Iran Last News

Baghdad's crackdown on Iran-allied militias faces resistance By John Davison and Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD, Aug 29 (Reuters) - At checkpoints leading into the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the flags of Brigade 30, a paramilitary force, still fly nearly two months after the Baghdad government ordered all militias to leave. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's decree gave Iran-backed paramilitary groups, which have wielded increasing power in Iraq, a month to fully integrate with the armed forces, leave checkpoints and sever ties with political groups. Brigade 30's refusal to abandon its positions on the eastern edge of Mosul -- instead it cut off roads and whipped up angry protests -- underlines Baghdad's struggle to assert its authority and raises the risk of further instability in a region marked by U.S.-Iranian rivalry. Washington warned this year it would take action against Iran-backed militias if Baghdad failed to control them, and imposed sanctions on g...

Time To Empower Iranian Opposition And Support Democratic Change In Iran – OpEd Protests in Iran. Photo Credit: Fars News Agency. By  John Perry*   August 29, 2019 Iran is presently the subject of vigorous public discussion as experts debate over what is the right policy for dealing with escalating tensions between the Iranian regime and the West. A key component that has been overlooked for too long is the organized Iranian opposition. Thousands of Iranians recently rallied in London to remind participants in that debate, particularly in Europe, of the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people and their coalition of opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).  https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/our-resistance Iranian exiles, their families, and their supporters highlighted their support for the ongoing popular protests across Iran, which became much more visible last year and gave rise to explicit demands for the overthrow of the religious...

NINE IRANIAN WORKERS SENTENCED TO PRISON TERM AND 30 LASHES 27 August 2019 Nine Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Factory workers have been sentenced to eight months of prison (suspended) and 30 lashes each by the 102nd Branch of the Shush Criminal Court, according to the state-run ILNA news agency. The workers stood trial on August 14 for the “crime” of  attending  a one-hour protest on May 9, to demand their rights. Other charges brought against the workers, according to the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Syndicate, is “holding illegal gatherings to demand a change of management and the release of Esmail Bakhshi” and “publishing messages on the internet”. Seven of the complex’s workers were tried and sentenced to eight months suspended prison sentence and 30 lashes, according to the Haft Tappeh workers independent social media channel. The Iranian Regime does not recognize workers’ rights to organize, even if they have months of unpaid wages and say that their basic demand...

IRAN’S ROUHANI WILL NOT TALK TO US UNLESS SANCTIONS ARE LIFTED Aug 28, 2019  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that Iran will not talk to the United States until all sanctions against the Gulf country are lifted, just one day after Donald Trump said he would definitely meet with Iran. Speaking live on  state TV  Rouhani said: “First the U.S. should act by lifting all illegal, unjust and unfair sanctions imposed on Iran. Washington has the key to positive change ... So take the first step ... Without this step, this lock will not be unlocked.” Trump said Monday at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, that he would meet Rouhani to end the confrontation that began after the US pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal last year, citing Iranian noncompliance, but only under the right circumstances. He refused to lift the sanctions, however. Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary,  said  that a meeting with Rouhani is not advisab...

IRAN REGIME PRETENDS TO DEAL WITH CORRUPTION Aug 28, 2019  Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is going out of his way to say that he is fighting financial corruption at the highest levels of the regime by conducting mass arrests, as various officials accuse each other of corruption. Now, these accusations are just par for the course when it comes to factional infighting in the Iranian regime and corruption is nothing new in the regime. The only thing new is the idea that the regime could clamp down on institutionalized corruption. This is a lie and completely antithetical to the regime. When the mullahs took power in 1979, they promised to “empower the impoverished”, but they’ve really been robbing the Iranian people. This stolen money funds the regime’s terrorism, proxy wars, and the lavish lifestyles of regime elites. The only way to get stinking rich in Iran is to be affiliated with a state-run institution that robs from the people. Economist Hossein Zaghfar,...

NCRI URGES THE WORLD TO CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF IRANIAN PROTESTERS The main democratic Iranian opposition coalition has called for human rights and workers’ rights defenders and organizations around to the world to support protesters in Iran, by condemning their arrest for peaceful protest and urge the Iranian Regime to release them immediately and unconditionally without charge. The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)  documented  the peaceful protests of hundreds of retirees and teachers in Tehran and Isfahan on Monday, August 26, before explaining that the repressive forces of the Regime, in a desperate attempt to quell protests, attacked and assaulted the demonstrators, before arresting several of them. The Secretariat of the NCRI wrote: “The Iranian Resistance hailed the protesters, the teachers, the retirees and all those suffering under the oppression of the religious fascism ruling Iran. It called on the people and the youths...

Iranians in Finland protest against Zarif's presence Rally of PMOI/MEK supporters in Finland against the presence of Iranian regime FM Javad Zarif Iran, August 21, 2019 –On Tuesday, August 21, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran ( PMOI/MEK ) in Finland held a protest rally against the presence of the Iranian regime’s  sanctioned foreign minister Javad Zarif  who is now begging Europe for relief from the U.S. pressure. The protestors had placards and signs that read, “Expel diplomat-terrorists form Finland”, “Get lost Zarif” and “We condemn any negotiations with the terrorist regime of Iran.” They also held pictures of Mrs.  Maryam Rajavi , President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ) and  Massoud Rajavi , the leader of the Iranian resistance. The participants chanted slogans such as, “Zarif get lost” “Iranians chant: down with Khamenei down with Rouhani” referring to regime’s supreme leader and presiden...

Iran news in brief, August 21, 2019

The threat of a new uprising in Iran Scenes of the Dec 2017-Jan 2018 uprising that swept over 140 cities across Iran Iran, August 21, 2019 –The Iranian regime’s concerns over a new uprising sweeping across the country can be witnessed on a daily basis through its media outlets. The state-run  Ebtekar  daily specifically refers to the deteriorating status quo and a possible “explosion” in Iran’s society. “Poverty, unemployment and other dilemmas are fueling the burning fire of social unrest, which can become a major source of troubles… In the past 18 months, the Iranian people have lost 80 percent of their assets’ value. Poverty is engulfing the medium class, and the lower class and even the country’s aid institutions are experiencing undesired and extremely poor conditions,” the piece reads. However, can the mullahs prevent this fire from fueling already boiling  social unrests ? The method this regime uses in response to demands made by workers a...

US sanctions deny Iran the revenue it needs to fund its proxies Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran, walks past parts of short-range ballistic missiles at the Iranian Materiel Display at an airbase near Washington on November 29, 2018. (AP) August 20, 2019 The United States envoy on Iran, Brian Hook, said on Tuesday that sanctions have denied the Iranian regime the revenues it needs to fund Tehran’s proxies in the Middle East . “ We have worked with partners in the region to deny Iran the revenue that it needs to run its foreign policy and to fund its proxies,” Hook told reporters during a press briefing at the New York Foreign Press Center . “ We have prevented billions of dollars from reaching the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian Treasury … Iran used to transfer $700 million to Hezbollah annually,” Hook said . Comments made by Washington’s special representative on Iran came as Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is expected to ...

Nasrin Javadi, Labor Activist Sentenced To 7 Years In Prison, 74 Lashes Aug 21, 2019  Nasrin Javadi (Azam Khezri), a female labor activist who was arrested on International Labor Day in Tehran, was sentenced to 7 years in prison and 74 lashes. Her trial was held at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on August 6, 2019. According to the verdict, Ms. Nasrin Javadi was sentenced to 5 years in prison on charges of “association and collusion against national security”, one year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the state”, and one year in prison, 74 lashes, banning the use of smartphones and banning activities in political and social parties and groups on charges of “disrupting public order “. Ms. Nasrin Javadi is a former employee of the Medical Distribution Company and the retiree of the Social Security Organization, a member of the founding board of the Social Security Retirement Labor Council, and a member of the Free Union of Iran Workers. She was among t...

Iran news in brief, August 20, 2019