Lawmakers from both parties broke through the partisan wasteland that is Washington DC this weekend to show support for Iran’s largest opposition movement and call for an end to the Iranian government’s various misdeeds. At a conference on Saturday hosted by the Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC), Republicans and Democrats shared a virtual stage and a common message of support for the group, a rarity especially following the events of 6 Jan which have left Capitol Hill more divided than ever.
A defense committee for striking contract workers in Iran’s oil and petrochemicals sector has appealed to the people, “especially workers of the national oil company, refineries and petrochemical plants” to join their strike. In a statement released on Sunday, the committee also appealed to “Teachers, retires, university students, women’s rights defenders, the youth and Iran’s freedom-loving people” to support the strikers in “any way possible”, including gatherings. Thousands of workers employed based on term contracts in the oil and petrochemicals sectors went on strike three weeks ago, demanding higher pay and on-time payment of wages amid soaring prices. A typical contract worker in Iran’s key sectors makes less than $300 a month. The strikers demand wages closer to $500 a month. The strike committee says that more than ever it is vital for workers to form independent labor groups at their places of employment. Official labor unions in Iran are controlled by the government.
The Iranian government has expressed anger over the appearance of senior European and U.S. politicians at a rally in support of an opposition group that has long sought to overthrow Iran’s theocratic rulers — and which was once considered a terror organization by the West. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that the country’s foreign ministry on Sunday summoned Slovenia’s envoy in Tehran over a video message by the EU nations’ prime minister at the event hosted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
The Baha’i International Community in a statement Thursday has expressed concern over intensification of official “hate speech” in recent months against the religious minority in Iran. The Baha’is, a religious group formed in the 19th century has always been a target of hate by Shiite clerics dominating Iran, but after 1979 when the Islamic Republic was established, the state and the clergy became identical and systematic persecution and propaganda against the community has been rife.
She is one of the witnesses who personally saw Ebrahim Raisi in a torture chamber. While she was pregnant, soon to give birth, she was arrested in Hamedan and taken to a torture chamber to be tortured and beaten with an electric cable. In an interview with Iran Human Rights Monitor, Farideh Goudarzi introduces herself as an opponent of the clerical regime in Iran, who became acquainted with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) during the 1979 revolution.
Iranian authorities executed two brothers in Isfahan Prison after psychologically torturing them and their family. Amir Jalilifar and Akbar Jalilifar, two brothers who were sentenced to death for drug offenses, were executed Saturday in Isfahan Central Prison. They had their executions scheduled and postponed several times. Such conditions of uncertainty caused severe anguish and mental distress for the two and their family. The last time was on June 30, when they were taken to solitary confinement and returned to the ward before their scheduled execution date.
Twenty-two years ago today, authorities in Iran mercilessly cracked down on protesting students in Tehran and several metropolitan cities like Tabriz, Mashhad, Isfahan, and Shiraz. A day earlier, on July 8, 1999, the Judiciary sealed ‘reformist’ paper, Salam. In response, students of Tehran University flooded onto the streets, venting their anger over the government’s oppressive measures. They hopefully staged a peaceful gathering calling on ‘reformist’ President Mohammad Khatami and his government to ensure freedom of press and expression.
Supporters of Iran’s exiled opposition rallied in Berlin and elsewhere on Saturday to demand the prosecution of the Islamic Republic’s newly elected president, Ebrahim Raisi, whom they accuse of crimes against humanity. Flag-waving demonstrators rallied at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate and other locations as part of a Free Iran World Summit that featured speeches by former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday urged Iranian dissidents to “keep up the fight” against the hardline regime in Tehran — as a top dissident group gathered in a summit to renew calls for a secular and democratic Iran. “We must continue to support the Iranian people as they fight for a freer and more democratic Iran in any way that we can,” Pompeo told attendees at the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s (NCRI) “Free Iran World Summit.” “There is so much good work that American civil society can do to further this goal. It is work that your organization is actively engaged in – keep up the fight.”
A group of Iranian dissidents last Thursday published a congratulatory letter to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, urging him to support democracy in Iran and continue Israel’s campaign to stop Tehran’s state-sponsored terrorism. The opponents of the theocratic state, who are based outside the Islamic Republic, wrote: “For more than four decades, threatening the existence of the State of Israel and hatred of the Jewish people has been an inseparable component of the Islamic Republic’s rule.
More than 30 Iranian opposition activists living abroad have written to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asking him to continue opposing the Islamic Republic, saying that a democratic Iran can be Israel’s strategic ally. The activists also told Bennett that a democratic Iran can be constructive member of the international community and bring stability, especially to the Middle East, The Islamic Republic is a sworn enemy of Israel and its top officials have called for the destruction of the Jewish state in the past. Tehran has helped create the Lebanese Hezbollah and has supported many other groups with militant opposition to Israel.
Iran is slowly crumbling from within. In the last two weeks, oil companies in 10 of Iran’s 31 provinces were crippled by strikes involving half of Iran’s contract workers in the energy industry. And a growing number of power outages have been darkening the capital of Tehran and many cities, triggering protests and nightly chants of “Death to Khamenei” and “Death to the dictator” by people fed up with incompetence and corruption. These eruptions are not isolated. Turnout for national elections last month fell to record lows thanks to a boycott championed by organized opponents of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In 2019, opponents took to the streets in 200 cities demanding change. One thousand five hundred of the brave protesters paid with their lives. Not long ago, the story of post-1979 Iran was that religious extremists had taken control of the country and were threatening the West. These days, there is a new reality. Today, the theocrats in charge are losing that control. Their economy is falling. Corruption is rising. And discontent is peaking. It is only a matter of time before the regime is toppled by the people as they reclaim their state.
گروهی از مخالفان ایرانی که خارج از جمهوری اسلامی ایران زندگی میکنند، روز پنجشنبه نامهای برای نفتالی بنت، نخست وزیر اسرائیل منتشر کردند، که ضمن تبریک به خاطر پیروزی او در انتخابات، از وی خواستند تا به نوشته جروزالم پست، از دموکراسی در ایران حمایت کرده و به کارزار اسرائیل برای جلوگیری از «تروریسم رژیم ایران» ادامه دهد. به نوشته تارنمای این رسانه اسرائیلی در روز شنبه ۱۹ تیر، در این نامه اشاره شده که جمهوری اسلامی ایران، بیش از چهار دهه وجود اسرائیل در منطقه را تهدید کرده و نفرت از یهودیان بخش جدایی ناپذیری از حکومت بوده است. این گروه نوشتند جمهوری اسلامی ایران «علاوه بر ارتقای بینالمللی تروریسم، چیزی جز فقر، ورشکستگی اقتصادی، سرکوبی، و مشکلات بیشمار اجتماعی برای مردم ایران بوجود نیاورده است.
چندین نماینده و سناتور جمهوریخواه و دموکرات روز شنبه ۱۹ تیر در نشستی به نام «اجلاس جهانی ایران آزاد ۲۰۲۱: آلترناتیو دموکراتیک به سوی پیروزی» در سخنرانیهای جداگانه ای از خواست مردم در ایران برای دستیابی به آزادی اعلام حمایت کردند. سخنرانان از برگزاری انتخابات ریاست جمهوری و نتیجه آن در جمهوری اسلامی که آن را ساختگی خواندند، انتقاد کردند و شماری از آنها دولت پرزیدنت بایدن را از پیوستن مجدد به توافق هستهای موسوم به برجام برحذر داشتند. این گردهمایی در شهر واشنگتن پایتخت آمریکا و با تلاش «سازمان جوامع ایرانیان آمریکایی» برگزار شد.
پارلمان اروپا روز چهارشنبه با تصویب قطعنامهای خواهان اعمال تحریم بر مقامهای حکومت ایران به دلیل زندانی کردن و اعدام اتباع اروپایی شد. در این قطعنامه، پارلمان اروپا از شورای اروپا خواست «تحریمهای هدفمند بیشتری را در نظر بگیرد، از جمله مسدود کردن داراییهای مقامهای رژیم ایران و نهادهایی که در بازداشت خودسرانه و صدور حکم مرگ اتباع اتحادیه اروپا دست دارند. این قطعنامه میگوید اگر بازداشت دکتر احمدرضا جلالی ادامه پیدا کند، اتجادیه اروپا باید از نظام تحریمهای مربوط به حقوق بشر خود علیه ایران استفاده کند.