Iranian musician risks his freedom to promote human rights
Iranian musician risks his freedom to promote human rights
Trump administration sanctions Iran’s civilian space agency
Trump administration sanctions Iran’s civilian space agency
Trump administration sanctions Iran’s civilian space agency
The Trump administration has imposed sanctions against Iran’s civil space agency, accusing the Middle Eastern country of using it as a cover to develop its weapons program.
Iran to Ramp Up Nuclear Work as France Tries to Salvage Deal
Iran to Ramp Up Nuclear Work as France Tries to Salvage Deal
Iran to Ramp Up Nuclear Work as France Tries to Salvage Deal
Iran said it was unlikely to reach a much-anticipated agreement with Europe in time to avert another Iranian retreat from the limping nuclear deal, but gave European powers two more months to try to keep the accord alive.
Israel has a right to defend itself, especially amid rising tensions with Iran
Israel has a right to defend itself, especially amid rising tensions with Iran
Israel has a right to defend itself, especially amid rising tensions with Iran
The Aug. 28 editorial “Israel’s ominous escalation” acknowledged Israel’s right to defend itself from Iranian attacks by attacking Iranian-linked militias and facilities in Syria — but condemned similar action in Iraq as an “ominous escalation” by Israel.
Mother of U.S. Navy vet held in Iran worried he’ll die after prison cancer surgery
Mother of U.S. Navy vet held in Iran worried he’ll die after prison cancer surgery
Mother of U.S. Navy vet held in Iran worried he’ll die after prison cancer surgery
A U.S. Navy veteran held jailed in Iran has undergone surgery in prison to remove a melanoma from his back. Michael White’s mother told CBS News this week that her son’s recurring health problems are deteriorating, and she’s “really worried he’ll die over there.”
Iranian Woman Sentenced to 24 Years Behind Bars for Removing Compulsory Hijab
Iranian Woman Sentenced to 24 Years Behind Bars for Removing Compulsory Hijab
Iranian Woman Sentenced to 24 Years Behind Bars for Removing Compulsory Hijab
An Iranian women’s rights activist was just sentenced to 24 years in jail, including 15 for removing her required hijab as part of an equality protest.
20-year-old Saba Kord Afshari was sentenced after being charged with “spreading corruption and prostitution by taking off her hijab and walking without a veil,” “spreading propaganda against the state,” and “assembly and collusion,” according to the Iran Human Rights Monitor.
The verdict was issued by the branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court and the lawyer of Ms Kordafshari was informed about it on August 27.
Her sentences were increased by one-half because of “numerous charges and previous records.”
…
Saba Kord Afshari was repeatedly pressured to make video confessions, something that she strongly resisted and refused to do. The Intelligence Ministry even arrested her mother, Raheleh Ahmadi, to bring further pressure and force her to force her make false confessions.
Her earlier crimes are for holding protests and for trying to reach out for help via cell phone when she was unlawfully detained. Most recently, she and her mom were arrested for taking off their hijabs during an empowerment protest.
Both Afshari and her mother, Raheleh Ahmadi, were involved in White Wednesday protests, in which girls and women remove their compulsory hijabs and reveal their hair in public, the Daily Mail reported.
The duo often posted videos of themselves walking around the capital city without their headscarves — in an effort to encourage other women to leave their hijabs at home, according to the report.
By fighting for a basic right to not cover herself and effectively challenging the prevailing interpretation of Islam, the government wants to punish her as much as they legally can. That says a lot about the barbarism of the faith-based leaders and the incredible courage of women standing up for even an inch of independence.
Afshari is a hero. She deserves praise, not punishment. No government relying on outdated religious principles to form laws designed to hurt minorities and vulnerable citizens deserves to be taken seriously by the rest of the world. No religion that can be used to inflict these cruelties should go unchallenged. The more international outrage, the better.
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Source: The Friendly Theist
Iran Briefing | News Press Focus on Human Rights Violation by IRGC, Iran Human Rights
Israel asks UK to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a terror organization
Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday urged the United Kingdom to follow in the US’s footsteps and designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization.
In a meeting with his British counterpart Dominic Raab, Katz thanked the UK government for officially designating the Iran-backed group Hezbollah a terrorist organization earlier this year, but pressed for the IRGC to also be included on the government’s terror blacklist, the Walla news site reported.
Citing Iran’s malign activities throughout the region, Katz said the terror designation would be the “appropriate and just response” to the attacks masterminded by IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani.
Raab made no formal comment on the matter. Following the meeting, he tweeted a photo of himself and Katz and said Israel “remains a close partner and friend.”
In April Washington blacklisted the IRGC as a terrorist group, the first time that an extension of a foreign government has been designated a terrorist entity by the US.
US President Donald Trump said at the time that “the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move had come at his request.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was formed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution with a mission to defend the clerical regime, in contrast to the more traditional military units that protected Iranian borders. It exists in parallel to Iran’s regular military. The Revolutionary Guards have amassed enormous power within Iran, becoming owners of significant industries and other economic interests on behalf of the regime.
The Guards’ prized foreign operations unit is the Quds Force, named for the Arabic word for Jerusalem, which supports forces allied with Iran around the region, such as Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group. It has also been linked to various terror attacks around the world, including a deadly bombing against Argentina’s Jewish community in 1994.
terror organization terror organization
Baghdad’s crackdown on Iran-allied militias faces resistance
Baghdad’s crackdown on Iran-allied militias faces resistance
Baghdad’s crackdown on Iran-allied militias faces resistance
Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s decree gave Iran-backed paramilitary groups, which have wielded increasing power in Iraq, a month to fully integrate with the armed forces, leave checkpoints and sever ties with political groups.
U.S. Cyberattack Hurt Iran’s Ability to Target Oil Tankers, Officials Say
U.S. Cyberattack Hurt Iran’s Ability to Target Oil Tankers, Officials Say
U.S. Cyberattack Hurt Iran’s Ability to Target Oil Tankers, Officials Say
A secret cyberattack against Iran in June wiped out a critical database used by Iran’s paramilitary arm to plot attacks against oil tankers and degraded Tehran’s ability to covertly target shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf, at least temporarily, according to senior American officials.
Drone attacks in Middle East raise fears of escalating conflict
A spate of drone attacks in Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and now Lebanon has raised the spectre of a new era of conflict in the region, due to the ability of stealth-like weapons to penetrate distant battlefields and hit closely guarded targets.
Drone warfare has become an instrumental factor in the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, now being fought over both sides of the Israeli border and in skies across the region.
Small, cheap to produce and capable of evading radar systems, drones have been a centrepiece of the Israeli military’s arsenal for years – primarily in its operations over Gaza.
Iran has also begun deploying the unmanned, remotely piloted machines in clashes with Israel. Tehran has long used proxies in such actions but is now increasingly carrying them out itself. All sides see the technology as having surgical qualities.
Israeli officials have told European diplomats the two drones which crashed in Beirut on Sunday were sent from Israel to disrupt efforts by Hezbollah to fit advanced guidance systems to rudimentary rockets, sources have revealed.
The drones fell in the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of the militant group, which retrieved the damaged machines and has since claimed they were fitted with about five kilograms of plastic explosives.
Two western diplomats said the unusual operation may have been an assassination attempt, or an attempt to destroy a site vital to Hezbollah’s ability to retrofit its rocket arsenal. Either theory suggests the attack was an attempt to deter efforts to fit guidance systems to missiles.