Iran: 18 yr old Girl to be Executed for Killing Rapist *Please Help Her*

[PublicWrath]

This is an urgent request for signatures on a petition directed to the UN's Kofi Annan and others, urging a formal protest against the planned execution in Iran of Nazanin, who killed one of three male attackers while attempting to save herself and her young niece from gang rape.

From the petition:

On January 3, 2006, 18-year-old Nazanin was sentenced to death for murder by court in Iran after she reportedly admitted fatally stabbing one of three men who attempted to rape her and her 16-year-old niece in a park in Karaj (a suburb of Tehran) in March 2005. She was seventeen at the time. Her sentence is subject to review by the Court of Appeal, and if upheld, to confirmation by the Supreme Court.

According to reports in the Iranian newspaper E’temaad, Nazanin told the court that three men had approached her and her niece, forced them to the ground and attempted to rape them. Seeking to defend her niece and herself, Nazanin stabbed one man in the hand with a knife that she possessed. As the men continued their attack, she stabbed another of the men in the chest, which eventually caused his death. She reportedly told the court “I wanted to defend myself and my niece. I did not want to kill that boy. At the heat of the moment I did not know what to do because no one came to our help”. She was nevertheless sentenced to the maximum punishment possible under the law, death by hanging.

Urgent action is needed to help save a young life whose only crime was an attempt to defend herself. Nazanin and many like her are caught between two undesirable options. On one hand, Iranian Penal Code severely limits the possibility of using ‘self-defense’ as a legitimate defence to aggression. On the other hand, if Nazanin had allowed the rape to take place, she could still be imprisoned, flogged or stoned for having sex outside of marriage unless four male witnesses to the actual rape would testify on her behalf.
http://www.petitiononline.com/Nazanin/
...............
Additional details:

Nazanin, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, said that after the three men started to throw stones at them, the two girls’ boyfriends quickly escaped on their motorbikes leaving the pair helpless.

She described how the three men pushed her and her 16-year-old niece Somayeh onto the ground and tried to rape them, and said that she took out a knife from her pocket and stabbed one of the men in the hand.

As the girls tried to escape, the men once again attacked them, and at this point, Nazanin said, she stabbed one of the men in the chest. The teenage girl, however, broke down in tears in court as she explained that she had no intention of killing the man but was merely defending herself and her younger niece from rape, the report said.
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5183
......................

In Iran execution by hanging does not bring instantaneous death, it is intentionally designed to result in a slow, agonizing, strangulation, -the victim is hoisted by a thin cable. Females condemned to death are commonly raped by the guards just before execution with the opportunistic policy of insuring they are no longer virgins and cannot enter Paradise. It is not difficult to forecast the sadistic irony of her jailers will inflict this final degradation on Nazanin who is sentenced to die because she thwarted and killed a rapist.

My grief and outrage are compounded by the knowledge that Iraqi women will likely face a similar legal code in the near future because of bush's war. The petition can also be reached at the bottom of the main page at Care2, if the related sites have technical difficulties, as they did for a few hours the other day, please keep trying.
http://www.care2.com

[bdamomma]

1. done

:thumbsup:

[bryant69]

2. Interesting conondrum

Is this story (and others like it) a possible justification for invading Iran?

That said, this is indeed an awful situation, and I will sign the petition.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Scriptor Ignotus]

15. events like these are reasons to invade any oppressed country

but you almost phrase your post like its part of a Bushco plot or something. Iran and many other countries, Muslim or otherwise, have backwards, immoral laws. We can write it off to cultural differences or we can see oppression in the world and call it for what it is.

Whether or not America intervenes militarily in Iran or North Korea (or China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc etc etc) is a subject for much debate, however we should certainly be able to raise our objections through the appropriate legal and diplomatic channels.

I think Iraq has proved you can't just storm into an oppressed country and make everything A-OK once you dethrone the dictator.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

16. I bet quite a few people are looking at Americans as being....

...backwards and oppressed these days.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

26. sure

the Republicans are backwards and the Dems are oppressed. :eyes:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

45. What's your point? Or have you had the opportunity to.....

...develop one since recently joining DU?

[miss_american_pie]

3. done

[rodeodance]

4. d and nom.

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. Done.

[Burning Water]

6. Ah, yes.

The religion of peace strikes again.

I don't approve of war or violence, but will diplomacy do any good, either? Not by its track record in this neck of the woods (figuratively speaking). I really have no useful suggestions as to what to do. This a a true outrage and a human tragedy.

[acmavm]

7. 94538 signatures.

[slackmaster]

8. Waiting for the "violence is never justified" crowd to chime in

Not holding my breath.

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. Huh?

Who here has ever claimed that self-defense is not justified?

[slackmaster]

20. There have been a few here and there

Rare birds who have said they wouldn't commit an act of violence even to protect their own children.

[Pacifist Patriot]

21. Wow, I'm about as pacifist as they come and I can't remember...

seeing any like that. Come near my children with malice and watch how unpacifist I become. Momma Bear overrides pacifist tendencies I'm afraid.

[nonconformist]

22. Damn straight. nt

[MamaBear]

29. Um, in this matter

MamaBear says self-defense is justified. This MamaBear does oppose state sponsored murder, as in the death penalty, and wars of aggression.

:hi:

[RaleighNCDUer]

24. Oh. Darwin Award nominees, you mean.

While I might admire their sense of ethics, it baffles me to no end. But I figure this is the only life we get; death is not a reset button.

ON EDIT: I signed the petition last week.

[Jazz2006]

9. done.

and recommended.

[ThomCat]

10. I hope everyone at DU sees this and signs this petition.

Iran probaby doesn't care much for US opinions per se, but they will care about a huge international backlash as a whole.

This is a sick, absolutely evil breach of any concept of justice.

[deaniac21]

11. This just isn't right. I do not understand how this could happen

anywhere. The girls boyfriends sound like fine examples of malehood as well.

[WePurrsevere]

13. 94612 sigs so far... K&R'd. I truly hope/pray they'll let her go free. n/t

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. I guess I'll play Devil's Advocate....is this based on real events...

...or is this another piece of propaganda like the Kuwaiti incubator story prior to Desert Storm?

Is there any confirmation of this story by anyone that we trust?

[PublicWrath]

18. The case has been widely reported in scores of newspapers

and news websites, not only western, but also middle eastern and specifically Islamic media.

If you google: Nazanin, death, rapist, Iran, sentence, or other relevant combinations, you will find many articles on this case.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

41. Is there a primary source for this story? Have you forgotten....

...that the Pentagon and other agencies of the NeoCon Junta are planting stories in the foreign press? Don't you think it's more than a little suspicious that we've seen an increase in anti-Iranian stories just as increased pressure is being brought to bear on the UN to take action against Iran?

"Many articles" doesn't necessarily mean that the truth is being told. Look how many articles hit the press within a few hours of JFK's assassination...practically none of those early stories were factual. The Gulf of Tonkin incident wasn't at all like it was reported, but it pushed the final button that escalated the war in Vietnam. Look at the number of stories reporting the babies being yanked out of incubators by Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait. How many times has the Al Qaeda second-in-command been killed, and how often has he lost a limb? Who is the fellow in the video claiming responsibility for the 911 attacks, and why does he look so very different from Osama before that video, and Osama after that video?

Sorry...I'm still not buying this latest story about Iranian justice.

[The Straight Story]

52. Funny - if this was about a woman in US would you jump on it?

Not so much aiming this at you as an individual, but at folks in general.

Iran has been an issue with both dem and repug presidents. Their leader has been foaming at the mouth talking trash weekly.

One of my engineers is from Iran and can speak to the horrors of living there in first person.

So I am left wondering - do we believe people like those in Iran because we hate bush? Are you willing to say life is grand there and any negative press about it is bogus? Would you be willing to move ther and live because you believe that the negative press is all a conspiracy theory?

Do you think Iran is a better country than the US?

I am not saying we should invade there. I am just puzzled at how much defense I see of a nation like Iran. If you were to choose which one to live in - which would it be and WHY?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

53. So were reports of Iraqis throwing babies out of incubators before the

Gulf War.

[Pacifist Patriot]

19. Understandable caution. Here are some links.

http://www.faithfreedom.org/Announcement/601081013.htm

http://www.nationalreview.com/lopez/lopez200603080844.asp

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=60725

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32410

[PublicWrath]

25. Thanks for helping out! I'm slow on both searches and typing. n/t

[IronLionZion]

17. in suburbs...hmm...

in the rural areas like Pakistan's northwest frontier, local governments would have killed her for being raped.

Well, we might as well bomb Iran.

(think beach boys)
Bomb Bomb Bomb...Bomb Bomb Iran
Let's bomb Iran

[nonconformist]

23. Done. 94698 Signatures Total. nt

[Greyskye]

27. Done. K&R

:kick:

[Control-Z]

28. Done

Mine is signature number 95320. I hope all the signatures actually help. I am outraged. How could this be happening to a young innocent girl? It gives me the creeps in a way I can't describe - nightmarish. My heart aches for this girl.

[Opusnone]

30. Why am I seeing more and more stories about Iran here on DU?

Is this part of the guvmint's psyops?
Every day for the past month there are one or more stories on Iran and it's evil ways.
Just asking.

[Raksha]

33. The Bush administration has actually inflamed the situation

by making the Iranians believe only a hard-line government could protect them from American aggression. They were in the process of liberalizing before Bush started his war in Iraq.

[PublicWrath]

34. I saw it on the front page of Care2 and looked up some articles last

night. I was terribly upset by what I read, and stayed up until 4 am thinking about her and putting a post together for this morning.

Because of bushco's invasion, women may soon be tortured and killed under a conservative Islamic government in Iraq. Since the war, women of Baghdad have become afraid to be seen in public without the hijab, -the Islamic headscarf. Honor killings are on the rise and couples seen holding hands are being beaten up by self-appointed 'morality' gangs. The full consequences of this war have not yet been tallied. The shame of it all never leaves me.

I strongly oppose US military action against Iran. I don't want to give them any more pain. The population is overwhelming young; most Iranians have little direct experience of hateful US actions. The discontent of the Iranians themselves will eventually lead to a new day for their country.

[cali]

36. Who gives a shit?

I certainly don't. I care about saving the life of the young woman. This isn't a story about Iran being some kind of phony threat to the world. This is about an oppressed individual. And these stories, whether it be Nigeria or Iran or some other place where women are treated harshly and unjustly, have always popped up on DU.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

44. Wow. And you don't even know if this story is true, do you?....

...Poorly sourced, and widely disseminated. Sounds like the usual modus operandi of NeoCon friends, doesn't it?

[northamericancitizen]

31. Done 95336 sig.

[Raksha]

32. Done! Thanks for bringing this outrage to our attention. n/t

[Buns_of_Fire]

35. Signed, Kicked, and Nominated

[oblivious]

37. I have some questions about this story.

1. Why in all the articles about her is not her full name even given? Doesn't that strike you as a bit curious?

2. Every article I can find on the Net refers to a single report in "the Iranian newspaper, E’temaad", I suppose because this is the only source Amnesty Int'l gives.

3. Most accounts have her strolling with her niece in a park when they were assaulted. The Iran Focus acount says these men were throwing stones at her niece and their boyfriends and their boyfriends abandoned them on their motorbike before they were attacked. The other reports don't mention the boyfriends.

4. The article in the OP talks about a "planned execution" yet says "Her sentence is subject to review by the Court of Appeal, and if upheld, to confirmation by the Supreme Court." How can they be planning the execution now when the case has so far to go?

5. With all the exposure this case has had internationally, especially with the support of Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Former Miss World Canada 2003, despite desperate efforts, they haven't even been able to locate her lawyer, or determine her full name, or locate her family.
http://www.payvand.com/news/06/apr/1228.html
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060409/asp/foreign/story_6076969.asp

6. According to Islamic law, "there is a natural right to self-defense. One may defend oneself from a criminal act that poses an imminent threat to person or property, but only necessary force may be used. An intruder who might be repelled with a stick may not be shot and killed; neither may one pursue an intruder who has retreated and is no longer a threat. Violation of the limits of self-defense is aggression and renders one criminally liable."

So the argument made by the right-wing media that Iranian law doesn't even allow a woman to defend herself doesn't seem to be sound.
http://volokh.com/posts/1143702317.shtml

Is there something else beyond self-defence? We know virtually nothing about the case. Evidently a short report in a single Irananian newspaper is the source of this. Not exactly solid.

I can't find any response from Irananian officials. No firm documentation that the case is even real except for this single news report. I'm not saying it isn't, but it's interesting how this case is getting such attention (IRAN BAD! IRAN EVIL!)while there is stronger evidence about similar abuses in other countries that goe virtually unreported.

[PublicWrath]

38. here are a few thoughts

1) I wondered about her last name, too, and decided it might have been withheld in respect for the sensitivities of her family. Perhaps it is customary in such cases.

2)Wikipedia, at the foot of an entry on Nazanin, has a link to what is described as the "State-Run Iranian Etemaad Newspaper Article". If Etemaad is run by the government it seems unlikely that Nazanin is a US hoax. The linked article does list some details from trial transcripts such as the names of judges, boyfriends, I think. The print is exceedingly small, but much, with patience, can be ascertained. At the very top of the English translation is an orange button which links to a version which I take to be in Farsi.
Here is the wiki page, the link to article is at the very bottom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazanin

Note: I've just checked around and Etemaad is described as a state run newspaper in other sources.

3)The article from Etemaad, which contains some trial testimony, does cover the rock-throwing.

4) I'm afraid you can attribute the "planned" part to me, as it was my word, also the word used in several articles. Other death sentences in Iran in similar cases have been carried out with dispatch, despite the youth of the convicted, and despite all recourse to the court of appeal and with the blessing of the Supreme Court; the petition was drafted and began circulating quite a few weeks ago, the Care2 info sounded urgent, so I did not feel it was a stretch to consider her in peril of her life from a death sentence pronounced in early January of this year.

6) Interpretations of Islamic laws vary from country to country. In a recent case in Iran (with similar themes) the attorneys did argue successfully that if women were punished for fighting back, they would no longer fight for their honor, but such an argument seems to be bit of a novelty in these cases, at least as far as winning the point. A charge of rape can only be sustained with testimony from 4 male witnesses in much of Pakistan, as well as Iran. Penalties for rape victims without a full complement of witnesses testifying on their behalf are are extreme in Pakistan, too, so Iran's laws do have cruel parallels elsewhere.

Finally, I want to say that you are right to be cautious. It's a sad necessity in these times, unfortunately. I hope this post alleviates some of your qualms. (Believe me, during the past 5 years I've had qualms aplenty.)

[Wrinkle_In_Time]

39. Good post. I would like to see some corroboration of this story...

... there's just a little too much of the "Saddam has rape rooms" meme about this story as it has been reported so far. It seems to me like someone is trying to dehumanize Iranians to soften public resistance to another war crime.

/Yes, I'm a skeptic. Why aren't you?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

43. Excellent post! I'm smelling the same rat you are.

[euroexpat]

47. The propaganda eminated from a terrorist backed website called Iranfocus

The original article seem to have come from Iranfocus and is very likely propaganda.

Let's start with some background here and look at the machinations behind iranfocus.com.

Who is the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK/MKO)?

The MEK/MKO philosophy mixes Marxism and Islam. Formed in the 1960s, the organization was expelled from Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and its primary support came from the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein starting in the late 1980s. The MEK conducted anti-West-ern attacks prior to the Islamic Revolution. Since then, it has conducted terrorist attacks against the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad. The MEK advocates the overthrow of the Iranian regime and its replacement with the group’s own leadership. The group’s worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorism. During the 1970s, the MEK killed US military personnel and US civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the takeover in 1979 of the US Embassy in Tehran.

...The Pentagon is bypassing official US intelligence channels and turning to a dangerous and unruly cast of characters in order to create strife in Iran in preparation for any possible attack, former and current intelligence officials say. One of the operational assets being used by the Defense Department is a terrorist organization known as http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/US_outsourcing_special_operations_intelligence_gathering_0413.html">Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), which is being "run" in two southern regional areas of Iran.

http://iraniantruth.blogspot.com/2005/07/iran-focus-MEK/MKO-propaganda-machine-ive_13.html">Iran Focus: The MEK Propaganda Machine

...I’ve written several times about my distrust of several news sources by hard-line monarchists or the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organziation (a.k.a MEK/MKO, MEK, National Council of Resistance of Iran, NCRI, People's Mojahedin of Iran, PMOI, etc.) as well as those who rely on these sources as "news".

Let us take Iran Focus as an example. In the past I have noted that Iran Focus is a agency run by the MEK/MKO (MEK) for various reasons: The current executive director of Iran Focus is Mohammad Hanif Jazayeri. Hanif is the son of Hassan Jazayeri. Until three years ago, Hassan Jazayeri was rumored to have died in 1980 as a result of being abandoned by MEK/MKO and Iraqi trainers. Later the story was changed to Hassan being executed by the Iranian regime for his membership with the MEK/MKO. Given Iran and the MEK/MKO's history of human rights abuses, I won't argue which is the correct account. Before Iran Focus was ever created, Hanif has time after time advocated his support for the MEK/MKO. In fact, earlier this year Hanif was engaged engaged in a campaign to remove the MEK/MKO from the UK’s list of terrorist organizations (it is worth noting that the MEK/MKO is also included in the State Department's list of terrorist organizations.)

Hanif's signature also appears on this petition supporting the MEK/MKO cause.

... Iran Focus along with its sister site Iran Terror (look at the website designs and stories as well as the website for the MEK/MKO and you can easily see they're created by the same designer) are registered in London and Paris respectively. In fact both organizations, including the MEK/MKO, tried to allege that the Human Rights Watch report illustrating all the human rights abuses committed by the organization was a result of some conspiracy between HRW and agents in the Iranian government. The Iran Focus website uses language supporting the MEK/MKO cause. By continously using the MEK/MKO as Iran's "democratic alternative" both the Iran Focus and Iran Terror websites intend to create the misleading image that the group, as well as their political counter-part NCRI, are legitimate proponents of human rights and democracy with a significant backing inside and outside of Iran. this article, this article, and this article for an image of the type of propaganda used by the websites.

The purpose of both Iran Focus and Iran Terror is twofold: 1) to disseminate information for political purposes and enhance a movement for external regime change and 2) legitimize the MEK/MKO in Western government by removing them from terrorist lists and enhancing their political influence. The sum of these objectives is to persuade Western govenments to militarily engage Iran in order to replace with Mullahs with the Mujahedin.

That being said there's a variety of reasons to view the MEK/MKO news agencies and similar modules as instruments of propaganda as opposed to instruments of news. First, the organization is a terrorist group under both US and European law. The State Department continues to list the MEK/MKO as a terrorist group. Although MEK/MKO agents have claimed that the inclusion was part of Clinton's appeal to the reformist government in Iran, the argument is no longer cogent in light of the fact that during Bush's 5 years in office he has yet to remove the MEK/MKO as a terrorist group despite significant political pressure by various neo-conservatives (this includes Daniel Pipes who currently has a chair with the US Institute of Peace) and various Republican Congressmen. Not only were the MEK/MKO were designated as a terrorist group under executive order on November 2, 2001, but the President used the MEK/MKO as an example of Saddam’s support for terrorism during the drive up to the Iraqi war:

The MEK/MKO are highly disliked and disregarded by Iranians worldwide. During the Iran-Iraq war, the Saddam Hussein financed and utilized the MEK/MKO to institute several attacks against Iranians. (Note: the MEK/MKO were also responsible for assisting Saddam Hussein suppress Shiite and Kurdish uprisings in 1991.) It is no suprise, therefore, that most Iranians regard the MEK/MKO as a cultish organization. There is no statute of limitations against murderers or conspirators to murder, nor is there one for terrorists and those who conspire with terrorists. Similarly, the MEK/MKO do not gain immunity for their previous actions simply by refraining from targeting European and American targets for 30 years. Nor have they in the eyes of Iranians. For all these reasons I note that Iran Focus, Iran Terror, people who rely on the two for information, and all affiliated groups should not be used as a source of "alternative information." There's nothing alternative about propaganda, regardless of if it addresses the same human rights issues which we are concerned with. "The most dangerous untruths are truths slightly distorted."

[Jack Rabbit]

40. Done

/s/


My mark placed here with assistance from
the University of Kansas

[susanna]

OMG. Done and forwarded to friends. n/t

[grateful581]

42. Done !

thank you for posting this

[euroexpat]

46. The Original article comes from Iranfocus is propaganda

The original article seem to have come from Iranfocus and is very likely propaganda.

Let's start with some background here and look at the machinations behind iranfocus.com.

Who is the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK/MKO)?

The MEK/MKO philosophy mixes Marxism and Islam. Formed in the 1960s, the organization was expelled from Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and its primary support came from the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein starting in the late 1980s. The MEK conducted anti-West-ern attacks prior to the Islamic Revolution. Since then, it has conducted terrorist attacks against the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad. The MEK advocates the overthrow of the Iranian regime and its replacement with the group’s own leadership. The group’s worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorism. During the 1970s, the MEK killed US military personnel and US civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the takeover in 1979 of the US Embassy in Tehran.

...The Pentagon is bypassing official US intelligence channels and turning to a dangerous and unruly cast of characters in order to create strife in Iran in preparation for any possible attack, former and current intelligence officials say. One of the operational assets being used by the Defense Department is a terrorist organization known as http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/US_outsourcing_special_operations_intelligence_gathering_0413.html">Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), which is being "run" in two southern regional areas of Iran.

http://iraniantruth.blogspot.com/2005/07/iran-focus-MEK/MKO-propaganda-machine-ive_13.html">Iran Focus: The MEK Propaganda Machine

...I’ve written several times about my distrust of several news sources by hard-line monarchists or the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organziation (a.k.a MEK/MKO, MEK, National Council of Resistance of Iran, NCRI, People's Mojahedin of Iran, PMOI, etc.) as well as those who rely on these sources as "news".

Let us take Iran Focus as an example. In the past I have noted that Iran Focus is a agency run by the MEK/MKO (MEK) for various reasons: The current executive director of Iran Focus is Mohammad Hanif Jazayeri. Hanif is the son of Hassan Jazayeri. Until three years ago, Hassan Jazayeri was rumored to have died in 1980 as a result of being abandoned by MEK/MKO and Iraqi trainers. Later the story was changed to Hassan being executed by the Iranian regime for his membership with the MEK/MKO. Given Iran and the MEK/MKO's history of human rights abuses, I won't argue which is the correct account. Before Iran Focus was ever created, Hanif has time after time advocated his support for the MEK/MKO. In fact, earlier this year Hanif was engaged engaged in a campaign to remove the MEK/MKO from the UK’s list of terrorist organizations (it is worth noting that the MEK/MKO is also included in the State Department's list of terrorist organizations.)

Hanif's signature also appears on this petition supporting the MEK/MKO cause.

... Iran Focus along with its sister site Iran Terror (look at the website designs and stories as well as the website for the MEK/MKO and you can easily see they're created by the same designer) are registered in London and Paris respectively. In fact both organizations, including the MEK/MKO, tried to allege that the Human Rights Watch report illustrating all the human rights abuses committed by the organization was a result of some conspiracy between HRW and agents in the Iranian government. The Iran Focus website uses language supporting the MEK/MKO cause. By continously using the MEK/MKO as Iran's "democratic alternative" both the Iran Focus and Iran Terror websites intend to create the misleading image that the group, as well as their political counter-part NCRI, are legitimate proponents of human rights and democracy with a significant backing inside and outside of Iran. this article, this article, and this article for an image of the type of propaganda used by the websites.

The purpose of both Iran Focus and Iran Terror is twofold: 1) to disseminate information for political purposes and enhance a movement for external regime change and 2) legitimize the MEK/MKO in Western government by removing them from terrorist lists and enhancing their political influence. The sum of these objectives is to persuade Western govenments to militarily engage Iran in order to replace with Mullahs with the Mujahedin.

That being said there's a variety of reasons to view the MEK/MKO news agencies and similar modules as instruments of propaganda as opposed to instruments of news. First, the organization is a terrorist group under both US and European law. The State Department continues to list the MEK/MKO as a terrorist group. Although MEK/MKO agents have claimed that the inclusion was part of Clinton's appeal to the reformist government in Iran, the argument is no longer cogent in light of the fact that during Bush's 5 years in office he has yet to remove the MEK/MKO as a terrorist group despite significant political pressure by various neo-conservatives (this includes Daniel Pipes who currently has a chair with the US Institute of Peace) and various Republican Congressmen. Not only were the MEK/MKO were designated as a terrorist group under executive order on November 2, 2001, but the President used the MEK/MKO as an example of Saddam’s support for terrorism during the drive up to the Iraqi war:

The MEK/MKO are highly disliked and disregarded by Iranians worldwide. During the Iran-Iraq war, the Saddam Hussein financed and utilized the MEK/MKO to institute several attacks against Iranians. (Note: the MEK/MKO were also responsible for assisting Saddam Hussein suppress Shiite and Kurdish uprisings in 1991.) It is no suprise, therefore, that most Iranians regard the MEK/MKO as a cultish organization. There is no statute of limitations against murderers or conspirators to murder, nor is there one for terrorists and those who conspire with terrorists. Similarly, the MEK/MKO do not gain immunity for their previous actions simply by refraining from targeting European and American targets for 30 years. Nor have they in the eyes of Iranians. For all these reasons I note that Iran Focus, Iran Terror, people who rely on the two for information, and all affiliated groups should not be used as a source of "alternative information." There's nothing alternative about propaganda, regardless of if it addresses the same human rights issues which we are concerned with. "The most dangerous untruths are truths slightly distorted."

[Toucano]

48. Thank you.

It's getting too gullible around here.

[euroexpat]

49. and 100,000 people signed

the petition.

Very effective propaganda.

[euroexpat]

50. Mambo - Joomla

Iran Focus along with its sister site Iran Terror (look at the website designs and stories as well as the website for the MEK/MKO and you can easily see they're created by the same designer) are registered in London and Paris respectively.

All three of these sites are build on Joomla/Mambo Content Management Systems (CMS) architecture.

[euroexpat]

51. 6000 blogs are spreading it

according to google blog search

http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&q=Nazanin&btnG=Search+Blogs

3000 according to technorati

http://www.technorati.com/search/Nazanin

And it's even wormed its way into Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazanin