type here...
Home Blog Page 428

Revolutionary Guard ‘running Iran drug trade’

crazydead
-
0
Revolutionary Guard ‘running Iran drug trade’

MEMBERS of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps have seized control of drug trafficking throughout the Islamic Republic, using the multi-billion-dollar trade to establish links with a global crime network and further its goal of undermining the West, former regime officials say.

Despite executing hundreds of people each year for drug trafficking and possession, Iran’s hardline stand against narcotics conceals a lucrative business smuggling heroin, opium and methamphetamine, spearheaded by the guards, the supposed defenders of the Islamic Revolution.

Source: The Australian

Iran commander ‘welcomes’ possible Israeli strike

crazydead
-
0
Iran commander ‘welcomes’ possible Israeli strike

A senior Iranian commander says a possible Israeli airstrike against his country’s nuclear facilities is “welcome” because it would give Iran a reason to retaliate and “get rid of” the Jewish state “forever.”

The remarks by Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s air force, were reported Saturday by the official IRNA news agency.

Hajizadeh says in the event of an Israeli strike, Iran’s response would be “swift, decisive and destructive.” But he also claims Israeli threats of a strike are just part of a psychological war against Iran.

His comments are the latest in a war of words between the archenemies.

Israel considers Iran an existential threat because of its suspect nuclear program. Iran denies seeking atomic weapons, saying its uranium enrichment is for peaceful purposes only.

Source: AP

Iran deploys Rev. Guards in quake-hit areas, cracks down on private aid groups

crazydead
-
0
Iran deploys Rev. Guards in quake-hit areas, cracks down on private aid groups

When two earthquakes hit Iran’s northwest last week, independent relief groups called for aid and contributions began to pour in. But the watchful Iranian government quickly stepped in, mobilizing its mighty Revolutionary Guards to take care of relief operations and suppress private assistance groups.

The Revolutionary Guards, in fear of potential unrest, were deployed to coordinate relief operations and to crackdown on private donors and relief groups as well, The Telegraph reported on Thursday.

Private individuals and unofficial NGOs organized aid through social media platforms and set up establishing bank accounts for funds towards air relief. However, following a flow of donations the privately owned accounts had their accounts closed.

Volunteers say their cars have been stopped and searched as they drove to the quake affected areas and turned back after food and aid was confiscated, according to the Telegraph’s report.

A pro-reformist website, Kalemeh, accused some guards of “rough behavior” and distributing aid improperly. It also said cameramen had been banned from taking pictures and shooting film reported by The Telegraph.

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, visited villages in quake-hit areas, where he reassured survivors and heard their criticism of relief operations, his website reported by AFP.

Several Iranian media outlets had criticized state television for not giving more attention to the disaster.

Khamenei’s website reported that during the supreme leader’s visit, “residents expressed satisfaction with the services extended by the officials, (but) had complaints about the distribution of aid.”

Khamenei was quoted as stressing “the great extent of efforts” but also urging a “more accurate supervision” in the distribution of goods.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government has announced a fund to quickly rebuild homes in the mountainous region before the onset of the harsh winter.

A state grant of nearly $2,000 per family has been approved, along with low-interest loans for up to $6,000.

Source: Alarabiya

Son of senior cleric sentenced to four years in prison

crazydead
-
0
Son of senior cleric sentenced to four years in prison

Sayeed Hassan Taheri, son of Ayatollah Sayeed Jalal Taheri Esfahani, former Imam Jama of Isfahan, was sentenced to four years in prison and 10 years exile from his city Zabol. Taheri was convicted of anti-regime propaganda, disturbance of public order and insulting the Supreme Leader.

Source: Iran Daily Brief

14 Political Prisoners Reportedly Flogged in Iran

crazydead
-
0
14 Political Prisoners Reportedly Flogged in Iran

Iranian opposition sources, including the “Kalame” website, are reporting that 14 political prisoners held in Tehran’s Evin prison have been flogged.

Most of them were reportedly jailed following the 2009 mass street protests over the disputed reelection of Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

Among them is journalist and blogger Siamak Ghaderi, who was sentenced to four years in prison and 60 lashes on a number of charges, including insulting Iran’s president, spreading lies, and acting against Iran’s establishment.

Ghaderi’s wife, Farzaneh Mirzavand, told Mahtab Vahidi of RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that she was shocked when she found out her husband had been lashed.

She said her husband told her about the punishment during a prison visit. She said Ghaderi told her that his flogging had been enforced “symbolically.”

“I use the term ‘symbolic’ because [my husband] said they lashed him slowly while not [using full force],” she said. “However, he said that one prisoner had been flogged harshly.”

The families of some of the other prisoners who were lashed told Radio Farda that one of the prisoners had been badly injured as a result of the flogging.

The families said they were surprised that the lashings had taken place during the month of Ramadan, during which they said they had expected tolerance and Islamic forgiveness from Iranian officials.

Several other political prisoners have been lashed in recent months, including Peyman Aref. He was lashed 74 times in October 2011 before being released from Evin prison. A photograph of his badly bruised and bloodied back, widely shared on social media, led to outrage among activists and intellectuals.

Somayeh Tohidlou, a blogger and a doctoral student of sociology who campaigned for defeated presidential candidate and opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi, reportedly received 50 lashes at Evin prison in September 2011. She said the sentence was aimed at humiliating her.

Mohammad Maleki, a former chancellor of Tehran University and an outspoken critic of the Iranian establishment, told Radio Farda’s Hossein Ghavimi that the aim of flogging is to create fear in society and also among prisoners.

Maleki, a former political prisoner himself, said he felt deeply sorry when he read the news about the most recent floggings. But such measures are not unusual for Iran’s rulers, he said.

Source: RFE/RL

Senior reformist criticizes suppression of protests following 2009 election

crazydead
-
0
Senior reformist criticizes suppression of protests following 2009 election

In a Ramadan speech to security forces, Ayatollah Dastgheib emphasized, “Our brothers in the Intelligence Ministry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Basij and members of the judicial authority all need to be very careful. The events that took place two years ago, in which citizens were beaten to death with clubs cannot be called unintentional. The dignity of believers is an issue that is tremendously important in the Muslim faith.

Source: Iran Daily Brief

Jailed journalist sentenced to imprisonment for another year

crazydead
-
0
Jailed journalist sentenced to imprisonment for another year

Mehsa Amrabadi, who published editorials in the reformist E’temadnewspaper and is currently imprisoned in Evin Prison, has been convicted to imprisonment for one more year and “four years of suspended imprisonment.” Mehsa was arrested in the election events and is currently serving a sentence of two years in Evin Prison. Her partner, Massud Bastani, is also serving a prison term, having been sentenced to six years in Rajaï Shahr Prison.

Source: Iran Daily Brief

Deterioration in treatment of political prisoners

crazydead
-
0
Deterioration in treatment of political prisoners

Human rights activists have reported grave deterioration in the treatment of political prisoners, with floggings exacted over the past few weeks on several political prisoners such as Siamak Ghaderi, Ebrahim Babaghi Zidi, Hossein Zarrabi and others. The sentence on Majid Zadki Nejad was carried out this week.

Source: Iran Daily Brief

Imprisoned attorney tortured

crazydead
-
0
Imprisoned attorney tortured

The attorney of imprisoned attorney Houtan Kian claims that his client is being tortured with cigarettes, isolated and transferred to the ward for methadone addicts. Kian was arrested in October 2010 as he spoke to German journalists about his client, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery and complicity in her husband’s murder. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Source: Iran Daily Brief

Report: U.S. officials confirm captured Iranians in Syria are ‘active’ military

crazydead
-
0
Report: U.S. officials confirm captured Iranians in Syria are ‘active’ military

Many of the Iranians claiming to be religious pilgrims when they were detained by Syrian rebels earlier month are in fact “active-duty Iranian Revolutionary Guard members,” unnamed U.S. officials have told Fox News.

The U.S. officials, who spoke to Fox on the condition of anonymity, claimed to have confirmed that the 48 Iranian men recently captured by the Free Syrian Army were supporting the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In a video exclusively broadcast Aug. 5 on Al Arabiya, rebels asserted the captured men where soldiers from Iran. Iran has denied accusations the prisoners were on a reconnaissance mission in Syria, and stated they were in the country on a religious pilgrimage.

In the video, a man in an FSA officer’s uniform showed identification documents confiscated from one of the men, and said: “During the investigation, we found that some of them were officers of the Revolutionary Guards.”

Iran has steadfastly supported Assad in his 17-month effort to crush the rebellion in his country and on Tuesday urged Muslim states to show greater unity ahead of a summit of Muslim leaders this week expected to focus on Syria.

“It’s obvious to both General Dempsey [the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff] and I that Iran is playing a larger role in Syria in many ways, not only in terms of the IRGC, but in terms of assistance, training,” American Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters at a press conference Tuesday, referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”

Describing Iran’s growing influence as a “deep concern” for the United States, Panetta further added saying that there was evidence not only that Iranians are providing training and assistance to the Syrian Army, but that they were trying to “develop a militia to be able to fight on behalf of the regime.”

Opposition sources say 23,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of a revolt in March last year, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Tuesday.

Source: Alarabiya

1...427428429...704Page 428 of 704