Iranians Will Rally in NY Against Ahmadinejad, for Democratic Change In Iran

AD-HOC COMMITTEE AGAINST AHMADINEJAD
SEPTEMBER 21, 2008

WHAT: On Tuesday, September 23, pro-democracy Iranians and fellow New Yorkers will rally against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outside the UN Headquarters in support of democratic change in Iran. Ahmadinejad, president of the religious dictatorship ruling Iran, is due to speak at the UN General Assembly on the same day. Exhibits depicting the dismal situation of Iran under Ahmadinejad will be displayed at the rally.

Ahmadinejad hopes to again exploit the UNGA tribune to promote the radical and hate-mongering policies of his tyrannical regime cloaked in religion. The Iranians will rally outside the UNGA to denounce Ahmadinejad's record and advocate a very different Iran: a democratic, secular, peaceful, and nuclear-free Iran.

WHY: Ahmadinejad's trip coincides with an appalling rise in public executions in Iran - victimizing juveniles in particular. In late July, in one day alone, 29 people were executed. His government continues to arrest and kill dissidents in prisons and crush anti-government protests. It is also conspiring to massacre nearly 3,500 Iranian dissident refugees at Camp Ashraf in Iraq. Ahmadinejad, isolated and despised by the majority of Iranians at home, is pushing Iran and the region toward war and crisis by fomenting terrorism in Iraq and developing nuclear weapons.

WHO: The rally is organized by the Ad-hoc Committee Against Ahmadinejad and a nationwide network of Iranian-Americans. It will feature a number of human rights and political figures. US Congressional support for the cause will also be presented.

BACKGROUND ON AHMADINEJAD: In the early 1980s, Ahmadinejad served as an interrogator and executioner in the notorious Evin Prison, where he earned the nickname "The Terminator" for killing off political prisoners. He was a senior commander of the terrorist outfit, the Qods Force, in the late 1980s, when he masterminded the assassination of Iranian dissidents abroad. In 2005, the legal findings of the U.S. Department of State determined Ahmadinejad was in fact a terrorist.

Under Ahmadinejad, the ayatollahs' regime has moved with greater speed along the path of Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism, human rights abuse, and nuclear weapons.

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