by Ari Soffer
In powerful video, Iranian human rights group shows how behind his image as a 'moderate' lies a darker side to Iran's president.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has done his best to cultivate an image of moderation, contrasting himself as more pragmatic and less extremist than his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It is in part that image which helped woo western powers into signing the controversial nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic - despite Rouhani's prior record of conning inspectors during his tenure as Iranian chief nuclear negotiator.
But as a haunting video by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran illustrates, behind the spin lies a far darker reality.
Under Hassan Rouhani's presidency the number of political prisoners in Iran has continued to soar, with many jailed either on blatantly political "crimes" or trumped-up drugs charges.
More alarmingly still, the rate of executions in Iran - already the second-highest in the world in 2014 - has skyrocketed, with as many as 800 executed since the beginning of this year alone, in what Amnesty International has branded a "killing spree."
The video harks back to Rouhani's election pledge to solve the many domestic problems plaguing Iran - in large part due to sanctions leveled by world powers over Tehran's illegal nuclear weapons program - but notes how in reality, behind his promises and speeches at the UN Rouhani's government continues to imprison and kill peaceful protesters and other political dissidents.
Religious minorities - such as Bahai and Christians - are also particularly persecuted in Iran.
Many of those opposed to the nuclear deal have lamented the complete absence of any commitment by Iran to end its massive, ongoing human rights abuses, both against its own citizens as well as abroad via its vast network of terrorist proxies, instead granting billions of dollars in sanctions relief while the regime continues its bloody domestic crackdown against dissent and expansionist policies abroad.
Ari Soffer
Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/201143#.VgmAwZezddt
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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