Maryam Rajavi: Iran regime will not give up nuclear bomb

In an interview with a German daily Mrs Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) warned that mullahs in Tehran will not give up the nuclear bomb. She also warned against the Iranian regime’s increasing interference in the neighboring Iraq.

“The mullahs' regime has never been a reliable negotiating partner and it cannot be one. This is a proven fact. We have been witnessing 30 years of concealment and deception. The Iranian Resistance divulged a secret nuclear site just in the midst of the recent talks. I think this regime will never give up its nuclear program, voluntarily,” she said in the interview published on March 6 in West Dutche Allgemeine Zeitung.

“Given the present policy of the West, especially the US, they will never forget about the nuclear bomb. They have been continuing their project to this very day, because they feel the price they pay for not abiding by international laws is much too small. This regime must be compelled through international pressure and sanctions to fully implement the UN Security Council resolutions, fully halt its enrichment activities, and accept intrusive inspections.”

On the growing interference by the Iranian regime in Iraq, Mrs Rajavi said: “Unfortunately, as a result of the wrong policy of the US and the West, the hegemony in Iraq has fallen into the hands of the Iranian regime step by step since 2003. With the fall of Nouri Al-Maliki this influence was undermined to a great extent, but the only solution for Iraq and the first step in any attempt to solve the problem of Islamic fundamentalism is the eviction of Iran's regime from Iraq.”

“The militias are fully under the control and command of the Iranian regime. They have an extremely destructive role. Under the name of fighting ISIS, they have carried out the genocide of the Sunni populace. This is a crime against humanity and fuels the Shiite-Sunni sectarian war for years to come.”

IRAN: Funeral for street vendor turns into anti-regime protest

NCRI - A number of residents of the Iranian city of Khoramshahr were arrested after taking part in a funeral service of an Arab Iranian worker that turned into an anti-regime protest with people chanting slogans against the regime.

Younes Asakereh, a 31-year-old street vendor, was a resident of the city of Khoramshahr in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan in southwestern Iran.

Younes, father to two young children, set himself on fire on March 13, to protest against the repeated attacks by security forces that prevented him from working.

He died of severe burns in hospital in Tehran on Sunday, March 22.

Younes’s self-immolation provoked rage in the people in cities across Iran, particularly in the Khuzestan Province.

Participants at the funeral chanted “We are all Younes”, “Freedom, freedom”.

According to reports, at least eight participants of the funeral were arrested afterwards - either in their homes or while returning home from the funeral.

Last week, during a soccer match on Tuesday, the security forces in Ahvaz arrested spectators who carried signs that read: “We are all Younes.”

Plainclothes agents and intelligence agents barbarically attacked the spectators and arrested a large number of people, especially those wearing traditional Arab minority clothing known as Dishdasha.

The Iranian Resistance called on all international bodies to condemn the savage repression of the people of Ahvaz who manifested on March 17 in defense of Younes and to take urgent measures to free those who were arrested.

Italy Arrests 3 Suspects for Recruiting IS Members

ROME – Italian police arrested on Wednesday three suspects, a Moroccan and two Albanians, on charges of forming a terrorism cell that recruits jihadists from Italy and Albania to join the Islamic State, official sources said.

During the security operation “Balkan Connection,” Italian security forces apprehended a 20-year-old Moroccan, from the northern Italian city of Turin, who is believed to be the author of an IS propaganda document circulating on the Internet.

Accordingly, the Moroccan suspect is convicted of propagating terrorism over the internet.

The two other detainees, who were arrested in Turin and Albania, are accused of recruiting jihadists for the terrorist organization.

According to Italian media, the two Albanian suspects convinced a minor of Tunisian origin, living in Italy, to travel to Syria and join IS.

According to the director of the Italian Central Administration of Protection, Mario Baba, the arrests were made after two years of investigations in cooperation with Interpol. 

Nigeria: Hundreds of women and children kidnapped, locals say

Over 400 Children in Syria Recruited by IS Since Early 2015

BEIRUT – More than 400 minors have been enabled to join the Islamic State since early 2015 throughout areas under the group’s control in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, or SOHR, said on Tuesday.

At the same time, SOHR reported that at least 120 new jihadists have joined the IS since the beginning of the year, finding that “the last three months are considered the least in terms of proportion of joining to IS by fighters from all nationalities since the declaration of its self-proclaimed ‘Caliphate’ on June 28, 2014.”

The jihadist group continues “to attract and recruit children within its ranks under what so called ‘Ashbal al-Khilafah (lion cubs of the caliphate),” SOHR noted, adding that IS has recently opened youth recruitment offices in two Syrian cities, al- Mayadin and al-Bokamal.

“The organization also induces the parents and guardians to send their sons to these camps where the children undergo to Sharia and military courses,” the NGO documented.

The report explains that the IS curriculum in Sharia, Islamic jurisprudence, instills the extremist “IS ideology” in the hearts and minds of the children, while the military courses teaches them how to operate weapons and engage enemies in armed conflict.

IS is also reported by SOHR to entice children to join the group with money, weapons and cars, while the youth are often made to work as spies to gather information, and as guards on IS posts.

In two separate videos, thought to have been in part of the group’s propaganda campaign, youth members of IS were depicted allegedly executing two Russians and an Israeli Arab by gunfire, all of whom had been accused of being spies.

Mexico’s PAN Says 2 Party Activists Murdered

MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s National Action Party, or PAN, confirmed that two youth activists were murdered and condemned their deaths in the strongest terms.

The victims, Martin Alonso Colmenero and Francisco Javier Aguilar, were both active members of the center-right party’s Youth Action Secretariat in the northern state of Chihuahua, according to the PAN, which called on authorities to conduct a thorough investigation.

“National Action is mourning along with the family and friends of these young activists who were killed in a cowardly fashion, and hoping they can soon find consolation after such a lamentable tragedy,” Sunday’s statement read.

The youths were found dead Saturday on the Aldama-Juarez highway with their hands tied and gunshot wounds.

“These young people were activists dedicated to serving the common good from this political institution and, at the time of their deaths, were working together on a rural property regularization program, among other projects, before being kidnapped and murdered in the state capital (Chihuahua city),” the statement added.

The PAN is “extremely concerned” about the level of violent crime in Mexico that recently “has affected some activists within our party,” Chairman Gustavo Madero was quoted as saying.

Yemen minister calls for military assistance from Gulf Arab states