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Fatemeh Amini

Symbol of perseverance and steadfastness

There are people who make up cornerstones on which a long history of resistance is built for millions to follow.

There are grim wills that make the enemy fall on its knees and overcome its cruelty and savagery.

There are humans that look on to the horizons, calmly sing the beautiful song of life and then become eternal.

Fatemeh Amini was one such human being.

Fatemeh was born in the city of Mashhad (northeastern Iran) to a religious family who were political and progressive. She, too, started her political activities against the Shah's dictatorship in 1962 when she was studying at Mashhad University's School of Literature. Soon, she and her friends founded the Association of Progressive Women.

Fatemeh graduated from university in 1964 and began teaching in girls' high schools in Mashhad. At the same time, she tried to familiarize them with social and political issues.

In 1970, Fatemeh moved to Tehran where she got to know the newly founded People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI), and after a short period of active involvement, she became a member of the group.

In 1971, the Shah's secret police (SAVAK) launched a major campaign to discover and clampdown on dissident groups, including the PMOI. A large number of the group members were arrested and imprisoned.

In the very difficult conditions that ensued, Fatemeh secretly but persistently continued her activities. However, she was also arrested in March 1975.

To have an open hand in torturing her, SAVAK had a news published in the daily newspapers indicating that Fatemeh Amini had been found dead after falling from a mountain.

So, Fatemeh was flogged and tortured for days and months until she was paralyzed, but she put up a staunch resistance and did not give any information to SAVAK.

Finally, she was killed under torture on August 16, 1975.

Fatemeh Amini was the first PMOI woman to be killed in struggle, but she did not die as thousands of young women followed her example in the subsequent years.

Iran Regime Change: A New War or Preventing One

The bipartisan passage of the sanctions bill H.R. 3364 by both houses of Congress, and the Trump administration’s approach to Iran have raised questions over the right policy toward Iran.

Meanwhile, a grand gathering of Iranians in Paris suburb on July 1st with 100,000 participants, recited the desire of millions of Iranians: regime change.

Accordingly, Iran apologists, concerned that the appeasement policy is coming to an end and the new administration may adopt a policy of regime change, have become active to portray this bloody picture that such a policy will drag America to another Middle East war.

To prove their point, they refer to the US-led invasion of Iraq or the Libya regime change campaign. Due to catastrophic consequences of Iraq’s invasion for the US and the region, this reasoning could convince many Americans that regime change policy is not the right policy.

Nonetheless, this comparison is merely aimed at exploiting a wrong policy to adopt yet another wrong policy. Sending troops and invading Iraq by the US was a wrong policy, but worse is naively comparing that failed policy to the current situation in Iran, and denying the right of Iranian people to change the tyrannical regime.

U.S. Military Action Not Needed

Contrary to what Iran apologists portray, the regime change policy means neither military invasion nor military intervention by US in Iran.

It simply means stopping the appeasement policy and recognizing the right of the Iranian people for regime change. The Iranian people and their resistance movement can and will change the regime in Iran, and ask for the US to stop standing alongside this regime.

“We reiterate and emphasize that regime change and establishment of freedom and people’s sovereignty, is solely the task and within the powers of the Iranian people and Resistance and no one else. Having relied on the suffering, struggle and endurance of this movement and this alternative, today we are most confident in the victory and liberation of our homeland” said Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of Iranian Resistance in her opening statement at a recent Interim Session of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Obama Supported The Mullahs

For years, Iran apologists, by adopting the appeasement policy, have denied such a right for the Iranian people. In the 2009 uprising while millions of Iranians were in the streets demanding regime change, the Obama administration was busy exchanging letters with senior regime officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iranians in their street demonstrations were shouting, “Obama! Are you with us or with them?”

Obama’s response was clear. Through the appeasement policy he sided with the regime and allowed the mullahs cheat their downfall.

Now that the new administration’s policy is shifting in the right direction, the same apologists continue their support for the Iranian regime by claiming any regime change policy will lead us to another war in the Middle East.

The Evil Mullahs Rule By Terror

During their rule, the mullahs have executed more than 120,000 people for political reasons. Hundreds of thousands more have been imprisoned and tortured.

Corruption is raging throughout the ruling system while poverty has increased and reached an unprecedented level in Iran’s history. The regime has also destroyed this nation’s culture.

Due to this regime’s terrorism Iran has lost the respect it deserves in the international community.

The people of Iran have the right to change such a regime. Denying them is tantamount to suggest the Iranian people should continue suffering torture and execution under the mullahs’ regime.

“We say that the struggle of the people of Iran for regime change is legitimate, righteous and imperative. We urge you to recognize this ‘resistance against oppression.’ The same notion that is stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in France’s Declaration of Human Rights and Citizens’ Rights. This has also been stated in the American Declaration of Independence where it says, ‘whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of’ the people’s rights, ‘it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government’ of their liking.” Said Maryam Rajavi in her speech at Paris gathering.

Iran Is Unlike Iraq and Libya

Contrary to Iraq, Libya and other countries, Iran has a democratic, powerful and organized opposition with the capacity of mobilizing and organizing the people of Iran for another uprising.

The NCRI and the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI-MEK) enjoy widespread popular support inside Iran and abroad.

The NCRI has a clear democratic platform, calling for a secular republic, gender equality, no capital punishment, rights of religious and ethnic minorities and a non-nuclear Iran.

The right Iran policy is to support the NCRI. This is the only way to prevent another war in the Middle East.

THE EU DISREGARDS HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN

By Hamid Bahrami

The formal inauguration ceremony of Rouhani’s second presidential term was held earlier this month. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, attended the event as a special guest.The Italian Commissioner is known to be one of the EU officials who supports a policy of appeasing the Iranian regime.

The EU’s foreign policy chief also met President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and the Foreign Policy Advisor of the Supreme Leader, Ali-Akbar Velayati.

Mogherini’s presence at the ceremony sends a shameful message and gives a green light to the Iranian government to continue its suppression of human rights in the country.

Economically, it is a fact that Iran presents a tempting opportunity for the EU. But aside from Iran’s malign actions in the Middle East and continued support for terrorism, one should ask the following question: Is the EU concerned about the human rights situation in Iran?

In reality, the EU has never put serious pressure on the Iranian government over human rights. Experts, human rights activists and members of the Iranian opposition have consistently asked the EU to make any economic relations with the regime in Tehran contingent upon verifiable improvements of the human rights situation and an end to executions, but the EU has always preferred trade.

It is a fact that since the revolution in 1979, the Iranian people have suffered greatly due to systematic human rights violations by the government.

In its new 90-page report Caught In A Web Of Repression, Amnesty International describes and documents a vicious crackdown on human rights activists under President Rouhani. The report draws the conclusion that the “Iranian authorities laid the foundations of a repressive state apparatus,” revealing the catastrophic human rights situation in the country.

One particular case in this regard, among many highlighted in the Amnesty report, is that of Maryam Akbari-Monfared, who is serving 15 years in prison on bogus charges.

According to Amnesty International, Akbari-Monfared is facing additional hardship in prison for filing a formal complaint to seek justice over a 1988 massacre in Iran in which tens of thousands of political detainees, a majority from the opposition, the PMOI, were executed en masse in prisons across the country.

Indeed, during the massacre, two of her siblings were executed. The Iranian government has punished Ms. Akbari-Monfared by denying her medical treatment vital to her health and by threatening to stop her family visits.

The activist’s courage has given momentum to the global campaign calling for an end to the impunity and prosecution of the perpetrators of this horrific massacre.

The experience of Hassan Rouhani’s first term in office shows that there is a correlation between a policy of appeasement and an increasing number of executions and public hangings in Iran. This fact was proven in 2015 when nearly 1000 persons were executed in the country exactly as the world powers were negotiating a nuclear deal with Tehran.

Federica Mogherini should indeed be asked how she managed to persuade herself to continue relations with the Iranian officials despite constant reports of the deteriorating human rights situation and an increasing number of hangings in the country.

Considering the regime’s weak position in both domestic and foreign affairs, it is high time to pressure Iran to improve its respect for human rights.

Today, human rights defenders in Iran are in a grievous condition. They are the primary victims of the EU’s policy of appeasing the mullahs.

To end this crisis, oil traders must recognise and acknowledge the right and need to defend human rights in Iran.

originally published in the euractiv

US ties with Iranian opposition strengthening

The Iranian opposition is gaining momentum due to a growing consensus in the US Congress over the necessity for regime change in Iran. A senior delegation of US senators went to Albania’s capital Tirana this week to meet Maryam Rajavi, who heads the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a political coalition calling for regime change in Iran and considered the main threat to the ruling mullahs.
They also met members of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (MEK), the main member of this varied coalition of groups and individuals. The high-profile visit comes at a time when Washington has slapped major new sanctions on Iran, including its Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), for its ballistic missile drive, its support for terrorism and its human rights violations. Given that the IRGC controls over 40 percent of Iran’s economy, these new sanctions are a heavy blow to Tehran’s ambitions.
Ties between Iran’s opposition and US officials are strengthening, and the number of high-level officials supporting the opposition is rising. They recognize the opposition as a legitimate representative of many Iranians who seek democracy in their country. Rajavi expressed her gratitude for the US Senate’s tireless efforts to protect thousands of MEK members in Iraq and relocate them to Albania.
Previously, in a Senate briefing, several US officials strongly condemned Iran’s destructive role in Iraq. Sen. Roy Blunt joined an initiative demanding the urgent transfer of MEK members stationed in a former US military base known as Camp Liberty near Baghdad.

Tehran fears the opposition’s soft power more than the hard power of foreign governments. That is why Iranian leaders and media outlets react forcefully and anxiously to such visits and opposition activities.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh

In April, Sen. John McCain, a longtime supporter of the Iranian opposition, visited the MEK in Albania and met with Rajavi. MEK members were able to leave Iraq after a four-and-a-half-year ordeal in Camp Liberty following their forced transfer from their 26-year home in Camp Ashraf, northeast of Baghdad.
From 2009, following the transfer of security from the US military to the Iraqi government, the MEK came under eight major ground and rocket attacks by Iran-backed proxies against Ashraf and Liberty. This was in parallel with a seven-year siege. After losing more than 160 of their colleagues to the attacks and blockade, MEK members were finally able to leave Iraq for European countries, mainly Albania.
This latest visit sends a strong signal to Tehran that the NCRI is gaining momentum. This time last year, Tehran was hell-bent on destroying the MEK. Now the tide has turned, with the opposition on the offensive.
Tehran fears the opposition’s soft power more than the hard power of foreign governments. That is why Iranian leaders and media outlets react forcefully and anxiously to such visits and opposition activities. The opposition can be a very powerful tool to pressure Tehran without the need for direct military confrontation.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated, Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. He serves on the boards of the Harvard International Review, the Harvard International Relations Council and the US-Middle East Chamber for Commerce and Business. He can be reached on Twitter @Dr_Rafizadeh.

WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF THE US SENATORS VISIT WITH MRS. MARYAM RAJAVI AND THE MEMBERS OF THE PMOI/MEK FOR IRAN?

By Mahdavi nasim

Last week, a panel of US senators headed by Roy Blunt arrived in Tirana and met with Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, leader of the National Council of Resistance of Iran(NCRI) and members of the People's Mojahedin Organization(PMOI/MEK).

The Senate delegation consisted of Senators Roy Blunt, Vice President of the Republican Conference, and member of the Appropriation, Select Intelligence, Rules and Administration, and Commerce, Science, and Transportation committees; John Cornyn, the Majority Whip, and a member of the Judiciary, Select Intelligence, and Finance committees; and Thom Tillis, a member of the Armed Services, Judiciary, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and Veterans’ Affairs committees.

During this meeting, the situation of the members of the PMOI/MEK in Albania, the latest situation in Iran and the region, and solutions to end the crisis in the region were discussed, American senators welcomed the relocation of PMOI/MEK members of Camp Liberty in Iraq to Albania .It should be remembered that the last group of members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran(PMOI/MEK), who lived in Camp Liberty near Iraq, was relocated to Albania last year.

Maryam Rajavi thanked the Senators for their decisive position vis-à-vis the Iranian regime, especially the adoption of a new resolution which imposed sanctions on the clerical regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) for human rights abuses, the ballistic missile program, and the export of terrorism.

Maryam Rajavi emphasized that contrary to the propaganda by the Iranian regime’s apologists, the ruling theocracy was rotten to the core and very fragile. Without foreign support, especially the policy of appeasement pursued in the U.S. and Europe, it would not have survived so long. She added that regime change in Iran is necessary and within reach because a viable and democratic alternative exists. Maryam Rajavi said equating regime change by the Iranian people for democracy with war and instability in the region is a sheer lie, the source of which is the Iranian regime’s lobby in western capitals. They demagogically turn the truth on its head, she noted, adding that the overthrow of the Tehran regime was a prerequisite to ending crisis and war in the Middle East.
Maryam Rajavi underscored the need for expelling the IRGC and its affiliated militias from Syria, Iraq, and other regional countries, taking urgent steps to punish the regime for widespread political executions, especially the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners.

It should be remembered that this meeting was just three weeks after the adoption of strong US sanctions against the Iranian regime and black list of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), there is a strong message to the Iranian regime that conditions have changed and the winds do not blow the interests of Iran, But now the winds are in the interests of the PMOI/MEK, And this group has a special status as the only group and democratic alternative in the international community and among politicians, especially American politicians. Of course, it should not be forgotten that the PMOI/MEK, despite the conspiracies and the desire of the regime to destroy them, were able to keep their organization, which are now at the forefront of a resistance movement to overthrow this regime.

The Iranian regime probably understands the meaning of this visit, because it knows that the issue of regime change is not just the desire Iranian people, but it is also a regional demand. The regime also knows that due to its destructive activities in the region, particularly its support for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, its support for the Houthi fundamentalist group in Yemen, as well as its active financial and arms support for Lebanon's Hezbollah all the countries in the region oppose it, Therefore, the policy of regime change has become an international and regional demand.

CALL FOR AN INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO INVESTIGATE 1988 MASSACRE OF 30,000 POLITICAL PRISONERS IN IRAN

Human rights, in particular, bringing to justice the officials involved in the 1988 massacre, should be at the core of Iran policyHuman rights defenders, dignitaries, European politicians and the Iranian Resistance called for the formation of an international commission of inquiry into the massacre of political prisoners in Iran in the summer of 1988 and bringing those responsible for this genocide and crime against humanity to justice.

They stressed that the issue of human rights should be at the core of the West’s policy on Iran. They urged the UN, EU and the US to put the issue of flagrant and systematic violation of human rights in Iran on top of their agenda.

The call was made during an exhibition on the 1988 massacre that took place upon the initiative of Mr. Jean-François Legaret, the Mayor of Paris municipality District 1 at this municipality on Thursday, August 17, 2017.

In addition to Mr. Legaret, several French mayors including Armand Jacquemin, mayor of Moussy Le Vieux, Jean-Claude Jegoudez, mayor of Grisy-Sur-Seine, and Jacky Duminy, mayor of Ors took part and spoke at the exhibition.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, in a message to the exhibition said 30,000 political prisoners were hanged in Iran in days such as these in the summer of 1988, without any reaction by Western governments.

Those who remained silent over this tragedy betrayed humanity because the mullahs found out that their crimes had no consequences. So, they continued by exporting their terrorism and fundamentalism abroad and drenching the Middle East in blood.

If in those days, the massacre had not been met with silence, today, the mullahs could not sink Syria in a whirlpool of blood.

The people of Iran want to end the impunity of those in charge of the massacre and hold them accountable. This has turned into the Iranian people’s most important political demand from the clerical regime. We urge the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the 1988 massacre. The UN Security Council must set up a special tribunal or refer the issue to the International Criminal Court to arrange for the prosecution of the leaders of the Iranian regime.
Mrs. Rajavi once again urged all governments to make their relations and trade with the religious fascism ruling Iran contingent on an end to executions and torture.

Governor Yves Bonnet, the former head of France’s domestic anti-terrorism organization; Struan Stevenson, a Scottish politician, President of “European Iraqi Freedom Association” and former President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq, were among the dignitaries who took part in this exhibition and supported the call by the head of the opposition.

In his remarks, Stevenson condemned the recent trip of EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to Iran and said: “Rouhani has been hailed in the West as a moderate and a reformist, despite the fact that more than 3,500 people, including 80 women, have been executed during the four years he has been in office, catapulting Iran into pole position as the world’s number one state executioner per capita. Several hundred people have been executed so far this year, including women and teenagers. Three days before Mogherini arrived in Tehran, Amnesty International published a 94-page report highlighting the ‘web of oppression’ that pervades Iran and detailing the catastrophic human rights situation in the country.”

He added: “The French government and the EU should also be demanding a full United Nations inquiry into the 1988 massacre, with Khamenei, Rouhani and their clique of killer clerics indicted for crimes against humanity and brought for trial before the international courts in The Hague.”

Khomeini, the founder of the clerical regime in the summer of 1988, in a fatwa that was unprecedented in the history of Islam, stated that all those who were imprisoned throughout Iran and were still loyal to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran should be executed. More than 30,000 political prisoners who were serving their terms were executed in a few months based on this criminal fatwa. The Death Commissions, in trials that lasted just a few minutes, sent to the gallows any of the prisoners who were not willing to condemn the PMOI (MEK). The victims were buried in mass graves in secret.

In spite of the mullahs’ attempts to impose silence on this crime against humanity and to prevent the spread of this issue in the society, the movement calling for justice for the victims of the massacre in Iran has expanded since last year and has evolved into a public issue. The Justice seeking movement in Iran managed to corner the mullahs.

Ali Khamenei intended to put a member of the 1988 massacre’s Death Commission in the office of president, but the nationwide campaign calling for justice foiled his plans.

During the last year, new information about the slaughter, including a large number of names of the victims, as well as the locations of numerous mass graves which the mullahs had previously concealed, has surfaced.

The 1988 massacre and the conspiracy of silence has been an issue of consensus among the regime’s various factions and its senior officials.

Over the past four years, the mullahs’ president Hassan Rouhani had appointed Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, one of the key officials in charge of the 1988 massacre, as Minister of Justice. The new Justice Minister for his second term, Alireza Avaie, is another one of the perpetrators of the massacre, who has been already designated as a violator of human rights by the European Union.

A number of relatives of the victims and individuals who spent years in prison in Iran and were tortured shared their observations with the audience during the exhibition.

IRAN: AFTER THE JCPOA, THE AMOUNT OF IRAN'S FOREIGN DEBTS?

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh

Arabnews, 20 August 2017 - There is a need for a more firm approach toward the Iranian government and its increasingly aggressive foreign policy.Tehran is ratcheting up its interference and interventions in Arab countries. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliates are increasing domestic repression as well, according to the latest reports by human rights organizations.

Support for a firm approach against the Iranian political establishment is increasing in the United States. About 30 prominent American luminaries and former officials issued a joint statement expressing bipartisan support for underscoring the need for countering Tehran regime. Among the signatories were former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

It is crucial to point out that the Iranian government has been causing regional instability, engaging in egregious human rights violations and exporting terrorism and extremism abroad. The letter scolds the Iranian regime for committing these acts.

The view that the regime can be reformed has been proved to be inaccurate, simplistic and unsophisticated. Former US presidents made efforts to moderate Iran’s foreign policy through engagement, diplomacy or concessions. Nevertheless, as history reveals, these efforts have failed.

Any astute observer can see that the core revolutionary pillars of Iran’s foreign policy have not altered since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. In fact, Tehran has become more revolutionary, belligerent and aggressive. The high-profile US personalities and former officials also rejected the idea that the regime can be moderated. As they wrote: “The hope of some Western governments was that time would lead to moderation by the Mullahs or to the emergence of a reformist faction that could challenge the dominance of the clerical regime. The reality has been far different. We agree with the apparent new US policy of ending the previous US overture toward the Iranian regime.”

Iranian leaders are increasingly implementing a sectarian agenda in the region to achieve their hegemonic ambitions. As the signatories pointed out concerning Tehran’s malign regional role: “The Iran-fueled sectarian division of Iraq laid the foundation for the creation of Daesh. Iran today commands and funds upwards of 150,000 IRGC, Shia militia and mercenary armed fighters in Iraq and Syria.”

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the ruling clerics of Iran are facing popular domestic discontent. In order to pressure Tehran, the disaffected population and opposition can be a robust tool to capitalize on. The signatories accurately referred to this issue by stating that the “Tehran regime is uniquely vulnerable,” citing chronic economic mismanagement and a fierce power struggle within the regime. “Mounting popular discontent has increasingly become visible in public,” they said, citing growing social calls for accountability for the “mass executions of political opponents, including the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners with a majority of them from the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK).”
Altering Iran’s foreign policy can be accomplished through peaceful methods. From the perspective of the prominent American figures, a “viable organization” exists to change the clerical regime. Among other prominent signatories who believe such a mission can be accomplished are former Senator Joseph Lieberman, former National Security Adviser James Jones, former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, former UN Ambassador John Bolton, former US Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former DNC Chairman Edward Rendell, former US Marine Corps Commandant James Conway, and former Congressman Patrick Kennedy.
As they said: “The National Council of Resistance of Iran … has the vision, leadership, and courage to lead the way to the creation of a new Iran. Under the leadership of Maryam Rajavi , a Muslim woman standing for gender equality, which is an antidote to Islamist fundamentalism and extremism, it is working every day to bring about a tolerant, non-nuclear Iranian republic based on separation of religion and state, that will uphold the rights of all.”
Nevertheless, pressure from the US is not adequate to alter the Iranian government’s belligerent behavior and interventions in other countries including Arab nations. More governments and organizations should join the cause. It is the moral responsibility of the international community to embrace the Iranian people’s aspiration for freedom and democracy and to stand against the Iranian government’s suppression and repressions.
In a nutshell, as recognition of the need to counter the Iranian government is mounting in Washington, it is incumbent on world governments and the international community to provide moral support to the Iranian people’s quest for freedom.

ANALYSIS: Are Iraq death squads awaiting the return of Nouri al-Maliki?

Nouri al-Maliki attends Parliament session in Baghdad on Sept. 8, 2014.

By Tony Duheaume

Al Arabiya, 14 July 2017 - Since the invasion of Iraq by Coalition troops to bring down Saddam Hussein, the Iranians have been infiltrating Iraq’s political system, its security services, and all its government institutions, both national and local, to turn the country into a virtual satellite state of the Iranian regime.