Reported by PMOI/MEK Abania, Dec. 15, 2018 - On Saturday, a conference simultaneously held by Iranians in 40 different locations in three continents across the world called for international action against the
Reported by PMOI/MEK Abania, Dec. 15, 2018 - On Saturday, a conference simultaneously held by Iranians in 40 different locations in three continents across the world called for international action against the
Reported by PMOI/MEK Abania, Dec. 15, 2018 - On Saturday, a conference simultaneously held by Iranians in 40 different locations in three continents across the world called for international action against the
Reported by PMOI/MEK Albania, Dec. 15, 2018 - At a conference that took place in 40 different locations simultaneously, Iranian communities and political dignitaries from various countries called for the adoption of
Reported by PMOI/MEK Albania, Dec. 15, 2018 - At a conference that took place in 40 different locations simultaneously, Iranian communities and political dignitaries from various countries called for the adoption of
More than 100 Members of َََUS Congress condemn terror plot targeting Iranian opposition
On the verge of the 2018 nationwide uprising against the mullahs’ regime in Iran, senior members of the United States Congress participated in a conference on December 11 held in solidarity with the Iranian people’s uprising for freedom.
Moderated by Ambassador Adam Ereli, former U.S. envoy in Bahrain and former U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson, the Members of Congress who participated expressed their support for the Iranian people’s uprising and ongoing protests across the country while condemning the regime’s domestic crackdown and foreign support for terrorism. These speakers called for increasing decisiveness in the face of the mullahs’ regime in Iran.
More than 100 Members of the U.S. Congress took part in this session, also voicing their support for the bipartisan Resolution 1034 condemning the Iranian regime’s terror plot targeting the massive June 30th rally held in support of the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) seeking to establish a democratic republic in Iran.
The Members of the Congress participating included Eliot Engel (D), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Judge Ted Poe (R), Chair of the Terrorism Subcommittee; Sheila Jackson-Lee (D); Brad Sherman (D); Judie Chu (D); and Steve Cohen (R).
On Saturday, December 15, 2018, an international conference will be held simultaneously in tens of places in the world.
The conference is dedicated to the issue of exportation of terrorism by the mullahs ruling Iran to other countries and the human rights violations of the Iranian people inside the country by the mullahs.
The program will be broadcasted by Iran Freedom website and its social media. I invite all international journalists and news websites and supporters of Iran’s freedom to see the conference and support it with the press reflection and also by social media. Supporting and conveying the voice of this conference is helping to bring the voice of the Iranian people, which has been for near a year, has raised to protests against religious dictatorship across Iran.
Simultaneous conference of the Iranian communities Halt mullahs’ regime export of terrorism & growing Human Rights violations “Need to adopt a firm policy”
Since the Iranian Regime’s inception, its leaders have set their sights on infiltrating prominent Western media outlets that were once lauded for journalistic independence. Now, these news outlets are being taken over by assets of the Iranian Regime, previously employed in Iran’s state-controlled media, who portray the false narrative of mullahs as victims of US aggression or repeatedly claim, without evidence, that the US and Iran are on the road to war.
However, these propaganda agents are not just content with attacking the US. In fact, their real mission is to go after the group that is far more threatening to the Iranian Regime: the democratic opposition of Iran, who are calling for regime change and basic freedoms for the Iranian people.
This means that Western media outlets, like Al-Jazeera English and Britain’s Channel 4 News, are filled with “articles” from people repackaging the Iranian Regime’s talking points.
How do they do it?
The Regime’s plot has mainly worked through intense control of the media in Iran, only allowing certain foreign outlets to visit. These outlets are normally assisted while there by apprentices from the Intelligence Ministry posing as translators and the like. Importantly, all Iranian people that wish to work with foreign journalists need permits from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and these are not given to people critical of the Regime.
A relationship often develops between the journalist and the intelligence agents, especially if the agent can help them interview hard-to-get subjects. Those agents who particularly impress the Regime will be sent abroad, potentially to work with the outlet they assisted, and push the Regime’s narrative in what the public believes may be a reputable news source.
What do these agents write in the press?
As you might expect, they rarely mention human rights abuses in Iran, the effectiveness of sanctions, how regime change is on the cards, or how the democratic opposition in advancing grassroots change by planning protests. Instead, they tell numerous lies with no evidence to support them, including:
• sanctions will harm ordinary Iranians rather than the regime
• US support for protesters will increase support for the mullahs
• Iran’s democratic opposition is a “cult” that tortures its own members
The latest piece of Regime propaganda was a 6,600-word piece by Arron Reza Merat in The Guardian that accused Iran’s democratic opposition of brainwashing members, torturing ex-members, harassing female staff, suppressing Iraqi Kurds on behalf of Saddam Hussein, and killing Iranian nuclear scientists with the help of Israel. All credible evidence shows this to be false, but when the Regime starts a fire, it can be hard to clear the smoke without being accused of arson.
Numerous other outlets carried similar stories aimed at discrediting the opposition in the West because the Regime knows that brave people fighting for democracy represent the best chance for the Iranian people to overthrow the Regime.
Ivan Sheehan, director of the graduate programs in Negotiation and Conflict Management and Global Affairs and Human Security in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Baltimore, wrote: “These pro-Iran writers and their syndicates are not ordinary journalists; they are PR agents for a regime that jails reporters, censors free media expression, and enslaves a restless nation. Speaking up for an independent press should include exposing Tehran’s influence operations in Western media outlets and the foreign agents who traffic in disinformation. The failure to do so threatens journalistic independence and compromises values essential to a free press.”
A glance at the abysmal human rights situation in Iran – December 2018
Freedom Star: Iran Human Rights Monitor‘s annual report for 2018 was released. In this comprehensive and documentary report on the human rights situation in Iran under the rule of the criminal mullahs, along with specific statistics and examples. I invite you to read some parts of this report to get acquainted with the terrible human rights violations in Iran under the bloody religious dictatorship.
Introduction
This year, Human Rights Day marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a milestone document that proclaimed the inalienable rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being.
The people in Iran, however, are deprived of their most basic rights due to the horrendous violations of human rights committed by the clerical regime ruling the country.
This oppression culminates in horrific scenes of public hangings, floggings, and even limb amputations.
Prisons are overwhelmed with inmates, and conditions are intolerable and inhumane. Political prisoners, specifically, are subjected to horrendous mistreatment by the authorities.
Iran’s judicial and security organs systematically wage a vicious crackdown on human rights defenders, lawyers, women’s and civil rights activists, teachers and labor activists, students, journalists and online media activists in blatant disregard of international and domestic standards.
Hundreds of activists are imprisoned for peacefully exercising their rights.
Here is a glance on the regime’s record in 2018. It must be stressed that the figures cited in this report have been compiled from official sources or from reliable non-governmental sources inside Iran who risked their lives to obtain the data. Therefore, they should be considered as minimums due to lack of transparency and censorship on the part of the Iranian regime and the absence of free access to information under the clerical regime.
The Iranian regime has a dismal report card of at least 285 executions as of December 2017, including the execution of four women and six individuals who were sentenced to death for crimes they allegedly committed as children.
An estimated 8,000 arbitrary arrests were made in the course of the month-long protests in January.
At least 58 were killed during the 2018 protests and 12 jailed protesters murdered under torture.
Iran must understand its atrocious crimes will not go unpunished. While more strong measures against Tehran are necessary, emphasis should be placed on Tehran’s human rights violations.
The sanctions adopted by the US targeting institutions which have quashed dissent and are heavily involved in human rights violations, are welcome.
Iran Human Rights Monitor urges the international community to hold the mullahs accountable for their crimes against humanity, and stand by the Iranian people in their struggle to achieve their basic human rights.
Freedom of expression, association and assembly
The Iranian authorities crushed the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, by cracking down on peaceful protesters. The swift and violent suppression of the protests and the number of deaths in custody suggest that freedom of assembly and expression has deteriorated.
The protests that erupted in nearly every Iranian province since late December 2017 were met with a state response that was notable for its harshness and disregard for the law.
According to reports from inside Iran and from within the regime, the number of detainees of the protests amounted to at least 8,000 by the end of the second week of the protests. Detainees were denied access to legal representation and threatened with more serious charges if they sought counsel.
Despite the regime’s attempts to conceal the number of arrests, it admitted to parts of it.
Meanwhile, officials openly spoke of “preemptive” arrests to curb further disturbances.
There are also reliable reports that detainees were administered pills of an unknown substance, as well as methadone, without the presence of a doctor, in what appears to be a concerted attempt to depict the detainees as drug addicts.
Twelve inmates died in custody under suspicious circumstances.
Vahid Heydari, 22, is an example of those who died in detention at the 12th Police Station in the city of Arak, Central Province, sometime between the closing days of December 2017 and the beginning of January 2018. The authorities claimed he was a drug addict who committed suicide—a claim that his family has vehemently denied and for which there is little credible evidence.
Another detainee who officials claimed committed suicide,Sina Ghanbari, 23, was arrested on December 31, 2017, during protests in Tehran and taken to Evin Prison. A week later, judicial officials claimed he had hanged himself in the bathroom of the prison’s quarantine unit on January 6, 2018. His body was delivered to his family on January 9.
Numerous videos circulated widely on social media channels showed authorities using potentially lethal force against protesters. At least 50 protesters were directly shot dead by the state security force during the street protests.
In August, more than 1,000 people were arrested during protests in Tehran and other provinces over deteriorating economic conditions and corruption. A protester was murdered in Karaj, during the week-long protests.
There is grave concern that several hundreds of thousands of those arrested in 2018 protests may still be in custody.
The Iranian Judiciary has convicted the protesters on vaguely defined national security charges and handed down heavy sentences.
More recently, in the 15 HEPCO workers, to intimidate protesting and striking workers, the Judiciary of Arak condemned 15 HEPCO workers to 74 lashes, one to two years in prison and five-year suspended sentences for their protest in June last year against non-payment of their salaries and benefits, and the government’s failure to delivers on its promises. They were charged with “disrupting public order” and “spreading propaganda against the regime.”
As for the truckers who held a nationwide strike over high prices and non-paid wages, a judiciary official warned them of “harsh penalties” if they continued their protests, state media said in September.
Mohseni Ejei warned truck drivers who have continued their protests despite several rounds of arrests. “Harsh penalties await those who … block lorry traffic on roads,” he was cited by the state-run IRNA news agency as saying.
General prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said that protesting drivers may face death sentencesunder stern laws against highway robbery, the state broadcaster IRIB reported.
At least 264 of striking drivers were arrested for allegedly blocking roads and trying to pressure colleagues to join the strike, according to Iranian news agencies.
In yet another case, the head of the Revolutionary Court warned that those arrested in the January 2018 protests could face the death penalty.
Torture and other ill-treatment
Torture and other ill-treatment are still common practice, especially during interrogations.
What needs clarification is the fact that Iran prisons are infamous for widespread use of tortures and inhumane and unbearable conditions.
At least seven individuals were tortured to death while many others were subjected to ill-treatment such as prolonged solitary confinement in cells with no windows, ventilation and lavatories.
Commonly reported methods of torture in prisons also include tying the inmates to a pole in cold or hot weather, mock execution, kicking and punching; beatings with cables or whips.
The reports pointed to common use of physical or mental pressure on prisoners including isolation to coerce them into making false confessions.
Reports obtained from inside Iran prisons indicate use of methods such as burning, electric shocks, pharmacological torture, and sleep deprivation.
Prisoners endure cruel and inhuman conditions including overcrowding, limited hot water, inadequate food, scarce beds, poor ventilation and insect infestations.
Political prisoners were locked up with dangerous criminals, murderers and ex-members of armed gangs.
As an example, Iran’s judiciary used the Great Tehran Penitentiary, originally designed to detain drug offenders, to incarcerate dissidents and anti-state protesters convicted of politically motivated charges.
Soheil Arabi was transferred from Evin Prison to the GTP on January 29, 2018. He was kept with dangerous and belligerent criminals who have assaulted him several times and threatened his life. His family members said prison guards have turned a blind eye on the systematic harassment and ignored complaints made by the prisoner.
2018 reports indicate inmates are also subjected to rape. Taymour Khaledian, a civil activist, revealed on May 19, 2018, that he had been “severely beaten and sexually tortured” at a State Security Force base during his detention last winter, after he was arrested in protest gatherings. He explained that he was punched, kicked and beaten by shockers and batons. He was so tortured that he did not have the power to sit for some time.
Political prisoners were denied medical care, held in solitary confinement and faced fresh criminal charges in reprisal.
The judiciary, in particular the Office of the Prosecutor, and prison administrations continued to deliberately prevent political prisoners’ access to adequate medical care in many cases to extract “confessions”.
Iranian authorities deliberately deprived Arash Sadeghi from his cancer treatment. Arash Sadeghi was diagnosed with a cancerous bone tumour in August. However, authorities at Raja’i Shahr prison repeatedly impeded his access to potentially life-saving medical care.
The Iranian authorities’ treatment of Arash Sadeghi is not only unspeakably cruel, in legal terms it is an act of torture, Amnesty International said in a September statement.
Arash Sadeghi was sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2016, for his peaceful human rights work.
Cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment
A number of cruel punishmentswere handed down in 2018, including hand amputations and floggings.
Statistics:
At least 110 people received flogging sentences
• At least one instance of hand amputation was reported
• At least 11 people were flogged
Iranian authorities publicly flogged a man in July for drinking alcohol. Identified only as M.R., he was 14 or 15 years old when he consumed alcohol at a wedding party. He received 80 lashes on the back in Niazmand Square in the city of Kashmar, northwest Iran.
Authorities in Iran amputated the hand of a convicted thief in a prison in the country’s northeast, according to the state-run ISNA news agency. The January report said one hand of the 34-year-old convict identified only as Ali was cut off by “guillotine” in a prison in Mashhad. The report said Ali was detained in 2011 for allegedly stealing sheep, jewelry and motorbikes.
Unfair trials
Iranian courts, and particularly the revolutionary courts failed to hold fair trials. They allegedly used confessions obtained under torture as evidence in courts including in cases which ended up with death penalties. Iranian law restricts a defendant’s right to access a lawyer, particularly during the investigation period.
Iran’s judiciary in June approved a list of 20 lawyers to represent people accused of national security crimes, i.e. human rights activists, in Tehran’s courts during the investigative stage. Despite the fact that Tehran has more than 20,000 lawyers registered with its bar association, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency published the names of 20 defenders cleared to represent individuals charged with political, security or media crimes. However, even prior to the approved list, human rights organizations had noted a pattern of detainees being denied access to legal representation.
This is just one more example of Iran’s judiciary trampling over due process.
Iranian courts are controlled by hardliners who are accountable to the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. They often act swiftly and harshly against dissidents and civil activists on vague charges and behind closed doors.
Serious concerns remain that judges, particularly those presiding over Revolutionary Courts, are appointed on the basis of their political opinions and affiliations with intelligence bodies, and lack legal qualifications.
Death penalty
Iran is the world’s leading executioner per capita, with many hangings carried out in public. At least 285 people were executed in the period spanning December 2017 to December 2018. The real numbers were likely to be much higher as use of capital punishment in Iran is often shrouded in secrecy.
Statistics:
At least 285 people were executed
• At least 11 people were executed in public
• At least 10 political prisoners were executed
• At least 4 women were executed
• At least 6 individuals were executed for crimes they allegedly committed as minors.
Several scheduled executions were postponed in the last minute to add to the mental and physical ordeal of imprisonment on death row. Thousands remain on death row.
One of the infamous cases in 2018 was the executions of three Kurdish political prisonershanged on September 8.
Cousins Zaniar Moradi and Loghman Moradi were held for nine months at Raja’i Shahr Prison of Karaj without access to their lawyers and families before being executed.
They said they had confessed to murder under torture. They were punched, kicked, and tied to a bed and flogged. They had been also threatened with rape. Their request for a judicial review of their case was repeatedly ignored.
The third Kurdish activist, Ramin Hossein Panahi, was accused of “taking up arms against the state” in June 2017.
The executions took place despite a call to halt the executions by two U.N. human rights special rapporteurs, Javaid Rehman and Agnes Callamard, who said in a statement that the men had not been given fair trials.
Another example was the execution of a 51-year-old man from Iran’s largest Sufi order, the Gonabadi Dervish religious minority, which was carried out despite serious unfair trial concerns. Mohamed Salas was executed by the Iranian authorities at dawn on June 18, 2018. Amnesty International condemned in the strongest terms the execution asserting: “Mohammad Salas’ trial was grossly unfair. He said he was forced under torture to make a ‘confession’ against himself. This ‘confession’, taken from his hospital bed, was broadcast on state television weeks before his trial and used as the only piece of evidence to convict him. He was not allowed access to his chosen lawyer at any point before or during his trial, and his independent lawyer’s repeated demands to the authorities to allow critical evidence indicating his innocence were dismissed outright.”
In fact, the Iranian regime uses the death penalty as a tool to suppress and silence a disgruntled public the majority of whom live under the poverty line, are unemployed and deprived of freedom of expression.
Freedom of religion and belief
The Iranian regime is among the top violators of the rights of religious minorities. Widespread and systematic attacks continued to be carried out against religious minorities.
Among religious groups, Baha’is and Christian converts from Islam were seriously discriminated against. They faced systematic discrimination, including in education and employment, and were persecuted for practicing their faith.
Baha’is Followers of the Baha’i faith are systematically harassed and persecuted under the clerical regime in Iran. They are denied equitable access to employment, education, political office and exercise of their economic, social and cultural rights.
Systematic violence against members of Baha’i community further included arbitrary arrests, lengthy imprisonment, torture and other ill-treatment, forcible closure of Baha’i-owned businesses, and confiscation of Baha’i properties.
In the time period under study, at least 72 Baha’i people have been arrested while 69 were deprived of education. 18 Baha’I owned businesses have been shut down.
Security forces on Wednesday arrested Neda Shabani (Left) and Soroush Agahi (right), members of #Iran's Baha’is religious minority. Their whereabouts are still unknown.#HumanRightspic.twitter.com/S0bPpsM7Ye
Christians The Iranian regime continues to harass, interrogate and arrest Christians. Many have been charged with spurious, security-related charges such as “acting against national security” and sometimes handed prison sentences of 10 years or longer.
Most recently, Saheb Fadaei and Fatimeh Bakherti, both converts from Islam, were sentenced to more than a year in prison for “spreading propaganda against the regime,” a common charge used against Christians along with “acting against national security.” Fadaei was already serving a 10-year sentence.
In yet another case, two Christian converts were detained on November 16, in what some human rights activists are calling a rash of arrests in the area.
Behnam Ersali and Davoud Rasouli, both converts from Islam who live in Karaj, had arranged to meet in Mashhad, according to advocacy organization Middle East Concern (MEC), but their calls are believed to have been intercepted by the Iranian intelligence.
Rob Duncan, regional manager at MEC, said: “It reveals how closely the Iranian authorities are monitoring the Christians.”
Sufis
Followers of Ahl-e Haq or Yaresan were also arrested in large numbers, brutalized and imprisoned.
Iranian authorities arrested 600 Dervishes during street protests by Iranian Dervishes in Tehran.
Amnesty International said some families were not informed of their whereabouts and the detainees were denied access to lawyers until their interrogations were complete.
Dozens of the arrested Dervishes have received heavy sentences so far.
Dervishes involved in the February protests had been demanding the release of arrested members of their community and the removal of security checkpoints around the house of their 90-year-old leader.
Members of the Sufi Muslim religious sect long have complained of harassment by Iran’s Shiite Islamist rulers, who view them as heretics.
Prisons
Thousands of prisoners are being held under the worst conditions possible. They face numerous issues of concern. Prisoners’ objections are met by prison guards attacking and beating them.
Following is a brief review of the conditions in a few of these prisons:
Evin Prison Evin Prison is a vast complex that consists of multiple buildings, generally up to three floors high with two sections on each floor. Several reports point to inhumane and unsanitary conditions at Evin Prison. Chronic overcrowding, severely limited hot water, poor ventilation, and infestations of cockroaches and mice, particularly near kitchen areas, are among the most common complaints. Prisoners are forced to sleep on the floor during cold winter months due to a shortage of beds. According to the reports from inside the prison, meals are little and “barely edible.” Hungry inmates have to collect food residues from other trays or the ground.
Raja’i Shahr Prison Due to the presence of dangerous criminals, bloody clashes among prisoners is a common incident in this prison. Ordinary criminals are detained in the cell neighboring political prisoners.
Usually, there is no water and prisoners can use the bathroom only for limited hours. Warm water is available only one hour a day and the rest of the day, prisoners have to take shower with cold water.
Prisoners are beaten and denied medical care. Inmates and their families face degrading treatment during visits through invasive and abusive body searches. In Section 4, Room 12, where political prisoners are held, air ventilation is poor as the windows are covered with metal sheets.
The Great Tehran Penitentiary Located in Tehran Province’s Fashafouyeh district, 20 miles southeast of Tehran, the Great Tehran Penitentiary was built in 2015 primarily for holding inmates convicted of drug-related offenses. Iran’s judiciary has also used the GTP to incarcerate dissidents and anti-state protesters.
Multiple former detainees have pointed out the inhumane living conditions in the GTP, the largest detention facility in the country. A journalist recently described it as “beyond the limits of human tolerance.” There is running water for only one hour a day. There is only one toilet for every 170 prisoners. Sanitation and health conditions are so bad that several prisoners have got serious infections.
Ticks and lice infestation are common in overcrowded cells. Prisoners have to take a shower with a single pitcher of water. There are prisoners with HIV and hepatitis who are not being treated or segregated from other prisoners. The authorities have not taken any action to deal with this problem.
Diezelabad Prison of Kermanshah The cells made for three, are filled with seven prisoners. The cells are inspected every other day, the inmates’ belongings confiscated and their books torn. Prisoners get fresh air for only half an hour. The cells lack any form of ventilation, heaters or cooling system. The prison’s store sells only wafers, tea and artificial fruit juice and prisoners do not have access to any other item. To extract confession, interrogators commonly threaten prisoners with rape.
Karaj Central Prison Karaj Central Prison was built for 2,000 inmates. Currently, 8,300 inmates are in extremely inadequate conditions at this facility. A 20 square meter room is home to 45 inmates using three-level bunkbeds. There is no medical care for the inmates. Food quality is very low.
In response to their complaints, the ward chief says they are given 37,000 rials (around 25 cents) for each inmate and they do not have enough money to provide food.
Persecution of ethnic minorities
Ethnic minorities including Kurds, Baluchis, Azeris, Lors and Arabs have been subjected to oppression for years at the hands of the Iranian authorities.
Arabs
Hundreds of people were arrested around Ahvaz last year amid protests against the regime’s discriminatory policies, water and power cuts and poverty.
Fifteen year-old Ma’edeh Shabaninejad was one of those arrested in March at her aunt’s house in Ahvaz, where she was hiding after security forces raided her own home and confiscated her poems.
In a sweeping crackdown against the Ahwazi Arab ethnic minority in recent months, authorities arrested at least 700 of people in Khuzestan province. The wave of detentions follows a deadly armed attack on a military parade in the city of Ahvaz in September. Amnesty International believed that “authorities are using the attack in Ahvaz as an excuse to lash out against members of the Ahwazi Arab ethnic minority, including civil society and political activists, in order to crush dissent in Khuzestan province.”
Iranian authorities did not disclose the fate and whereabouts of hundreds of the detainees being held without access to their families or lawyers.
At the same time, Ahwazi Arab activists outside Iran told Amnesty International that 22 men, including civil society activist Mohammad Momeni Timas, have been killed in secret.
Turks
Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activists were also targeted.
Iranian authorities arbitrarily detained 120 people in connection with two separate Azerbaijani Turkic cultural gatherings that took place in July and August 2018.
They were targeted solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, including through their advocacy promoting the rights of the Azerbaijani Turkic minority in Iran.
There were disturbing reports of torture and other ill-treatment committed by security forces during and after the arrests, particularly those which took place in July.
Baluchis
Iran’s Baluch minority numbers between one and four million people, based mainly in the southeastern region of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Discrimination and poverty in Baluchestan region have led to many security implications. Even the state’s own research institutes have maintained that discrimination against the Baluchis has created poverty in the region.
Recently, IRGC-linked news agency Tasnim published a research that poverty in the province has led to a marked increase in the number of those who leave schools, concluding that the rise in drop-outs has had various social, economic, cultural and security implications.
In the meantime, several Baluchis have been killed while smuggling gas-oil to make ends meet in this unemployment-stricken area. Security forces are not answerable for the murders.
Baluch human rights activists believe that more than 100 people, including innocent bystanders, are killed every year in anti-smuggling operations in Iran’s Baluch populated province.
Kurds
Regime forces, mainly the IRGC, continued to unlawfully attack and even open fire on scores of unarmed Kurdish men known as Kulbars who carry huge packs of goods on their backs and cross the border on foot to supply them with goods not widely available in Iran, like alcohol, foreign clothing, and other consumer goods.
At least 81 Kurdish porters were shot dead by the state security forces in 2018 in the mountainous border region.
Iranian security forces began in December 2017 to block footpaths kulbars use to carry goods into Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan. Much of the local economy in Iran’s predominantly Kurdish region relies on such trade.
The border blockade deprived residents of imported products to sell in local stores, which have suffered from a lack of customers because of widespread poverty in the region.
There was a heavy police presence across Kurdistan province to confront protests in the majority Kurdish regions with merchants going on strike to highlight the financial losses they’ve suffered since Iran closed the border. The state security forces arrested at least 30 Kurdish people during the protests.
In March, the state security forces also arrested 20 Kurdish activists in the run-up to Nowruz celebrations, which mark the start of the Persian new year. The arrests took place in the village of Nay, in Marivan County, Kurdistan Province.
Around the same time, 11 Kurdish rights activists, including outspoken journalist, Adnan Hassanpour, were arrested in Marivan. All the detainees were reportedly accused of participation in a rally for supporting the city of Afrin and its residents in Syria, where was surrounded by Turkish military units at that time.
Discrimination against women and girls
Iranian woman physically attacked by ‘morality police’
Women are discriminated against in law and practice, including in access to divorce, employment, equal inheritance and political office, and in family and criminal law.
The Global Gender Gap 2017 report ranks Iran 140th among 144 countries.
Women’s participation in City Councils amounts to 1.7 per cent. “Women almost disappear in senior management positions.”
Women were the first victims of Iran’s bankrupt economy in light of the flagrant discrimination against women institutionalized in the law and numerous restrictions imposed on their employment and education.
Hassan Ta’ii, job market advisor to the Minister of Labor, said in September 2017, that working women receive %77 of men’s wage for equal work, and as such they lag 10 years behind their male colleagues.
Many colleges educated women resort to jobs with salaries as low as one-third of the minimum wage.
Leila Falahati, from the presidential Directorate on Women and Family Affairs, set women’s economic participation rate at an optimistic 17 per cent in Iran. This leaves Iran way behind other economic powers in the Middle East region. (The state-run ISNA news agency, January 13,2018)
This is while the latest estimates according to official figures stood at 11.8 per cent.
The unemployment rate among young women doubles that of men. Only 16.2 per cent of the 21 million-strong workforce are women.
Women’s employment in Iran is contingent on gender segregation at the work place. If women’s place of work is not separate from men, companies and workshops are not allowed to employ women.
Also, many of the public places including classes, university entrances, parks, city buses, trains and etc. have already been segregated.
Authorities have defied ongoing public pressure to open football stadiums to women spectators.
Acts of violence against women and girls, including domestic violence and early and forced marriages are widespread.
The phenomenon of child brides in Iran has taken on catastrophic dimensions.
At least 180,000 early marriages are registered in Iran every year.
At least 37,000 of them are given to marriage between 10 to 15.
One of the main reasons is the law that sets the legal age of marriage for girls at 13 and allows fathers to wed them even earlier. At the same time, the mullahs’ parliament has been refraining so far to pass a bill seeking to raise the minimum age of marriage for girls.
Shahrbanou Imami, member of Tehran’s City Council and former member of the mullahs’ parliament, told an IWD gathering at Tehran’s Melli University that there were 15,000 young widows under 15 years of age in Iran. (The state-run ILNA news agency, March 8,2018)
How the Iranian regime caused a tsunami of poverty
Iran, Dec. 2, 2018 – In a cold, cloudy November morning in Tehran, a chill breeze sweeps the leaves in one of the main streets of Tehran, drawing the gazes of passersby to a man lying on a piece of cardboard beside the pavement.
Seeing homeless people, labor children, and drug addicts wandering and lying in the streets has now become a common scene in Iran.
“70 percent of the population is under the poverty line.” These are statistics that even official state-run media cannot hide and have to reveal in a bid to maintain a modicum of a reputation as news sources.
On October 31, state-run news agency ILNA revealed, “In the recent circumstances almost 70 percent of the population lives in a vulnerable situation that will extremely affect the low-income strata of the society. However, mid-class strata will suffer as well.”
Tasnim, a news agency with ties to the terrorist IRGC Quds force, talked about the collapse of the middle and lower classes of the society. In a quote from Hassan Rouhani’s advisor on November 19, Tasnim wrote, “Previously, 20 percent of the society was categorized as low-class, 60 percent was classified in mid-class, and 20 percent was the rich strata. The situation has changed and now we have 40 percent low-class, 40 percent mid-class, and 20 percent high-class in the society. This is while the incomes of mid-class families has decreased twofold.”
The above-mentioned figures are just the tip of the iceberg. The more you focus on social issues published by state-run media, the more you can find facts and figures about the disasters happening in Iran under the tyrannical rule of the mullahs.
The extreme poverty rate has doubled
On October 30, state-run Pana news agency exposed that “the extreme poverty has doubled this year.” Pana then quotes a member of the regime’s parliament, “Poverty has increased in the country in comparison to past years. Previously, almost 15 percent of the Iranian population was under the extreme poverty line, but that figure has now doubled. In addition, the worker’s ability to purchase goods has plummeted due to an increase in expenses.”
On October 26, Tasnim also exposed that laborers’ income can only provide 33 percent of necessities of their families, “Laborers must have three jobs in order to afford all the basic needs of a family of three. Otherwise, all three members of the family must have a job.”
Laborers’ wages under the poverty line
According to official statistics, there are more than 13 million laborers in Iran. Assuming that on average, laborers have a family of three, there are approximately 39 million Iranians who are under the poverty line and are suffering from economic problems.
According to official reports by the regime’s organizations, which provide the most optimistic figures, the poverty line is any income that is below 50 million rials per month (approx. $446 according to the free market rate). Meanwhile, state-run website Tabnak wrote on March 19, 2018, “The Supreme Council of Labor set the lowest monthly wage for labors as 11.4 million rials ($102) for 2018.”
It’s worth mentioning that all abovementioned figures are for full-time workers under the supervision of the labor law. However, the regime’s media say that 96 percent of Iran’s laborers are contract workers, who are even less privileged.
Poverty among contract laborers
The growing joblessness in Iran has forced Iran’s laborers to accede the contract work without any benefits.
The state-run economic news website published an article on July 17, 2017, titled “12 million contract laborers.” Revealing damning statistics in this regard, Eghtesad writes, “There are now over 13 million laborers under the coverage of Social Security Insurance, 12 million of whom are contracted. In other words, 96 percent of laborers are contracted and most of them have contracts that last between three to six months. Unfortunately, the number of contract laborers is increasing. Nearly 4 percent of laborers are full-time, and most of these laborers are elderly people on the verge of retirement. The conclusion is that we have no full-time laborers in the country.”
In addition, the state-run news agency ISNA published an article on May 3, 2018, titled “Signing white paper as a contract, crime against laborers.” The article revealed the inhumane treatment of government employers toward laborers, “signing white papers as a contract between employers and labors is a crime committed against labors. Labors have to work with the lowest wages and without any benefits and insurances. By signing white papers, laborers are compromising their own lives. Eyewitnesses reported that in some cases, employers imprison workers in a room during the government inspections, in order to cloak the real number of workers that should be insured in the compound.”
Body organs market in Iran, an indicator of poverty
One of the shocking sides of poverty in Iran is a thriving human organs market. The extreme poverty forces many people in Iran to sell their organs, and in some cases sell their children in order to overcome the living expenses for a while.
Regrettably, this unjust phenomenon is now a common scene in Iran. You cannot find any free spaces on the street walls beside main hospitals—papers are all around containing phone numbers of organs sellers. In November, the state-run website Titr Yek Online described the situation as such: “Touring in the city of Tehran and many other cities in Iran, you will face many shocking views. Now the organs sale centers are public and people are ready to chop their bodies due to the extreme poverty in the society.”
If you think that the story of organs sale just applies to those jobless and homeless people, you’re wrong.
State-run ISNA news agency aired a report in October in which it revealed that the personnel of the Khomeini hospital in (the capital of Alborz Province) are now selling their kidneys due to poverty.
“Some personnel of the hospital sold their kidneys as they were under economic pressure after the denial of the hospital management to pay their overdue wages during past months. The personnel is protesting about their denied rights saying they cannot afford their house rent or their children’s education fees,” ISNA reported. This is worth mentioning that the protest is still ongoing and the personnel are in a protesting strike.
Poverty in Iran’s villages
Life situation in villages provides a more realistic picture of poverty in the country and the effects of the corrupt policies of the mullahs ruling Iran.
Dry arable lands, deserted houses, children carrying water tanks for bringing water, desperate men sitting in the wall shad, dried wells, etc. are now the new face of villages in Iran.
Internal migration from villages to cities is a new crisis in Iran. Water crisis and poverty are the main elements contributing to the phenomenon. Now more than 70 percent of the Iranian population, which amounts to 56 million people, are living in cities and 28 percent are in villages. It is estimating that soon many more villages will be deserted, joining the poor suburbanite stratum.
The state-run news agency Shabestan published an article in late November discussing the situation. “According to social experts, the migration of suburbanites to metropolises in 2018 has increased 17 fold in comparison with 1982, which means that social problems have escalated at the same rate,” the report says. The article also says, “According to statistics, unofficial habitation, old structures, and villages that are located in city expansions, are home to 18 million people in Iran.”
ISNA news agency also published an article titled “Stop the village disappearance” and revealed, “While the parliament is supporting the conversion of large villages as the source of food and agriculture, to non-facilitated cities, village disappearance is accelerating in Iran. National Institute for Demographic Studies stated that 40,000 villages in the country are now deserted.”
The story is continuing in Iran and there are uncountable facts that can prove the unbelievable situation in Iran.
It is very clear that poverty in Iran is the flip side of the coin of corrupt policies of the government and growing massive systematic embezzlement of government institutions.
Iranian people are crying out for a better situation. Iran is now facing nationwide protests and strikes. Every day a city, factory laborers, organization employees, etc. rise and join their voice to other protesters. These are people who are seeking the regime change in Iran for freedom and a better life.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, the Deputy Director of the National Council of Resistance of Iran-U.S. Representative Office (NCRI-US)
Washington, DC – On Friday, November 2, 2018, Alireza Jafarzadeh, the Deputy Director of the National Council of Resistance of Iran-U.S. Representative Office (NCRI-US), held a press conference to unveil the terror network of the Iranian regime and its role in a chain of terrorist plots in Europe and the United States, revealing the specific regime officials involved in the planning and execution of terrorist operations.
Jafarzadeh drew attention to the fact that the recent wave of terror plots were not the result of some rogue elements within the regime, but rather were decided and planned in the highest levels and carried out “under the supervision of [the Special Affairs Office of the Supreme Leader] after Khamenei personally approved them.”
Stating that there has been a significant surge in terrorist operations in the US and Europe since 2017 and that the regime has revived its terror structure, Jafarzadehsaid the regime carried out 2 terror operations in Europe in 2017, but has carried out 8 terrorist plots in the United States and Europe so far in 2018. He said that 4 Iranian diplomats have been implicated this year for involvement of such terror operations and that four major operations were carried out since March. “Tehran has plotted one major terror operation in Europe and the United States every six weeks from March to September 2018,” said Jafarzadeh.
NCRI-US deputy director also explained the significant role Tehran’s Foreign Ministry has been playing as enablers and facilitators of terrorist operations and its culprits. He said that Tehran’s embassy in Vienna has acted as the main hub for a host of intelligence operations in Europe for the past several years. As other embassies played the same role in a host of terror operations over the past three decades.
While the regime intended these operations as a show of strength and intimidation or even eradication of the alternative to this regime, they reveal a deeper fear about the insecurity of the mullahs’ hold on power, particularly in light of the widespread anti-government protests that have shaken Iran for the past year.
Mr. Jafarzadeh commented on the cause for the renewed wave of terror when he said, “For its survival, the regime looks to terrorism against its organized opposition as it plays the key role in the uprising in Iran.”
Mr. Jafarzadeh concluded the conference by detailing a list of steps that Western governments could take to curb the Iranian regime’s aggression, including prosecuting all Iranian agents in the U.S. and Europe, expelling Iranian terrorist diplomats from Europe and shutting down Tehran’s embassies in European capitals and finally sanctioning all entities involved in planning, training, facilitating and funding the Iranian regime’s terrorism.
We are very worried about the deteriorating situation of human rights and repression of women in Iran. The country has maintained the highest number of executions in the world per capita during the presidency of the so-called “moderate” Hassan Rouhani. According to Amnesty International’s Global Report on the Death Penalty, more than half of all recorded executions in 2017 took place in Iran. It is also the leading executioner of underage offenders.
Women are frequently harassed by morality police for the way they dress, and hundreds of women are arrested every day for improper veiling or “bad hijab”.
Since late December last year, Iranian cities have been the scenes of major uprisings and anti-regime protests. The social atmosphere is volatile, and people demand fundamental change. The regime’s officials have acknowledged the role of “resistance units” of the opposition PMOIin organizing protests and nationwide strikes.
Unable to defeat the protesters at home, the regime launched a new wave of terrorism against the democratic opposition activists in Europe and in United States. In March 2018, a car-bomb plot targeting the Persian New Year gathering of Iranian dissidents in Tirana was foiled, and two men were arrested by the police. The Albanian government, host to nearly 3000 Iranian opposition refugees, should not permit Tehran’s agents on its territory.
On 1 July 2018, German police arrested an Iranian diplomat from the embassy in Vienna and charged him with terrorist offences. He was later extradited to Belgium, and he is on trial accused of handing over a highly-explosive device to an Iranian-Belgian couple who were planning to bomb the opposition NCRI’s Free Iran gathering in Paris in June. In August 2018, two Iranian agents were arrested by the FBI and charged with spying on the PMOIin the US and preparing assassination plots.
In October, the French government officially sanctioned Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and accused it of being behind the Paris bomb plot. French ministers stressed: “This extremely serious act, which was intended to take place on our soil, cannot go without a response”.
Denmark foiled a new Iranian terror plot on its soil in October. The EU’s silence in the face of brutal human rights violations in Iran and lack of any response to the serious terror plots in Europe is unacceptable.
We must hold the Iranian regime accountable for its terror plots and expel Iranian Intelligence Ministry operatives from Europe. We must also condition our relations with Iran to an improvement of human rights and women’s rights, and a halt to executions.
MEP Signatories: Gérard DEPREZ, Chair of Friends of a Free Iran,…
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We must hold the Iranian regime accountable for its terror plots and expel Iranian Intelligence Ministry operatives from Europe. Thanks Dalvand for the Iranians update.. Prayer going on for the nation of Iran.. Thanks again – Israel
Demonstration of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers – Shush, Southwest of Iran
Maryam Rajavi: Call for support of the Haft Tappeh and Ahvaz Steel strikers and urgent action to release the arrested
The enemy tries in vain to silence the voice of the deprived workers of Haft Tappeh through arrests and suppression. The cries of “we are hungry” of the children of Shush awaken the conscience of every human being, provoking them to rise up against the oppressive mullahs. #Iranpic.twitter.com/PVom5G4KX3
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, saluted the striking workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane factory and Ahvaz Steel, and said: “Shoosh has risen with the cries of workers, and solidarity and strike of youth, teachers and merchants of bazaar. The enemy attempts in vain to silence the Haft TAppeh deprived workers by suppressing and arresting them, but the cry of “we are hungry, hungry” of the children of Shush, calls the conscience of every human being to rise up against the oppressor mullahs.
Mrs. Rajavi called on all youth, especially in Khuzestan, to support the uprising of Shush and the Haft Tappeh and Ahvaz Steel strikers, and urged international human rights defenders and labor and trade unions to condemn the repressive measures of the religious fascism ruling Iran against the workers and to take urgent action for the immediate release of the arrested.
Hail to the workers of the Steel Factory of #Ahvaz who have risen up in solidarity with the workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Factory. I call on youths to support the uprising in Shush and the strike of workers of Haft Tappeh and Steel of Ahvaz.#IranProtests#Iran#FreeIran2018
On Sunday November 18, the protest of the brave workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane was held on the fourteenth day of their strike, with extensive support from marketers, teachers, workers’ families, and students from the city of Shush. Following the gathering of protesters in front of the regime’s governorate in Shush, repressive forces arrested at least two workers’ representatives. At least one of the workers was also wounded by the criminal plainclothes agents.
The massive demonstrations of steel and sugar cane workers began on Sunday despite the presence of the oppressive forces. On the protest rally, shopkeepers shut down their businesses and joined the rally. The protesters chanted: “Shaft Tappeh, (Ahvaz) Steel, we will stand together till the end; Steel; Haft Tappeh, happy bond!; honorable marketer, support, support; Worker, teacher, unity, unity; Down with the oppressor, hail to the worker; the worker dies, he does not accept humiliation; Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, we are all together; Neither threat, nor prison, has no longer any effect; No threat, no surrender; we are all together; we do not go to our house until we take our rights; our enemy is here, they falsely say it is the United States.”
The people who joined the workers had handwritten banners in their hands, reading: “I am also a Haft Tappeh (worker).”
It was written on the handwritten banners: Stop illegal labor contracts; stop exploiting workers; a hungry child does not recognize promises; I’m just a worker, I’m not a thug; I love my homeland; but my child is hungry.
Referring to the threats of the repressive forces, the workers’ representative said: “If I die, too, you do not have the right to bury me. You must bring my coffin to the strike. My dead body also chants: “No threats, no surrender, we are all together”. Massive crowds repeated this slogan, reiterating their resolve to continue their protests.
Meanwhile, the Ahvaz Steel courageous workers continued their strike for the second week in protest to non-payment of their four months’ salaries and benefits, and expressed their solidarity with the workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane factory. On the protest rally from the factory to the regime’s governorate in Ahvaz, they chanted: “No nation has ever seen this much injustice; The premier and the governor, are collaborators of this mafia; Haft Tappeh Sugar cane, we are present and we stand together; our country is a thief house; it is exemplary in the world!; the worker dies, he does not accept humiliation.”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran November 18, 2018
The name Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has been intertwined and synonymous with the current clerical regime of Iran for the past few decades. From the Iran-Iraq War to several regional conflicts, to economic activities and internal crackdown of unrests across the country, the IRGC has had a major role in shaping the Iranian regime’s domestic and foreign policy.
Establishing The IRGC
Following the 1979 revolution, Islamic Republic founder Ruhollah Khomeini realized the need to have an advantage and apparatus to quell any domestic threats and unrest. Considering the fact that they could not trust the Iranian military, police and other state forces for this purpose, the ruling mullahs began the process of launching their own parallel forces.
The IRGC was established on May 5, 1979, less than three months after the revolution. What started as a paramilitary group of ideologically trained units loyal to the supreme leader has now grown to be the sole protector and backbone of the ruling mullahs in Iran.
The IRGC answers directly to the supreme leader, now Ali Khamenei, and is given unconstrained jurisdiction and authorities. The IRGC is actually above Iran’s classic army in the hierarchy, and provided with enormous economic and political power. The IRGC has now evolved to be a “parallel” or shadow government of Iran, accountable to Khamenei only.
IRGC Role In Domestic Crackdown
From day one, the IRGC spearheaded a campaign aiming to purge dissidents, intellectuals, journalists, writers, opposition figures and organized labor unions. The principal target has consistently been Iran’s main opposition entity, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), highlighted in a gruesome manner during the summer 1988 massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners, mostly PMOI/MEK members and supporters.
“The orders for the systematic execution of dissidents came from Khomeini himself in the form of a fatwa (religious edict). His intention was to purge the country of any opposition, notable the main dissident organization, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK),” said Hamid Yazdan Panah, an Iranian human rights activist and lawyer, in a piece published by The Hill.
Throughout the 1980s, the IRGC carried out numerous campaigns targeting dissidents abroad. These efforts included groups across the spectrum, including Kurdish and Baluchi groups, members of the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), among others.
The infamous “chain murders” of the 1990s targeting political opponents and dissident writers inside Iran was carried out by the notorious Ministry of Intelligence & Security (MOIS) and IRGC units without any individual ever facing justice for their murderous roles.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered the IRGC and its paramilitary Basij militia to crush the 1999 student uprisings, enjoying the blessing of Hassan Rouhani, who was then the regime’s secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and later became the president of the Iranian regime.
The IRGC was once again unleashed during the 2009 uprisings to quell any pro-democracy demands. The Guards went on a spree of arresting thousands, torturing hundreds and secretly executing dozens.
The IRGC has relentlessly targeted the main Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK through the years, following both the 1979 revolution and afterwards when the organization went into exile, mainly in Iraq. MEK members were kidnapped and/or assassinated also in Europe.
Political Interference & Terrorism
The Iranian regime proclaims to have a divine mission of establishing a universally just government across the globe. It therefore considers meddling in other countries’ internal affairs as justified and necessary measures. As a result, the use of terrorism and spreading fundamentalist viewpoints are not policies of mere marginal importance. Alongside the brutal repression of all domestic protests, Tehran’s very survival fully depends on remaining loyal to this practice.
Tehran’s notorious activities have expanded to 13 countries and the IRGC is also known to have launched spying cells or networks in at least 12 different countries, while most have seen authorities apprehend members of such groups.
IRGC Fomenting Sectarian Tension And Violence
One very deadly method explored by the Iranian regime has been aggravating sectarian rifts across the Middle East, especially in its western neighbor of Iraq that continues to remain a very fragile state. A cruel irony, however, is witnessed in the reality that while the IRGC is known to recruit Shiites for militia groups, it has also fueled support for Sunni terrorist groups.
“Indeed, the bipartisan 9/11 commission report, which investigated the Sept. 11, 2001 al Qaeda terror attacks — the largest mass casualty terrorist attack in U.S. history — pointed out that there was ‘strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of al Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers,’” The Washington Times reported.
This is aimed at fulfilling Tehran’s ultimate objective: overwhelming the entire region with chaos, and utilizing such a situation to expand their field of influence. Iran is “securing an arc of influence across Iraq and Syria that would end at the Mediterranean Sea,” according to The Guardian.
The IRGC can be described as the Iranian regime’s arm to establish the first “Islamic Caliphate” by taking first measures in this outline in 1979, long before Daesh (ISIS/ISIL).
In fact, the violence promoted by the Iranian regime across the region under the flag of Shiite Islam, parallel to the atrocious crackdown imposed on Sunni communities in various countries, have encouraged the rise of Daesh.
Hidden Occupation And Expansion of IRGC Abroad
The IRGC Quds Force, the unit’s extraterritorial entity currently commanded by Qassem Suleimani, is tasked to carry out foreign missions across the Middle East and beyond. In the broader picture, the IRGC has never limited its expansion and terrorists to the region.
“The world should rest assured the IRGC will soon establish branches in the US and Europe,” IRGC Brigadier General Salar Anoush said recently.
The IRGC has also launched a massive network of training camps inside Iran and abroad to gain new recruits for its proxy militia groups. Hundreds of future soldiers arrive from Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen each month to undergo such training courses.
The IRGC’s broad meddling makes its involvement in covertly occupying four regional countries undeniable: Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
Scenes in Syria during the past several years have made the IRGC’s deadly role crystal clear. Reports indicate up to 70,000 IRGC foot soldiers and cannon fodders were roaming the Levant, involved in launching killing sprees.
“The Iranian regime’s military incursion in Syria came at a great cost to Tehran. According to reports obtained by the NCRI from within the regime’s own ranks, Iran’s death toll in the Syrian war are estimated to be over 12,000,” according to a research report.
The IRGC has allocated both its human and financial resources to make good on its security threats, in tandem with military attacks. The IRGC has also been establishing cultural centers across the Middle East and throughout Europe and North America, aiming to expand its influence. They have monopolized control of more than 90 ports and loading docks in the Persian Gulf for shipping supplies, weapons and explosives to their preferred destinations. To this day, 14 different countries are known to have been targets of such covert activities.
IRGC Influence In Iran’s Foreign Policy
With Khamenei’s approval, the IRGC enjoys special and powerful dominance over the regime’s foreign policy and agenda. For example, the Guards have taken full control over Iran’s embassies in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. While having prominence in the affairs related to Armenia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
In view of the significance to IRGC operations, the Iranian regime’s ambassadors and diplomatic missions to Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria are appointed directly by the IRGC and not the Foreign Ministry of Iran. It is worth noting that Iran’s current ambassador to Iraq, Brigadier Iraj Masjedi, was formerly in charge of the IRGC’s Iraq desk, as its chairman and a senior Quds Force advisor. The Quds Force is overseeing the Iranian regime’s operations in Syria and Iraq.
Masjedi himself supervised and coordinated attacks against U.S.-led Coalition forces in Iraq, leaving scores killed and wounded.
Growing Grip Of IRGC Over Iran’s Economy
The IRGC quest to gain full control over Iran’s economy began following the Iran-Iraq war. This grip grew significantly during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, himself a former IRGC commander, from 2005 to 2013.
The IRGC has gained increasing influence in major sectors of Iran’s economy, such as oil and gas, and the construction industry. The exact number of IRGC-affiliated front companies remains unknown, simply due to the fact that they seek to evade sanctions through the use of various front companies and institutions in different countries.
Ironically, the IRGC benefited enormously from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) the regime signed with the world powers.
Of nearly 110 agreements signed since the JCPOA’s signing, worth at least $80 billion, 90 counts of these deals have been with companies owned or controlled by Iranian state entities, according a Reuters analysis.
The IRGC is now considered a huge conglomerate of different companies and assets. Parts of its holdings include controlling Iran’s missile drive and the controversial nuclear program.
The IRGC owns and controls dozens of companies, involved in procuring the technology needed to develop ballistic missiles and sensitive nuclear products. The IRGC has been entrusted to develop and pursue the ballistic missile program and all its aspects. A senior Iranian official once boasted about Iran having a sixth missile production line, including the Shahab-3/3B, with a range of over 2,100 kilometers.
Terror Designations
The U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted the IRGC Quds Force back in 2007 for “Proliferation Activities and Support for Terrorism.” The Quds Force is known to provide material support to terrorist groups such as the Taliban, the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other such entities.
In 2017, the Treasury designated the Iranian regime’s IRGC as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” for the “activities it undertakes to assist in, sponsor, or provide financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of the IRGC Quds Force.”
As the U.S. State Department has designated the IRGC Quds Force as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization,” there are growing calls in Washington calling for similar damning measures against the mother IRGC entity to deliver a crippling blow to the mullahs’ regime.
The Iranian regime considers this a declaration of war.
Final Words
The mullahs’ regime of Iran is a dictatorship on a mission to agitate and expand its influence throughout the region and beyond. The IRGC is the main apparatus and the leverage for this regime to continue its aspirations and existence through domestic crackdown and export of terrorism abroad, whether through proxy wars, terror attacks or spreading its extremist ideology.
“The IRGC is dedicated to protecting the Islamic Revolution, not the state of Iran. As guardians of the Islamic Revolution, it supports terrorist activities by the Quds Force and its other military divisions. The IRGC finances these terrorist activities through its business activities, making the overall o simply the paymaster for terrorist activities by its constituent elements,” wrote Raymond Tanter and Ed Stafford in The Hill.
The cancerous and unchecked growth of the IRGC throughout the region is a threat to not only the Middle East but also Europe. A dangerous fundamentalist ideology drives this armed (military) entity. The world needs to take this threat seriously before it is too late.
Masoud Dalvand: I read a good and informative article on Iran Freedom website about the terrorism of the Iran mullahs regime, which also invite you to read it.
Indeed, the failure of another terrorist plot planned by Khamenei’s dictatorship (the godfather of terrorism) in European soil, not only does not surprise any observer but also proves that the mullahs regime is truly the godfather of terrorism in the world.
In this regard, the DW website quoted the Danish foreign minister in a report of the foiled terror plot on Oct. 31, 2018:
“I decided to recall the Danish ambassador to Tehran for consultations. The plot of an Iranian intelligence agency to assassinate a person on Danish soil is completely unacceptable.”
The European Union, sunk in its malign appeasement policy, did not show much tendency to confront the terrorist acts of the regime before Assadollah Assadi, regime terrorist diplomat was arrested in Germany in relation to a foiled bomb plot in Paris against the grand gathering of the Iranian Opposition in Villepinte.
For this reason, Khamenei considered this unconcerned state as a green light for continuing the regime’s terror policy, which has always served as a “crutch” for the clerical regime as the godfather of terrorism, a policy that is still on its agenda.
The arrest of two terrorist agents of the mullahs in Albania who tried to target the MEK headquarters by an explosives truck, as well as two assassinations in the Netherland carried out by the mercenaries of this godfather of terrorism in recent years, and the discovery of half a kilo of explosives and detonators in Belgium, which was supposed to target the largest gathering of Iran’s resistance in Paris, are fully affirming this fact.
DW report also quoted the Denmark prime minister saying Denmark is trying to put the issue of the mullahs regime’s terrorism on the agenda of the European Union.
In this regard, Rasmussen emphasized in a tweet: “Further actions against Iran will be discussed in the EU”.
Rasmussen, who had partaken at Nordic leaders meeting in Oslo and met his British counterpart, Theresa May, said: The United Kingdom will support Denmark in this case.
He added: “In close collaboration with the UK and other countries we will stand up to Iran”.
Pointing to the deception campaign by Iran regime’s lobbies abroad, the president-elect of the Iranian resistance, emphasized:
“The Iranian regime has already carried out hundreds of extra-territorial terrorist operations. Do not believe the fallacy of rogue groups. The people of Iran rose up and cried out, “Hardliners, reformists, the game is over”.”
The people of #Iran rose up and cried out, “Hardliners, reformists, the game is over.” Now, the European Union must immediately place the mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) on its terror list.
Every terrorist attacks and their agent in our nations shall be arrested in Jesus name amen! I prayed for God’s intervention particularly in the Nation of Iran, peace in thy name of Jesus…
Freedom Sunrise of Iran is discussing. 
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