In addition to last month’s report from the UN Secretary-General detailing the increase in human rights violations in Iran, two recently escaped dissidents narrated their personal histories of abuse, and claimed the nuclear deal is only empowering the regime to be more repressive and expansionist, said The Washington Times.
The two dissidents, Shabnam Madadzadeh, 29, and Arash Mohammadi, 25, told Rowan Scarborough of the brutality they had faced in taking part in public protest. Both were smuggled out of Iran via a clandestine network operated by the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK).
Both protestors spoke of the widespread hatred of the regime and the sense of betrayal that the West does nothing to support aspirations for democracy. Mohammadi, arrested for taking part in the 2009 demonstrations said, on the streets, the chants were, “Obama, Obama, are you with them or with us?”
Madadzadeh said, “Nothing has changed in the Iranian people’s life. The deal was just with the regime.” The money released by the lifting of sanctions had gone to the export of terrorism, propping up the Assad regime, and suppression – “every negotiation with the regime means an additional gallows in Iran,” she told The Washington Times.
Madadzadeh gained fame as a student organizer during the popular uprising of 2009. She was mentioned in 2010 and 2011 State Department reports on human rights violations in Iran. The State Department said that Ms. Madadzadeh was sentenced to five years in prison for spreading anti-state propaganda. Her lawyer was not present in the courtroom; authorities had detained him for protesting the death sentence of a teenager.
Madadzadeh’s various prisons included the notorious Evin prison and its Section 209 run by the Ministry of Intelligence. She says she was beaten, threatened with rape, and subjected to fake executions. Madadzadeh was told, “Speak out against the Mujahedin.” She would not.
Mohammadi was imprisoned for two years, during which time “intelligence interrogators beat and threatened him,” The Washington Times reported. He was offered money to denounce the MEK and “become an accepted reformist.” Mohammadi refused.
Both dissidents were speaking in Paris at a conference with other Iranians opposed to the Iranian regime. Mohammadi plans to be “a voice for the voiceless.” His message to President-elect Donald Trump: “The responsibility for change is with me and my generation. We are the force for change. If the West wants to have a good reputation in Iran, my point is, side with us. Side with the resistance. History will remember you in a good way. That’s for your betterment and for Iranian people’s betterment.”
