بهار خجسته : اکتبر 2018

۱۳۹۷ آبان ۹, چهارشنبه

Rouhani adds insult to people’s injury

International currency values have roughly tripled against the Iranian rial

Just a few days ago, in his latest move to reshuffle the government’s economic team, Iranian regime president Hassan Rouhani appeared before the Iranian parliament to introduce his four new cabinet members. All the four new ministers, including an economic and financial minister and the labor and roads minister, were approved by the parliament.

But what stroke analysts as shocking were Rouhani’s remarks about the economic situation in Iran.

After mentioning the difficulties Iranians, especially those with fixed income, face, Rouhani addressed the population and said: “I ask you; I ask the Iranian people; in contrast to the U.S. and Zionist propaganda, isn’t education in Iran among the least expensive education [systems] in the world? Isn’t health care relatively among the least expensive in the world? Isn’t energy in our country, meaning gasoline, diesel fuel, and ethanol, among the least expensive in the world? Aren’t water and electric power costs balanced and less expensive compared to other countries?”

What Rouhani failed to mention was that all these items are only less expensive in Iran if you compare the prices in U.S. dollars to the prices in other countries, while an Iranian worker’s minimum monthly wage—for the Iranian year 2018-2019— is not even 1/10—Yes! One-tenth!—of the U.S. federal minimum wage.

Now, let’s break it down. According to the Iranian labor laws, a worker with a family and two children will receive a minimum wage of 15,345,220 rials, the Iranian currency. Standard working weeks are defined to have 44 hours of work, making a month roughly 176 hours of work. That makes the Iranian minimum wage—for a family with two children, mind!—about 87,180 rials per hour.

Over the past 10 months, international currency values have roughly tripled against the Iranian rial. Currently, a U.S. dollar is worth 150 thousand rials. That makes the Iranian minimum hourly wage

The steep drop in the value of rials compared to other currencies

Rouhani then went on to pretend to be the opposition fighting the corruption in the regime and said that, “unfortunately in the last months, some people have exploited the subsidized [foreign] currency,” referring to the fixed exchange rate to buying U.S. dollars in Iran.

“We have provided some people with U.S. dollars for 4,200 tomans, others we have provided with U.S. dollars for 7,500 tomans. Some have exploited that.” One toman is the equivalent of 10 rials.

Free market rates for USD have skyrocketed in recent months in Iran. Right now, a U.S. dollar is worth about 150,000 rials whereas at the beginning of this year it was worth less than 5,000 rials. There are cheaper dollars at the state-fixed rates but since the government and Iranian tax payers are actually subsidizing the difference to free market rates, these dollars aren’t freely available to everyone. They are only sold for special purposes like importing raw material for manufacturers.

Now, Rouhani is complaining that some bad people have exploited their system as if he and the regime are simple outsiders who can be played by some bad actors. These are dictators with a vast apparatus for oppression on every level. Virtually nobody dares to cross high-ranking government officials in Iran, unless they’ve made the choice to be ready to sacrifice everything. For Rouhani to claim innocence in the ongoing corruption in the regime without charging and prosecuting the real perpetrators is plain and simple ridiculous.

Rouhani’s claim of innocence in the whole economic mess, mismanagement and corruption is just unbelievable, but his description of Iran as a competitive and well performing country on the global scale in terms of the quality of provided services and their prices isn’t anything but adding insult to the injury of poor Iranians who struggle on a daily basis to make ends meet.

Denmark arrests Iranian regime Intel agent on terrorism charges

Denmark's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anders Samuelsen

The Danish Foreign Ministry has summoned its ambassador in Tehran on Tuesday afternoon following the arrest of an Iranian regime intelligence agent in this country.

At a press conference, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Sameulsen said his country will be seeking to impel the European Union to issue new sanctions against Tehran in reaction to the Iranian regime’s measures to carry out this attack.

Morteza Moradian, the Iranian regime’s ambassador in Copenhagen, was summoned and informed “very clearly” that “how important and unacceptable” this issue is, according to Sameulson.

The U.S. administration responded to the Iranian regime’s terror plot in Denmark through a tweet by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The Danish intelligence service has arrested an Iranian regime Ministry of Intelligence agents intending to carry out a terror attack in Denmark, according to Danish security service chief Finn Borch Andersen. The Iranian regime had plotted a terror attack in Denmark and intended to assassinate a member of an Ahvazi group.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen also reacted to this issue, emphasizing the subject will be raised with the European Union.

During a televised press conference, Borch Andersen noted that the Iranian regime already was suspected of targeting opposition groups abroad, according to the Associated Press. He cited a foiled bombing attack that targeted a June rally organized by an Iranian opposition group near Paris.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen and Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen on Tuesday both described an alleged Iranian attack in Denmark “totally unacceptable.” The country will respond and speak with European partners about “further steps,” they said in separate statements, according to the Associated Press.

In a recent video message to a session held on October 4 focusing on the Iranian regime’s new wave of terrorism and reactions from Europe and the United States, Iranian opposition PresidentMaryam Rajavi emphasized how the mullahs have said time and again that their victory relies on spreading terror. As a result, forcing Western governments to remain silent would be a major victory for them. The most destructive type of appeasement in the face of the Iranian regime’s religious dictatorship is remaining silent following terror attacks, she added. Unfortunately, this policy is widely witnessed today in Europe. This is a mistake and Iranian refugees and Europe’s security will be paying the price.

Mrs. Rajavi highlighted the following on behalf of the Iranian people:

- A firm policy is necessary against the Iranian regime.

- Their terrorist dossiers must be made public.

- Close this regime’s embassies, known espionage/terror centers.

- Don’t do business with companies linked to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and other state-controlled firms. Any such deals with these entities will be tantamount to financing terrorism.

- Do not remain silent in the face of executions, prisoners being tortured and human rights violations in Iran.

- Perpetrators of Iran’s crimes against humanity in the past 40 years must face justice.

And to prevent the Iranian regime’s terror plots in European countries, the European Union should implement its 29 April 1997 initiative on the Iranian regime’s operatives and intelligence agents.

- Stop all bilateral meetings and visits to Iran by ministers and senior government officials

- Confirming the EU member states’ policy of not providing weapons to the Iranian regime

- Cooperation aimed at guaranteeing visas not being issued for Iranians related to the regime’s intelligence and security apparatus; focusing on expelling the Iranian regime’s intelligence operatives from EU members states.

۱۳۹۷ آبان ۸, سه‌شنبه

UN Rapporteur: A new wave of executions, suppressions in Iran

The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, Javid Rehman, presented his report in his first mission, in front a UN panel in New York on Wednesday, with the United Kingdom, United States and the European Union criticizing the increase in executions and suppressions inside the Islamic Republic.

Rehman, a British-Pakistani legal scholar, reported that Iran has witnessed lately a wave of protests against the economic and living conditions which the authorities tried to suppress.

Rehman called on the Iranian government to allow him to visit the country in order to assess the human rights situation through interviews with Iranian citizens and to provide information on reports provided by international human rights organizations on violations, particularly executions, torture, suppression of freedom of assembly, opinion and expression, as well as depriving religious and ethnic minorities of their fundamental rights.

Concern

Following the UN meeting, Javed held a press conference at the UN building where he expressed concern about the fate of the environmental activists held for months in Iran.

The UN Special Rapporteur also considered the arrest of women against the compulsory hijab as a violation of human rights and international laws, while expressing concern about the fate of the detainees of protests in recent months in various cities in Iran.

Rahman stressed that the United Nations monitors the protests in Iran, especially the suppression and abuse of detainees, which led to the death of some people in prisons.

The UN Rapporteur pointed to a wave of suppression and threats against journalists, as well as the imprisonment of dual citizens and the execution of political prisoners, especially members of minorities.

He called on the Iranian government to interact with him to bring about positive changes in the human rights situation. He revealed that he held two meetings with representatives of Iran in Geneva and New York, wrote letters and held talks to decide on his request to visit the country.

Why the Iranian regime must come to an end

A recent New European article suggested the sudden downfall of the Iranian regime could create more problems than it solves. Former MEP Struan Stevenson disagrees.

It is incredible that some commentators on Iran still believe that “quiet, calculated diplomatic pressure on the current regime to change some of its practices…” may somehow end the brutal repression, corruption and human rights abuse that the Iranian people have suffered for 40 years. This was the view of Paul Knott, in his recent New European article, arguing that the downfall of the regime in Tehran might not be in the world’s best interests.

He correctly lists the shortcomings of one of the planet’s most repugnant dictatorships, but then, having diagnosed the disease, makes the classic Western appeaser’s error of prescribing the wrong medicine. Falling into the trap of identifying the internal struggle as being between ‘hardliners’ and ‘moderates’, Knott suggests president Hassan Rouhani leads a “relatively moderate and reformist government”.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Since Rouhani came to power in August 2013, more than 3,500 people have been executed in Iran, which now holds the record as the world’s leading executioner per capita.

It is not surprising that the uprisings, which have raged across Iran since last December, have targeted the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and president Hassan Rouhani. The angry protesters are not demanding that hard-liners should be replaced with moderates, a myth that still beguiles many western governments, who think there is room for gradual change. The chants of “Hardliners, reformers, the game is over,” “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, I give my life for Iran” and “Leave Syria, think about us instead”, have clearly demonstrated the people’s opposition to the clerical government’s belligerent regional meddling and their demand for regime change.

The so-called ‘moderate’ Rouhani has presided over a brutal offensive on the protesters, sending in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who have gunned down dozens in the streets and arrested more than 10,000 protesters, many of whom have been tortured to death in prison.

Rouhani’s government claims to represent God’s will on earth, yet regards women as second-class citizens, hangs people in public, condones torture, arbitrary imprisonment, eye-gouging, stoning, whipping and amputation. Amnesty International last August published a 94-page report entitled Caught in a web of repression: Iran’s human rights defenders under attack. It detailed 45 specific instances of what the organization described as a “vicious crackdown”.

Nor will this repressive regime tolerate opposition abroad. In July, German police arrested Assadollah Assadi, a diplomat from the Iranian Embassy in Vienna, and charged him with terrorist offences. The day before, the Belgian police had arrested an Iranian couple from Antwerp after high explosives and a detonator were found in their car. Investigators believe Assadi gave them the bomb and instructed them to detonate it at the Iranian democratic opposition rally being held in Villepinte, near Paris. Emmanuel Macron has declared his outrage at this attempted terrorist atrocity on French soil and his government has imposed sanctions on Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence.

Iran’s descent into economic chaos can be traced directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and Rouhani. Their policy of aggressive military expansionism across the Middle East has seen them consistently pour men and resources into Syria’s civil war, the genocidal campaign against the Sunni population of neighbouring Iraq, their support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen and their vast funding for the Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

Combined with the mullahs’ own predilection for corruptly lining their own pockets, it is little surprise that the country with the world’s second largest gas reserves and fourth largest crude oil reserves is now facing economic meltdown. Iran, despite its rich, civilised and open culture, has now become an international pariah, its religious fascist regime condemned for human rights abuse and the export of terror, while its 80 million beleaguered citizens, over half of whom are under 30, struggle to feed their families against a background of record temperatures, power outages, water shortages and food prices that have risen by more than 50%.

Those advocating “quiet, calculated diplomatic pressure” in our dealings with Iran, should remember the appeasement policy of Neville Chamberlain.

There is only one way to stop the current wars and conflicts in the region; adopting a firm line with the Iranian regime and supporting the popular uprising and the democratic opposition.  Only a firm and strong policy can restore freedom and justice in Iran and prevent more war in this troubled region.

Juvenile Execution Record: The 40-Year Achievement Of The Mullahs’ Ruling

It is cruel and inhuman to apply the death penalty even to adults let alone to those convicted of crimes committed under the age of 18.
Moreover because of children’s immaturity, vulnerability, impulsiveness, and capacity for rehabilitation they should never face the execution, no matter how severe the crime of which they have been convicted of.

Instead of that, the principle of maximizing the Juvenile offenders’ potential to be able to reintegrate into the society should be enforced by the law.

Killing Juvenile during the Iran-Iraq War

During the war, promising them that their sins will be forgiven, hundreds of thousands of juveniles were sent the battlefield with a plastic “key to paradise” hung around their necks, using them as cannon fodder and as human mine sweepers.

Juvenile prisoners’ condition in Iran the condition of juvenile prisoners in Iran

Before being sent to the gallows, these Juveniles are subjected to abuse and torture including being denied of proper medical treatment, being denied of any furlough and their families become the subjects of harassment.

But the worst is the psychological torture they undergo.

Anywhere in the world, one’s birthday is a day for joy and celebration, but for juvenile prisoners in Iran, their birthday is nothing but a nightmare because with each added candle they get one step closer to the gallows.

Iran represents the top state-executioner of juvenile offenders in the world.

“I am sad to say that Iran violates this absolute prohibition under international human rights law far more often than any other state,” the former human rights commissioner, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, wrote. “No other state comes even remotely close to the total number of juveniles who have been executed in Iran over the past couple of decades.

juvenile execution — Zeinab Sekaanvand hanged this morning despite being only 17 at time of alleged crime

Amnesty international reaction on Juvenile execution

Amnesty International’s reaction to juvenile executions

Amnesty international reacts to juvenile executions

On Wednesday, February 7, 2018, Human Rights Watch (HRW) declared that At least three minors were executed by hanging in Iran since the beginning of the year:

18-year-old Amirhossein Pourjafa was hanged on January 4, in Karaj. He was 16 at the time of his arrest.
On January 30, 20-year-old Mahboubeh Mofidi from Nowshahr – married at 13, was executed for allegedly killing her husband at the age of 17.
In Bushehr, south of Iran Ali Kazemi was hanged on January 30, he was 15 at the time of his arrest.

Taking a stance against these executions, Amnesty International declared: Amnesty International has opposed the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to kill the prisoner.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that juvenile execution in Iran is illegal. Iran is one of the last countries on earth that continues to issue death sentences for juveniles.

The conscience of humanity has to wake up and take action. Like many other juveniles, these juvenile offenders are also waiting to turn 18, the age of adulthood, freedom and maturity. However, for them, it is a bitter waiting, more bitter maturity, which brings with it the sense of death. They wait in prison to grow older and reach the age of 18, at which they are sent to the gallows.

As Clarisa Bencomo, a researcher on children’s rights for the Middle East has stated: “Killing people for crimes committed as children, provides neither justice nor safety for Iranian society” (HRW, 2008).

Last but not least, we demand a worldwide attempt via all human rights organizations and advocates to impel the mullahs’ regime to bring an end to executions in Iran.

This is a demand that the Iranian resistance has been trying to accomplish achieve for many years and Mrs. Maryam Rajavi has mentioned it in her plan for a free Iran.