hearing that dealt with US foreign policy on Iran. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson responded to a number of them.
Republican Representative Ted Poe from Texas asked a question that is on the minds of many. He asked what exactly the US policy towards Iran is and whether the US supports its ruling regime. He pointed out that there are Iranian exiles in many countries across the world and asked if the US supports them in their desire for a peaceful regime change.
As tense as presidential election campaigns are, it is usually followed by a period of positivity and hope. This is especially the case when the newly elected candidate wins with a majority, however this was not the case when President Hassan Rouhani was re-elected for his second term in Iran. In fact, the re-election was anything but positive on all fronts – Iran’s international standing, Iran’s economy and most certainly not for the Iranian people.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the main Iranian opposition, believes that the situation in Iran will only get worse during the course of Rouhani’s second term. They say that the Iranian regime was already in a position of extreme weakness before the elections and now it is as clear as day that the country’s leadership is falling to pieces. Internal disputes are becoming more and more difficult to keep hidden from the public eye.
Jay Solomon, the chief foreign affairs correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, was dismissed yesterday after it was discovered that he had been involved in business dealings with an Iranian-born aviation titan, Farhad Azima, who was in fact also one of his principal sources.
Solomon was a well-respected veteran of the publication and the news came as a shock to many of his colleagues.
Since before the recent presidential elections in Iran, tensions between President Hassan Rouhani and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have been getting worse. During the election campaign, Khamenei gave his backing to Rouhani’s rival, Ebrahim Raisi.
The Supreme Leader has been openly criticising the president and embarrassed and criticised him at a meeting which included many of the country’s senior officials, in particular the parliamentary speaker and the judiciary chief. He arrogantly sneered at Rouhani during his speech, saying: “Mr President has talked at great lengths about the country’s economy and well, he’s said ‘this should be done’, ‘that should be done’. But who is he addressing by mentioning the ‘should dos’? Himself.”
On Tuesday, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) released a comprehensive report detailing Iran’s missile program.
Since the Iran nuclear deal was signed in July 2015, it has accelerated its development of missiles.
The information released by the NCRI was gathered by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK) which has an extensive network of people inside the country gathering intelligence about the workings of the Iranian regime, its terrorist activities, its human rights violations and the ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
At a press conference in Washington on Tuesday, the Iranian opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), provided numerous details about Iran’s extensive ballistic missile program. It revealed the location of twelve sites that the Iranian regime has managed to keep hidden until now.
One site in particular, they said, is highly sensitive and has links to the regime’s nuclear program.
Remarks made by Iranian regime leader Ali Khamenei that encouraged Basijis and soft-war officers to make independent decisions and take action at their own will, are having heavy consequences, and engendering an atmosphere of fear.
A warning has been issued by the coordination council of the Iranian Ansar-e Hezbollah that they will counter women’s presence in sports stadiums with Khamenei’s order to “fire at will.” These vigilantes have announced that allowing women into stadiums is against the Islamic law.
Over the weekend, the Iranian regime publicized a missile strike against purported ISIS targets in eastern Syria. It claimed that the attack was a response to the twin terror attacks in Tehran at the Parliament building and the shrine of the founder of the regime.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps units launched mid-range ground-to-ground missiles from western Iran into the Deir al Zour region of eastern Syria, killing a “large number” of terrorists and destroying their equipment and weapons, Reuters reported, and added that the missiles targeted the “headquarters and gathering centers of Takfiri terrorists supporting and building car bombs.”
On Thursday, the United States Senate passed unprecedented sanctions targeting Iran’s ballistic missile program, support for terrorism in the Middle East, and human rights violations. These new measures are far more complex than the sanctions imposed prior to the Iran nuclear deal. The new sanctions provide the US President vast authority for further punitive action.
