ANALYSIS: Revealing the brutal repression of Kurds in Iran

F. Mahmoudi, Special to Al Arabiya EnglishSaturday, 9 September 2017



Acts of brutality against the Kurdish population in Iran is a regular occurrence. For instance, just a few days ago (September 4, 2017), soldiers of Iran’s dreaded Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp of Iran (IRGC) shot dead two porters in cold blood in the western city of Baneh.
In protest against the killings, demonstrations broke out in the Kurdish city and a large number of residents gathered outside the governor’s office on Tuesday (September 5) demanding an end to the ongoing attacks against workers.
According to reports by opposition groups, a number of shops and markets were closed in support of the protests, even as the regime’s security forces clashed with protesters. Video recordings of these clashes have also been released by certain opposition groups.
The Kurdish workers killed by the IRGC, were porters who made a living by carrying heavy loads on their backs across the border with Iraq and Turkey. Since the overthrow of Shah’s dictatorial regime by a social revolution which was hijacked by Khomeini in 1979, the oppression against Kurds — like other minor communities in Iran — increased dramatically. The living condition of Kurds is reminiscent of the era of slavery because of the rampant poverty, unemployment and injustice.

Khomeini, who was himself the son of an Indian immigrant, called the Kurds separatists and counter-revolutionaries, while they are legitimate Iranian citizens! This was the beginning of his betrayal of the Iranian people, who trusted him without fully knowing him.
Nearly 40 years have passed, but the achievements of the Khomeini regime in the age of great industrial and technological development is evident from the kidney selling, bone selling, infant selling and in the proliferation of porters.
Why do Kurdish people work as porters? Why are people from different generations, including educated people and academics, engaged in this menial and life-threatening work?

For a regime whose ideology and politics are based on hostility towards it people and which has seized control of the immense wealth of Iran, which earns income from oil and gas and is systematically involved in the smuggling of weapons and narcotics, industrial production and business entrepreneurship have virtually ceased to exist.

According to some Iranian media estimates: “The volume of smuggling operations stands at $25 billion, three times the country's development budget” and “[t]he smuggling of goods and currency has left 800,000 people unemployed. Smuggling destroys 1,75 million job opportunities a year”.
In the absence of industrial production, everything is under the discretion and control of a mafia system, as most Iranians live below the poverty line. In Kurdistan, the situation is even worse. Therefore people are forced to take menial and unskilled jobs and become porters to meet their basic needs.
An Iranian newspaper writes: “Becoming a porter is not an occupation because it compromises with human dignity, and the debate is how much a person can take to make 70-80,000 Tomans ($20). In Sardasht, there is no industry, few factories, no jobs and there are over 8,000 injuries because of hazardous chemicals used in factories”.
Some reports indicate that there are more than 68,000 porters working in Iran's outlying provinces. A porter sometimes has to lift about 100 to 150 kilos in the mountains and endure extreme heat, cold, rain and snow. They face a lot of dangers and physical hazards, the most threatening beingthe regular shooting by Iranian security forces who target them on an almost daily basis.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the viewpoint of Al Arabiya English.

Khomeini’s repression of Iranian Kurds

In August 1979, just five months since the fall of the Shah, Khomeini had ordered a military assault on Iranian Kurdistan. The people of Kurdistan were only demanding basic rights and freedoms for themselves and for all the people of Iran. But Khomeini's response to these demands was a military campaign and the massacre of people. He sent a special judge and Representative Sadeq Khalkhali to Kurdistan to carry out mass executions and send out a gruesome message of coercion.

Criminal economy

In the political theory of velayat-e faqih, there is no place for the welfare of people. Accordingly, no thought is given to their livelihood and sustenance. This flaw lies at the root of the social and economic malaise that afflicts the country. The regime only knows how to use the wealth of the Iranian people to suppress them and for exporting fundamentalism and terrorism abroad.

Workforce of porters

According to human rights groups, a total of 212 porters were killed and injured by IRGC guards between 2013 and 2015. Iranian opposition groups have repeatedly called on international organizations to condemn the killings of these poor workers by the IRGC and other security forces.
After the latest shooting deaths of porters in Baneh, an activist said: ‘‘Let’s call for the withdrawal of all IRGC forces from Hamadan, Sanandaj, and so on. The governor must go, the killers must be punished. We have sent letters and reports to international human rights organizations for years, but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Now we will defend ourselves for the rights of porters and we want the stop their killings.”

Regime on a powder keg

Kurdish protest are not only against inequality and discrimination, they also reveal the growing anger and discontent of the people with the regime. It sends out a message to the world that the Iranian regime is sitting on a powder keg. People want to change this regime. They need to be supported by the international community by putting pressure on the Iranian regime to stop its violation of human rights.
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F. Mahmoudi is a Kurdish-Iranian political and human rights activist. 

IRANIAN OPPOSITION ELECTS NEW SECRETARY GENERAL

Masoud Dalvand –TDO- (AMERICA) At its annual congress held in Tirana, Albania, principal Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) elected Ms. Zahra Merrikhi as its new Secretary General. Ms. Merrikhi will be replacing Ms. Zohreh Akhyani, who had been holding the position since 2011.

The PMOI’s Secretary General is elected for a renewable two-year term. The elections are held in three phases. In the first phase, members of the organization’s Central Council cast their votes in ballot boxes to specify their candidates. The second phase is held with the participation of all of PMOI’s cadres, who cast their votes in their respective departments. The final phase is held at the organization’s annual congress, where all members confirm the new Secretary General by raising their hands.

Ms. Merrikhi, who has a decades-long career fulfilling different responsibilities in the Iranian resistance, earned the majority of the vote in the first two phases and was sworn in as the new Secretary General after receiving collective confirmation from PMOI members in the September 6 congress.

Ms. Merrikhi hails from the city of Qa’emshahr in northern Iran. Born in 1959, she joined the PMOI after the 1979 revolution, after the overthrow of the Shah regime.

Prior to her new position, Ms. Merrikhi was the coordinator of the offices of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a coalition of opposition forces that the PMOI belongs to. She’s also the deputy chief of the PMOI’s Central Council.

Ms. Merrikhi has been actively involved in the Iranian resistance’s media and broadcasting efforts. She joined the editorial board of Talavang, a PMOI publication in Mazandaran, shortly after joining the organization. She has also served a stint as the head of Radio Mojahed and Simay-e-Moghavemat, the news broadcasting network of the Iranian resistance.

In 1981, after the Iranian regime banned the PMOI, Ms. Merrikhi moved to Tehran, where she coordinated communications between the capital and its branches that were deployed in Iran’s northern branches. In 1984, she joined the PMOI bases in the Iran-Iraq border region, and was soon afterwards promoted to the organization’s Central Council.

Her brother Ali was murdered by the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in 1988.

While expressing her appreciation for the efforts of her predecessors, Ms. Merrikhi vowed to remain true to the PMOI’s goal of establishing freedom and democracy in Iran. “Today, the PMOI, with the help of the Iranian people, is prepared as never before to overthrow the clerical regime,” Ms. Merrikhi said.

Mrs. Rajavi the president elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), welcomed the election of Ms. Merrikhi as the new Secretary General, and described it as heralding the breaking of the spell of repression which will lead to the overthrow of the religious fascism ruling Iran.

Crisis-riddled Iran Sees Opposition Elect New Secretary General

As Iran finds itself engulfed in domestic and external turmoil, the opposition in-exile enjoys the prowess and cohesion to elect a new secretary general.

A new administration in Washington has been ramping up the heat, punishing Tehran for meddling in other states’ affairs and advancing its ballistic missile drive. All the while Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has seen his representative rejected by two senior Shiite leaders in Iraq, the proxy war in Yemen going south and Tehran’s support to maintain Syria’s Bashar Assad in power eating up crucial resources. Internally, the Iranian people are stepping up their protests to significant scales.

In now daily protests thousands of investors are demanding their savings from state-run institutions, and the city of Baneh in western Iran recently witnessed clashes as locals took to arms to protest the ruthless killing of porters by state security forces. In a parallel significant development, the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran(PMOI/MEK) held its congress on Wednesday marking its 52nd anniversary and sitting to elect a new secretary general.

NCRI

Iran Opposition Election: Crowd in Tirana

This process was held in six different cities, including Tirana, the Albanian Capital, where most MEK members are stationed after their long ordeal in Iraq, along with five other countries. Ms. Zahra Merrikhi was elected as the new MEK Secretary General, replacing Ms. Zohreh Akhiyani, who served from 2011. The MEK Secretary General is elected for one two-year term, which can be extended considering the circumstances.

In view of its unique nature and differences from state or party elections, MEK rules and regulations define the election of a secretary general to be held in three different assemblies.

In the first such assembly, held by members of the MEK Central Council on August 20, 2017, an initial 12 candidates were introduced, of which four reached the next stage with Ms. Merrikhi receiving a majority of the votes.

NCRI

Ms. Merrikhi and Mrs. Rajavi

At the second assembly, held two weeks later, senior MEK officials and cadres casted their ballots for the final four candidates, with Ms. Merrikhi leading the vote tally again. The third and final assembly, held on Wednesday, witnessed all MEK members raising their hands and unanimously electing Ms. Merrikhi as the new MEK Secretary General. Born in 1959, Ms. Merrikhi joined the MEK in the years leading to the 1979 revolution. She was summoned and interrogated several times by the Shah’s intelligence service for her activities. Her younger brother, Ali, was killed by the current Iranian government back in 1988. From 2003 onward she served as the coordinator of the office representing Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a coalition of opposition groups including the MEK.

The democratic approach adopted by the MEK in this election process is in stark contrastto that imposed on its compatriots by the ruling clerics of Iran for the past four decades. It also undercuts the oft-repeated, Iran government’s inspired characterization that it has an authoritarian structure. If we were to take the Iran’s presidential “election” into consideration, we would view a selection by an unelected few, far from anything resembling an election in today’s 21st century.

NCRI

Ms. Merrikhi and PMOI Emblem

ran’s so-called presidential “elections,” which banned all women, is a procedure in which all candidates are vetted by a 12 ultraconservative clerics and so-called legal experts, named the Guardian Council, who are directly and indirectly appointed by the Supreme Leader.

All candidates are evaluated for their utter devotion and obedience to the clerical rule and Supreme Leader. Before May’s vote even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who served as the president for eight years and Khamenei launched a massive nationwide crackdown in 2009 to quell any opposition to his engineered reelection, was disqualified from this year’s presidential race. As the political establishment in Tehran sees its founding fathers dying one after another and Khamenei himself battling severe health issues and allegedly cancer, there are serious woes about the future of his rule and the ruling clerics in its entirety. And with conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi – said to be groomed by Khamenei to reach the presidency and eventually succeeding him at his throne – failing to unseat Hassan Rouhani from the presidency, no new face with the necessary majority support is seen to lead this political establishment into its unknown future.

NCRI

Ms. Merrikhi and Ms. Akhyani (previous Secretary General)

It is a complete different story for the MEK leadership, however, as Ms. Merrikhi currently enjoys the support of 18 co-Secretaries General (including seven former Secretaries General) and three deputies from the organization’s younger generation.

Narges Azodanlou, 36, Rabi’eh Mofidi, 35, and Nasrin Massih, 39, all born during or after the 1979 revolution, represent the MEK’s dynamic characteristic and how this organization is able to adapt and deliver young new leaders for this fast-changing world. In short, Merrikhi’s election demonstrates process, structure, depth of leadership ranks, and a genuine and practical commitment to gender equality, especially in leadership positions. “Today, the PMOI, with the help of the Iranian people, is prepared as never before to overthrow the clerical regime,” Ms. Merrikhi said after expressing gratitude to her predecessors and vowing to remain loyal to the MEK’s ultimate objective of establishing freedom and democracy in Iran. Welcoming Ms. Merrikhi’s election, NCRI President-elect Rajavi described this new development as signaling the soon-to-come change of the theocratic ruling in Iran.

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Iran: A regime with no future

                                                              Shahriar Kia

By: Shahriar Kia (Political analyst) 

Iran: A regime with no future

The cabinet ministers of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani received a confidence vote recently in this regime’s parliament. 16 out of 17 ministers were approved after many reports indicated Rouhani reviewed the list extensively with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

However, an evaluation of this slate of names proves this cabinet will render no alternations and represents the very impasse the entire regime is facing. The next four years will, in fact, be worse than the previous.

Foreign Affairs

Mohammad Javad Zarif has retained his post as foreign minister, considering his role in negotiating the nuclear agreement with the P5+1, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Despite Iran’s threats of relaunching its nuclear drive in the case of US President Donald Trump finding the regime in non-compliance with the JCPOA, Rouhani himself has gone the limits to explain the importance of this pact for Tehran.

“My first priority is to safeguard the JCPOA. The main role of our foreign minister is to stand alongside this deal,” he explained.

Although the deal is rightfully criticized for its loopholes and shortages, Iran understands very well how the current circumstances would be far worse.

While claiming the ability to kick-start 20% uranium enrichment in a matter of days, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization chief Ali Akbar Salehi made a complete U-turn in emphasizing Tehran’s willingness to stick to the deal in the case of Washington deciding to leave come October.

Such desperate remarks from Iran are made despite the US increasing the heat with new comprehensive sanctions specifically targeting the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). Further measures are seen following the Vienna visit by Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the UN, demanding Iran open its military sites to inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Pressures escalated on Iran as international experts such as former IAEA deputy Olli Heinonen and former IAEA inspector David Albright, alongside three other specialists issued a report explaining how the UN nuclear watchdog lacks the necessary tools to probe possible JCPOA violations by Iran.

These experts specifically referred to the highly controversial Parchin military complex located 30 kilometers southeast of Tehran. Iran only agreed to provide samples extracted by its own experts and continues to refuse access to foreign individuals.

Defense

The new Iranian defense minister is Amir Hatami. Rumors indicate Rouhani and Khamenei have chosen this member of Iran’s classic army due to their fear the IRGC being blacklisted as a terrorist entity.

It is worth noting, however, that Hatami joined the IRGC Basij paramilitary force at the age of 13 and has announced his utter loyalty to the IRGC Quds Force and its ringleader, Qassem Suleimani.

The solution Hatami provides to confront the regime’s slate of crises is focused mainly on developing Iran’s ballistic missile program.

“During this period we will expand our missile capabilities, especially ballistic and cruise missiles,” he explained recently.

This is another indication of a policy based on developing missile power, dispatching IRGC and Basij members abroad, and fueling foreign wars. This is a continuation of Tehran’s four-decade long policy of spilling its own turmoil abroad through lethal meddling.

Hatami also enjoys Rouhani’s complete blessing in providing full support for the IRGC.

“He is fully informed of the Defense Ministry and its agenda. My particular request is for an increase in developing particular weapons, especially missiles, considering their importance,” Rouhani explained in recent remarks.

Again, more of the same.

Economics

Iran’s regime is heavily dependent on oil exports revenues. Bijan Namdar Zangeneh has been called upon to continue his role as oil minister, remaining the longest running individual in this post.

A minister for 26 years there are questions over any meaningful development and changes for the better in the country’s oil and gas sector. Iran is now riddled with mismanaged oil wells, uncontrolled extractions and contracts with foreign companies that literally sell-off the Iranian people’s interests.

According to Rouhani’s own remarks, this regime is in desperate need of $200 billion of foreign investment for its oil and gas industry. Two years into the JCPOA, Iran has received only $12 billion in such deals.

The deal signed with France’s Total, valued at $4.8 billion, comes with numerous strings attached and is under the continued risk of US sanctions.

What needs comprehension is the fact that investing in Iran is an economic issue at a first glance, with countless political reservations. No foreign investor is willing to risk money in a country ruled by a regime known for its ongoing warmongering, exporting terrorism, and provoking confrontations throughout the Middle East and across the globe, such as its nuclear/ballistic missile collaboration with North Korea.

Conclusion

All those having their fingers crossed in Rouhani, being provided a second term by Khamenei, are already being disappointed. July witnessed over 100 executions and over 50 others have been sent to the gallows in August. This includes a 20-year-old man arrested at the age of 15 for his alleged crime. Another recent case involved a hanging on August 28th in a prison west of Tehran.

All foreign correspondents are realizing no change is foreseeable from within this regime. The main message of Rouhani’s new cabinet is this regime’s lack of any capacity for any meaningful modification or amendment.

Any entity lacking the ability to change and adapt has no future.