Iran’s people may revolt due to economic crisis, regime officials say

Iran’s people may revolt due to economic crisis, regime officials say

Youths protesting in Kashan, central Iran (File Photo)

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

Iran, Oct 23, 2018 - Recently, a large portion of the remarks heard from Iranian regime officials in state media consist of warnings about the regime’s future. Terms such as the “enemy,” “mistrust,” “dangerous times” and “current conditions” are keywords used in these warnings.

Even individuals such as Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Iranian regime’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology, despite his experience in the regime’s intelligence apparatus, is unable to cloak his concerns.

“What will become even more transparent these days is the social gap between various classes. We are facing a reality that there is a trust gap, with people knowing officials will not live up to their pledges. We shouldn’t deny this. Why should we? The reason is that they see our actions differ from our words, and this is seen in different fields of work,” he said in a TV interview on October 12.

Hossein Raghfar, an economy expert working for the Iranian regime, has warned that major food shortages and revolts are in the making for Iran. The economic crisis is pushing people towards revolting against the mullahs’ regime.

“Those who are living on subsidies, they have nothing. We are heading towards riots. These riots are due to economic insecurity. Workers who haven’t been paid, how are they supposed to provide for themselves… and this leads to riots. All these riots will be taking shape,” Raghfar said.

“There will be other riots, seen in the country’s brain drain. There will also be riots against themselves, such as suicides. Other people will be suffering from psychological damages, such as depression. This is another kind of riot in and of itself. And yet another riot is the rise in crimes,” he continued.

According to Raghfar, the main element behind these riots will be severe food shortages and a variety of other revolts. He forecasted an increase in self-immolation and depression, and an unbridled increase in crimes and insecurity, including economic insecurity, and finally, the country’s brain drain crisis. These are all examples of a public revolt.

“A worker that doesn’t get paid has no solution but to revolt,” Raghfar said.

Inflation currently stands at 50%, according to Raghfar, and will reach 80 to 90% at the end of the Iranian calendar year (March 2019), he added. This society will not last under such circumstances, Raghfar continued.

MEPs issue statement about the situation of Iranian dissidents in Albania

MEPs issue statement about the situation of Iranian dissidents in Albania

Ten senior members of the European Parliament issued a statement condemning the Iranian regime’s terrorist plots

Reported by PMOI/MEK

Oct. 20, 2018 - Ten senior members of the European Parliament have issued a statement covering the Iranian regime’s terrorist plots and demonizing campaign targeting the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), especially their members in Albania.

This statement calls on the European Union to blacklist the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) for its undeniable role in Tehran’s terrorism. According to an EU statement issued back in April 1997, “’visas [should] not be granted to Iranians with intelligence and security functions’ and ‘Iranian intelligence personnel from European Union Member States should be expelled.’”

The Iranian regime’s agents, active mainly under the disguise of reporters, are considered a general threats for the PMOI/MEK in Albania. The most urgent step necessary to protect these “refugees” is for the Albanian government to expel these intelligence agents of Tehran’s regime. Experience shows the security of the host country is jeopordized when Iranian regime spies and operatives are tolerated.

Full statement:

We are concerned about the Iranian regime’s terrorist plans against its main opposition. They include plots to blow up the Persian New Year gathering of Iranian refugees, members of the PMOI/MEK, in Tirana in March 2018, and the Free Iran Grand Gathering in Paris on June 30, 2018, as well as an intelligence-gathering operation against PMOI members in the U.S. by two agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) arrested in August 2018.

By plotting to blow up the Paris gathering attended by some 100,000 people as well as hundreds of European and U.S. dignitaries, including several members of the European Parliament, the regime crossed all red lines. An Iranian diplomat in Vienna personally handed the explosives to other agents. German police arrested him on 1 July and he was handed over to Belgium on 9 October to face trial. On 2 October, French officials announced that the plot to attack the Paris gathering had been organized by Tehran’s intelligence services. France has seized assets belonging to the Iranian Intelligence Ministry. As such, the efforts by the regime and its lobbies trying to attribute this plot only to rogue elements within the regime to save the so-called “moderates” in the government, failed.

The new wave of terrorism reflects the regime’s inability to deal with a nationwide uprising that began in late 2017 and has continued to date. Tehran blames the PMOI for organizing the protests and strikes. The ongoing strikes in the Tehran Bazaar and many other cities as well as the continuing strike by hundreds of thousands of truck drivers, are the latest in the series of protests.

Coupled with crackdown at home and terrorism abroad, the Iranian regime has stepped up its sinister campaign of demonization against the Iranian opposition by using the services of its operatives, who have infiltrated several western media outlets. The aim is to portray the opposition as an insular and dangerous sect, which would be worse than the current regime if it were to assume power in Iran.

Iranian dissidents in Albania are the primary focus of this demonization campaign. The regime is furious over the safe and secure relocation all PMOI members to Albania as it failed to annihilate them in Iraq or force them to surrender and return to Iran. By concocting absurd lies such as claiming that the PMOI has set up a government within a government or that it is holding its members against their will, Tehran is clearly setting the stage for further terrorist actions against them.

We are fully aware of the falsity of these claims, disseminated in a well-orchestrated and simultaneous chorus in some media outlets.

Since 2005 several European Parliament delegations travelled to Camp Ashraf, Iraq, privately met with Ashraf residents and published their own reports on the visits. Some of us have also visited the new PMOI site in Albania and have met its members personally.

Our two-decade-long experience with this opposition makes it clear that this movement is a genuinely democratic, responsible and reliable movement, whose only aim is to establish democracy and human

rights in Iran. It deeply respects the people and laws of Albania and has forged amicable relations with the host nation. As acknowledged by Albanian leaders, by accepting these refugees, Albania has found a new standing within the European Union and around the world. The members of the PMOI are working to free their homeland voluntarily and freely. No one is being kept in Albania against his/her own will.

Back in 2004 at the European Parliament, Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi, declared that the only solution regarding the Iranian problem is a changing of the regime by the Iranian people and the Resistance. She has called on the international community to end the policy of appeasement and to adopt a firm policy vis-à-vis the regime. We have endorsed Mrs. Rajavi’s ten-point-plan for the future free Iran, which coupled with this movement’s proven commitment to democratic principles gives us enormous hope about the future.

Accordingly, we underscore the following:

1. Given its undisputed role in terrorism, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry should be placed on the European Union’s terrorism list and the U.S.’s Foreign Terrorist Organizations list.

2. Consistent with the Council of European Union ratification in April 1997, “visas [should] not be granted to Iranians with intelligence and security functions" and "Iranian intelligence personnel from European Union Member States should be expelled.”

3. The regime’s agents pose a major threat to Iranian dissidents in Albania. These agents work under various pretexts, especially as journalists. The most urgent step in protecting these refugees is to expel Tehran’s intelligence operatives by the Albanian Government. Experience has shown that when the spies and agents of Iran are tolerated, the host countries’ security would be jeopardized.

Signatories:

Tunne Kelam, Member of European Parliament from Estonia

Eduard Kukan, MEP, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia

Jozo Radoš, MEP, Former Minister of Defence of Croatia

Heinz Becker, Member of European Parliament from Austria

José Bové, Member of European Parliament from France

Julie Ward, Member of European Parliament from UK Labour Party

Anthea McIntyre, MEP, Vice Chair of UK Conservative Party

Petri Sarvamaa, Member of European Parliament from Finland

Ryszard Czarnecki, MEP, former Minister of Europe of Poland

Jan Zahradil, Member of European Parliament from Czech Republic

Iran: Rouhani & “Hope Therapy”

Iran: Rouhani & “Hope Therapy”

Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani and "Hope therapy"!!

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

Iran, Oct. 17, 2018 - Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani went to Tehran University on October 14^th while many of his inner circles had suggested he shouldn’t. One university professor wrote in the Arman daily, “Mr. Rouhani, just smiling won’t provide the answer.” Rouhani went anyway.

Regarding the session Rouhani attended, an official of the Tehran University wrote in Iran daily, “The hall was packed with selected individuals who had received invitations and the only objective was to preserve the president’s prestige. We saw that our links with the university are intact. But we also have to see the other side of the coin. The side that tells us that the hall audience doesn’t represent the entire society and the president comes and talks about the university… But this is no cure for him.”

Considering these remarks, the question is what did Rouhani say in this session and what image did he provide of the mullahs’ regime?

In his speech, Rouhani claimed he had brought hope for the entire society.

“College students were also full of hope because from 2013 forward they knew that they would be free on Students Day (December 7^th in Iran),” he claimed.

Rouhani described the Iranian regime as an ill patient that needs “hope therapy” to remain alive.

He claimed he has information about the people’s living conditions.

“As the president, I look at the list of basic goods every day and I know about the people’s living conditions,” Rouhani added.

He was, however, empty-handed when talking about hope therapy, saying people’s lives may even worsen in the short-term.

There is no way to provide the $14 to $15 billion needed to provide people’s basic necessities.

“How this currency comes and how this turns into goods, how this is distributed and reaches the consumer. All of us must help out. The government can’t solve all the problems and everyone must put their hands together,” he added.

To divert attention from the main crisis facing the mullahs’ regime, being increasing protests and the Iranian people seeking regime change, Rouhani claimed the U.S.’ goal is regime changeand Washington has launched entered an economic war with Iran to delegitimize the regime.

All the while, outside of the conference hall, students were seen protesting against the Iranian regime.

People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)@Mojahedineng

#BREAKING
October 14 - Tehran, #Iran
Tehran University students protesting during Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani's speech at the college conference hall.#IranProtests

11:34 AM - Oct 14, 2018

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The root of Iran’s crises is found inside the country and the all-out war between the Iranian people and the entire mullahs’ apparatus.

The mullahs’ regime is on the brink of collapsing. This can be seen in the people’s popular protests and “Resistance Units” linked to the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

In such circumstances, there are only two options before the mullahs’ regime:

- Continue its policy of domestic crackdown, resulting in people’s wrath escalating and the expansion of protests that will ultimately lead to the regime’s overthrow.

- Another solution is to give in to the people’s demands. This will open rifts in the regime and result in the mullahs’ all-out crumbling, also eventually leading to the regime’s overthrow.sourse : english.mojahedin.org/i/iran-rouhani-hope-therapy

Tehran’s despicable recruitment of child soldiers fires back at the regime

Tehran’s despicable recruitment of child soldiers fires back at the regime

The IRGC’s Basij militia recruits, trains, and deploys child soldiers to fight in IRGC-fueled conflicts across the region.

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

Iran, Oct. 19, 2018 - In a recent tweet, US State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, “U.S. Treasury sanctioned a vast financial network supporting the Iran regime’s despicable practice of using child soldiers —as young as 12. The regime uses Afghan children as the ‘first wave’ in Syria, resulting in higher casualty rates.”

View image on Twitter

Heather Nauert

✔@statedeptspox

Today, @USTreasury sanctioned a vast financial network supporting the #Iran regime’s despicable practice of using child soldiers—as young as 12. The regime uses Afghan children as the “first wave” in Syria, resulting in higher casualty rates. Read more: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm524#.W8Ycj1Hm2ck.twitter …

12:02 AM - Oct 17, 2018

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The U.S. sanctioned a vast financial network supporting the Iranian regime’s paramilitary Basij force for human rights abuses and other criminal practices

The U.S. Treasury sanctions encompassed 20 of the regime’s banks and companies, imposed under counter-terrorism regulations.

According to an AFP report, the U.S. sanctioned these banks and companies because of their support for the regime’s militias.

The list of sanctioned entities includes Iran Tractor Manufacturing Company (ITMC), Isfahan's Mobarakeh Steel Company, Bank Mellat, Mehr Eqtesad Bank, Parsian Bank. It is worth mentioning that Mehr Eqtesad Bank, which was previously named as Gharz-al Hasana Mehr Basijian, is associated with Bonyad-e Taavon Basij, which translates as Basij Cooperative Foundation.

Mehr Eqtesad Iranian Investment Company owns shares in Esfahan's Mobarakeh Steel Company, the largest steelmaker in the Middle East and North Africa region. Mehr Eqtesad Iranian Investment Company had also purchased shares in the ITMC in 2008.

In addition, Mehr Eqtesad also had shares in many other companies such as Iralco, Sadra, Jaber Ebne Hayyan Pharmaceutical Company.

The Treasury says that the IRGC’s Basij militia recruits, trains, and deploys child soldiers to fight in IRGC-fueled conflicts across the region.

“The Bonyad Taavon Basij network is an example of how the IRGC and Iranian military forces have expanded their economic involvement in major industries and infiltrated seemingly legitimate businesses to fund terrorism and other malign activities.  This vast network provides financial infrastructure to the Basij’s efforts to recruit, train, and indoctrinate child soldiers who are coerced into combat under the IRGC’s direction,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The below list contains names of firms went under sanctions:

Andisheh Mehvaran Investment Company

Bahman Group

 Bandar Abbas Zinc Production Company

Mellat Bank

Bonyad Taavon Basij,

Calcimine company

Isfahan's Mobarakeh Steel Company

Iran Tractor Manufacturing Company (ITMC)

Iran’s Zinc Mines Development Company (IZMDC)

Mehr Eghtesad Bank

Mehr Eqtesad Iranian Investment Company

Negin Sahel Royal Company

Parsian Bank

Parsian Catalyst Chemical Company

Qeshm Zinc Smelting and Reduction Company

Sina Bank

Tadbirgaran Atiyeh Investment Company

Taktar Investment Company

Technotar Engineering Company

Zanjan Acid Production Company

FATF Week in Paris and an uptick in tensions between political factions in Iran

FATF Week in Paris and an uptick in tensions between political factions in Iran

There is an increasing gap between the political factions in Iran for joining the FATF

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

Oct. 18, 2018 - While the FATF Week has started in Paris to discuss and further the global combat of financing terrorism, an increasingly vocal rift is visible between the warring political factions of the Iranian regime on whether the Islamic Republic should join the FATF or not.

Among the cases scheduled to be reviewed in this week’s FATF summit is Iran’s dossier.

 

Last chance to exit the black list

The FATF Week started on Sunday 14 October and will continue until Friday 19. Over 800 officials representing more than 200 jurisdictions, the IMF, UN, World Bank and others have gathered in Paris to discuss more than hundred papers on a range of important issues to protect the integrity of the global financial system to improve safety and security across the world.

And while the progress of Iran and other countries—which in FATF’s words present “a risk to the financial system”—looms large on this week’s agenda of the global anti-money laundering body, the fate of three out of the four laws that are necessary to avoid being black listed is still unclear.

Mardomsalary newspaper from Hassan Rouhani’s faction writes: “This is the last chance to remove the Islamic Republic from this organization’s black list. Out of the four bills regarding FATF in Iran, three haven’t yet been approved and the danger of remaining in the black list still threatens Iran. If [these three bills] don’t get approved and finalized this week by the Guardian Council and Expediency Council, Islamic Republic’s name won’t be removed from FATF’s black list. With United States’ new sanctions starting November, this can create a more difficult situation for [the regime] in doing economic and banking exchanges.”

After months of bickering, internal fights, and back-and-forth in the Iranian regime’s parliament, the Guardian Council and the Expediency Council, and threats and counter threats, all the four bills known as the Palermo bills have been passed by the Iranian regime’s parliament.

According to the Islamic Republic’s law, the Guardian Council needs to approve the remaining bills for them to become law. The Guardian Council is controlled by Ali Khamenei, the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader.

Some experts believe that Ali Khamenei wants to approve the bills to avoid further isolation in face of the new oil sanctions, although it would amount to shooting himself in the foot. Doing so would also jeopardize a vast network of illicit activities that the IRGC and other factions close to the Supreme Leader are accustomed to benefit from.

 

Circumventing the sanctions with FATF would be impossible

According to Alef, a website close to Khamenei, a group of clerics have gathered in Qom, Iran’s religious capital, to protest the new FATF bills: “Saturday afternoon, clerics gathered in Qom to protest the bills for joining the International Convention for Suppression of Financing of Terrorism. Zolnur, member of parliament’s committee for security spoke in the gathering and said: ‘Signing FATF makes circumventing the sanctions nearly impossible.’”

Meanwhile, news outlets close to Khamenei’s factions published a list of MPs who haven’t signed the bill for joining the Countering Financing of Terrorism Act (CFT) and said that those who signed the bill are traitors.

 

We will sanction the IRGC and Quds Force by ourselves

Hossein Shariatmadary, Khamenei’s representative in Keyhan newspaper wrote: “This article is directed at the Guardian Council and it is about the dangerous task it has in face of the so-called Countering Financing of Terrorism ACT (CFT)… it’s the prevention of the danger that the final approval of this convention can force upon the people and the regime.”

Alehashem, Khameni’s representative in Tabriz said: “These bills have a well and beautiful look but in a sense it’s like self-inflicted sanction. We are going to sanction the Quds Force by ourselves. The JCPOA was like this too.”

Iran and its popular alternative

Iran and its popular alternative

Now is the time to end the silence and place those responsible before justice

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

Iran, Oct. 17, 2018 - Iran stands at the threshold of another revolution. Following decades of unrests, protests and major revolts in July 1999 and the 2009 uprising, we are now witnessing the continuation of an uprising that began in late December 2017, quickly spread across the country and continues in various shapes and forms today.

Looking at the big picture, in one side we see a religious dictatorship squandering Iran’s vast national wealth, coupled with ruthless suppression and executions. While on the other side are the Iranian people and their resistance movement. Evident is the regime’s powerful crackdown machine is shrinking and weakening as the mullahs sink further into a growing crisis.

Let us see what regime insiders say about all this.

“We occupied the US embassy, which led us to the start of sanctions and the (Iran-Iraq) war began afterward. We insisted on continuing the war even after retaking Khorramshahr. However, when [Iranian regime founder] Khomeini accepted the UN ceasefire resolution he described it as “drinking from a chalice of poison. While the reconstruction work had hardly begun after the war, we started work on the nuclear program. This came with a very high price tag and we had to once again accept the ‘heroic flexibility’ in regards to the Iran nuclear deal. The ink on this deal had hardly dried that we started to fire missiles, giving reasons to those seeking to escalate the crisis,” said Gholamreza Heydari, a member of the Iranian regime Majlis (parliament).

“The severe downfall in the national currency value and skyrocketing prices for basic necessities indicate that the country is not being governed properly. Are we the guardian of the whole world that it is upon us to give blood for others’ sake? The way the country is running is that all the power is in one place and others are held accountable,” he added.

Revolutionary Guards deputy chief Hossein Salami also made interesting remarks recently.

“Our warehouses are full with basic necessities. The nation should increase their tolerance. For the love of God, do not be deceived by the enemy’s media and psychological warfare campaign… Remain calm… Nothing has happened. It is our enemy who should be terrified and shaking with fear…” he said.

These remarks of helplessness and defeat by senior officials are in stark contrast with the public’s growing popular resistance and determination. However, we need to examine this new reality and see how it came about, who made it possible and at what cost.

Reports seen in the press involve water shortages, corruption, lack of free election, executions, the disappearance of prisoners and … wide political unrest…

The reason is the endpoint for this regime is near and what you are witnessing is that major change period. Now there are many asking is there an alternative to this regime.

The answer is yes and this alternative can be found in the Iranian Resistance, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and the opposition President Maryam Rajavi.

The PMOI/MEK fought against the Shah leading to the 1979 revolution. It is the force now fighting against the religious dictatorship and paying the price all these years.

“Let me read to you something coming out of the regime itself about the PMOI/MEK. ‘Who has the best conditions of seeking to overthrow and the ability to turn this potential into reality? It is talking about the reality of the regime overthrow. Everyone is pointing to the MEK and this is something that Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has stressed upon repeatedly. So, it is necessary that we identify them, raise awareness about them and, all of us, be serious to confront this real threat,’” Mayor Rudy Giuliani, lawyer of U.S. President Donald Trump, said at an Iranian opposition rally recently.

This is the full picture of the Iranian Resistance. It rose early on when Iranian regime founder Khomeini began violating people’s rights and freedom. And, this movement has grown step by step, with many of its members sacrificing their lives to reach the status quo. This resistance refused to accept and give legitimacy to religious dictatorship disguised in the absolute rule of the clergy.

For almost four decades, the Iranian Resistance has been the only serious and lasting entity against this tyrannical regime. This movement embodies all progressive and freedom loving groups.

 

The third option

For a long period, the Iranian regime has led a misinformation campaign claiming the Iranian people and the international community had to choose between a full-scale military intervention or accepting the regime’s existence and tolerate its behavior.

The Iranian Resistance presents a democratic, political alternative to the world led by Maryam Rajavi.

Over the last two decades, Mrs. Rajavi has spearheaded a worldwide campaign in the fight against fundamentalism and the terrorist-supporting regime of Iran. She has gained the support from many international, political and social figures, including former military officers, former ministers and current MPs from various countries of Europe, the Americas, the Arab World, and Australia.

Maryam Rajavi has successfully led an international community to fight the unjustified blacklisting against the PMOI/MEK in Europe and the United States. This labeling was part of a secret behind-the-curtain deal and the cornerstone of the West’s appeasement policy vis-à-vis Iran.

This unjust blacklisting was debunked in the United Kingdom in 2008, the European Union in 2009 and the U.S. in 2012.

Another major undertaking led by Mrs. Rajavi is the transfer of PMOI/MEK members from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty in Iraq, and eventually moving them out of Iraq to Europe, especially Albania, and beyond. This was an extensive and extended campaign involving many political and security risks.

Mrs. Rajavi successfully worked and negotiated with several governments and international bodies to complete this campaign.

Moving on, Mrs. Rajavi launched a campaign seeking justice for the victims of the 1988 massacre in Iran. For three decades, the international community has remained silent on this crime against humanity.

Now is the time to end this silence and place those responsible before justice.

Mrs. Rajavi is the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a known coalition of Iranian opposition forces, with the PMOI/MEK as its core member.

The time is now for the mullahs’ overthrow. Victory is certain and Iran will be free.