Dear Friend,
We are delighted to present you with the current issue of Iran Update, a publication of International Solidarity for Democratic Change in Iran (ISDCI). |
Prominent dissident denounces Iran regime
 Prominent dissident political prisoner, Ali Saremi, aged 62, has been sentenced to death for visiting his son at PMOI's camp at Ashraf city in Iraq. Ali Saremi wrote a letter to the Iranian nation sometime this month that was smuggled out and published. Mr. Saremi wrote: My dear compatriots, the TehranProsecutor Dowlatabadi in an interview with the magazine called Panjereh, published on 16 May, announced my charges to be contact with the PMOI and stated the date of my arrest as 2009 after the election upheaval. Myarrest, however, was 2 years before the election on 3 June 2007 for going to Ashraf city to visit with my son in 2005. I was sentenced to one year in prison for that short visit. My arrest in 2007 was for going to Khavaran cemetery, the place of burial of victims of mass executions of 1988. But is presence at a cemetery to honor the fallen, or supporting an organization,or a father's visit with his son in your view Moharebe (warring on God) and worthy of the punishment of execution? That's why the Tehran prosecutor's remarks are far more baseless than to deserve a reply. This charge is so baseless that they are not ready to deliver theirverdict to my lawyer. They have taken the verdict without the signature of my defense lawyer or I to a show appeals court and won a confirmation. However, I say that even with my execution or hanging they cannot sow fear in my heart or that of my noble countrymen. The only reason for such a sentence is their fear for their shaky rule and not fairness or justice...
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Iran director Jafar Panahi 'on hunger strike' in prison
The internationally acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi has begun a hunger strike to protest at his imprisonment in Iran, opposition websites say ... Read More | |
Key points of UN draft sanctions resolution against Iranian regime
The New York Times
19 May 2010
The draft resolution, as summarized by a senior United States official. ... Read More | |
Big powers agree on Iran sanctions draft
Reuters
Louis Charbonneau
18 May 2010
The United States handed the U.N. Security Council a draft resolution on Tuesday that would expand U.N. sanctions against Iran by hitting its banking and other industries for refusing to halt nuclear enrichment.
The 10-page draft, agreed by the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia after months of negotiations, also calls for international inspection of vessels suspected of carrying cargo related to Iran's nuclear or missile programs.
The text, Western diplomats say, was the result of a series of compromises between the United States and its three European allies, which had pushed for much tougher sanctions against Tehran, and Russia and China, which sought to dilute them.
Few of the proposed measures are new. But Western diplomats said the end result was probably the best they could have hoped for, given China's and Russia's determination to avoid measures that might have undermined Iran's troubled economy. The draft has the backing of all five veto-wielding council members.
The decision to circulate the resolution to the 15-nation Security Council was a tacit rebuff to a deal brokered by Brazil and Turkey and made public on Monday in which Iran agreed to send some enriched uranium abroad in return for fuel rods for a medical research reactor. ... Read More | |
Confronting Iran's executioners
Iran Focus
Editorial
17 May 2010
For the past 30 years, executions have defined the state's systematic reaction to political dissent in Iran. But, after a series of nationwide protests following last year's presidential elections, the use of hangings has taken on a vital significance for the regime. Opponents are not merely executed for physical annihilation but also to spread fear among the rest of the population. How the Iranian people and the international community choose to react could serve as a defining moment for dealing with the regime's persistent threats...
The international community should act more firmly towards Tehran to deflect its terrorism and nuclear threats. Its disturbing silence would only encourage the regime to prolong its oppressive rule by exercising even more ruthlessness, while disheartening the Iranian people who are relentlessly pursuing democratic change. It is time for the United Nations Security Council to take up the regime's abysmal rights record. Moreover, the international community has to make all relations with Tehran, diplomatic or otherwise, contingent on a halt in execution and torture in Iranian prisons. ... Read More | |
Iranian dissident's wife urges UN to prevent husband's execution
In a letter, Jafar Kazemi's wife has urged the United Nation's Secretary General and the UNHCR Commissioner to help save her husband who is at imminent risk of execution:
Jafar Kazemi was arrested on September 18, 2009 and sentenced to death. In a letter written to the United Nation's secretary general and published by HRDAI, Kazemi's wife describes the family's ordeal since her husband's arrest. The following is the English translation of Roudabeh Akbari's letter:
My name is Roudabeh Akbari. I am a housewife, married to the political prisoner Jafar Kazemi, and a mother of two children.
My husband was arrested on September 18, 2009 at 6:00am on Haft-Hoz Street in Tehran. We did not hear from him for two weeks. He was tortured for three days and then placed in solitary confinement for 74 days under harsh conditions.
My husband was accused of supporting and promoting the Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MEK/PMOI), as well as visiting our son in Camp Ashraf (PMOI camp in Iraq)...
Which law, country, or ethics states that visiting one's child is a crime? If the Islamic Republic considers visiting your children a crime punishable by death, then my husband is guilty.
Given the critical situation of the political prisoners, and considering the total lack of will to review the inhumane and illegal court rulings against innocent prisoners, I demand the immediate stay of execution for those have been sentenced to death.
What I described above does not only apply to my husband and our family. All the families of political prisoners are in the same excruciating psychological situation. All the families of political prisoners want immediate action from the United Nations and the UNHCR commissioner.
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The sleaze factor in Ahmadinejad's private budget
It is an open secret that huge sums of money go missing from the Iranian budget each year, much of it lining the pockets of senior officials and top institutes that back hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, enormous funding has also officially been allocated in the budget to Ahmadinejad's personal office. Although such allocation and issues around the "missing money" have openly been acknowledged, Ahmadinejad still harbours no reservations about claiming that his is a "just" and "honest" government. Many are asking if this is an honest government, what would a sleazy one look like? The official budget has allocated funds for the following entities and individuals: ... Read More | |
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Thank you for your reading Iran Update. We welcome your comments.
Sincerely,
ISDCI News Group |
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