By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh Rising tensions between the Iranian regime and Israel have the potential to spiral into a wider conflict if not adequately addressed. There are several reasons for the heightened tensions. First of all, although the Iranian regime attempts to distract attention from the direct involvement of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, Tehran continues to increase its military influence there and use its proxies against Israeli targets. Israel last month carried out an airstrike in Syria on a location where Iranian officials were meeting. Iranian leaders were reportedly meeting to discuss developments regarding their country’s drone and ballistic missile capabilities in Syria. The attack occurred on the same day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the Iranian government for an attack on a vessel owned by an Israeli in the Arabian Gulf. He said: “Last week, Iran attacked an oil tanker … and harmed the international freedom of navigation....
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Iran: Human Rights Record of Ebrahim Raisi, Eyewitness Accounts, Ali Zolfaghari
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
-
My name is Ali Zolfaghari. I was arrested in 1981 for supporting the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK). I spent some time in a prison in Rasht, northern Iran. I had many cellmates who were the MEK’s supporters and members. They were executed later those years for persisting in their ideals and supporting the MEK.
One of my cellmates was Reza Niknam. He heroically accepted all responsibilities of the actions done by our group of five people. He was executed on June 30, 1982. The regime did not allow Reza Niknami’s parents to bury their son in the cemetery. So, his mother was forced to bury him under the stairs in their home
He was just one example of someone who loved the MEK. I met many MEK members while I was in Rasht. We held a memorial ceremony on May 25, 1983. After this memorial ceremony, the guards transferred us to the prison’s basement and then transferred us to Gohardasht prison. There, I witnessed prisoners resisting. They had sent us to exile to Gohardasht to punish us. They wanted to break us. A night before going to Gohardasht, they took us to Evin Prison.
The notorious criminal, Lajevardi, came and told us, “we will take care of you! Here is not Rasht.” As I said, they wanted to break us. I am one of the survivors of the 1988 massacre. The regime had planned this massacre in early 1987 since it had lost its control over prisons, and the prisoners’ resistance was growing daily.
I was taken to the death corridor in 1988. After a while, I entered the court, headed by Nayeri. The regime’s current president, Ebrahim Raisi, was also present. I did not know him at first. Later those prisoners who were in Karaj told me he was Karaj’s prosecutor. Also, Shushtari was in that room, and I knew him from the newspapers. It is not possible to describe the heroic resistance of prisoners.
They whole-heartedly said no to the regime. I was not able to support the MEK then. But I still have those memories. I remember, when my friends were taken in groups to the gallows, they had knowingly chosen to sacrifice themselves and defend their identity of being a MEK supporter or member. One of them was Behrooz Shah-Moghani, who told me: “I defended the MEK in front of the death commissions.” I was sitting beside Behrooz in the corridor, and my dear Behrooz was singing the “Iran Zamin” anthem. Hamid Noury came and kicked him and took him for execution. I sometimes wonder why they left and we survived.
But our pains are reduced since we are supporting the MEK since Mr. Massoud Rajavi is still our leader and says we are still with those martyrs, and since we continue this path. We should hold all those criminals involved in that massacre to account. I will continue supporting the MEK as much as I can to bring this to reality.
By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh Rising tensions between the Iranian regime and Israel have the potential to spiral into a wider conflict if not adequately addressed. There are several reasons for the heightened tensions. First of all, although the Iranian regime attempts to distract attention from the direct involvement of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, Tehran continues to increase its military influence there and use its proxies against Israeli targets. Israel last month carried out an airstrike in Syria on a location where Iranian officials were meeting. Iranian leaders were reportedly meeting to discuss developments regarding their country’s drone and ballistic missile capabilities in Syria. The attack occurred on the same day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the Iranian government for an attack on a vessel owned by an Israeli in the Arabian Gulf. He said: “Last week, Iran attacked an oil tanker … and harmed the international freedom of navigation....
By Shahriar kia Footages from Iran on Wednesday show the regime’s police humiliating youths on the street. Under the pretext of fighting crime and thugs, this inhumane measure is another desperate attempt to intimidate the public. The regime calls defiant youths “thugs” to tarnish their image, w hile the youths continue targeting the regime’s repressive centers. Therefore, the regime justifies its oppressive measures against defiant youths. The real “thugs , ” who killed 1500 peaceful protesters during the major Iran protests in November , are officially protected and wear uniforms of either the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) or p olice. Also, organized gangs affiliated with the regime freely circulate in cities with knives and terrorize the public and extort money from people. All the while, the mullahs’ regime arrests, amputates hands or executes those poor people who are forced to steal to...
By Sedighe Shahrokhi In a meeting with the head of the regime’s State Security Force (SSF) in Isfahan, central Iran, on Friday, Yousef Tabatabai, Isfahan’s Friday prayers leader and supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s representative, threatened women, paving the way for further oppression. “We should make the society unsafe for the few (mal-veiling women) and not allow them to break the norms on the streets and parks easily… The SSF should be given more authority in dealing with those breaking the law and the norms. We should not be afraid of any hostile action in dealing with the violators,” he said. One of the victims of the 2014 acid attacks in Isfahan These remarks once again show the regime’s misogynous nature. Earlier in 2014, Tabatabai’s statement against so-called “mal-veiled” women resulted in the regime’s thugs attacking young Iranian women and splashing acid on their faces. In a similar development, Abolghasem Yaghoubi, the Friday prayers leader and Khamenei’s representative in No...
Comments
Post a Comment