Author: AIAINY

PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The recent revelations by Mr. Tahar Boumedra, a senior former UN Human Rights Official, about the actions of the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Ambassador Martin Kobler, raise questions as to whether the SGSR possesses the integrity, the competence and veracity to be an impartial arbiter in dealing with the issue of the 3,400 Iranian dissidents in Iraq, residents of Camp Ashraf and the “prison-like” Camp Liberty. Read More

by Allen Tasslimi We have no idea what’s behind the venomous and utterly perverse article by Danielle Pletka, “Lobbying for terrorists, more on the MEK,” which makes outrageous allegations against an organization for whose call for democratic change in Iran some 100,000 Iranians turned out last month in Paris. Perhaps it was this vote of confidence in Iran’s main opposition, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), which prompted the hysteric reaction by Pletka. Read More

By MICHAEL OREN Nearly two decades ago, Israel started alerting the world about Iran’s nuclear program. But the world ignored our warnings, wasting 10 years until the secret nuclear enrichment plant at Natanz was exposed in 2002. Then eight more invaluable years were lost before much of the international community imposed serious sanctions on Iran. Throughout that time, the ayatollahs systematically lied about their nuclear operations, Read More

Iranian-Americans in NY & NJ express outrage over the remarks by UNAMI Chief Ambassador Martin Kobler and Ambassador Daniel Fried regarding Iranian dissidents in Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty, Iraq Read More

By Raymond Tanter To facilitate regime change from within Iran, it is critical to remove the terrorist designation from the MEK, and to protect and resettle its members. To facilitate regime change from within Iran requires a dissident organization with the same sort of leadership skills that helped create a coalition to overthrow the shah of Iran. Read More

A federal appeals court has ordered Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to make a prompt decision on whether to remove an Iranian dissident group from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia gave Clinton four months from Friday to deny or grant Mujahedeen-e-Khalq’s request for removal from the list, or the court would issue a so-called writ of mandamus and remove the group itself. “We have been given no sufficient reason why the secretary, in the last 600 days, has not been able to make a decision which…

The European Union criticised Iran on Wednesday for an “alarming” increase in the use of the death penalty this year, calling on Tehran to introduce a moratorium on executions. “According to the latest data, compiled from a number of sources, the rate of executions in Iran during the first 5 months of 2012 confirmed the country as one of the world’s leading users of the death penalty,” a spokesman for the EU’s foreign policy chief said. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is “deeply concerned by the alarming increase”, the spokesman said. Ashton is leading negotiations between six global powers…

WASHINGTON (AFP)— The US Senate is urging Iran to free jailed leaders of the Bahai faith and recommending sanctions against officials in the Islamic Republic over treatment of the religion’s followers. In a resolution approved by voice vote late Thursday, the Senate said it “condemns the government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of its Bahai minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights.” The Bahais, whose faith was founded in Iran two centuries ago, have faced persecution both before and after the 1979 Islamic revolution. The clerical regime bars Bahais from higher education and government…

By Lisa Daftari Twelve Christians stood trial Easter Sunday in Iran, where they were called “apostates” in a courtroom and tried on multiple charges, according to sources close to Iran’s Christian community. The Christians had been acquitted on the same charges, including “crimes against the order,” a year ago in Bandar Anzali, a city on the Caspian Sea. The group was first arrested when authorities found them drinking wine while taking communion, according to sources. “It ultimately illustrates that being a Christian is illegal in Iran. No matter how clear or how open a pastor and a church may be,…

Although Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to a disputed island in the Persian Gulf, claimed by both Iran and the United Arab Emirates, created an international incident last week, video posted online later appears to show that Iran’s president was also forced to engage in what Americans call retail politics during his visit to the region. Watch the Video