Maryam Rajavi’s statement on Montazeri’s tape recording about Iran’s 1988 massacre

Maryam Rajavi; Mr. Montazeri’s Tape a Testament to Mojahedin’s steadfastness and to Regime Leaders’ Responsibility for Crimes Against Humanity

Maryam Rajavi : Tape recording of Mr. Montazeri’s Meeting with Those Responsible for Mass Executions of Political Prisoners is a Testament to Mojahedin’s Refusal to Surrender and to Regime Leaders’ Responsibility for Crimes Against Humanity
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, described the audio recording of a meeting between Mr. Montazeri, then successor to Khomeini, and those responsible for the mass executions of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 as a historical document.
She said the recording attested in the strongest possible manner both to the Mojahedin (PMOI/MEK) political prisoners’ rejection of surrender and to their admirable allegiance to, and perseverance in, their commitment to the Iranian people. The recording is also irrefutable evidence that leaders of the mullahs’ regime are responsible for crimes against humanity and the unprecedented genocide, Mrs. Rajavi said.
Khamenei, whose name is mentioned in the remarks made by the members of the “death commission” in this very meeting, openly declared his support for the mass executions that same year, and in the 28 years since has maintained close ties with the murderous officials who carried them out. He is a mastermind of these atrocities, and must be made to answer to the Iranian people and put on trial, she said.
She said: Mr. Montazeri, himself a founder and ideologue of the principle of velayat-e-faqih (absolute rule of the clergy), emphasizes in the recording, “The Iranian people are repulsed by the velayat-e-faqih” and “later will say that Agha (referring to Khomeini) was bloodthirsty and brutal figure.” His statements attest to the illegitimacy of the ruling regime from the 1980s, to the people’s repugnance towards the velayat-e-faqih, and to the righteousness of the resistance to overthrow that regime.
Mrs. Rajavi said: Montazeri’s remarks addressed to the four members of the ‘death commission’ that this massacre was “the greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic,” and the four officials’ acknowledgement that they were in the process of massacring the Mojahedin political prisoners and planning how to continue this atrocity, leave no room for doubt that the actions of these four men and many other leaders of the regime involved in these atrocities are, by any measure or definition, a crime against humanity.
She added: The international community, therefore, is obligated to bring them to justice. In particular because these four individuals and the others who carried out the massacre of political prisoners referred to in this meeting have, from the beginning of this regime to the present day, held posts at the highest levels of the judicial, political and intelligence apparatuses. At present, Mostafa Pourmohammadi is Hassan Rouhani ’s Minister of Justice. Hossein-Ali Nayyeri is the current head of the Supreme Disciplinary Court for Judges. And Ebrahim Raeesi is among the regime’s most senior clerics and the head of the Astan Qods-e Razavi foundation (a multi-billion dollar religious, political and economic conglomerate and one of the most important political and economic powerhouses in the clerical regime).
Mrs. Rajavi said: Montazeri’s affirmation that the Intelligence Ministry had for some time been investing in the mass executions and that Ahmad Khomeini (Khomeini’s son) had “been saying for three or four years, ‘The Mojahedin, even the ones who read their newspaper, to the ones who read their magazine, to the ones who read their statements – all of them must be executed’” are further evidence of the reality that the mass executions of 1988 were a premeditated crime against humanity. This rules out absurd assertions by the ruling regime and its toadies, who have tried to relate the executions to the Mojahedin’s Eternal Light military operation and thus blame the organization for this odious crime, she stressed.
The discussion with the members of the death commission took place on August 15, 1988, less than three weeks after the executions had begun. It reaffirms the horrifically high number of execution victims and refutes all of the regime’s deceptive ploys to downplay the extent of this crime. Montazeri in one instance says, “In the (cities’) prisons, they have done everything imaginable… and in Ahwaz it was really horrendous.”
Mrs. Rajavi emphasized: Montazeri’s statements, such as his description of the execution of a 15-year-old girl and of a pregnant woman in Isfahan, as well as the statements by the executioners in the meeting reveal the extent of the ruling regime’s ruthlessness and vengeance against the Mojahedin women and their glorious resistance. Addressing these murderers, Montazeri says, “I reminded Khomeini that according to the decrees of most religious scholars, a woman, even if she is a mohareb (enemy of God) must not be executed. But he did not agree, and said that women, too, must be executed.”
In the audio recording, one of the members of the death commission reveals: “As for the girls, God is my witness as far as we could, we tried to bargain with them. I have very strong nerves, but day before yesterday when I saw only one of them ……. I was really devastated. I started pleading with her to just write a couple of lines and we would send her back to the prison.”
Mrs. Rajavi saluted all the victims of the 1988 massacre, particularly the women and girls who frustrated the regime with their heroic resistance. She said: They paid the price of standing loyal to the cause of freedom and equality. And there is no doubt that tomorrow's free Iran will indeed blossom from their glorious sacrifice. This is a future which will be unquestionably realized.
She also hailed members and supporters of the Iranian Resistance and all freedom-loving Iranians who have participated for several weeks in worldwide campaigns to honor the 28th anniversary of the massacre of political prisoners in Iran and to spread the message of those gallant freedom fighters both in Iran and abroad.
Mrs. Rajavi called on all Iranians, especially Iranian youths, to demand justice for the victims of the 1988 massacre. This, she said, is a nationalist and patriotic duty and part of the Iranian people's struggle for regime change in Iran and to restore the Iranian people's right to political determination, a right that the clerical regime attempted to fiercely destroy with the 1988 massacre.
She added: Khamenei and his regime have concealed all the information and details of this crime. They must be compelled to publicly announce the complete list of names of those massacred and the locations of their graves and mass graves, one by one.
Mrs. Rajavi emphasized: As far as the Iranian people are concerned, they will never give up on their demand for the prosecution of each and every one of the regime's leaders involved in this massacre, no matter how many years it takes. The United Nations and the UN Security Council must make the necessary political and legal arrangements for the international prosecution of the regime's leaders for this crime against humanity.

Audio file revives calls for inquiry into massacre of Iran political prisoners

  The biggest crimes in Iran has been committed by the government

The Guardian, 11 August 2016 - The publication for the first time in Iran of an audio recording from nearly three decades ago has reopened old wounds from the darkest period in the Islamic Republic.
In the summer of 1988, thousands of supporters of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) organization were executed in a massacre of political prisoners. In the pre-internet age, the incident was subject to a media blackout in Iran and received scant attention abroad, unlike other acts of carnage that rank alongside it, such as Srebrenica.
Only one senior Iranian official dared to speak out at the time: Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who was in line to lead the country after Khomeini, then supreme leader and the leader of the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Montazeri wrote a number of letters to Khomeini condemning the executions, and the grand ayatollah soon fell out of favour. He was later placed under house arrest and faced huge restrictions until his death in December 2009.
This week, on the 28th anniversary of that bleak summer, Montazeri’s official website, run by his family and followers, published an audio file from a meeting he held in 1988 with senior judges and judiciary officials involved in the mass executions.
In an extraordinarily blunt manner, Montazeri is heard telling his audience, among them the sharia judge and public prosecutors, “In my view, the biggest crime in the Islamic Republic, for which the history will condemn us, has been committed at your hands, and they’ll write your names as criminals in the history.”
The 1988 mass execution is believed to have started after the MEK forces launched a military incursion against Iranian forces

In the audio recording, Montazeri tells his audience that he believes the authorities had a plan to execute political prisoners for a few years and found a good excuse in the wake of the incursion.
The ayatollah says he felt compelled to speak out because otherwise he would not have an answer on the “judgment day”. “I haven’t been able to sleep and every night it occupies my mind for two to three hours … what do you have to tell to the families?”

International Community Should Halt Iranian Terrorism

Arab Human Rights Forum dedicates Arab Gulf parliamentary initiative to face Iranian threats

Manama-Human Rights activists stressed in the first edition of the pan-Arab Forum on Iranian threats to Arab human security, which was held in Manama, Bahrain, on Saturday, that Arabs have become prone to sectarian threats that target their right to live a secure and stable life.
They blamed the current situation on the Iranian acts, which include imposing its sectarian ideology on Arab states, compromising the military and security state of affairs of countries and exposing Arabs’ lives to several risks.
The forum titled “No Rights without Security,” was organized by the Arab Federation for Human Rights under the auspices of the Speaker of the Council of Representatives Ahmed bin Ibrahim al-Mulla.
The forum said that Arabs cannot enjoy their rights and fundamental freedom unless there is peace, stability and security.
They also noted that Iranian interference in regional affairs is discordant with the principles of international relations of good neighborliness and peaceful coexistence.
The forum condemned acts of Iranian agents and members, who spread sectarianism in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, saying it is a terrorist state that is denounced regionally and internationally.
Moreover, in a bid to counter the Iranian threats, a joint Arab initiative was launched on the sidelines of the forum.
The initiative aims at supporting efforts of Arab and the Gulf governments as well as organizations to confront Iranian threats and stave off their impact on the future of the Arab national security.
“Today we announce the inauguration of this initiative to support Arab and GCC efforts to face the Iranian threats. It promotes non-governmental efforts to curb the
threats posed by the Iranian regime,” Defense and National Security Parliamentary Committee Member MP Jamal Buhassan remarked during the announcement.
Commenting on the forum, Speaker al-Mulla said that “No life or development are possible without providing and ensuring security and stability,” affirming that combating terrorism is the duty of everyone, especially with Iran’s clear role in supporting terrorist groups that jeopardize the security of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and that of the Arabs as a whole.
He underscored the importance of the forum in countering Iran’s negative conduct in the region, strengthening security, stability and human rights across the Arab world and confirming the Arab identity and Arab efforts to denounce and put an end to sectarian conflicts.
He said that the acts of Iran and its affiliate parties can no longer be tolerated, noting that Iran has failed to respond positively to all Arab efforts aiming to contain its meddlesome conduct and build up relations, sticking to its destructive terrorist plots which led to many conflicts across the Arab Nation.
The Speaker called for the need to step up joint Arab cooperation in confronting the wave of multipolar ideological and sectarian extremism resulting from Iran’s limitless interference in the Arab internal affairs in a bid to subjugate and weaken the Arab region and keep it from carrying out its development plans.

Ransom by another name

A rose is rose, and a ransom, a ransom

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist. His latest book is “What Works: Common Sense Solutions for a Stronger America” (Zondervan, 2014).


The Washington Times, Aug. 8, 2016 - You’ve probably heard the very old riddle: When is a door not a door? When it’s ajar.
An updated version might go like this: When is a ransom not a ransom? When the Obama administration says it isn’t.
President Obama and his State Department want us to believe that $400 million in foreign cash that was flown into Iran under cover of darkness on an unmarked cargo plane was merely money “owed” to the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terrorism from a failed arms deal negotiated with the Shah of Iran more than 35 years ago.
The president’s explanation is that the money was part of the nuclear deal reached with Iran and the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement resolving claims at an international tribunal at The Hague. The president says settling the claim now is actually saving money, the full amount of which might have had to be paid if the case were fully litigated before the court.
We are to ignore a statement by one of the four Americans held hostage by the Iranian regime (one of them since 2011) before being released in January. Christian pastor Saeed Abedini told Fox Business Channel last week: “I just remember the night at the airport sitting for hours and hours there, and I asked police, ‘Why are you not letting us go?’ ” Mr. Abedini said the policeman answered, ‘We are waiting for another plane so if that plane doesn’t come, we never let [you] go.’ “
What was the “other plane” carrying that was so important to the Iranian government that only its arrival would trigger the release of Mr. Abedini and the three other hostages, and its failure to land would keep them in captivity? Food? Toilet paper? Western movies? Or money?
It is a sad day when one must choose between believing the American president or the Iranian government that has vowed to wipe out Israel and then come after America and subject the world to fundamentalist Islam. The administration refuses to say how many Americans have died directly or indirectly from Iran’s support of terrorism.
The Washington Free Beacon reported last fall that the administration has stonewalled a request from Congress to release figures on the number of Americans and Israelis killed by Iran and its terror proxies since the 1979 Iranian revolution. Undoubtedly, this was to ease opposition to the deal with Iran not to proceed with the creation of nuclear weapons, which they most assuredly are creating in secret, or will create when the “restrictions” expire in a maximum of 15 years, depending on one’s interpretation of the deal. Iran is permitted to enrich uranium in the meantime.
Writing in The Wall Street Journal last week, former Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey thought he knew the reason for the foreign cash and the secrecy behind the January transfer of funds: “There is principally one entity within the Iranian government that has need of untraceable funds. That entity is the Quds Force — the branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps focusing particularly on furthering the regime’s goals worldwide by supporting and conducting terrorism.”
The Iranian regime clearly sees the $400 million as ransom for the illegally held Americans. A video showing pallets of foreign cash has surfaced on the internet. The administration won’t confirm that is the money it sent, but does it matter? The money was sent.
Consider the definition of “ransom” and whether this fits what occurred in January: “The redemption of a prisoner, slave, or kidnapped person for a price.”
A rose is a rose is a rose. And so is ransom by whatever name one may disingenuously call it.



Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist. His latest book is “What Works: Common Sense Solutions for a Stronger America” (Zondervan, 2014).

Saving Iran’s Children From Death Row

Shadows of an Iranian policeman and a noose are seen on the ground before an execution in Pakdasht, south of Tehran, March 2005.

The mass execution of more than 20 people in Iran’s Rajai Shahr prison was not the only grim news from that country this past week, the Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday, August 9, 2016.
On August 1, Alireza Tajiki, who was sentenced to death at age 15 following a trial that fell short of international standards, was saved from execution thanks to the last-minute efforts of his family and his lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh. Unfortunately, the postponement is only temporary.
Alireza, now 19 is set to be executed on August 3.
Amin Tajiki, Alireza’s brother, told Human Rights Watch that their family had requested a retrial based on new evidence, but the court rejected their request.
Scores of children are believed to be on death row in Iran, despite denials by the head of Iran’s judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani. Amnesty International has identified the names and locations of 49 such children, and the UN believes the number could be as high as 160. The majority of children on death row in Iran were convicted in trials that fell far short of international standards. In many cases, they reported torture and mistreatment in detention.
On July 18, Amnesty International reported that Iranian authorities hanged Hassan Afshar, who was arrested at 17. He had no access to a lawyer.
As a party to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on Rights of the Child, Iran is obliged to end child executions. The country has taken some small, positive steps. Since 2013, judges may use their discretion to not sentence a child offender to death if they do not understand the nature of the crime. Judges may now seek the opinion of the government’s Forensic Medical Department to assess the child’s mental state. Also, all children sentenced to death under Iran’s old penal code are eligible to be retried under the new one, passed in 2013, although they have to file for a retrial.
But, not only do these narrow reforms fail to meet Iran’s obligation to end all executions of children, but in practice, they are negated by ongoing abuses. Iranian authorities frequently deny children in pretrial detention access to a lawyer. Many children spend up to a decade on death row based primarily on confessions made under credible allegations of torture.
Now the Iranian judiciary should save all child offenders from the cruel fate of execution by granting them retrials in accordance with international human rights law standards. Child offenders like Alireza should never have been on death row in the first place.

Hunger strike held outside Downing Street in London to condemn mass execution in Iran

Campaigners start a three day hunger strike outside Downing Street

The protest is being held in reaction to the death of at least 20 Sunni inmates at Gohardasht Prison near capital Tehran on Wednesday, on the anniversary of the state-sanctioned killing of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988.
The execution was slammed by the National Council of Resistance in Iran ( NCRI ) which is hoping to use the hunger strike in Whitehall to pressure the Foreign Office to openly criticize it.
The protest also takes place 28 years after the execution of potentially tens of thousands of dissidents by Iranian authorities.
As well as achieving support from the UK government, the campaigners also hope to secure a similar missive from the UN Security Council and UN Human Rights Council.
Hossein Abedini, a spokesman for the NCRI, told metro.co.uk: that there is a lot of concern a similar execution to the one in 1988 could take place.
‘The situation in Gohardasht and other parts of Iran has really worsened,’ he said.
‘I think it's really very important [we get UK Government support] because a large number of MPs and Lords recently issued a statement and calling for cross-party support concerning Iran.
‘There is a lot of concern about the brutal hangings and torture.
‘It very important the massacres of 1988 are recognised as a crime against humanity and that very robust measures are now introduced.’
The protest will take place on Whitehall between 5 and 8pm today and tomorrow and from 3pm until 7pm on Monday, however, the hunger strike will continue regardless.
The NCRI said it had gained the support of a number of MPs such as Tory Matthew Offord, and Mike Freer and Bob Blackman who said they would attend to show their support for the raily.
The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom released a statement yesterday expressing its shock at this week’s executions.
It also called on the government to officially recognise the 1988 execution against a crime against humanity.
The statement read: ‘These latest executions come as the Iranian authorities intensify pressure on political prisoners by imposing severe punishment and denying them medical care in its prisons.
‘It is once again clear that the human rights situation in Iran has not change but rather has worsened in many areas including arbitrary arrest of dual citizens, suppression of women and of Iran’s religious and ethnic minorities.
‘The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom (BPCIF) strongly condemns Tehran’s continued use of death penalty, which aims to silence popular dissent.
‘The Iranian regime can no longer be allowed to hide behind the notion of “moderation” and the international community must speak up against the systematic atrocities taking place on a daily basis.’
Source: Metro UK, 6 Aug. 2016

Iranian Sunni cleric says executions may inflame regional tensions

Execution of Sunni prisoners in Iran

A leading Iranian Sunni Muslim said the execution of Sunni Islamists last week could inflame sectarian tensions in the Gulf region.
Iran executed more than 30 Sunni prisoners in groups and mass executions. There were no public trials and rights groups said the convictions may have been based on forced confessions.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said on Friday that 'overly broad and vague criminal charges' had led to 'a grave injustice'.
Molavi Abdolhamid, a leading Sunni cleric in Iran said the executions lacked 'forethought and tolerance' at a time when Iran and the whole region were suffering from extremism.
'Our main complaint is that the sensitive situation in our region has not been considered in these executions,' Abdolhamid, who is regarded as a spiritual leader for Iran's Sunni minority, said on his website.
Iran has one of the highest execution rates in the world. Amnesty International says at least 977 people were put to death there in 2015, compared to 320 in Pakistan and at least 158 in Saudi Arabia.

Morality police raid clothes shops in ban of un-Islamic clothing

Daily Express, Aug 6, 2016 - The crackdown on Western outfits in the Islamic Republic has seen factories and shops being targeted - and comes after a leading cleric bizarrely accused the fashion of causing rivers to run dry.
At least 15 women’s clothes shops have been closed down by morality police in Hamedan in a renewed drive to wipe out “improper” clothing.
Four factories and shops have also been shut down in Isfahan, central Iran.
“Islamic codes of behavior and dress” are strictly enforced in the country with women expected to cover their heads, wear trousers and a long sleeved coat or tunic that reaches to the knee.
Closing down the clothing production and distribution units under the pretext of ‘not conforming to the Islamic standards’ is ludicrous, says Elaheh Azimfar of the NCRI .
Manufacturers have been ordered to change their designs by officials and the black market for smuggled foreign clothing has experienced problems with demand.
The Tasnim News Agency, linked to the regime's Revolutionary Guards Force (IRGC), reported the crackdown.
Ebrahim Khatabakhsh, the head of the clothes manufacturers’ union in Isfahan, said: “Clothes production and distribution lines in Isfahan that do not conform to the standards of the Islamic Republic of Iran are being dealt with.
'Some of these production units have been ordered to adapt their clothing with Iranian-Islamic culture and standards. There are less smuggled foreign clothes being seen in Isfahan these days.'
Morality police are carrying out a series of raids and surprise inspections across the city.
Khatabakhsh said: “Currently joint inspections are being carried out in the mornings and afternoons until all the areas have been inspected.”
The National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI), which is campaigning for a free and democratic Iran has slammed the measures.




The NCRI says at least 15 women’s clothes shops have been closed down by morality police in Hamedan.



Islamic codes of behavior and dress are strictly enforced in Iran

Elaheh Azimfar, from the NCRI, said: “Closing down the clothing production and distribution units by the clerical regime under the pretext of ‘not conforming to the Islamic standards’ is ludicrous and yet another act of suppression against women in Iran.
“It is important to realize that such acts are totally irrelevant to Islam and Islamic standards.
“The truth is that faced with an extremely discontented society, the regime sees no choice but to resort to further acts of suppression.
“Despite the intensification of the crackdown, there is growing opposition among the Iranian people, particularly women and youth.



Women expected to cover their heads in Iran

“This explains why the regime is looking for new ways of restricting people, and women have always been the foremost victims of this fundamentalist regime.”
The crackdown is the latest in a spate of repressive measures in Iran.
A senior cleric claimed women dressed in Western clothes were causing rivers to run dry and ordered the police to take action.
Seyyed Youssef Tabatabi-nejad called on the morality police to stamp out un-Islamic behavior and blamed social media for encouraging immodesty.



An Iranian policewoman warns a woman about her clothing and hair during a crackdown in 2007



Morality police also clamped down on dress in 2007


Women who fail to veil themselves correctly are reprimanded in public.
Last week a group of women were arrested for riding bicycles in the north-western city of Marivan, in Iran’s Kurdistan Province.
A number were arrested and others forced to sign written pledges not to cycle in public.
Eyewitnesses said security forces informed the women, who were planning a sports event, that under a new government directive women are banned from cycling in public.

Iran: Many families are tonight mourning the brutal and vicious mass execution of their loved ones

Following the mass execution of about two dozen Sunni prisoners in the notorious Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran, by the anti-human mullahs' regime, families of these victims are mourning tonight.
The families were informed to go to the prison before 15.00 (local time) Tuesday to visit their loved ones for a last time.
One of the families who were on route to the prison to say farewell for the last time to their young son said they received a call from prison authorities in the middle of the road telling them to go and pick up the body of their loved one from the morgue victim instead of visiting their son.
Another report from the family of a victim said the families were told to visit their loved ones for a final time in the prison before 15.00. But when the family arrived at the prison, they were told to go instead to the coroner's office to collect the body of their loved one who had already been executed.
List of names of 28 Sunni prisoners who had been forcibly moved out of Hall 10 of Ward 4 in Gohardasht Prison on Monday afternoon, August 1, 2016 are as follows:
1. Kaveh Veysi
2. Taleb Molki
3. Behrouz Shah-Nazari
4. Barzan Nosratollah-Zadeh
5. Farzad Shah-Nazari
6. Varya Qaderi-Fard
7. Keyvan Momeni-Fard
8. Alam Bamashti
9. Seyyed Jamal Seyyed-Moussavi
10. Edris Ne'mati
11. Ahmad Nasiri
12. Mokhtar Rahimi
13. Yavar Rahimi
14. Pourya Mohammadi
15. Farzad Honarjou
16. Shahram Ahmadi
17. Farshid Nasseri
18. Amjad Salehi
19. Omid Peyvand
20. Arash Sharifi
21. Kaveh Sharifi
22. Shahu Ebrahimi
23. Abdollah Sharifi
24. Jamal Qaderi
25. Omid Mahmoudi
26. Mohammad Gharibi
27. Fouad Yousefi
28. Keyvan Karimi

Then NCRI had already called on International organizations to do their utmost to prevent this heinous mass executions. In a statement issued on August 1st, the NCRI had said
The Iranian Resistance makes a call to save the lives of a large number of Sunni prisoners on death row, requesting urgent intervention by the United Nations Security Council and Member States, and international human rights organizations, especially the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and Special Rapporteur to prevent the implementation of these criminal and inhumane rulings.
A large number of special Revolutionary Guards forces raided hall 10 of ward 4 in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj (west of Tehran) in the afternoon of Monday, August 1. These repressive forces apprehended dozens of Sunni prisoners as their hands and feet were chained, mouths shut with tape and heads covered with plastic bags. These prisoners were transferred outside of the ward to an undisclosed location.
Hours prior to this transfer the regime’s forces and IRGC members had closed all wards and open-air areas, imposing special conditions in the jail. Gohardasht Prison is under the complete IRGC control.
Appeasement vis-à-vis the criminal rulers of Iran, with the execution of 120,000 political prisoners in their report card, and sending more youths to the gallows with each passing day, is nothing but collaborating and encouraging the continuation of these crimes. All political and economic relations with this regime must be conditioned to the complete halt of all executions in Iran, and this regime’s officials must be placed before justice for their crimes against humanity.

 

In the Memory of 30,000 Fallen Roses The Anniversary of the 1988 Massacre in Iran

28 years have gone since the horrific and brutal massacre of political prisoners that was carried out in just one short summer by the criminal mullahs ruling Iran.
In the summer of 1988, the clerical regime summarily and extra-judicially executed about 30,000 political prisoners held in jails across the country. This heinous massacre was carried out upon a fatwa by the Islamic regime founder, Ruhollah Khomeini.
There are strong indications that Khomeini’s fatwa was issued on July 26, 1988.
The Iranian regime has never acknowledged these executions, or provided any information as to how so many prisoners were killed in a matter of just a few months.
The majority of those executed were either serving prison sentences for their political activities or had already finished their sentences but their time in jail was extended.




Some of them had previously been imprisoned and released, but were re-arrested and executed as part of this heinous massacre.
The wave of executions of political prisoners began in late July and continued unabated for several months.
By the time it ended in the early autumn of 1988, some 30,000 political prisoners, the overwhelming majority activists of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), were slaughtered.


A site of a mass grave for some of the victims of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran

More than 70 of Assad army personnel killed in “Aleppo Rage” operation

Syrian rebels capture key Assad forces positions

Syrian rebels inflicted heavy casualties and loses to Assad Army and Iranian regime militias after a coordinated attack on the enemy position to break the Aleppo siege. Sources have put the casualties on Assad side more than 70 killed. There are a number of senior Assad Army and Iranian regime militants among the dead. Syrian rebels destroyed a number of Assad army tanks and armored cars.
Clashes continue in a number of fronts, including in South and Southwest of Aleppo. According to the reports, Assad forces stationed in the military academy of Ramouseh have been surrounded and have totally lost their morals. In addition to human casualties, the Assad regime has lost almost a dozen tanks and armored vehicles in the battle. Rebels also took 3 tanks and large amount of ammunitions and shells from Hekmat Academy.
The Free Syrian Army legal advisor, Osameh Abu-Zeid announced the second stage of the operation “Aleppo Rage.” He pointed out to the achievements of the first stage and said the second phase would soon begin.
The headquarters of the Iranian regime and Hezbollah militants were captured by the Syrian opposition forces in Aleppo.

Iran: Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, meets President Mahmoud Abbas

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi,  met with Mr. Mahmoud Abbas

EU Reporter Correspondent, August 1, 2016 - President Mahmoud Abbas, at the meeting, reiterated the need to combat fundamentalism and terrorism in the region and informed Mrs. Rajavi of the latest developments in the Middle East, in particular regarding Palestine and France’s initiative.
Mrs. Rajavi expressed gratitude for the solidarity of the Palestinian resistance and its leader with the Iranian people and Resistance. She expressed hope that the goal of the Palestinian people would be achieved.
Mrs. Rajavi believes that the Iranian regime is the main instigator of sectarian discord in the region, in particular in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Palestine, but she added that today the mullahs’ regime is at its weakest and most fragile and vulnerable state. She said that this could be seen in the reaction of the regime’s officials and state media to the Iranian Resistance’s July 9 gathering.
Mrs. Rajavi said the Iranian regime is fearful of the solidarity and unity between the Iranian people’s resistance movement and the countries and nations of the region. She said that Iranian people and the Iranian resistance ought to take the initiative to free the region from the scourge of fundamentalism.