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Karmel Melamed Posted Mar 13, 2023 at 4: 01 PM More than 100 Iranian Americans and Jewish activists gathered on March 8 at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles for an International Women’s Day event in solidarity with the women of Iran. “The world must recognize the struggle Iranian women have taken on for their freedom and how for the first time Iranians of all backgrounds are demanding equality rights for everyone in their country,” Leibe Geft, the museum’s director, said at the event. Lisa Daftari, an Iranian American journalist, was master of ceremony at the event co-sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the nonprofit organization No to Antisemitism. She called it historic that Southern California’s Jewish and Iranian communities had come together. “There is such an outpouring of support from all people for the Iranian revolution, but the Jewish community and Iranian community have a natural allyship that has been underscored and is now coming to a crescendo after five months of protests against the regime,” Daftari, who runs a website called the Foreign Desk, told JNS. The Iranian regime has targeted both Iranians and Jews. “They understand each other and are now openly supporting each other against a common enemy,” she added. Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian ex-pat community in the world—nearly 45,000 of whom are Jews, according to some estimates. When organizers played a recording of Iranian singer and songwriter Shervin Hajipour performing his song “Baraye”—the Iranian revolution’s unofficial anthem and the winner last month of the first Grammy for Best Song for Social Change—via video feed, many attendees wiped away tears as they sang along. Attendees also saw a video social-media post from January featuring some 50 popular entertainers, including Cate Blanchett, Jason Momoa, Samuel L. Jackson and Bryan Cranston held signs with the hashtag “Stop executions in Iran.” Iranian-American artists Nicole Najafi, Ana Lily Amirpour and Mozhan Marnò created the video, according to the Hollywood Reporter. And in a live video, Daftari interviewed Iranian American activist Mariam Memarsadeghi and Iranian American CNN news editor Artemis Moshtaghian at the Los Angeles event. The Biden administration has disappointed many Iranian Americans with its Iranian policy, which they find weak in addressing the Iranian regime’s human-rights abuses, according to Memarsadeghi, founder of the Cyrus Forum. By keeping negotiation doors open, the Biden administration is allowing the Iranian regime to blackmail Washington, Memarsadeghi said in a live video feed during the event. “Our community wants to see a clear break from their current policy of appeasement of the regime, and it seems as if the Biden administration has not done that,” she said. And in recent months, Iranian American journalists and activists have had difficulty persuading U.S. news outlets to continue to cover the regime’s harsh crackdowns on protesters in Iran. “It’s been a struggle to get Western news media to cover the freedom movement in Iran, but I think now we have been doing a better job to get the information out there,” she said. After Iran’s “morality police” arrested and beat a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in Tehran last September for not covering her head, protesters have taken to the streets in many Iranian cities. As the protests have increased, security forces have beaten, arrested and shot many protesters, including killing more than 500—60 of them minors—according to the nonprofit Human Rights Activists News Agency. Lawdan Bazargan, an Iranian American activist who spoke from Washington, D.C., via live feed at the event, addressed the efforts of her organization, Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists, to lobby Oberlin College to fire Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, from his religion professorship. She cited Mahallati’s alleged role in covering up the Iranian regime’s massacre of at least 5,000 Iranian dissidents in 1988. In a Feb. 6 report, Amnesty International cited Mahallati’s participation in covering up “facts and whereabouts of thousands of political dissidents they extrajudicially killed in the 1980s and dumped in unmarked graves.” “What is truly outrageous is that after this report came out, the administration at Oberlin College still didn’t fire Mahallati but continues to pay him by giving him office work,” Bazargan told JNS. Oberlin and Mahallati did not return calls and emails from JNS. ‘We will always be grateful for their help’ Another event speaker was Gazelle Sharmahd, a Los Angeles-based activist and daughter of Iranian German journalist Jamshid Sharmahd, kidnapped by the Iranian regime in July 2020 from his Dubai hotel. In February, it sentenced him to death for terrorism. Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, has said the arrest occurred under “highly questionable circumstances,” and Sharmahd “never had even the semblance of a fair trial.” Sharmahd told JNS she did not attend in person at the Museum of Tolerance out of fear for her security. She praised the museum and Jewish organizations for informing U.S. and European officials about her father’s plight. “Members of the Jewish community were the first to help us because they realized the evil nature of the Iranian regime’s dictatorship since they have experienced the trauma of terror from this regime firsthand,” said Sharmahd. “We will always be grateful for their help to save my father’s life.” Iranian Americans who attended the event were inspired by brief comments from Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, directing them to petition the U.S. government to place greater economic and political pressure on Iran’s Islamic regime. “Rabbi Cooper’s speech was a strong voice of hope demanding justice and freedom in Iran,” said Arshia Sajedi, an Iranian American activist in Los Angeles. “His message was one I so desperately needed to hear, as many of our human rights political leaders still refuse to publicly state their full support for regime change in Iran.” Bijan Khalili, a founder of No to Antisemitism, told JNS that some non-Jewish Iranians have hesitated to participate in Iran-focused events at Jewish organizations, for fear of being labeled Zionist spies or collaborators by the Iranian regime. “This taboo is slowly dyingContinue reading “Iranian Americans and Jews have ‘natural allyship,’ can work more closely, LA event suggests”

Karmel Melamed Posted Mar 13, 2023 at 4: 01 PM More than 100 Iranian Americans and Jewish activists gathered on March 8 at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles for an International Women’s Day event in solidarity with the women of Iran. “The world must recognize the struggle Iranian women have taken on for their freedom and how for the first time Iranians of all backgrounds are demanding equality rights for everyone in their country,” Leibe Geft, the museum’s director, said at the event. Lisa Daftari, an Iranian American journalist, was master of ceremony at the event co-sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the nonprofit organization No to Antisemitism. She called it historic that Southern California’s Jewish and Iranian communities had come together. “There is such an outpouring of support from all people for the Iranian revolution, but the Jewish community and Iranian community have a natural allyship that has been underscored and is now coming to a crescendo after five months of protests against the regime,” Daftari, who runs a website called the Foreign Desk, told JNS. The Iranian regime has targeted both Iranians and Jews. “They understand each other and are now openly supporting each other against a common enemy,” she added. Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian ex-pat community in the world—nearly 45,000 of whom are Jews, according to some estimates. When organizers played a recording of Iranian singer and songwriter Shervin Hajipour performing his song “Baraye”—the Iranian revolution’s unofficial anthem and the winner last month of the first Grammy for Best Song for Social Change—via video feed, many attendees wiped away tears as they sang along. Attendees also saw a video social-media post from January featuring some 50 popular entertainers, including Cate Blanchett, Jason Momoa, Samuel L. Jackson and Bryan Cranston held signs with the hashtag “Stop executions in Iran.” Iranian-American artists Nicole Najafi, Ana Lily Amirpour and Mozhan Marnò created the video, according to the Hollywood Reporter. And in a live video, Daftari interviewed Iranian American activist Mariam Memarsadeghi and Iranian American CNN news editor Artemis Moshtaghian at the Los Angeles event. The Biden administration has disappointed many Iranian Americans with its Iranian policy, which they find weak in addressing the Iranian regime’s human-rights abuses, according to Memarsadeghi, founder of the Cyrus Forum. By keeping negotiation doors open, the Biden administration is allowing the Iranian regime to blackmail Washington, Memarsadeghi said in a live video feed during the event. “Our community wants to see a clear break from their current policy of appeasement of the regime, and it seems as if the Biden administration has not done that,” she said. And in recent months, Iranian American journalists and activists have had difficulty persuading U.S. news outlets to continue to cover the regime’s harsh crackdowns on protesters in Iran. “It’s been a struggle to get Western news media to cover the freedom movement in Iran, but I think now we have been doing a better job to get the information out there,” she said. After Iran’s “morality police” arrested and beat a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in Tehran last September for not covering her head, protesters have taken to the streets in many Iranian cities. As the protests have increased, security forces have beaten, arrested and shot many protesters, including killing more than 500—60 of them minors—according to the nonprofit Human Rights Activists News Agency. Lawdan Bazargan, an Iranian American activist who spoke from Washington, D.C., via live feed at the event, addressed the efforts of her organization, Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists, to lobby Oberlin College to fire Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, from his religion professorship. She cited Mahallati’s alleged role in covering up the Iranian regime’s massacre of at least 5,000 Iranian dissidents in 1988. In a Feb. 6 report, Amnesty International cited Mahallati’s participation in covering up “facts and whereabouts of thousands of political dissidents they extrajudicially killed in the 1980s and dumped in unmarked graves.” “What is truly outrageous is that after this report came out, the administration at Oberlin College still didn’t fire Mahallati but continues to pay him by giving him office work,” Bazargan told JNS. Oberlin and Mahallati did not return calls and emails from JNS. ‘We will always be grateful for their help’ Another event speaker was Gazelle Sharmahd, a Los Angeles-based activist and daughter of Iranian German journalist Jamshid Sharmahd, kidnapped by the Iranian regime in July 2020 from his Dubai hotel. In February, it sentenced him to death for terrorism. Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, has said the arrest occurred under “highly questionable circumstances,” and Sharmahd “never had even the semblance of a fair trial.” Sharmahd told JNS she did not attend in person at the Museum of Tolerance out of fear for her security. She praised the museum and Jewish organizations for informing U.S. and European officials about her father’s plight. “Members of the Jewish community were the first to help us because they realized the evil nature of the Iranian regime’s dictatorship since they have experienced the trauma of terror from this regime firsthand,” said Sharmahd. “We will always be grateful for their help to save my father’s life.” Iranian Americans who attended the event were inspired by brief comments from Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, directing them to petition the U.S. government to place greater economic and political pressure on Iran’s Islamic regime. “Rabbi Cooper’s speech was a strong voice of hope demanding justice and freedom in Iran,” said Arshia Sajedi, an Iranian American activist in Los Angeles. “His message was one I so desperately needed to hear, as many of our human rights political leaders still refuse to publicly state their full support for regime change in Iran.” Bijan Khalili, a founder of No to Antisemitism, told JNS that some non-Jewish Iranians have hesitated to participate in Iran-focused events at Jewish organizations, for fear of being labeled Zionist spies or collaborators by the Iranian regime. “This taboo is slowlyContinue reading “Iranian Americans and Jews have ‘natural allyship,’ can work more closely, LA event suggests”

Dr. Fatemeh Pishdadian Dr. Frieda Fuchs Dr. Hamid Charkhkar February 24, 2023 On Dec. 12, 2022, President Carmen Twillie Ambar received a letter from three prominent Iranian-born human rights advocates: Nobel Peace Prize laureate and lawyer Dr. Shirin Ebadi; acclaimed author of the international bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran Dr. Azar Nafisi; and historian and co-founder of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran, located in Washington, D.C., Dr. Ladan Boroumand. In their letter, Ebadi, Nafisi, and Boroumand call upon President Ambar to conduct a new investigation of Professor of Religion Mohammad Jafar Mahallati with respect to his role in covering up Iran’s 1988 prison massacres. The 1988 prison massacres refer to a crime against humanity that took place during Mahallati’s tenure as Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations from 1987–1989, when several thousand leftist political prisoners were summarily executed on orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. In 2020, the families of the prison massacre victims organized a campaign to revoke Professor Mahallati’s tenure on the grounds that his deliberate obfuscation of the massacres and lack of contrition made him morally unfit to be a professor at Oberlin. Faced with intense media scrutiny, Oberlin College initiated an internal investigation into the allegations and released a fact sheet summarizing its findings on Oct. 28, 2021. The report claimed that the institution had engaged a law firm to investigate the allegations and had conducted several clarifying conversations with Professor Mahallati. The report took at face value that Mahallati’s residence in New York meant that he was not aware of the prison massacres, even though it is well known that he was receiving alarming reports about mass atrocities from Amnesty International and credible news sources at the time. Additionally, protesters staged demonstrations in 1988 outside the U.N. Headquarters where Mahallati’s office was located. The report went on to highlight Mahallati’s constructive role in ending the Iran Iraq War and depicted him as an exemplary professor devoted to humanitarian causes. The College report’s conclusions contradict the 2018 Amnesty International Report — “Iran: Blood-soaked Secrets” — as well as the earlier 2011 report by internationally renowned human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson — “The Massacre of Political Prisoners in Iran, 1988”. Ebadi, Nafisi, and Boroumand claim that the “secretive” manner in which Oberlin College conducted its review and the report’s “bizarre findings” motivated them to write the letter. The authors underscore that the College did not explain how it came to the conclusions published in the report, ignored evidence from human rights experts, and refused to engage in dialogue with the victims’ relatives. As a result, the authors conclude, the College’s handling of the affair represents “an exercise in whitewashing a controversy rather than an attempt to arrive at the truth.” In concluding their letter, the authors call on President Ambar to allow a neutral “third party to conduct a transparent investigation of the allegations against Mahallati.” Ebadi, Nafisi, and Boroumand have confirmed that they have not received a response from the College to date. Quite apart from the high public profile of these human rights advocates, their letter comes at a critical juncture in Iranian history. Iranian women and their male supporters have launched nationwide protests designed to dismantle repressive gender laws imposed by the clerical regime. The Iranian regime’s response has been vicious: according to the Human Rights Activist News Agency, as of Jan. 29, 527 protesters were killed — 71 of them minors — and nearly 20,000 were arrested. The presidents of major academic institutions, including Case Western Reserve University, have issued statements publicly affirming their support for the Iranian community, whereas President Ambar and Oberlin College remain silent. Let us make this outrageous hypocrisy patently obvious: The institution that is justly proud of its role as a historic pioneer in women’s education and women’s rights refuses to condemn a religious autocracy that is killing women who wish to discard the veil, wear jeans, or dance in public with their friends. As for Professor Mahallati, to the best of our knowledge, he has never shown any contrition about the 1988 massacres. While in his courses and public events Professor Mahallati professes values of peace and friendship in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela — in 2016 he organized an online Peace Posters Dialogue Project at the Mary Church Terrell Main Library to which Iranian art students from his hometown of Shiraz contributed — he remains silent about the current violations of civil rights and women’s rights in Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has a long history of demonizing its victims and opponents as imperialist warmongers — an umbrella slogan that seeks to discredit regime critics of very different political persuasions, but one that is very difficult to apply to the leftist revolutionaries and others, like members of the minority Baha’i faith and Kurdish rebels, whom the regime brutally executed after holding them captive for years beforehand. Oberlin College should not be complicit with this strategy of discreditation. We demand that President Ambar respond to the request of prominent human rights activists and conduct a more transparent investigation of Mahallati’s role in covering up the 1988 massacres. The College should also consider Amnesty International’s most recent report, published Feb. 6, 2023, which provides a more thorough account of the role of Iranian diplomats, including Professor Mahallati, in deliberately deceiving international public opinion. Rather than summarily dismissing the victims’ claims, the College should follow standard academic and ethical practice, consider the evidence provided in all the above-mentioned human rights reports, and conduct its investigation in a transparent and public manner. Please Click Here for the article.

by Len Khodorkovsky and Lawdan Bazargan  February 23, 2023 01:00 AM The Islamic Republic of Iran has carried out terrorism worldwide since its founding in 1979, frequently using its “diplomats” and embassy personnel to commit, then cover up, these attacks. Just a few weeks ago, the FBI charged three assassins with ties to Tehran who targeted Masih Alinejad, an American citizen and critic of the Islamic Republic, in her own neighborhood in Brooklyn. A new Amnesty International report cites evidence against a number of Iranian officials, including Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, Iran’s former United Nations ambassador. Mahallati is accused by Amnesty of crimes against humanity. According to the human rights group, “Mahallati played a particularly active role in seeking to undermine credible reports by the then U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and Amnesty International, and to weaken the U.N.’s response. For instance, he undertook efforts in late November and early December 1988 to block the adoption of a resolution by the U.N. General Assembly that expressed concern about the mass executions.” Yet incredibly, Mahallati is now the Nancy Schrom Dye chairman of Middle East and North African Studies at Oberlin College in Ohio. Not only is this “professor of peace” implicated in the killing of thousands of Iranians, but he also called for the destruction of Israel and has a long record of antisemitic statements. During a speech at the U.N. in 1989, Mahallati called Israel “an Islamic territory, an Islamic heritage,” and “an Islamic point of identity.” He concluded, “Its occupation by Zionist usurpers is a transgression against all Muslims of the world, and its liberation is therefore a great religious obligation and commitment.” Mahallati also complained about condemnations of Iran’s persecution of the Baha’i community. He attempted to justify the revocation of Baha’i Iranians’ citizenship, as well as their imprisonment, torture, and execution. He endorsed the fatwa against Salman Rushdie and mocked the killing of American soldiers. During a recent interview with Alinejad, Mahallati refused to acknowledge his well-documented connection to the Iranian regime, despite calling himself its loyal servant in a letter to the head of Iran’s parliament. Family members of the Islamic Republic’s victims, human rights groups, Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky, and Nobel Peace laureates have called for Mahallati’s termination. To date, Oberlin’s current president, Carmen Ambar, has chosen to ignore the school’s “enduring commitment to a sustainable and just society” and hypocritically cover for Mahallati’s crimes. Oberlin’s board remains silent. Recognizing the need for transparency, Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Jim Banks (R-IN) wrote a letter demanding details of Mahallati’s employment. Their letter questioned Oberlin College’s reporting of foreign funding and whether the regime had a role in Mahallati’s hiring. But Mahallati is not the only former Iranian regime official to have been allowed to reinvent himself by an American university. Princeton University professor Seyed Hossein Mousavian made news after getting caught on camera giggling about Iranian threats against the family of Brian Hook, the former U.S. special representative for Iran. During his stint as the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ambassador to Germany in the 1990s, Mousavian was involved in political assassinations and plots. As a result of his activity, the German government demanded his removal. Eventually, four Iranian “diplomats” were expelled, and Mousavian left shortly thereafter, escaping prosecution and landing comfortably at Princeton. American universities are a big target for hostile nations to advance radical religious and political beliefs. U.S. schools have received at least $12 billion in foreign funds from 2013 to 2019, with little to no transparency. The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the major donors, giving millions to Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, and other schools. Former Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) described such funding as an attempt to “subvert American academic institutions.” In 2019, the Clarion Project discovered that the Alavi Foundation, serving as a front for the Iranian regime, has exerted much influence over mosques and schools in the United States. Interestingly, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati’s brother, Mohammad Hossein Mahallati, served as the Alavi Foundation’s director. According to Amnesty International, “direct perpetrators of the prison massacres are not the only people who must be subject to criminal investigations … all former and current officials who have contributed to the climate of secrecy and denial facilitating the continued enforced disappearances of thousands of victims must also be held to account.” Neither Mahallati nor Mousavian has been held accountable. Indeed, American universities continue to reward them. That’s not only painful for the families of the victims, but it inflicts reputational damage on U.S. universities and poses a serious national security threat. Len Khodorkovsky is a former deputy assistant secretary of state and senior adviser to the U.S. representative for Iran. Lawdan Bazargan is an Iranian-American human rights activist and the sister of one of the victims of the 1988 massacre, Bijan Bazargan. Please Click Here for the article.

– در واکنش به اطلاعات جدید عفو بین‌الملل،  سازمان «اتحاد علیه حامیان رژیم اسلامی ایران» بیانیه‌ای منتشر کرده و بر اتهامات خود علیه محلاتی تاکید کرده, اعلام کردند: «با توجه به این شواهد جدید، با اطمینان به این نتیجه می‌رسیم که آقای محلاتی از اعدام‌ها آگاه بوده و در موقعیتی قرار داشته که مانع از وقوع آنها شود.» دوشنبه ۱ اسفند ۱۴۰۱ برابر با ۲۰ فوریه ۲۰۲۳ آوا میلر (اوبرلین ریویو) – روز ۱۷ بهمن، سازمان عفو بین‌الملل گزارشی ۱۷صفحه‌ای منتشر کرد که در آن اقدامات استاد دین‌شناسی، محمد جعفر محلاتی، به عنوان سفیر سابق جمهوری اسلامی در سازمان ملل متحد محکوم شده است. در این گزارش آمده است که محلاتی نقش فعالی در سرپوش‌گذاری بر کشتار جمعی زندانیان سیاسی در ایران در سال ۱۳۶۷ داشته است. در این گزارش، که اخیرا منتشر شده، ادعا شده که محلاتی تلاش می‌کرده با دادن اطلاعات گمراه‌کننده به سازمان ملل و تهمت زدن به قربانیان اعدام‌ها، از تحقیقات این سازمان در مورد کشتار سال ۱۳۶۷، که تا سال ۱۳۶۸ ادامه داشته است، جلوگیری کند. این گزارش ادعا می‌کند که محلاتی «در آذر و دی  ۱۳۶۷ برای جلوگیری از تصویب قطعنامه‌ای توسط مجمع عمومی سازمان ملل، که در مورد اعدام‌های دستجمعی ابراز نگرانی می کرد، تلاش کرده است.» سایر شواهد ذکر شده در این گزارش حاکی از آن است که محلاتی اعدام‌ها را به‌عنوان «مرگ در میدان جنگ» جا زده است. در سال ۱۳۶۸، پس از ارائه شواهد قابل توجهی از اعدام های فراقانونی خرداد تا شهریور ۱۳۶۷به مقامات ایرانی، محلاتی همه گزارش‌های مربوط به اعدام‌های دستجمعی را رد کرد. در آذر ۱۳۶۷، سازمان ملل با تصویب قطعنامه‌ای «نگرانی شدید» خود را درباره هدف قرار دادن زندانیان سیاسی توسط جمهوری اسلامی ابراز کرد. طبق گزارش رسانه‌های بین‌المللی، محلاتی تلاش کرده است که این قطعنامه «لغو» یا «تضعیف» شود. محلاتی در بهمن ۱۳۶۷ نامه‌ای از طرف نمایندگی دائم جمهوری اسلامی ایران به سازمان ملل متحد در نیویورک نوشت و مدعی شد که افراد کشته شده «ارتباطات سازمانی مستقیم با… یک شبکه جاسوسی خیانتکار» داشته‌اند. از مهر ۱۳۹۹، اعضای خانواده کشته‌شدگان خواستار اخراج محلاتی و عذرخواهی دانشکده بابت استخدام او شده‌اند. در سال ۱۴۰۰، کالج اوبرلین یک شخص ثالث ناشناس را برای بررسی اتهامات علیه محلاتی استخدام کرد. بر اساس یافته‌های تحقیقات، دانشکده به این نتیجه رسید که هیچ مدرکی برای تأیید این اتهامات علیه محلاتی وجود ندارد. اتحاد علیه حامیان رژیم اسلامی ایران در مراسم پایان تحصیل دانشجویان کالج اوبرلین در خرداد ۱۴۰۱ علیه محلاتی دست به اعتراض زدند. در شهریور ۱۴۰۱، نمایندگان جمهوریخواه اعلام کردند که تحقیقات خود علیه کالج اوبرلین را آغاز خواهند کرد. نمایندگان کنگره جیم بنکس از ایالت ایندیانا و ویرجینیا فاکس از کارولینای شمالی شواهدی در مورد ارتباط محلاتی با سپهر سیاست، یک روزنامه ایرانی که متهم به حمایت از گروه شبه نظامی اسلامگرای لبنانی حزب الله است، منتشر کردند. عفو بین‌الملل شواهدی ارائه کرده که نشان می‌دهد محلاتی همچنان اطلاع خود از اعدام‌های دستجمعی را انکار می‌کند. محلاتی در مصاحبه‌ای با مسیح علینژاد در سال ۱۴۰۱ گفت: «من مطلقاً هیچ اطلاعاتی نداشتم و در دفتر نماینده دائم ایران در سازمان ملل در نیویورک، یک تلکس یا یک سند وجود ندارد که نشان دهد اطلاعاتی در این باره به سفیر داده شده است.» محلاتی در مدت تصدی پست سفیر جمهوری اسلامی، نماینده آیت‌الله خمینی، بنیانگذار جمهوری اسلامی ایران بود. کامرون امین، استاد مطالعات خاورمیانه در دانشگاه میشیگان- دیربورن که در مورد ایران و تاریخ ایران تحقیق می‌کند، به خشونت رژیمی که محلاتی نماینده آن بود اشاره کرده, می‌گوید: «آیت‌الله خمینی تصمیم‌های بی‌رحمانه‌ای گرفت، وی بسیاری از اعضای سابقاً مورد اعتماد حلقه درونی خود را پاکسازی کرد، قدرت قانونی مقامی را که در اختیار داشت تشدید کرد، او جنگ ایران و عراق را پایان داد زیرا این جنگ منابعی را که دولت می‌توانست برای سرکوب بیشتر مخالفان استفاده کند، از بین می‌برد. جانشین خمینی، آیت‌الله خامنه‌ای، با ترور مخالفان برجسته در ایران و خارج از کشور، این میراث خونین را ادامه داد. قتل عام سال ۱۳۶۷ اشتباه نظام جمهوری اسلامی نبود، بلکه یکی از ویژگی‌های آن بود. » در واکنش به اطلاعات جدید عفو بین‌الملل،  سازمان «اتحاد علیه حامیان رژیم اسلامی ایران» بیانیه‌ای منتشر کرده و بر اتهامات خود علیه محلاتی تاکید کرده, اعلام کردند: «با توجه به این شواهد جدید، با اطمینان به این نتیجه می‌رسیم که آقای محلاتی از اعدام‌ها آگاه بوده و در موقعیتی قرار داشته که مانع از وقوع آنها شود. ما او را به دلیل عدم استفاده از موقعیت خود در سازمان ملل برای جلب توجه عمومی به رژیم اسلامی یا جنایات جمهوری اسلامی علیه بشریت، جلوگیری از اعدام‌های بیشتر و گمراه کردن سازمان ملل متحد، سهل‌انگار و شریک جرم می‌دانیم… همچنین کالج اوبرلین را به دلیل دفاع مستمر از یک ناقض حقوق بشر و عدم ملاقات با خانواده قربانیان، بررسی مدارک  و گوش سپردن به داستان‌های آنها محکوم می‌کنیم.» *منبع: اوبرلین ریویو*نویسنده: آوا میلر*ترجمه و تنظیم: لادن بازرگان Please Click Here for the article.

Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, who teaches Islam at the Ohio-based Oberlin College, was the Islamic Republic of Iran’s UN ambassador from 1987-1989. By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL Published: FEBRUARY 19, 2023 22:02 The US-based organization the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists provided damning new evidence to Amnesty International for its new report on Oberlin College Professor of Religion Mohammad Jafar Mahallati’s alleged role in the cover-up of the massacre of at least 5,000 Iranian dissidents in 1988. Amnesty’s report titled “Involvement of Iran’s former diplomats in covering up the 1988 prions massacres” was released on February 6. According to the findings of Amnesty’s 17-page report, ”Iran’s then Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, played a particularly active role in seeking to undermine credible reports by the then UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and Amnesty International, and to weaken the UN’s response. For instance, he undertook efforts in late November and early December 1988 to block the adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly that expressed concern about the mass executions.” ”Iran’s then Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, played a particularly active role in seeking to undermine credible reports by the then UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and Amnesty International, and to weaken the UN’s response. For instance, he undertook efforts in late November and early December 1988 to block the adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly that expressed concern about the mass executions.” Amnesty International Mahallati, who teaches Islam at the Ohio-based Oberlin College, was the Islamic Republic of Iran’s UN ambassador from 1987-1989. The story of Oberlin College’s Mahallati and his denial of mass executions Despite Amnesty International’s urgent warnings sent to Iran’s regime at the time and media coverage about the massacre, “Mahallati denied all reports of mass executions” during 1988, wrote the human rights group. “Amnesty International notes with gratitude that it obtained some of the media articles cited in this annex from the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists, a group of former prisoners, victims’ relatives and human rights activists who launched a public campaign in October 2020 to seek accountability for Iranian officials who denied or distorted the truth about the mass executions of 1988,” wrote the authors of the Amnesty report. Hamid Charkhkar, a professor of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a member of the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), uncovered a crucial Financial Times article from Aug. 17, 1988, that stated, “Iran has resorted to mass executions of political prisoners.” The article added, “systematic executions of leftist prisoners, both Marxist and Islamic … greatly accelerated… particularly since the incursion into Western Iran by Iraqi-backed Islamic leftists (People’s Mujahedin).” Amnesty and AAIRIA argue that Mahallati should have had knowledge about the mass executions due to the Financial Times article, additional media reports at the time, and Amnesty’s urgent warning notices sent to Iran’s regime in 1988. AAIRIA also revealed the self-immolation of Iranian dissident Mehrdad Imen protesting the 1988 massacre in front of the UN and obtained pictures of demonstrators in front of the UN seeking to draw attention to the mass murders unfolding in Iranian prisons in 1988. The Iranian’s regime 1988 execution spree targeted Iranians affiliated with the  Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization ( MEK),  the left-wing parties Tudeh Party and Fadaiyan Khalq Organization (FKO), as well as the Kurdish organizations (Komala and the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran).  “In light of this new evidence, we conclude with certainty that Mr. Mahallati was aware of the executions and was in a position to stop them from happening,” AAIRIA said in statement, adding that  “We find him negligent and complicit for failing to use his position at the UN to draw public attention to the Islamic Regime or Iran’s crimes against humanity, prevent further executions, and mislead the UN… We also condemn the college for continually defending a known human rights abuser and failing to meet with the victims’ families, look at their evidence and listen to their stories.” The refusal by Oberlin College’s president Ambar to meet with the victims’ families and take action against Mahallati has caused outrage among Oberlin alumni and students. Rebecca McKelvy, who graduated in 2015, told The Jerusalem Post that “As an Oberlin alumna I find the hypocrisy exhibited by the college to be a disgusting embarrassment. Oberlin has long purported to fight for justice, but apparently that passion to protect human rights has its limitations. Now the college continues to employ Prof. Mahallati, a man who knowingly covered up heinous war crimes, even now that Amnesty has published the evidence of his lies and atrocities.” “As an Oberlin alumna I find the hypocrisy exhibited by the college to be a disgusting embarrassment. Oberlin has long purported to fight for justice, but apparently that passion to protect human rights has its limitations. Now the college continues to employ Prof. Mahallati, a man who knowingly covered up heinous war crimes, even now that Amnesty has published the evidence of his lies and atrocities.” Rebecca McKelvy She added that “I have received no word back from President [Carmen Twillie] Ambar or the board of trustees, all who continue to protect him without an ounce of shame. The fact that someone as evil as Mahallati sits in a comfy Oberlin office on payroll is a disgrace to the college and stains the reputation of anyone associated with the now cowardly, hypocritical institution.“ Jerold S. Auerbach, a professor Emeritus of History at Wellesley College, told the Post that Mahallati “degrades Oberlin—and himself.” Auerbach graduated from Oberlin College in 1957 and is an internationally distinguished historian. The lead organizer of AAIRIA’s campaign, Lawdan Bazargan, is an Iranian-American human rights activist whose 29-year-old brother, Bijan, was executed by the regime in 1988 for his leftist views. Mahallati lashed out at Bazargan in a Voice of America interview in 2022 for her efforts to dislodge him from his academic position. The clerical regimeContinue reading “Pro-Iran regime prof. in US covered up mass murder – human rights report”

Ava Miller, Senior Staff Writer|February 17, 2023 On Feb. 6, Amnesty International released a 17-page report condemning Professor of Religion Mohammad Jafar Mahallati’s actions as Iran’s former ambassador to the United Nations. The report alleges that Mahallati played an active role in covering up the 1988 mass killings of political prisoners in Iran. The recently released report claims that Mahallati worked to feed the United Nations misleading information in an effort to obstruct their investigation into the 1988 killings, which he continued to fend off in 1989 by slandering the victims of the executions. It alleges that Mahallati “undertook efforts in late November and early December 1988 to block the adoption of a resolution by the U.N. General Assembly that expressed concern about the mass executions.” Additional evidence cited in the report indicates that Mahallati misrepresented the executions as “battlefield killings.” In 1989, after substantial evidence of the July–September 1988 extrajudicial executions had been submitted to Iranian authorities, Mahallati denied all reports of the mass executions. In December 1988, the U.N. adopted a resolution expressing “grave concern” about Iran’s targeting of political prisoners. According to international media reports, Mahallati tried to have the resolution “dropped” or “watered down.” In February 1989, Mahallati wrote a letter from the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the U.N. in New York claiming the individuals killed had “direct organizational contacts with … a treacherous espionage network.” Since October 2020, family members of those killed have demanded the firing of Mahallati and an apology from the College for hiring him. In 2021, Oberlin College hired an unnamed third party to investigate allegations against Mahallati. Based on the findings of the investigation, the College concluded that there was no evidence to corroborate these accusations against Mahallati. The Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists protested Mahallati at the 2022 Commencement. In September 2022, Republican representatives announced their own investigation. Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Virginia Foxx of North Carolina released evidence about Mahallati’s involvement with Sepehr-e-Siasat, an Iranian newspaper accused of praising Lebanese Islamist militant group Hezbollah. Amnesty International provided evidence that Mahallati continues to deny he was aware of the mass executions. In a 2022 interview with journalist Masih Alinejad, Mahallati said: “I had absolutely no information and in the office of Iran’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. in New York, there is not one telex or one document [indicating] that any information was given to the ambassador.” During his tenure as ambassador for Iran, Mahallati represented Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Camron Amin, a professor of Middle East studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn who researches Iran and Persian history, noted the violence of the regime Mahallati represented. “Ayatollah Khomeini made a number of ruthless decisions,” Amin wrote in an email to the Review. “He purged many formerly trusted members of his inner circle, he tightened up the legal power invested in the office he held, and he ended a war that was draining resources the state could use to further suppress dissent. Khomeini’s successor, Ayatollah Khameneh’i, built on this bloody legacy with assassinations of prominent dissidents in Iran and overseas. 1988 was not a bug of the Islamic Republican system, but a feature.” In response to Amnesty International’s new information, the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists released a statement upholding their convictions against Mahallati. “In light of this new evidence, we conclude with certainty that Mr. Mahallati was aware of the executions and was in a position to stop them from happening,” the report reads. “We find him negligent and complicit for failing to use his position at the U.N. to draw public attention to the Islamic Regime or Iran’s crimes against humanity, prevent further executions, and mislead the U.N. … We also condemn the college for continually defending a known human rights abuser and failing to meet with the victims’ families, look at their evidence and listen to their stories.” Please Click Here for the article.

– کالج اوبرلین پس از تحقیقات داخلی در سال ۲۰۲۱، اتهامات وارده به محلاتی را رد کرده است. پنج شنبه ۲۷ بهمن ۱۴۰۱ برابر با ۱۶ فوریه ۲۰۲۳ بنجامین وینتال (فاکس نیوز) – یک سازمان ایرانی آمریکایی مستقر در آمریکا  شواهد جدیدی علیه محمد جعفر محلاتی، «استاد صلح» کالج اوبرلین، یافته است که عفو بین‌الملل را بر آن داشته تا گزارشی در مورد اتهام لاپوشانی این استاد دانشکده هنرهای لیبرال بر قتل عام حداقل ۵۰۰۰ دگراندیش ایرانی در سال ۱۳۶۷ منتشر کند. محلاتی بالاترین مقام اسبق جمهوری اسلامی که در ایالات متحده زندگی می‌کند، در کالج اوبرلین در نزدیکی کلیولند، اوهایو، به تدریس اسلام مشغول است. سازمان عفو بین‌الملل در اوایل ماه جاری گزارشی ۱۷ صفحه‌ای درباره سرپوش‌گذاری بر جنایت علیه بشریت توسط محلاتی، همتای او در سازمان ملل در ژنو و دیگر دیپلمات‌ها منتشر کرد. دیانا الطحاوی معاون مدیر عفو بین‌الملل در خاورمیانه و شمال آفریقا درباره کشتار سال ۱۳۶۷ و با اشاره به سرکوب اخیر اعتراضات در ایران گفت: «اینگونه جنایات مختص گذشته نیستند.» در این گزارش عفو بین‌الملل با عنوان «مشارکت دیپلمات‌های سابق ایران در سرپوش‌گذاری بر قتل‌ عام زندانیان سال ۱۳۶۷ » آمده است که طی تحقیقات دقیق سازمان ملل و سازمان عفو بین‌الملل و درخواست آنها از مقامات ایرانی برای انجام تحقیقات، در گزارش جدید سازمان عفو بین‌الملل ذکر شده که: «محلاتی به پیشبرد استراتژی حکومت ایران مبنی بر انکار و تحریف جنایات ادامه داده است». «محمدجعفر محلاتی به عنوان نماینده دائم ایران در سازمان ملل در نیویورک در آن دوران، نقش فعالی در بی‌اساس جلوه دادن گزارشات معتبر گزارشگر ویژه سازمان ملل و سازمان عفو بین الملل در مورد وضعیت حقوق بشر در ایران  و تضعیف واکنش سازمان ملل ایفا کرده است. عفو بین‌الملل، سازمان حقوق بشری مستقر در لندن، اعلام کرده است که در آبان ماه سال ۱۳۶۷، طی جلسه‌ای با گزارشگر سازمان ملل، محلاتی گزارش‌های مربوط به اعدام‌های دسته‌جمعی زندانیان را رد و به دروغ ادعا کرده که «در واقع بسیاری از این قتل‌ها در میدان جنگ رخ داده است.» لادن بازرگان سازمان‌دهنده اصلی اتحاد علیه حامیان رژیم اسلامی ایران  (AAIRIA)، که گروهش مقالات و شواهد جدیدی از کشتار سال ۱۳۶۷ کشف و عفو بین‌الملل از این شواهد در تحقیقاتش استفاده کرده است، به فاکس نیوز دیجیتال گفت: «با توجه به این شواهد جدید، با قطعیت به این نتیجه می‌رسیم که آقای محلاتی از اعدام‌ها مطلع و در موقعیتی بوده که مانع از وقوع آنها شود.» بازرگان افزود: «ما محلاتی را به دلیل عدم استفاده از موقعیت خود در سازمان ملل برای جلب توجه افکار عمومی به رژیم اسلامی و جنایات آن علیه بشریت، جلوگیری از اعدام‌های بیشتر و گمراه کردن سازمان ملل، هم‌دست این جنایات و مرتکب سهل‌انگاری می‌دانیم. گروه اتحاد علیه حامیان رژیم اسلامی ایران  از کالج اوبرلین خواسته تا هرچه زودتر محلاتی را ازاین کالج اخراج کند. جمهوری اسلامی در سال ۱۳۶۷، برادر ۲۹ ساله لادن، بیژن بازرگان را، به دلیل دیدگاه‌های چپ‌گرایانه‌اش اعدام کرد. رژیم ایران لادن را نیز به دلیل فعالیت‌های سیاسی مخالف نظام به حبس در زندان بدنام اوین تهران محکوم کرد. حمید چرخکار، استاد مهندسی زیست پزشکی دانشگاه کیس وسترن رزرو در کلیولند و عضو انجمن اتحاد علیه حامیان رژیم اسلامی ایران، یک مقاله بسیار مهم از فایننشال تایمز به تاریخ ۲۶ مرداد ۱۳۶۷ یافته که در آن نوشته شده: «ایران به اعدام دستجمعی زندانیان سیاسی متوسل شده است.» در ادامه این مقاله آمده است: «اعدام‌های سیستماتیک زندانیان چپ، اعم از مارکسیست و اسلامگرا… به ویژه پس از هجوم گروه‌های چپ‌ اسلامگرای مورد حمایت عراق (مجاهدین خلق) به غرب ایران، به شدت تسریع شده است.» عفو بین‌الملل و دگراندیشان ایرانی استدلال می‌کنند که با توجه به مقاله فایننشال تایمز و سایر گزارش‌های رسانه‌ها، هشدارهای فوری عفو بین‌الملل در آن زمان، و خودسوزی مهرداد ایمن، دگراندیش ایرانی، در اعتراض به کشتار ۱۳۶۷ مقابل سازمان ملل، محلاتی حتماً از این قتل عام مطلع بوده است. عفو بین‌الملل در بیانیه‌ خود تأکید کرده است که سطح چشمگیر خشونت و جنایتی که در حال حاضر بر ایرانیان معترض به رژیم اسلامی تحمیل می‌شود، آینه تمام‌نمای کشتار سال ۱۳۶۷ است. گشت ارشاد رژیم آخوندی در شهریور سال گذشته، مهسا امینی، زن ۲۲ ساله کرد ایرانی را، به دلیل عدم پوشش مناسب موهایش به قتل رساند. به گفته الطهاوی رژیم ایران «در اعتراضات اخیر موج هولناکی از خونریزی را به راه انداخته و صدور خودسرانه حکم اعدام علیه معترضان را از سر گرفته است. این امر نشان‌دهنده نیاز به اقدام فوری کشورهای سراسر جهان برای کشاندن مقامات ایرانی درگیر در این جنایات به پای محاکمه‌های عادلانه و برقراری عدالت تحت قوانین بین‌المللی می‌باشد.». به گزارش خبرگزاری هرانا، متعلق به فعالان حقوق بشر، رژیم آخوندی تا روز جمعه ۵۲۸ معترض از جمله ۷۱ کودک را به قتل رسانده است. مقامات ایرانی ۱۹۷۶۳ از تظاهرکنندگان را نیز دستگیر کرده‎اند. هرانا افزود که در مجموع ۷۰نیروی امنیتی رژیم کشته شده‌اند. عفو بین‌الملل در مطالعه سال ۲۰۱۸ خود درباره کشتار سال ۱۳۶۷ نوشت: بین تیر تا شهریور این سال «حداقل تعداد کشته‌ها به صورت تخمینی حدود ۵۰۰۰ نفر است». اکثر زندانیان سیاسی ایرانی که توسط رژیم اعدام شدند، وابسته به سازمان مجاهدین خلق بودند. قربانیان دیگر نیز متعلق به حزب چپ‌گرای توده، سازمان فدائیان خلق و سازمان‌های کردی (کوماه و حزب دمکرات کرد ایران) بودند. علی صفوی یکی از اعضای کمیته روابط خارجی شورای ملی مقاومت ایران مستقر در پاریس، به فاکس نیوز دیجیتال گفت که معتقد است تعداد کشته‌شدگان بسیار بیشتر از اینها باشد. «مایه تاسف است که جنایتکارانی که بطور مستقیم یا غیرمستقیم به جلادان جمهوری اسلامی، از جمله ابراهیم رئیسی، رئیس جمهور رژیم، کمک کردند تا نه تنها ۳۰۰۰۰ زندانی سیاسی، عمدتاً متعلق به گروه مجاهدین خلق (منافقین) را قتل عام کنند، بلکه بر آن سرپوش نیز بگذارند، تا به حال پاسخگو نبوده‌اند. فعالیت تحت لوای دیپلمات یا استاد دانشگاه نباید به این افراد اجازه دهد که از عدالت و پاسخگویی شانه خالی کنند.» آندریا سیماکیس مدیر روابط عمومی کالج اوبرلین، اعلام کرد که سوالات مطبوعاتی دیجیتال فاکس نیوز را دریافت کرده است. او هفته گذشته به روزنامه محلی کرونیکل تلگرام گفت که کالج نمی‌تواند تا روز دوشنبه، آنطور که روزنامه درخواست کرده، نظر خود را اعلام کند. پس از گذشتContinue reading “یک گروه حقوق بشری استاد کالج اوبرلین را به داشتن نقش در لاپوشانی قتل عام ایرانیان متهم کرد”

Oberlin has rejected the accusations against Mahallati following an internal review in 2021 By Benjamin Weinthal | Fox News Published February 15, 2023 10:05am EST A U.S.-based Iranian American organization has uncovered what they say is new evidence against Oberlin College’s “Professor of Peace” Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, leading Amnesty International to publish a critical report about the liberal arts school professor’s alleged cover-up of the mass murder of at least 5,000 Iranian dissidents in 1988. Mahallati, the highest-ranking former Iranian regime official living in the U.S., teaches Islam at Oberlin College near Cleveland, Ohio. Amnesty issued a 17-page report earlier this month over the alleged cover-up of crimes against humanity involving Mahallati, his counterpart at the U.N. in Geneva and other diplomats. “Such crimes are not relics of the past,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, about the 1988 massacre and in a reference to the present crackdown. According to the Amnesty report titled “Involvement of Iran’s former diplomats in covering up the 1988 prisoner massacres,” it noted that in the face of detailed U.N. and Amnesty investigations, and in addition to their calls on the Iranian authorities to conduct an inquiry, the new report from Amnesty stated that “Mahallati continued to advance the government’s strategy of denial and distortion.” “As Iran’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. in New York at the time, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati played a particularly active role in seeking to undermine credible reports by the then U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and by Amnesty International, and to weaken the U.N.’s response. In November 1988, he denied reports of mass executions at a meeting with the U.N. Rapporteur and falsely claimed that ‘many killings had in fact occurred on the battlefield,’” declared the London-based human rights organization Amnesty International. Lawdan Bazargan, the lead organizer for the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), whose group uncovered new media articles and material from the 1988 massacre that was used by Amnesty, told Fox News Digital, “In light of this new evidence, we conclude with certainty that Mr. Mahallati was aware of the executions and was in a position to stop them from happening.” Bazargan added, “We find him negligent and complicit for failing to use his position at the U.N. to draw public attention to the Islamic Regime or Iran’s crimes against humanity, prevent further executions, and mislead the U.N.” AAIRA has urged Oberlin College to summarily fire Mahallati. Iran executed Bazargan’s 29-year-old brother, Bijan, in 1988 for his left-wing views. Iran’s regime incarcerated Lawdan in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison for her political dissident activities. Hamid Charkhkar, a professor of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a member of AAIRIA, located a key Financial Times article from Aug. 17, 1988, that stated, “Iran has resorted to mass executions of political prisoners.” The article added, “systematic executions of leftist prisoners, both Marxist and Islamic … greatly accelerated… particularly since the incursion into Western Iran by Iraqi-backed Islamic leftists (People’s Mujahedin).” Amnesty and Iranian dissidents argue that Mahallati should have had knowledge about the unfolding mass murder due to the Financial Times article along with other media reports, Amnesty’s urgent warning notices at the time, and the self-immolation of Iranian dissident Mehrdad Imen protesting the 1988 massacre in front of the U.N. Amnesty stressed in statements that the spectacular level of violence and murder inflicted on Iranians currently protesting the regime mirrors the massacre of 1988. The clerical regime’s morality police allegedly murdered the 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini last September for not covering her hair properly with a hijab. Eltahawy said Iran’s regime unleashed a “horrific wave of bloodshed around the latest protests, as well as arbitrary executions and death sentences targeting protesters. This highlights the need for urgent global action from countries around the world to bring Iranian officials involved in crimes under international law to justice in fair trials.” According to the Human Rights Activists news Agency (HRANA), as of Friday, the clerical regime killed 528 protesters, including 71 minors. The Iranian authorities arrested as many as 19,763 demonstrators. A total of 70 regime security forces have been killed, added HRANA. Amnesty wrote in its 2018 study of the massacre that “minimum estimates put the death toll at around 5,000” between July to September 1988.  Most of the Iranian political prisoners executed by the regime were affiliated with the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). Additional victims were from the leftist Tudeh Party, the left-wing Fadaiyan Khalq Organization (FKO), and Kurdish organizations (Komala and the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran). Ali Safavi, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, told Fox News Digital that he believes the number of those killed is much higher, “It is regrettable and shocking that criminals, who either directly or indirectly enabled the executioners in Iran, including regime president Ebrahim Raisi, to not only massacre 30,000 political prisoners, mostly from the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), but also to help cover it up, have not been held accountable. Using the cover of a diplomat or an academic should not allow them to escape justice and accountability.” Andrea Simakis, the director of media relations for Oberlin College, acknowledged receipt of a Fox News Digital press query. She told the local paper Chronicle-Telegram last week that the college would not be able to meet the paper’s Monday deadline. After a week, the college and its trustees have not answered media questions about the new Amnesty report. Fox News Digital reached out to Mahallati, and a number of Oberlin trustees. Oberlin College issued a fact sheet on its website in October 2021, declaring, “After consulting a number of sources, and evaluating the public record, the College could find no evidence to corroborate the allegations against Professor Mahallati, including that he had specific knowledge of the murders taking place in Iran.” Oberlin declined to release its investigative report on Mahallati. The Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate and lawyer Shirin Ebadi slammed Oberlin College’s investigation for whitewashing the crimes against humanityContinue reading “Human rights group calls out Oberlin College professor over alleged role in cover-up of massacre of Iranians”

By RFE/RL’s Radio Farda February 07, 2023 Protesters in several Iranian cities, including the capital, Tehran, have set fire to government banners commemorating the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution as rights group Amnesty International chided the country’s leaders for “decades of mass killings and cover-ups.” Months of unrest sparked by the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who died while in custody after being arrested by the notorious morality police for allegedly not wearing a mandatory Islamic head scarf properly, have posed the greatest threat to the Islamic leadership since the revolution. Her death, which officials blamed on a heart attack, touched off a wave of anti-government protests in cities across the country. The authorities have responded to the unrest with a harsh crackdown that rights groups say has killed more than 500 people, including 71 children. Amnesty called the anniversary celebrations “shameful” amid decades of mass killings and cover-ups by authorities, including the current brutal treatment of protesters since Amini’s death, as well as the 1988 prison massacre that saw thousands of Iranian political prisoners and others killed in mass executions across the country. “The authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have maintained an iron grip on power for decades through the commission of horror after horror with absolute impunity,” Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement dated February 6. “The anniversary arrives amid a horrific wave of bloodshed around the latest protests, as well as arbitrary executions and death sentences targeting protesters. This highlights the need for urgent global action from countries around the world to bring Iranian officials involved in crimes under international law to justice in fair trials,” she added. Despite the crackdown, Iranians continue to push back as they call for increased freedoms and human rights. In the evening on February 7, neighborhoods in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad witnessed the chanting of slogans — a nightly occurrence — by protestors along with the burning of propaganda banners of the government celebrations of the 1979 Islamic Revolution anniversary. Similar scenes were repeated in the cities of Arak, Kermanshah, and Kerman. In the western Iranian city of Sanandaj, a group of protesters blocked the street leading to the central prison of Sanandaj by lighting a fire and chanting anti-government slogans, including “death to the dictator,” a reference to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Videos published on social media also show that, in different areas of the Iranian capital of Tehran, people chanted anti-government slogans from the windows and rooftops of residential buildings and played the song “Baraye,” which won a Grammy award for social change on February 5 and has become an anthem for the ongoing protests in Iran. The song Baraye, which roughly translates as “because of,” is based on the outpouring of public anger following Amini’s death. It is composed of tweets sent by Iranians in response to the tragedy. Many of the tweets blame the country’s social, economic, and political ills on the clerical regime. Officials, who have blamed the West for the demonstrations, have vowed to crack down even harder on protesters, with the judiciary leading the way after the unrest entered a fourth month. Several thousand people have been arrested, including many protesters, as well as journalists, lawyers, activists, digital rights defenders, and others. Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda Please Click Here for the article.