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European lawmakers call on EU to condition relations with Iran to halt of 

More than 270 MEPs from European Union have signed a joint statement on Iran, calling on the European Union and the member states “to condition any further relations with Iran to a clear progress on human rights and a halt to executions." The MEPs, who are from all 28 EU member states and from all political groups in the European Parliament, are concerned about the rising number of executions in Iran after the so-called moderate president Hassan Rouhani took office three years ago. Speaking from Brussels Gérard Deprez, chairman of the Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament, said: “It is a great contradiction that we in the EU are so proud that all 28 Member states have abandoned death penalty but we seem to have no problem doing business with the world’s leading executioner-state. If EU does not insist publicly and seriously on improvement of human rights this would be a great damage to our credibility.” The signatories of the statement include six vice presidents of the European Parliament as well as several committee chairs and heads of delegations and some vice-presidents of the political groups.


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Iranians in Oslo- Norway protested Javad Zarif the Iranian regime's foreign minister The Local reported on June 15. This sourse added that A former Iranian ambassador to Norway also slammed Zarif’s participation in the Oslo Forum. “The trip by the Iranian regime’s foreign minister Javad Zarif to Norway takes place amid an unparalleled wave of executions in Iran. Close to 130 people have been hanged in Iran in the past two months alone,” Perviz Khazai said in a statement provided to The Local.  “Zarif is the representative of a regime that has immersed the region in war and crisis through warmongering, export of terrorism, and extremism,” the statement continued.  Khazai, who represents the National Council of Resistance of Iran in the Nordics, said “Zarif ought to face justice for crimes against humanity and war crimes as a senior representative of the most brutal dictatorship after the Second World War for three decades.'

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According to Associated France Press, June 18, A US judge denied bail Thursday to a Iranian-Turkish gold mogul who applied to live in a lavish Manhattan apartment on a $50 million bond with private armed guards before going on trial for allegedly defying sanctions on Tehran.
Reza Zarrab, 33, was arrested in Miami in March en route to Disney World with his Turkish superstar singer wife and five-year-old daughter on charges that could see him sentenced to up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Judge Richard Berman has rejected his request after a two-week review, ruling that his significant wealth, lack of ties in the United States and extensive links to countries without extradition treaties could help him skip bail.
'Mr. Zarrab poses a risk of flight,' Berman wrote in his decision. 'No condition or combination of conditions, including privately funded armed guards, will reasonably assure his appearance at trial.'
The evidence against him 'appears strong,' the charges are 'serious' and he could face 'a substantial term of imprisonment' if convicted, he noted.
'Undermining US sanctions against Iran may well pose a threat to the United States,' continued Berman.


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A number of Iranian political prisoners have expressed support for a fellow political prisoner and labor activist Jafar Azimzadeh who has been on hunger strike in the notorious Evin Prison for the past 52 days.
On Monday June 13, political prisoner Mohammad Jarrahi who's been in jail for 5 years now, staged his own hunger strike in solidarity with his fellow prisoner and in protest at the lack of attention to Azimzadeh’s demands. Jarrahi is incarcerated in Tabriz Prison, north-west Iran, as a result of his activism on behalf of workers’ rights.
On Sunday, June 12, Alireza Golypour, a political prisoner incarcerated in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, has started his hunger strike supporting Jafar Azimzadeh.
The physical condition of Jafar Azimzadeh on the 51st day of his hunger strike was so bad that the guards took him to a hospital outside Evin prison.
Jafar Azimzadeh, was arrested on November 8, 2015, and currently is serving a six-year prison sentence in Ward 8 of Evin Prison for engaging in peaceful and legitimate trade union activities.

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On Saturday June 18, a group of Iranian-Canadians at the Parliament Hill and across from Prime Minister's office during their weekly protest, condemned the wave of executions and demanded the freedom of all political prisoners. As such they called for the release of Jafar Azimzadeh the President of the Free Union of Workers of Iran who's been on hunger strike for 52 days now and Alireza Golipour another political prisoner on hunger strike.