Spring of freedom

TEHRAN, IRAN - FEBRUARY 18. Relatives of passengers on board the crashed passenger plane mourn at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran on February 18, 2018. An Iranian passenger plane with 66 people on board crashed in central Iran according to local media. The Aseman Airlines plane flying from Tehran to the south-western city of Yasuj went down in a mountainous area in Semirom district in Isfahan province, Iran's Emergency Department said in a statement. Heshmat Alavi Forbes, February 22, 2018  - On Sunday, February 18th, Flight No. 3704 of Aseman Airlines, Iran's 3rd airline company with a fleet of 29 planes, left Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport at 8:03 am local time, heading for Yasuj. The plane, with 66 aboard, including six crew, never reached its destination, crashing into a mountainous region near the town of Semirom, close to Isfahan, south-central Iran. All on board were confirmed perished as rescuers reached the site on foot a...

Dr. Ahmed Obaid Yemen, February 21, 2018--In official account of Yemen PM Dr. Ahmed  Obaid pinted:  The danger of today’s conflict is that Iran has been sticking its nose into Yemen’s affairs,by exceeding the Intel will throughout its inflammatory speech, Planning, arming, sending military experts into Houthi militias & aiding them with ballistic missiles to threaten the region. View image on Twitter د/ أحمد عبيد بن دغر ✔ @ahmedbindaghar The danger of today’s conflict is that Iran has been sticking its nose into Yemen’s affairs,by exceeding the Intel will throughout its inflammatory speech, Planning, arming, sending military experts into Houthi militias & aiding them with ballistic missiles to threaten the region

Hundreds of people, including a large number of women, were arrested in the protests gathering of dervishes in Tehran Seventy of the women arrested during the dervishes’ gathering in Golestan Haftom Ave. in Tehran, have been brutalized and taken to the Quarantine Ward 3 of the notorious Qarchak Prison in Varamin. With 40 women already detained in this ward, the addition of the new arrestees makes the ward overcrowded. There is no information available on the fate of other women arrested in the dervishes’ gathering. Hundreds of people, including a large number of women, were arrested in the protests gathering of dervishes in Tehran when suppressive forces attacked them on Monday night, February 19. The raid lasted until Tuesday morning, February 20, 2018. The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran strongly condemns the mass and arbitrary arrests of protesters. It calls on relevant international organizations defending human rights and women’s...

French president Emmanuel Macron, - A recent warning made by French President Emmanuel Macron that Paris will launch strikes if chemical weapons are used against civilians in the Syrian conflict, has led to discussions about Iran’s ballistic missiles, which are of no less importance. The new element in Macron’s Feb. 13 speech was his desire to organize an international meeting on Syria in the coming weeks on the eradication of “the ballistic activities in Syria that puts in danger all the regional powers.” He also said the use of Iranian-linked missiles in Yemen and Syria needed to be addressed because they were a security problem for French allies. It was the first time Macron spoke about his country’s willingness to organize a meeting, “not necessarily in Paris” to discuss about Iran’s ballistic missiles. However, his desire to hold such a meeting surprised French diplomats. Several sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that concerned officials have not yet discussed t...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Britains Prime Minister Theresa May address a news conference after talks in Berlin, Germany, February 16, 2018 British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday that Britain shared the concerns of the United States about Iranian activities in the Middle East and was ready to take further action against Tehran. During a trip to Berlin, May said she and German leader Angela Merkel had reaffirmed their commitment to Iran’s nuclear deal and the need for full implementation. “And we agreed that as we continue to work to preserve the deal we also share the U.S. concerns about Iran’s destabilizing activity in the Middle East, and we stand ready to take further appropriate measures to tackle these issues,” May told reporters. British foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that London was concerned at Iran’s role after anti-aircraft fire on Saturday downed an Israeli warplane returning from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions.

The US National Security Adviser told an audience of senior security officials in Munich that the time had come to confront Tehran’s expanding influence The US National Security Adviser told an audience of senior security officials in Munich that the time had come to confront Tehran’s expanding influence   Damien McElroy The National, February 17, 2018  - Iran is using a “Hezbollah model” of building and arming militias in neighboring Arab countries to create weak states that are effectively brought under Tehran’s control, the US National Security Adviser warned on Saturday. In a call to action, HR McMaster told an audience of senior security officials in Munich that the time had come to confront Iran’s expanding influence. He said Iran was replicating its strategy in Lebanon — where it fostered the birth of the powerful Shiite militant group Hezbollah — in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, setting up militias that answer directly to Tehran. “What’s particularly concern...

The remains of an F-16 crashed after coming under fire by Syrian air defenses during attacks against Iranian targets in the war-torn country. The downing of an Israeli jet won’t fundamentally alter the Middle East’s strategic balance. FEBRUARY 13, 2018  - With the Syrian rebels on the run and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gaining momentum, Iran is seeking to rewrite the “rules of the game” governing Israel’s actions in Syria. Last weekend’s clashes on Israel’s northern border occurred within this context. An Iranian drone breached Israeli airspace, Israel retaliated by bombing multiple targets deep in Syrian territory, and Syria then shot down an Israeli fighter jet. Before last Saturday, Israel had established an expectation that its strikes on Iranian-Hezbollah weapons convoys and production facilities in Syria would not be met with an effective military response; Syria and Hezbollah couldn’t afford war with Israel, nor did they have the capabil...

The workers are protesting in front of Khuzistan province These protests cross the lines from agricultural workers to mine employees and retirees Feb. 7, 2018 -  The #Iranian regime would have the international community believe that the #Protests, which started in late December of 2017, have ended. The truth is that various protests are ongoing, particularly as Iranian workers continue to protest on a variety of issues. The news from the network of People’s Mojahedin Organization of #iran (PMOI/MEK) inside Iran paints a picture of continuing protests of injustices and non-payment of salaries. These protests cross the lines from agricultural workers to mine employees and retirees. On February 5, agricultural workers started their sixth day of protest at a local factory in the Khuzestan province. They were trying to bring to light the injustices they have endured from the management. Retired workers from this factory have not received their pension payments for o...

Young Human Rights Defenders must be freed AI, February 2, 2018  - Responding to reports that at least six young human rights defenders, including Shima Babaei and her husband Dariush Zand, Saeed Eghbali, Leila Farjami, Mahmoud Masoumi and Behnam Mousivand have been detained in coordinated arrests across Iran on 1 February, Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International said: “These human rights defenders must be released immediately and unconditionally – they have committed no crime and have been arrested purely because of their human rights work. We are extremely concerned that these individuals are now at risk of torture or other ill-treatment,' Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director declared.  “The coordinated nature of these arrests confirms our grave concerns about the grim reality for those defending human rights in Iran today, where peaceful activism is repressed and criminalized by ...

The Iranian military has stopped harassing U.S. Naval vessels in the Persian Gulf, a move that U.S. military officials welcome but cannot explain The Iranian military has stopped harassing U.S. naval vessels in the Persian Gulf, a move that U.S. military officials welcome but cannot explain, reported the Wall Street Journal. For the past two years, Iranian “fast boats,” armed with .50-caliber machine guns and rocket launchers, have been sailing within shooting range of U.S. Navy ships, exacerbating an already strained relationship. Especially tense moments include an incident from September 2016, when seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy ships approached a single U.S. coastal patrol ship. In August 2016, small Iranian boats repeatedly approached U.S. ships, resulting in warning shots fired by the U.S. Navy. Over 30 unsafe or unprofessional incidents occurred in 2016, and continued to occur into 2017, but U.S. military officials told Journal that there have been no ...

German Commissioner for human rights The German government’s human rights commissioner on Wednesday condemned Iran’s reported execution of a man who was 15 years old when he committed his crime, calling it a completely unacceptable violation of international law.  Baerbel Kofler criticized Tehran’s reported execution of Ali Kazemi, 22, on Monday, and said the man’s attorney had not even been informed of the pending execution.  Kazemi had been accused of fatally wounding another youth in a brawl involving several other people.  Kofler urged Tehran to halt the planned execution of another man, Hamid Ahmadi, 27, who was 17 at the time of his alleged crime, saying there were “significant doubts” about whether the rule of law was sufficiently applied in his trial.  Ahmadi was convicted and sentenced to death in 2009, with the sentence reaffirmed in a second trial in 2016.  He was also accused of killing another youth with a knife during a group fight. Hi...