Author: AIAINY
National Review | By DAVID ZIMMERMANN | November 14, 2023 Iran has been conducting covert influence operations for years in the U.S. and abroad as part of a concerted disinformation campaign that is suspected to be espionage, a congressional briefing and corresponding report revealed Tuesday. The 82-page report, titled “Iran: The Ayatollah’s Hidden Hand,” details how supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the Iranian regime use operatives in the Biden administration to influence U.S. policy involving the Islamic Republic, building on a Semafor article that was published in September. At the time, it was reported that at least three Iranian agents transitioned from soliciting Tehran’s…
Semafor | Jay Solomon | Sept. 29, 2023 THE SCOOP In the spring of 2014, senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials initiated a quiet effort to bolster Tehran’s image and positions on global security issues — particularly its nuclear program — by building ties with a network of influential overseas academics and researchers. They called it the Iran Experts Initiative. The scope and scale of the IEI project has emerged in a large cache of Iranian government correspondence and emails reported for the first time by Semafor and Iran International. The officials, working under the moderate President Hassan Rouhani, congratulated themselves…
Amnesty International | September 21, 2023 Reacting to the news that Iran’s parliament has passed a new bill that would impose further draconian penalties severely violating women’s and girls’ rights as well as increasing prison terms and fines for defying Iran’s degrading and discriminatory compulsory veiling laws, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa said: “This bill is a despicable assault on the human rights of women and girls that will further entrench violence and discrimination against them in Iran. If approved by Iran’s Guardian Council, it will further exacerbate the already suffocating surveillance…
Khamenei knows he can’t offer concessions, since the smallest shift could trigger another uprising across the deprived and suppressed nation Telegraph | Maryam Rajavi | September 17, 2023 Almost exactly a year ago, a remarkable nationwide uprising unfolded in Iran. It witnessed people from all walks of life chanting “death to [regime supreme leader Ali] Khamenei” and “down with the oppressor”. These powerful words reflected the popular rejection of the clerical regime. In mere days, the uprising became a firestorm of dissent that encompassed every province and shook the ruling theocracy to its core. In response, the regime embarked on…
Global Consensus: NCRI Stands as Viable Democratic Alternative for Iran Townhall | Ivan Sascha Sheehan | Jul 16, 2023 Picture the vibrant suburbs of Paris as they became the epicenter of an electrifying gathering earlier this month—the Free Iran World Summit 2023. The event boasted an extraordinary lineup of over 500 global leaders, luminaries, and influential personalities, including current and former officials, presidents, prime ministers, ministers, and lawmakers from the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. They united in resolute support of Iran’s main opposition movement and its transition plan as an alternative to the incumbent theocracy. Among the attendees…
Newsweek | Hamid Yazdan Panah | 8/1/2023 Over the last year, Iran has witnessed an eruption of resistance against the ruling theocracy. The uprising sparked by the murder of Mahsa Zhina Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman, has rocked the regime to its core. The proto-revolution, which is still gestating, could be the first truly feminist revolution the world has seen. It deserves not only our full support, but also protection from those who seek to undermine or usurp its potential. This includes those who appear fixated on the past, instead of supporting Iran’s bright future. Lisa Daftari provides an example of…
State Department says it has been ‘assured’ Albanian government did not violate any human rights By Caitlin McFall | Fox News | 6/20/2023 The State Department has found itself in a precarious position after dozens of Iranian dissidents seeking safe haven in Albania were reportedly injured Tuesday and one allegedly killed in a camp raid by state police after the inhabitants were accused of plotting cyberattacks against the Albanian government. An alleged 1,000 Albanian police officers from the Special Prosecution against Corruption and Organized Crime unit descended upon the Ashraf-3 and Ashraf-4 camps located in Maneza in western Albania, which is home…
The Sunday Post | By Struan Stevenson | June 13, 2023 Last month, 82 members of the Scottish parliament signed a statement affirming their support for protesters in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Their majority support was revealed at a special meeting in Westminster, on Wednesday, attended by MPs and peers from all parties. The document signed by the 82 MSPs also recognized the nature and importance of the underlying movement for regime change. This declaration is of key importance, as it comes at a time when the Iranian regime is working tirelessly to promote the idea that the status quo has…
Amnesty International | June 1, 2023 The Iranian authorities are carrying out a horrific state-sanctioned killing spree under the guise of judicial executions. Those executed include people convicted of drug-related offences, protesters, political dissidents, and members of oppressed ethnic minorities. Call for states to urgently intervene to pressure the Iranian authorities to halt all executions now. What is the problem? The Iranian authorities are ruthlessly carrying out an execution spree. Prisons across the country have become sites of mass state-sanctioned killings under the guise of judicial executions. Since the start of 2023, authorities have implemented hundreds of death sentences. In…
The Washington Post | Babak Dehghanpisheh | April 26, 2023 It was 10:30 a.m. on a Tuesday when the teacher began receiving frantic calls. There had been a gas attack on the girls elementary school where she taught, in the Kurdish region of western Iran. She had not been in class that April morning but rushed to the school and found a chaotic scene: Students and a few of her fellow teachers were having difficulty breathing and said their eyes were burning. Some of the teachers had been beaten by furious parents and were crying, she said. Agents from the…