Iran will be exporting its terrorism to your western neighborhood next. Their ambitions are not limited to the Middle East. 'The West is next': Iranian activist visits Israel, takes on Iran threat, UN hypocrisy Iranian human rights activist Lily Moo visited Israel, toured the site of the Nova festival massacre and issued a warning of what Iran would bring to the West. https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-804568 Iranian human rights activist Lily Moo, in a Thursday interview with Kan, discussed how the “inhumane… atrocities” of October 7 were not shocking to her in light of similar violations she had seen committed by the Islamic Republican of Iran. “We warned the international community about the atrocities that are yet to fall upon Israel at the hands of the Islamic Republic,” Moo stressed. “If we do not stop them now.” Asked what she was doing in Israel, Moo said she was “fighting the fight the rest of the world should also be calling out for and fighting.” Moo, alongside other women from across Europe, is visiting Israel as part of a delegation by ELNET Europe. The main objective of the delegation is to fight against the use of rape as a weapon of war, she explained, referring to Hamas’s use of sexual violence during its October 7 attacks. Women's rights and UN complicity The interviewer also asked Moo what she thought about the clip of Hamas terrorists speaking with captive female IDF observers and threatening them with pregnancy. Moo answered that she had seen this level of “wild, demon, inhumane form of treatment” in the Islamic Republic. She recounted how, in November of 2019, the Islamic regime raped, mutilated, and murdered men, women, and children in Iran - dumping their bodies in the streets. An international tribunal was held on the atrocities, which the now-deceased Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was a part of, according to Moo. She expressed disgust that Raisi was given diplomatic immunity to go on a trip to the United Nations “after killing Mahsa Amini.” “Mahsa Amini simply existed as a woman, and she was killed,” said Moo. “She wasn’t resisting. She wasn’t holding paper. She wasn’t pulling her scarf up. She was walking with her brother.” Moo totaled the number of civilians killed by the regime during the three days as 1700, with a total of 3500 killed. “There are people denying the atrocities of October 7th," she said. "There are people who are not willing to look for all the clues that are in front of them. There are people who have continuously ignored the plea of Iranians, and the fact that all of these atrocities happened, reported into the international media, fallen on deaf ears…” Moo continued to discuss how diasporic Iranians warned international organizations what would happen if Iran was left unchecked. “The Islamic Republic has been on its last leg,” and every time the regime “feels cornered, they attack Iranians, they attack the civilians of Iran," she added. "They rape and pillage our people. They open fire on the houses of people in poorer cities. And then they put up all these crazy rhetorics about ‘Oh, if different cities are uprising, it's because they’re uprising against each other. They want to separate Iran….’ No! Iran is, in every way, united…” Moo asserted. The Iranian activist repeatedly referred to Raisi as 'The Butcher,' in reference to his nickname ‘The Butcher of Tehran.’ She described “the glorious incident” of his death, saying it gave her “new hope.” “This shadow of death is now lifted. As much as the ones who’ve been keeping that umbrella, holding the shadow of death all over the fate of Iranians, those who’ve been holding the umbrella are still around, but their hands are going to be cut off soon. They’re also going to meet their doom soon.” Asked if she meant Iran’s supreme leader, Moo affirmed, “Absolutely.” Addressing the silence held for Raisi by the UN Security Council, Moo said the security council had much to answer for. She highlighted the irony of charging Iran with the responsibility of heading the UNSC for women’s rights after the sexual abuse it employed against Iranian women. Moo charged that not only had Iran created the conflict in Israel and Gaza but that it was using the conflict to cover up the oppression of the Iranian people. She noted that her perspectives were not fringe, and that on October 8, Iranians were calling out in empathy with Israel. She said that footage to the contrary and pro-Hamas rhetoric in the West is Iranian propaganda. The activist also called out the BBC and CNN for sharing anti-Shah propaganda, which she alleged enabled Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to hold power. The biggest enemy of the Iranian regime is a free woman, Moo stated, adding that there was silence on the Muslim women murdered by Hamas on October 7. She continued by speaking about how hard it was to see the site of the Nova festival massacre in Re’im. She said that the scenes of the Nova festival were particularly difficult to see because they resembled so many of the underground raves held in Iran. “Every once in a while, even if they have paid every single bribe that they had to pay in order to know that they are going to be safe in that party, a few buses of IRCG, Hezbollah, and Basii could pull up any moment. Carnage on those kids who are at that party. If they go to the hospital after those rapes, they could go to prison. Nobody talks about that.” She went on to say that despite accusations Israel was losing the propaganda war against Hamas, Israel would win with truth. “You will rise with truth and only truth,” she told the interviewer. Moo called out "TikTokers in the West" for "giving up all of their liberties, thinking they were fighting for freedom" and encouraged them to listen to young people from Iran. She concluded the interview with the warning that, without intervention, "the West is Next" and that she would believe Israeli women.
The typical oppression in Iran. Music the government does not like will lead to a death sentence. Lawyer says Iran rapper famous for songs after 2022 killing of Mahsa Amini sentenced to death https://apnews.com/article/iran-pro...oomaj-salehi-340ca7634df6c79b48e6514412994b29 A rapper in Iran who came to fame over his lyrics about the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini and criticizing the Islamic Republic has been sentenced to death, his lawyer and rights activists said Thursday. Confusion still surrounds the death sentence issued against 33-year-old metal shop worker Toomaj Salehi, as even Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency and its judiciary did not formally confirm it. But the news quickly drew international criticism from the United States and United Nations experts, who pointed at it as a sign of Tehran’s continuing crackdown against all dissent following years of mass protests in the country. “Art must be allowed to criticize, to provoke, to push the boundaries in any society,” a panel of the U.N.'s independent experts on Iran said in a statement Thursday. Word first spread Wednesday after a report by Iran’s pro-reform Shargh newspaper said Salehi had been given a death sentence by a Revolutionary Court in Isfahan, a central Iranian city recently targeted by an apparent Israeli attack. Revolutionary Courts in Iran often involve closed-door hearings, secret evidence and few rights for those on trial. Salehi’s lawyer, Amir Raisian, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he had received notice of the death sentence against his client. Raisian said he planned to file an appeal.
A five minute trial in a kangaroo court with no evidence. Iran executed dissident on charges of spying for Israel after five-minute trial Pejman Fatehi was targeted by Tehran regime as it weaponises death penalty to sow fear and suppress opposition, human rights campaigners say https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-n...issident-spying-for-israel-five-minute-trial/
Will Iran be able to suppress dissidence using terror and oppression -- or will factions be successful in taking action as the president of the regime changes. Time will tell. Will Iranian president's death trigger civil war? Helicopter crash is huge blow to regime and will 'spur rebellious youths into action', says resistance group https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ious-youths-action-says-resistance-group.html
Hamas is just a part of Iran’s multi-front war against Israel and the West https://thehill.com/opinion/nationa...-multi-front-war-against-israel-and-the-west/
Iran's hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registers as a presidential candidate for the June 28 election Iran's hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registers as a presidential candidate for the June 28 election https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...ident-mahmoud-ahmadinejad-registers-110749924 A Hard-Line Former President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Registers To Run Again in Iran The populist former leader’s registration puts new pressure on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. https://www.nysun.com/article/a-har...ud-ahmadinejad-registers-to-run-again-in-iran
Iranian general who ordered live gunfire on students enters presidential election https://www.yahoo.com/news/iranian-general-ordered-live-gunfire-180825182.html A former Iranian Revolutionary Guard general who ordered live rounds to be used against student protesters has entered the presidential race as authorities try to squeeze moderates out of the election. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, an ex-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) air forces, will be among the candidates to succeed president Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash last month. Ghalibaf became the speaker of the parliament following a series of unsuccessful presidential bids and a 12-year tenure as the mayor of Tehran. He is also widely known for his controversial past as an IRGC general. He supported a violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999 and ordered live gunfire to be used against students during his tenure as the country’s police chief in 2003. The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian armed forces established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has grown increasingly influential as hardliners have become more powerful in Iran. The IRGC has spread Iranian influence abroad and has been accused of carrying out assassinations and attacks on foreign soil, including in Britain. ‘Appoint from the armed forces’ A snap election is set for June 28, and efforts are under way to give the presidential seat to a commander from the IRGC for the first time, according to current members of the IRGC and confirmed by former Iranian officials familiar with the matter who spoke to The Telegraph. “There are ongoing high-level efforts within the establishment to appoint someone from the armed forces,” a member of the IRGC said. Senior figures at the IRGC have been evaluating their choices from among both former and current commanders over the past two weeks. “It’s very likely that the regime will pave the way for Ghalibaf,” a former official at Iran’s interior ministry told The Telegraph from Tehran, who requested anonymity as it is taboo and risky to publicly discuss leadership changes. “Outside the leader’s office has been very busy in recent days.” “Dehghan is playing a big role in making sure the next president comes from the IRGC,” he said, referring to Hossein Dehghan, another influential commander of the IRGC, former defence minister and Khamenei’s military adviser. “People close to him are on the move outside the leader’s office and are contacting everyone they know to influence the leader and the Guardian Council,” the official added. Iranian candidates running for any election must be vetted and approved by the 12-member Guardian Council. Six of them are directly appointed by the Supreme Leader, while the remaining six are nominated by the head of the judiciary and approved by the parliament. The head of the judiciary is directly appointed by Ali Khamenei. Commanders of the IRGC are also said to be trying to block the bid of a hardliner they believe is “too fundamentalist”. The candidacy of Saeed Jalili, a staunch opponent of the 2015 nuclear deal with the West, has prompted commanders to contact individuals within Khamenei’s office to block his bid. “Commanders are trying to prevent Jalili, who they believe is too hardline and will exacerbate the situation,” a member of the IRGC told The Telegraph. Mr Jalili served as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2007 to 2013, leading Tehran’s nuclear talks that led to no conclusion. The Telegraph has obtained a letter circulating among Iranian fundamentalists, urging Mr Jalili to run for the presidency. “We, a group of your supporters from Iran, invite you to participate in the upcoming presidential elections,” the letter reads. In the 2021 presidential elections, he endorsed Raisi, after withdrawing just days before election day. He is one of Ayatollah Khamenei’s two representatives on the supreme national security council and a member of the expediency discernment council, an administrative body whose members are directly appointed by the Supreme Leader. “I wanted to continue negotiating while advancing the nuclear programme,” Mr Jalili told a group of students recently. “They would ask us to stop our nuclear programme, and I would reply, why? It is our right and it will not happen.” Close relations with Khamenei Mr Jalili joined the Islamic Republic in 1989 after securing a job in the foreign ministry. He lost one of his legs during the Iran-Iraq War and maintains close relations with Ayatollah Khamenei. “People close to Ghalibaf are worried and do not want a Jalili-led administration and are contacting everyone they know to block Jalili,” the former interior ministry official said. The death of Raisi, known as the “Butcher of Tehran” after being held responsible for thousands of dissidents’ deaths comes at a tense moment for the Middle East. The prospect of an Iranian president from the IRGC is likely to escalate the tensions. The region is grappling with the consequences of a mushrooming war that has galvanised Iran-backed militant groups, which are controlled by the IRGC, to exchange fire with the Israeli military or engage in attacks that have sent ripple effects across the globe. Raisi won Iran’s closely stage-managed last presidential election in 2021.
It is pretty clear that Iran has been storing away weapons grade nuclear material and refining more of it -- even during the time period when the world was paying for them to stop. Iran Censure at Nuclear Watchdog Signals Deeper Diplomatic Rift https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...nals-deeper-diplomatic-rift?srnd=economics-v2
Iran OKs 6 candidates for presidential race, but again blocks Ahmadinejad https://www.yahoo.com/news/irans-guardian-council-allows-6-113032917.html DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s Guardian Council on Sunday approved the country’s hard-line parliament speaker and five others to run in the country’s June 28 presidential election following a helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others. The council again barred former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a firebrand populist known for the crackdown that followed his disputed 2009 re-election, from running. The council’s decision represents the starting gun for a shortened, two-week campaign to replace Raisi, a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once floated as a possible successor for the 85-year-old cleric. The selection of candidates approved by the Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists ultimately overseen by Khamenei, suggests Iran’s Shiite theocracy hopes to ease the election through after recent votes saw record-low turnout and as tensions remain high over the country’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, as well as the Israel-Hamas war. The Guardian Council also continued its streak of not accepting a woman or anyone calling for radical change to the country’s governance. The campaign will likely include live, televised debates on Iran’s state-run broadcaster. Candidates also advertise on billboards and offer stump speeches to back their bids. So far, none of them has offered any specifics, though all have promised a better economic situation for the country as it suffers from sanctions by the U.S. and other Western nations over its nuclear program, which now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Such matters of state remain the final decision of Khamenei, but presidents in the past have leaned either toward engagement or confrontation with the West over it. The most prominent candidate remains Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, 62, a former Tehran mayor with close ties to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. However, many remember that Qalibaf, as a former Guard general, was part of a violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999. He also reportedly ordered live gunfire to be used against students in 2003 while serving as the country’s police chief. Qalibaf ran unsuccessfully for president in 2005 and 2013. He withdrew from the 2017 presidential campaign to support Raisi in his first failed presidential bid. Raisi won the 2021 election, which had the lowest turnout ever for a presidential vote in Iran, after every major opponent found themselves disqualified. Khamenei gave a speech last week alluding to qualities that Qalibaf’s supporters have highlighted as potentially signaling the supreme leader’s support for the speaker. Yet Qalibaf’s role in crackdowns may be viewed differently after years of unrest that have gripped Iran, both over its ailing economy and the mass protests sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf, or hijab, to the liking of security forces. Other candidates include Saeed Jalili, former Jalili, former senior nuclear negotiator, who ran in 2013, and registered in 2021 before withdrawing to back Raisi. Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani also withdrew in 2021 to back Raisi. Mostafa Pourmohammadi is a former minister of justice. Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Raisi’s vice president, ran in the 2021 presidential elections and came in last with just under 1 million votes. Masoud Pezeshkian is the only reformist candidate among a slate of hardliners, and is not seen as having much chance. The Guardian Council disqualified Ahmadinejad, the firebrand, Holocaust-questioning former president. Ahmadinejad increasingly challenged Khamenei toward the end of his term and is remembered for the bloody crackdown on the 2009 Green Movement protests. He was also disqualified in the last election by the panel. It also blocked former speaker of parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a conservative with strong ties to Iran’s former relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani. It was the second election in a row in which Larinjani was barred from running. Former Iranian Central Bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati, who ran in 2021, and Eshaq Jahangiri, who served as vice president under moderate President Hassan Rouhani, were also disqualified. The election comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West over its arming of Russia in that country’s war on Ukraine. Its support of militia proxy forces throughout the wider Middle East has been increasingly in the spotlight as Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack ships in the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others were killed in the May 19 helicopter crash in the far northwest of Iran. Investigations are continuing, though authorities say there’s no immediate sign of foul play in the crash on a cloud-covered mountainside. Raisi was the second Iranian president to die in office. In 1981, a bomb blast killed President Mohammad Ali Rajai in the chaotic days after the country’s Islamic Revolution.
The Iranian 'Godfather' and his mafia-style sham elections Khamenei's oppressive rule has ensnared Iranian society, trapping it in malignant cycles of manipulation and control. https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-806133