Iran hardliner condemns the nuclear deal

Tehran - April 3, 2015: Iran’s hard-liners are criticizing a tentative nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, saying the deal was a bargain for the West and a disaster for Iran.


Hossein Shariatmadari, an advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and editor of the hard-line Kayhan daily told the semi-official Fars news agency today that Iran exchanged its 'ready-to-race horse with a broken bridle.'
Another conservative analyst, Mahdi Mohammad, referred to the Fordo underground uranium enrichment facility and told the news outlet that under the deal, 'A disaster happened in Fordo.'
Iran agreed to stop enrichment at Fordo, changing the facility to a nuclear research centre. The proposed deal limits Iran’s nuclear program in return for an end to crippling economic sanctions.

31,000 YOUNG GIRLS UNDER THE AGE OF 15 MARRIED IN IRAN IN JUST 9 MONTHS

NIU- According to the latest statistics provided by the Civil Registry Organization of Iran, the first 9 of months of Iranian calendar year 1392 (March – November, 2013) saw the registration of 31,000 marriages of young girls under the age of 15. One third of the total marriages during this time involve girls under the age of 19, Deuche welle website reported on July 7, 2014. 

The organization "Justice for Iran", citing official statistics from the Civil Registry Organization of Iran, reported that during this period nearly 178,000 marriages involving young girls between the age of 15 and 19 occurred. This means that during the first 9 months of the year, over 36% of marriages involve women under the age of 19. 

A comparison between these statistics and the previous year's figures shows that the rate of marriages of girls under the age of 15 has increased. The number of 10 to 14 year old girls who got married in 2012 was 29,827, whereas in 2013, in just the first 9 months of the Iranian calendar year 1392 (2013), this number has reached 30,956. 

In addition, it was reported that in 2012, 235 girls under the age of 15 married men over the age of 35. Nearly 100 girls under the age of 15 married men over the age of 40, and 602 girls between the age of 15 and 19 married men over the age of 40.  

According to the International Covenant on Child Rights, to which Iran is a signatory, all individuals under the age of 18 are considered children. The International Covenant also prohibits child marriage. This is while, according the Iranian law, the legal age for marriage for girls is 13 and boys 15, but the law also permits the father or grandfather to allow their child to marry before the age of 13. 

Palestinian refugees outside Syrian capital ‘at extreme risk of death’

Russia Curtails Crimean Free Speech

Many journalists of Crimea’s independent television station ATR broke into tears on air during their last live show at midnight on March 31.

A year after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula, a censorship and harassment campaign on the part of authorities has become a part of daily life in Crimea. The world’s only TV channel that served Crimean Tatars, a native people, went silent on April 1 because it could not overcome the bureaucracy and other obstacles to continue broadcasting.

Ostensibly, every news outlet had to re-register in Crimea by April 1, the deadline set by Russian regulators. Some 232 media outlets got the license, including the only Crimean Tatar newspaper Yeni Dunya.

Those who did not include FM radio stations Meydan and Lider, children’s television channel Lale, news website 15 Minutes; Crimean Tatar news agency QHA, and newspapers Avdet and Yildiz.

ATR, which had broadcast in Crimean Tatar, Ukrainian and Russian languages since 2006, tried three times to obtain licenses. Each time the regulator rejected the applications citing mistakes and inaccuracies.

Dunja Mijatovic the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe representative on media freedom, voiced concerns that Crimean Tatar media outlets are having their registration rejected for “subjective reasons.”

In an emailed statement, Mijatovic said “this is yet more proof that the politically selective censorship of free and independent voices in Crimea is continuing.

For Lilya Budzhurova, deputy head of information policy at ATR, it was a “political attack” since the occupying authority often blamed the channel for “giving hope for the return of Crimea to Ukraine.” 
Budzhurova said they had little hope of obtaining a license.

“We thought that the Crimean authorities would take into account the needs of Crimean Tatars, but we were too naïve,” Budzhurova said, adding that the channel tried to be objective, a policy that rarely pleased the authorities.

IRAN - Maryam Rajavi: Fearful mullahs reluctantly take one more step backward toward drinking the chalice of nuclear poison

A statement of generalities, without Khamenei’s signature and official approval, does not block the path to a nuclear bomb

• Continuing talks with religious fascism ruling Iran in the framework of appeasing will not secure the region and world from the threat of nuclear proliferation

• Complying with UN Security Council resolutions is simply the only way to block the mullahs from obtaining nuclear weapons

NCRI - Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance’s President-elect, said the following concerning the joint statement between the Iranian regime and the P5+1:

“Decisive Storm” and the regional coalition against the expansion and aggression of the religious fascism ruling Iran in Yemen, the crippling impact of the sanctions and Iranian society’s explosive state as well as successive warnings by the United States Congress that it will confront this regime and will ratchet up the sanctions finally compelled the clerical regime to reluctantly take one more step back after 16 months of talks, which had gone into overtime in Lausanne. A step toward drinking the chalice of nuclear poison, this retreat was prompted by fear and pressure and blatantly contradicts the foundations and guidelines the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had announced personally two weeks ago.

Nevertheless, a statement of generalities, lacking Khamenei’s signature and official approval, will never block the path to the regime obtaining nuclear weapons nor prevent its intrinsic deception.

Continuing negotiations with the religious fascism in the framework of appeasement will not make the region and the world secure from the threat of nuclear proliferation. Compelling the regime to abide by United Nations Security Council resolutions is simply the only way to prevent the mullahs from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The process of negotiations since 2002 until now, in particular the marathon of talks in the 18 months, palpably affirms the reality that the clerical regime only understands the language of firmness and power.

Leniency and unwarranted concessions by the P5+1 to the least trustworthy regime in the world today only grants it more time and further aggravates the dangers it poses to the Iranian people, to the region and to the wider world.

It is common knowledge that the religious fascism ruling Iran has heavily invested in obtaining nuclear weapons to guarantee its survival. The search for an alternative to fundamentalism and the central banker of terrorism within this regime will get nowhere. The alternative is a democratic and non-nuclear Iran.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
April 2, 2015

US Charges Senator Menendez with Bribery, Conspiracy & Fraud

WASHINGTON,D.C. — U.S. Senator Robert Menendez and his long-time friend, Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, were indicted today in connection with a bribery scheme in which Menendez allegedly accepted gifts from Melgen in exchange for using the power of his Senate office to benefit Melgen’s financial and personal interests.

The charges were announced by Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel of the FBI’s Newark, New Jersey, Division.

“Government corruption—at any level of elected office—corrodes the public trust and weakens our democratic system,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “It is the fundamental responsibility of the Department of Justice to hold public officials accountable by conducting thorough investigations and seeking an indictment when the facts and the law support it.”

Menendez, 61, of Union City, New Jersey, and Melgen, 61, of West Palm Beach, Florida, were indicted in the District of New Jersey for one count of conspiracy, one count of violating the travel act, eight counts of bribery and three counts of honest services fraud. Menendez was also charged with one count of making false statements.

According to allegations in the indictment, between January 2006 and January 2013, Menendez accepted close to $1 million worth of lavish gifts and campaign contributions from Melgen in exchange for using the power of his Senate office to influence the outcome of ongoing contractual and Medicare billing disputes worth tens of millions of dollars to Melgen and to support the visa applications of several of Melgen’s girlfriends.

“The job of an elected official is to serve the people,” said Special Agent in Charge Frankel. “The citizens of New Jersey have the right to demand honest, unbiased service and representation from their elected officials at all levels of government. The charges and activity alleged in this indictment are another example of the FBI’s commitment to aggressively and tenaciously pursue public corruption in the state of New Jersey.”

Specifically, the indictment alleges that, among other gifts, Menendez accepted flights on Melgen’s private jet, a first-class commercial flight and a flight on a chartered jet; numerous vacations at Melgen’s Caribbean villa in the Dominican Republic and at a hotel room in Paris; and $40,000 in contributions to his legal defense fund and over $750,000 in campaign contributions. Menendez never disclosed any of the reportable gifts that he received from Melgen on his financial disclosure forms.

According to allegations in the indictment, during this same time period, Menendez allegedly engaged in three efforts to use his Senate office and staff to advocate on behalf of Melgen’s personal and financial interests.

First, Menendez allegedly pressured executive agencies in connection with a conflict between Melgen and the government of the Dominican Republic relating to a disputed contract that Melgen purchased to provide exclusive screening of containers coming through Dominican ports.

Second, Menendez allegedly advocated on behalf of Melgen in connection with a Medicare billing dispute worth approximately $8.9 million to Melgen.

Third, Menendez allegedly took active steps to support the tourist and student visa applications of three of Melgen’s girlfriends, as well as the visa application of the younger sister of one of Melgen’s girlfriends.

Throughout these efforts, Menendez allegedly engaged in advocacy for Melgen all the way up to the highest levels of the U.S. government, including meeting with a U.S. cabinet secretary, contacting a U.S. Ambassador, meeting with the heads of executive agencies and other senior executive officials and soliciting other U.S. Senators, all in order to assist Melgen’s personal and pecuniary interests.

The charges contained in an indictment are merely accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case is being investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Chiefs Peter Koski and J.P. Cooney, and Trial Attorney Monique Abrishami of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.

Border Patrol Agent Accused of Child Molestation

TUCSON – Jeremy Tyler Cole, a Border Patrol agent in Douglas, Arizona, was arrested and charged with child molestation, authorities said Wednesday.

“The agent is being charged with one count of child molestation, and is currently in a leave with pay status pending additional criminal proceedings,” Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.

Cole was arrested last Friday in Phoenix in a joint operation by the Chandler Police Criminal Apprehension Team and the Peoria Police Department.

The mother of one of the girls, who evidently was having a romantic relationship with the alleged molester, complained to the authorities that she saw Cole leave the room of one of her three daughters, ages 5, 12 and 14.

The 5-year-old girl told her mother that a bald man asked her to take off her underwear and afterwards she described to police how the man touched her private parts with an object.

Meanwhile, the 14-year-old girl also said she felt the presence of a man in her room.