Elika Yusuf

AUG 21, 2017 |  By  KELLY JANE TORRANCE Hassan Rouhani  was sworn in for his second term as president of  Iran  on August 5, surrounded by fresh flowers, fervent followers, and around 500 foreign officials. Representatives of the United Kingdom, France, the United Nations, and the Vatican rubbed shoulders with the Syrian prime minister, Hezbollah second-in-command Naim Qassem, Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader and FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list member Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, and murderous Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. The Westerners didn’t seem uncomfortable in such company; indeed, European Union foreign policy chief  Federica Mogherini  was described as the star of the show after Iranian members of parliament elbowed through the crowd to take selfies with the diplomat.

By Jubin Katiraie August 2017 29 years ago these days, in Iran under the mullahs’ regime, the massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners , mainly members, and supporters of the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) had engulfed all of Iran. The intensity and speed of this massacre were so severe that not only PMOI/MEK families, but all other families of prisoners sought information about their loved ones. No authorities would provide answers, however.