I chose beatings over solitary confinement’ – this is what it was like to be locked up in prison in Tehran

September 11, 2021; by Mosfafa Naderi, Independent

Last week, leaked surveillance footage showed shocking abuses of prisoners in Iran’s Evin prison. Watching the videos reminded me of my years in Evin – with one notable difference: the guards of my time seemed even more barbaric.

I want to explain why what happened 33 years ago matters today. Iran’s society has changed, but its regime has not – in fact, Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, is one of the leaders of the horrific 1988 execution of thousands of political prisoners following the supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini’s fatwa (religious decree).

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Biden Must Put Human Rights Front and Center In Iran Policy

April 11, 2021; by Ken Blackwell, TownHall

The ubiquitous human rights group Amnesty International recently released its report on “the state of the world’s human rights.” It calls attention to a wide range of issues spanning 149 countries, including many that remain unresolved.

Within this category, the1988 massacre of Iranian political prisoners, described as the worst crime against humanity in the latter half of the 20thcentury, stands out above most others. Unfortunately, the international community has been reluctant to address this crime against humanity and hold the regime accountable. 

As a result of that inexplicable silence, the regime developed an enhanced sense of impunity to annihilate the organized opposition. In May 1988, "death commissions" began convening in prisons throughout Iran, with the mandate to interrogate political prisoners over their attitudes toward the theocratic system and to summarily execute those who failed to demonstrate fealty to

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A New Iran Policy Should Confront Tehran’s Terrorism Targeting Dissidents Abroad

January 24, 2021; by Homeira Hesami, InsideSources

As an Iranian-American who has regularly spoken out against the injustices of the regime in Iran, one might assume I feel no personal threat from a tyrannical government on the opposite side of the world. That is not the case. And the new administration should take stock of a terrorism trial in a Belgian court whose verdict is expected next month. It may have significant policy implications as hundreds of Americans, including myself and many distinguished former officials, were among the targets.

A few months ago, a State Department fact sheet stated, “Iran’s global campaign of terror has included as many as 360 targeted assassinations in other countries, and mass bombing attacks that killed and maimed hundreds.”

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Iran just showed it has no intention of improving ties with the West

December 15, 2020; by Editorial Board, the Washington post

IRAN HAS been signalling its interest in returning to the international agreement curbing its nuclear activities once President-elect Joe Biden takes office next month. But the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is also demonstrating that improving its tattered relations with the West is not a priority. That was driven home with the execution on Saturday of Ruhollah Zam, a dissident journalist who lived in France before he was abducted and returned to Tehran.

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Iran Nuclear Deal Distracts From Regime Crimes Against Humanity

October 18, 2020; by Homeira Hesami, Issues & Insights

Long before the current United Nations General Assembly, it was well-understood that Iran policy would feature prominently in high-level debate. Iranians inside and outside the country were looking forward to it. But they recognized that the focus would most likely be far too narrow, with little bearing upon their efforts to secure a democratic, secular and non-nuclear future.

Leading Western powers have remained heavily preoccupied with the fallout from President Donald Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA). The international community’s single-minded focus on Tehran’s nuclear program has been detrimental to the Iran policy because it ignores key dimensions of the regime.

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