Maryam Rajavi’s statement on Iran nuclear deal

Maryam Rajavi: Circumventing six UN Security Council resolutions, an unsigned agreement will not close the mullahs' path to deception and access to nuclear bomb, but the ‘chalice of nuclear poison’ and Khamenei's retreat from his red lines will shatter his hegemony and undermine the entire regime

NCRI - Despite many shortcomings and unwarranted concessions to the mullahs, the nuclear deal struck between P5+1 and the Iranian regime represents a reluctant retreat by Khamenei and a violation of red lines upon which he had repeatedly insisted over the past 12 years, including in recent weeks, said the Iranian Resistance's President-elect Maryam Rajavi.

Mrs. Rajavi reiterated that circumventing the six UN Security Council resolutions and an unsigned agreement, which lacks the requirements of an official international treaty, would neither block the mullahs' pathways to deception nor their access to a nuclear bomb. Nevertheless, as the Iranian Resistance had pointed out, such a retreat will shatter Khamenei's hegemony (within the regime) and weaken and undermine the ruling religious fascism in its entirety, she added.

Mrs. Rajavi said: The retreat, which regime officials have described as a ‘chalice of nuclear poison’, will inevitably aggravate the power struggle at the top, upset the internal balance of power to the detriment of Khamenei and permeate the entire regime hierarchy. As such, in a nutshell, one can describe this nuclear agreement as a lose-lose outcome as far as its substance and structure are concerned, she stressed.

Recalling that the Iranian Resistance was first to expose the clerical regime's clandestine nuclear projects and facilities during the past three decades, Mrs. Rajavi added: Khamenei and his regime capitulated to this agreement out of concern over Iranian society’s explosive state, the debilitating impact of the sanctions, their impasse in the region and the prospects for a toughening in the terms of the agreement by the U.S. Congress.

Pointing to the regime’s extremely fragile and vulnerable state, Mrs. Rajavi stressed: Had the P5+1 been more decisive, the Iranian regime would have had no choice but to fully retreat from and permanently abandon its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. Specifically, it would have been compelled to halt all uranium enrichment and completely shut down its bomb-making projects.

Mrs. Rajavi added: The P5+1 should now insist on evicting the regime from the Middle East and prevent its regional meddling. This is a fundamental principle that needs to be included in any agreement; otherwise every country in this war-torn and volatile region will have the right to demand all the concessions given to the clerical regime, which would only result in a catastrophic escalation of the nuclear arms race in that part of the world.

Another important point, Mrs. Rajavi noted, is that the money poured into the regime’s coffers must be placed under strict United Nations monitoring to ensure that it addresses the Iranian people's urgent needs, especially the unpaid meager salaries of workers, teachers, and nurses, and is used to provide food and medicine to citizens. Otherwise, Khamenei will use these funds to further the regime’s policy of export of terrorism and fundamentalism in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon as well as to fill the coffers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

It is the Iranian people's right to know what they will get out of this agreement, upon which the mullahs' president claimed their water, bread and environment depended, Mrs. Rajavi said. She added: Any agreement that disregards and fails to underscore the Iranian people's human rights will only embolden the regime in its suppression and relentless executions, abuse of the rights of the Iranian people, and violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Charter.

Addressing the Iranian people, who have been the prime victims of the ruling religious dictatorship and a majority of whom live below the poverty line while the regime spends billions of dollars of the nation’s wealth on its ominous nuclear program to maintain its grip on power, Mrs. Rajavi said: The time has come to hold the anti-Iranian regime accountable and to rise up to overthrow the mullahs' illegitimate regime and establish a free, democratic and non-nuclear Iran.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
July 14, 2015

Cristina Fernandez Thinks that "Iran was Involved" in 1994 AMIA Attack

BUENOS AIRES - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez thinks that "Iran was involved" in the 1994 attack against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association, or AMIA, building in Buenos Aires, according to an interview that was released on Sunday.

Fernandez published the entire transcription of her interview in March with the U.S. magazine 'The New Yorker', on her official website on Sunday.

In the interview with journalist Dexter Filkins, Fernandez stressed that after 21 years of the attack against AMIA -that left 85 dead and perpetrators of which still remain unknown- only her government has made progress by signing the memorandum of understanding with Iran in 2013.

"If it hadn't been adjudged unconstitutional by the Judiciary of Argentina, we would be in a condition to demand at the UN that Iran perform under their agreement, to perform under the agreement by the Truth Committee, which comprises 7 internationally renowned legal experts, for the Argentinean judge to go to Teheran," she highlighted.

"Once the depositions of the Iranians are taken in Teheran, the proceedings may continue, people may be processed, evidence can be taken. Now we are in the same position we were 21 years ago, without anyone convicted, anyone in prison," she added.

When asked about Iran's involvement in the attack she confirmed that "according to the statements of the Argentinean Judiciary, I have to say yes."

"Obviously I think that Iran was actually involved. Or else, how could I ask for people to be extradited? I have to abide by the orders of the judge that directs that someone be extradited, being an Iranian citizen, obviously. Or else, it would almost be absurd," she said.

The president also rejected allegations made by Alberto Nisman, late prosecutor investigating the attack on AMIA, who had filed a complaint against her for allegedly covering up Iran's involvement in the attack, four days before his death in inexplicable circumstances.

In the lawsuit, which was dismissed by the Argentine judiciary, Nisman said that the memorandum of understanding was a tool to exonerate suspects of the attack in exchange for strengthening trade relations with Iran.

For Fernandez, the lawsuit and the death of Nisman was "a big political operation against the government, with nation-wide implications and also a global impact on the current situation in the Middle East, in the United States and elsewhere."

The president also discussed other controversial topics, like the Argentine foreign policy which in 12 years has grown closer to Venezuela, Russia and China while distancing itself with United States.

"We are not distancing ourselves from the United States to approach Russia or China, there's simply an acknowledgement of a multi-polar world."

Two Police Academy Officials, Federal Police Officer Shot in Mexico

CANCUN, Mexico – Two police academy officials from western Mexico and a Federal Police officer were shot several times in the hotel zone in the Caribbean resort city of Cancun in an apparent fight, state prosecutors said.

The shooting occurred around 3:00 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of the Teatro de Cancun, the Quintana Roo state Attorney General’s Office said.

A red alert was issued for all security forces, including the army.

Two of the wounded men are officials of the Western Regional Public Safety Academy in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state, said the Federal Police coordinator in Quintana Roo, Hector Gonzalez Valdepeña.

The police academy’s director, Gerardo Enrique Escarcega Hernandez, 57, deputy director, Aaron Ramirez Vargas, 40, and Federal Police officer Enrique Escarcega Mata, no age given, were wounded in the incident.

Escarcega Hernandez is the father of the Federal Police officer.

“A person who said he was a soldier attacked them with a firearm apparently because the son was urinating in the street. That’s what eyewitnesses stated,” Gonzalez Valdepeña said.

Escarcega Hernandez and Ramirez Vargas are listed in stable condition, while the Federal Police officer, who underwent surgery, is in serious condition, Gonzalez Valdepeña said.

Investigators found six bullet casings at the shooting scene, Quintana Roo Deputy Attorney General Carlos Arturo Alvarez Escalera said.

“We’ve questioned the wounded, they said it was a fight,” the deputy state AG said. “The eyewitnesses said a woman was with the assailant.”

4 men lashed in public in Iran for smoking water pipe

NCRI – Four young men were flogged in public earlier this week in the town of Torqabeh, north-eastern Iran.

The four men each received 74 lashes for smoking a traditional Iranian ghelyoon, or water pipe, in public during the daytime fasting hours in the holy month of Ramadan.

The brutal and degrading sentence was carried out in public Thursday afternoon in a garden, the state-run daily Khorasan wrote on Saturday.

The mullahs’ regime has stepped up the use of degrading punishments such as public floggings during Ramadan. Its main intention is to increase suppression of dissent and spread fear at a time when the regime is negotiating with world powers to curb its nuclear program in return for an end to international sanctions.

Anyone in Iran caught eating, drinking or smoking in public during daytime in Ramadan may receive 74 lashes in addition to a jail term of up to two months, judiciary officials of the regime have threatened. Special patrols are stationed at streets and public parks to deal with those who drink, eat or smoke in public.

At least 500 people have been arrested and the majority sentenced to flogging in Shiraz, southern Iran, for failing to observe a fast during daytime in Ramadan, the regime's deputy prosecutor general in the city has said.

Last year, a Christian man in Iran had his lips burnt with a cigarette for eating during the day in Ramadan. The savage punishment was carried out in public in the city of Kermanshah.

The number of floggings across Iran is much higher than officially announced.

Trump Predicts He’ll Win Hispanic Vote Despite Controversial Remarks

WASHINGTON – Real-estate magnate and TV personality Donald Trump promises he will win the Hispanic vote to become the Republican candidate and then the elected president of the United States, despite his controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants.

Trump made that prediction at a press conference in Los Angeles, where he again defended his opinion about the harm undocumented immigrants are doing to the United States, the daily Los Angeles Times reported.

“When it’s all said and done, I will win the Hispanic vote. I will win the Hispanic vote because I’m going to create jobs. I’m going to take them away from China,” Trump said.

The Republican hopeful has been widely censured for his comments last June 16 when he announced his run for the presidency and at the same time harshly criticized Mexican immigrants and proposed building a “great wall on our southern border.”

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best... They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems to us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people!” the magnate said as he launched his campaign.

On Saturday, the billionaire businessman backed his stand by surrounded himself with supporters who said they had lost loved ones in crimes and traffic accidents involving undocumented immigrants.

“People came into the country illegally and killed their children. The illegals come in and the illegals kill their children,” Trump told the press conference.

The magnate added that other countries like Mexico are “sending criminals to us and we’re putting those criminals in jails, often times after they’ve hurt somebody or killed somebody.”

About 150 protesters gathered outside the building where Trump was speaking to blast his remarks, while a smaller group of his sympathizers were also on hand holding up posters that said “Trump tells the truth,” according to the Angeleno daily.

Trump’s statements have lost him several contracts, including those with TV networks Univision, ESPN and NBC, the Macy’s department store chain, Spanish chef Jose Andres and car-race organizer NASCAR.

Republican hopefuls for the U.S. presidency who have distanced themselves from Trump’s comments include Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Rick Perry.

Five Slain by Gang in Northern Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Members of a criminal gang operating in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas killed a grandmother and four members of her family after interrogating them about a rival outfit, authorities said.

The Tamaulipas Coordination Group, a federal-state task force, said the killings took place shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday at the family’s home in La Soledad, a community on the Reynosa-Matamoros highway.

The dead were identified as Vicenta Garcia Sanchez, 65, son Fidel Martinez Garcia, 39, and grandsons Fidel, Alexis and Pedro Antonio, ages 19, 15 and 10, respectively.

Criminals dragged the family out of their home and questioned them about two suspected members of a rival gang, according to investigators. Unsatisfied with their responses, the assailants fatally shot the Garcias and sacked the house, taking a computer, cellphones and other items.

The attackers also took a car and a pickup truck, but abandoned them a few hundred meters (yards) down the road at a deserted residence, the Tamaulipas Coordination Group said.

State and federal police were joined by military personnel in the search for the killers.

Separately, the Coordination Group said that army troops removed 18 clandestine video cameras installed by a criminal organization in Reynosa, a city just across the border from McAllen, Texas.

State and federal forces dismantled a total of 136 illicit video surveillance devices in Reynosa between May 18 and July 8.

The apparent purpose of the cameras was to allow the criminals to monitor the movements of the security forces.

Tamaulipas has suffered from years of violence associated with a turf battle between the Gulf and Los Zetas drug cartels.

Mexico’s federal government launched in May 2014 a new strategy involving a larger deployment of federal security forces in Tamaulipas and a systematic purge of corrupt officers from state and local law enforcement agencies.

California prison riot - inmate found sawed nearly in two

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Nearly 15 hours after a riot at a Northern California prison, guards found a missing inmate sawed nearly in two, with his abdominal organs and most chest organs removed, his body folded and stuffed into a garbage can in a shower stall a few doors from his cell.

Details of the gruesome May killing at the medium-security California State Prison, Solano, are laid out in an autopsy report obtained by The Associated Press under a public records request.

The grisly discovery raises obvious questions about the prison's security: How could such a gruesome killing happen inside a locked facility with security and surveillance? How could someone obtain weapons sharp enough to dissect a body? And why did it take so long to uncover?

Homicides are distressingly common in California prisons. More than 160 inmates have been killed in the last 15 years, and the state has one of the nation's highest inmate homicide rates. Yet the death of 24-year-old Nicholas Anthony Rodriguez stands out.

Rodriguez's missing organs are "still part of the investigation" at the prison in Vacaville, 40 miles southwest of Sacramento, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton said Friday.