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About us

Naame Shaam is an independent campaign group focusing on the Iranian regime’s role in Syria. It is also a source of independent and reliable news and commentary on the Syrian revolution and the Iranian regime’s role in suppressing it. We are a group of Iranian, Syrian and Lebanese activists and citizen-journalists. The group’s Campaign Director is Fouad Hamdan from Lebanon. The Head of Research and Advocacy is Shiar Youssef from Syria. The other members of the group wish to remain anonymous for the time being for security reasons.

Online, Offline

We carry out peaceful, real-life actions and protests to put pressure on the Iranian regime and to influence the public narrative about the Syrian revolution.

Our first action was in Berlin in April 2014, coinciding with a German-Iranian business conference there. It was followed by actions in Vienna ahead and during nuclear talks between the P5+1 group of nations and the Iranian regime in May 2014.

In April 2014 we published an open letter to Syrian opposition leaders and activists, asking them to talk to the Iranian public in Farsi. The reaction was positive, and the narrative of the Syrian revolution about the Iranian regime’s role has started to change.

More actions and campaigns followed…

The Beginning

On Friday, 8 November 2013, like every Friday since the beginning of the Syrian revolution in March 2011, anti-regime protests were held in various neighbourhoods and towns in Syria. The name given to this Friday was “The Friday of No to the Iranian Occupation of Syria”.

As we watched the pictures and videos of the protests, we realized that Iranians knew so little about what’s actually happening in Syria. Most of their information comes from biased state-controlled media.

Moreover, it struck us that there was actually little concrete and reliable information about Iran’s role in Syria and in Lebanon:

– How much is the Iranian government spending from Iranian public money on arming and supporting the Syrian regime in its bloody war against the Syrian people?

– How many Sepah Pasdaran members are fighting alongside Syrian regime forces in Syria, or are they really only acting as “advisers”, as they claim?

– What is the extent of Hezbollah Lebanon’s involvement in Syria?

– Why is the Iranian regime spending so much money on its adventure in Syria? What is it aiming to achieve there?

Thus, on 10 February 2014, we started a Facebook page, and a website a month later, dedicated to exposing the role of the Iranian regime in Syria. Offline work followed soon (see above).

Change of focus

When Naame Shaam started in late 2013, hardly anyone in Syria and Iran was focusing on the Iranian regime’s role in suppressing the Syrian revolution. There was little reliable information, beyond general clichés, on the extent and nature of Sepah Pasdaran’s and Hezbollah Lebanon’s involvement in the war in Syria. So we launched Naame Naame as an attempt to fill this gap.

Now that this involvement is no longer a secret (even Sepah and Hezbollah commnders are now bragging  about it) and many mainstream and independent media outlets are covering this issue extensively, there seems to be less need for our news and information production services.

Our intention from the beginning was to combine news and information with campaigning work, but the former inevitably took a big chunk of our time and energy because we thought it was necessary at the time. This is no longer the case now.

So, in July 2014, we decided to focus mainly on campaigning and actions, with the hope that our small contribution will help end the bloodshed in Syria and bring those responsible to justice. And ‘those’ here includes, first and foremost, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who are the ones running the show in Syria today.

We have talked the talk; now it’s time to walk the walk!

 

 

The Campaign Director is Fouad Hamdan from Lebanon. The Head of Research and Advocacy is Shiar Youssef from Syria. The other members of the group wish to remain anonymous for the time being for security reasons.

Yarmouk in despair

Yarmouk in despair

“It is unprecedented in living memory for a UN-assisted population to be subject to abject desperation in this way and the sheer humanitarian facts cry out for a response.” United Nations Relief and Works Agency spokesman Chris Gunness, speaking about the current situation in the Yarmouk Palestinian […]

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Aleppo: Barrel bombs kill 100 people in one day

Aleppo: Barrel bombs kill 100 people in one day

Barrel bomb strikes on Aleppo have intensified even further in recent days. More than 100 people died in one day on 21 April 2014. Source: Local Coordination Committees, Aleppo Media Centre COMMENT: How many more of these heart-breaking images coming from Aleppo will we need to see […]

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Iranian activists to Syrian opposition: Why don’t you talk to us?

Iranian activists to Syrian opposition: Why don’t you talk to us?

A group of Iranian activists and citizen-journalists met on the third anniversary of the start of the Syrian revolution (18 March 2014) to discuss the current state of the Syrian revolution and how Iranians can support it. Among other things, the meeting produced the following open letter […]

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Iranian activists send open letter to Syrian opposition leaders: Why don’t you talk to us?

Tehran, 23 April 2014 – The Iranian campaign and media group Naame Shaam today sent an open letter to key Syrian opposition leaders, asking them to make more effort to communicate with the Iranian public and not let this gap be filled by Iranian state propaganda. Among […]

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When prisoners of conscience are used in political games

When prisoners of conscience are used in political games

Evin prisoners brutally assaulted by intelligence officers to put pressure on Rouhani Iranian opposition media reported on 17 April 2014 that a number of political prisoners held in Tehran’s Evin prison had been violently attacked by the prison ‘inspectors’. While the assault itself should obviously be condemned […]

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Women’s rights between Rouhani and Khamenei: Who has the real power?

Women’s rights between Rouhani and Khamenei: Who has the real power?

Iranian president Hassan Rohani said in a speech at the Women’s Day ceremony at the National Forum on Women Shaping Economy and Culture in Tehran: “How is it possible to marginalize one half of the population? … As a jurist and head of the government, I confess […]

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Reports confirm use of toxic gases by Syrian regime, again

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Chlorine barrel bombs produce highly toxic dioxin Various well-documented reports have now confirmed that Bashar al-Assad’s forces used highly toxic gases in several attacks on civilian areas across Syria in April 2014. According to the Violations Documentation Centre, three barrel bombs loaded with chlorine were dropped on […]

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Who’s responsible for the death of Al-Manar journalists in Maaloula? Ayatollah Khamenei

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Three Lebanese journalists working for Hezbollah Lerbanon’s Al-Manar TV were killed and two others injured on 7 April 2014 after their car came under gunfire attack in the historic town of Maaloula in Syria. Reporter Hamza Haj Hassan, cameraman Mohammad Mantash and technician Halim Allaw were among […]

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Who is really negotiating, the government or Sepah Pasdaran?

Who is really negotiating, the government or Sepah Pasdaran?

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How many Hezbollah fighters have died in Syria?

How many Hezbollah fighters have died in Syria?

Syrian opposition sources say it’s thousands, while Hezbollah Lebanon insists it’s only tens, or a couple of hundred at most. The group has been doing all it can to keep this information hidden from the public because it could be damaging to the supporters’ morales. A recent, […]

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