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As we mark the second anniversary of the tragic death of Mahsa Jina Amini and the subsequent “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement that ignited a global wave of protests and advocacy for women’s rights in Iran, the Iranian Women’s Institute for Life and Liberty (IWILL) is hosting a powerful event in her memory. This gathering will take place on Sunday, September 15, 2024, at the Meydenbauer Convention Center in Bellevue, WA, from 1 PM to 4 PM. It will feature an art exhibit and presentations by influential advocates and activists. This meaningful event will commemorate the struggles of Iranian women and highlight the pivotal role that women worldwide are playing in advocating for gender equality, human rights, and freedom. It is also a solemn reflection on the brutal realities of state violence and oppression in Iran. Speakers and Participants: We are honored to have an incredible lineup of speakers who have dedicated their lives to advocating for justice, equality, and freedom: Each of these extraordinary individuals will share their unique perspectives on the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and the broader implications of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement. As one of the event’s speakers, Lawdan Bazargan will reflect on the resilience of Iranian women and the global significance of their struggle for freedom. Drawing from her own experience as a former political prisoner, Lawdan will address the transnational nature of Iran’s oppression and the importance of amplifying the voices of victims. This event will also showcase an art exhibit featuring works by Iranian artists that embody the resistance and courage of the Iranian people. The art will represent the themes of freedom, resilience, and the fight for justice that have come to define this movement. Join Us in Solidarity This conference and art exhibit is a call to action for everyone to stand in solidarity with the women of Iran and all those fighting for their fundamental human rights. The event is free of charge, and we invite all community members to attend. The “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement has touched hearts across the globe, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that the momentum continues. We will not stop until the voices of Iranian women are heard and their rights are upheld. For more information on the event, please visit IWILL’s official page.

On September 14th, 2024, BayArea4Iran will once again bring activists, supporters, and the Iranian diaspora together for a powerful demonstration in the heart of San Francisco to mark the second anniversary of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. The rally will commemorate the tragic killing of Mahsa Amini by Iran’s morality police and celebrate the resilience of women fighting for justice and equality in Iran. This event, organized by BayArea4Iran, will occur at San Francisco City Hall (1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl) at 2:00 PM PST. It will unite voices against the Islamic Republic’s oppression and amplify the global call for gender equality and human rights. Lawdan Bazargan, Director of the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), will deliver a keynote speech at the rally. A passionate human rights advocate and former political prisoner, Bazargan has been instrumental in calling out the Islamic Republic’s atrocities, pushing for justice, and highlighting the struggles of the oppressed. Her leadership in AAIRIA and her personal story will bring depth and urgency to the rally’s message. The rally is part of a global series of protests, reminding the world that the fight for women’s rights and freedom in Iran continues. As thousands gather worldwide in solidarity with the Iranian people, this rally serves as a crucial reminder of the need for justice and accountability for the regime’s human rights abuses. Event Details: Join the event and show your support by following the hashtags: #WomanLifeFreedom and #SayHerName. This rally organized by BayArea4Iran, is not just a remembrance—it’s a continued call for change. Join us to stand in solidarity with the brave women and men of Iran fighting for freedom.

BRYAN S. JUNG | 9:25 AM ON JULY 02, 2024 Earlier this spring, when the media mostly focused on the nationwide university campus protests over Gaza, many other important causes were overshadowed at the time. One of these largely ignored gatherings was held by the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA) on April 26, an organization of Iranian-American anti-Ayatollah regime activists and exiles. About 70 members of AAIRA attended the protest outside the campus of Princeton University, over the school’s employment of a controversial figure from Tehran. Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian diplomat, was selected by Princeton as its Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist with the School of Public and International Affairs’ (SPIA) Program on Science and Global Security in 2016. Mousavian was first hired by the Ivy League university in 2009 after the Obama administration gave him a visa to enter the United States. The protestors demanded that the university fire Mousavian for his alleged participation in targeted assassinations of at least 23 exiled political dissidents while he served as Iran’s ambassador to Germany in the 1990s. They posted an online petition calling for his removal from campus. In 1997, the German government ordered Mousavian to leave the country after prosecutors directly linked him and other embassy employees to the murder of four Kurdish dissidents at a Berlin restaurant in 1992. The court’s verdict led most members of the European Union at the time to recall their ambassadors from Tehran. Some of the protestors at the Princeton rally were family members of the victims killed by the former diplomat. Before his arrival at Princeton, Mousavian served in other top-level positions upon returning to Iran from Germany. He became head of the foreign relations committee of Tehran’s National Security Council and later the chief spokesman for the Iranian nuclear negotiations team from 2003 to 2005. He remains an open supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah, two U.S. designated terrorist organizations, and he has been linked to Tehran’s attempts to assassinate the acclaimed novelist, Salman Rushdie. Last September, Mousavian was invited to an event at Princeton held by the U.S. Strategic Command, which is in charge of the nation’s nuclear deterrent. There, he boldly bragged to his hosts about his government’s attempts to assassinate American officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “Mousavian’s troubling history of association with state-sponsored terrorism and human rights abuses demands decisive action from Princeton University’s administration,” Lawdan Bazargan, one of the leaders at AAIRA and a former political prisoner, told the NY Post in a March 2024 interview. Bazargan and her colleagues, along with Oberlin students and alumni, successfully led an earlier 3-year campaign to remove Mohammad Jafar Mahallati from the faculty of Oberlin College in the wake of the October 7 attacks. The coalition was able to get Ohio authorities to investigate Oberlin’s administration for antisemitism while convincing students to boycott all classes taught by Mahallati. “Then without any explanation, Oberlin put Mahallati on permanent leave in November, forced him to empty his office, and removed his name from their website, which is great,” Barzagan told PJ Media. The controversial former diplomat attempted to defend himself to Princeton Alumni Weekly in November 2023 and denied being an agent of Iran during his 15 years at the university. “Over the past two decades, as an academic, I’ve used every opportunity to propose peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis, and dialogue and engagement between Iran and the United States and with other countries such as Saudi Arabia,” said Mousavian, adding that he was no longer welcome in Iran following his fallout with the regime. He claimed that he was not “able to go to Iran since June 2021 and I have not been engaged with any government including the government of Iran since the Iranian court convicted me in 2008” over allegedly spying for Western intelligence services. A U.S. Congressional committee confirmed that Mousavian is actually free to return to Iran, but that his current relationship with Tehran remained “unclear.” The U.S. House of Representatives has been investigating why the former Iranian official was hired by the university, despite allegations of active participation in assassinations and his open support for terrorism. A letter signed by 45 members of Congress to Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber said, “Mousavian’s position on the faculty of Princeton for the past 15 years … raises significant concerns about the influence of foreign hostile regimes on American institutions.” The letter asked if Eisgruber had ever consulted with Federal officials prior to hiring Mousavian and if he was aware of any communications between him and Iranian officials. Congress also requested a list of classes that Mousavian taught at Princeton, his teaching salary, and whether he received any gifts or funding. “This man represents a regime that bans its own university students from continuing higher education,” Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian American journalist, told PJ Media.  “Now, given all the articles that have been published in major international media and blaring attention [that] Mr. Mousavian’s presence at Princeton has gotten over the past 15 years,”  Zand added, “one would think Princeton’s senior officers and board of directors would come to their senses and ask him to leave. But they haven’t and do not seem to want to! The hypocrisy and corruption is blaring,” Zand added. Please Click Here for the article.

Seyed Hossein Mousavian reportedly oversaw assassinations of 24 dissidents in Europe. By BENJAMIN WEINTHALJULY 1, 2024 14:23Updated: JULY 1, 2024 14:24 The walls appear to be closing in on the Germany-based Körber Foundation over criticism of its promotion of an alleged antisemitic mass murderer, Seyed Hossein Mousavian, who worked for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Approximately 40 German-Iranians and Germans protested on Thursday in front of the Hamburg-based Körber Foundation because the controversial think tank hosted Mousavian in May at a political breakfast. Iranian human rights activists accuse Mousavian of overseeing the assassinations of at least 24 Iranian dissidents during the 1990’s in Europe when Mousavian was ambassador to Germany (1990-1997). “Germany should permanently declare Mousavian persona non grata,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Los Angeles-based Jewish human rights organization Simon Wiesenthal Center, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. The Center is named after the legendary Nazi hunter, Simon Wiesenthal. The prominent German-Iranian dissident, Mina Ahadi, who led the Thursday demonstration, told the Post that she agrees with Cooper. “A travel ban is a good thing” with respect to Mousavian, Ahadi said. Mousavian served as the spokesman for Iran’s regime during its nuclear negotiations mainly with the EU (2003-2005). The Post can reveal that the Körber Foundation also hosted the Iranian regime official Saeed Khatibzadeh in 2019, who is affiliated with the Iranian regime’s Holocaust-denying Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS). In 2006, the IPIS organized an antisemitic conference of a who’s who of global Holocaust deniers. Kurt Adolf Körber (1909-1992), a former Nazi who exploited the victims of a concentration camp to advance the Holocaust and Hitler’s war goals, founded the pro-Mousavian foundation. Cooper said  “One would think that the think tank named for Körber would have a special sensitivity to the martyrdom and suffering of Iranian women and girls who perished at the hands of the barbaric Tehran regime. Quite the opposite appears to be true.” Cooper added “Germany continues to insist that it is committed to teach younger generations about the evils of Nazism and the Shoah. Does this include teaching about Kurt Körber?  He was the technical director of Universelle-Werke Dresden, a weapons manufacturer which used over 3,000 slave workers during WWII. Körber, a Nazi Party member, was involved in establishing a slave labor camp for Universelle. Hitler’s regime also gave Universelle 700-800 women workers from the Ravensbrück concentration camp complex. Whitewashing the deeds of evil doers makes a mockery of Germany’s commitment never to forget its past.” Mousavian denies involvement in murders of 24 Iranians Körber Foundation representatives, Julian Claaßen und Lothar Dittmer, did not immediately respond to The Post‘s press queries. In an interview published on Körber’s website, Mousavian denied he was involved in the murders of 24 Iranians. Mousavian said about the court verdict that convicted Iranian and Hezbollah agents of assassinating Iranian Kurds in the Berlin restaurant Mykonos in 1992: “The 398 pages of the Berlin court’s (Kammergericht) verdict issued in April 1997 are public and anyone can read it. There is no accusation against me at all…Now the radicals in Iran accuse me of being a puppet of the West and the warmongers in the United States accuse me of being a puppet of the Iranian government. Both are wrong.” Mousavian omitted in his interview with Körber that a former high level Iranian intelligence agent, Abolghasem Mesbahi, testified at the trial that, “Mr. Mousavian has participated in most of the assassinations committed in Europe.” Mesbahi’s statements were widely reported in the German media during the trial and German intelligence viewed Mesbahi as a highly credible witness. It is unclear why Körber did not question Mousavian about Mesbahi and Mousavian’s antisemitism, his endorsement of the fatwa to murder Rushdie and his zealous support for Hamas and Hezbollah. Mousavian is a non-tenured academic for Middle East Security and Nuclear Policy at Princeton University. Mousavian compared Israel to Nazi Germany on his X, formerly known as Twitter, after Hamas invaded Israel  on October 7 and slaughtered nearly 1,200 people.  Mousavian has also expressed support for the German and US-designated terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, in the German media. The Washington D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) published in April an extensive report on Mousavian’s alleged murder spree and support or terrorist organizations. Lawdan Bazargan, who oversees the California-based organization, Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), helped mount the protest against Mousavian and Körber, told the Post “The Körber Foundation and Princeton University are playing with fire by promoting Seyed Hossein Mousavian and being dishonest about their actions. Both institutions have appeased him to gain access to the Islamic regime of Iran. As recognized by German courts and the US government, the Islamic regime of Iran is a terrorist regime.” The protest in Hamburg was the first trans-Atlantic demonstration against Mousaivan and more activities are planned versus Körber and Mousavian. Bazargan, who was imprisoned in Iran for her political dissident activities in the 1980’s, said “Academic and charitable institutions like Princeton and Körber do not possess the necessary sophistication to deal with terrorist countries and their agents. Engaging with individuals like Mousavian undermines their credibility and poses significant national security risks. These institutions must sever ties with former diplomats of the regime and stop running foreign policy on the sidelines.” Rabbi Cooper noted that “Seyed Hossein Mousavian endorsed the Fatwa against author Salman Rushdie. That alone should have led Princeton to bar Mousavian from their faculty. On top of that he openly endorses Hamas and Hezbollah. He does not have tenure. Time for Princeton to open a new page in its history and throw out this longtime supporter and facilitator of the murderous Iranian regime” Post press queries to Princeton University president Christopher L. Eisgruber and his spokesman on Sunday were not immediately answered. The Körber Foundation is founded by Körber AG, a transnational engineering corporation with a location in Richmond, Virginia. The Post has located entries on the internet listing Körber business in Iran. When approached for a comment, Henriette Viebig, a spokeswoman for Körber, refused toContinue reading “Wiesenthal urges Körber NGO to sever ties with alleged Iranian terrorist”

Friday, 06/28/2024 Benjamin Weinthal Contributor The Iranian-American campaign to oust a former top official of the Islamic Republic from his job at Princeton University reached the northern German port city of Hamburg on Thursday. Roughly forty Iranian-Germans protested against Seyed Hossein Mousavian and his relations with a largely pro-Islamic Republic German think tank. The California-based organization, Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), launched a campaign against Mousavian in March after it was revealed that he allegedly played a role in the assassinations of at least 24 Iranian dissidents in the 1990’s. The prominent German-Iranian dissident Mina Ahadi spearheaded the protest in front of the think tank Körber Foundation in Hamburg. Mousavian was the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Germany from 1990 to 1997 when Iran’s regime assassinated Kurdish dissidents in a West Berlin restaurant Mykonos in 1992. Ahadi told Iran International that Farah Madaen spoke against Körber’s “dialogue” with Mousavian and the regime in Tehran. Madaen’s three brothers and sister were executed by the Islamic Republic in the 1980’s for dissident activity. “We don’t where there bodies are,“ Madean said at the protest. Körber is under fire for recently inviting Mousavian to Hamburg for an event. The controversial German organization has long courted Mousavian as one of its key speakers. “This campaign has showed that Körber cannot repeat something with Mousavian unless they do it secretly, “said Ahadi. Maria Mahmoudi also delivered a speech at the protest. The Islamic Republic executed her husband, the Iranian-Kurd, Mohammad Faramarzi, and three other Kurdish dissidents in January, for alleged links to Israel. AAIRIA has urged Princeton University to fire Mousavian and called on Körber to swiftly sever ties with Mousavian. Ahadi and two other German-Iranians, Jasmin Maleki and Ali Ertan Toprak, were present at a Wednesday meeting with Körber representatives, Thomas Paulsen and Julian Claaßen. Ahadi posted a picture on her X account from the meeting.  Ahadi told the Körber officials that the German community wants the foundation to conduct “an interview with us in order to respond to Mousavian.” Körber interviewed Mousavian and posted the question and answer session with him on its website. She also expressed the Iranian diaspora’s “criticism of Körber’s appeasement policy” toward the clerical regime during the meeting. Ahadi requested that Körber hold an event with German-Iranians who oppose the Islamic Republic. The organization International Women in Power also condemned Körber in a statement, for “providing a platform to Mousvian who worked for the brutal Iranian gender apartheid regime and is known for defending the fatwa against Salman Rushdie.” Mousavian has strongly endorsed a so-called Iranian fatwa ordering the murder of the British-American writer Rushdie. He defended the fatwa during interviews with German media outlets and told Spiegel magazine about Rushdie: “I hate him. He insulted my religion, my prophet, the laws.” Mousavian also supports the German and US-designated terrorist entities, Hamas and Hezbollah. Körber was founded by the former Nazi, Kurt Adolf Körber (1909-1992), who exploited concentration camp victims to advance the Holocaust and Adolf Hitler’s war goals. When asked about Mousavian’s support for the antisemitic terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, and the comment from Daniel Killy, a member of the advisory board of the Jewish community of Hamburg, who demanded that Körber stop “inviting apologists of the Mullah regime,” the commissioner tasked with fighting antisemitism in Hamburg, Stefan Hensel, refused to comment. Killy told Iran International that Körber should “sack the people within their foundation being responsible for the invitations over the years.” Körber took credit on its website about a delegation it sent to Iran in 2017. Iran International has learned that Körber does not want the picture circulated. Iran International asked Körber and Körber AG about the names of its employees who were Iran and the nature of its business deals with the Islamic Republic. The Körber Foundation and its parent company, Körber AG, did not immediately respond to Iran International press queries about Mousavian and its business relations with Iran’s regime.. Mousavian refused to answer Iran International email and WhatsApp press queries. Please Click Here for the article.

Nader’s criticism of the pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah academic, Mousavian, who teaches at Princeton University, comes amid a slated Thursday demonstration against the former Iranian official. By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL JUNE 23, 2024 20:37 Updated: JULY 1, 2024 03:26 Former Iranian nuclear negotiator Seyed Hossein Mousavian, who expressed a wish that the former Islamic Republic president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would have built an atomic bomb, had a goal to “advance Iran’s nuclear weapons program all along,” US Iran expert Alireza Nader, told the Jerusalem Post last week. Mousavian previously told an Iranian regime-controlled news outlet, “If I was the decision-maker [during the Ahmadinejad era] … I would have produced a nuclear bomb.” “Why then, asks Nader, “does Princeton continue to present this dangerous man as a trustworthy academic?” Nader added “It’s incredible that the Obama and Biden administrations relied on Mousavian as a credible interlocutor and advocate on the nuclear issue.” Nader’s criticism of the pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah academic, who teaches at Princeton University, comes amid a slated Thursday demonstration against the former Iranian official in front of the Körber Foundation in Hamburg, Germany. A multi-pronged international campaign launched by the California-based Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA) is demanding that Körber and Princeton sever ties with Mousavian. Mina Ahadi, a prominent Iranian dissident in Germany, spearheading the Hamburg protest against Mousvaian, wrote in a public letter to the director of Körber, Lothar Dietmar, “Mousavian has been active in the Iranian government since his youth and served as ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Germany under the governments of [Akbar] Rafsanjani and [Mohammad] Khatami. He is accused of being involved in the killings of at least 24 Iranian opponents of the Islamic Republic abroad, including the 1992 Mykonos restaurant massacre of Kurds in Berlin.” Ahadi continued that Mousavian “represents a government based on crime and sexual apartheid that creates insecurity around the world by supporting terrorist groups. Despite these facts, he claims to be an advocate for peace. “Your foundation should, in view of the history of its founder, Kurt Körber, who produced military equipment using forced labor during the Nazi era, make a special effort not to make concessions to the terrorist regime in Iran and to avoid such eyesores.” Walls are closing in THEW WALLS are closing in on Mousavian, according to his critics. In April, he lashed out at Iranian-Americans and German-Iranians, many of them victims of Iranian brutality, protesting in front of Princeton University. Daniel Killy, a member of the advisory board of the Jewish Community of Hamburg, told the Post, “It is absolutely unbearable that the Körber foundation has been and still is engaging Mr. Mousavian.” Korber should stop “inviting apologists of the Mullah regime,” and “sack the people within their foundation being responsible for the invitations over the years.” Gazelle Sharmahd, whose father was kidnapped and sentenced to death, told the Post, “No think tank in our democratic countries should be advertising regime propaganda disguised as ‘diplomatic tactics’ and ‘academic research.’” Sharmahd, a well-known human rights advocate in Germany and in the US, added, “He poses as a peace promoter while simultaneously attending the funeral of Islamic Republican Guard Corps commander (Qasem) Soleimani” assassinated by the US in 2020. “Universities and think tanks, like Körber and SWP (German Institute for International and Security Affairs), who frequently push the narrative and goals of the Islamic regime as ‘expert advice’ … should be investigated because that is abnormal.” She continued by saying “the Lebanese, Afghan, Syrian, Iraqi, Yemeni and particularly the Jewish community, who have been massively targeted by antisemitic violence and propaganda,” should cooperate to sever these destructive and dangerous relationships. Mousavian has been accused of stoking antisemitism. After October 7 Mousavian compared Israel to Nazi Germany and claimed that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza, calling it “a crime similar to the Holocaust of Nazi Germany.” MOUSAVIAN ENDORSED the Ayatollah Khomeini fatwa to murder the British-American writer Salman Rushdie. Yet, Julian Claaßen a spokesman for Körber, refused to comment on that, and told the Post, “At Körber-Stiftung, we stand up for the fundamental values of our constitution, including the inviolability of human dignity and the prohibition of discrimination based on gender, origin, language, background, faith, or political views…. It is our policy not to tolerate extremist ideas or individuals who use hatred, incitement, or violence against our democracy.” He refused to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations, though Germany and the United States do. Körber’s spokesman also declined to call Mousavian’s Israel-Nazi comparison antisemitic. The Federal German government has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which calls such a comparison antisemitism. Hamburg’s commissioner to support Jewish life and combat antisemitism, Stefan Hensel, told the Post, “ I cannot comment substantively on the specific allegations as the breadth and depth of this issue transcends my present competencies.” According to its website, Körber is an international technology group with more than 12,000 employees at over 100 locations worldwide“ and is involved in Digital, Pharma, Supply Chain, and Technologies. Körber, which has business locations in the United States, posted sales in fiscal year 2023 totaling €2.9 billion. Henriette Viebig, a spokeswoman for Körber AG, told the Post, “Körber is committed to freedom and democracy” and noted, “We are as committed to the fundamental values of our German constitution as our owner, the Körber-Stiftung … We oppose any political movement that calls these values into question and threatens our open society … In this way, we want to contribute to civic cohesion and a vibrant democracy.” Viebig refused to comment on whether Körber conducts business with Iran’s regime or in the Islamic Republic. There are discussions within the AAIRIA to mount a global boycott of Körber AG products if the Körber Foundation does not pull the plug on its relationship with Mousavian and Iran’s regime. Mousavian did not respond to the Post’s email or WhatsApp queries. Please Click Here for the article.

The London-based independent news organization Iran International published a report in early June about Iran’s clandestine negotiations with Niger’s Junta government. By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL JUNE 9, 2024 14:25 Updated: JUNE 10, 2024 20:02 The Islamic Republic of Iran purchased 300 tons of refined uranium from Niger in a secret deal that is part of Tehran’s drive to amass the resources for the construction of a nuclear weapons device. The London-based independent news organization Iran International published a report in early June about Iran’s clandestine negotiations with Niger’s Junta government. Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian-American journalist, wrote that the deal was first reported by the France-based news organization Africa Intelligence in late April. Iran reached an agreement with Niger to purchase 300 tons of yellowcake in exchange for the delivery of drones and surface-to-air missiles to Niger, wrote Iran International. Yellowcake is a term used to describe concentrated uranium, a yellow-looking powder used to manufacture weapons-grade uranium for atomic weapons. Niger’s military regime denied the covert agreement with Tehran. According to Iran International, the French daily newspaper Le Monde confirmed the secret deal between Iran and Niger. The mine in Arlit, Niger, where the uranium is being extracted, is owned by the French company Orano. Mohammad Eslami, the director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told journalists after the publication of the Le Monde article: “You must consider the source of the news. For the first time ever, we announced the news of the Islamic Republic’s modest nuclear program to the ears of people in all corners of the world in a completely professional manner.”  The disclosure about the Iran-Niger uranium deal coincides with former defense minister Avigdor Liberman declaring that Iran seeks a nuclear Holocaust targeting the lone Jewish state. Liberman told Army Radio last week that  Iran is “planning a Holocaust for us in the next two years.” He continued, “We are in the midst of an Iranian extermination program,” the head of the Yisrael Beytenu party chairman said. Liberman noted, “Israel will be attacked to destroy it from several fronts with tens of thousands of missiles at the same time. They are planning a holocaust for us in the next two years.” Iran rebuked by IAEA members Member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rebuked Iran on Wednesday for its lack of cooperation with agency inspectors.  On Friday, the British, French, and German governments forwarded a letter to the United Nations Security Council outlining Iran’s violations of the 2015 nuclear deal. However, the European countries and the US have not triggered the “snap back” UN sanctions against Tehran for its ongoing violations of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The Trump administration withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the formal name for the Iran nuclear deal, in 2018 .  Trump called it a “horrible deal” that does not permanently stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The JCPOA expires on October 18, 2025. According to a 2019 Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) report, “What is certain is that in December 2015, according to the Russian Tass news agency, Russia provided Iran with 200 tons of yellowcake.” The President of MEMRI, Yigal Carmon, and the organization’s Iran expert,  Ayelet Savyon, wrote at the time “While the U.S. protests Iran’s minor breach, announced this week, of the 300 kg limit on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium set in the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal, the location of 8.5 tons of Iranian-enriched uranium that Iran ostensibly shipped to its ally Russia that year remains completely unknown.” Iran’s regime is moving rapidly toward the production of 90% weapons-grade levels of uranium. The IAEA reported in May that Iran enriched up to 60% uranium. Separately but related, the pro-Iran regime academic Seyed Hossein Mousavian, who served as spokesman for Iran in its nuclear negotiations with the international community (2003-2005) and helped the Islamic Republic of Iran secure the right to enrich uranium during negotiations with the Europeans, is under fire for appearing at the  Hamburg-based  Körber Foundation. The Jerusalem Post reported last month that Iranian-Americans and German-Iranians are calling on Princeton University to fire Mousavian from his academic post because of his alleged role in the assassinations of over 20 Iranian dissidents during the 1990s in Europe. Mousavian remains a supporter of the US and German-designated terrorist movements, Hamas and Hezbollah. He endorsed the Iranian regime fatwa to murder the British-American writer Salman Rushdie. Mousavian previously declined to answer Post queries. Lawdan Bazargan, the Iranian-American human rights activist and expert on the Islamic Republic, who oversees the campaign Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), took to X on Saturday to blast the Körber Foundation for hosting Mousavian. She wrote, “Shame on @KoerberIP for promoting Hossein Mousavian, a known terrorist with blood on his hands from his involvement in Iranian human rights abuses. Highlighting such a figure under the guise of diplomacy is a disgrace. Instead of distancing themselves from their dark Nazi past, @KoerberIP continues to promote human rights abusers, dictators, and radical fundamentalists.” The former Nazi, Kurt A. Körber, who advanced Hitler’s destruction of European Jewry and war aims, established his foundation after the war.  The Körber Foundation is energetically working to promote Mousavian in Germany with the Table.Briefings, a Berlin-based company. According to a Table.Briefings X post, Mousavian spoke to Jonathan Lehrer from Körber about his advocacy for “negotiations with Tehran and not further sanctions.” Körber spokesman Julian Claaßen told Iran International, “Dr. Hossein Mousavian was invited to background discussions at Körber-Stiftung in Berlin and Hamburg. Since its inception, Körber-Stiftung has been committed to dialogue, in line with the motto of our founder Kurt A. Körber, “Talking to each other, not about each other.” Our aim is to explore the scope for political action and to contribute to international understanding, especially in times of acute crisis and conflict.” Claaßen said Körber will not comment on Mousavian’s alleged antisemitism, support of Hamas and Hezbollah, endorsement of the fatwa to assassinate Rushdie, and his reported role in the killing spree of over 20 Iranian dissidents. Claaßen said,” We do notContinue reading “Iran bought 300 tons of uranium from Niger for illicit nuke weapon program – report”

Sunday, 06/09/2024 Lawdan Bazargan Iran’s censure at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting this week underscored the ongoing tensions surrounding the country’s nuclear program. The IAEA Board of Governors passed a resolution urging Iran to increase its cooperation with the agency and reverse actions that have hindered inspectors, despite concerns that Tehran might respond with further atomic escalation. This resolution, drafted by the European troika, Britain, France and Germany known as E3, and reluctantly supported by the US, passed with 20 votes in favor, two against (Russia and China), and 12 abstentions. In his remarks in May, IAEA head Rafael Grossi had raised alarms over Iran’s threats to develop nuclear weapons while expressing hope for serious dialogue. This juxtaposition highlights a critical issue: Iran has a history of using negotiations as a strategic tool to advance its nuclear capabilities, extract concessions, and avoid punitive measures, all while continuing its covert operations and support for militant groups. Over the past 30 years, Iran’s negotiation strategy has been marked by deception and delay. Every diplomatic engagement with the West has been leveraged to buy time, stop damning UN resolutions for human rights violations, enhance its nuclear technology, and gain economic and political concessions without genuinely abandoning its nuclear ambitions. In the early 2000s, revelations about undeclared nuclear facilities in Natanz and Arak triggered international concern and led to negotiations. However, Iran’s responses were characterized by stalling tactics. While Tehran engaged in talks (in 2000s and 2010s) and agreed to suspend uranium enrichment temporarily, it simultaneously continued covert activities and expanded its nuclear infrastructure. These negotiations provided Iran with the breathing room needed to develop its capabilities further while presenting a facade of cooperation. Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator, provides an illustrative example of this tactic in a 2005 interview with Iran’s National TV. Mousavian explained that in 2003, Iran faced a 50-day ultimatum to suspend its enrichment activities. Instead of complying, Iran entered into negotiations with the IAEA and Europe, which extended the deadline and bought Iran two years to complete its projects in Esfahan and Natanz. During this period, Iran advanced its nuclear capabilities, gained permission to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), and secured international guarantees for its security, national sovereignty, non-intervention in its internal affairs, and protection against invasion. (Minute 15:37 to End) Another example of this strategy has been particularly evident in the context of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and other diplomatic efforts. The JCPOA, signed in 2015, was hailed as a landmark achievement aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program. However, even during these negotiations, Iran’s intentions were suspect. The deal provided Iran with significant economic relief and lifting of sanctions, yet evidence suggests that Iran continued to advance its nuclear research and missile programs clandestinely. In 2018, stolen Iranian nuclear documents seized by Israeli intelligence demonstrated that Iran’s nuclear program was more extensive than previously known, with plans to build up to five nuclear weapons. These revelations highlighted Iran’s strategy of deception and its efforts to advance its nuclear capabilities under the guise of peaceful purposes. These documents prove that even before President Trump exited the JCPOA, Iran was dishonest about its nuclear activities. Also, it continued developing its nuclear capabilities, building missiles, and arming militant groups in the Middle East, some listed by other countries as terrorist organizations. The repercussions of these activities were starkly evident in the October 7 attack on Israel, the Houthi disruptions of vessels in the Red Sea, and the Hezbollah attacks on Israel from Lebanon. The international community’s response has been mixed, with European countries often seeking to salvage the deal through concessions, inadvertently reinforcing Iran’s strategy of using negotiations to gain time and advantages. Notably, Iran’s nuclear negotiators, such as Mousavian and Javad Zarif, were trained by Ali Akbar Velayati, who has regularly expressed a deep-seated animosity toward the West and its liberal values and has been one of the main figures in Iran’s foreign policy for the past four decades. Many of these negotiators lived and studied in the West, gaining a profound understanding of Western political dynamics and strategies. Iran’s negotiators are well-versed in the concept of carrot and stick, frequently employing it against Western countries: threatening to enrich uranium and develop nuclear weapons while simultaneously calling for negotiations, seeking sanctions relief, and demanding a more significant influence in the Middle East. This approach leverages both intimidation and diplomacy to advance Iran’s geopolitical goals, increasing its bargaining power. This malevolence is evident in the recommendations of Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator, who advocated for Iran to abandon efforts to revive the JCPOA. He suggested that Iran should begin enriching uranium to 90 percent purity and then engage in direct negotiations with the United States to obtain necessary concessions. Mousavian echoed this sentiment, stating that when the pressure is too high and the consequences too severe, Iran should move directly toward developing a nuclear bomb. They hold a powerful card, knowing that Europeans are opposed to war between the US and Iran and that the US is unlikely to launch a costly attack on Iran. Thus, Iran uses its proxies to create mayhem in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Israel, and Lebanon, supplies missiles and drones to Russia for use against Ukraine, plans terror attacks against Iranians in the diaspora, and simultaneously demands negotiations. A critical understanding of Iran’s foreign policy reveals that, regardless of who holds the positions of president, foreign minister, or negotiator, the ultimate authority lies with the Supreme Leader, as outlined in the IRI constitution. This concentration of power means that meaningful concessions are only made under significant external pressure when the regime finds itself with no viable alternatives. This dynamic underscores the international community’s need to maintain a firm stance, applying consistent pressure to elicit genuine cooperation from the Supreme Leader, since all past negotiations only succeeded when the pressure was too high and the Supreme Leader feared losing power. Iran’s negotiation history clearly shows a strategy not driven by a genuine desire for peace or cooperation.Continue reading “Signals from Tehran: A Pattern of Talks, Deception and Delay”

به دنبال افشاگری نگران کننده سمافور در مورد روابط دانشگاه پرینستون با رژیم اسلامی ایران، اتحاد علیه مهره های رژیم اسلامی ایران (AAIRIA) خواستار تحقیقات فوری کنگره امریکا در مورد عملیات نفوذ مداوم رژیم ایران در خاک ایالات متحده است. علاوه بر این، AAIRIA از دانشگاه پرینستون می‌خواهد که روابط خود را با سید حسین موسویان، که به‌عنوان عامل رژیم اسلامی ایران شناخته می‌شود، قطع کند. دانشگاه های آمریکا باید به عنوان مراکز تحقیقی و آموزشی عمل کنند، نه کانال هایی برای تبلیغات خصمانه خارجی. گزارش های گسترده ای در مورد جزئیات دخالت سفارت جمهوری اسلامی ایران در آلمان و دخالت موسویان در فعالیت های تروریستی رژیم ایران در خاک اروپا وجود دارد. همچنین حمایت موسویان از فتوا علیه سلمان رشدی نویسنده کتاب “آیات شیطانی”، نقش وی در گسترش تاسیسات هسته ای ایران و فریب مذاکره کنندگان غربی و آژانس بین المللی انرژی اتمی و ادعاهای نادرست وی در مورد یک فتوای هسته ای خیالی، همگی مستلزم بررسی و موشکافی دقیق است. جمهوری اسلامی ایران رژیمی است که با حمایت از تروریسم و ترویج اسلام شیعه به عنوان یکی از اجزای سیاست خارجی‌اش صلح جهانی و ارزش‌های دموکراتیک را با چالش‌های مهمی مواجه می‌کند. ایالات متحده، ایران را در لیست کشورهای حامی تروریسم قرار داده است و نگرانی ها در مورد اقدامات و نیات رژیم اسلامی ایران گسترده است. تلاش‌های جمهوری اسلامی ایران برای گسترش نفوذ خود در غرب، دموکراسی‌های لیبرال را تضعیف کرده و ثبات منطقه را تهدید می‌کند. ایالات متحده و سایر کشورهای دموکراتیک باید در دفاع از ارزش‌های خود محکم بایستند و اطمینان حاصل کنند که تدابیری برای حفاظت از امنیت و منافع آنها در برابر تهدیدات احتمالی جنبش‌های بنیادگرای اسلامی مورد حمایت جمهوری اسلامی ایران وجود دارد. این موضع برای امنیت ملی و برای حفظ اصول آزادی و دموکراسی در سطح جهانی ضروری است. اتحاد علیه مهره های رژیم اسلامی ایران از کمیته “تعلیم و تربیت و نیروی کار” مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا می خواهد که از رئیس دانشگاه پرینستون، کریستوفر ایسگروبر، بخواهد در مقابل کنگره شهادت دهد. AAIRIA از دانشگاه می‌خواهد که تمام مکاتبات و قراردادهای مربوط به استخدام موسویان را منتشر کند، کمک‌های مالی به برنامه او را افشا کند و جزئیات تمام هزینه‌های سفرهای او به ایران را که از زمان انتصاب او، توسط دانشگاه و یا کسانی که به دانشگاه کمک مالی می کنند، پرداخت شده، منتشر کند. حضور مستمر سید حسین موسویان در پرینستون غیرقابل دفاع است و با معیارهای عدالت و مسئولیت پذیری که پرینستون ادعا می کند به آن اعتقاد دارد، در تضاد است. در دوره‌ای که دانشگاه‌ها، از جمله پرینستون، شاهد افزایش نفوذ اسلام‌گرایان رادیکال و حمایت از سازمان‌های تروریستی خارجی تحت تحریم ایالات متحده هستند، اتخاذ اقدام سریع و قاطع ضروری است. باید اقدامات فوری و قاطع برای تضمین یکپارچگی علمی و جلوگیری از نفوذ ایدئولوژی های رادیکال اسلامی در مؤسسات آموزشی ما صورت گیرد.. اتحاد علیه مهره های رژیم اسلامی ایران بدنبال دفاع از امنیت و صداقت علمی در محیط‌ های دانشگاهی است و تلاش می‌کند که مراکز علمی به جای تبدیل شدن به فضایی برای ایدئولوژی های مخرب و نفوذ نیروهای خارجی، سنگرهای یادگیری و کشف حقیقت باقی بمانند.