NEWS))))))

Canada shuts Iranian embassy in Ottawa

On Friday Sep. 7 the foreign minister of Canada announced that he has called his countries diplomats home and ordered the closure of the Iranian embassy in Ottawa giving 5 days to their staff to leave the country. “The Iranian regime is providing increasing military assistance to the Assad regime; it refuses to comply with UN resolutions pertaining to its nuclear program; it routinely threatens the existence of Israel and engages in racist anti-Semitic rhetoric and incitement to genocide,” foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement.
“It is among the world’s worst violators of human rights; and it shelters and materially supports terrorist groups, requiring the Government of Canada to formally list Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act.”
Baird said he was worried about the safety of diplomats in Tehran following attacks on the British embassy there.
Canada’s relations with Iran have been strained since former Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor helped rescue six Americans from Iran during the hostage crisis in 1980.
Relations became even rockier in 2003 after Zahra Kazemi, a freelance photographer with dual Canadian-Iranian citizen was killed in the notorious Evin prison in 2003. Canada then recalled its ambassador. Iran also ordered Canada’s ambassador to leave the country. All Iranian diplomats in Canada have now been declared" personae non gratae,” Baird said. Freedom-Loving Iranians are excited to see Canada is doing the right thing but they feel Canada should take more steps such as taking the supreme leader of Iran to the International Courts for violations of human rights in and outside of Iran.

Iran must halt executions amid fears of new wave of death penalties

The Iranian authorities must halt all executions scheduled in the coming days, Amnesty International said, amid reports that up to 23 individuals may be at imminent risk in what the organization fears may herald a rise in executions in the country. Twenty-two death row prisoners, among them at least five Afghan nationals, have been removed from their prison cells in recent days and are due to be executed on 8 September. Most or all are believed to have been convicted of drugs offences. Another prisoner, Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani, 50, who was sentenced to death in 2010 for “enmity against God” (moharebeh) in connection to claims he supports the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) – a sentence which was later confirmed by the Supreme Court on 21 April 2012 - is believed to be scheduled for execution on 10 September. “We are calling on Iran to commute the death penalty of all prisoners on death row, as we consider this most final of penalties to constitute a violation of the right to life,” said Anne Harrison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Program Director for the Middle East and North Africa Program.  “Additionally, under international law, the death penalty can only be carried out for ‘the most serious consequences’ which must be ‘intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences’. Neither support for a political group nor drugs offences meet this criterion.” On Saturday 11 of 12 prisoners were executed in Ghezel-Hesar prison. At least one of the victims is of Afghan national. The Ahwaz prosecuter has reported of saying that: for the protection of the system, we won't hesitate for more execution.

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While a Christina pastor who was sentenced to death was freed from jail, Arzhang Davoodi is being held in solitary confinement after 2 months, with no contact with his family. He's been charges with enmity against God (moharebeh) and is being held in ward 209 of the notorious Evin prison.