Iran National Council for Free Elections remarks that the United States Treasury Department has placed the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on its sanctions list beginning two weeks ago. Zarif is a spokesman for a government that systematically spreads corruption and oppresses Iranian citizens. Women who make up one-half of the Iranian society comprise the largest number of victims of the Islamic Republic in the past four decades. While Iranian women fight for their basic rights, three young women named Mojgan Keshavarz, Monireh Arabshahi and Yasman Ariani have been sentenced to a total of 55 years in prison for protesting the compulsory Hijab laws. Lawyer and human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh was sentenced to 38 years in prison with 148 lashes. Mohammad Javad Zarif takes advantage of the free media of democratic countries and falsely claims that Hijab is part of the Iranian culture.
Baha’i citizens are arrested and detained,
they have been detained even at their cemetery, while Baha’i students are being
barred from education, and the Baha’i shops and businesses are being shut down.
Mohammad Javad Zarif, at a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations in New
York, openly and cleverly lied by stating “We do not recognize Baha’i
religion, but this is a belief. One can
be agnostic, one can be atheist. We are not going to jail them for being
atheists.”
Zarif’s statements on atheism are categorical
lies. Atheists and Baha’is alike are considered heretics and are punished one
way or another.
While government security officials are entrapping
homosexuals in social media and mistreating them in a violent, derogatory, and
degrading manner, Javad Zarif falsely claims that gays are free to live as they
wish as long as they are restricted to their homes.
Zarif said in an interview with Charlie Rose
on April 29th, 2015 that “we are not imprisoning anyone in Iran for his
beliefs.” Yet, Dr. Ahmad Jalali who is a dual citizen of Iran and Sweden
is on the eve of execution in one of the dreaded prisons of the Islamic
Republic. Nazanin Zaghari a British-Iranian Citizen has been held hostage and
imprisoned.
In December 2017, Zarif claimed that “we
have made it clear that we have not supplied these weapons to Yemen, “while
Mehdi Taeb Head of Amar Camp, in a speech about Houthis and Saudi Arabia war,
stated: “They (the
Houthis) had only one solution to capture the Saudi Air Force. What did they need? Surface-to-surface missiles. This is something we (Islamic Republic) have a
lot of and they didn’t have it!”
Javad Zarif denies the systematic violations
of the rights of Iranian citizens and the tyrannical activities of Ali
Khamenei’s government; and on the other hand, strives to justify or trivialize
them by distorting the Islamic Republic’s inhumane laws. Last month, fourteen (14) civil and political
activists (“The 14”) demanded (1) the resignation of Ali Khamenei, (2) dissolution
of the Islamic Republic, and (3) holding free elections to achieve a secular
democracy. Fourteen (14) women activists
inside Iran also issued a separate statement.
A call for the formation a “Coalition of Committed” with the support of Iranians at home and abroad is being made within the framework of the statement signed by “The 14” whom the Islamic Republic’s security forces have brutally detained and imprisoned.
In the past two years, the Iranian regime has
arrested thousands of protesters, civil and political activists, labor, and
trade unions representatives.
The Europeans should focus on the systematic violations of the rights of Iranian citizens.
Iran National Council for Free Elections reminds all European governments, Sweden, Norway, France, among others, that the presence of the Foreign Minister of a terrorist and inhumane government in democratic countries is insulting to human rights activists and freedom fighters in Iran and to citizens of democratic countries.
As Zarif tries to negotiate with European
governments, we believe that in negotiating with the Foreign Minister of the
Islamic Republic, the Europeans should also focus on the systematic violations
of the rights of Iranian citizens.
Iran National Council for Free Elections believes that it is impossible to reform the Islamic regime. We are against any violence and war and we are against negotiating and dealing with agents of the Islamic Republic. The only way for democratic governments to support the Iranian people and to participate seriously in the international coalition of Committed of Iranian pro-democracy forces is to move away from the cruel and corrupt theocratic system of the Islamic Republic in order to achieve secular democracy in Iran.
We call for a transition from Islamic Republic
to a free electoral constitution, calling for a Constituent Assembly of the
Iranian people to draft a new constitution in accordance with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, and principles of democracy and secular society.
Appeal for Severe Political Pressure Against the Kleptocratic Theocracy of Iran
The Honorable Mike Pompeo Secretary of State U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520
N° 2101-18 October 2018
Re: Appeal for Severe Political Pressure Against the Kleptocratic Theocracy of Iran
Dear Secretary Pompeo:
In Iran, we are facing a silencing war waged by the Iranian regime against the freedom-seeking Iranian Citizens. Only the willingness of the international Community to take punitive actions against the Iranian government can help us defeat the regime and bring the Iranian citizens one step closer to a stable and free Democracy.
Your remarks at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 2018 demonstrates how well you understand
the plight of Iranian people living under a kleptocratic theocracy. As you indicated, United States citizens and other
foreigners are snatched by the Islamic Republic and held hostage as negotiating chips. However, Iranian citizens are
arrested, imprisoned, tortured, raped, and killed by the regime with impunity; all for demanding their basic human rights.
You enumerated several goals that President Trump has asked you to achieve on Iran. The third goal promised
“tireless advocacy for the Iranian people,” “demand that the regime improves treatment of its citizens,” “protect the
human rights of every Iranian,” and “stop spending Iran’s wealth abroad.” While you followed with a long list of
hardships and adversities facing Iranian people, these points were not included in your 12 demands from the Iranian
regime.
Therefore, we respectfully request that the following become demand number 13 on your list:
“Iran must end its inequitable, unjust, unfair, and abusive behavior against the Iranian citizens” and
“Let Iranian citizens hold free, fair and transparent election for a Constitutional Assembly” in
accordance with article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the criteria by the Inter-
Parliamentary Union, of which Iran is a member, set forth at its 154th session on March 26th, 1994,
under the supervision and monitoring of the United Nations.
We sincerely thank you and President Trump for your attention to, and consideration of, this urgent humanitarian
matter.
Very Truly Yours,
Nazila Golestan
Special Envoy for Human Rights
Iran National Council for Free Elections
What Is Happening in Iran?
1. SUFFOCATION OF VIRTUALLY ALL IRANIANS UNDER THE HEAVY HANDS OF THE IRANIAN REGIME
The seven-headed dragon of the mafia government in Iran continues to strongly restrict free speech and dissent.
Authorities are waging a ruthless crackdown against those who stand up to injustice and defend human rights.
Political activists, women’s rights activists, trade unionists, human rights lawyers, journalists, environmental activists,
children’s rights defenders, and human rights defenders are harshly intimidated and their leaders are arrested and
imprisoned for merely exercising their basic citizen’s rights. Iranian human rights activists and board members of the
teachers’ union have been imprisoned solely for protesting the deplorable conditions with which the country’s teachers
and students are confronted every day. They are arrested under fabricated charges of “assembly with intent to create
public disturbance,” and “propaganda against the regime.”
Unfortunately, imprisonment alone is not the only punishment that the activists earn. A teacher, Mohammad Habibi,
who was arrested with 14 others at a peaceful gathering was beaten according to his wife and was transferred to
solitary confinement and denied medical attention one day after his arrest when all other participants were freed. At
the time of arrest Habibi was free under bail from an earlier arrest at the school he taught.1
Iranian dual-nationals and citizens returning from abroad, or just entering Iran for a short visit, have been targeted for
arbitrary arrests, interrogation and incarceration by security authorities. Often, they are held as bargaining chips as in
the case of those freed as part of the Iranian Nuclear Agreement signed by the former United States President Obama.
When the former President of Iran Mahmood Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University on September 24, 2007, he
claimed there were no homosexuals in Iran. Perhaps the reason he made the false claim was that all homosexuals are
condemned to death if they are identified. Islamic law considers homosexuality a deviant conduct and condemns it.
Even discussion of the subject is taboo.
Those who defend human rights are often labelled “Western agents” and are falsely and speciously accused of “warring
against Islam,” “conspiracy against national security,” “treason”, “propaganda against the regime,” “enmity with God,”
“insulting the Prophet,” and “insulting government officials.” They are prosecuted and imprisoned by authorities on
bogus charges of “threat to national security” and “enmity with God” because these charges carry harsher punishments.
2. UNEQUAL TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS BASED ON GENDER
Iranian women are deprived of their fundamental rights under the Islamic Constitution since 1979. The laws violate a
woman’s right to equality, privacy, and freedoms of expression, belief, and religion and empower Basij forces to target
women for harassment, violence and imprisonment. The women activists who fight for Iranian women’s freedoms and
gender equality are still arrested and imprisoned. Iranian women who comprise one-half of the population, are
systematically eliminated from presidential elections. According to Ali Khamenei, “the gender equality is an utterly
wrong notion made up by the West. It is outdated and treacherous.”
As a clerical member of Iran’s Council of Guardians, “Mohammad Yazdi,” a constitutional body responsible for ensuring
that legislation adheres to Iran’s Constitution as interpreted by Iran’s religious scholars and Islamic law and for vetting
presidential candidates, has announced that Iranian laws “do not allow women to become presidents” 2. Most higher-
level government jobs are also closed to women.
There are many other discriminatory practices and laws that turn Iranian women into second-class citizens. Although
women comprise over 50 percent of university graduates, their participation in the labor force is only 17 percent. Iranian
women are unequal under the law, in Iranian society, and in the job market.3
3. STATUS OF CHILDREN
Under the Islamic Republic of Iran, the age at which children become criminally responsible for their actions is 9 lunar
years for girls (equivalent to 8.5 Gregorian years) and 15 lunar years for boys. Only below those ages are they
considered to be children. (Iranian Penal Code (1991) amended 2013, Article 147).
Iranian Constitution forbids “all forms of torture for the purpose of extracting confession or acquiring information”,4 As
if torturing adults is not abhorring enough, there have been recent reports of torture and mistreatment by juvenile
offenders who were forced to confess by means of physical coercion. One of the recent cases was reported by Alireza
Tajiki, who was only 15 years old at the time of arrest. He was convicted, after confessing under torture, of the rape
and murder of a friend, crimes that he consistently denied in court.5 Tajiki was placed in solitary confinement for 15
days during which, he said, he was subjected to severe beatings, floggings, and suspension by arms and feet to make
him “confess” to the crime.6 Iran has executed 1,900 prisoners since June 2013 when President Hassan Rouhani took
office – among them juveniles and women.7
Practices of child labor in Iran defy Declaration of the Rights of Children and International Labor laws. Children work in
all kinds of businesses in deplorable conditions.8 Many small, vulnerable children live and work in the streets and are
victims of criminal gangs, drug lords, child trafficking, and sexual abuse among others.9
Every six days a child is raped and killed in Tehran. Iran is rich in natural resources and wealth, yet the majority live
in poverty and misery because these resources are rerouted to terrorist networks and drug trafficking. The first victims
of poverty are children.
4. RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC MINORITIES
By virtue of the Constitution, citizens with religious beliefs other than Islam remain second class citizens and do not
have many of the rights enjoyed by the Muslim majority.
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic established an Islamic theocracy. Article 1 states “The form of government of
Iran is that of an Islamic Republic.” Article 2 explains this to mean, among other things, “the necessity of submission
and the “fundamental role” of “divine revelation” in “setting forth the laws.” Article 18 requires Iran’s flag
contain the phrase “Allah Akbar.” Article 56 states “Absolute sovereignty over the world and man belongs to God
[Allah].”
The government, with the Supreme Leader at its apex, is an institution through which the will of Allah is implemented.
As such, all others; such as, Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians, Baha’is, Sunnis, Yaresans, Ismailis, Dervishes, atheists,
etc., are systematically precluded from holding senior government or military positions.
Due to their historical background, the Baha’i community has been persecuted from the beginning.10 A large number
of them have been imprisoned and many among them have been executed. Between 1979 and 1983 at least 135
Baha’is, many of them spiritual leaders, were executed.11 Since 2013, when Hassan Rouhani was first elected
President, “at least 283 Baha’is have been arrested. and there have been at least 645 incidents of economic
oppression, ranging from intimidation and threats against Baha’i-owned businesses to their closure by authorities. More
than 26,000 pieces of anti-Baha’i propaganda have been disseminated …”12 Thousands have been blocked from
access to higher education; “in just six months, Iranian universities expelled 50 Baha’i for their religious beliefs.”13
Other minorities such as Zoroastrians or Jews try to keep a low profile and are afraid to publicize their grievances.14
Christians are suspected of proselytizing and are often arrested and imprisoned for the same “crime.” Although the
laws do not prescribe it, the writings of the founder of the Islamic Republic do call for the death penalty for Muslims
who convert to other religions, particularly Christianity, or the Baha’i faith.15
The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the most racist governments in the world. Iran is home to many ethnic minorities
who once lived in peace among all other Iranians before the 1979 revolution, but who are at odds with the Islamic
government and are subjected to racism as a result of the government’s policies and propaganda.
Most Kurds are Sunnis and live in the Kurdistan Province. Kurds have had armed conflict with the central government.
Those arrested have been sent to the gallows. Azaris in the northwest are Turkish-speaking people. The greater
Azerbaijan was divided by the Russian incursions and annexation of territories and its fate was sealed by the signing
of the Turkemanchi Treaty in 1828. Russia took Northern Azerbaijan and a greater part of Armenia.16 Now, if they
raise their voices for the rights of Azaris, they are labeled as “separatists” or “Turkish spies.” 17
Baluchis in the southeast are Sunnis and face institutionalized and economic, educational and cultural discrimination.
Islamic Republic has also thwarted the Baluchis attempt to form political organizations to promote their interests.18
The Arabic-speaking minority, who also speak Persian, have lived in the Province of Khuzestan in the southwest for
hundreds of years. Their language is called “Khuzestani Arabic.” They suffer the same discriminations as other ethnic
minorities. Their main grievance is over their right to participate effectively in decisions affecting the area in which they
live.19 The major cities of Khorramshahr, Abadan, and Ahvaz were badly destroyed in the war with Iraq. Very little has
been done to reconstruct the cities or to bring back sustainable economy for reconstruction.
5. ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
The Islamic Republic of Iran, instead of opting for sustainable use of natural resources and generation of clean energy,
continues to persist on the clandestine development of a nuclear arsenal — in total violation of the Non-Proliferation
Treaty and the Iran Nuclear Agreement signed on July 14, 2015. These policies and practices have paved the way for
international economic sanctions against Iran and have brought Iran’s economy to the brink of bankruptcy.
The environmental disaster explodes where out on the horizon, the blue sky of Persian Gulf is veiled in a thick
unbreathable cloud of rusty color sand such that the sun is no longer visible in Khuzestan. Children of Sistan and
Baluchestan Province are also buried under sand and misery.
Thus far, the environmental degradation, water crisis, disappearing lakes, diversion of rivers that turn a wetland into a
barren desert, water shortages due to poor management of water resources leaving people without water for drinking
or for maintaining industries, theft of natural resources that diverts the national wealth into the pockets of the ruling
clergy,20 and particularly political corruption have put Iranian environment in dire conditions.
6. ISLAMIC CONSTITUTION, JURISPRUDENCE, AND THE JUDICIARY
The Islamic Constitution requires its president to pledge that he will “dedicate himself to the propagation of religion and
morality” (Article 121) and requires the members of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly [Parliament] to pledge “to
protect the sanctity of Islam” (Article 67). Presidential candidates must be “from among religious and political
personalities” who have “staunch belief in the fundamental principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the official
religion [Islamic jurisprudence] of the country” (Article 115).
It can be observed that the Constitution of the Islamic Republic is not about protecting “life,” “liberty,” and “the pursuit
of happiness” of the Iranian people, rather it is intended to preserve and protect a particular religion through installation
of individuals who have the zeal to do so.
All branches of government, including the judiciary, serve to promote Islam and Islamic law. The Islamic Constitution
has provided for “creation of a judicial system based on Islamic justice and operated by just judges with meticulous
knowledge of the Islamic laws.” (Preamble to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran; The Judiciary in the
Constitution.)
Only lip service has been paid to rights, freedoms, and justice that Iranian people have not experienced since 1979
and for which protest.
The Islamic Republic has also Revolutionary Courts and the Special Court for the clergy both of which were established
by Islamic Revolutionary Leader Ruhollah Khomeini. Theses tribunals have never been incorporated into the
constitutional clauses that define the role and structure of the Judiciary. Theses separate Islamic Revolutionary Courts
can prosecute people on charges as vague as “being un-Islamic.” And have been used also as a political tool against
those clerics who criticize the regime or challenge the role of the Supreme Leader.
While millions of victims of the financial and credit institutions protest against the Central Bank of Iran and the corrupt
financial/banking system, there are no courts to hear the people’s pleas for justice. The President of the Islamic
Republic of Iran “Hassan Rouhani” ignores people’s protests, defends the corrupt Central Bank as well as his own
disreputable government.
Corruption is rampant within the judiciary. The worst case of it is the highly publicized scandal of the head of the
Judiciary, Chief of Justice, “Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani.” Larijani is a conservative, who previously was a member of
Council of Guardians. It was discovered that Larijani is the holder of more than 63 personal bank accounts filled with
embezzled public funds that the courts had received from defendants in civil, criminal or appeals courts as damages,
bail money, or court costs.21
A Member of Parliament questioned the Justice Minister about Larijani’s alleged 63 bank accounts. Judicial authorities
attempted to arrest the MP in front of his house. “An account run by an anonymous group on the social network
Telegram, recently claimed that more than £50m was transferred to the ayatollah’s personal bank accounts annually
from public funds.22
President Hassan Rouhani’s brother, who is also a close adviser to him, has previously been linked to officials at the
center of a scandal involving inflated salaries for managers at the state-owned insurance company. Other charges
against Hossein Fereidun include misappropriation of government funds and money laundering that involved his
daughter who lives in London.23
7. Politics and Political Control
Opposition politicians have suffered especially harsh repression, with many leaders facing arrest, prison sentences,
and lengthy bans on political activity. All secular political parties are constantly banned from any activity due to the
requirements that Presidential candidates must be religious and have strong belief in Islamic laws.
On the other hand, Islamists who run the government have cheated the people out of bank deposits amounting to
trillions of Tomans. The money has gone to the pockets of government officials and their relatives. The Islamic Republic
government and its affiliated entities that are close to the Revolutionary Guards have signed major economic contracts
with Syria, reaping what appears to be lucrative rewards for helping the Dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad regain control
of parts of his country against his own people.
Politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran is so corrupt that both “conservatives” and the so-called “reformists” support the
status quo and ignore the national interests of the people. After all, there is much financial windfall that comes from
the arms flows in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Yemen to satisfy both sides.
Astan Qods Razavi, is purportedly a charitable foundation and the administrative organization which manages the
Imam Reza Shrine and affiliated institutions. It controls large endowments and business conglomerates in the country.
This foundation, also called “Empire of Khorasan” and its subsidiaries are exempted from paying taxes following
Ruhollah Khomeini’s Fatwa. This huge windfall helps cross-border terrorist financing.
The Islamic Republic’s constitution establishes the role of its military in fulfilling its goals as follows: “The Army of the
Islamic Republic of Iran must be an Islamic Army, i.e., committed to Islamic ideology and the people” (Article 144).
From the preamble: Iran’s Army and Revolutionary Guard “will be responsible not only for guarding and preserving the
frontiers of the country, but also for fulfilling the ideological mission of jihad in God’s way; that is, extending the
sovereignty of God’s law throughout the world [emphasis added].
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, unquestioningly loyal to Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, controls major
companies, and businesses in Iran such as tourism, transportation, energy, construction, telecommunication and
Internet. in the cost of this control is suppression of Iranian women, students, labor, intellectuals, and political activists.
The Islamic Constitution cites Quranic verses fourteen times to make its political goal and objective is to promote Islam
worldwide vs the universal values of advanced civilizations. For nearly four decades the Islamic Republic of Iran has
sought to cement its stranglehold internally and export its revolution of terror to the rest of the world by establishing
Hezbollah in Lebanon, supporting Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Muslim Brotherhood, sheltering terrorists and permitting
them to run terrorist training camps in Iran.
Article 91 of the Islamic Constitution establishes a Guardian Council “in order to examine the compatibility of legislation
passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly with Islam.” The Council also has “the authority of the interpretation of
the Constitution is vested with the Guardian Council (Article 98). Yet, in actuality, the Council has the power to select
the candidates loyal to the Supreme Leader and to nominate them for elections. Thus, none of the elections held since
the 1979 Islamic revolution has been regarded as free, fair, and transparent.
The Basij and Ansar-i Hezbollah—regularly play a major role in breaking up the peaceful and non-political
demonstrations with brutal force. The security services routinely arrest and harass all human rights discourse,
grassroots activism, and secular activists. Thus, there is no secure and free electoral environment for political and
union activities.
Ultimately, Islamic Republic’s Constitution in Article 57 which establishes the Iranian legislature, judiciary, and
executive powers, dictates that the three branches are to function “under the supervision of the absolute wilayat al-
‘amr [Iran’s Supreme Leader] and the leadership of the Ummah.” The head of state, “Ali Khamenei” has absolute
power over all government institutions, including the judiciary. The Supreme Leader appoints the Judiciary chief, and
judicial officials are only accountable to the Supreme Leader. The Islamic judiciary avoid investigation or detect or
impeding ongoing judicial and investigative processes are accomplished by exerting influence, particularly at lower to
mid-levels of law enforcement structures. Such involvement surely corrupt and pervert the judiciary.
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s endemic corruption has made the country itself and its neighbors vulnerable to terrorist
activities. They still continue to provide financial and military support to terrorist movements. This sectarian “State
Sponsor of Terrorism” seeks to spread its brand of political Islam that has led to the rise of regional ideological conflicts.
The Iranian regime’s discriminatory policies contradict the numerous international conventions to which Iran is a party.
International laws create both rights and duties for member states, and when a state consistently disregards its duties,
it cannot expect the rest of the international community to respect its rights.
