THE CONTENT OF THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 10:30 PM CET
Press Release
MPs support the Foreign Affairs Committee recommendation to proscribe IRGC
The House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee published a report titled “No prosperity without justice: the UK’s relationship with Iran” on 16 December 2020.
The Foreign Affairs Committee states: “Iran’s malign regional actions challenge the values which underpin British foreign policy. International cooperation, safeguarding human rights, and upholding the rule of law are all weakened by Tehran.”
The British Committee for Iran Freedom (BCFIF) and the International Committee of Parliamentarians for a Democratic Iran wholeheartedly endorse and commend the work done by our colleagues in the Foreign Affairs Committee and share their recommendations to the Government in dealing with Iran.
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ISJ: Senior politicians question EU-Iran appeasement policy
PRESS RELEASE
Senior politicians have launched a withering attack on the European External Action Service (EEAS), accusing them of endorsing “a wretched act of appeasement” towards the Iranian regime, following news that the UN is seeking to hold the theocratic regime to account over the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in jails across Iran in the summer of 1988.
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Els Ampe: Stop the terrorist regime in Iran
Supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and members of the Iranian diaspora in Europe held a rally yesterday in Brussels. They protested the supposed meeting of the Iranian regime’s Foreign Ministry with the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on December 16.
Belgian Senator Els Ampe attended the rally, and she expressed her self in a Twitter message:
Stop the terrorist regime in #Iran.
Mr Rohani, free the Iranian people so they can speak their minds, believe freely, wear what they want and love who they want as Europeans do. #democracy #freedom #humanrights pic.twitter.com/LimCCS1g8a
— Els Ampe (@ElsAmpe) December 17, 2020
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International Policy Digest: UN Experts’ Letter May Inspire Broader Consideration in Western Policy on Iran
For a very long time, international discussions concerning Iran have been focused on the 2015 nuclear deal. This is not to say that the issues that the deal sought to address are not still important. They are vital. But there are other even more imminent issues that need appropriate international attention.
Regardless of the effects that the nuclear deal has had on “breakout time,” the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon is still some ways off. But the threat of Iranian terrorism is omnipresent. Although Iran lacks the missile technology to directly threaten its leading Western adversaries, there are Iranian terrorist operatives who have been caught plotting attacks on European soil as recently as two years ago.
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UPDATE: 4:30 PM CET
The Washington Times: Expectations regarding U.S. re-implementing Iran nuclear deal should be tempered
By Tom Ridge – With a presidential transition looming in Washington, there has been much international discussion about its implications for the Iran nuclear deal.
The European parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are hoping that President-elect Joe Biden will quickly return to the deal upon assuming office next month. They should probably temper their expectations.
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UNESCO: Director-General condemns execution of journalist Ruhollah Zam in Iran
Paris, 16 December—The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has condemned the execution of journalist Ruhollah Zam, which took place on 12 December in Iran.
“I condemn the execution of Ruhollah Zam,” said the Director-General. “Carrying out the death penalty against a journalist sends a chilling message against freedom of expression and press freedom.”
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UPDATE: 9:30 AM CET
The 67th UN Resolution condemning human rights violations in Iran
Clerical regime leaders must face justice for four decades of crimes against humanity, putting an end to their impunity
Welcoming the adoption of the 67th United Nations resolution, condemning the grave and systematic violation of human rights in Iran, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said that the main perpetrators of the atrocities mentioned in this resolution are those who have been continuously involved in crimes against humanity during that past four decades, particularly the massacre of political prisoners in 1988, the brutal suppression of the November 2019 uprising that leftover 1,500 protesters killed, and 12,000 arrested.
While welcoming the adoption of the 67th UN resolution condemning #HumanRights violations in #Iran, I reiterate that the clerical regime’s leaders must face justice for 4 decades of crimes against humanity, and their immunity must end. #NoImpunity4Mullahshttps://t.co/rJ8mQGfNnI pic.twitter.com/sTDUbr0L0Z
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) December 16, 2020
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Iran: The Staggering Number of Victims in 470 Cities Exceeded 186,200
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) announced on December 16, 2020, that the Coronavirus death toll in 470 cities had exceeded 186,200. The number of victims in Tehran is 45,771, Isfahan 10,920, Khuzestan 9,625, Qom 7,325, East Azerbaijan 7,292, West Azerbaijan 7,018, Mazandaran 7,012, Gilan 6,606, Fars 5,592, Alborz 4,925, Hamedan 4,505, Central Province 3,828, Yazd 3,292, Kurdistan 3,216, Qazvin 1,922, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 1,319.
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Iran: IRGC Basij centers targeted across the country
Rebellious youth in different Iranian cities have been targeting the Iranian regime’s suppressive centers , including several Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) centers and branches of the judiciary, which has become much hated for executing political prisoners and giving heavy prison sentences to protesters.
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U.S. Treasury Sanctions Companies for Supporting the Sale of Iranian Petrochemicals
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated four entities for facilitating the export of Iranian petrochemical products by Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (Triliance), an entity designated by Treasury in January 2020.
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Four Arab activists accused of secessionism for collecting aid for flood victims
Four Arab activists living in the port of Mahshahr, in southwest Khuzestan Province, have been accused of secessionism. The four Arab activists were only involved in collecting aid for victims in flood stricken areas.
On Tuesday, December 15, 2020, the state-run Tasnim news agency reported from Ahvaz of the arrests of four citizens in the Port of Mahshahr. The report said those arrested by intelligence forces were members of dissident and secessionist groups who disturbed public opinion through their work in the social media. They were accused of calling for illegal and armed gatherings.
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Three fuel carriers shot dead by the state security force in Sistan and Baluchistan
3 fuel carriers were shot & killed by the State Security Force in Sistan & Baluchistan Province, in southeastern #Iran. Iranian security forces carry out such shootings with impunity. #HumanRights https://t.co/RJY3F3H9fT pic.twitter.com/6mFnt6X1b9
— IRAN HRM (@IranHrm) December 16, 2020
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Karaj, near Tehran – Hospital staff in Karaj’s Khomeini Hospital gathered to demand their unpaid wages
Dec. 16- Karaj, near Tehran, #Iran
Hospital staff in Karaj’s Khomeini Hospital gathered today to demand their unpaid wages in the past 4 years.
The regime prefers to pay its terrorist proxies rather than pay hospital staff fighting on the front lines of the #COVID19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/8QqGWFZ5uR— Iran News Wire (@IranNW) December 16, 2020
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Iran news in brief, December 17, 2020
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Read more: Iran News in Brief – December 16, 2020