Author: AIAINY

New York – The Organization of Iranian American Communities in the U.S. organized a picket line on Monday, July 17, 2017, to protest the hosting by the Council of Foreign Relations of the Foreign Minister of the Iranian regime, the most active state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Such gestures, in blatant disregards for the ruling theocracy appalling human rights record and continuing malign interference in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon, only lend legitimacy to Tehran rulers and emboldens them to continue to suppress the Iranian people and export terrorism abroad. Date: Monday, July 17, 2017, 4:30 pm Venue: The…

By Raha Bahreini, Amnesty International’s researcher on Iran 13 July 2017 Amnesty International – Last week the Iranian authorities arranged a rare visit to one of the country’s most infamous prisons for representatives of up to 45 foreign diplomatic missions from Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. The authorities made no secret of the fact that the tour of Evin Prison in Tehran was designed to counter negative human rights reports about the prison, and showcase the “excellent facilities” on offer which include an in-house beauty salon, gym, library and restaurant. In the days that followed, state media outlets were flooded…

GUEST POST WRITTEN BY Tom Ridge Mr. Ridge was the nation’s first homeland security secretary and former Pennsylvania governor Forbes – As Hassan Rouhani commences his second term as president, the West must realize that he is not and has never been an agent of change in Iran. In the run-up to his election, Rouhani routinely invoked “violence and extremism” in his campaign rhetoric to bolster opposition to his leading opponent, Ebrahim Raisi, in the ongoing roleplay where the incumbent represents a more moderate approach than his acknowledged hardline alternative. This despite the fact that Rouhani had already demonstrated during his…

PRESS RELEASES Jun 15, 2017 WASHINGTON, June 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Organization of Iranian American Communities-US (OIAC) welcomes the US Senate overwhelming passage of bipartisan legislation that would impose further sanctions against the religious dictatorship ruling Iran for its sponsorship of terrorism, violations of human rights, and ballistic missile program. Specifically, the bill will impose terrorism sanctions on Iran’s main instrument of suppression at home and terrorism and subversion abroad, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC). OIAC political director Dr. Majid Sadeghpour lauded the bipartisan legislation, emphasizing that “to the extent the IRGC and its functionality are restrained, the anti-regime democracy movement in Iran, as well as the pro-peace…

May 31, 2017 While life for many Iranians is plagued by persecution from the Regime and poverty stemming from the incompetence of the Regime, minorities are more likely to suffer an enhanced level of discrimination. This includes Sunni Muslims, Kurds, Christians, Arabs, Jews and Balochi etc. Track Persia has produced a report into the historical persecution of Jewish people in Iran, with special attention paid to the persecution suffered under the current government. We have separated them into sections below. Track Persia reports that Jewish Iranians have always had a “peculiar” economic status: often being forced into roles that the…

May 26, 2017 The President of an NGO representing freedom for those in the middle east has criticized the Iranian Regime for their sham elections, noted that the cracks in their ‘democracy’ are showing and indicated that the fall of the Regime could not be far off. Struan Stevenson, who is president of the European Iraqi Freedom Association and also served as a member of the European Parliament representing Scotland until 2014, wrote: “Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hates the West, hates Sunnis, hates Saudi Arabia, hates religious minorities of any kind and as the final arbiter of all power in Iran, favored…

May 19, 2017 The Iranian authorities must immediately transfer Atena Daemi, an imprisoned human rights defender, whose health has sharply deteriorated in recent days, to a hospital outside of prison so that she can receive the specialized medical care she requires, said Amnesty International. Atena Daemi, who has been on hunger strike for 40 days, has been coughing up blood, suffered severe weight loss, nausea, vomiting, blood pressure fluctuations, and kidney pain. Doctors have warned that she requires immediate hospitalization. However, the authorities at Tehran’s Evin prison have refused to authorize her transfer to a hospital outside prison for medical…

Monday, 22 May 2017 By Heshmat Alavi – Al Arabiya As Iran’s incumbent President Hassan Rouhani reached a second term on May 19th, one major issue of concern must be how to bring an end to Tehran’s destructive meddling across the Middle East. If we take into consideration how The Telegraph said, “The re-election of President Hassan Rouhani changes nothing. Iran remains an impoverished dictatorship governed by a theocratic elite,” Tehran, from its own perspective, will need to continue defying domestic demands and international calls for a changed approach. At a time when Saudi Arabia and the entire region were sidelined by…

Iran Focus – May 5, 2017 In 2012, Iranian diplomat Hamid Mohammadi said there were many Iranian-Canadians “working in influential government positions” and called on others to “occupy high-level and key positions.” Now, in Canada, Iran is making an effort to expand its presence, with an aim to use America’s neighbour as a “forward operating base” for influence operations against the American government. Hassan Abbasi, a leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was seen boasting about a “guerilla movement of Iranian agents living and working in the United States,” in a recent video. He said that Iran, is…

May 4, 2017 Squaring off with Iran, Syria and North Korea, the Trump administration has indicated that the years of appeasement with dictators have ended, according to a new op-ed carried by the Washington Examiner. Tehran is beginning to understand these policy changes from the United States, and it follows that Trump should also target Iran’s human rights violations. Amir Basiri writes in ‘Washington Examiner’ on 2 May 2017, “While Iran does pose a major military threat, through supporting what has been described by Trump as ‘radical Islamist terrorism’, Tehran’s ongoing human rights abuses should finally receive the long overdue…