Radio Free europe(RFE/RL)– The UN’s high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, has spoken out against the large number of executions in Iran, specifically mentioning the planned execution of a minor in the Islamic republic.
In a June 26 statement, Pillay brought up the case of Razieh Ebrahimi, who was convicted of killing her husband when she was 17 years old.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Pillay looks on after her address to the 26th session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva (Denis Balibouse Reuters,, REUTERS / June 26, 2014)
Pillay noted Ebrahimi was married off when she was 14, gave birth to a child when she was 15, and — after being subjected to domestic violence — reportedly killed her husband.
“Regardless of the circumstances of the crime, the execution of juvenile offenders is clearly prohibited by international human rights law,” she said.
The UN says it has reliable sources that say some 160 people are on death row for crimes they committed when they were under the age of 18.
More than 250 people are believed to have been executed in Iran so far this year.
Haberler-An armed clash took place in Kamyaran Mountains in Iran’s Kurdistan Province between the volunteers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a group opposing the Iranian revolution.
Four IRGC volunteers were killed during the incident.
Iran’s IRNA news agency reported that the incident took place on June 23.
The agency reported on the confrontation today.
Reportedly, the killed IRGC volunteers were buried today in their home towns.
The exact name of the group involved in the incident has not been reported.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Lieutenant commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) General Hossein Salami said Iran has confronted and managed several world-scale wars in recent years, adding that the plot hatched by the West to widen gaps between the Shiite and Sunni Muslims through the Takfiri and Wahhabi terrorist operations will soon backfire and destroy the West.
Lieutenant commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) General Hossein Salami
“In recent years, the Iranian nation has managed several world wars,” Gen. Salami said during a ceremony to introduce the new IRGC commander in Iran’s Western province of Lorestan on Wednesday, reminding that the Iraqi imposed war on Iran in the 1980, when former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hossein was backed by all the western states, as well as the recent global economic sanctions on Iran have been among such world-scale wars on the Islamic Republic.
“But the Iranian nation has fortunately managed to gain victory on all scenes, relying on the guidelines of the Supreme Leader and presence of the people on all scenes,” he added.
The General said Iranians are vigilant and no foreign plot can sow discord among them.
He then noted events in Iraq, and said the US and Britain have created Takfiri and Wahhabi terrorist groups to widen the gap among the Shiite and Sunni Muslims in Iraq to start a world war among Islamic sects, “but this plot will backfire and Iraq’s Shiite and Sunni communities will grow into a major power against the US and the arrogance (a term used for referring mainly to the US and its western allies).”
General Salami said today the US, Israel and their allies are no more seen by Muslims as inconvincible powers and are now much smaller in the eyes of the Muslims.
The General said the Iraqi people have now come to realize that the US is no good point to prop; “thus Iraq has now started renovating its army”.
He said despite the goals of the US plot in Iraq, “the Shiites and Sunnis have come to understand that they should turn into a major power against their enemies”.
“And these very same people will grow into a hurricane against the US after a while,” Salami continued.
He said the US and its allies are using all their means, including propaganda through thousands of satellite networks and channels, to change the thoughts of the Muslims, but to no avail.
“The Takfiris and Wahhabis have been made by the British as enemies are making their optimum efforts to rule the Muslims in all affairs,” the General said.
“But they have started a fire which will burn them themselves soon,” he said, and reminded that the US-led West rendered all-out supports to Saddam Hussein during the war on Iran in the 80s, “but the very Saddam Hussein turned against them later” and they rushed to kill him.
TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday rejected recent media reports that Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani is in Iraq to help the country in its war on terrorists, stressing that no Iranian military official is in the country.
“No military official, specially General Qassem Soleimani, is in Iraq and these reports are untrue,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham told reporters in her weekly press conference here in Tehran on Wednesday.
Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani
She further pointed out that Iraq has not requested military and security help from Tehran, but said, “If such a request is made, decision will be made after the demand is studied in accordance with the relations with Iraq and international protocols.”
The spokeswoman once again rejected Iran-US cooperation over Iraq, reiterating, “We are opposed to any kind of foreign intervention in Iraq, because it will weaken Iraq’s sovereignty and (right of) self-determination.”
Iraq’s Ambassador to Tehran Mohammad Majid al-Sheikh had also earlier rejected the media claims about the presence of General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
“These are just the rumors of biased and despiteful media which are seeking to sow discord among the regional states, specially Iran and Iraq,” Majid al-Sheikh said, addressing a conference in Tehran on Tuesday.
“Iraq doesn’t need any country neither for weapons nor for the military forces at all; hence, I emphasize that neither General Soleimani nor any other (Iranian) figure is in Iraq,” he reiterated.
The US Wall Street Journal in a report earlier this month claimed that Tehran has sent two elite units of its IRGC to Iraq to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) terrorists – an Al-Qaeda offshoot.
Also other western media alleged that General Soleimani has traveled to Iraq to consult with the Iraqi officials on fighting terrorism.
A few hours later, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian categorically rejected the report, and told FNA that “the dispatch of Iranian military forces to Iraq is not true”.
The Iranian deputy foreign minister also stressed Iraq’s strong military capabilities, and reiterated that Iraq’s armed forces are powerfully fighting against the ISIL militants.
Also later, Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani stressed that Iran is not involved in the clashes in Iraq, and said that the Iraqi nation is able to ward off terrorism.
“We, as the Islamic Republic, are Iraq’s friend and neighbor and have good relations with the Iraqi government and nation,” Rouhani told reporters in a press conference earlier this month.
“If the Iraqi government wants help, we will study it; of course no demand has yet been raised until today but we are ready for help within the framework of the international laws and at the request of the Iraqi nation,” he added.
“Of course, we should know that help and assistance is one issue, and interference and entrance (into the battlefield) is another. If the Iraqi government demands us we will help them, but the entrance of the Iranian troops (onto the scene of battles in Iraq) has never been considered,” the president said.
“Since the onset of its establishment, the Islamic Republic has never taken such measures and we have never sent our troops to another country for operations,” he said, and added, “Of course, we will provide countries with our consultative views.”
The Iranian president further warned of Iran’s tough confrontation with the ISIL or any other terrorist group which might come close to the Iranian borders, and said, “If a terrorist group approaches our borders, we will definitely confront it, because our duty is defending our territorial integrity and national interests.”
He also warned those states which are providing financial back up and arms supports for the ISIL and other terrorist groups, cautioning that they would return to set fire to those countries as well.
He described terrorism as an important issue in the region, and said the recent events in Iraq happened because the terrorist groups are mad at the results of the election which kept the Shiites and al-Maliki in power through a completely democratic trend.
He said some groups’ intention for “compensating their loss and failure in the election through terrorism is not acceptable”.
Rouhani further played down the power of the ISIL terrorists, saying that the collapse of Mosul was the product of a whole set of elements and some coordination (made with a number of traitors in the city).
Mojahedin_Death and injury of a number of IRGC forces in Iraq
The mullahs’ regime’s Vali-e faqih (supreme leader) has ordered the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the terrorist Quds Force to use their commanding facilities for the suppression of the Iraqi people and protect the regime’s puppet prime minister in this country. Khamenei has said that holding a grip on Iraq is strategic for the regime’s security, and the rule of a “Shiite government” in this country plays a decisive role in the existence of the regime and that “the defeat of Maliki is a strategic defeat for the Islamic republic establishment”.
IRGC, Quds Force troops from Iran supporting Maliki forces in crackdown of Iraqi people
Based on these orders, Qassem Soleimani along with 200 IRGC commanders from different ranks, have stationed in Iraq to monitor from up close the development of events. They intend to coordinate and lift the morale of Maliki’s forces and organize Iraqi terrorist groups affiliated to the Iranian regime.
Moreover, 150 IRGC members from different ranks and different fields of expertise have entered this country to support Maliki’s forces in the direct suppression and killing of Iraqi people and have stationed across the country.
Many of these IRGC members have been killed and injured in the past days in Iraq. One of them is Captain Alireza Mashjari from the Quds Force, who had been dispatched to Iraq last week with a number of other Quds Force agents. In 2013, he had been dispatched to Syria and had taken part in the killing of the Syrian people. Mashjari on Thursday, 11 June fell into an ambush and was killed and the rest of his forces were injured.
His father, Mohammad Reza Mashjari, a senior IRGC commanders, is the commander of the Quds Force Saberin Brigade. On 15 June, Brigadier Hossein Hamedani, commander of the regime’s forces in Syria and IRGC member Hossein Allah Karam took part in Mashjari’s memorial ceremony at his father’s home. IRGC Brigadier Ismaeel Qaani, Deputy Quds Force Commander, and many other Quds Force agents on Tuesday, 17 June took part in the memorial ceremony that was held by the Quds Force at the Beheshti Mosque in eastern Tehran.
Tehran Times-(TEHRAN) – Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, said on Monday that Iran’s borders are safe.
The remarks by the IRGC chief are intended to allay any concerns that elements from the terrorist ISIL group might sneak into Iran.
Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps
Jafari also said the U.S. does not dare to attack Iran.
Under the pretext of September 11 attacks, the U.S. attacked Afghanistan, Iraq and wanted to invade Iran, he said.
However, he added, U.S. officials changed their decision when they noticed that the Iranian people and Armed Forces support the Islamic republic system and the Supreme Leader.
The New York Times : TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Sunday that he was against any intervention by the United States in neighboring Iraq, where Islamic extremists and Sunni militants opposed to Iran have seized a number of towns and cities, the official news agency IRNA reported.
“We strongly oppose the intervention of the U.S. and others in the domestic affairs of Iraq,” Ayatollah Khamenei was quoted as saying, in his first reaction to the crisis.
The commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, Gen. Qassim Suleimani
“The main dispute in Iraq is between those who want Iraq to join the U.S. camp and those who seek an independent Iraq,” said the ayatollah, who has the final say over government policies. “The U.S. aims to bring its own blind followers to power since the U.S. is not happy about the current government in Iraq.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said Iraq’s government and its people, with the help of top clerics, would be able to end the “sedition” there, saying extremists are hostile to both Shiites and Sunnis who seek an independent Iraq.
Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, said that some countries “feed terrorists by their petrodollars,” in a veiled reference to the Arab Persian Gulf states, and warned that such support would come back to haunt them.
“Rest assured, tomorrow will be your turn,” Mr. Rouhani said. “The barbarous terrorists will go after supporters of terrorism in the future.”
Shiite Iran supports the Shiite-led government in Baghdad and has said it would consider any request for military aid.
The commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, Gen. Qassim Suleimani, was reported to be in Iraq last week to consult with the government there on how to stave off the insurgents’ gains. General Suleimani’s forces are a secretive branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that in the past has been accused of organizing Shiite militias to attack American troops in Iraq. More recently they were involved in helping President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in his fight against Sunni rebels.
Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq fought an eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s that left more than a million dead on both sides. Many current Iraqi leaders spent years in exile in Iran.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari underlined full security at Iranian borders, stressing that no enemy, including the US, would dare to attack the country.
“Today, many countries see Iran as the island of stability in an insecure region,” Jafari said, addressing a ceremony in the Northern province of Semnan on Monday.
Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari
“The Iranian borders are secure and no enemy, even the US, dares to make an aggression against it,” he underlined.
Jafari explained that the Americans who invaded Afghanistan and Iraq under the pretext of the September 11 attacks sought to make an invasion of Iran too, “but the 100% readiness of the Iranian people and Armed Forces discouraged them”.
In relevant remarks in February, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan underlined that the Iranian Armed Forces will give an inconceivable response to any possible enemy aggression, adding that the threatening remarks of the US officials cannot prevent the country from continuing its nuclear fuel production.
“The Iranian Armed Forces are an intertwined and coherent complex which can give a decisive response to any threat at any level and any place under the command of the Commander-in-Chief (Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei),” Dehqan said in Tehran, addressing the defense ministry personnel on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
Blasting the recent military threats of a number of the US officials against Iran, he said, “The enemy can never assess and think of the range of the response given by the powerful and mighty Armed Forces of the Islamic Iran.”
TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of Iran’s Basij (volunteer) Force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi underlined the high preparedness of the Islamic Republic’s Armed Forces, saying that Iran’s defensive capabilities and readiness have pushed the enemy to resort to soft war.
Commander of Iran’s Basij (volunteer) Force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi
“The enemy which couldn’t wage a hot war against the Iranian nation grew disappointed after it found that the deployment (of its forces) around the Islamic Republic has proved ineffective, and it has now focused on the cultural front,” Naqdi said, addressing a forum in Tehran on Monday.
“Since 7 years ago, they have focused mainly on the soft war and the cultural front,” he added.
Naqdi further pointed to the wave of psychological propaganda against the Islamic Republic as part of the same soft war efforts made by the enemies, saying over 160 Persian-language satellite channels are now working outside Iran to affect and change the thoughts and system of values of the Iranian youth and families.
A deputy chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces had also warned in early January that enemies have devised different plots to implement various soft war scenarios, and called for taking the necessary precautionary measures by Iranian officials.
“It is necessary to devise the needed retaliatory measures in proportion with the enemy’s determination, which is unfortunately growing more serious every day, and to implement them with firmness and confidence,” Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for Cultural Affairs and Defense Publicity Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri said, addressing a group of Armed Forces’ cultural officials.
He underlined that the Armed Forces as flag-bearers of fight against enemies’ soft war scenarios can make the society active and remove the existing concerns in this regard by activating potentials and creating effective and timely capacities.
In October, General Jazzayeri announced establishment of soft war headquarters across the country.
“We are launching soft war headquarters in all provinces throughout the country,” Brigadier General Jazzayeri said, adding, “Intelligent confrontation with the enemy is one of the main objectives of this move.”
He pointed to soft war as one of the most important topics of the day, and said, “Different dimensions of soft war should be identified by the (domestic) media followed by tough action to repel and defuse such invasions.”
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has also on many occasions warned against enemies’ soft-war plots against Iran’s resolve towards progress.
In November 2009, he underlined the necessity for proper measures to repel enemy’s soft war against Iran.
“Today, the main priority of the country is to confront (enemy’s) soft warfare which is aimed at creating doubt, discord and pessimism among the masses of the people,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a large and fervent congregation of Basij forces at the time.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Esmayeel Ahmadi Moqaddam condemned the crimes committed by Takfiri groups in Iraq and Syria supported by Tel Aviv and Washington, saying that the three are seeking to impair the face of Islam and true Muslims.
Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Esmayeel Ahmadi Moqaddam
“Today, the Takfiri streams have been unmasked as they carry out terror and violence with the support of the arrogant and Zionist countries in the name of Islam,” Ahmadi Moqaddam said, addressing a ceremony in the Western province of Kurdistan on Sunday.
“At present, the triangle of terrorism, Zionism and the US is tarnishing the face of Islam in the name of Islam,” he added.
Ahmadi Moqaddam reiterated that the Takfiri groups are a main component of these triangular moves.
In relevant remarks in February, Kuwaiti Parliament Speaker Marzouk al-Ghanem condemned the crimes committed by Takfiri and Salafi groups in different regional states, and said they have blemished the beautiful face of Islam.
“Based on Islamic teachings, all moves by Takfiris which result in impairing the face of Islam are haram (forbidden),” Ghanem said in an interview with the parliament’s news agency on the sidelines of the 9th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Tehran at the time.
He underlined the necessity for the further strengthening of unity among Muslims, and said the meeting of the OIC’s Inter-Parliamentary Union was in line with the same goal.
