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Showing posts from July, 2022

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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Iman Sabzikar Hanged in Public: Another Victim of Iran Regime’s Impunity

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  Written by  Mahmoud Hakamian Blindfolded and handcuffed, they brought him to a square in Shiraz, where he would later be hanged in public. He was 28 years old, full of life, and had a future ahead of him, but in a few moments, he would be swinging in the air, suffocating to death.    This was the tragic  fate of Iman Sabzikar , a deprived construction worker who was executed in public last week for standing up for his rights. He was convicted of allegedly killing a high-ranking police officer in February 2022 who had harassed Iman and blackmailed this deprived worker for years. The corrupt police officer was protected by the regime’s law and enjoyed systematic impunity in Iran.    Iman’s cruel hanging in public is part of Iran’s new wave of executions. On July 28, Iran’s ruling theocracy hanged a soldier in Rasht, northern Iran, for allegedly killing a high-ranking officer. In addition, three other prisoners were hanged in Sanandaj prison, northwestern Iran.    On Wednesday, the  cle
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EU’s ‘soft’ approach to Iran has failed

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  By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh The European powers have been primarily pursuing the same policy toward the Iranian government since 2015. This could have severe repercussions for regional and global peace and security if the EU does not swiftly alter its strategy. In 2015, in order to reach a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic, the European powers — France, Germany and the UK — changed their Iran policy from imposing pressure to adopting diplomacy. The diplomatic route included lifting oil and gas sanctions on Iran, as well as removing some Iranian individuals and entities from the sanctions list. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or nuclear deal, produced “the comprehensive lifting of all UN Security Council sanctions as well as multilateral and national sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program, including steps on access in areas of trade, technology, finance and energy.” The EU immediately allowed transfers of funds between EU individuals and entities with Iran, allowed resump
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Are we looking at the JCPOA’s corpse?

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  By  Farid Mahoutchi Iran’s nuclear program is “galloping ahead” and the International Atomic Energy Agency has very limited visibility on what is happening, said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in an   interview   with Spain’s El Pais newspaper on July 22. These remarks have been described by analysts as a serious warming about Tehran becoming a nuclear threshold state in the near future. The Wall Street Journal published a   piece   on July 25 titled “The Iran Nuclear Deal’s Convulsive Death.” All the while the claims made by Tehran paint a completely different picture. “The path is paved for an agreement in the near future,” said Tehran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson in press conference on July 20. “If the opposite party acts in logic and reason, the negotiations can lead to results,” said Iranian regime President   Ebrahim Raisi   on July 26. The correct nature of these two different viewpoints can be concluded from the latest position of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and his op
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Floods in Iran Ravage Provinces, as the Regime Stands Idly By

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 Written by Shamsi Saadati Floods ravaged southwestern and southeastern Iran, taking the lives of nearly 40 people so far. They were not just numbers but human beings who lost their lives in the era of technology due to regime officials’ failure to address an environmental crisis.    On Friday, July 22, heavy rainfall and subsequent flood in Fars province, southwest Iran, resulted in 11 deaths. The number of casualties has so far surpassed 23 in three cities in Fars province. It is worth noting that hundreds of people lost their lives in March 2019, on the cusp of the Persian New Year, due to heavy floods in Fars provinces, as well as other parts of the country, but the regime has not taken any action to prevent this crisis ever since.    “This crisis would not have happened if we had alarmed people. It has been a few years since the incident occurred in Shiraz, and we are witnessing another similar catastrophe. Timely warnings could have prevented this incident. Why local officials an
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While Western Powers Push To Revive JCPOA, Iran Officials Explicitly Brag About Producing Nuclear Bombs

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  Written by   Mahmoud Hakamian Edmund Burke once said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” As the world leaders seek to revive Iran’s nuclear deal and do not respond to Tehran’s provocative actions, the evil regime now boasts about “being close” to a nuclear bomb.   On July 18, Mohammad Javad Larijani, a top official close to the regime’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, blatantly claimed: “If we want to build a nuclear bomb, no one can stop us. We do not have permission to pursue weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, but if at some point we decide to do it naturally, no one can prevent us.”   On the same day, Kamal Kharazai, former Iranian foreign minister and Khamenei’s top foreign policy advisor, told Al-Jazeera Arabic, “It is no secret that we have the technical capabilities to manufacture a nuclear bomb, but we have no decision to do so.”  These acknowledgments coincide with Western powers’ incessant efforts to revive t
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Will diplomacy alone work with the Iranian regime?

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  By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh Various approaches can be used to counter threats posed by a rogue state. But is diplomacy alone adequate to deal with the Iranian regime? US President Joe Biden still believes that diplomacy is the best policy to counter and deal with Iran. He said on July 14: “I continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to achieve this outcome. We will continue to work with Israel to counter other threats from Iran throughout the region, including support for terrorism, a ballistic missile program that continues, and the proliferation of weapons to terrorist and proxies like Hezbollah.” The Biden administration has adopted this soft policy toward the theocratic establishment of Iran since it assumed office in January 2021. Appeasement, conciliation and concessions have appeared to be part of this diplomatic route from the outset. The Biden administration first declared to the Iranian government that it not only wanted to remove nuclear-related sanctions, but also tha
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Why Is It Imperative to End Iran Regime’s Impunity?

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  Written by  Mahmoud Hakamian Since the end of 2017, Iran has undergone several anti-regime uprisings. The first of these prompted a speech from the regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, which acknowledged that the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran  (PMOI/MEK)  had steered that uprising toward a message of regime change. Since then, similar calls for a wholesale change of government have grown out of every major protest, including those which initially focus on specific issues such as recent cuts to food subsidies and  a building collapse in the city of Abadan , which was widely viewed as a consequence of the regime’s corruption.   The persistence of that unrest entails the defiance of worsening repression. During one uprising in November 2019 alone,  over 1,500 Iranian activists were killed  in mass shooting events, yet large-scale demonstrations resumed less than two months later, spurred on by the regime’s attempted cover-up of a missile strike that  brought down a commercia
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