THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 9:00 PM CET
MEPs Push for IRGC Terrorist Designation Over Hamas Ties
On October 10, dozens of members of the European Parliament urged the European Union (EU) to classify the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. They pointed to the IRGC’s involvement in Hamas’ recent terrorist attack on Israel as grounds for this designation. French MP Benjamin Haddad has communicated this proposal via a letter to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrel and the French foreign affairs ministry. The letter emphasized that labeling the IRGC as a terrorist group would result in the freezing of its assets and a significant reduction in Tehran’s regional influence. The European Parliament had previously recommended the IRGC’s designation as a terrorist organization by the EU in January, but no action has been taken to date. In 2019, the United States has already designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
U.S., Qatar Agree To Stop Iran From Tapping $6 Billion Fund After Hamas Attack
U.S. officials and the Qatari government have agreed to stop Iran from accessing a $6 billion account for humanitarian assistance in light of Hamas’s attack on Israel, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told House Democrats on Thursday, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private remarks. Coming just a few weeks after the U.S. and Iran announced a deal on the money, the decision not to permit access could have major geopolitical reverberations, with the Biden administration undercutting negotiations with Tehran that took years to finalize. Biden aides had rejected the unfounded accusation that funds not yet released had fueled the Hamas attack, but they still faced a bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill aimed at preventing the money from going to Iran.
Sen. Rick Scott & Colleagues to Biden: Following Hamas Attacks on Israel, Convene the G7 to Jointly Sanction Iran
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Rick Scott led nine of his Senate colleagues in calling on President Biden to immediately convene the G7 nations and take coordinated action to further isolate Iran with severe sanctions and action that will strike directly at the wealth that its support of evil terrorism brings to the Ayatollah and the Iranian mullahs. The senators are urging President Biden to punish the evil Iranian regime, which remains the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, and deny its ability to continue supporting the brutality witnessed in Israel from ever occurring again.
Hamas Coordinated with Iran ‘Before, During’ Israel Attack, Official Says
Hamas was in active coordination with Iran before, during and after the attack against Israel over the weekend, a senior Hamas official said.
Ahmed Abdulhadi, Hamas’s representative in Lebanon, said in response to a Newsweek question in an audio conversation on X that Hamas had also coordinated with Iran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah and with other factions of a so-called “Axis of Resistance” before the assault, the deadliest Palestinian militant attack in Israel’s history.
Tehran has denied any role in the operation, though the Iranian Mission to the United Nations told Newsweek earlier Wednesday that the Islamic Republic had provided Palestinian fighters with “skills” to help them launch such an assault.
Abdulhadi said on X that “we coordinated with Hezbollah and with Iran and the Axis before, during and after this battle at the highest level.” He said this coordination “has many dimensions—political, military and others.”
UPDATE: 1:30 PM CET
Germany’s Scholz: Iran Bears Responsibility for Hamas Attacks
BERLIN, Oct 12 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday Iran bore responsibility for helping Hamas grow to the point where it launched last weekend’s attack on Israel, as he announced a crackdown on organisations that backed the Islamist movement.
“While we have no firm proof that Iran operationally supported this cowardly attack, it is clear to us all that without Iranian support, Ham as would never have been able to launch this unprecedented attack,” he said.
“The jubilant statements from the top of the Iranian regime and some other government officials in the region are abhorrent. The leadership in Tehran shows its true colours without shame, and thereby confirms its role in Gaza.”
Biden Faces an Iran Reckoning
President Biden on Tuesday showed appropriate outrage at the wanton slaughter by Hamas this weekend, and his pledge of support for Israel is welcome. But there was a crucial word missing from his remarks at the White House: Iran. Tehran is Hamas’s terror master, and its assault on Israel exposes the failure of his Iran strategy.
The Journal has reported that Iran gave the approval for Hamas’s bloody assault at an Oct. 2 meeting in Beirut. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has denied it, and the U.S. is saying it has no “specific evidence” of Iran’s assent. But Iran has long been the chief benefactor of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Shiite militias in Iraq and Yemen. All have praised the Hamas assault, as has Mr. Khamenei.
Cotton and McConnell To Introduce Legislation To Freeze $6 Billion Payment to Iran Immediately
Washington, D.C. — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) today announced they will introduce and seek unanimous consent to pass legislation to block Iran from accessing the $6 billion in funds that the Biden administration released in August.
“Iran is the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism. In addition to funding Hamas’s devastating terrorist attacks against Israel, the regime’s proxies have attacked dozens of American targets in the region in recent years. The Biden administration’s decision to let Iran access the $6 billion immediately freed up other money for the regime to fund its attacks in Israel. The Biden administration should immediately re-freeze the funds,” said Senator Cotton.
UPDATE: 8:00 AM CET
Regime Official Admits the PMOI Is a Powerful Independent Movement
On September 28, in an interview with the Ofogh state TV, Saeed Ghasemi, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said, “The [PMOI] phenomenon alone, meaning Masoud and Maryam [Rajavi] and their group, have been working for the destruction of the entire regime… Right now, they are present in all ministries and carrying out missions. This phenomenon alone was sufficient to destroy the regime, and they did not need Saddam doing that.”
The statements of this senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards, who has had close familiarity with the PMOI during the early years after the 1979 revolution until today, contain several important points. First, he says that the PMOI and its leaders alone are enough to eliminate the regime.
Iran’s New Controversial Bill is an Alarming Invasion of Privacy
In a chilling development, Iran’s regime has recently endorsed a highly contentious bill that endows the government with unprecedented authority to intrude into the personal lives of its citizens. This bill has ignited a furious debate, casting profound shadows over individual freedoms, human rights, and the extent to which a government can surveil the daily lives of its people. Not long has passed since the ratification of the contentious ‘Efaf and Hijab’ (Chastity and hijab) bill, which triggered objections over an article in the 7th Development Plan. This specific article empowers Iran’s regime to scrutinize and regulate even the most mundane aspects of people’s lives, including their everyday purchases.
Critics of this article have pointed fingers at certain members of the regime’s parliament. In the latest incident, a parliament member voiced concerns that the government aims to pry into ‘all the intricacies of people’s private lives’ with this legislation.
The Change-Makers: Iranian Girls Breaking the Chains of Oppression
International Day of the Girl Child is an opportunity to remind ourselves of a future that is being built by creating opportunities for girls.
Unfortunately, due to the rule of a ruthless, misogynistic dictatorship in Iran, that under the guise of religion has established a brutal gender apartheid in the country, each year, we find ourselves reviewing the heart-wrenching plight of Iranian girls in various domains.
We have repeatedly written about how Iranian girls can face criminal punishment at the age of 9. The legal age for girls to marry in Iran is 13, and there are numerous exceptions that force them into early marriage even below this age.
GOP Senators Call on Biden To Freeze $6 Billion in Iranian ‘Ransom’
Amid Israel’s deadly war, a group of Republican senators led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, are urging the Biden administration to freeze Iran’s $6 billion in assets that were released to Qatar from South Korean accounts in exchange for American prisoners last month.
“To stand by and allow Iran access to these funds as Hamas infiltrates Israel and murders, rapes, and mutilates countless Israelis is unconscionable,” lawmakers wrote in a letter to Biden Monday evening.
While the administration said the funds can only be used for humanitarian aid and other resources for Iranian citizens, lawmakers argue that the “money is fungible” — meaning that a unit of currency is interchangeable with another unit of the same value.
Bologna, Italy—October 7, 2023: MEK Supporters Held a Rally in Support of the Iran Revolution
Bologna, Italy—October 7, 2023: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a rally in solidarity with the Iran Revolution.
Germany—October 7, 2023: MEK Supporters Held Rallies in Support of the Iran Revolution in Bremen, Hanover, Heidelberg, and Stuttgart
Germany—October 7, 2023: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held rallies in solidarity with the Iran Revolution in Bremen, Hanover, Heidelberg, and Stuttgart.
Also, read Iran News in Brief – October 11, 2023
