Iranian prisoner hanged in public

Iranian prisoner hanged in public

The abysmal situation of human rights in Iran

Reported by PMOI/MEK

On Thursday, March 14, 2019, a prisoner was publically hanged in Jahrom, south of Iran.

Also on Monday, March 11, three prisoners in Birjand Prison, northeastern Iran, charged with killing two armed agents of the regime, were also executed. Two of those executed were father and son.

A day prior to that, the Iranian regime executed another prisoner in Zahedan Central Prison, southeastern Iran. He was married and a father of two children. Some sources have mentioned that he was a former member of Iran's national kickboxing team.

These executions are carried out after Ebrahim Raisi, one of the men in charge of the mass executions in 1988 massacre, was recently appointed as the head of Iran's judiciary by the regime's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

During his speech at the inauguration ceremony, Raisi emphasized on the course of massacre, execution, and suppression to safeguard the regime in the past 40 years. He said that he would consider Khamenei's recent "second phase" statement as his covenant and that the regime's security is his absolute priority and that justice is subsidiary compared to it.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, have expressed concerns over the increasing number of executions, demanding the regime to stop public hangings.

According to the annual report by Iran Human Rights (IHR), at least 13 public executions have taken place in Iran in 2018.

During the 40^th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Javaid Rehman, the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, said, "Many of the Iranian people have voiced their concern through protests, demonstrations, and strikes. People from diverse sections of society - from truck drivers to teachers to factory workers - across the country have protested. It is in this context of increased challenges that concerns are mounting about human rights, including the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and to association in Iran."

"Worrying patterns of intimidation, arrest, prosecution, and ill-treatment of human rights defenders, lawyers, and labor rights activists in Iran signal an increasingly severe State response to protests and strikes in the country," Rahman said, calling on the Iranian regime to release all those detained for exercising theirrights.

Rehman also spoke of the poor conditions of prisoners with dual citizenship, the suppression of ethnic and religious minorities, and the fact that since 2013 at least 33 minors have been executed and 85 are in prison awaiting execution.

Iran: A new and unprecedented record of embezzlement unveiled

Iran: A new and unprecedented record of embezzlement unveiled

Embezzlement and larceny in Iran

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

Iran, March 14, 2019 - A record of an extremely high embezzlement case is now taken into a sham court. The case was revealed during factional infighting within the Iranian regime. The 6.656 billion Euros ($7 billion) is now the subject of fighting among various factions, notably the IRGC and the Government.

A state-run TV said, with an ironic tone, "Congratulations, we finally broke Babak Zanjani'srecord." (Babak Zanjani was a corrupt billionaire who collaborated on embezzlement with various factions of the regime and was ultimately sentenced to death as a scapegoat during factional infighting.)

State-run ISNA (News Agency) admitted that this amount of money "is more than the official budget of dozens or maybe hundreds of government institutions."

Javan daily, associated to the IRGC wrote, "The accused received enormous amounts of money from foreign buyers. They established companies abroad with the aim of circumventing the sanctions and then transferred the money to their personal accounts.

The corrupt team is comprised of members of both factions of the regime.

One of the defendants said in his remarks in the court that this case has uncovered some of the regime's elements who were instrumental in circumventing the sanctions.

“Iran” daily that reflects the views of Rouhani's government wrote that the defendants were supposed to inject the money gained from the sales of petrochemical goods to the economy. Given the monopoly of the IRGC over the petrochemical goods, it becomes clear that the infighting is not over corruption itself. It is a fight between the government and the IRGC over the billions of dollars in benefits.

Regardless of what scenario they will choose to end it, the social impact of such a revelation of unbelievable dimensions of corruption in the regime is tremendous. Because according to the regime's own figures, 10 million Iranians are living below the line of absolute poverty, and starvation is rampant and ever growing in Iran. Therefore this only adds to the unprecedented discontent against the regime and fuels the uprisings even more.

Iran: Internal crises increase following Rouhani’s visit to Iraq

Iran: Internal crises increase following Rouhani’s visit to Iraq

Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani seen here with his Iraqi counterpart Barham Salih

Iran, March 14, 2019 - Following the three-day visit of Hassan Rouhani, the president of the regime in Iran, to Iraq recently, even members of his own faction back in Iran are questioning the credibility of the claims made about this visit helping Tehran bypass U.S. sanctions.

“If we seek to use Iraq as a tool to circumvent sanctions, the U.S. will read our hand because they have made long-term investments in Iraq and will not easily allow Iran to pull Iraq into its own circle,” said Fereydoon Majlessi, a former Iranian diplomat considered close to Rouhani’s point of views. This former diplomat reiterates, “It is not up to Iraq or others to always act as we wish.”

“Security collaboration leads to confrontations and it may lead to various Iraqi sects revolting and we must not provide them with any excuses,” he added, reiterating the latest interferences by the regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force in Iraq.

Ali Bigdeli, known as a regime insider, sheds more light on this matter.

“The current atmosphere, and the circumstance prior to [Rouhani’s visit to Iraq], an Iraqi official made it known in his remarks to a foreign news agency. They are unhappy with [Iran’s] influence in Iraq and are seeking to decrease this pressure… The United States, as seen in previous years, does not wish to see Iraq get any closer to Iran. Therefore, the U.S. strategy in Iraq and Syria is a new strategy with a comprehensive focus on preventing [Iran] from gaining more influence in these two countries,” he explained.

Salman Afshar, the regime’s former diplomat in Azerbijan, portrayed a dark image of Tehran’s future meddling in Iraq, especially considering the United States’ regional policies and a special focus on the mullahs’ threats.

“Washington has reached this conclusion that by remaining in Iraq and preventing their decreasing influence, the central government in Baghdad will be influenced to prevent Iran’s reach in Iraq, and so forth in Syria. In fact, the United States believes the key in containing [Iran] in Syria and the region lies in Iraq, and containing [Iran] in Iraq will lead to its containment in Syria and the entire Middle East… Resolution 598, despite the passage of around 30 years from its adoption and the end of the [Iran-Iraq] war, and also 16 years after the fall of Saddam, remains just in writing and has not been implemented. [Iran] has not been able to retrieve its compensation from Iraq whereas during the past few years Kuwait has received around $47 billion from Iraq in compensation. However, no money has been paid to [Iran] and there have been no discussions in this regard.”

NCRI condemns 38-year prison sentence of Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

NCRI condemns 38-year prison sentence of Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

In a statement, the Womens Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), condemned the sentence passed against human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh:

Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh who is currently in prison, was sentenced to 38 years prison and 148 lashes.

The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran strongly condemns the anti-human and misogynist sentence by the mullahs’ regime.

During a brief telephone conversation with her husband, Nasrin Sotoudeh asserted that her sentence is 38 years in prison and 148 lashes.

Her statement follows the judge overseeing her case reporting to the media that Nasrin Sotoudeh has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, wrote on Facebook on March 11, 2019, that the imprisoned human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh has been sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes (five years for one case and 33 years for a second case involving a combined total of nine charges).

Amnesty International called the “sentencing of prominent Iranian human rights lawyer and women’s rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes in a new case against her is an outrageous injustice.”

“It is absolutely shocking that Nasrin Sotoudeh is facing nearly four decades in jail and 148 lashes for her peaceful human rights work, including her defence of women protesting against Iran’s degrading forced hijab (veiling) laws. Nasrin Sotoudeh must be released immediately and unconditionally and this obscene sentence quashed without delay,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director.

“Nasrin Sotoudeh has dedicated her life to defending women’s rights and speaking out against the death penalty – it is utterly outrageous that Iran’s authorities are punishing her for her human rights work. Her conviction and sentence consolidate Iran’s reputation as a cruel oppressor of women’s rights.”

“Jailing a human rights defender for her peaceful activities is abhorrent but the fact that the judge in Nasrin Sotoudeh’s case used his discretion to ensure that she stays locked up for more than is required under Iranian law compounds the outrageous injustice of her sentence,” said Philip Luther.

“Governments with influence over Iran should use their power to push for Nasrin Sotoudeh’s release. The international community, notably the European Union, which has an ongoing dialogue with Iran, must take a strong public stand against this disgraceful conviction and urgently intervene to ensure that she is released immediately and unconditionally.”

This is the harshest sentence Amnesty International has documented against a human rights defender in Iran in recent years, suggesting that the authorities – emboldened by pervasive impunity for human rights violations – are stepping up their repression.

Imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who previously served three years in prison, was tried in absentia in December 2018, at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided by judge Mohammad Moghiseh. She has been in prison since June 2018 after she was detained for representing women who had been arrested during protests in Iran.

Iran: Grim living conditions of 93,000 workers on the verge of Nowruz

Iran: Grim living conditions of 93,000 workers on the verge of Nowruz

The pitiful situation of livelihood for 93,000 workers on the eve of New Year

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

March 11, 2019 - On the cusp of the Persian New Year, tens of thousands of Iranian workers are left either jobless or have not been paid for months.

"Salary compensations for 93,000 workers from 900 production units have not been paid during the past year," admitted Ali Khodai, deputy chairman of the so called Islamic Job Council Association of Iran.

"These 900 production units are owned and operated by the government or government-affiliated entities," Khodai added.

"If we assume each family has an average of four members, the lives of 372,000 individuals in total will be affected by an variety of economic and social issues" explained Khodai. "Due to numerous problems with production, these workers are embarrassed in front of their spouses and children during the New Year."

"In a situation where heavy funds are set aside in this year's budget to satisfy various work segments, allocating 4-4.5 trillion rials (approx. $285-320 million) to satisfy the needs of 93,000 families will not be a difficult task," said Khodai, pointing to the credit needed for paying off 2 months' worth of workers compensations.

"Empty dining tables during the New Year look very sad for these families, and the government would better alleviate their suffering a little, by taking action," Khodai stipulated, without pointing to the actual consequences of this crisis, and the escalating popular discontent, and by only resorting to a vague description of the crisis.

"These days, people are not rushing to their New Year shopping like previous years, and would just stare at goods displayed in showcases with despair," reported the government-affiliated Ebtekar newspaper pointing to high prices. "This is not just a claim. You just have to visit shopping centers to see people's reduced purchasing power before the New Year. It seems like hearing the arrival of the spring is not so pleasant anymore."

The news of price hikes in various markets during recent months and on the other hand the shrinkage of people’s budgets are not new events. We have witnessed people's dinner tables becoming smaller and smaller every day, as if the people are becoming used to high prices. But when it comes to spring time and Nowruz holidays, things are a bit different. People are complaining about the situation.

In spite of small pledges from some officials regarding the presence of goods and commodities in the market during the New Year holidays, people are simply feeling the weight and the burden of high prices, because they face extremely high price when they try to obtain any object. By a simple calculation, a family can easily figure that their budget does not allow them to have a decent Nowruz celebration. So according to most officials, the high prices have turned the New Year fiasco to a frustrating headache for many second and third class families, since they are unable to provide a decent celebration for their families, and that is why there are more and more cases of suicide reported in Iran every day.

Senior Iran regime figure: We must all be ready for the 2019 sedition

Senior Iran regime figure: We must all be ready for the 2019 sedition

Ahmad Alamalhoda warns about a new Iranian uprising in 2019

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

March 11, 2019 - Ahmad Alamalhoda, Friday prayer imam of Mashhad, northeast Iran, warned of a 2019 uprising in the making. “All of us must be ready to confront and neutralize the 2019 sedition,” he said recently. Friday prayer imams are considered representatives of the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in each city, town and village.

“It has been some time that our enemies have been thinking if economic pressures increase and living conditions deteriorate, the people will practically shape a movement to topple the [regime]. The enemies are focusing their efforts through the media and cultural platforms to push the disappointed people into an uprising,” he warned.

It is worth noting that Alamalhoda, who is very close to regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, voiced similar concerns on January 4, shedding light on the regime’s increasing internal crises, the large number of defections and infiltration even into his own inner circle.

“If the enemy intends to infiltrate, they will infiltrate into our economic institutions. And worst of all, they will infiltrate into our society and even in our own [loyal forces], such as our [Revolutionary Guards, the Basij]. These individuals should be very careful about the enemy infiltrating into your own ranks, too. The enemy is not only focusing on the management and those running our circles. The enemy is infiltrating everywhere. They may even infiltrate into my own circle, all in the name of defending the needy, defending people’s living conditions, defending the poor, and then attack us from within,” Alamalhoda emphasized.

And on January 19, Alamalhoda had made more interesting remarks saying Europe had deceived the mullahs’ regime.

“Our situation in the nuclear deal is tantamount to one person holding us and another person hitting us… Keep in mind that if the U.S. would not have exited the nuclear deal if not certain that Europe would maintain us in the nuclear deal,” he explained.

“Take for instance a fight between two people where a number of others enter the scene to hold one of the two so the other can hit him as much as he wants. This is our situation in the nuclear deal. Europe is like a fox that has deceived us so that the U.S. could impose all the pressures on us while being certain we would not exit the nuclear deal and would not seek to further develop our nuclear technology. You saw the result with your own eyes.”

Alamalhoda’s remarks shed interesting light into the regime’s inner circles and the crises engulfing their entire apparatus. This provides more reasoning into why the mullahs are deeply concerned about another uprising in 2019.

Iran's handwoven carpet exports suffer a 35-percent drop

Iran's handwoven carpet exports suffer a 35-percent drop

Sanctions and a 35% drop in the Iranian handwoven rug industry

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

March 9, 2019 - "During the first 10 months of the current year, Iran's handwoven carpet exports amounted to $225 million, which showed a 30-35% drop in comparison to the same period last year," admitted Abdollah Bahrami, the general manager of Iran's handwoven carpet union.

But while Bahrami laid the blame on U.S. sanctions, which came into effect in November, what he didn't highlight was the incompetence of regime's officials, corruption and negligence towards this industry has been major causes of the sharp drop in Iran's carpet exports.

Like many other Iranian industries, the carpet and rug industries have been pushed toward bankruptcy under the rule of the mullahs. The story of Iran's carpet and rug industry is one of the gradual death of an art and a great authentic and ancient Iranian tradition. This industry has faced the fate of similar many others in Iran, whereas, throughout the years, this profession has always created numerous jobs for many Iranian men and women, who depended on it as their means of living.

Due to lack of government support toward workers and carpet producers, the industry has declined so drastically that even the regime's own media outlets have been forced to admit parts of this painful reality.

"We are afraid that the Iranian carpet will be sidelined in the international carpet market, due to competition from India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan," confessed Arman, one of the media outlets affiliated with the faction of Iranian regime president Hassan Rouhani.

With the Revolutionary Guards seizing a large chunk of the Iranian economy, there's a general reluctance in the global market to engage in trade deals with Iranian companies. Many companies are fronts for the IRGC and are owned by IRGC officials. The IRGC notoriously uses its economic power to fund terrorism and fuel sectarian conflicts in the Middle East region, which puts trade partners in an uneasy position to deal with Iranian entities.

A rug merchant talks about his inability to export carpet to Europe. “I used to export lots of carpets to Europe including France and Italy, but it has been more than four years that no one or no country is willing to buy carpet from me," says that merchant.

Regarding the deploring situation of rug industry and noncompetition between Iranian carpets with Indian, Pakistani or other rug manufacturing countries in the global market, an activist from Isfahan carpet bazaar says, “The situation is deplorable. India, Pakistan and other countries have gained a lot sidelining the Iranian carpet.”

The stagnating carpet industry is at a time where the number of handcraft and rug weavers in Iran is reaching beyond 3 million people and many of them are at the danger of losing their jobs. The reason is that Indian and Pakistani hand weaved carpets are being imported into Iran illegally and to add to this miserable situation, Chinese carpets have also found a good market in Iran.