Monday, July 07, 2008


NEWS))))))



Tens of thousands of Iranians converged on a Paris exhibition centre in Villepinte- France on Saturday June 28 in support of the main Iranian opposition group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), demanding that the European Union lift its ban on the group. Organizers estimated participants at the indoor arena in Villepinte, north of Paris, to number over 70,000, making it the largest-ever gathering of Iranians outside Iran. "The unjust terror label against the PMOI brought with it much calamity for us, our nation, the people of Iraq and the Middle East. Not the least of which were pictured by the cranes, from which Iranians were hanged in Iranian cities, and the onslaught of terrorism and bloodshed in Lebanon, Palestine and Afghanistan", said Maryam Rajavi, who heads the coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) which includes the PMOI. Rajavi's speech was repeatedly interrupted by jubilant cheers from the buoyant crowd. At one point she was showered with confetti by impassioned supporters. A number of international press such as France Press and Associated Press reported on this event. The vibrant atmosphere was partly due to a major victory the PMOI had in London earlier this week, when the United Kingdom government removed it from its list of proscribed groups. The UK took the action following a decision in May by the country's Lord Chief Justice at the Court of Appeal describing the ban on the group as "perverse". British lawmakers voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve the order to lift the ban on the group. More than 100 Parliamentarians from across Europe, the Americas and the Middle East, as well as a delegation of Iraq Parliamentarians took part in the rally. Rajavi urged the EU to stop "appeasing" the "mullahs' regime". The 27-nation bloc has an obligation to lift the ban on the PMOI when it conducts its semi-annual review of its terrorist list next week, she said. The PMOI was banned in the UK by then-Home Secretary Jack Straw MP in 2001. The British ban was used as the basis of the group's inclusion in the European Union's terrorist list in mid-2002, in what the EU's then-Spanish leadership called "a goodwill gesture to Tehran". In December 2006, the Court of First Instance annulled the EU's decision to place the group in the list and described the freeze on its financial assets as "unlawful". In a controversial move, however, the EU announced in June 2007 that it would maintain the group in the blacklist. It is expected to conduct its latest review of the group's status next week. "Since the EU-wide ban on the PMOI was based exclusively on the fact that the UK had banned the group, the EU no longer has an excuse for keeping the ban in force. ... It must lift the ban on the PMOI immediately", said Hossein Abedini, an NCRI spokesperson. During her speech, Rajavi touched on the NCRI's plan for a future Iran. "The future Iran we are fighting for will be a society in which all Iranian citizens enjoy freedom of speech, belief, religion, clothing, and free access to information. Everyone will be equal before the law", she said.


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At least people have died as a seven-storey building in north-west Tehran collapsed on Monday June 30. The apartment block collapsed in the early hours of the day in Tehran’s Saadat-abad district. All those hurt in the accident were workers, officials have said. Emergency rescue teams have been unable to pull anyone out of the debris.


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A youth hanged in Isfahan and two sentenced to death in Tehran
The clerical regime in Iran hanged a 19-yr old youth in Isfahan and handed death sentences for two youth in Tehran. The young man who was hanged in Isfahan was named Hamid Reza. The two youth who are sentenced to death in Tehran are named Omid, 20, and Yadollah, 33. The Supreme Court of the Iranian regime has confirmed that Omid be publicly hanged soon.
Also The Judicial system of the clerical regime released the execution verdict of two persons in Tehran. These two are named A. Sh and Behruz. Their verdict has been confirmed by the mullahs’ regime’s Supreme Court.

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Car factory workers staged strike for unpaid salaries
The workers of Iran Khodro Company staged strike in protest against not payment of their salaries and premium. This strike started on Monday, June 30. The protesting workers said: 300 workers have resigned in protest of not paying their salaries and anti-workers pressures by the regime executors since three months ago.

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Teachers stage protesting gathering in Tehran
The contract teachers of Tehran, Qom and Damghan (northeastern Iranian city) held a protesting gathering in front of the clerical regime’s parliament on Monday. They asked for attendance to uncertainty of their professional situation.

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EU must follow UK to delist PMOI
In an interview with the Danish daily Politiken, Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice President of the European Parliament, said that after the British decision, the European Parliament must remove the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) from the terrorist list without any delay and undisputedly. He added: This should be done not only for the sake of law, but for the sake of our people and independence.

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In an interview with Azzamn International daily, Dr. Saleh Mutalq, leader of the Nationalist Arabic Faction in Iraqi Parliament asserted: To solve Iraq’s problem, the Iranian regime’s agents must be expelled from Iraq, and Iran’s border must be walled to absolutely cut off relations with the Iranian regime.Dr. Mutlaq added: The cause for most of the events that happened in Iraq like sectarian violence , and flow of arms, training militias and assassination teams is the Iranian regime; presently, the Iraqi people have become conscious and some political factions have started to show positive signs against the Iranian regime’s meddling in Iraqi Parliament. He added: Whoever you ask in Naseriya or Imara or Baghdad about the Iranian regime’s meddling, he would say, yes, meddling exists in all aspects.