The Iranians know that they can do anything -- anything -- and Obama will not call them to account or stop making concessions to them. "Iran's charm offensive belies mounting body count from executions at home," from FoxNews.com, December 9 (thanks to Kenneth):
The new, moderate face Iran is showing the world belies a sinister spike in executions in the country, with hundreds killed for such crimes as “waging war against God,” according to a human rights group.
At least 529 people have been put to death in Iran this year, including more than 300 since President Hassan Rouhani assumed office in August, according to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. Other groups estimate the number killed in Iran at more than 600 this year.
The stepped-up pace of public executions comes even as Rouhani basks in a deal with the West to drop sanctions against the Islamic Republic following his well-publicized “charm offensive.”
“Under the shadow of negotiations, however, Iran’s appalling human rights situation has hardly changed,” Iranian activists Payam Akhavan and Shirin Ebadi wrote.
The pair claimed that executions have actually spiked upward even as Tehran has participated in talks with the U.S. and other Western nations aimed at reducing sanctions in exchange for pulling back on its nuclear program.
The Iranian government executes more of its citizens per capita than any other government, with hanging the most common method, according to the center. Only China executes more people. Many of Iran’s condemned were accused of being a “Moharebeh,” or one found to be “waging war against God” under Islamic law. Others were deemed drug users or traffickers, and often hanged publicly from cranes.
“Since Rouhani’s inauguration, the increasing number of prisoners being sent to the gallows is indefensible.”said [sic] Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran....
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