I am a former political prisoner in Iran. I worry the regime will execute female activists

Verbal condemnations of the regime must be reinforced by actions from the international community.

January 30, 2023 by Homeira Hesami; Dallas Morning News

It all sounded too familiar.

The Islamic Republic of Iran executed two more protesters in early January, despite persistent international outcry over two similar executions that were carried out in December. The latest killings sparked a fresh outpouring of public condemnation, as well as new threats of economic sanctions. Yet the following day, the regime’s judiciary proceeded to issue three more death sentences. To me, as a former political prisoner in Iran, this was like déjà vu.

Read more...

Iran’s most powerful weapon isn’t working

January 10, 2023 by Frida Ghitis; CNN 

“Dad, my sentence is death,” Mohammad Mehdi Karami informed his father in a phone call from prison last month. Then, last Saturday, the 21-year-old karate champion was executed by the Iranian regime. Karami, an Iranian Kurd, was hanged on the same day as Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, a volunteer children’s coach who was just 20. Both were accused of killing a member of the Basij paramilitary force. In the phone call, the younger Karami reportedly told his father he was tortured into making a false confession. All 16 accused in that case have denied the charges.

Read more...

Women rising up after decades of Iran regime’s oppression. They need the world’s support

October 21, 2022 by Homeira Hesami; Fort Worth Star-Telegram

A few weeks after it began, the scale and intensity of Iran’s uprising are tangibly diminishing an already weak regime in Tehran.

Women, who for more than four decades bore the brunt of the mullahs’ inequities and misogyny, are braving bullets and demanding a similarly unprecedented response from Western powers. Choosing the path of least resistance, the free world has typically been ambivalent. But courageous actions of women, brutal murders of the innocent and the persistence of Iranian resistance promise to change that calculus.

Read more...

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits the opposition and alternative to theocracy in Iran

June 3, 2022 by Saeid Saadi; Yahoo News

On New Year’s Eve 1978, when President Jimmy Carter arrived in Tehran, he described during a state dinner Iran under the Shah as “an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world.”

Little did President Carter know that the Shah was going to be overthrown in less than 14 months in the course of one of the most unprecedented revolutions in modern history.

Forty-four years later, on May 15, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Maryam Rajavi, the leader of main Iranian opposition movement, at the resistance’s HQ in Albania. No one understands the significance of this visit better than the theocracy in Iran.

Read more...

The fight in Ukraine is inspiring U.S. leaders to support human freedom in Iran

April 30, 2022 by Homeira Hesami; The Dallas Morning News

Amid the tragic war in Ukraine, we see substantive change in a country whose population, young and old, women and men, are mobilizing to fight for freedom. For the first time in more than a generation, the world seems to be taking note, and in our part of the world, elected officials are also taking part in supporting freedom. 

For example, members of Congress participated in events organized by Iranian Americans promoting a non-nuclear, free republic in Iran. Akin to Ukraine, Iran’s plight has considerable impact on the cause of freedom worldwide, and because of Iran’s drive for nuclear weaponry, it is relevant to America’s security. Fifty-three members of Congress contributed to a bipartisan virtual conference to show support for a growing movement to establish a democratic, secular and non-nuclear republic in Iran. Participants included members of Congress from Texas.

Read more...