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Showing posts from November, 2018

Countering Iran’s Threat, Strategies for Regional Stability

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  Written by Mahmoud Hakamian Two-minute read On Sunday morning, April 14, the Iranian regime launched an unprecedented attack against Israel, escalating tensions in the Middle East. Despite military experts’ assessments that the attack failed, it underscores  Iran’s role as a focal point  of regional conflict. The October 7th attack sent shockwaves globally. Despite ample evidence implicating the Iranian regime, Western governments dismissed Tehran’s involvement, adhering to a flawed appeasement policy toward the primary state sponsor of terrorism. They disregarded explicit statements from Revolutionary Guards  (IRGC) commanders boasting  about their direct role in the attack. For decades, the Iranian Resistance has urged the international community to adopt a resolute stance against the Iranian regime’s aggression and terrorism. Despite persistent calls, the failed appeasement policy of the West allowed Tehran to escalate its belligerent activities, including financing, arming, train
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HOW THE MEK WOULD RUN IRAN

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By Siavosh The Iranian Regime is besieged by US sanctions, international condemnation for their malign behaviour, factional infighting, and domestic unrest that has taken the form of nationwide anti-regime protests led by democratic opposition force the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran ( PMOI/MEK ). The MEK, as part of a wider coalition of democratic forces calling for regime change in Iran – the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ), will take control in Iran for a six-month period following the fall of the mullahs to hold a free and fair election in order to form a national assembly and institute a new constitution. Given that it now seems more likely that the MEK will be taking power in Iran before too long, we thought we should look at the 10-point political platform they have adopted as it will so form the basis for the Iranian constitution. 1. The ballot box: The MEK believes that the only path to political legitimacy is through free and fair electio
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Iran's Conduct Warranted the Sanctions It Faces

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By  Adam Turner On November 4, 2018 , “thousands of Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran on Sunday to burn American flags and mock President Trump with cardboard effigies and caricatures.” They also  shouted  “Death to America.” Much of the U.S. press reporting on these protests also linked them to the same day’s snap-back of American sanctions on the oil, shipping, insurance, and banking sectors in Iran. These sanctions were reinstituted after President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),  noting  the poor terms of the deal, and its funding of Iranian terror and aggression. One article specifically  emphasized  that “rancor is especially strong this time following Trump’s decision in May to withdraw from world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions on Tehran.” The idea that the Iranian regime’s “rancor” towards the U.S. has been on an upsurge since the U.S. left the JCPOA is laughable. Nothing has really changed.
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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DELEGATION MEETS PMOI LEADER IN TIRANA

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Maryam Rajavi met with a high-ranking delegation from the European Parliament in Tirana. They talked about the situation of members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Albania as well as the latest developments in Iran. The EP delegation included Messrs. Tunne Kelam, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Vice Chairman of the Friends of a Free Iran inter-parliamentary group in the European Parliament, Jaromir Stetina, Vice Chairman of the EP Subcommittee on Security and Defense and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee; and Struan Stevenson, Coordinator of the Campaign for Iran Change, former member of the European Parliament, and former President of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq (2009-2014). Noting the joint statement of 150 members of the European Parliament which condemns violations of human rights in Iran and its terrorist plots in Europe, the EP delegation declared their support for the People’s Mojahed
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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DELEGATION MEETS PMOI LEADER IN TIRANA

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Maryam Rajavi met with a high-ranking delegation from the European Parliament in Tirana. They talked about the situation of members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Albania as well as the latest developments in Iran. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAUFEGaGrn0 The EP delegation included Messrs. Tunne Kelam, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Vice Chairman of the Friends of a Free Iran inter-parliamentary group in the European Parliament, Jaromir Stetina, Vice Chairman of the EP Subcommittee on Security and Defense and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee; and Struan Stevenson, Coordinator of the Campaign for Iran Change, former member of the European Parliament, and former President of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq (2009-2014). Noting the joint statement of 150 members of the European Parliament which condemns violations of human rights in Iran and its terrorist plots in Europe, the EP delegation de
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ANALYSIS: Iranian concerns heightened after US midterm elections

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By Heshmat Alavi With the dust settling after the US midterm elections, a look at the impact of this important development for the Iranian regime is called for. It has become a known fact that Tehran’s mullahs seek to wait out the presidency of Donald Trump in hopes of him not being re-elected come November 2020. In line with this train of thought, the Iranian regime was closely following the US midterm elections, rooting for the Democrats to take over all of Congress. This rooting was seen specifically in Tehran’s lobby efforts in support for Democrat candidates. Not see in the media was the reaction from Iran as reality continues to sink in for the regime and the road ahead looks even more troubling, in their own words. The Iranian regime was closely following the US midterm elections, rooting for the Democrats to take over all of Congress. This rooting was seen specifically in Tehran’s lobby efforts in support for Democrat candidates Heshmat Alavi “Maximum pressure” D
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Iran: Workers at Sugar Cane Mill Continue to Protest Unpaid Wages

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By Mahmoud Hakamian The Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Mill was once a source of national pride, but since it was privatized in 2015, it has been struggling financially. Workers at the mill in Ahvaz, southwest Iran, have continued their protests for the fifth consecutive day. The workers say that not only have they not been paid since August, but they also want answers regarding the future of the industrial complex. Workers’ strikes and demonstrations  occur regularly at the mill. Workers claim they are not paid for months at a time. As well, they say that their wages and benefits have been cut since privatization. On November 8th, state-run Iran Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported that the names of many of the complex's shareholders, and members of its board of directors, are on an official list of those who have violated currency exchange regulations. In fact, the company’s largest shareholder and director general is believed to have either fled Iran or been detained by the aut
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The Guardian Demonises Iran’s Democratic Opposition to the Benefit of the Ruling Regime

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By Firouz Mahvi The British newspaper The Guardian published a lengthy, 3-page article targeting Iran’s democratic opposition, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran ( PMOI or MEK ). Author Arron Merat, an Iranian-British citizen and well-known apologist of the Islamic Republic, has worked extensively to attack the opposition, and penned numerous articles encouraging tourism in Iran as “a must visit destination.” The Guardian piece is a collection of baseless allegations , invented and disseminated by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, and lacks the minimum standards of a fair, objective article. It is but another attempt to demonise the only organized and serious opposition to the mullahs. The PMOI was formed 54 years ago by three young students who were unhappy about the repression and corruption of the Shah’s dictatorship. During the 1979 anti-monarchy revolution, later hijacked by Ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamists, the PMOI’s surviving members, numbering less than 100, were rel
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Iran’s hangs 22 people in Ahvaz

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Human rights activists in Ahvaz are reporting that 22 people in various prisons in Ahvaz were hanged and that their families were informed of their execution. The executions were  reportedly  carried out on Thursday November 8. Official sources have yet to confirm the executions but many believethat the hangings were carried out secretly in retaliation to a Septemberattack against a government parade in this city. Unofficial sources have identified four of those who were executed as Ahmad Alaboudi, Mohammad Momeni and two of his sons, Nesar and Asameh Momeni. On September 24, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence issued a statement stating that 22 people were arrested in connection to the military parade attack. The names of these four men were among the 22 detained suspects. The Ministry also published a video showing the detainees with blindfolds facing a wall. Arab activists have said that the Khuzestan Intelligence Agency contacted a number of the detainees’ families t
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Pompeo: Iran’s Mullahs Must Decide to Feed the Iranian People

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By Shahriar Kia US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told BBC Persia that the Iranian regime’s leaders must decide whether the Iranian people should eat; just days after the Trump administration imposed the “harshest sanctions ever” on Iran. He was asked how the US would ensure that medicine and food are exempted from the sanctions, as the US already promised to do, and responded that the US would do two things in relation to the sanctions: 1) Ensure that “things that are sanctioned don’t happen” 2) Ensure the “things that are permitted to happen are permissible, and can in fact happen”. However, he advised that while the US would do everything in its power to help the Iranian people to survive during the sanctions that are aimed at changing the Iranian Regime’s malign behaviour, they could not control the Regime’s actions. He said: “The leadership has to make a decision that they want their people to eat … That’s the Iranian government’s choice on how to use Iranian we
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Bolton: Iran Sanctions Already Had "Enormous" Effect

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Iran Focus London, 8 Nov - National security adviser  John Bolton said  on Monday that US sanctions on Iran have already had an "enormous" effect, driving Iran’s economy into a depression before they even came fully into effect. Bolton said: “We’ve already seen the consequences in Iran… The rial, the currency, has declined by 70 per cent since the sanctions, inflation has quadrupled. The country is in recession.” Ever since sanctions were announced in May, businesses have been pulling out of Iran fast and this has destroyed the already fragile Iranian economy. This means that Iran lacks the money to finance its nuclear program, terrorist groups, or even the repression of the nationwide protests that have been exacerbated following the announcement of sanctions. While the sanctions have not been as harsh as some hoped – eight countries were given sanctions waivers and are still allowed to import Iranian oil – Bolton claims that this is still indicative of Trump’s “max
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Bolton: Iran Sanctions Already Had "Enormous" Effect

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Iran Focus London, 7 Nov - National security adviser John Bolton said on Monday that  US sanctions on Iran  have already had an "enormous" effect, driving Iran’s economy into a depression before they even came fully into effect. Bolton said: “We’ve already seen the consequences in Iran… The rial, the currency, has declined by 70 per cent since the sanctions, inflation has quadrupled. The country is in recession.” Ever since sanctions were announced in May, businesses have been pulling out of Iran fast and this has destroyed the already fragile Iranian economy. This means that Iran lacks the money to finance its nuclear program, terrorist groups, or even the repression of the nationwide protests that have been exacerbated following the announcement of sanctions. While the sanctions have not been as harsh as some hoped – eight countries were given sanctions waivers and are still allowed to import Iranian oil – Bolton claims that this is still indicative of Trump’s “max
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Tehran Recognizes Iran Opposition as the Alternative; So Should We

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Rudy Giuliani   The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com.   The American Iranian diaspora that stands against the regime in Iran last month came to New York, my city, as the international community does during the annual United Nations General Assembly meetings. For the ninth time, I had the honor of addressing them. We have an obligation to listen to what the Iranian people have been saying over the past nine months in their continuous nationwide protests. I am one of a large bipartisan group of former governors, mayors, military leaders, senior administration officials and members of Congress, who agree on one critical foreign policy, as the Iranian people do: Iran is entitled to freedom and democracy, and should be led by those who have fought for it and with whom America can find its best allies. We strongly support the largest and most organized Iranian opposition, known as the Mujahedin e-Khalq
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U.S. Sanctions on Iran Showing Signs of Success Already

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By Mohammad Sadat Khansari U.S President Donald Trump pulled out of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), also known as the 2015 nuclear deal, earlier this year. He explained that the agreement does not meet the aim of preventing Iran from becoming nuclear – rather it guarantees a nuclear arms race in the region. He said that the U.S. was going to initiate a maximum pressure campaign and announced that the crippling economic sanctions that were in place before the nuclear deal was signed would be re-imposed. Trump has been criticised for pulling out of the deal and critics say that his policies are unwise and careless. However, the policies have so far shown success so the criticism does nothing but detract from the action that is forcing the regime to reconsider its own policies. Since the moment Trump announced that sanctions were to be re-imposed, the Iranian economy started to falter even more. The Rial – the national currency of Iran – lost even more value a
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US sanctions and its impact on the uprising of the Iranian people

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  By  Reza Hoseani The US government described the second-round sanctions as the most severe sanctions imposed on Iran's regime. What are the sanctions included? The regime's sanctions include the energy sector, including oil and gas, and the boycott of the central bank of the regime, which includes the swift system, which would cut off all the banking and financial exchanges of the regime. That is, apart from the fact that the regime will not be able to sell its oil or petrochemical products like that, even if it sells it, it will not be able to collect its money. Only the so-called humanitarian goods, such as food, medicine and medical supplies, can only be supplied. In addition, the sanctions include the shipping and airline of the Iranian regime, when the shipping of the Iranian regime is sanctioned, the ports of the world will be closed to the Iranian regime's ships or the destination of the Iranian regime, and the mullah regime will not be able to use oil and
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