Arab Prisoners Expose Press TV’s Role in Extracting Confessions Under Torture

Justice for Iran: The first trail session of the 13 Arab political prisoners of Khalaf Abad (Ramshir) met this morning at the second branch of the Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz. Five months ago, the Iranian English speaking satellite stations, Press TV, introduced Hadi Rashedi and Hashem Sa’bani, two of the 13 individuals, as terrorists and members of armed groups. The TV station broadcast the images and names of the individuals while in todays session, the two called all the accusations lies and announced that they were forced to make the confessions under severe torture.

According to local sources, in 2010, Hadi Rashedi and Hashem Sha’bani were under severe torture in order to give information. The sources told JFI that the family of the accused were able to meet with them a few minutes before the court convened and said that Rashedi, who suffers from an ailment, suffered heavily from torture. His hip bone is shattered. Hadi Rashedi is a 38 year old chemistry instructor at Khalaf Abad (Ramshisr) High School.

Hashem Sha’bani, a 31 year old father of one girl, is a masters student of political science. He was tortured with boiling water and is in critical condition. When Press TV introduced Sha’bani and Rashedi as members of armed terrorist groups, the two individuals had not yet been tried anywhere. Under Iranian law, membership in armed terrorist groups carries a death penalty. Therefore, Press TV effectively issued the death sentence for the two individuals before they were even tried.

In its new announcement, Amnesty International expressed concern regarding the danger of execution for the 13 individuals tried today, including Rashedi and Sha’bani. Four other of the individuals are Mohammad Ali Amouri (weblogger), Rahman Assakereh (high school teacher), and two brothers by the names of Jaber and Seyyed Mokhtar Alboshoukeh. After months of detention at the Ministry of intelligence’s detention center, the aforementioned are being held at Ahvaz’s Karoun Prison. Amnesty International has requested immediate medical attention for the detainees. Local sources say that Jaber Alboshoukeh’s jaw and a few teeth are broken as a result of torture and he has lost 10 kilos of weight. As a result of torture, Mokhtar Alboshoukeh is suffering from memory loss.

One family members of the detainees told JFI, “The attorneys of these six individuals have not been permitted to visit with their client or read the case file.” This is while Press TV recorded and broadcast the confession of the detainees while they were in Intelligence Ministry’s detention center and had no access to their family or their attorneys. Prior to this, JFI issued “Cut! Take Press TV Off the Air,” a report that demonstrates how Press TV satellite station records confession acquired under torture from prisoners with the collaboration of Ministry of Intelligence and Sepah Intelligence Office. None of the video confessions documented in the report were broadcast from Press TV with the verbal or written permission of the prisoner. Majority of the time the prisoner was coerced with promise of release and told that the video taping is done for internal or research use only never to be broadcast. This is while, according to Islamic Republic Law, the media do not have the right to broadcast the image and names of individuals accused of any crimes prior to their conviction and violators will be penalized.

In April 2005, a letter was released allegedly written by Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Secretary of the president of the time. It discussed choosing a policy regarding changing the population demographic of the Arab residing areas in the south of Iran. Widespread protest spread through the Arab residing areas of the south to be continuously and violently crushed by the Iranian government. A large number of Arab activists, including women, have been arrested since; numerous cases of lengthy imprisonment terms for women, along with their young children, have been reported. In one such case, Fahimeh Badavi, a 26 year old elementary school teacher, was 8 months pregnant when she was arrested on February 26, 2006 along with her husband Ali Matouri Zadeh. After her husband was executed, she was sentences to 15 years’ imprisonment and is now serving her sentence in exile at Yasouj prison. Hoda Hashemi who was herself detained at the Intelligence Office’s detention center along with her 16 month old son, told JFI, “Without being transported to prison or given any equipments or assistance, Fahimeh Badavi delivered her daughter in her cell at the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention center, a fully male dominated location.”

As a result of the new wave of arrests in the city of Shush and Ahvaz during last winter, at least two detainees names Naser Alboshoukeh Dorafshan and Mohammad Ka’abi were killed in detention. In March 2011, Reza Maghamesi was killed under torture in Dezful Prison. So far, no information has been given to the family members of the three about the individuals responsible for their death.

What the Arab detainees spoke of in prison regarding being tortured for the purpose of extracting false confessions once more proves collaboration of Press TV with the offices in charge of violating the rights of the political prisoners through recording and broadcasting the confessions.

Read more about this:

Justice For Iran Call-to-Action for Identifying those Responsible for the Murder of the Detainees in Khuzistan

http://justiceforiran.org/call-for-action/ahvaz/?lang=en

Press TV Violates the Rights of the Detainees in Khuzistan

http://justiceforiran.org/reports/presstv-khuzestan/?lang=en

Cut! Take Press TV off the Air

http://justiceforiran.org/reports/english-cut-take-press-tv-off-the-air/?lang=en

 

 

 

Source: Justice for Iran

Ahwazi Arabs facing unfair trial, risk torture in Iran: Amnesty International

Source: Amnesty International

URGENT ACTION: AHWAZI ARABS FACING UNFAIR TRIAL, RISK TORTURE

Six members of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority are due to go on trial in Iran on 20 May. The men were detained without charge for almost a year and all were arrested in connection with their activities on behalf of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority. It is feared they will not receive a fair trial and may be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

The six men, all from Khalafabad in Khuzestan province, south-west Iran, were arrested at their homes in February and March 2011 in advance of the sixth anniversary of widespread protests by Ahwazi Arabs in April 2005. BloggerMohammad Ali Amouri, chemistry teacher Rahman Asakerehand teacher Hashem Sha’bani Amouri were arrested on 16 February. Teacher Hadi Rashidi (or Rashedi) was arrested on 28 February, and Sayed Jaber Alboshoka and his younger brother Sayed Mokhtar Alboshoka were arrested in March.

The men are now held in Karoun prison in the city of Ahwaz, Khuzestan province. At least four of them were denied access to a lawyer for at least eight months after arrest. In or around February 2012, they were all charged in separate five-minute court sessions with the vaguely-worded offences of “enmity against God and corruption on earth”(moharebeh va ifsad fil-arz), “gathering and colluding against state security” and “spreading propaganda against the system”. The charge of “enmity against God and corruption on earth” carries a possible death sentence. They are due to be tried before Branch 2 of the Dezful Revolutionary Court on 20 May 2012.

URGENT ACTION – DROHENDE HINRICHTUNG: HAMID GHASSEMI-SHALL, iranisch-kanadischer Staatsbürger

• Iran

UA-113/2012

Index:

MDE 13/023/2012

26. April 2012

HAMID GHASSEMI-SHALL, iranisch-kanadischer Staatsbürger

Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, der die iranische und kanadische Staatsangehörigkeit besitzt, droht offenbar im Iran unmittelbar die Hinrichtung. Am 15. April erfuhr seine Familie, dass sein Todesurteil an die Justizbehörde zur Vollstreckung von Todesurteilen weitergeleitet worden ist.

Hamid Ghassemi-Shall wurde am 24. Mai 2008 festgenommen, als er gerade seine Mutter im Iran besuchte. Sein älterer Bruder Alborz Ghassemi-Shall war etwa zwei Wochen zuvor festgenommen worden. Beide Brüder wurden 18 Monate lang im Teheraner Evin-Gefängnis in Einzelhaft und ohne Zugang zu rechtlicher Vertretung festgehalten. Im November 2009 wurden Hamid und Alborz Ghassemi-Shall schließlich aus der Einzelhaft in einen Trakt mit anderen Häftlingen verlegt.

In einem unfairen Gerichtsverfahren wurden beide Männer am 29. Dezember 2008 vor dem Revolutionsgericht zum Tode verurteilt. Das Gericht befand sie wegen Spionage und Verbindungen zur verbotenen Oppositionsgruppe der Volksmudschaheddin (People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – PMOI) der “Feindschaft zu Gott” (moharebeh) für schuldig. Amnesty International vorliegenden Informationen zufolge bestanden die Beweise gegen die beiden Brüder aus einem “Geständnis” und einer E-Mail, die Hamid Ghassemi-Shall an Alborz Ghassemi-Shall, der in der Vergangenheit als Maschinenbauingenieur für die iranische Armee gearbeitet hatte, gesendet haben soll. Hamid Ghassemi-Shall bestreitet das Versenden der E-Mail. Das Urteil gegen die beiden Männer wurde am 7. November 2009 vom iranischen Obersten Gerichtshof aufrechterhalten. Im Januar 2010 starb Alborz Ghassemi-Shall, der an Magenkrebs litt, im Gefängnis.

Angaben von Hamid Ghassemi-Shall zufolge stand er im Evin-Gefängnis, bevor ihm Zugang zu rechtlicher Vertretung gewährt wurde, unter “sehr großem Druck”, ein “Geständnis” abzulegen. Unter Folter erzwungene “Geständnisse” werden in iranischen Gerichten regelmäßig als Beweismittel herangezogen. Dies verstößt gegen das Recht des Angeklagten auf ein faires Gerichtsverfahren. Die iranischen Behörden haben in der Vergangenheit auch damit gedroht, die mittlerweile verstorbene Schwester von Hamid und Alborz Ghassemi-Shall, Mahin Ghassemi�Shall, festzunehmen, weil sie sich öffentlich für ihre Brüder eingesetzt hatte.

Callous Border Security Guns Down 70 Couriers in Iran

Government Should End Pattern of Illegal Use of Lethal Force in Northwest Border Provinces

Iranian Kurds and Unemployed Resort to Dangerous Black-Market Work

Bardehnaz Piranshahr border. Photo by Shirkoo Jahani for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

(27 April 2012) The Iranian government should immediately investigate the numerous cases of border security forces killing couriers in the northwestern provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah, and hold accountable those responsible for such calloususe of unlawful force, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. The government should also review its border security measures and the growing pattern of excessive use of lethal force, and should adopt clear polices to stop unlawful and unnecessary killing, the Campaign added.

“The ongoing cold-blooded killing of cross-border couriers (often called kulbar) by security officials is unacceptable, and the Iranian government must put an end to it,” Campaign spokesperson Hadi Ghaemi said. “The use of lethal force against these people, who are unarmed and are simply avoiding authorities, is unjustifiable, violates international law, and must be investigated.”

Iran Document: The Repression, Abuse, and Execution of Iranian Kurds

The five Iranians executed in May 2010Our colleagues at Arseh Sevom, pursuing civil society in Iran, profile a new report documenting the violations of the rights of Iranian Kurds, including intimidation, lengthy prison sentences, and the death penalty:

Soon it will be two years since the executions of four Kurdish activists shocked the international community. One of those executed was the teacher Farzad Kamangar, whose plight had been the focus of an international campaign. Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili, and Shirin Alamhouli were also hung, as was political prisoner Mehdi Eslamian.

Widespread Detentions of Ahwazi Activists Mark Anniversary of 2005 Crackdown

http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2012/04/ahwaz-crackdown/

Iranian authorities have detained at least 26 people in the city of Ahwaz and its surroundings in the southwestern province of Khuzestan during the weeks leading up to the April 15 anniversary of a 2005 protest and subsequent crackdown.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called for the immediate release of all detainees. Between late March and April 16, according to the European Ahwazi Human Rights Organisation (EAHRO), Iranian security and intelligence agents detained 26 activists to prevent the commemoration of the April 15 anniversary.

On 15 April 2005, widespread demonstrations broke out in various neighborhoods of Ahwaz in protest against ethnic discrimination and government policies which lead to substantial dislocation of Arab-Iranians and impoverishment of local communities. At the time, Iranian authorities arrested hundreds of protestors, and since then they have responded to local grievances with a heavy-handed policy of repression, detentions, torture, and even executions of activists.

MP calls on Iranian refugees to take files to Iraqi House of Representatives

SULAIMANIYA, April 19 (AKnews) – Iranian refugees in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region can take their issues to the committee of human rights at the Iraqi House of Representatives so as to be followed up, said a committee member.

The committee will insert the demands in its agenda and will propose it to the House, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Kurdistan parliament and government, said MP Ashwaq Jaf.

There are hundreds of Iranian refugees, most of them Kurds, who have been living in Kurdistan for more than 10 years. Despite this, they have not been issued citizenship and have been deprived of many rights enjoyed by fellow Iranians in other countries.

Fuad Abbasi, a 30-year-old Iranian Kurdish refugee in the Kurdistan Region, said so far neither the UN nor the Kurdish government has responded to demands for citizenship.

Abbasi, who has been living in the region as a political refugee since 2001, accused the UN “as the major party responsible” for refugees of “playing with our destiny every year”.

He called on the UN and the Kurdistan government to “make our destiny clear because in any democratic country… refugees are granted citizenship after five years and enjoy the full rights as the rest of the citizens in that country”.

Abbasi also demanded the government not to treat the refugees as “fuel of the tensions between Baghdad, Erbil and the UN”.

He complained that some of the refugees suffer from serious health conditions and need to be treated abroad but since they are banned in Iran and they do not have an Iraqi passport they have to suffer the pain for the rest of their lives.

“Every day we should dig a grave for our beloved ones,” he said.

Last year AKnews conducted a report in Soran city, Erbil province. In this city alone it was reported that there were more than 450 Iranian women who married Iraqi Kurdish men, but most of them after 20 years of marital life were not naturalized as Iraqi citizens.

By Idris Abu-Bakir

The latest video in the “Angels of Iran” series about human rights violations in Iran

From the Creators:  Education Under Fire is pleased to announce the release of the latest in a series of videos about Iranian citizens who are persecuted by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

A profile of human rights activist, Iranian-Kurdish singer / songwriter Soraya Fallah, with her daughter Cklara Moradian. Soraya was imprisoned four times, and tortured so severely that she miscarried in solitary confinement.

Irak: “Report on Joint Finnish-Swiss Fact-Finding Mission to Amman and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Area, May 10-22, 2011″

Quelle: Finnish Immigration Service

Irak: “Report on Joint Finnish-Swiss Fact-Finding Mission to Amman and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Area, May 10-22, 2011″ , Autor: Finnish Immigration Service & Federal Office for Migration (Switzerland)

Bericht über eine Fact-Finding-Mission in die Autonome Region Kurdistan (Sicherheitslage, Politik, Wirtschaft, Exekutive, Menschenrechte, Frauen & Kinder, Minderheiten, RückkehrerInnen, ausländische Flüchtlinge, Gesundheitsversorgung, IrakerInnen in Jordanien & Syrien) [ID 210354]

Dokument(e):Dokument öffnen

Schweden: Iraner ins falsche Land abgeschoben

Ins falsche Land abgeschoben wurde ein 53jähriger iranischer Asylsuchender mit irakisch-kurdischen Wurzeln. Der Betroffene hat jetzt eine Beschwerde beim schwedischen Ombudsmann für Justizangelegenheiten anhängig machen lassen, nachdem im Irak, wo er jetzt in Haft sitzt, bis zu 15 Jahren Haft drohen könnten. Der Betroffene ist im Irak geboren, wurde später iranischer Staatsbürger und floh aus dem Iran im Jahre 2002 nach Schweden, wo er Asylantrag stellte. Nach Angaben seiner Anwältin stand seine Abschiebung in den Iran nach endgültiger Ablehnung des Asylantrages bevor. Tatsächlich habe man ihn dann in den Irak ausgeflogen. Ihr Mandant sei Angehöriger einer kurdischen Minderheit, von denen viele zu Saddam Husseins Zeiten in den Iran ausgewiesen worden seien. Tausende seien in den 80er Jahren im Iran verschwunden. Die irakische Botschaft in Schweden hat nach Angaben von Familienangehörigen einen irakischen Pass ausgestellt, weil es eine Regelung gebe, dass kurdische Minderheitenangehörige ihre irakische Staatsangehörigkeit wieder erwerben könnten. Die Verwandten gehen davon aus, dass materielle Interessen im Spiel gewesen seien könnten, als die Botschaft einen echten Pass für die Abschiebung zur Verfügung stellte. (Quelle: Migration News Sheet, Dezember 2011)

Stop executions in Iran now

13. Juli 1989 – Wiener Attentat auf iranischen Kurden Politiker – Verdächtigt: Mohamed AHMADINEJAD

Hintergrund: Morde an kurdischen Politikern in Wien

• 
  Foto: APA/Schlager

  13. Juli 1989: Polizeieinsatz in der Landstraße Hauptstraße (Archivbild).

• ---

Einer der Täter wurde unter Polizeischutz zum Schwechater Flughafen geleitet

Wien – Die Wiener Kurdenmorde von 1989 zählen zu den spektakulärsten Morden der letzten Jahrzehnte an iranischen Oppositionellen. Mit einem Schlag wurden an jenem 13. Juli 1989 in einer Wiener Privatwohnung drei Männer getötet: der Chef der Kurdischen Demokratischen Partei/Iran, Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, sein Stellvertreter Abdullah Ghaderi-Azar und der in Österreich eingebürgerte Kurde Fadel Rasoul.Als Vorwand der Attentäter, um die Oppositionspolitiker in die Falle zu locken, diente ein angebliches Geheimtreffen mit Emissären des iranischen Regimes in der Linken Bahngasse. Es erschien das Mordkommando. Die drei Opfer wurden durch Kopfschüsse buchstäblich hingerichtet. Ein weiterer schwer verletzter Iraner, der das Massaker überlebte, konnte sich auf die Straße schleppen und Hilfe alarmieren. Anführer des Terrorkommandos soll Mohammad Jafari-Sahroudi gewesen sein, der in der vergangenen Woche angeblich im Irak festgenommen worden ist.

پناه جویان وپناهندگان در کردستان عراق ازامنیت معیشت وحقوق انسانی واجتماعی برخوردار نیستند

No to Deportation to Iran!

بسیاری ازپناهجویان که به کردستان عراق روی می آورند اغلب کردستان را به عنوان گذرگاهی برای رسیدن به کشوری امن انتخاب می کنند .اما اکثر این پناهجویان در کردستان عراق ساکن میشوند و از طریق نمایدندگی یوان درسلیمانیه و اربیل مصاحبه و کارت پناهندگی دریافت میکنن.
پناهجویانی که درکردستان عراق ساکن هستنداز هیچ امکانات مادی و معنوی از طرف حکومت اقلیم کردستان برخوردار نیستند ونمایندگی یو ان در کردستان به وضعیت موجود رسیدگی نمی کند و نکرده است و در شرایط سخت ودشواری به سر میبرند .

این درحالی است که به دلیل هم مرز بودن وروابط نزدیک حکومت اقلیم کردستان وحکومت مرکزی عراق با حکومت اسلامی ایران امنیت صدها فعال سیاسی که به کردستان پناه آورده اند در خطر است .وبارها شاهد زندانی کردن و شکنجه و آزار اذیت و دیپورت پناهجویان ایرانی بودیم .وطبق گذارش ها در اوایل سال 2011 بیش از 45 نفر از پناهجویان ایرانی که بخشا فعال سیاسی بودن بدون محاکمه از طرف حکومت اقلیم کردستان به ایران دیپورت شدند.

درفصل زمستان نمایندگی یوان درکردستان به دلیل سرد بودن و گران بودن سوخت که قیمت هر بشکه نفت سفید به110 دلار میرسد به پناهجویان وپناهندگان تنها یک بشکه نفت سفید می دهند .که به دلیل اطلاع رسانی نکردن لازم بسیاری از آنها موفق به دریافت نفت نمیشوند .

درپایان سال 2011نمایندگی یو ان شهراربیل به همه پناهجویان وپناهندگان نفت سفید دادند اما در شهر سلیمانیه اعلام شده که فقط خانواده پناهندگانی که وضعیت نامناسب معیشتی دارند می توانند نفت دریافت کنند.

این اولین باری نیست که نمایندگی یوان درکردستان عراق دست به چنین کاری میزند وهمین اندک حقوق پناهنده و پناهجویان رابرای پرکردن جیبهایشان پایمال میکنند .

لازم به ذکر است که در کردستان عراق پناهنده و پناهجو از لحاظ امنیت معیشت وحقوق انسانی واجتماعی هیچ فرقی باهم دیگر ندارند این در حالی است که باید سازمان یو ان و حکومت اقلیم کردستان تا زمانی که پروسه برسی پرونده پناهجو به پایان می رسد امکانات زندگی از جمله امنیت، مسکن و تغذیه و دارو فراهم کندوزمانی به عنوان پناهنده پذیرفته میشود باید ازحقوق شهروندی وامنیت برخوردار باشد.که هیچ پناهنده یا پناهجویی از این حق برخوردار نیستند وتنها فرقی که بین پناهجو و پناهنده در کردستان عراق مشاهده میشود تغییردادن کلمه پناهجو به پناهنده روی کارت پناهندگی است و دلیل آن این بی توجهی نمایندگی یو ان است که نمیتواند به امور پناهندگی در کردستان عراق رسیدگی کندوباید تمامی پناهجویان را به کشوری امن منتقل کنند.

France24:The noose tightens around Iranian refugees at Camp Ashraf

The Iraqi government has announced that it plans to close Camp Ashraf, home to more than 3,000 Iranian dissidents by the end of the year. But the decision that has put the international community in a difficult position.

By Marc DAOU (text)

During his visit to the US this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has a number of issues on the agenda, primarily the December 31, 2011, withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq. But at Camp Ashraf – home to more than 3,000 Iranian dissidents in Iraq – all eyes are set on whether Maliki’s visit could bring a resolution to a looming crisis over the future of the refugee camp.

December 31 also happens to be the deadline set by Maliki’s government to dismantle the camp, which is situated in Iraq’s Diyala province about 60 kilometers north of Baghdad.

A sprawling camp that emerged in the mid-1980s, Camp Ashraf is a base of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI), a resistance group opposed to the Iranian theocratic regime and reviled in Tehran. Under former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the group – which is also called the Mujahideen Khalq – mounted attacks against the Iranian government

Following the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the camp was disarmed and secured by US troops until 2009, when the US turned the camp over to the Iraqi government.

Iran: 56 sunnitische Verkündiger des Islam zu Freiheitsstrafen verurteilt

Grund ist deren Kritik an der Diskriminierung der sunnitischen Gruppierungen im Iran

(Institut für Islamfragen, dh, 02.12.2011) Laut Berichts der arabischen Zeitung www.alarabiya.net vom 11.10 2011 verurteilte die Islamische Iranische Republik 56 sunnitische Verkündiger des Islam [arb. Du'at] zu unterschiedlich langen Freiheitsstrafen. Die Verurteilten sind sunnitische Muslime aus kurdischen Gebieten im Iran, vor allem aus Kurdistan und dem westlichen Teil Aserbaidschans.

Unter Berufung auf die iranische Menschenrechtsorganisation Harna haben 26 der verhafteten muslimischen Gelehrten im Raja’i Shahr Gefängnis in der Nähe von Teheran einen Hungerstreik begonnen. Sie wollen auf die sie diskriminierende Behandlung der iranischen Behörden aufmerksam machen. U. a. sei es ihnen seit langer Zeit verboten, ihre Familien zu sehen. Dazu sind sie in Zellen zusammen mit Verbrechern inhaftiert.

Außerdem kritisierte Rikni Imam Jum’a die Behörden des Hafens Landja wegen der Beschlagnahmung von Eigentum sunnitischer Muslime in diesem Hafen. Darüber hinaus sind die Entwicklungsvorhaben in diesem Gebiet mit sunnitischer Mehrheit von den iranischen Behörden eingestellt worden.

Quelle: www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/11/171319.html

Iraq signs ‘death warrant’ on Iran exiles: European Parliament

- Iraq has served a virtual “death warrant” on some 3,400 Iranian dissidents exiled in a camp north of Baghdad, the head of the European parliament’s delegation for relations with Iraq said Friday.

MEP Struan Stevenson said the Iraqi embassy in Brussels had sent a letter to the European parliament tantamount “to a virtual declaration of war on the UN and international community and a death warrant” for residents of the Ashraf camp.

Iraq: Need to ensure the protection of the residents of Camp Ashraf

Geneva, 11 November 2011. The OMCT calls on the authorities of Iraq to ensure the full respect for the rights of the residents of Camp Ashraf located in Iraq and on the international community to step up its efforts to prevent serious human rights violations and the forcible return of its residents to Iran in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.

“The deadline set by the Iraqi government to close Camp Ashraf by the end of 2011 without a safe solution for its residents, causes an acute risk of grave and serious human rights violations”, said Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of the OMCT.

The Iraqi government has repeatedly stated that the camp should be closed and its residents expelled from Iraq. Recent statements by Iraqi’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to close down the camp by the end of 2011 without a safe solution for its residents are all the more alarming. The OMCT recalls that Iraq has clear obligations under international human rights law to ensure the safety of the camps residents’ and that it is prohibited to forcible return them to Iran, where they may face torture, ill-treatment and other serious human rights violations.

 

SPENDENAUFRUF/DONATE: NEUES ERDBEBEN , Van (Türkei) BITTE HELFEN SIE/PLEASE HELP!

Spendenaufruf für die Erdbebenopfer (iranische Flüchtlinge) in der Türkei – Region Van /D-Farsi-ENG

WIEDER STARKES ERDBEBEN IN DER TÜRKEI – Dutzende Menschen unter Trümmern begraben

SECHSSTÖCKIGES HOTEL IN VAN EINGESTÜRZT

Essen/ Podiumsdiskussion: Situation der kurdischen Bevölkerung in der Türkei – Sonntag, 13. November · 14:00 – 17:00

Sonntag, 13. November · 14:00 - 17:00

 

1. Eröffnung, Begrüßung
2. Die aktuelle Situation der kurdischen Bevölkerung in der Türkei
3. Was kann man hier in Deutschland unternehmen.
4. Politische Situation der kurdischen Abgeordnete.
5. Angespannte Lage nach der Wahlen

Cansu Özdemir
Bärbel Beuermann
Yüksel Koc
Günay Aslan

Ort: Sternquelle
Schäferstr. 17
45128 Essen

Spendenaufruf für die Erdbebenopfer (iranische Flüchtlinge) in der Türkei – Region Van /D-Farsi-ENG

Am Sonntag, 23. Oktober 2011 und am Mittwoch 9. November 2011, hat ein schweres Erdbeben der Stärke 7.2 den Südosten der Türkei im Gebiet um die Stadt VAN erschüttert. Nach Einschätzung von Fachleuten ist dies das schwerste Erdbeben in der Türkei in den vergangenen zehn Jahren und in seiner Stärke vergleichbar mit dem Erdbeben in Haiti 2010.

Mehr als 2.000 Gebäude sind zerstört. Tausende Menschen sind obdachlos, darunter viele iranische Flüchtlinge. Allein in Van leben rund 600 iranische Flüchtlinge. Wieviel Flüchtlinge unter den Toten sind steht bislang nicht fest. Viele Menschen im Erdbebengebiet halten sich aus Angst vor Nachbeben noch im Freien auf. Für sie wurden Suppenküchen eingerichtet. Nachts sinken die Temperaturen in den Ruinen auf bis zu null Grad. Somit sind Schlafsäcke und Zelte besonders wichtig.

Seitdem erreichen uns von iranischen Flüchtlingen zahlreiche Hilferufe aus der Türkei. Die ohnehin mittellosen Flüchtlinge haben nichts mehr, außer der Kleidung die sie tragen.

Aus diesem Grund rufen wir europaweit zu einer Spendenaktion für die Opfer des Erdbebens in der Türkei auf.

Jede Spende geht direkt an die Betroffenen.

Die Flüchtlingshilfe Iran e.V. 2010, zahlreiche iranische Gruppen, Organisationen und Einzelpersonen bitten um Spenden.

Spendenkonto:

Onlinespende

Flüchtlingshilfe Iran e.V. 2010

Kennwort: Erdbeben /Türkei

Bank für Sozialwesen
BLZ 100 205 00
Konto Nr.: 117 6500
IBAN: DE 31100205000001176500
BIC: BFSWDE 33BER

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روز یکشنبه یکم آبان ماه زلزله‌ای به شدت ۷،۲ ریشتر برخی‌ از شهرهای استان وان در جنوب شرقی‌ ترکیه را لرزاند. کارشناسان زلزله نگاری دنیا معتقدند این زلزله در طول ده سال گذشته شدیدترین زلزله ترکیه بوده است و آن را با زلزله هایتی در سال ۲۰۱۰ قابل مقایسه دانسته اند. این فاجعه انسانی‌ ویرانی بیش از دو هزار ساختمان، آوره شدن هزار نفر و کشته و زخمی شدن صدها نفر دیگر  را به دنبال داشته است. در این میان تعداد تقریبی ششصد پناهجوی ایرانی نیز از محلهای سکونت خود آوره شده و نیاز شدید به اسکان مجدد و انتقال از محل حادثهٔ دارند. از اینکه در میان این افراد کسانی‌ کشته شده باشند اطلاعی در دست نیست. در روزهای گذشته به دلیل وقوع چندین پس لرزه ساکنان شهر وان ناچار شده‌اند با وجود سرمای شدید در معابر عمومی به سر ببرند. در حل حاضر مراکز امداد رسانی مشغول توزیع نیازهای اولیه از جمله چادر و کیسه‌های خواب در بین اوارگان هستند.

در این میان تعداد زیادی از پناهجویان ایرانی‌ که در گذشته نیز از امکانات چندانی برخوردار نبوده اند اینک از حداقل نیازهای روزمره از قبیل خوراک و پوشاک و امکان خروج نیز محروم مانده‌اند. در راستای کمک به زلزله زدگان ایرانی شهر وان نهاد ما به همراه تعدادی از فعالان حقوق بشری مستقل خواهان کمکهای فوری از کشورهای اروپای به ترکیه است. این درخواست بر اساس تقاضای پناه جویان ایرانی صورت گرفته و پس از جمع آوری، کمک‌ها به صورت مستقیم به آسیب دیدگان ارسال میشود.

سازمان کمک به پناهندگان ایرانی ۲۰۱۰

پناهندگان ایرانی منتظر کمکهای انسان دوستانه شما هستند.

Flüchtlingshilfe Iran e.V. 2010

Kennwort: Erdbeben /Türkei

Bank für Sozialwesen
BLZ 100 205 00
Konto Nr.: 117 6500
IBAN: IBAN: DE 31100205000001176500
BIC: BFSWDE 33BER

 

Richter scale occurred in the Van province in Southeastern Turkey. According to
Experts, this constitutes the heaviest earthquake in Turkey within the last ten years,
comparable in magnitude with the earthquake in Haiti of 2010.

More than 2.000 houses were destroyed. Thousands of people lost their homes,
among them many Iranian refugees. Roughly 600 Iranian refugees live in the
city of Van alone. How many refugees have died, is yet unknown. Out of fear of
aftershocks, many survivors have not returned to their homes or taken shelter in
buildings thus forced to stay and sleep outdoors. Soup kitchens have been set up. At
night, temperatures have dropped beneath the point of freezing. Sleeping bags and
tents are therefore urgently needed.

Since the earthquake, numerous calls for help from Iranian refugees in Turkey have
reached us. Stranded and penniless to begin with, the refugees have nothing left but
the clothes they are wearing.

Therefore, we call for donations europeanwide to help the victims of the earthquake in
Turkey.

Every donation goes directly to the hands of a person concerned.

Flüchtlingshilfe Iran e.V. 2010, numerous Iranian groups, organizations and
individuals, are calling for donations.

Donations Account:

Flüchtlingshilfe Iran e.V. 2010

Key word: Erdbeben/Tuerkei
Bank für Sozialwesen

BLZ 100 205 00
Konto Nr.: 117 6500 
 
IBAN: DE 31100205000001176500

BIC: BFSWDE 33BER

Empfehlung: Colour of Paradise (Die Farbe Gottes) Rang-e Choda

Iran 1999

Verleih: Advanced Film
Regie und Drehbuch: Majid Majidi
Darsteller/innen: Hossein Mahjoob, Salameh Feyzi, Mohsen Ramezani, Behzad Rafeiey, Morteza Fatemi u. a.
Produktion: Varahonar Film Co.
Kamera: Mohammad Davoodi
Laufzeit: 88 min

EU benennt Vermittler für Camp Ashraf

Die EU hat laut Reuters den ehemaligen belgischen EU-Botschafter Jean De Ruyt beauftragt, sich in Zusammenarbeit mit den Vereinten Nationen, der irakischen Regierung und anderen für eine Lösung der Krise in Camp Ashraf einzusetzen. Das rund 65 Kilometer von Bagdad entfernte Lager ist die Basis der iranischen Volksmudjahedin (PMOI), die einst auf der Seite Saddam Husseins gegen den Iran kämpften. Von den USA wird die Organisation als terroristische Vereinigung angesehen, die EU strich sie 2009 von ihrer Terrorliste. Seit dem Sturz Saddam Husseins sind die rund 3000 Einwohner des Lagers von Menschenrechtsverletzungen bedroht. Das Lager wurde bereits Schauplatz blutiger Zusammenstöße zwischen irakischen Sicherheitskräften und Bewohnern, mehr als 30 Bewohner wurden dabei getötet. Struan Strevenson, Leiter der Irak-Delegation des europäischen Parlaments, bezeichnete die Ernennung De Ruyts als Vermittler als einen Durchbruch, der „eine Srebrenica-artige Katastrophe“ in Camp Ashraf verhindern könne. Nach Stevensons Angaben sollen die Einwohner des Lagers UN-Flüchtlingsstatus bekommen und in EU-Staaten und anderen Drittstaaten aufgenommen werden, fügte jedoch hinzu, das dieser Prozess noch länger andauern könne.

The Factors Behind Rebellion in Iranian Kurdistan

When viewing Iran, the locus of international attention remains fixed on the quarrelsome condition of U.S.-Iran relations and the tensions surrounding its nuclear program. The domestic political landscape in Iran, specifically the numerous ethnic and sectarian minorities in the country, is also beginning to draw more attention. Through collective displays of peaceful activism to organized campaigns of violence, a number of movements purporting to stand for the interests of ethnic and sectarian minority communities who see themselves as victims of state-directed oppression are increasingly capturing the spotlight. The September 22, 2010 bombing that occurred during the annual festivities surrounding “Sacred Defense Week” in the predominately ethnic Kurdish city of Mahabad appears to illustrate this pattern of dissent.[1] The attack in Mahabad killed 12 bystanders and injured dozens more.[2] Seemingly targeting a procession of soldiers, the victims of the attack were primarily children and women, including two wives of Iranian military commanders.[3]

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the bombing, although Iran quickly named a number of potential culprits, including what Iranian authorities described as “counter-revolutionaries” such as armed Kurdish nationalist militants associated with Partiya Jiyana Azadi Kurdistan (Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan, PJAK).[4] Mahabad and surrounding regions in northwestern Iran have been the scenes of frequent clashes between PJAK guerrillas and Iranian security forces during the last few years.[5] In spite of the questions surrounding the perpetrators of the attack in Mahabad—PJAK continues to deny any role in the bombing—the trajectory of violence in northwestern Iran between Kurdish militants led by PJAK and state security forces points to a deeper current in Iranian society characterized by growing unrest among Iran’s restive ethnic Kurdish minority.[6]

Religious Allegiances among Pro-Iranian Special Groups in Iraq

Author: Reidar Visser

Pro-Iranian “Special Groups” are once more the focus of attention in Iraq. As the United States prepares to withdraw its forces from Iraq at the end of 2011, the U.S. military has highlighted increasing paramilitary activity by the Special Groups, supported with weapons and explosives from Iran, as a potential threat to political stability in the years ahead. Yet it is not accurate to suggest that all Special Groups share the same relationship with the regime in Tehran.

This article explores the religious allegiances of pro-Iranian Special Groups in Iraq. The links between militant groups and religious authorities are investigated for four such groups: Kataib Hizb Allah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the Promised Day Brigades and the Badr Organization. It is concluded that Kataib Hizb Allah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq are most closely integrated into the tradition of the Iranian revolution, but also that an exclusive focus on the Special Groups and their ties to the Iranian clergy involves missing the wood for the trees. With signs of increasingly close ties between the Da`wa Party of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the Iranian clergy, the study of the activities of the Special Groups in isolation from the broader Iranian strategy in Iraq is somewhat myopic.

tehran bureau: Convert’s Death Writ ‘Not Definitive’; Students Protest Sex Segregation

Press Roundup provides a selected summary of news from the Farsi and Arabic press and excerpts where the source is in English. Tehran Bureau has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Please refer to the Media Guide to help put the stories in perspective. You can follow breaking news stories on our Twitter feed.

Iran Standard Time (IRST), GMT+3:30

9:15 p.m., 14 Mehr/October 6 Our columnist Muhammad Sahimi compiled the following news items and commentary:

Responding to the wave of international protest against the death sentence for Yousef Nadarkhani, a Muslim Iranian who converted to Christianity and become a preacher, the Iranian Embassy in Rome was forced to issue a statement denying that the death sentence is definitive. The statement pointed out that Article 13 of the Constitution recognizes the adherents to other Godly religions as religious minorities and respects their rights. It also observed that several religious minorities have their own representatives to the Majles. The embassy’s statement was released after the false claim by Fars, the news agency run by the intelligence unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that Nadarkhani was sentenced to die not for his conversion, but for other offenses, proved ineffective.

Iran: Kurdish displaced families face disease

Iran’s shelling of Iraqi Kurdistan region border areas has displaced hundreds of Kurdish families, a migration group said Monday, voicing fears disease may spread in the camps where they are living.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said it was aware of 884 Kurdish families that had been displaced along the Iraq-Iran border in Iraq’s northern Kurdish province of Erbil, and said the families were being put up in temporary camps.

“The families are living without electricity in the camps and are suffering from a lack of food,” it said in a statement.

“There is also a fear that disease will spread due to families using nearby streams, which are highly polluted, as their source of water.”

“There have been numerous reports that children within the camps are suffering from acute diarrhoea as a result. Thus, the most pressing need for these families is health checks, medicine and water purification kits.”

The IOM noted that many of the families displaced had relied on farming to survive, and “were particularly affected by the destruction of their land and livestock by the shelling.”

Quelle: http://www.kurdsat.tv/news.php?id=236&type=kurdistan

EIL: Iran: Kurdischer politischer Gefangenen heimlich hingerichtet

Das iranische Regime hat heimlich den kurdischen politischen Gefangenen Eziz Xakzad gehängt, obwohl ein Gericht seine Strafe auf fünf Jahre Gefängnis reduziert hatte. Eziz Xakzad wurde hingerichtet, ohne das seine Familie und sein Anwalt davon in Kenntnis gesetzt worden sind.
Nach einer Meldung des Nachrichtenportal Hrana wurde der 29-jährige Eziz Xakzade 2007 verhaftet und vom Revolutionsgericht wegen „Krieg gegen Gott” und „Unterstützung einer kurdischen Partei” zum Tode verurteilt. Allerdings hatte ein höheres Gericht die Strafe auf fünf Jahre Gefängnis geändert und überstellte ihn von Selmas in das Kerman Gefängnis, wo er am Morgen des 4. Oktober 2011 heimlich gehängt worden ist.
Weitere 18 kurdische politische Gefangene werden in iranischen Gefängnissen mit ihrer Hinrichtung bedroht: Zeyneb Celaliyan, Serko Mearifî, Hebîbûlla Letîfî, Sami Husênî, Cemal Mihemedî, Rustem Erkiya, Mistefa Selimi, Enwer Rostemî, Irec Mihemedî, Mihemed Emin Agusi, Ehmed Pûladxanî, Hesen Tale’î, Ezîz Mihemedizade, Hebibulla Gulperîpûr, Ebdûlah Sirurî, Resid Axkendî, Loqman Muradi ve Zanyar Muradi.
Bereits am 3. Oktober sind acht weitere Gefangene im Iran wegen angeblichem Drogenhandel gehängt worden.

Quelle: ANF, 05.10.2011, ISKU

Türkei/Iran starten gemeinsame Tötung von Kurden

Ziel der gemeinsamen Operation dürften Rebellenstützpunkte in den Kandil-Bergen an der iranisch-irakischen Grenze sein.

Der türkische Ministerpräsident Recep Tayyip Erdoganhat eine gemeinsame Offensive der türkischen und iranischen Streitkräfte gegen kurdische Rebellen im Nordirak angekündigt. Beide Länder arbeiteten zusammen und seien entschlossen, sagte er am Sonntag. Es gebe keine Verzögerungen, betonte Erdogan.

Ziel der Operation dürften die Rebellenstützpunkte in den Kandil-Bergen an der iranisch-irakischen Grenze, tief in irakischem Territorium, sein. “Es tut mir leid, das zu sagen, aber es wird einen Preis haben”, sagteErdogan. Ein Teil der kurdischen Rebellen, die für ein autonomes Gebiet im Südosten der Türkei kämpfen, führt von den Kandil-Bergen aus auch Angriffe gegen den Iran durch.

 

Quelle: diepresse

Iran Live Video/Text: President Ahmadinejad’s Address to the United Nations

President Ahmadinejad’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly today — for snap analysis (even though there is not much to say)

 

The Turkey-Iran Pact

A hot war has been raging in northern Iraq since mid-July, and despite the casualties and the drama, it has gone virtually unreported by the international media.

The war was launched on July 16 by Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) troops in an effort to crush Iranian rebel Kurds who have sought refuge in the 12,000 foot high Qandil mountains that form the border between Iran and Iraq.

It began with cross-border shelling by Iranian artillery, air strikes, and several attempted ground incursions into Iraq by Iranian forces. But within ten days, NATO-ally Turkey openly joined the fray.

Deutsch Türkische Nachrichten: Absage an Erdogan: Iran will keinen gemeinsamen Krieg gegen die PKK

Der iranische Botschafter in der Türkei hat sich gegen gemeinsame Militäroperationen der Türkei und des Iran zur Bekämpfung der PKK ausgesprochen.

Der iranische Botschafter in der Türkei, Bahman Hosseinpour, schloss gemeinsame Militärschläge der Türkei und des Iran gegen die PKK im Nordirak aus. Hosseinpour sagte bei einer Pressekonferenz nach einem Treffen mit Parlamentssprecher Cemil Çiçek am Freitag, dass die PKK und ihre Schwesternorganisation PJAK zwar der gemeinsame Feind beider Länder seien. Dennoch werde man den Kampf gegen diese Organisationen getrennt weiter führen.

Hosseinpour sagte, dass iranische Truppen in diesem Monat bereits 30 kurdische Kämpfer verletzt oder getötet habe. Diese sollen Sabotageakte gegen Pipelines auf iranischem Territorium versucht oder Überfälle durchgeführt haben.

Der türkische Premier Recep Erdogan hat kürzlich angeregt, dass die beiden Länder gemeinsame Militäraktionen gegen die PKK durchführen sollten.

Quelle

Iran: Roundup of Today’s International News 15/09/11

Alarmed West dismisses Iran nuclear “charm offensive” 
Western powers said on Wednesday an Iranian “charm offensive” had failed to dispel mounting fears Iran may be working to develop a nuclear bomb, but Washington’s envoy did not rule out engaging with Tehran after it offered fresh talks. Glyn Davies, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. atomic watchdog, said a letter from Iran’s nuclear negotiator to the European Union’s foreign policy chief did not contain any new commitments by Tehran to address international concerns about its aims.

Ahmadinejad to bring book on Iran’s occupation by Allies to UN General Assembly 
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans to give copies of a book about Iran’s occupation by the Allies during World War II as gifts to the political delegations attending the 66th session of the UN General Assembly. […] “Iran’s occupation by the Allies during World War II is an international issue… this book contains many documents referring to the abuses practiced by the Allies against the Iranian people,” he added.

 

Iraqi Kurdistan: Cross-Border Attacks Should Spare Iraqi Civilians

Publisher:	Human Rights Watch
Published:	September 2, 2011

 

At Least 10 Dead; Hundreds of Families Displaced

(Beirut) – Iran and Turkey’s cross-border attacks inIraqi Kurdistan have killed at least 10 civilians and displaced hundreds since mid-July 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. Some of the attacks may have been carried out without sufficient attempts to ensure minimal impact on civilians, Human Rights Watch said.

Both Iran and Turkey say that their military operations, including artillery and aerial bombardments, are aimed at armed groups operating out of Iraqi Kurdistan along the northern and eastern borders. When Human Rights Watch visited those areas in August, Iraqi residents and officials said that many of the targeted areas are purely civilian and are not being used by the armed groups.

Evidence suggests that the regular Iranian bombardments may be an attempt to force Iraqi civilians out of some areas near the Iranian border.

Tuesdays Until the Islamic Republic Is No More

[FARSI]
We declare Tuesdays as a day of solidarity with the families of political prisoners, and we will continue to show solidarity with the political prisoners and their families on these days until the total and complete overthrow of the Islamic Republic in its entirety, including all its flanks and filthy cliques. On this day of the week, wherever we are, and preferably in front of the Islamic Republic embassies – these houses of terror and crime, these pits of espionage and dissemination of Islamic reactionary ideology – we will remember the political prisoners and show our solidarity and sympathy with them and their families.

 

We ask honorable people in Iran to go on Tuesdays, with a red rose in hand, and join the families of political prisoners outside the prison gates.

Wednesdays are days of executions. Not that the Islamic Republic doesn’t execute on other days – it does – but in any case, the Islamic headmen prefer Wednesdays for killing people. Perhaps the excitement of taking the life of a human being in the middle of a long work-week reduces the boredom. We too await the day that is coming – and it is a day that is coming very soon. This day could be tomorrow! The day of answering, the day of the peoples’ revolutionary courts, the Court of the Bloody Decade, the court of Khavaran, the court of the Sanandaj garrisons, the Court of Ahwaz, and Anzali (1) and Ghombad (2) and Nekah (3)… the Court of all Iran and all people of Iran.

Especially now that the regime of crimes and atrocities, once again fearing that the day of answering is drawing near has raised the gallows again, our presence and solidarity with the political prisoners and their families are becoming even more important.

Tuesdays are visiting days. Not that every Tuesday the families of the prisoners get to visit their loved ones. The reality is that many families of jailed victims have queued for months or even years behind those closed iron doors without seeing their beloved. They have bowed to and bribed every pasdar and mullah and torturer and basiji, to every expert in rape, lashing, kicks and punches, and to other similar non-entities [without once seeing their beloved]. In any case, Tuesdays are the days that the families of political prisoners gather in front of the prison gates.

Our people are indebted to political prisoners. We are indebted to all of those of today and of yesterday: for being human, for thinking and wanting, for opposing the filth and crimes of the Islamic regime of stray and rabid dogs like Khomeini and Rafsanjani and Khamenei and Khalkhali and Hassani and Mousavi and Ahmadinejad. They have been beaten and broken and put under torture, and yet they continue. And Kahrizaks and Evins are filled with them. Holding Tuesdays of Solidarity, from today until the fall of the Islamic Regime, inside and outside of Iran, in front of the Embassy, side by side with the families in front of the prisons – this is but a little step towards paying the debt that we have to these, our loved ones, political prisoners and their families.

We call Tuesdays the day of solidarity with political prisoners and their families, and until we bring down the gates of Evin, until the freedom of all political prisoners, until the establishment of a government that does not tolerate the suppression of opposing ideas, until the uprooting of this rotting Islamic tumor, and until the establishment of a humane governance, on this day every week we will be a thorn in the side of the Islamic Republic.

 

(1: Anzali is a major port on the Caspian Sea where the Islamic Republic, in the first days after their counterrevolution, massacred impoverished fisherman who protested against the regime’s rules and regulations that ruined their livelihoods such they could not go fishing. These were very poor fishermen who worked from rowboats. The Islamic Republic opened fire on all of them with machine guns and killed many.)

 

(2: Ghombad is a place in Iran where Turkman people, who had created their assemblies to democratically conduct their community’s business – schools, cities, water – were attacked by the Islamic Republic. The leaders of the assemblies, who were utterly defenseless, were all arrested and executed directly.)

(3: Nekah is the city where an orphaned 16-year-old girl Atefeh Rajabi was mercilessly executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.)

Quelle missionfreeiran

Eye on Iran: Iran Tells UN It Will Hit Back at Any Attack

Top Stories

AFP: ”Iran warned it would ‘not hesitate’ to hit back following a foreign strike on its soil in a formal complaint to the United Nations over a warning from French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy said last week that Iran’s ‘military, nuclear and ballistic ambitions constitute a growing threat that may lead to a preventive attack against Iranian sites that would provoke a major crisis that France wants to avoid at all costs.’ Iran’s UN ambassador said in a letter to UN leaders that his country would ‘not hesitate to act in self-defense to respond to any attack against the Iranian nation.’ Iran would ‘take appropriate defensive measures to protect itself,’ ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council, of which France is one of the five permanent members.” http://t.uani.com/pWewD2