Iran frees 80 political prisoners as president heads to UN
5 replies, posted
[quote]TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran said Monday it had freed 80 prisoners arrested in political crackdowns, offering another potential diplomatic boost for the country's new president and his outreach to the West at this week's U.N. gathering.
The announcement of the mass release came just hours after Hasan Rouhani departed for New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly, where he is expected to seek Western pledges to restart stalled negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, said Monday that Iran's new Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is accompanying Rouhani, will join a preliminary round of talks with the six key nations dealing with Tehran over the issue.
The freeing of the prisoners appeared to reinforce the impression that Rouhani has support from the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to explore a broad rapprochement with the West, which has condemned Iran's crackdowns on the opposition.
Before leaving, Rouhani urged Western leaders to heed his appeals for greater dialogue and take steps to ease economic sanctions on Iran as a path to "reach joint interests." Rouhani has repeatedly appealed to the U.S. and allies to roll back sanctions to move ahead negotiations.
The official IRNA news agency said Khamenei agreed to a request from the judiciary to release the opposition supporters and others jailed on security charges. Khamenei has apparently backed Rouhani's attempts to repair ties with the West and possibly open groundbreaking dialogue with Washington.
Last week, Iran released a dozen prominent political prisoners, including a human rights lawyer. But the two most senior opposition leaders remain under house arrest.
Rouhani was quoted by IRNA as saying the West should choose the "path of interaction, talks and leniency, so we can reach joint interests." He also called sanctions "unacceptable and illegal" and a roadblock to progress on settling the nuclear impasse.[/quote]
[editline]23rd September 2013[/editline]
[URL="http://news.yahoo.com/iran-frees-80-prisoners-president-heads-un-133034119.html"]full article[/URL]
Did they ever release that pastor from the US?
When I first came in this thread there was no article link and I almost reported op for shitposting
On topic Rouhani is starting to deliver, I hope his FM can get some shit done in the nuclear talks
Motives are hard to guess, but they are definitely working on public imagine. The question is whether any of this actually matters.
First then elect a new more liberal president.
Then they start liberalizing laws, freeing political prisoners, and meeting internationally. This is either really good news, or just a really good PR strategy. My bet would be on the second. Trusting Iran is hard, and the real leader hasn't changed.
[QUOTE='[sluggo];42288228']Motives are hard to guess, but they are definitely working on public imagine. The question is whether any of this actually matters.
First then elect a new more liberal president.
Then they start liberalizing laws, freeing political prisoners, and meeting internationally. This is either really good news, or just a really good PR strategy. My bet would be on the second. Trusting Iran is hard, and the real leader hasn't changed.[/QUOTE]This is how things typically go. Khamenei allows the new president basically a year-long "grace period" where they can basically do just about whatever they want to, then he retakes full control.
[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;42288536]This is how things typically go. Khamenei allows the new president basically a year-long "grace period" where they can basically do just about whatever they want to, then he retakes full control.[/QUOTE]
My suspicion is more that Khamenei (or various advisors) has wizened up, and taking advantage of the propaganda. Public opinion is already shifting, and it is hard to get the public riled up about Iran when this is the headline they see, not the nuclear program still running full steam ahead, not the repressive theocratic laws and torture. This is what Iran wants.
[editline]23rd September 2013[/editline]
Thank you for rating me dumb starpluck, care to elaborate?
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.