Militaristic Atmosphere Reported in Tehran for June 20th Anniversary

HRANA- A militaristic atmosphere was reported in Tehran for the one year anniversary of one the bloodiest days of protesting after last years presidential elections.

There was a heavy presence of plain clothed agents and security forces all over the city including Fatemi Square, Vali Asr St., Enghelab Square, 15 Khordad metro center, and Darvaze Dowlat metro center.

Continue reading “Militaristic Atmosphere Reported in Tehran for June 20th Anniversary”

Singer Arya Aramnejad Arrested

HRANA News Agency – Arya Aramnejad, young songwriter and singer, was arrested a few hours ago when five intelligence agents in Mazandaran Province raided his house.

According to a report by Gooya News, Arya Aramnejad had gone to the city of Sari, the capital of Mazandaran Province, in order to appear in front of the Appeals Court handling his conviction.Upon returning home, he was arrested on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 and taken to an unknown location.

During this raid, Ayra Aramnejad was beaten and battered by intelligence agents from Babol County and then handcuffed.Intelligence agents also searched his house and seized the singer’s handwritten notes, documents, computer and other personal belongings

 

Student Activists to Obama: “End US Appeasement Policy towards IRI”

HRANA News Agency – On the 32nd anniversary of the day when the American embassy in Tehran was occupied by student activists in 1979, nineteen former and current student activists have written a letter to President Obama to ask him to end the US appeasement policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Bamdad Khabar Website has released the complete contents of this letter as follows:

Your Excellency, the President of the United States of America,

With greetings,
Last year on a day such as this, a group of student activists wrote a letter to you to direct your attention towards human rights violations in Iran and your moral obligation to support our oppressed nation.

On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian student activists who called themselves “the Followers of Imam’s Line” attacked the United States embassy in Tehran and took American diplomats and workers hostage.Because according to International Law, embassies are the sovereign soil of the countries they represent, this action was a grave mistake resulting in serious damage to Iran’s national interests.

While thirty two years have passed since that event took place, revolutionaries of those days have been taken hostage by the Islamic Republic of Iran and even the same student activists are imprisoned today.

During the last few years, our nation has shown time and again that it desires to be set free from the claws of the current regime.Two years ago, while Iranians were facing bullets and batons in the streets, they asked you, “With whom do you stand? With the regime or with the people?”

People’s voices were heard shouting, “Obama, Obama, either with them or with us.”Addressing you directly, our nation asked you for help, but your advisors directed you to negotiate with the “hostage takers,” the Islamic regime that has taken our nation captive.As a result, the Islamic Republic of Iran comfortably and confidently continued to suppress peaceful demonstrations in the streets of Tehran.

What did you gain from extending a hand of friendship towards the Islamic Republic of Iran?The regime replied back by taking three American hikers hostage, sent weapons to terrorist groups in Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Nigeria, plotted to assassinate the ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Washington DC and continued to pursuit developing nuclear weaponry.

Mr. President, currently, our brothers and sisters in Syria are fighting against the brutal regime of Bashar Assad.As a result, more than 4,000 Syrians have been killed and tens of thousands have been imprisoned and injured.Meanwhile, the statesmen in Tehran maliciously continue to support the dictatorship of Syria because they know that their fate is tied to that of Bashar Assad, and their turn will come soon.

Our brothers and sisters in Syria have asked for your support by declaring a no-fly zone over parts of the Syrian air space in order to prevent further killing of the dissidents by the oppressive regime.Further negligence of the US government on this matter is not acceptable.We recommend ceasing the US appeasement policy towards Damascus and not repeat the same mistake made while dealing with the Green Movement in Iran.Stand by the Syrians, and ignore the demands made by dictatorships such as Russia and China.

Your Excellency, Mr. Obama, you are not only the president of the most powerful government in the world but also the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.Hence, your moral objection towards establishing peace and protecting human lives has been doubled many times over.In our letters written in the past years, we asked you to follow up on violations of human rights especially those aimed towards students in Iran.

Three American hikers together with many Iranian students can testify about what is happening in prisons throughout our country.In recent weeks, the situation has deteriorated such that the Islamic regime has begun flogging student activists whose prison terms have ended.The annual report released by the Secretary General of the United Nations and the report written by the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations, Dr. Ahmad Shaheed, reveal only a small portion of human rights violations not only in prisons but also throughout our country.

During the last decade, passive policies and the negligence of the international community resulted in the creation of a nuclear regime in North Korea.If the Islamic Republic of Iran is allowed to develop nuclear weaponry, the same mistake will be repeated; such a debacle must be prevented.

Let us say it clearly and loudly that we don’t wish for your military intervention in Iran and warn you about its unintended and adverse consequences under the current conditions.We hereby ask you to do what the US government has announced itself.We ask you to take sanctions against the highest government officials in the Islamic Republic of Iran and their immediate relatives and partners seriously.Blocking their bank accounts and properties and banning their trips outside Iran are also equally important.

We also request to impose sanctions on all companies whose shares are owned by the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (IRGC) and their high ranking executive officers.We ask you to help our nation to have easy access to the Internet and satellite programs and make free flow of information possible.We want you to fight against censorship, Internet filtering, and deliberate jamming of radio and TV signals with the intention to disrupt communications and the surveillance of dissidents in Iran.We ask you to severely punish all governments and companies that help to facilitate such actions in Iran.

We request from you to remain committed to the sanctions imposed on the commanders of IRGC and individuals violating human rights in Iran.We ask you to place pressure on governments, organizations and companies that violate the terms of such sanctions.We want you to pressure your alias not to assist the Islamic Republic of Iran by supporting the sanctions against the regime.We ask you to pay attention and be aware of the media funded by American tax-payers but used as a soapbox to promote an appeasement policy towards the supports of the Islamic Republic of Iran, anti-west and anti-American trends.

We call for imposing sanctions on the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a ban on the purchase of oil from IRI because the Islamic regime uses the funds to build and further strengthen its intelligence and military apparatus instead of providing economic resources for our nation.The Islamic Republic of Iran also utilizes the revenue from the sale of oil to support and spread terrorism and oppresses democratic movements throughout our country.

We request to end the appeasement policy towards dictators.Instead, empower our people who once bravely poured into the streets of Iran but returned home disappointed due to the lack of support from the international community and also the brutal oppression of the regime.And let Iranians know and feel that they can achieve what they set out to do.

There are many ways to reach these goals, but you must possess the will to pursuit them.

Cordially,

Signatories:

Amir Hussein Etamadi – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Ali Tarokh – Student activist, Shiraz Azad University and a senior member of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s presidential campaign, student division, Fars Province.
Nima Rashedan – Researcher, political analyst and a former student activist.
Arman Rezakhani – Winner of Khwarizmi International Award in 2007 & 2008 and credited for the discovery of two theorems in trigonometry and mathematics.
Sahar Reza Zadeh – Former student activist, University of Tehran.
Pedram Rafati – A member of the Islamic Association of Students, Amirkabir University of Technology and banned from continuing his education.
Amin Riahi – A member of Tahkim-e Vadhat, General Council.
Salman Sima – Student activist, Tehran Azad University, and banned from continuing his education.
Siavash Safavi – Former student activist, University of Mazandaran.
Ahmad Eshghyar – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Liuna Isagholian – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Saeed Ghaseminejad – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Navid Mohbei – Student activist, Azad University, and blogger.
Mashood Masjodi – Former member of the Islamic Association of Students, School of Engineering, University of Tehran.
Ali-Reza Mousavi – Former member of the Islamic Association of Students, Allameh Tabatabai University, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Behzad Mahrani – Journalist, political analyst and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Yohana Najdi – PhD graduate student of political science, USM University of Malaysia, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Ali Nazari – Former student activist, University of Mazandaran.
Rahim Hemati – Former head of the student branch, Jonbesh Moslamanan Mobarez.

Copyright © 2009-2011 All Rights Reserved

Google Plus Filtered and Blocked in Iran

HRANA News Agency – Today, the social networking platform Google Plus was unavailable in Iran.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Google has recently launched its social networking platform called Google Plus to a limited number of users on a trial basis.Today, web users in Iran were unable to reach Google Plus.

The Internet Content Filtering Committee in Iran has blocked Google Plus despite the fact that only one day ago, the Iranian Cyber Space Police Chief said, “Membership in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter is not a crime.”

 

Mohammad Zarei, Semnan University Student Activist, Arrested

HRANA News Agency – In the early hours of Saturday, July 2, 2011, Mohammad Zarei, a student activist, was arrested.Mohammad Zarei studies Applied Chemistry at Semnan University and is a member of the Islamic Association of Students.

According to a report by Jaras News, Mohammad Zarei who is a dissident was arrested while leaving a bus to enter the university and subsequently taken to unknown location.Jaras News has also reported that Mohammad Zarei is the fourth Semnan University student detained in recent months.Meysam Imamzadeh, Amin Roghani and Ehsan Qashqaie were arrested previously but released on bail.

 

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Now is definitely not the time to stop reading!

Blogger Payman Roshan-Zamir Sentenced to 17 Months in Prison

HRANA News Agency – Payman Roshan-Zamir, a blogger and political activist, has been sentenced to seventeen months in prison by Judge Barani presiding over the Revolutionary Court, Branch 3, in the city of Ahvaz in Khuzestan Province.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), citing Articles 500 and 514 from the Islamic Penal Code, Judge Barani sentenced Payman Roshan-Zamir to seventeen months in prison on charges of propaganda against the regime and insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran.

Payman Roshan-Zamir was arrested in the winter of 2011 in the city of Ahvaz and after spending two months in Karoon Prison was released on bail.

 

31 Young Guests Arrested at a Birthday Party in Tabriz

HRANA News Agency – Iranian security forces raided a birthday party held at a traditional café in Tabriz and arrested 31 young men and women.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on Sunday, October 30, 2011, security forces entered a café located at Azerbaijan intersection in Tabriz and arrested 16 female and 15 male guests.During the arrest, the police beat and battered the attendees before taking them into custody.

The detainees were first taken to Police Station 13 in Tabriz and then transferred to a detention center at Sayeb Street at 8:00pm.The prisoners were blindfolded and taken to the yard where they waited over two hours and beaten and battered again before being transferred.During this long wait, the detainees’ hands and feet were numb and pale in the freezing weather.

At the end, the prisoners were booked and then released on bail.

Copyright © 2009-2011 All Rights Reserved

Prominent Professors Denounce Restrictions on Freedom of Education in Iran

HRANA News Agency – Forty three prominent professors around the world have issued a letter denouncing restrictions on freedom of education in Iran.For decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has denied Baha’i citizens the right to attend universities and has blocked any attempts by the Baha’i community to establish institutes of higher education for its members.As recently as two days ago, seven Baha’i professors and university officials connected with the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) were sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison.

Picture includes:

(Top row, left to right)

  • Cornel West, Princeton, U.S.A.
  • Graham Ward, Oxford, U.K.
  • harles Taylor, McGill, Canada
  • Leonardo Boff, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


(Bottom row, left to right)

  • Ebrahim Moosa, Duke, U.S.A.
  • Hilary Putnam, Harvard, U.S.A.
  • Stanley Hauerwas, Duke, U.S.A.
  • Tahir Mahmood, former member, Law Commission, India

The full text of this letter and the list of signatories are as follows:

Dear Sir,
As philosophers, theologians, and scholars of religion, living throughout the world, we are raising our voices in protest against the recent attack by Iranian authorities on the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE).

As people of faith, we affirm that human beings are fundamentally spiritual in nature, created with the innate capacity to know God and investigate truth for themselves. To acquire knowledge and learning is the sacred and legal right of all; indeed, the state is obliged to provide it.  In Iran, the government has done the opposite. Among the numerous violations of the human rights of Bahá’ís, their access to higher education is systematically blocked for no other reason than their beliefs.  In order to cater to the needs of their youth, Iranian Bahá’ís developed the BIHE – their own, informal, community education initiative. On 22 May, 39 homes associated with the BIHE were raided. The Institute’s activities have since been declared “illegal.” Nine educators remain incarcerated.

Attacks such as these, against the rights of citizens to organize and be educated in freedom, can no longer be tolerated. We call upon the Iranian government not only to cease its persecution of Bahá’ís, but to provide, and promote, education for all.

Charles Taylor
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy
McGill University

Hilary Putnam
Cogan University Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
Harvard University

Cornel West
Class of 1943 University Professor of African American Studies
Princeton University

Leonardo Boff
Professor Emeritus of Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, and Ecology
Rio de Janeiro State University

Stanley Hauerwas
Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics
Duke University, North Carolina

Ebrahim Moosa
Professor of Religion and Islamic Studies
Duke University, North Carolina

Graham Ward
Regius Professor of Divinity
Oxford University

John Milbank
Professor in Religion, Politics and Ethics
University of Nottingham

Rabbi David Novak
Professor of Philosophy
University of Toronto

Tahir Mahmood
Chairman, Amity University Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
New Delhi

Moshe Idel
Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought
Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Abdulkader Tayob
Professor of Islamic Studies
University of Cape Town

William Desmond
Full Professor of Philosophy
Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven

Xinjian Shang
Professor of Philosophy
Peking University

Kevin Hart
Edwin B Kyle Professor of Christian Studies
University of Virginia

Murray Rae
Professor of Theology
University of Otago

Asghar Ali Engineer
Head of Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
Mumbai

Remi Brague
Chair of the Study of Religion
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

A. Rashied Omar
Research Scholar of Islamic Studies and Peacebuilding
University of Notre Dame, Indiana

Joshua Cho
President and Professor of Christian Thought
Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary

Douglas Pratt
Professor of Religious Studies
Waikato University

Ashok Vohra
Professor of Philosophy
Delhi University

Carver Yu
President and Professor of Christian Thought
China Graduate School of Theology, Hong Kong

Laurie Zoloth
Professor of Medical Humanities and Bioethics
Northwestern University, Illinois

Pilgrim W.K. Lo
Professor of Systematic Theology
Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong

Philip Goodchild
Professor of Religion and Philosophy
University of Nottingham

Paul Morris
Professor of Religious Studies
Victoria University of Wellington

James E. Faulconer
Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding
Brigham Young University, Utah

Rod Benson
Ethicist and Public Theologian
Tinsley Institute, Morling College, New South Wales

Hassan Mwakimako
Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies
Pwani University College, Kilifi

Yunus Dumbe
Lecturer in Islamic Studies
Islamic University College, Accra

Joseph Cohen
University Lecturer in Philosophy
University College, Dublin

Adam Miller
Professor of Philosophy
Collin College, Texas

Raphael Zagury-Orly
Head of the Master of Fine Arts Programme
Bezalel School of Design and Fine Arts, Jerusalem

Felix O Murchadha
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy
National University of Ireland Galway

Na’eem Jeenah
Associate Lecturer of Political Studies
University of the Witwatersrand

Kathleen Flake
Associate Professor of American Religious History
Vanderbilt Divinity School, Tennessee

Rabbi Aryeh Cohen
Associate Professor of Rabbinic Literature
American Jewish University, California

Jeffrey Bloechel
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Boston College

William Hackett
Research Fellow and Lecturer in Philosophy
Australian Catholic University

Rabbi Akiba Lerner
Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies
Santa Clara University, California

Nathan Oman
Assistant Professor of Law
William and Mary School of Law, Virginia

Mohsen Kashefzadeh Saraie Disappears

HRANA News Agency – Mohsen Kashefzadeh Saraie, a Green Movement activist, has disappeared during the past few days.Since the Ministry of Intelligence summoned him over the phone several days ago, it is likely that he has been arrested.

According to a report by Tahavol Sabz Web Site, Mohsen Kashefzadeh Saraie was summoned by intelligence agents a few days ago.After leaving his house on Wednesday, June 29, 2011, he has not returned home, and his family has not heard from him.

It has been reported that since 2009 presidential elections, Mohsen Kashefzadeh Saraie has been repeatedly threatened by officers working for Iran’s Intelligence Agency, but because he has not engaged in any illegal activities, they have been unable to obtain a warrant for his arrest.However, two days after being summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence office located at Sayyed Khandan district, he has not returned home.Meanwhile, his family members are extremely worried about him and fear for safety.

Although Mohsen Kashefzadeh Saraie’s family members have contacted the police and the Iranian Intelligence Agency in order to locate him, security officials refuse to provide any information to the family and claim to have no news of him to share with his parents.

Since Mohsen Kashefzadeh Saraie was summoned by intelligence officers two days prior to his disappearance, it is safe to assume that he has been kidnapped by the Iranian Intelligence Agency.

In recent days, Mohammad Zarei, a student activist, was also arrested.Mohammad Zarei studies Applied Chemistry at Semnan University and is a member of the Islamic Association of Students.

 

Yazd University Student Arrested for Preaching Christianity

HRANA News Agency – Mustafa Zangavaei Boshahri, a twenty-four year old college student born in Gachsaran, was arrested when he left his house.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Iranian intelligence agents have contacted Mustafa Zangavaei Boshahri’s family and informed them that he has been arrested.

Mustafa Zangavaei Boshahri has been charged with preaching the reincarnation of Christ and the coming of the Savior at the University of Yazd.