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Recent Appearances...

Home Front: WoT

US vet jailed in Iran sues for $1 billion, alleges torture

2022-03-18

[IsraelTimes] A US Navy veteran who was nabbed
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
in Iran
Iran

...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979...
for nearly two years sues the Iranian government for $1 billion, alleging that he was kidnapped, held hostage and tortured.

The federal lawsuit describes in unsparing detail the "prolonged and continuous" abuse that Michael White says he suffered behind bars, including being beaten and punched, whipped on his feet, deprived of food and drink, and pressured to falsely confess that he was a spy for the US government.

"Mr. White endured this trauma for nearly two years, never knowing if or when he would be released and reunited with his family, repeatedly promised that his conditions would improve soon, only to be crushed psychologically when they did not," the lawsuit states.

The allegations in the complaint mirror the claims made by White in a 156-page manuscript that he wrote behind bars and that was later obtained by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.

The 31-page complaint traces White’s travel to Iran, saying he was lured there in the summer of 2018 by a woman he considered his girlfriend so that he could be kidnapped by Iranian government agents and put in prison. He was charged with insulting Iran’s Lord High Potentate and Supreme Leader of All He Surveys and cooperating with the US government against Iran — charges the lawsuit says were fabricated — and sentenced without a trial to 10 years in prison.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

France Says Iran Holding French National since May

2021-02-25

It’s who they are and what they do. No point in asking why in an individual case — all the reasons are excuses, even if true.

[AnNahar] La Belle France said on Wednesday that Iran
Iran

...clearly not worth much...

its embassy in Tehran was in regular contact with him and that it was "attentively following the situation of our fellow national".

French news publication Le Point said the 35-year old, whom it named only as Benjamin,

...not a traditional French name, as far as I’m aware — would it be fair to assume he is Jewish? That kind of suspicion is triggering in that part of the world...

was arrested in northeastern Iran near the Turkmenistan border where he was travelling as a tourist in a van, according to his Iranian lawyer who also said that lawyers had not been granted access to case files.

Quoting a source close to Benjamin, Le Point said he had spoken by telephone to his family, but his detention was illegal because "the authorities never produced the slightest case file or any explanation for his detention".

Was he in the country legally, with an official visa and all that?

Iran has in recent years repeatedly detained foreigners and dual nationals on charges campaigners and governments say are unfounded, with the prisoners only going free after months and sometimes even years of painstaking negotiation.

High-profile releases of foreign prisoners in Iran -- of American Xiyue Wang in December 2019, American Michael White in March 2020 and Frenchie Roland Marchal, also in March -- were all accompanied by the release of Iranians held abroad on sanctions-busting charges.

But concern over the tactics intensified last autumn with the release of Australian-British lecturer Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was freed in an apparent exchange for three Iranians convicted in Thailand over a 2012 bomb plot that Israel linked to attacks against its interests.

Yep, that’s why they do it.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iranian HumanRights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has tested positive for Covid19 only days after being released from prison

2020-11-11

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

#Iran|ian #HumanRights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has tested positive for #Covid19 only days after being released from prison#BaghdadPost #FreeIran #IranProtests #IranRegimeChange pic.twitter.com/3Zyj0Vr6gF
— The Baghdad Post (@BaghdadPostPlus) November 10, 2020

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Navy Veteran, Michael White, who has been detained by Iran for 683 days, is on a Swiss plane that just left Iranian Airspace

2020-06-05

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

I am to happy announce that Navy Veteran, Michael White, who has been detained by Iran for 683 days, is on a Swiss plane that just left Iranian Airspace. We expect him to be home with his family in America very soon....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020

... also in our archives as Michael R. White. His mother claimed he had visited his girlfriend in Iran five or six times before being caught. She can supposedly be seen here...

Iran foreign minister confirms release of Iranian-American and US Navy veteran

[AlAhram] Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif confirmed the release of an Iranian-American imprisoned in the United States and a US Navy veteran imprisoned in Iran in a tweet on Thursday.

"Pleased that Dr. Majid Taheri and Mr. White will soon be joining their families," Zarif tweeted.

Michael White had been accused of a security-related charge in Iran and Taheri was imprisoned in the United States for violating US sanctions on Iran.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran ready for prisoner swap talks with US, citing Covid-19 threat as impetus

2020-05-11

[France24] Iran says it is ready for unconditional prisoner swap talks with the United States because of fears that the coronavirus could put the lives of the prisoners at risk, Iranian media reported Sunday.

An Iranian news website, Khabaronline.ir, quoted Cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei as saying there is a "readiness for all prisoners" to be discussed without condition.

"But the U.S. has refused to answer, so far," said Rabiei. "We hope that as the outbreak of the Covid-19 disease threatens the lives of Iranian citizens in the U.S. prisons, the U.S. government eventually will prefer lives to politics."

Rabiei said Iran considers the U.S. government responsible for the health of the Iranian prisoners, adding that "it seems that the U.S. has more readiness to bring the situation to an end."

Rabiei did not elaborate but Iranian media in recent months said there are several Iranians in U.S. custody, including Sirous Asgari, a 60-year-old university professor.

Last week, U.S. officials said they were making progress in efforts to secure the release of a detained Navy veteran in Iran. But they were also pushing back on Iranian suggestions that a swap was in the works for the imprisoned Iranian American officials have been trying to deport since last year.

Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy Homeland Security secretary, said Wednesday that the cases of American detainee Michael White in Iran and Asgari, the Iranian imprisoned in the United States, have never been connected. He expressed frustration with recent comments from Iranian officials that there may be a link between the two and complained that Iran had been slow to accept Asgari’s return.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran furloughs imprisoned US Navy vet amid virus concerns

2020-03-20

[IsraelTimes] Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
has granted a medical furlough to a US Navy veteran who has been imprisoned in Iran for more than a year, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces.

Michael White

... also in our archives as Michael R. White. His mother claimed he had visited his girlfriend in Iran five or six times before being caught. She can supposedly be seen here...

of Imperial Beach, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, is now in the custody of the Swiss Embassy and must remain in Iran as a condition of his furlough, which was granted as Iran works to curb the spread of coronavirus

...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
. The US government will seek his full release, Pompeo says, and he calls on Iran to free other Americans who remain jugged
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
there.

A front man for the White family says the family is grateful to the Iranian government for an "interim humanitarian step."

"We continue to urge them to release Michael unconditionally so that he can return to the United States to receive the advanced medical care he needs," front man Jon Franks says.

White, who has been imprisoned since July 2018, was visiting a girlfriend in Iran when he was detained. White was convicted of insulting Iran’s supreme leader and posting private information. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, though the State Department says he was serving a 13-year sentence.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Death of Iran general spurs anxiety over fate of US hostages

2020-01-07

WASHINGTON (AP) ‐ The killing of a top Iranian general has ratcheted up the anxiety of families of Americans held in Iran, one month after the release of a New Jersey student had given them hope.

The Trump administration has made a priority of bringing home hostages held abroad, but the prospect of a resolution for the handful of captives in Iran seems to have dimmed with the two nations edging dangerously close to conflict and warning of retaliatory strikes and continued agitation.

"He wasn’t safe before now, but now he’s really not safe," said Joanne White, whose son, Navy veteran Michael White of Imperial Beach, California, has been imprisoned since July while visiting a girlfriend in Iran. "I don’t know if anyone is going to retaliate."

Iran has vowed revenge for the airstrike that killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani ‐ the U.S. accused him of plotting new attacks just before his death ‐ and has abandoned the remaining limits of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The Trump administration, while saying it remains committed to freeing Americans from Iran, has said it’s prepared to respond to any attacks from the Islamic Republic.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

US hits Iranian transport firms with sanctions, hopes for more prisoner swaps

2019-12-12

[AlAhram] The Trump administration on Wednesday hit Iran
Iran

...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
with new sanctions that target several transportation firms as it continues its ``maximum pressure campaign`` against the Islamic Theocratic Republic over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The sanctions target Iran's state shipping line and a China-based company that has been involved in delivering missile parts to Iran.

They also add a layer of new penalties to a previously sanctioned Iranian airline, Mahan Air, which is accused of sending weapons to Iranian proxies in Leb and Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
, and three of its sales agents.

The moves were announced by the Treasury and the State Department and will subject foreign firms and governments that do business with the targeted entities to sanctions themselves, including a freeze on any assets they may have in US jurisdictions.

``Today's designations put the world on notice that those who engage in illicit transactions with these companies will risk exposure and sanctions themselves,`` Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

Pompeo announced the sanctions even as he expressed hope that a weekend prisoner swap with Iran could lead to a dialogue between Washington and Tehran over prisoners.

He called Saturday's release of Princeton graduate student Xiyue Wang in exchange for an Iranian locked away
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
in the US a ``happier note'' that could yield progress.

``I do hope the exchange that took place will lead to a broader discussion on consular affairs. We are working to use this as an opportunity to continue that effort,`` he said.

``I hope that it portends well. We have had some indication that that may be the case, but I don't want to be overstate that, I don't want to give false optimism about that pathway.''

``If we can find an opening and deliver these people back to their families and back to America we will certainly do that,'' he said.

US authorities say Iran is holding one American national and five dual US-Iranian nationals.

They include Navy veteran Michael White, who is serving a 10-year espionage sentence, as well as environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian with US and British citizenship also initially sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Iranian-American father and son Siamak and Baquer Namazi. Former FBI agent Robert Levinson has been missing for 13 years since disappearing in Iran.

Iran says American authorities are holding about 20 Iranian nationals in jail and on Monday said it was ready for more prisoner swaps with the US.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iraq suspends consulate activities in Iran as two Iraqi diplomats arrested

2019-10-02

It appears that the Mullahs have decided the seduction phase of their relationship with Iraq is over.

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Iraq decided Tuesday to suspend activities at its consulate in the Iranian city of Mashhad after two Iraqi diplomats were beaten and arrested there earlier this week.

"It was decided to suspend operations at the Iraqi consulate in Mashhad after two Iraqi employees were beaten," Spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry Ahmad al-Sahaf told Sky News TV channel.

"Baghdad is awaiting an Iranian explanation on the incident," Sahaf added.

The two diplomats were arrested on Saturday in Mashhad after being placed under observation by the Iranian security forces, according to a written statement issued by the Iraqi Consulate General in Mashhad.

It was not immediately clear why the pair had been arrested or why their diplomatic immunity had not been recognized.

The diplomats were later released without bail.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Former Khamenei supporter sentenced to 13 years for speaking out

2019-08-23

[THEBAGHDADPOST]

The Appeals Court has upheld a preliminary court verdict against a former supporter of the Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for disseminating dissident information.

Based on the new ruling, the civil activist and retired university lecturer in the city of Mashhad, Kamal Jafari Yazdi, should serve a minimum of ten years of his thirteen-year sentence.

A judge in the northeastern city of Mashhad had initially sentenced Jafari Yazdi in April to ten years in prison for "forming an illegal group against national security," two years for "insulting the Supreme Leader," and one year for "propaganda against the regime."

In an interview with radio Farda August 20, Mr. Yazdi confirmed the Appeals Court decision about his sentence. He read out the charges that include interviews with foreign based "hostile media". This term applies to Persian-language broadcasters such as Radio Farda and the BBC.

In July, Jafari Yazdi joined thirteen other Iranian activists who signed a letter calling on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down and pave the way for a new political order to replace Iran.

On August 10 the co-signatories of the letter showed up at the court in Mashhad to express solidarity with Yazdi and they were arrested. There are now on hunger strike.

Iranian law allows courts to sentence citizens to prison for the simple act of creating online groups, pages or channels, as well as for their personal online posts.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

US Navy veteran held in Iran gets 10 years, lawyer says

2019-03-17

[IsraelTimes] Attorney for Michael White, convicted of insulting Iran’s supreme leader and posting private information online, says regime using client as leverage against Washington.

A US Navy veteran from Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran, his lawyer said Saturday, becoming the first American known to be imprisoned there since US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
took office.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

US citizen Michael White sentenced in Iranian court: Agencies

2019-03-12

[AlAhram] A U.S. citizen held in Iran has been sentenced for an unspecified crime, Iranian news agencies reported on Monday, in a case likely to worsen already terrible relations with the United States.

Michael White,

... also in our archives as Michael R. White. His mother claimed he had visited his girlfriend in Iran five or six times before being caught. She can supposedly be seen here...

a 46-year old U.S. Navy veteran, was placed in durance vile
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
last July while visiting his Iranian girlfriend, the New York Times

...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
has reported. The arrest - the only known one of a U.S. citizen since President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
took office - was confirmed by Iran only in January.

On Monday, the prosecutor in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Gholamali Sadeqi, said White had been sentenced, the Fars news agency reported.

He said White had been accused of a security-related charge but did not specify if that was what he had been convicted of. Iranian officials have never said why he was being held.

Trump withdrew from an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and re-imposed crippling economic sanctions last year. He warned in 2017 Tehran would face "new and serious consequences" unless all unjustly held U.S. citizens were freed.

White’s sentencing comes days after Iran appointed a new head of the judiciary - Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline holy man who is a protégé of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The appointment is seen as weakening the political influence of President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate.

Also on Monday, an Iranian court handed a new sentence to renowned human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh which her husband said was 38 years in prison and 148 lashes. The official Islamic Theocratic Republic News Agency said she had been sentenced to seven years.

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