Iran: The Approval of the Bill for Supervision over Parliament Representatives: Consolidating the Legal Foundations of a Garrison State Arseh Sevom School – October 3

The Arseh Sevom School objects to the passage last Wednesday of the Bill for Supervision over Parliament Representatives (consisting of 12 Articles). Arseh Sevom School calls up on a complete suspension of the law and the prevention of its approval by the Guardian Council. The Arseh Sevom School believes that the approval of this law is an extreme violation of the fundamental right in a democracy for the people to have independent representatives in government institutions. It represents a step towards the consolidation of a total dictatorship in the form of a garrison state.

Eye on Iran: US Dismisses Iran’s Nuclear Offer as ‘Empty Promises’

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AFP: ”Iran’s offer offer to halt production of low enriched uranium is not credible because the Islamic republic has a record of making ‘empty promises,’ the United States said Friday. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told The New York Times last week that his country had offered to stop its production of low enriched uranium, which can be a stepping stone to produce atomic weapons, provided the West gives it the nuclear material. ‘Ahmadinejad makes a lot of empty promises,’ State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. ‘He knows exactly what has to happen. If Iran has a serious proposal to put forward, it has to put it forward to the IAEA.’ The UN nuclear watchdog, or International Atomic Energy Agency, and the United States ‘can study it and then we can respond, but from our perspective at the moment, this looks like a diversion from the real issue,’ Nuland said. Ahmadinejad said Iran wanted 20 percent enriched uranium for a medical reactor that makes isotopes for cancer treatment. Western countries say Iran already has enough uranium for the reactor and that any additional uranium would be used to make weapons.” http://t.uani.com/oWlg82

Iran News Round Up (Oct. 3)

Following Mahmoud-Reza Khavari, Melli Bank director’s flight to Canada in the wake of the $3 billion embezzlement scandal, Asr-e Iran writes that Khavari has dual Iranian and Canadian citizenship; On the occasion of the Sacred Defense Week, the Iranian Army displays its latest military hardware; In a new report, the Supreme Audit Court slams the performance of the government in the oil and gas sector.

The Latest from Iran (2 October): Down, Down Goes the Currency

2000 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Another political showcase for the President, as he closed the International Conference on the Palestinian Intifada today….

Ahmadinejad used the occasion for his standard script, declaring the West created Israel to control the Middle East and Western support for the crimes committed by the “Zionist regime”.

The President then built on the West-Israel platform for wider points, such as the claim that democracy and the human rights are a “mere show” in the West and that the International Atomic Energy Agency has served the US and Israel by publishing the names of Iranian nuclear scientists so they could be targeted by the “Zionist regime”. He added that Zionism symbolizes the essence of the materialistic Western schools of humanism and liberalism.

US Press Statement: Iran’s Continuing Human Rights Violations

Press Statement

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Washington, DC

September 30, 2011

 

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The United States is deeply concerned by reports of the Iranian government’s continued repression of its people. Despite statements from Iran’s Supreme Leader and President claiming support for the rights and freedoms of Iranian citizens and people in the region, the government continues its crackdown on all forms of dissent, belief, and assembly.

We are particularly concerned by reports that Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is facing execution on charges of apostasy for refusing to recant his faith. This comes amid a harsh onslaught against followers of diverse faiths, including Zoroastrians, Sufis, and Baha’is.

Iran’s government continues to arrest journalists and filmmakers. They are restricting access to information by jamming incoming satellite broadcasts and filtering the Internet.

The United States stands with the international community and all Iranians against the Iranian government’s hypocritical statements and actions, and we continue to call for a government that respects the human rights and freedom of all those living in Iran.

Information for people who want to defend themselves against their deportation

last update: July 2011

The following information is intended to help people who do not wish, or are unable, to return to their country of origin or another country, to prevent their deportation while still at the airport. If you can, inform your friends that you want to resist the deportation. They can support you from outside by speaking to the airline and informing them that you will not fly voluntarily. At Frankfurt Airport (where most deportations in Germany take place) there is a group who go to the airport in these cases, to inform passengers and airlines and to protest against your deportation.

You can contact this group by email: abschiebungverhindernffm(at)lists.riseup.net

The following information is about what you can do yourself to prevent your deportation, and applies primarily to deportations that take place in normal passenger aircraft. Currently, Roma people in particular are often deported using charter flights (mostly from Düsseldorf or Baden-Baden). In these cases it is much harder to defend yourself, as in these planes all of the other passengers are other deportees and police officers, so there are no witnesses. Nevertheless, this still applies: the more people that know that you are flying against your will, the greater the chance of preventing your deportation. There are also people active in Düsseldorf und Baden-Baden, who protest against deportations.