NEWS))))))



Two prisoners hanged in Shiraz
The Iranian regime hanged two men, 29 and 36, in a prison in the southern city of Shiraz, the state-run daily Etemad reported on Saturday without identifying them or specifying a date. On Thursday other state-run media also reported that nine prisoners were hanged in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison and in southern city of Kerman. Among them was a 30-year-old woman who was hanged after two years of imprisonment.Iranian regime does not publish official figures on executions. The number of executions since the beginning of 2009 has reached 170.Iran under the mullahs currently ranks first for per capita executions in the world.In a statement on Wednesday, the National Council of Resistance of Iran called on all international human rights organizations, especially the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to condemn the deplorable human rights situation in Iran and adopt immediate and binding measures to stop suppressive policies of the clerical regime.

Hundreds of students protested in Shiraz to free detained students
Hundreds of Shiraz University students chanting 'death to dictator' turned the speech session of, former Iranian regime’s Prime Minister, Mir Hossein Moussavi into a protest. According to reports, the students also carried pictures of the arrested students and shouted: 'Jailed students must be released'. The students also carried placards saying: 'Moussavi; answer to our questions explicitly'

503 European MPs wrote to Obama on new Iran policy; call for removal of PMOI from US blacklist
At a press conference on Thursday in the House of Commons, British lawmakers announced that over 180 British MPs and Peers have written to President Barack Obama urging the US to remove the main Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), from the list of foreign terrorist organizations.The British lawmakers were part of 503 European Parliamentarians who proposed the initiative to the US, calling for a new Iran policy, said the statement published by the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom.
Please read the complete text at the bottom of the page

A man and a woman hanged in Qazvin
Iranian regime’s henchmen have hanged a woman, 30, and a man in the northern city of Qazvin, the state-run daily IRAN reported on Thursday.The woman only identified by her first name as Azita, and the man, Mohammad, were hanged in prison on Wednesday, the report said.On May 9, Hassan Qashqavi, spokesman for the Iranian regime’s Foreign Ministry, responded to widespread international protests against the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran and the increasing trend of arbitrary executions, specifically the execution of minors. He said: “We have serious differences with the West over democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression. … We even have very serious problems over an issue like execution. … This year, Amnesty International has said that the total number of the dead is 3,000. … These are serious human rights discussions.”In a statement the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said on Monday: 'The Iranian regime’s explicit and unveiled support for systematic and cruel human rights violations makes more urgent the imperative of referring Iran’s human rights violations dossier to the UN Security Council for adoption of binding measures against the religious fascism ruling Iran.'

******
US-born reporter Roxana Saberi flew into Vienna from Tehran on Friday, only days after her release from an Iranian prison where she had been jailed on allegations of spying for the United States. Saberi, who was accompanied by her family, told Associated France Press she planned to spend several days in the city as "Vienna is calm and relaxing." Saberi was released on Monday from Tehran's Evin prison after her original eight-year jail term on espionage charges was reduced to a suspended two-year term by an appeal court. A dual US-Iranian national, Saberi had been in Iran for six years and had reported for US-based National Public Radio (NPR), the BBC and other foreign media groups. She was first arrested in January of this year on charges of buying alcohol which is illegal in the Islamic republic. However, she was later accused of "cooperating with a hostile state," a charge which carries a prison term of one to 10 years under article 508 of the Iranian penal code.

503 European MPs write to President Obama urging new policy on Iran including removal of PMOI from US terror list180 British MPs: Delay in de-listing PMOI could lead to humanitariancatastrophe in Camp Ashraf

At a press conference on Thursday in the House of Commons it was announced that over 180 crossparty MPs and Peers have written to President Barack Obama urging the US to remove the main Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), from the list of foreign terrorist organisations.Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, Chair of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom,announced that the British lawmakers were part of 503 European Parliamentarians who proposed the initiative to the US, calling for a new Iran policy.The British and European lawmakers called for the immediate removal of the PMOI from the US terror list since the Iranian regime still uses the ban as an excuse to try and have 3,500 PMOI members, who are based in Camp Ashraf in Iraq as ‘protected persons’ under the Fourth Geneva Convention, ’expelled or extradited to Iran or displaced inside Iraq, which could lead to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.’While warning of an impending humanitarian catastrophe for Ashraf residents, the cross-party lawmakers urged Iraq to immediately implement the items of the 24 April 2009 European Parliament resolution with regards to Ashraf and further called on the UN to monitor Iraqi compliance with this resolution.They reiterated that if Iraq did not implement the items of the EP resolution, calling for recognition of Ashraf residents as ’protected persons’ under the Fourth Geneva Convention, the only alternative left would be for the US to take over protection of Ashraf under UN monitors, not least since as of 2003 the US had vowed to guarantee the protection of Ashraf residents in return for a voluntary consolidation of weapons.In their new initiative, 503 British and European Parliamentarians underscored the need for a coherent Trans-Atlantic policy to deal with the growing threat of the regime’s drive to acquire nuclear weapons and its terrorist and fundamentalist meddling and warmongering in the region.In their letter to the US President, the MPs said: ’Our experience has shown that the Iran crisis cannot be resolved without an Iranian solution and without relying on its main opposition movement. Sadly your predecessors and the EU included the main Iranian opposition group in the list of terrorist groups. In Europe, this unjust decision was annulled by seven decisive European court rulings, and the EU Council finally lifted the ban in January.’They added: ’The fundamentalist dictatorship ruling Iran has so far executed more than 120,000 PMOI members. Through its lobby in the West and by spending hundreds of millions of dollars, it tries to demonize these people and attaches false charges to them. 2,000 Members of Parliaments from many European states and various parliamentary committees have, in their independent assessments, reached the conclusion that the PMOI is a democratic force with a large social base.’The 503 British and European MPs criticised the previous attitude of the West and stated: ’The regime fears only two prospects - foreign military intervention, which at this point is not under consideration, and the PMOI. Until now, we have prevented ourselves from being able to utilize this valuable leverage and have, as a consequence, made ourselves weaker in the face of the mullahs’ regime. To show resilience and strength in our dealings with Tehran and to show our good will towards the Iranian people, we must support the main opposition PMOI rather than treat them as enemies at the behest of the mullahs.’Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President elect of the resistance coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran, sent a video message from Paris to the conference. ’This letter on its own is a clear rejection of the policy of appeasement with its main feature being the unjust labeling of the PMOI’, she said.Speakers at the conference included: Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, Andrew MacKinlay MP, David Drew MP, Joe Benton MP, Roger Williams MP, David Amess MP, Lord Clarke of Hampstead, Lord Maginnis of Drumglass, Lord Dholakia, Lord Cotter, Brian Binley MP, and Mehrafrouz Peikarnegar from the NCRI.The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom14 May 2009