THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 4:00 PM
Espionage and Cyberattack Threat Reaches New Dimension in Germany, Interior Minister Warns
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned of growing espionage and cyber threats from foreign adversaries including Russia, China, and Iran. “The threat to our democracy from espionage, sabotage, disinformation and cyberattacks has reached a new dimension,” Faeser told reporters in Berlin as she presented an annual report by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, which monitors threats to Germany’s democracy.
The activities of Iran’s intelligence services in Germany focused on surveillance of Iranian opposition groups and individuals following widespread protests against the regime last year, the report said.
UPDATE: 11:30 AM
UN Human Rights Expert: Iran Atrocities Go Beyond 1988 Massacre, Will Finally Be Declared ‘Genocide’
A United Nations-appointed human rights expert on Wednesday presented his findings in what may be the strongest and most comprehensive condemnation of Iran for a series of atrocities carried out in the country in the 1980s. The findings were presented at the United Nations Office in Geneva by Rapporteur Javaid Rehman, who focuses on human rights issues in Iran. He said he has been working on the report since his appointment to the post in 2018.
Most of the executions allegedly carried out in Iran in the 1980s happened during a five-month period in 1988.
According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, best known as the NCRI, the massacres cost 30,000 Iranian opposition figures their lives, and most of the casualties were members of NCRI and affiliated groups.
UPDATE: 7:30 AM
Iranian Regime Officials Make Preposterous Claims in Presidential Race
During his three years of presidency, the now-dead Ebrahim Raisi brought nothing but poverty, misery, inflation, suppression, massacre, and executions to the people of Iran. In contrast, he excelled in “must therapy,” “lie therapy,” and especially “promise therapy,” breaking records in these areas; his most notable hollow promises during his presidency were the creation of one million jobs annually and the construction of 4 million housing units, none of which ever materialized.
These days, in their debates and competitions, the candidates for the regime’s upcoming presidential elections all follow Raisi’s line of “promise therapy.” They present no concrete social or economic solutions and only speak of imaginary and baseless ideas. A look at these promises shows the emptiness of the high-ranking officials’ hands from any plans or roadmaps for the future.
4 Decades of Resistance for Freedom by Generation Equality in Iran
June 20 marks the beginning of the Iranian people’s resistance to freedom and democracy in 1981. Iran’s women pioneer their people’s movement against the mullahs’ religious dictatorship.
Generation Equality has played a significant role in the Iranian people’s resistance to freedom from the time of the Shah until today. Women who sacrificed their lives for freedom in the 1970s opened the way for women’s large-scale participation in the movement. Then came another generation of women in the 1980s whose sacrifices and unsubmissive struggle shook the foundations of the mullahs’ misogynous regime.
And then, the world saw the next generations of brave Iranian women and girls who pursued this tortuous and blood-drenched path during the uprisings in 1999, 2009, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023. Generation equality will continue to thread this path until the overthrow of the mullahs’ misogynous regime and the dawn of genuine freedom in Iran.
UN Rapporteur Condemns Iran’s Heinous Crimes Against Humanity
Javaid Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, has strongly condemned the killing of political prisoners in the 1980s by the Iranian regime, labeling them as heinous crimes against humanity and genocide. He has demanded that the Iranian regime be held accountable for committing these atrocities. Speaking at a side meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday, June 19, Rahman urged the international community to take concrete steps to hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable and end their immunity. He called for activating an investigation mechanism to uncover the full extent of these crimes.
Former Iranian Regime Official Faces Deportation from France Over Alleged Ties to IRGC
Bashir Biazar, the former director of the music and anthem office of the Iranian regime, was arrested in France recently and is facing deportation from the country.
Tehran claims that he is a harmless ‘journalist’, but the authorities in Paris consider him to be an influencer of the regime and related to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). On June 3rd, the French police arrested Biazar in the city of Dijon and detained him. This 41-year-old Iranian citizen, who has been living in France with his wife and two children on a long-term visa for two years, was arrested following an ‘immediate deportation’ order issued by the French Ministry of Interior on May 22.
Iranian Workers Continue Protests Due to Unemployment and Unpaid Wages
The workers of the old Darougar factory in Tehran, which was handed over to the public sector last year to prevent its closure, say they have about “four months of unpaid wages and seven months of unpaid insurance” and have repeatedly protested in the factory yard.
According to the state news agency ILNA, a Darougar worker reported on Wednesday, June 19, that due to the protest over arrears, “yesterday morning, one of the factory’s production workers with at least 20 years of experience was denied entry to his workplace by the employer’s order.”
This labor activist said that the workers of this factory are being threatened with dismissal and added that in recent months, several workers who had “asked some officials for help due to livelihood problems caused by not receiving wages” were dismissed.
Amnesty International: Hamid Nouri’s Release a “Staggering Blow” to Survivors, Families of 1988 Massacre
In a statement, Amnesty International described the “shocking release” of Hamid Nouri, a former deputy prosecutor of Gohardasht Prison, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court of Sweden for his involvement in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in Iran in 1988, as a “staggering blow” to the survivors and families of the victims. In this statement, released on Tuesday, June 18, Amnesty International warned that the prisoner exchange between the Iranian regime and Sweden would fuel a “crisis of impunity” in the Iranian regime.
According to this human rights organization, the decision of the Swedish government not only emboldens Iranian regime officials to commit more crimes under international law, including “hostage-taking, without fear of consequences,” but also undermines the “right to justice” and raises concerns about the Swedish government’s commitment to international law.
Mona Mahmoudnizhad: A Symbol of Resistance Against Religious Persecution
Mona Mahmoudnizhad was executed three months after her father! Mona Mahmoudnizhad was 17 years old at the time of execution. On June 18, 1983, during the peak of Khomeini’s regime brutality, Mona Mahmoudnizhad, after a weekly meeting of Baha’i women in “Adel Abad” prison in Shiraz, along with nine other Baha’i women, was transferred to “Abdullah Mesgar” barracks and hanged in front of each other.
Before the execution, these women were asked to renounce Baha’ism and convert to Islam to be spared from execution. But none of them accepted this offer. They were murmuring religious prayers. The bodies of these women were buried without informing their families and without a religious ceremony in the Baha’i cemetery in Shiraz named “Golestan Javid”.
Oslo, Norway—June 17, 2024: MEK Supporters Rally to Denounce Shameful Sweden-Mullahs’ Regime Deal
Oslo, Norway—June 17, 2024: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a protest rally to denounce the shameful deal between Sweden and the mullahs’ regime for releasing Hamid Noury, a criminal executioner of the mullahs’ regime involved in the 1988 Massacre.
Berlin, June 17, 2024: MEK Supporters Exhibition and Call for Participation in #BerlinDemo29June
Berlin, Germany—June 17, 2024: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) continued to set up an exhibition to express solidarity with the Iranian Revolution. They also protested against the increasing wave of executions carried out by the Iranian regime.
Germany—June 17, 2024: MEK Supporters in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Aachen: Call for Participation in the #BerlinDemo29June
Germany—June 17, 2024: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Aachen are organizing exhibitions and distributing posters and flyers to invite all Iranians to participate in the great gathering of Free Iran on June 29. They also recorded video messages to endorse Maryam Rajavi’s ten-point plan for Iran’s future.
Copenhagen, Denmark—June 17, 2024: Iranian Resistance Supporters Rally in Front of Swedish Embassy to Denounce Shameful Sweden-Mullahs’ Regime Deal
Copenhagen, Denmark—June 17, 2024: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a protest rally in front of the Swedish embassy to denounce the shameful deal between Sweden and the mullahs’ regime for releasing Hamid Noury, a criminal executioner of the mullahs’ regime involved in the 1988 Massacre.
Also, read Iran News in Brief – June 19, 2024
