It is important to underline that the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government and the two ruling political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan are free to have a bilateral relationship with Iran that serves their interests and does not hurt the interests of Kurdish movement in Iranian Kurdistan without any political or moral judgment from our party.
Regarding the decision to commemorate Ayatollah Khomeini in the Qazi Muhammed Conference Centre, I personally understand that this decision has angered many people, especially after the outrage it created last year. People that I have spoken to would have preferred that the two ruling parties in Iraqi Kurdistan would have chosen another venue to host the event.
For people that feel that it is not suitable to host such an event in the mentioned conference centre, I would recommend that you contact the KRG and express your opinion.
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The Islamic Republic of Iran has once again shown its enmity against the Kurdish people. In fear of losing their power the regime continues to suppress, torture, imprison and execute Kurdish and Iranian citizens.
The Islamic Republic of Iran announced that they had executed five political prisoners by the names of Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heiderian, Ferhad Wekili, Shirin Alemholi and Mehdi Islamian, on Sunday, the 9th of May 2010.
We, the undersigned political parties, condemn the execution of these brave freedom activists and express our sincerer condolences to these individuals’ friends and families. We also urge human rights organizations and political organizations all around the world not to be quiet about this tragic incidence and to condemn this brutal act.
The Kurdish people will not bow down to the oppression of the Islamic Republic and we will continue with our struggle until we fulfil the goals and hopes of our martyrs, which is to bring about an end to the Islamic Republic and to attain freedom for all of Iran’s different nationalities.
The regime has ones again proven to the Kurdish people that they can never trust the regime, because the regime will take every opportunity given to it to execute our Kurdish youth.
The Islamic Republic has also proven that there is no other way to obtain freedom without the overthrow of this murderous regime.
Long live the Kurdish peoples freedom fighters!
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
Komala – Revolutionary Toilers of Kurdistan
Organization of Struggle for Iranian Kurdistan
The human rights organization HRNA reports that four of the 22 Kurdish political prisoners on death row were executed this morning. The names of the executed Kurdish political prisoners are: Farzad Kamangar, Ali Haiderian, Farhad Wekili and Shirin Alemholi (woman).
It is worth underlining that in at least three of the four cases an appeal court had not yet issued its final sentence, making the executions illegal even according to the Islamic Republics own laws.
]]>Yesterday a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard by the name of Hama Rasoul was found dead in the Kurdish city of Piranshar.
A couple of days ago an unknown group of armed men killed an officer of the Revolutionary Guard by the name of Shefei and two Iranian IRGC soldiers on a bridge in the city of Mariwan.
Two more Revolutionary Guard soldiers were killed in the Kurdish city of Bokan by an unknown group of armed men after that the Revolutionary Guard had harassed the local population.
In another incident two soldiers and a commander of the Revolutionary Guard were killed in the Kurdish city of Saghez. The names of the soldiers are MehbetAllah Shefei (Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Bsami branch in Saghez), Ahmed Abbasi and Moibin Rahmeti.
]]>The recent revelation of Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates’ January memorandum to senior White House officials apparently outlining a range of options for dealing with Iran’s persistent drive to achieve nuclear-weapons capability is most timely. On April 19, hard-line Iranian authorities banned the country’s two remaining official “opposition” parties – the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Mujaheddin of the Islamic Revolution Organization. Neither of these organizations was a pillar of democracy or threatened Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s “religious” dictatorial control of the country. Nonetheless, the elimination of these two parties shows the paranoid mentality of the Ahmadinejad regime.
]]>Personally I think that the report is mind-blowing. Not because the information is new (we have tried to give most of this information to different stakeholder-states, including the U.S. for some years now), but rather because the report clearly reveals that the U.S. is very well aware of Iran’s military activities, but at the same time the U.S. seems completely lost regarding how to thwart Iran’s efforts to attain nuclear weapons and become the dominant military power in the region.
Just a couple of days ago Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a forum at Columbia University that “Iran getting a nuclear weapon would be incredibly destabilizing. Attacking them would also create the same kind of outcome.”
It is quite obvious that the Obama administration essentially has no strategy for dealing with Iran; they are only pondering two alternatives attacking Iran (which they are not really thinking about) and letting Iran attain nuclear weapons and hope for the best.
But there is a third alternative that would benefit everyone, and that is to support and empower Iran’s democratic and secular opposition in order to bring about regime change. But it seems that the Obama administration doesn’t even consider this as an alternative.
]]>It is quite interesting to hear how the Afghan official (end of the clip) is trying to pressure the border guard not to reveal that it is Iran supplying the Taliban with weapons. It is also strange that the International forces and the Afghan government have been reluctant to talk about this reality. Iran is waging a very effective proxy war against the United States in both Iraq and Afghanistan and the U.S. is, due to its desperate effort to get headway on Iran’s nuclear program, sidelining Iran’s military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read related post.
Also watch:
Members of Iran’s ethnic minority groups from the Ahwaz, Kurdistan, Khuzestan, Baluchistan and Turkmenistan regions also face increasing intimidation. Large numbers have been detained on charges of endangering national security. The days after the election result saw a series of mass executions in Iran’s border regions, viewed by many as a warning sign to the local populations. On 11 November, Ehsan Fattahian was executed after a ten-year sentence to be served in exile was increased to a death sentence by a higher court. We expressed concern at reports that Fattahian was tortured during detention, as well as irregularities during his trial. Many members of minority groups remain on death row accused of terrorism, treason, or acting against national security.
I came across this video showing how members of Iran’s Basij militia tortures Arab youths in Ahwaz:
This is an older video showing how Revolutionary Guard soldiers abuse a young man detained for having long hair:
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At the same time as the Islamic Republic of Iran sends millions of dollars to extremist Arab organizations in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq the Arab population of Ahwaz in Iran suffers extreme poverty and discrimination.
The Islamic Republic of Iran portrays its self as the champion of Arab rights in all of the above-mentioned countries, but the Arab population of Iran faces discrimination and violence in all spheres of life. Every year hundreds of Arab-rights activists are imprisoned, tortured, raped and executed in Iran just because they raise their voices about the gross living conditions of Arabs in Iran.
The province of Khuzestan, which has an Arab majority, produces the majority of Iran’s oil, but none of the benefits of the oil reach the people living in the region. The Islamic Republic of Iran drains Khuzestan of its riches and systematically oppresses the Arab population, only to send its oil profits to Arab-extremists in other parts of the region.
This kind of policy is expected from the regime in Tehran, but what strikes Arabs in Iran as strange is that no Arab country or organization raises their plight or objects to Iran’s treatment of their kinsmen.
Pictures showing the living conditions of Arabs in Iran:
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