Pahlavi joins hunger strike against Iranian brutality

Reza Pahlavi of Iran Announces Hunger Strike in Support of Iranian Political Prisoners

FAIRFAX, Va., June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Reza Pahlavi of Iran, in response to a direct invitation by political prisoners in Iran, pledged his solidarity and announced his plans to go on a three day hunger strike starting Friday, June 10.

"Solidarity with political prisoners of Iran and support for the legitimate quest for freedom, human rights and economic opportunity in Iran transcends all political boundaries and ideologies," said Reza Pahlavi, opposition leader to the clerical regime of Iran. Yesterday, in a communique, signed by numerous political prisoners, in Iran, the June 17 presidential elections were rejected as "sham and undemocratic."

Calling for a boycott of the elections, the communique also cited the regime's abhorrent violations of human rights in Iran and announced the collective plan of the prisoners to go on a hunger strike as an act of nonviolent defiance of the regime. Highlighting the demands of the communique, Reza Pahlavi said, "Iranians of all walks of life demand: freedom of speech; the unequivocal observance of human rights, by the regime; the immediate release of all political prisoners.

Just last week, during a press conference in Paris, the 44 year old leader called for a national boycott of the scheduled June 17th presidential election, calling it nothing short of political theatre by the regime.

Reza Pahlavi, who has been leading a campaign of political defiance against the Theocracy of Iran, is the former Crown Prince of Iran. He is an accomplished jet fighter pilot and graduate of US Air Force training program at the former Reese Air Force Base. Author of Winds of Change, The Future of Democracy in Iran, he is a Political Science graduate of the University of Southern California.SOURCE Secretariet of Reza Pahlavi

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06/08/2005 /
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