Maryam Rajavi to Arab Summit: Coalition against occupation of Yemen should be elevated to evicting Iranian regime from region

NCRI - On the eve of the Arab Summit, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, reiterated on the need for joint action and unity against the religious terrorist dictatorship ruling Iran and its export of terrorism and belligerence. She said: “The coalition against occupation of Yemen by the mercenaries of the Iranian regime was necessary and inevitable. But this legitimate and just defense should be expanded to throughout the region to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and elsewhere. The religious dictatorship ruling Iran and its mercenaries should be evicted from these countries.”

Mrs. Rajavi drew the attention of the Arab summit to the important reality that the clerical regime’s belligerence and war-mongering in the region does not stem from its strength and prowess. Rather, it is to cover up the regime’s irreparable and acute political, social, and economic crisis that are exacerbating continuously. This regime has no choice but to retreat when faced with firmness. This is whilst, appeasement and offering concessions has only emboldened it in aggression and occupation. The velayat-e-faqih regime (rule of the clergy) is the root cause of crises in the region and the only solution is through firmness and evicting this regime from the region and its overthrow.

The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
March 28, 2015

Iran: Seven prisoners hanged

At least seven prisoners were hanged on Thursday in a prison in the southern city of Shiraz.

The prisoners who had been arrested on drug related charges were hanged in the city’s main prison known as Adelabad prison.

The victims had been transferred to Isolation last Thursday, a day before the Iranian New Year and hanged in secret this week.

Many prisoners have been hanged secretly during the last few months in prisons across Iran.

According to a report, a group of four men also were hanged last month in a prison in the city of Maragheh, in northwestern Iran.

They were identified as Bahram Ashtari, Atef Ranjbar, Karim Sadat and Vali Najafnia.

Some 1,400 individuals have been executed in Iran under Hassan Rouhani. The victims included political prisoners, women, juvenile offenders and citizens of Afghanistan.

The U.N.'s special investigator on Iran said on March 16 that the human rights situation and repression of Iranian women and activists has worsened since Hassan Rouhani became president in 2013.

Dr. Ahmed Shaheed said in Geneva: "in my view the overall situation has worsened, as indicated by the surge in executions."

He lamented that Iran executes more people per capita than any other country in the world.

"There is a lot of concern amongst the Iranian society that the nuclear file may be casting a shadow over the human rights discussion," Shaheed told the news briefing.

Mr. Shaheed, a Muslim and former foreign minister of the Maldives, has not been allowed to visit Iran since taking up the independent post.

U.S. Senate approves sanctions amendment against Iran regime

The US Senate voted unanimously on Thursday for an amendment to a budget bill that will ease Congress' ability to re-impose sanctions against Iran if it violates a nuclear deal.

Republican Senator Mark Kirk, of Illinois, who sponsored the amendment said on Twitter: "With 100-0 vote on my Iran sanctions amendment today, Senate is speaking in a clear and unified voice against Iranian regime."

The amendment will cover the cost of imposing sanctions if Iran breaks any existing or future nuclear agreement.

Kirk indicated that the passage of this amendment "signals the Senate's strong support for the Kirk-Menendez Iran sanctions bill, which stands ready now for a full Senate vote."

Kirk is deeply skeptical of international negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. He co-authored a bill that would tighten sanctions on Tehran, which President Barack Obama has threatened to veto as a threat to delicate international negotiations.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday the senate would vote on Kirk's sanctions bill if international negotiators miss their deadline at the end of this month for reaching a framework nuclear agreement

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Monkey Business

Maduro: Venezuela is ready for dialogue with the United States

EL UNIVERSAL

Friday March 27, 2015  10:02 AM

"Venezuela is ready for dialogue based on respect and terms of equality among States with the government of President Barack Obama wherever, whenever, and however he wants; I state it as President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela: we are ready," stressed on Thursday Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro reckoned that respect was pivotal to engage in such dialogue.

"If President Obama wants to shake this hand, the hand of a Venezuelan, of a patriot son of Bolívar, son of Chávez, then I am ready, I am ready to shake his hand, to talk to him looking into his eyes in equal terms," the President added.

Maryam Rajavi describes Arab countries action in confronting Iranian mullahs as essential and inevitable

NCRI - Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, described the joint action by Arab countries against the Iranian regime’s occupation and aggression in Yemen as an extremely essential and inevitable united action which the Iranian Resistance had previously called for.

Rajavi called for the thorough expansion of this just and legitimate defense against religious fascism in Iran and its mercenaries throughout the region including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.

She added that the root cause of the crises in the region is the mullahs’ regime, recognized as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. As such, Rajavi pointed out that the only viable solution is resolve against this regime, its eviction from the region, and the toppling of the clerical regime in Iran.

Since 12 years ago, the Iranian Resistance -- that itself was the first whistle blower on mullahs projects to acquire a nuclear bomb -- has repeatedly warned that the Iranian regime’s interferences in Iraq and other countries in the region is one hundred times more dangerous than its nuclear program.

Mrs. Rajavi reiterated that the rationale behind the growing aggression of the regime in the region is to cloak its irreparable crises and its total bankruptcy.

She added that the policy of appeasement and conciliation towards this regime has encouraged the mullahs in their aggressive policies.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
March 26, 2015

U.S. Airstrikes Support Iraqi Efforts to Retake Tikrit from IS

WASHINGTON – The United States has begun airstrikes to support Iraqi government efforts to recapture the city of Tikrit from Islamic State jihadists, overcoming earlier resistance to its intervention.

“At the request of the government of Iraq, coalition forces are providing support to Iraqi security forces as they combat ISIL in and around Tikrit,” said Colonel Patrick Ryder, spokesperson for U.S. Central Command responsible for operations in the Middle East.

“To be clear, the coalition is only coordinating with the government of Iraq and the Iraqi security forces; we do not coordinate our operations in any way with Iran or Iranian-backed militias,” Ryder said in a statement on Wednesday.

U.S. support in Tikrit includes air raids, intelligence, and advice.

The air strikes began cautiously on Wednesday, reflecting American concerns about the presence of Iranian military in the scenario, after operations to retake Tikrit came to a standstill last week.

According to the New York Times, both the Iraqi government and Shiite militias had previously assured the United States that its intervention was not necessary.

The announcement of support from the U.S. led coalition came as the Iraqi armed forces and local Sunni tribes fight together with Iranian-backed Shiite militia for control of Tikrit.

The United States has consistently denied coordinating with or providing support to Iranian-backed militias, and reiterated that military assistance is limited to the mostly Shiite Iraqi army.

However, the offensive on Tikrit is led by about 20,000 Shiite militiamen trained and armed by Iran and, according to local sources, under the command of Iranian General Qasem Suleimani, head of Al Quds Brigade.

The Shiites, the Iraqi army and Sunni tribals have made advances in recent days but failed to regain control of the city.

Capturing Tikrit, a city located in the heart of the Sunni Iraq, is critical to advancing on Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and under IS control since June 2014.