Spring of freedom

In this Friday, Sept. 7, 2018 file photo, protesters burn an Iranian flag after storming and burning the Iranian consulate building in Basra, Iraq. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani, On a recent business trip to  Albania , I was invited to visit the new camp of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of  Iran , or the  Mojahedin-e Khalq  (MEK), still being built about 45 minutes outside of Tirana, on the way to the Albanian coast. I accepted the invitation, although I must admit, I had no idea what to expect upon reaching the sprawling facility which is the new home for approximately 3,200 of the Iranian resistance movement’s personnel, after being forced out of Iraq by violence from the Iranian-backed government. I want to write more about the group and its agenda in the near future, but today I just want to explore what I found at ‘Ashraf 3’, which is the name the  MEK  has given the new camp, after the first Ashraf on the Iraqi border, where the group launch...

Hassan Rouhani The Hill, 11 September 2017  - Amid the White House review of its Iran policy and subsequent to the signing into law of H.R. 6634, which imposes tough sanctions on the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ( IRGC ),  familiar voices in Washington have begun fear mongering that supporting “regime change” leads to war. Let us be clear: The real issue is not war. There has never been any suggestion of military intervention. Here are the real questions that need to be answered: Should the Iranian people continue to suffer under a brutal dictatorship, which has denied them their most  rudimentary rights , or do they have the right to change this suppressive regime?   Should the world remain silent on the destructive role of the Iranian regime in the region, including its direct participation in the carnage in  Syria ? Far from being warmongers, advocates of regime change are calling for a transformation fro...

With the president’s signature on H.R. 3364, formally known as the  Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 , the Trump administration — eager for legislative accomplishments in the wake of the GOP failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act — can take credit for turning the page on failed Obama-era policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran.  The bipartisan passage of the long-anticipated sanctions bill by both houses of Congress allows the administration to take aim at rogue regimes in Iran, Russia and North Korea. Disagreements over U.S. policy toward Russia notwithstanding, the White House can be confident that legislators overwhelmingly support confronting threats emanating from Iran and North Korea and are prepared for even stronger measures to curtail the influence of these dangerous regimes. The White House should now build on the successful passage of sanctions legislation to push for regime change in Tehran as an appropriate next step. ...

Free Iran Gathering in Paris, 2016 EU Reporter, June 26, 2017  - Several hundred European parliamentarians and dignitaries from two dozen countries will attend the #FreeIran grand gathering in Paris on July 1. The event is also expected to attract tens of thousands of Iranian expatriates and their supporters. The participants will condemn the ongoing human rights violations in Iran, as well as Tehran’s meddlesome role in the conflict-torn region. Considering the recent events in Europe and elsewhere, the Iranian government’s role in training foreign fighters for terrorist attacks abroad, as well as its drive to acquire nuclear weapons will certainly be denounced. The lawmakers represent a mix of political parties and viewpoints, but share a common view that Iran’s clerical regime has such disregard for human rights and democracy that regime change is indispensable to freedom in Iran and stability in the region. They will endorse the opposition movement spearheaded by ...