Such an honour to write for
@TheAtlantic
In this piece I consider the shadow war of espionage between Tehran and Tel Aviv, arguing that the Islamic Republic's brutal authoritarianism and repression of its own people leaves it exposed to Israeli intel ops on its own territory.
In the game of spy vs. spy, Israel keeps getting the better of Iran.
@KMooreGilbert
on what going to jail under fake espionage charges taught her about Iran's real problem recruiting operatives:
Australian government, your time is now.
@AlboMP
@SenatorWong
pick up the phone to Washington, bring Assange's decade+ long ordeal to an end. You might not like him, but the time has come to stand up for our fellow citizen. To stand up for freedom of speech, for whistle-blowers.
This time exactly 2 months ago I boarded a plane at Tehran's Mehrabad airport. I can never regain the 2+ years which were stolen from me, but I am looking to the future with strength, positivity and an renewed appreciation for what I'd long taken for granted- justice and freedom.
I have just received word that everyone within the women's political prisoner ward of Evin is SAFE and unharmed.
من همین الان خبر داشتم که همه در بند زندانیان سیاسی زنان اوین در امان هستند و آسیبی ندیده اند.
Iran really does look like this. And it's breathtakingly beautiful. And there are infinite exotic backdrops for framing selfies for Instagram. Most tourists have an incredible time, and come home gushing about the warmth and hospitality of the Iranian people... BUT...
پروژه دوم فمتریپ (نام دیگر خونشویی) با حضور بلاگرهای خارجی آن هم زمانی که مردم در خیابانها در مقابل گلوله و باتون میایستند، سرکوب و کشته میشوند، شروع شدهاست!
«دروغهایی که با جوهر نوشته میشود، هرگز نمیتواند حقیقتی را که با خون نوشته شده پنهان کند.»-لو ژون
@hodarostami
The silence of many academics and indeed the broader university sector in the West about what is happening to Iranian students and their professors does not cease to shock me. Contrast this to the way journalists mobilise in support of one another when a journalist is attacked.
Iranian PhD candidate Nasrin Ghaderi, 35, who was studying philosophy in Tehran died on Saturday after being beaten by security forces with baton during Friday protests.
Under the regime's pressure, however, her father announced today she died of flu and underlying disease.
1/ On this day exactly three years ago I landed at Imam Khomeini airport, Tehran. Full of excitement, I couldn't wait to explore Iran and learn more about its unique people and rich culture.
Last week I had the genuine pleasure of meeting
@ScottMorrisonMP
and his lovely wife Jenny. He was warm, open, frank and well-informed about the details of my case, which he had no qualms about calling a hostage-taking. Thanks for helping get me out of a tight spot ScoMo!
Finally someone has written about the dozens of poor Thai workers slaughtered and taken hostage by Hamas. It's telling that the Thai delegation flew straight to Tehran to beg for their freedom.
There is also a darker side. An Iran which, while promoting itself as a tourist destination in clips like this, is also busy shooting innocent protesters in the streets. Is torturing political prisoners in its jails. Is taking foreign tourists hostage for diplomatic leverage.
The Australian people cannot accept that you are willing to deal with the mullahs in Iran for myself & El-Sisi's regime in Egypt for
@PeterGreste
,that you can get David Hicks out of Guantanamo, but you can't convince our close allies to end their political prosecution of Assange
In February 2021 I filmed this one hour documentary with
@SkyNewsAust
about my time incarcerated in Iran. Previously behind a paywall, it is now available on YouTube. If you're interested, please take a look✌️
This is what happens when you don't listen to local Iranian communities. They have been complaining to governments for years about the issuing of visas to regime officials and their families, and failure to take seriously IR soft power influence ops
Khoda koneh that one day tourism will thrive in Iran. This country, with its ancient ruins, historic cities, vibrant culture and stunning landscapes has the potential to be a prime destination for international visitors. I hope that I will be among them. But not under this regime
#BREAKING
IRGC Chief-Commander Salami says the threats against
@IranIntl
journalists which forced the channel to stop its broadcasting in the UK and move to the US "show how far the Islamic Revolution's realm of power, field of infiltration and radius of influence has extended."
Taraneh Alidoosti has been thrown in the Intelligence Ministry's notorious 209 unit within Evin, synonymous with severe deprivation, solitary confinement and weaponisation of medical care.
In a short conversation with her father detained actress
#TaranehAlidoosti
said she is being held in section 209 of Evin prison [m— where prisoners are notoriously tortured — and requested her medication.
There are very few people in the world who understand how it feels to be wrongfully imprisoned abroad and used as a diplomatic hostage.
These two 'get it' when so many others can't.
Honoured to be spending the 3rd anniversary of my precious freedom in such great company
✌🏻
This is an utterly shocking story. 'Lolita,' a young Saudi woman who was forcibly married at 11 and has been the victim of years of horrific gender-based violence, was kidnapped by agents likely linked to the Saudi embassy from her flat in Melbourne. Despite having applied for
Do you know what was stamped on the handcuffs we were forced to wear every time we left the 2A unit in
#Evin
, even for a trip to the hospital? Even when so weak from hunger strikes we could barely walk?
MADE IN UK.
English-language translation of the statement released by female political prisoners in Evin in support of the arrested protesters.These brave women have added their names, in spite of the risk to themselves, to call for an end to the Islamic Republic's executions and sham trials
"Taking hostage, kidnapping, murdering is in the DNA of the Islamic Republic" - brave
@AlinejadMasih
as the US Senate introduces a bill to sanction her intended kidnappers
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas but Islamic Republic terror doesn’t stay in the Middle East. need bipartisan coordinated international campaign to confront regime’s terror. Please listen to my remarks in the Senate to introduce Masih Alinejad HUNT act
#JavadForoughi
, Iran's first gold at
@Tokyo2020
in men's 10m air pistol, is member of Revolutionary Guards. He was sent to Syria along with
#IRGC
forces for 2 years. IRGC killing protesters and assassinating outside Iran.
This is an affront to the Olympic ideals.
#جواد_فروغی
My dear friend
#NiloufarBayani
has been freed from
#Evin
prison for one week on medical grounds after contracting Covid. Nilou has spent more than 3 years as an innocent woman behind bars. Welcome back to the real world, my beautiful courageous sister! 🥳🍾
I know what it means to do time for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I also know what it means to be rescued from a Covid-riddled overseas hellhole and be brought back to Australia (yes into quarantine). This outrageous policy is immoral, unjustifiable and completely unAustralian
Here in Australia, whether true or not, we like to think we're better than that.
@AlboMP
the moment has arrived to demonstrate that your new govt really is above the empty slogans and self interested politicking of its predecessors. Keep your word. Pick up the phone.
#FreeAssange
Read my piece for
@TheNationalNews
about resisting injustice from within Iran's prison system.
This is for you Sepideh, Houman, Niloufar, Morad, Taher, Sam, Abdol Reza and Amir Hossein. And for Kavous Seyed-Emami.
#freetheenvironmentalists
How the Iranian embassy in Turkey helped lure a child bride who had fled to Turkey and was granted asylum back to Iran. She was then beheaded by her husband, who paraded her severed head through the streets afterwards. Shameful and shocking doesn't even come close.
Iranian embassy in Turkey abetted in the beheading of 17 Yr old girl by helping the family to force her back to Iran.”
Her husband showed off her severed head in the streets in the name honor. Listen to my interview with a friend of Her.
#LetUsTalk
The behaviour of the UK government in sanctioning Assange's extradition sends a frightening message to British journalism. We have seen how US journalism has crumbled over the years in the face of extreme partisanship, misinformation and eroding public trust.
Ex-IRGC officer Talaei "is best known for launching a special unit to crack down on women wearing supposedly un-Islamic dress, aggressively quelling protests and spearheading an operation to seize TV satellite dishes used to bring in Western programming."
Please don't share the video of Majidreza Rahnavard. The indignity of being strung up in public in front of a baying mob in your last moments is horrific enough, without its being immortalised via online voyeurism, even if well-meaning. We all know what this regime is capable of.
I'm very glad to see Foreign Minister Wong speak out on what's happening in Iran. However the time for condemnation has long passed, the Iranian people need action. In order to "continue to support the people of Iran" the govt must join its allies in sanctioning the regime & IRGC
Reports a protester has been sentenced to death in Iran are deeply disturbing.
Australia opposes the death penalty in all circumstances for all people.
We continue to support the people of Iran and their right to freedom of expression and equality for women and girls.
Don't forget that, in spite of all the well-publicised, senseless killings of innocent protesters in places like Tehran and the Caspian provinces, Zahedan and Balochistan have borne the absolute brunt of the regime's horrific wave of violence.
I would add that there are also a sizeable number of Iranian scholars in the West doing the same thing. I don't know if it's "Iran lobby" or merely rose-tinted nostalgia for an imagined home, but I find the lack of solidarity from those who should know better highly disturbing.
There’s a disturbing trend of non-Iranian scholars diminishing
#Iran
’s freedom movement & discrediting IRI opposition. I urge you to trade in your cynicism for empathy of a global community suffering from 43yrs of trauma from IRI. IQ without EQ is itself dangerously abusive.
On this day, exactly one year ago, I passed the gates of Evin for the very last time, at last a free woman. I wanted to be doing this 👇but instead was forced to take part in my own little IRGC propaganda film, which needless to say didn't go to plan (for them!)
“A journalist exiled in France, whose writings gave voice to Iran's disaffection, was executed by the regime founded by Ayatollah Khomeini - who, from his own exile in France four decades earlier, issued speeches that gave voice to the nation’s discontent”
Today is my dear sister Niloufar Bayani's 35th birthday. Her FOURTH behind bars as an innocent woman. More than 4 years have been stolen from this beautiful soul, years which should have been among the best of her life. Years she will never get back. And for what?
Being grateful to the 🇦🇺 govt for freeing me from prison 8 YEARS before the end of my unjust sentence, and to the PM specifically for discussing the details with me in an open and frank fashion, does not constitute an endorsement of every single one of his policies
#sorrynotsorry
Iranian security forces have arrested the sister and brother-in-law of executed 2019 protester Navid Afkari as well as his 3 year old niece. Yes, they literally arrested a 3 year old. 🙄 Navid's 2 brothers Habib and Vahid have been in prison since Navid's tragic execution.
These were the
#Iran
regime officials in Raisi's helicopter which suffered a "hard landing" today and which rescuers are trying to locate: Mohammed Ali Ale-Hashem, Khamenei's representative for East Azerbaijan Province and a member of the Assembly of Experts; Raisi; Foreign
I can confirm that the two New Zealand travel bloggers, Topher Richwhite and his wife Bridget Thackwray of 'Expedition Earth,' are missing, believed arrested in Iran.
حالا نسبتاً بیربطه، ولی گاهی یاد این بندگان خدا میافتم. دو تا شهروند نیوزلندی در مسیر گشتن دنیا وارد ایران شدن، آخرین استوریشون در هایلایت هم اینه و سه ماهه معلوم نیست چی شدن. عجیبه اصلاً صدایی از سمت دولت نیوزلند یا اقوامشون اونجا هم درنمیاد.
This is Frenchman Benjamin Briere and his campervan exploring Iran before he was kidnapped and thrown into a Mashhad prison. This case mirrors that of Australian backpackers Joely King and Mark Firkin, imprisoned in Evin in 2019 for the "crime" of taking photographs as tourists.
Canada, the US, Germany and the EU are moving fast (by their standards) to punish Iran and the IRGC with sanctions, terror listing etc. Still crickets from
@ausgov
@dfat
@AlboMP
@SenatorWong
et al. Australia, when will you start standing up for the Iranian people?
#BREAKING
Germany and the EU are examining whether to classify Iran's IRGC as a terrorist organisation, FM
@ABaerbock
said on Sunday.
"I made it clear last week we'll launch another package of sanctions, that we'll examine how we can also list the IRGC as a terror organisation."
I urge Iranian-Australians and anyone else in Australia who is concerned with what's going on in Iran to make a submission, and call on our country to do more than offering empty condemnations.
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee is conducting an inquiry into human rights implications of recent violence in Iran and is calling for submissions by 16 November 2022.
More information is available from the Committee's website
Soheila Hijab was the very first friend I made in Qarchak prison. She is brave, fearless and fiercely intelligent as well as uncompromising when it comes to standing up for what she believes in. She went above and beyond to help me and others.
2/ Little did I know that this day would mark a turning point in my life, which for better and worse won't be the same again. In spite of what happened to me, I remain in awe of Iran and it's incredible, brave, strong people. It breaks my heart that, for now, I can never return.
Utterly heartbreaking words of the father of 21 year old karate champ
#MohammadMehdiKarami
who has just had his death sentence confirmed by Iran's Supreme Court.
I remember watching Taraneh Alidoosti on the TV from my cell in Evin prison. Surreal to think the regime would arrest such a prominent and beloved actress, and that she might end up there herself.
Iranian actress
#TaranehAlidoosti
was arrested on Saturday 17th December.
On 9th November, Ms. Alidoosti published a photo of herself without compulsory hijab in her Instagram page, holding a paper with
#WomanLifeFreedom
written on it.
#MahsaAmini
وبسایت هرانا خبر داد که توماج صالحی خواننده رپ اعتراضی قرار است روز ۲۲ دی ماه در دادگاه انقلاب شاهینشهر اصفهان به اتهام «تبلیغ علیه نظام و توهین به رهبری» محاکمه شود.
Germany needs to detain Nayeri following his medical procedure and try him for crimes against humanity under universal jurisdiction, as Sweden has done with Hamid Nouri. He should not be allowed to return to Iran unless Sharmahd and Taghavi are returned to Germany.
Thread: Troubling reports which need to be confirmed that Hossein-Ali Nayeri--a member of the death panel in 1988 which greenlighted the execution of thousands of political prisoners in
#Iran
--has been treated at a private medical clinic in
#Germany
. 1/4
1/ This is Alexei, otherwise known as Lyosha. His family migrated to Haifa from Ukraine, seeking a better life. A gentle giant and a kind soul, I backpacked throughout Russia with Alexei for several months in 2012. He was best man at my wedding.
Really disappointed with the BBC's coverage of the Iranian (s)election. I hadn't been seeking this out, but all I seemed to hear on the World Service and elsewhere were commentary from, for example, an "independent journalist" inside Iran who openly stated she was a Jalili
Oh how boring and predictable. I've come to DC to meet with policymakers and experts working on Iran and arbitrary detention. The Islamic Republic doesn't like that and has started a campaign attacking me on social media spreading all sorts of crazy narratives straight out of the
More than 30 years and a $3million bounty later, Khomeini's poisonous fatwa has finally caught up with Salman Rushdie. A black day for freedoms of speech, expression, religion & conscience. A tragic day for literature. We must pray Rushdie survives this.
This is my beautiful friend. I can't even begin to describe what has been done to her, and stolen from her, over these past 3+ years.
#NiloufarBayani
#شكنجه_شدم
To those who champion artistic freedom & freedom of expression.
To those who profess to stand against imperialist oppression.
To those who have suddenly become Middle East experts overnight.
Toomaj Salehi is your litmus test. Say his name!
@OfficialToomaj
I challenge you to watch this clip of murdered teen Sarina Esmailzadeh, full of life and wise beyond her years, and not shed a tear #مهسا_امینی #نه_به_جمهوري_اسلامي
Her name is
#SarinaEsmailzadeh
,she was 16 when she joined
#IranProtests2022
demanding her basic human rights.Islamic Republic forces hit her in the head and killed her. Her family were threatened to silence- HOLD
@khamenei_ir
ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS CRIME
EXCLUSIVE: a female Iranian athlete who did not wear a hijab at an international competition will be directly transferred to Evin prison from the airport, IranWire can reveal.
#Iran
#Truth
#Mahsa_Amini
مهساامینی
#MahsaAmini
#hijab
Iran just hanged two intellectually-curious, open-minded young men for the 'crime' of having the intelligence to question the regime's all-pervasive brainwashing, and the bravery to express their doubts online to others. A despicable act straight out of the Middle Ages.
Iran's judiciary today announced the execution of Yousef Mehrdad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare for "insulting" the Prophet Muhammad & Islamic sanctities. They were also accused of running "anti-religion" social media accounts.
They were arrested 3 years ago & executed this morning.
This is Benjamin Briere, the French tourist on trial in Mashhad for (heaven forbid) taking photographs and posting a comment on social media about compulsory hijab. The latest victim of a long list of foreigners held hostage by
#Iran
#سعید_دهقان، وکیل دادگستری از برگزاری جلسه آخرین دفاع #بنجامین_بریر، توریست فرانسوی بازداشت شده خبر داد. به گفته او اتهامات این توریست جوان، در خصوص عکسبرداری و همچنین طرح سوال در رابطه با حجاب اجباری در ایران در شبکه های اجتماعی عنوان شده است./۱
My friend Soheila Hejab has been on hunger strike in Qarchak prison for the past 2 weeks. She is suffering from low blood pressure and stomach and kidney problems. She is protesting the harassment of her and her family by members of the security forces.
Iran International
@IranIntl
has been forced to close its London offices due to threats from the Iranian regime, yet Khamenei's representative in the UK is allowed to maintain a "community centre" in London, enjoying all benefits of tax breaks, charitable status etc. Go figure 🤷🏻♀️
Australia should sanction Iran’s communications minister, Eisa Zarepour, who did his PhD at the University of New South Wales. He has already been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union.
-
@NazaninBoniadi
February 21 marks the first anniversary of the death penalty verdict for German citizen
#JamshidSharmahd
The Islamic Republic executed more than 800 people throughout 2023. Every state-ordered murder leaves deep wounds in Iranian society.
Let's not forget Iran.
#CutTheRope
!
🧵 Nowruz Mubarak! Did you know that today marks the start of Spring and a new year for millions of people across dozens of countries? Read more to see how this ancient Iranic celebration is observed across the world ⬇️
"Hundreds of thousands of brave Iranians rose up in the name of the very same values we live our lives by every day, and I'm ashamed to say we abandoned them," Australian-British academic
@KMooreGilbert
who was jailed in Iran for over two years, told
@GenevaSummit
on Tuesday.
Nearly 15 months after agents of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry arrested and tortured university students Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi, they are still held in Ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran while being denied access to lawyers and their relatives.
"Iranian-Australians and human rights advocates are pleading with the Albanese government to do more to punish the Tehran regime for its brutal crackdown on women’s rights protesters, blasting the government’s response so far as embarrassing"
Iran’s Minister of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism: “we have to provide foreign tourists with access to the internet so in case they get arrested for spying they could let their families know” 😂
Excited to be tentatively dipping my toe back into academic waters with a new focus on arbitrary detention and hostage diplomacy. Thank you to
@sydneyciss
@Sydney_Uni
for offering me a visiting fellowship after a 5 year hiatus from academic work
We are thrilled to announce that Dr
@KMooreGilbert
has joined
@sydneyciss
as a Visiting Fellow until June 2024! During her time with us, she will be undertaking extensive research on policy approaches to wrongful detention within Western democracies.
@Usyd_ssps
@ArtSS_Sydney
In support of
@HostageAid
's Barry Rosen
@brosen1501
who is on hunger strike outside the nuclear negotiations in Vienna. Barry is calling for all hostages held in Iran to be freed before any deal is signed.
#FreeTheHostages
Australia has no more excuses. If the US and Canada can find the correct legislative settings to proscribe
#IRGCterrorists
incl. a workaround to the nation state immunity from prosecution argument, we can too. It's time for
@MarkDreyfusKCMP
and
@SenatorWong
to take a second look
Iranian President Raisi was the Head of Judiciary during my sham-trial and bogus conviction for 'espionage' in a Revolutionary court in 2019. Myself and other victims are suing him in New York under the Torture Victim Protection Act.
BREAKING:
#EbrahimRaisi
's victims are suing him in federal court in New York when he arrives for
#UNGA
Together, Iranian dissidents & former hostages are taking a step for justice.
Join us Tuesday September 20th in Manhattan for a live press conference.
A year ago today,
#RouhollahZam
, a dissident Iranian journalist, was executed. He was lured from France to Iraq and then kidnapped to Iran. His only crime was exposing corruption of the Islamic Republic. Now the world powers want to make a deal with his killers. Shame.
#Zam
Australian citizens, please sign this Senate petition calling for the government to enact Magnitsky sanctions against the IRGC and other regime officials, and to investigate corrupt officials and their children living in Australia. 👇
Once again the Australian government is silent. Germany, Canada, the US have all announced new sanctions on Iranian officials, the IRGC and morality police. Australia is yet to sanction a single Iranian under our new Magnitsky laws.
@ausgov
@dfat
@SenatorWong
@AlboMP
do better!
Germany will ensure the European Union freezes the assets of those responsible for a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran and bans their entry to the bloc, Foreign Minister
@ABaerbock
told a German Sunday newspaper.
This is an utterly shocking story. 'Lolita,' a young Saudi woman who was forcibly married at 11 and has been the victim of years of horrific gender-based violence, was kidnapped by agents likely linked to the Saudi embassy from her flat in Melbourne. Despite having applied for
I used to think Amad News was "Omid News" and when my roommates and I thought we heard Zam on the phone outside our cell would jump up and down and yell امید نيوز- امیدوار باش!
#unitedforzam
@HillelNeuer
I spent more than a year reading and translating the international news pages of Iranian state-run newspapers in my prison cell. Articles and/or pictures of Ilhan Omar featured at least once a week, more than almost any other Western politician
People are messaging me from within Iran saying that "judge" Abolghasem Salavati, responsible for the death sentences of countless political prisoners including the most recent hangings of 2 protesters, has been shot and killed.
"Gholian has paid an enormous price exposing the flagrant abuse of human rights in Iran’s places of detention. The world needs to recognize her bravery and pressure the Islamic republic for her release"
@AlinejadMasih
on
@sepideqoliyan
گزارشی از درخواستهای استرالیاییها از جمله من برای قرار دادن سپاه پاسداران در فهرست سازمانهای تروریستی پس از تصمیم کانادا برای انجام این کار.
@IranIntl
@alirezambb