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Features

Torture + Televised Confessions + Spying for Israel + Power of Zarif

August 13, 2019
Maziar Bahari
3 min read
Iranian-French dual national Fariba Adelkhah was arrested in July. The French consulate is in discussion with Iranian officials about her case
Iranian-French dual national Fariba Adelkhah was arrested in July. The French consulate is in discussion with Iranian officials about her case
Earlier this year, Zarif was excluded from an important meeting with Bashar al-Assad, who met with the commander of the Guards’ Quds Force and the Supreme Leader instead of him
Earlier this year, Zarif was excluded from an important meeting with Bashar al-Assad, who met with the commander of the Guards’ Quds Force and the Supreme Leader instead of him
In an interview with IranWire, Mazyar Ebrahimi describes the brutal torture he was subjected to, including having to go through two mock executions and being forced to confess
In an interview with IranWire, Mazyar Ebrahimi describes the brutal torture he was subjected to, including having to go through two mock executions and being forced to confess

Many of you may have had issues accessing IranWire in the last couple of days. We’ve been under DDoS attack from cyber jihadists since Saturday. The good news is that our brilliant technical support team has solved the issue and has given us much better protection for future attacks. The sad news is that the Islamic Republic just doesn’t learn from its past mistakes. The articles that seemed to have caused such vicious anger are a series of interviews with Mazyar Ebrahimi, a man who, along with more than a dozen other people, was forced to confess to killing four Iranian nuclear scientists between 2010 and 2012, acting on behalf of Israel. The miserable failure of Iran’s intelligence apparatus to find the real culprits meant that a group of people were blamed, tortured and forced to confess to these crimes on Iranian TV.  

In the comprehensive interview, Mazyar Ebrahimi describes the brutal torture he was subjected to, including having to go through two mock executions and being forced to confess. He also talks about his pursuit of justice. At the end of his interview, Mazyar says he is asking companies that supply equipment to Iranian state TV not to sell their products to them. “These audio-visual products are used for exerting torture and it would be wrong for these companies to have any transactions with Iranian state TV,” he says.

We also report further on another individual who has found herself in the crosshairs of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Iranian-French dual national Fariba Adelkhah, who was arrested in July, and whose case French diplomats have been discussing with Iranian officials. According to her colleagues, Adelkhah has never voiced any criticisms of the regime. The tensions between France and Iran come at a crucial time — just as Iran could really use the help of those countries still signed up to the nuclear deal (the JCPOA) to help it boost its economy. Of course the IRGC is notorious for trying to protect its own financial interests, and the fact that Adelkhah was conducting research about the seminaries of Qom (a red line for most of Iran’s powerful elite) makes her a convenient target. 

But when officials or diplomats of any country are trying to negotiate with Iranian officials, how much control do those officials actually have? IranWire looks at the shifting power of Iran’s foreign ministers over the years. Although Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was once lauded for his smart achievements regarding the JCPOA, now that it has virtually collapsed, he is looking decidedly less heroic. It’s a truth that was brought home earlier this year when Zarif was excluded from an important meeting with Bashar al-Assad, who met with the commander of the Guards’ Quds Force and the Supreme Leader instead of the foreign minister. This was before the United States added him to its sanctions list, a move that further ties Zarif’s hands, while at the same time acknowledging that it is the Supreme Leader and his cohorts who really hold the key to Iran’s future.

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Features

I had two mock executions. I wished they would execute me for real

August 12, 2019
Shahed Alavi and Maziar Bahari
22 min read
I had two mock executions. I wished they would execute me for real