the Morning star

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 05: Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY) speaks during a news conference discussing new legislation on U.S. policy toward Russia April 5, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. U.S. Also pictured is Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images) The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday placing new sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia. This follows a similar version adopted overwhelmingly by the Senate in a 98-2 vote last month. The House resolution, however, faced a more peculiar road even riddled with obstacles. Fortunately, the overwhelming 419 to three vote in favor of this bill, the bipartisan Countering Adversarial Nations Through Sanctions Act ( H.R.3364 ) has made it veto proof. Despite the fact of alterations made in the initial text, all glitches have been set aside to gain White House consent. “The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), not just the IRGC Quds Force, is responsible for implementing Iran’s international program o...

WASHINGTON, AFP, 25 July 2017 - The US House of Representatives votes Tuesday to slap new sanctions against Russia, a move that has triggered uproar in Moscow and Europe.The legislation, which is the result of a congressional compromise reached at the weekend and is aimed at punishing the Kremlin for meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and Russia's annexation of Crimea, could end up penalizing European firms that contribute to the development of Russia's energy sector New sanctions against Iran and North Korea for their actions on or testing of ballistic missiles are also included in the bill. Key among the provisions is one that handcuffs the US president by making it difficult for him to unilaterally ease penalties against Moscow in the future -- effectively placing him under Congress's watch. Initially, Trump resisted the legislation. But faced with near-total consensus among Republican and Democratic lawmakers, the White House blinked. In mid-June...

Ahmad Khatami, a board member of the Iranian regime’s Assembly of Experts, used the Tehran Friday prayers sermon to express his anger over the ever-increasing scope of the justice movement related to the 1988 massacre. He called for the perpetrators of the atrocity of executing over 30,000 political prisoners to be awarded medals.“Then we see some people who on their websites switch the place of martyrs and murderers. It was a divine move by [Iranian regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini] to force the [PMOI (People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran)] out of the country. All those who acted based on these orders should be rewarded with medals… however, those who on their websites have switched the place of martyrs and murderers should repent and beg for forgiveness,” he said. This senior Iranian official, involved in many of the regime’s crimes, continues to be infuriated over the July 1 Iranian opposition rally held in Paris. He made ridiculous remarks against the former Iranian P...

Two years have passed since the signing of the ineffective nuclear agreement between world powers and Tehran, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). For those who are familiar with the theocracy in Iran, it is a known fact that all foreign policy in Iran are decided by the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. This is even true in the case of the highly promoted nuclear deal. It is worth noting that before and during the negotiations, Khamenei, said that Oman had a key role in breaking the ice between Iran and the US. Thus, it is naive to think that the new president, Hassan Rouhani, was the one who changed the 10-year-long stalemate. Iran has an abundance of oil, gas and others natural resources, hence, using nuclear energy is both expensive and controversial. Independent experts acknowledge that Iran’s goal of maintaining a nuclear program is to produce nuclear weapon. However, Iran has consistently refused these views and claims that its program is of a...

Maryam Akbari Monfared, a political prisoner detained in the Women’s Ward of Evin Prison, addressed a letter to the ambassadors who recently visited Evin prison. She wrote about issues that had been concealed by the Iranian regime’s authorities during their visit. Maryam Akbari Monfared was arrested in December 2009. She was condemned to 15 years of prison on May 11, 2010. This political prisoner was charged with Moharebeh (waging war on God) for membership in the PMOI, a charge that she has denied. She has lost four siblings in the executions of the 1980s and the massacre of political prisoners in 1988. Her court judge told her that she is paying the price of her sister and brothers. Ms. Akbari Monfared, now in her eighth year of imprisonment, has been detained in several prisons, including Shahr-e Ray, Gohardasht and Evin. In her letter she wrote about women’s conditions in Iranian jails. Following is the full text of her letter: To the honorable ambassadors Mr. Dian Wiren...

Iranian military trucks carry surface-to-air missiles during a parade on the occasion of the country's Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) We are at a critical juncture in our time in history. The  Iran nuclear deal , known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has entered now its third year. As the Trump White House is pending its Iran policy there is increasing support for regime change. All the while the Iran appeasement camp are boosting their efforts of claiming any firm policy on Tehran will lead to war. The question is do the measures professed by this party truly prevent war? When Iranian opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) recently held its  annual convention  in Paris, with Trump “emissaries” such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaking powerfully of regime change in Iran. Forme...

Iran massacred over 30,000 political prisoners in summer of 1988 and kept a lid on this atrocity for three decades. In this year’s presidential election a conservative cleric by the name of  Ebrahim Raisi , one of the perpetrators of the massacre, was selected as a main candidate, resurfacing the 1988 massacre and forcing regime officials, one after another, to confess about the carnage. Last week in an unprecedented  interview , former Iranian intelligence minister Ali Fallahian revealed the mindset behind the 1988 mass execution. Fallahian, described as  “perhaps the most feared mullah in Iran”  by  Newsweek , is wanted by  Interpol  for his involvement in the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed 85 people in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In his interview Fallahian explains whoever had any relation with the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran ( PMOI/MEK ) was condemned to death. “Imam [Khomeini] said you must execute those who...