- Iran: Eight Prisoners Hanged on Drug Charges
- Daughter of late Iranian president jailed for ‘spreading lies’ - IRAN: Annual report on the death penalty 2016 - Taheri Facing the Death Penalty Again - Dedicated team seeking return of missing agent in Iran - Iran Arrests 2, Seizes Bibles During Catholic Crackdown
- Trump to welcome Netanyahu as Palestinians fear U.S. shift
- Details of Iran nuclear deal still secret as US-Tehran relations unravel - Will Trump's Next Iran Sanctions Target China's Banks? - Don’t ‘tear up’ the Iran deal. Let it fail on its own. - Iran Has Changed, But For The Worse - Iran nuclear deal ‘on life support,’ Priebus says
- Female Activist Criticizes Rouhani’s Failure to Protect Citizens
- Iran’s 1st female bodybuilder tells her story - Iranian lady becomes a Dollar Millionaire on Valentine’s Day - Two women arrested after being filmed riding motorbike in Iran - 43,000 Cases of Child Marriage in Iran - Woman Investigating Clinton Foundation Child Trafficking KILLED!
- Senior Senators, ex-US officials urge firm policy on Iran
- In backing Syria's Assad, Russia looks to outdo Iran - Six out of 10 People in France ‘Don’t Feel Safe Anywhere’ - The liberal narrative is in denial about Iran - Netanyahu urges Putin to block Iranian power corridor - Iran Poses ‘Greatest Long Term Threat’ To Mid-East Security |
Friday 09 August 2013Iranian political prisoners plead with US for end to isolationMore than 50 former and current political prisoners in Iran have written to Barack Obama calling for an end to the “crippling sanctions” and international isolation suffered by the country. They urge the US president to see the government of Hassan Rohani as “the last chance” for a breakthrough in the deadlock with the west. The letter, whose signatories include prominent officials of the former reformist government of Mohammad Khatami and journalists, said the main victim of the “heavy and unprecedented” sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear programme had been the Iranian people. Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of conservative former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, whose last-minute support helped Mr Rohani secure the victory, is among the signatories. “All the Iranian nation, including the families of political prisoners, especially low income people, are suffering under runaway inflation and [the] shortage of medicine and basic staples. Sanctions have now turned into a mass punishment of the Iranian nation,” it said. Foreign sanctions and intolerable pressure on the public and the incumbent government would “enhance extremism and weaken the shaky sapling of democracy” in Iran, it added. The letter, posted on opposition websites on Thursday, said the June presidential poll that led to the election of Mr Rohani – Iran’s former nuclear negotiator, who has pledged to walk the path of “detente” with the world – must be seen as an opportunity to restore constructive interaction between Tehran and Washington. “It’s time for both [Iran and the west] to turn the pages of history and open a new chapter in approach toward each other,” the letter read. “We think the tenure of this government may be the last chance for reaching a reasonable and acceptable solution by both parties,” it warned. “The time is ripe for replacement of sanctions by a solution agreed by both sides . . . in which no side feels a loser.” Mr Rohani, who took office at the weekend, has repeatedly said his government would pursue a foreign policy of moderation. The centrist cleric said this week the Islamic regime was determined to resolve the deadlock in nuclear talks with the six powers – the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany. This would be achieved through easing the concerns of the international community and having more straightforward negotiations while preserving Iran’s legitimate rights under international law. Mr Rohani hopes a breakthrough in talks would help him rescue an economy tipped into crisis because of international sanctions and the mismanagement of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the former president. The economy is plagued with an official inflation rate of 35.9 per cent, youth unemployment of 28.3 per cent and a currency that has lost more than half its value against the dollar since July 2010. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader and the ultimate decision maker on issues such as nuclear talks and relations with the US, threw his weight behind Mr Rohani’s moderate foreign policy on Saturday. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013. |