Iran apologists have a misleading narrative on Trump's policies

Iran apologists have a misleading narrative on Trump's policies: The Trump administration's decision to put Iran on notice for its provocative ballistic missile test and to subsequently slap new sanctions on individuals and entities affiliated with its missile program was a positive break from the previous administration's policy of ignoring Iran's belligerent behavior while showering it with concessions. The measure was welcomed by the critics of the failed appeasement policy toward Iran in Capitol Hill and across the world. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., called the announcement a new day in U.S.-Iran relations, stressing that it's past time to undertake a coordinated, multi-faceted effort to push back against a range of illicit Iranian behavior.

#Iran UN Security Council must take tough stand on Iran's ballistic missile test

UN Security Council must take tough stand on Iran's ballistic missile test:

 The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss Iran's Sunday ballistic missile test, its second after the signing of the July 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, and its first since the inauguration of President Trump. While world powers discuss this clear violation of the spirit of the nuclear deal and affront to U.N. resolutions, two stark realities should not be forgotten. First, the latest episode shows that Iran has no intention to become a peaceful member of the international community, as was hoped by former President Barack Obama and other 

proponents of the nuclear deal and the appeasement policy toward Tehran.

#Iran-The summer of Blood: A Tribute to the Victims of the 1988 Massacre -No2Rouhani

No2Rouhani#

#Iran-The summer of Blood: A Tribute to the Victims of the 1988 Massacre

The summer of Blood: A Tribute to the Victims of the 1988 

Massacre 

#iran-Iranian Women Reportedly Arrested For Riding Bicycles In Public

Iranian Women Reportedly Arrested For Riding Bicycles In Public

iran#

Some Iranian women were reportedly taken into custody after resisting officers’ orders to pledge in writing that they would not ride their bikes in public again; signs prohibiting this activity are believed to have been put up in May.

Iranian authorities are enforcing a rule which prohibits women from publicly riding their bikes.

According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, or NCRI, some women were arrested on July 26th for violating the recent directive.

Signs reportedly went up in May, with one example translated by NCRI as saying, “Bicycle riding for women is prohibited in this place. Women are set to ride at the women’s park.”

It was signed by the Headquarters of prohibiting vice and promoting virtue which the organization says is “One of the 26 Iranian agencies tasked with cracking down on women.”

Some of the cyclists are believed to have been taken into custody after they resisted officers’ orders to pledge in writing that they would not engage in the banned activity again.

It is unknown if these women continue to be held, but an NRCI member has since issued a statement condemning “such gender discrimination.”

 The administration of President Hassan Rouhani was also called out for the growing 

level of restrictions placed on women’s freedom in Iran 

#iran-Iranian Women#

#Iran-Des femmes arrêtées en Iran pour avoir fait du vélo en public

Des femmes arrêtées en Iran pour avoir fait du vélo en public

fondamentaliste de l'Iran a arrêté mardi un groupe de femmes pour avoir fait du vélo en public dans la ville de Marivan située au nord-ouest, dans la province iranienne du Kurdistan. L'incident a eu lieu le 26 Juillet alors qu’un groupe de femmes avait l'intention de participer à un événement sportif en faisant du vélo du Stade de Sport de la ville jusqu’au Lac Zaribar.

Selon des témoins oculaires, les forces répressives de sécurité de l'Etat (policiers) ont approché les femmes et filles et les ont informées que sur la base d’une nouvelle directive du gouvernement la conduite de vélos par les femmes dans les lieux publics est interdite et considérée comme « illégale »

Les forces répressives ont exigé que les femmes et les filles signent des engagements écrits de ne pas répéter leur «violation» de cyclisme en public.

Plusieurs femmes ayant protesté contre la nouvelle mesure misogyne du régime ont été emmenées en garde à vue, selon des témoins.

Commentant cette nouvelle mesure répressive, Mme Farideh Karimi, membre du Conseil National de la Résistance iranienne (CNRI) et militante des droits de l'Homme, a déclaré :

« La répression des femmes a été un dogme du régime des mollahs dès son départ. Cette dernière mesure restrictive montre que la misogynie s’est intensifiée sous l'administration d’Hassan Rohani. Chaque jour qui passe le régime des mollahs porte davantage atteinte aux droits fondamentaux des femmes qu’elles avaient péniblement combattus pour obtenir.

Une telle discrimination de genre et l'augmentation globale des violations brutales des droits de l'Homme démontre bien la réalité qu’Hassan Rohani ne diffère pas des autres mollahs et que les espoirs pour une amélioration des droits des femmes en Iran dont certains avaient jurés au début de son mandat de président ne sont qu’un mirage.

Le monde prend maintenant tardivement acte de cette tragédie, avec leBureau des Affaires étrangères du Royaume-Uni qui indique dans sa dernière mise à jour sur l'Iran la semaine dernière, que la situation des droits de l'Homme a empiré au cours des six derniers mois

#Iran Actualités

#Iran-Iran’s Massive Crackdown On Opposition Shows The Regime’s Vulnerability and Fear

Iran’s Massive Crackdown On Opposition Shows The Regime’s Vulnerability and

Fear

Patrick J. Kennedy

Patrick J. Kennedy is a former U.S. Representative (D-RI)

who currently lives in New Jersey

Independent Journal Opinion is an opinion platform and any opinions or information put forth by contributors are exclusive to them and do not represent Independent Journal

On July 9, the Free Iran rally near Paris attracted tens of thousands of Iranians from five continents and gained support from political leaders from many countries, including the US, several EU member nations, and the Gulf States. It also provoked the predictable ire of the Iranian regime, which has persecuted the constituent groups of the main opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, since the beginnings of the Islamic Republic.

Approximately 120,000 political dissidents have been killed since 1981, most of them from the NCRI’s main constituent group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK). Tens of thousands were put to death in the summer of 1988 alone. UN special rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed has said that this year the rate of executions reached levels not seen for more than 25 years

VIDEO: OPINION JOURNAL: IRAN’S ‘NEW SPRING

Meanwhile, foreign policy analysts and critics of the Iranian regime have observed that the repression of dissent is surging to levels not seen since the end of the Iran/Iraq War, when the long-term survival of the Tehran regime was very much in doubt.

Participants in the rally underscored that Iran’s deteriorating domestic situation signals the increased vulnerability of Tehran’s leadership. Just as MEK dissidents were executed in great numbers to compensate for the weakness shown in accepting the end of the war with Iraq, the current crackdown seems aimed at making the regime look strong, despite last summer’s compromise over nuclear negotiations and the lingering social effects of the 2009 popular uprisings.

The clerical regime fears for its survival, and as with any insecure bully, that fear manifests as bluster. This was evident in a series of provocations made toward the West, including the January seizure of 10 American sailors who had strayed into Iranian territorial waters, the five illicit ballistic missile tests that have taken place since the conclusion of last summer’s negotiations, and gestures of force in the Persian Gulf.

Reacting to the rally, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps even went so far as to dispatch several patrol boats to follow an American warship through the Gulf. No doubt the incident was used as a source of propaganda in Iranian state media, much like the images and video of the 10 sailors – who were released within 24 hours – were aired for weeks on end.

But such questionable propaganda victories will not do the regime much good – not as long as that propaganda is countered by an organized resistance abroad and the regime fails to win more serious victories against the resistance and its international network of supporters.

The expressions of international support for the NCRI included a speech by Prince Turki al-Faisal, an influential member of the Saudi royal family and former Saudi intelligence chief. With his declaration that Muslims around the world support the Iranian resistance “heart and soul,” he turned the annual event into a celebration of unprecedented Middle Eastern unity. In the words of Howard Dean, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, he “redrew the map of the Middle East.”

The extraordinary foreign support removes any doubt that the Iranian resistance is an existential threat to the clerical regime. Moreover, the Saudi capacity to unify Arab nations behind the resistance explains why Iranian officials, including Brig. Gen. Ramazan Sharif, the Revolutionary Guards Spokesman, accused Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other powerful Arab states of “flagrantly interfering in Iran’s internal affairs.”

Such comments can only be seen as the desperate protests of a vulnerable regime. Iran has engaged in its own “flagrant interference” in the region for years. Examples include its all-out defense of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, fomenting of a Shiite rebellion in Yemen, threats to instigate one in Bahrain, and empowering the crusade by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to drive minorities out of Iraq’s government. All have stoked deep resentment, both at home and abroad.

Iran now stands to suffer the consequences of its actions, as powerful forces offer their justified support to a legitimate Iranian opposition movement. The regime’s ongoing reaction to the Free Iran rally will continue to demonstrate that it recognizes the threat to its power. As long as the world community stands firm against Iran’s violent response, we will see that it is inadequate to suppress, dissent or preserve the regime

 IRAN’S ‘NEW SPRING#