Spring of freedom

Employees of the Ahvaz Steel Company continued their strike Employees of the Ahvaz Steel Company continued their strike on Wednesday, holding a protest rally outside the Khuzestan Province governor’s office, demanding their delayed paychecks and protesting poor working conditions at their worksite. The workers were chanting: “Workers of Khuzestan, unite, unite” On Tuesday, a group of these workers held a gathering outside the governor’s office and the entrance of the Ahvaz Sports Complex. They were blocking the path for the convoy of Iranian regime vice president Eshagh Jahangiri and voicing their protests. Iranian opposition President  Maryam Rajavi  tweeted her message of support for the various  protests and strikes  by people from all walks of life across Iran: Maryam Rajavi ✔ @Maryam_Rajavi Hail to the deprived workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Factory and Steel Factory of # Ahvaz who have risen up to demand their rights,...

In una lettera a The Guardian del 9 Novembre Struan Stevenson, coordinatore di Campaign for Iran Change, ha descritto l’articolo di Reza Marat su questo giornale “privo di imparzialità giornalistica e a sostegno di un regime colmo di repressione verso il popolo iraniano e di terrorismo nella regione e nel mondo”. Citandone alcuni brani, Stevenson aveva scritto una lettera all’editore del Guardian dicendo:  “Le accuse contenute nell’articolo proposto da Arron Reza Merat derivano direttamente dal Ministero dell’Intelligence iraniano (MOIS) e dai suoi isterici tentativi di demonizzare il PMOI”. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- guardian.letters@theguardian.com 9 Novembre 2018 I tentativi di The Guardian di dipingere i Mojahedin del Popolo Iraniano/Mojahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) come una sorta di setta terroristica di destra sostenuta da Donald Trump (The Long Read – Venerdì 9 Novembre 2018), sono talmente erronei che fanno tornare alla mente l...

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. (Reuters) The human rights situation has been deteriorating to an unprecedented level in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This highlights the empowerment of the hard-line judiciary system and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) under the so-called moderate administration of President Hassan Rouhani.  Specifically, several groups have become the Iranian regime’s targets. The first category is linked to religious and ethnic minorities, including the Arabs, Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, Sunnis, Christians and Baha’is. The situation has become so alarming that the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, recently  urged  Tehran to “ensure that all those who reside in the country have equal protection before the law, regardless of ethnicity, religion or belief.” It is important to point out that the Islamic Republic is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This means...

Witnessing children under the age of 14 selling all sorts of things on the side of the street is quite common in Iran 24 years ago, Iran signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child and has been ever since a party to it. But like many other promises and laws in Iran, the rights of children are only a shallow promise in this country. Witnessing children under the age of 14 selling all sorts of things on the side of the street is quite common. Child labor is also used in workshops, traditional brick factories, or in weaving traditional Persian rugs. According to the UNCRC, which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children, child labor is defined by two main parameters: Type of labor and the minimum appropriate age for that type of labor. In general, a type of work is considered child labor if it hinders the physical, mental, social, moral, or character health of a child. The appropriate age for any given type of labor is measured...

Ten government -linked financial institutions have been offered exemptions from taxes 10 financial institutions affiliated with the supreme leader of the Iranian regime have been offered exemptions from taxes. The institutions include the following: The Mostazafan Foundation (The Foundation of the Poor) Setade Ejrae Farman-e Emam (Headquarters of Implementing the Orders of Imam) Shahid Foundation (Martyr Foundation) Emdad Committee (Relief Committee) Sazmane Tablighat Eslami (The Islamic Publicity Organization) The Office of Publicity of Qom Bonyade Maskan (Housing Foundation) Center for Seminary Services The Mostafa AlAlamiyeh Cultural and Social Research Institution Out of the 10 abovementioned institutions, which are closely affiliated with the office of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Iranian regime, seven of them have received a 70-billion-rial budget (approx. $470 million) from the government. In recent years, the issue of the unpaid taxes of Khamene...