Door: Marc E. Putto
Aug / Sept 2012
Door: Ingezonden
Dit is de voortzetting van de nieuwsdraad, welke ooit op www.joostniemöller.com begon, over het verzet van de groene beweging in Iran. Tevens worden hier links, video's en nieuwsberichten gepost over ontwikkelingen rond de nucleaire ambities van dit land. De draad wordt per 2 maanden vernieuwd. Een chronologisch overzicht kunt u vinden in de categorie "Ondertussen in Iran".
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op 1 sep 2012. Gearchiveerd onder Ondertussen in Iran.
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Bulgarian experts have constructed an image of the face of a suicide bomber who killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver on the Black Sea coast two weeks ago.
The bomber’s head was found at the scene.
The interior minister said on August 1 that the computer-generated image shows a man aged around 30, with swept-back black hair and dark eyes.
http://www.rferl.org/content/bulgaria-issues-image-of-bomber/24663715.html
Panetta Says Military Force Still Option Against Iran
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned Iran that “all options,” including military force, are on the table to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Panetta, who is on a trip to Israel, made the remarks outside Ashkelon, where he was given a tour of Israel’s “Iron Dome” antirocket defense system.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, accompanying Panetta, said he saw an “extremely low” probability that tightening Western sanctions against Iran’s oil-dependent economy will lead Tehran to give up its nuclear activities.
Earlier in Tel Aviv, Panetta said Israel and the United States shared a “strong bond” and both would do their utmost to defend their security.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-syria-top-panetta-agenda-in-israel/24663287.html
Thousands of Iranian children becoming collateral victims of Obama’s sanctions
US President Barack Obama has ordered new economic sanctions against Iran’s energy and financial sector. However, this is having a major impact on the population as drugs for children become scarce.
Since the start of the year, the US administration has imposed new sanctions against Iranian oil exports (one of the country’s remaining products) and financial transactions to stop Tehran’s nuclear programme, which it deems a threat. The European Union followed suit in July.
The Iranian government has always denied that its programme is military in nature. To bypass the sanctions, it has tried to diversify the way it gets paid for oil sales, using gold and barter.
The new measures are against firms that have dealings with the National Iranian Oil Company, the Naftiran Intertrade Company or the Central Bank of Iran, or that help Iran buy US dollars or precious metals.
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Thousands-of-Iranian-children-becoming-collateral-victims-of-Obama's-sanctions-25446.html
Congress pushes for more Iran sanctions amid debate over impact
Congress is charging ahead with more economic sanctions against Iran in a stepped-up bid to stop the country from pursing nuclear weapons, amid questions about whether the seemingly endless cascade of financial penalties is having an effect.
Congressional negotiators agreed late Monday on a new package of sanctions that targets Iran’s energy, shipping and financial interests and could get a House vote before the end of the week.
The proposed sanctions follow ones passed last year that focused on penalizing banks that do business with Iran.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/01/congress-pushes-for-more-iran-sanctions-amid-debate-over-their-impact/
Time running out on Iran nukes -- Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran is unfazed by Israeli and US threats to do everything to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon and time is running out.
Speaking alongside visiting US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, Netanyahu said warnings that ‘all options are on the table’ have not persuaded Iran that ‘we are serious about stopping them’.
‘Right now the Iranian regime believes that the international community does not have the will to stop its nuclear program,’ he said.
‘This must change and it must change quickly, because time to resolve this issue peacefully is running out.’
His remarks came after Panetta appeared to reassure Israel that the United States would use all options, including a military strike, to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2012/08/02/Time_running_out_on_Iran_nukes_-_Israel_778436.html
Iran to Drop $4-bln Claim if Russia Delivers S-300 Missiles: Envoy
Iran will withdraw its $4-billion lawsuit against Russia if it delivers S-300 air-defense systems to the Islamic republic, the Iranian ambassador to Russia said on Wednesday.
Iran sued Russia’s state-run arms corporation Rosoboronexport in the international arbitration court in Geneva last April.
http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20120801/174912552.html
Jailed Iranian activist Nargess Mohammadi released on bail
Jailed human rights activist Nargess Mohammadi was finally given a temporary furlough today on bail of 600 million toumans.
The Human Rights Reporters Committee reports that Mohammadi, the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre, was released Tuesday after three months and a week in jail.
The Melli Mazhabi website also reported that Mohammadi has been given a ten-day release to get treatment for her medical condition.
Mohammdi’s bail was raised from 500 million toumans to 600 million toumans.
Mohammadi, who reportedly suffers from periodic muscle paralysis, had fallen in prison and sustained injuries to her face.
Mohammadi was arrested in 2010 in the widespread crackdown on protesters who challenged the 2009 presidential election results. The crackdown included the overt persecution and arrest of human rights and women’s rights activists, student activists and journalists as well as prominent political reformists.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1002.html
US Congressional Negotiators Agree on New Iran Sanctions
U.S. lawmakers are moving forward with tough new sanctions against Iran, aimed at further reducing the nation’s oil revenues to undercut its nuclear program.
Negotiators from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives reached agreement on the compromise legislation late Monday.
The bill would target Iran’s energy and shipping sectors. It would penalize anyone who works in Iran’s petroleum, petrochemical or natural gas sector, or provides goods, services or infrastructure to the nation’s oil and gas industry.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/jul/1260.html
Sanctions no less than military war: Iran’s Central Bank chief
The head of Iran’s Central Bank, Mahmoud Bahmani, says: “Sanctions mean nothing short of military war, and we need to begin a series of irregular economic war policies.”
IRNA reports that on the sidelines of a meeting on Tuesday with a number of MPs and economic officials, Bahmani said: “We have begun these irregular war policies and have meetings seven days a week in a base that we have established at the Central Bank.”
The head of Iran’s Central Bank went on to add: “Currently all our banks, including the Central Bank, are under sanctions, but we continue with our business.” He emphasized that details of how the banks continue with their business as usual will be announced later.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/jul/1262.html
Opposition leader’s son calls for father’s proper treatment
The son of Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi has written a letter to the “senior officials of the regime” to express concern regarding his father’s situation, urging the state to either transfer him to his home in Jamaran to continue his house arrest or to Evin Prison to be held like other political prisoners.
Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, Mehdi Karroubi’s eldest son, issued a letter published on the Saham News website, saying: “If there is any legitimacy in your statements regarding an order for house arrest, then he has to be transferred to his home in Jamaran, and his guards should observe all laws and regulations regarding prisoners.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/opposition-leaders-son-calls-fathers-proper-treatment
Iran Remains Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism
STATE DEPARTMENT — The United States says Iran remains the world’s biggest state-sponsor of terrorism. The annual U.S. report on global terrorism expresses concern about increasing attacks in Nigeria and Pakistan.
U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism Daniel Benjamin said the international community is increasingly alert to Iranian threats and is working to disrupt them.
“We are deeply concerned about Iran’s activities on its own through the IRGC Quds Force, and also together with Hezbollah as they pursue destabilizing activities around the globe,” said Benjamin.
http://www.voanews.com/content/iran_is_leading_state_sponsor_of_terrorism_again/1452064.html
Regulator Says British Bank Helped Iran Hide Deals
Using its New York-based operations, a major British bank schemed with the Iranian government for nearly a decade to launder $250 billion, leaving the United States financial system vulnerable to terrorists and corrupt regimes, New York’s top banking regulator charged on Monday.
The New York State Department of Financial Services accused Standard Chartered, which the agency called a “rogue institution,” of masking more than 60,000 transactions for Iranian banks and corporations, motivated by the millions of dollars it reaped in fees.
Senior management at the 150-year-old bank used the New York branch “as a front for prohibited dealings with Iran — dealings that indisputably helped sustain a global threat to peace and stability,” according to a regulatory order sent to the bank. The order requires the bank to explain the apparent violations of law in a hearing later this month and justify why its license to operate in New York shouldn’t be revoked.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/business/standard-chartered-bank-accused-of-hiding-transactions-with-iranians.html?ref=business
Iran Warns U.S. on Fate of Hostages in Syria
Iran said Tuesday that it was holding the United States responsible for the fate of a group of Iranians held by Syrian rebels, as the highest-ranking Iranian official to visit Syria since the antigovernment uprising began there arrived in Damascus to show support for President Bashar al-Assad and attempt to secure the release of the hostages.
The warning by Iran, Syria’s last remaining friendly state government in the region, came after three of the 48 hostages were reported killed during an artillery attack on rebel positions by the Syrian Army on Monday and their captors threatened to kill the rest if the shelling did not stop.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/world/middleeast/iran-warns-united-states-on-fate-of-hostages-in-syria.html?src=mv&ref=world
Rafael key to blocking Hezbollah missiles
Amid reports about Israel upgrading its defenses to counter long-range Iranian missiles, commanders say the gravest threat comes from Hezbollah’s arsenal.
Amid a welter of reports about how Israel is upgrading its defenses to counter long-range Iranian missiles, military commanders say the gravest threat comes from closer to home: Hezbollah’s reputed arsenal of 43,000 missiles and rockets.
The answer: Rafael Advanced Defense System’s combat-proven Iron Dome system and the David’s Sling weapon that’s being fast-tracked through development, largely because of U.S. funding.
The Haaretz daily reported Monday that the military command has assessed that in the event of a new war it would be able to cope with ballistic missiles from Iran or short-range rockets fired by Palestinian militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2012/08/07/Rafael-key-to-blocking-Hezbollah-missiles/UPI-64901344362521/
How Iran’s Spies Are Losing The Shadow War With US and Israel
In Syria and around the world, Iran’s covert operatives are in trouble.
The powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, its infamous expeditionary unit, the Quds Force, and the network of Hezbollah operatives it supports around the world are starting to look like the proverbial gang that couldn’t shoot straight. They’re still dangerous, to be sure, but a series of recent incidents widely attributed to these groups suggest that as spies, assassins and terrorists, they just aren’t what they used to be. And Tehran is getting worried.
According to sources in the Iranian capital, concerns about IRGC inadequacies are fueling the bitter infighting among Iran’s elites at a critical time: the war in Syria threatens to bring down Iran’s most vital Arab ally, the confrontation with Israel and the West over Iran’s nuclear program has provoked devastating sanctions, and a military attack on Iran by Israel still looms as a distinct possibility. This is a bad moment for the Iranians to discover their fearsome covert operatives are essentially incompetent.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/07/how-iran-s-spies-are-losing-the-shadow-war-with-us-and-israel.html
Iranian Currency Drops 9 Percent In Two Days
Payvand.com -- Iranian currency rial continued it’s plunge and registered another all time low Tuesday in open market trading in Tehran. According to Mehr News Agency, rial traded at 22,300 for a dollar, representing a drop of 9% in the currency value in a span of two days.
Also, due to big fluctuations in the currency rates, the exchange shops in Tehran have stopped displaying the prices.
The freefall of rial is being attributed to the traders anticipated devaluation of the official exchange rate which is currenty set at 12,260 rials for a dollar. This is after Mahmoud Bahmani, head of Central Bank of Iran, told reporters on Sunday that a single-rate currency will be established within 10 days.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1058.html
Three Iranian hostages reported killed in Syria
Syrian opposition forces say three of their Iranian hostages have been killed during air strikes against Damascus. Reuters reported on Monday August 6 that Syrian rebels are threatening to kill the remaining 45 hostages if the government does not cease its air strikes.
A Syrian rebel spokesman alleged that a house where the Iranian hostages were being kept was hit by one of the air strikes, killing three of them.
The spokesman said the army had one hour to end its attacks or else the rest of the hostages would be killed.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1055.html
Iranian women excluded from vast areas of study
With the announcement of university entrance exam results for the coming academic year in Iran, 36 universities have closed 77 fields of study to women.
The Mehr News Agency reported on Monday that women at these universities are to be banned from such fields of study as engineering, accounting, education, counseling, the restoration of monuments and chemistry.
Several universities, including the University of Semnan, Kharazmi Tehran and the Art Schools of Tabriz, Mazandaran and Kashan have announced that they have spaces for new students in only one field, and they will be open to men only.
Ardebil Mohaghegh University is closing its doors to women in 24 areas of study, the Lorestan University in 18 and the International University of Imam Khomeini in 15.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1046.html
Iran’s Nuclear Energy, At What Price?
A very rare public questioning of Iran’s nuclear policies has emerged in the form of sprayed paint on a wall in Iran. The graffito in the color of the green opposition movement reads; “Nuclear energy, at what price?”
A picture of the graffito was first posted on the Facebook page of the opposition “Sepidedam” website.
Soheil Parhizi, the managing editor of “Sepidedam” confirmed to “Persian Letters” that the picture was sent to him by opposition activists in the Iranian city of Mashad.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1020.html
Baha’i citizens arrested in Iran
Iranian human rights activists report that Baha’is are being arrested in several Iranian cities. The Society Against Education Discrimination reported on Wednesday that more than 10 Baha’i citizens were arrested in the past day in Esfahan, Shahin Shahr, Villa Shahr and Yazd. The group also reports that a number of Baha’is have been arrested in Arak.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) confirmed that Esfahan Baha’i citizens were arrested, adding that on Tuesday, Esfahan intelligence ministry officials arrested these people at their homes and transferred them to an unknown location.
The report adds that the homes of these citizens were searched and their computers, CDs, books and documents were confiscated.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1018.html
Network airs video of Syrian kidnappers
Al-Arabiyah television network aired a video today in which the so-called Free Syrian Army claims responsibility for the abduction of 48 Iranians in Damascus.
In the video, the kidnappers claim that their hostages are members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), even though Iranian authorities had announced that they were pilgrims headed for the Shiite shrine of Zeinabiyeh.
The video shows the captives seated behind the armed Syrian fighters, as a rebel leader says: “They are Iranian thugs who were in Damascus for a field reconnaissance mission.”
The New York Times reports that Col. Malik al-Kurdi, a deputy commander of the Free Syrian Army, has said that the group involved in kidnapping the 48 Iranians had acted independently, without informing the Free Syrian Army.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/network-airs-video-syrian-kidnappers
London 2012 Olympics: Iranian woman turned to paddling after being forbidden from wearing swimsuit
An Iranian female canoeist has revealed how she turned to paddling because strict Islamic laws prevented her following her ambition to be an Olympic swimmer.
Arezou Hakimimoghaddam, from Tehran, competed in the women’s kayak 200 metres sprint at Eton Dorney on Friday, finishing seventh in her heat at the Olympics.
The 17 year-old spent six years training in women’s only pools in Iran but was prevented from competing internationally because of laws preventing her wearing a swimsuit.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/canoeing/9467626/London-2012-Olympics-Iranian-woman-turned-to-paddling-after-being-forbidden-from-wearing-swimsuit.html
Tehran’s covetous plot for its dissidents at Camp Ashraf
Iran’s spiritual leader Ali Khamenei has given his orders to the Iraqi government: Camp Ashraf, near Baghdad, must be “invaded.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei demands the closure of Camp Ashraf from the Iraqi government. The 1,200 men and women who still call Ashraf home would be dislodged at all costs, with violence if necessary. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a stooge of the clerical regime, is determined to do this unless the international community stands up.
If Iraqi troops enter Ashraf as they did in 2011 and 2009, many innocent civilians are sure to die. In the two previous raids, Iraqi armored cars crushed unarmed civilians. Others were shot, 50 died, hundreds were injured.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/Outside-View/2012/08/09/Outside-View-Tehrans-covetous-plot-for-its-dissidents-at-Camp-Ashraf/UPI-46481344508200/
Iranian ‘Wave’ Rises To Euphoria, Crashes In Despair
Late in The Green Wave, a soulful look back at the brief 2009 people’s movement for democratic elections in Iran, a former United Nations prosecutor and human rights activist observes that the protest, despite being brutally quelled by the forces of President Ahmadinejad, was “a tidal wave” that would sweep through the Middle East.
That was before the Arab Spring. How right he was, and yet how quickly we forget that the populist uprisings in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and other autocracies took their cue and their methods from the uprising in Iran, a non-Arab Islamic republic often seen as a bigger threat to the West than all the others put together.
To an impressive degree, the huge, nonviolent demonstrations in Tehran were built through Twitter, YouTube, cellphone chains and videos, and through the myriad postings of a nation of obsessive bloggers. Inspiring and devastating by turns, The Green Wave charts the movement’s heady rise and dispiriting fall with multiple narrative strategies that mirror the techno-tools used by both sides in a war that was fought first on the Web, then in bloody street violence.
The tweets, blogs and phone trees brought throngs of people into the streets and the voting booths, where they also helped voters make sense of the government’s deliberately confusing procedures. Just as quickly, the government shut down the Internet, ran wildlife documentaries on television throughout Election Day, then lowered the boom by sending out squads of plainclothes thugs to terrorize, imprison and club the marchers into submission.
Ahmadinejad won the rigged election by a wide margin, and an uneasy order was restored. With the foreign press expelled, little official record remains of the revolt other than a few woozy videos, like the one that went viral after capturing the brazen shooting of the beautiful student Neda. That footage of her murder, and her friends’ desperate attempts to revive her, is included in The Green Wave, but it takes its place among a lot of other, previously undocumented heartbreak.
Iranian feature filmmakers have long been adept at working around censorship by encoding political commentary into microscopic fictions of everyday life — Jafar Panahi’s The White Balloon, say, or any film by Abbas Kiarostami — that play like documentaries. The Green Wave, by contrast, is a doc that plays like a multimedia tragedy. Based in Germany, director Ali Samadi Ahadi turns the lack of official reporting to imaginative advantage, bringing spoken blogs of composite students to life with animated illustrations, grainy cellphone camera captures, news footage and interviews with exiled activists, journalists and lawyers.
http://www.npr.org/2012/08/09/158209222/iranian-wave-rises-to-euphoria-crashes-in-despair?ft=1&f=1045
US ‘has eyes’ inside Iran nuclear program
IN remarks seemingly aimed at Israel, the United States said Friday it had “eyes” and “visibility” inside Iran’s nuclear program and would know if Tehran made a “breakout” towards a nuclear weapon.
Washington also indicated it had not changed its view that Iran was not yet on the verge of building a nuclear bomb, despite Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s statement that US intelligence now viewed the threat as more “urgent.”
The latest signs of differing public stances from the United States and its ally Israel on Iran came on a day when speculation ran rampant in the Israeli press about a possible strike against Iran’s nuclear installations within months.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/us-has-eyes-inside-iran-nuclear-program/story-e6frea7u-1226448025775?from=public_rss
Sunni Cleric Rises To Challenge Hezbollah In Lebanon
On a recent day, baffled motorists honked their horns and veered around the blocked entrance to a major street in Sidon. Now Lebanon’s third-largest city, Sidon was once a flourishing Phoenician city-state on the Mediterranean.
The street was closed off by Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmad Assir, who erected a small tent encampment in protest against the country’s most powerful military and political force, the militant Islamist group Hezbollah.
A once little-known cleric, Assir has risen to prominence recently with his public challenges of Hezbollah, which itself arose to resist the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Some observers believe it has the most powerful nonstate armed forces in the Middle East.
http://www.npr.org/2012/08/10/158525814/sunni-cleric-rises-to-challenge-hezbollah-in-lebanon?ft=1&f=1004
US warns Hezbollah may strike in Europe
The United States fears the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah may be planning imminent attacks in Europe and around the world, a senior security official in Washington said Friday.
“Our assessment is that Hezbollah and Iran will both continue to maintain a heightened level of terrorist activity and operations in the near future,” said Daniel Benjamin, the US State Department’s counter-terrorism coordinator.
“We are increasingly concerned about Hezbollah’s activities on a number of fronts, including its stepped up terrorist campaign around the world,” he said.
“And we assess that Hezbollah could attack in Europe or elsewhere at any time with little or no warning,” he warned, in a conference call with reporters to announce new US sanctions against Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/307154/us-warns-hezbollah-may-strike-in-europe
Does the World Need Iran’s Oil? Apparently Not
It’s been about a month since the full extent of the West’s oil sanctions against Iran went into effect. And so far, they seem to be working better than expected. Iran’s oil exports have fallen by about 1.4 million barrels per day, which “substantially exceeds” an earlier estimate of 900,000 barrels, according to an Aug. 9 report by Goldman Sachs (GS) energy analyst David Greely.
That’s a 50 percent cut in Iran’s crude exports in the past year, quite a bit steeper than the gradual “20 to 30 percent” decline predicted in June by Iran’s government, which gets about 80 percent of its revenue from oil. At $100 a barrel, that’s roughly $100 million a day in revenue that is no longer flowing into Iran’s coffers. And inflation is starting to take hold—the price of chicken has tripled since last year.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-10/does-the-world-need-irans-oil-apparently-not
Photos: Student Run Food Bank in Tehran
These photos show a student group in Tehran that is involved in collecting and distributing food to the underprivileged families. The student volunteers bag the foods and supplies, which are funded by philanthropists. They then deliver them at night to the homes of the needy families they have identified.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1083.html
Iranian Science Minister to explain reduced female enrollment
The head of the Education and Research Commission of Iran’s Parliament has announced that Iran’s Science Minister has been summoned to Parliament to explain the recent restrictions against the acceptance of women in a number of university programs.
Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi told the Khaneh Mellat website on Thursday August 9: “The Science Minister [Kamran Daneshjoo] will be summoned to explain why female students are not being accepted in a number of university programs.”
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1077.html
Senior Iranian cleric slams media restrictions
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of Iran’s Expediency Council, has condemned media restrictions in Iran, calling them “illegal.”
The Mehr News Agency reports that Ayatollah Rafsanjani admitted in a meeting with members of non-governmental newspapers that professional journalism and media activities are currently very difficult, saying: “The media community is currently facing numerous hardships ranging from lack of finances and facilities to legal and various other pressures.”
He claimed that those who prescribe to the views of Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, “should welcome expert criticism from the media.”
Ayatollah Rafsanjani expressed regret that “even a limited amount of concerned criticism expressed in order to guarantee the health of the Revolutionary path is not deemed acceptable by extremist forums.”
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1071.html
War on Iran would have disastrous consequences that would destabilize everything
Whenever the Obama administration moves towards some sort of compromise with Iran, the Netanyahu administration steps in to increase the pressure on the negotiating team.
How would you estimate Iranian foreign policy aimed on reducing international pressure on Iran?
ARSHIN A-M: Since the revolution of 1979, Iranian foreign policy accentuates the norm of independence. It is geared to the idea that Iran has the material and ideational capability to position itself as a major power in the international system.
Yet the country has had serious difficulty implementing this strategic preference primarily due to the opposition of the United States.
At the current juncture Iran’s diplomatic maneuverability has been constrained by domestic politics – the weak power position of the outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose suppression of the post-election demonstrations in 2009 seriously weakened Iran’s national security, and the unprecedented sanctions regime spearheaded by the United States.
http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2012/08/08/war-on-iran-would-have-disastrous-consequences-that-would-destabilize-everything/
Russia Says New U.S. Sanctions On Iran Could Affect Ties
Russia sharply has criticized new U.S. sanctions against Iran, saying the measures could harm Moscow’s ties with Washington if Russian companies are affected.
The United States on August 11 introduced measures to punish banks, insurance companies, and shippers that help Iran sell its oil, building on oil-trade sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, which Western powers fear is aimed at achieving nuclear weapons capability.
In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the measures “overt blackmail” and a “crude contradiction of international law.”
http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-decries-new-us-sanctions-on-iran/24675752.html
Iranian Lawmakers Slam Earthquake-Relief Efforts
Iranian parliament members from regions hit by the twin earthquakes on August 11 have harshly criticized the authorities’ relief efforts.
More than 300 people died in the two earthquakes, which struck an area in north Iran near Tabriz.
Deputies from the East and West Azerbaijan provinces said local officials arrived in the earthquake-hit areas too late.
Allahverdi Dehghan, a representative of Varzeghan, one of the affected townships, questioned the way the crisis was handled in his town.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-parliament-criticizes-official-quake-relief-efforts/24675357.html
Search For Survivors After Devastating Iran Earthquakes
(Iran’s Earthquake In Pictures)
http://www.rferl.org/content/earthquakes-hit-northern-iran-armenia/24673834.html
The other Iranian bomb
Battling low fertility rates, Tehran takes on birth control
Iran’s got a problem: not enough babies. So last week, the government began dismantling long-standing family planning policies. Iranian authorities are slashing the country’s birth control programs, which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad considers ungodly and a Western import.
As recently as the late 1970s, the average Iranian woman had nearly seven children; into the late ’80s, the country had one of the world’s highest population growth rates. But by the ’90s, with the economy faltering, Tehran launched a family planning campaign, encouraging vasectomies and issuing contraceptives. “Two children are enough,” read banners in public health centres.
Today, couples are averaging just 1.29 babies. At this rate, more than half of Iran’s population will be over 60 within 60 years.
http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/08/13/building-a-population-bomb/
Netanyahu warns again Iranian nukes
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday warned threats on Israel’s home front are small compared with the Iranian threat.
“All threats against the home front are small in comparison to another threat — a different kind of threat in scope and strength compared to any other threat, and therefore Tehran must not be allowed nuclear weapons,” Israel Radio quoted Netanyahu saying at the weekly cabinet meeting.
His statements came as the army’s Home Front Command announced the start of a nationwide exercise in which mock text messages will be sent to citizens’ mobile phones warning them of incoming missile attacks.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/08/12/Netanyahu-warns-again-Iranian-nukes/UPI-44531344771090/
In Syria, Signs of an Iranian Hand
Just across the border from the war in Syria, in a house in the Turkish town of Reyhanli, Ismail Mohamed, a rebel soldier in a T-shirt and camouflage pants, opens his laptop and proudly displays a video. The video shows Mohamed sitting with two forlorn captives in the back of a van, glaring at them and contemptuously patting them on the cheek. The van was in Syria, Mohamed says, but the men are fighters from Iran. He is sure of it—so sure, he says, that he hadn’t thought to show their Iranian ID cards on camera before he handed his captives over to Turkish authorities. To him, their presence is just more proof that the rebels are fighting not only President Bashar al-Assad, but also his allies in Tehran. “We’re fighting against something very important,” he says, “the expansion of the Iranian revolution.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/08/12/in-syria-signs-of-an-iranian-hand.html
Iran accelerates relief efforts while declining global aid
The death toll from Saturday’s twin earthquakes in Iran has mounted to 306 amid stepped up relief measures for the survivors even as Tehran declined to accept international aid for the tremor victims.
Authorities said the search-and-rescue operations have been called off because most residents are now accounted for. The first 6.4-magnitude quake struck Saturday in the city of Tabriz, with the second 6.3 tremor striking minutes later.
Iran’s Red Crescent has taken over a sports stadium and provided 6,000 tents to some 16,000 people rendered homeless. More than 3,000 people were injured.
Heath Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi told parliament the number jumped by about 50 after victims died in hospital and some of those killed were buried by their families before officials arrived at the scene.
http://www.calcuttanews.net/index.php?sid/208258479/scat/c08dd24cec417021/ht/Iran-accelerates-relief-efforts-while-declining-global-aid
Photos: Villagers mourn and bury loved ones after Iran quake -- Part I
About 300 people have died and more than 2000 have been injured in two successive earthquakes that hit the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan on Saturday afternoon. These dramatic photos show the victims of the quake in the villages around the town of Varzaghan. Some are digging through the rubbles looking for their loved ones, while others are mourning and burying theirs.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1102.html
Photos: People in the streets of Tabriz after strong quakes hit the region
People in the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran sought refuge in the streets after two strong quakes hit the region. According to Tehran University’s Seismological Center, the first earthquake had a magnitude of 6.2 with its epicenter some 60 kilometers from Tabriz. That was followed by a second earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1090.html
First foreign aid shipments arrive in Iran
Red Crescent Iran says the first shipment of humanitarian aid from Turkey arrived today at the Azerbaijan disaster area but Turkish relief workers have been retunred from Varzaghan.
Head of Iran’s emergency operations announced that since there is no need for foreign relief and rescue workers in the disaster aream and the arrival of the Turkish relief team was not coordinated with the local organizations, Turkish relief workers were sent back from Varzaghan.
The Republic of Azerbaijan announced that yesterday it had dispatched to Iran “aid consisting of flour, tea, rice, sugar, oil, pasta, jouci, water and other necessary goods in 35 trucks.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/first-foreign-aid-shipments-arrive-iran
Covert Smuggling Trail Arms Syrian Rebels
ANTAKYA, Turkey — Some Western and Arab Gulf powers say they are increasing humanitarian and support aid to the Syrian opposition. At the Turkey-Syria border, the main conduit for foreign aid to rebel fighters, there are signs the aid trail also may include covert arms smuggling.
The Turkish city of Antakya is now a hub for Syrian rebels and their supporters. Just 20 kilometers from the border, analysts say it’s here that most of the deals are being forged to aid the Free Syria Army rebels.
But few people here will openly admit that foreign countries are arming the opposition.
http://www.voanews.com/content/covert-smuggling-trail-arms-syria-rebels/1484287.html
Report: Iraq Helping Iran To Skirt Sanctions
A U.S. newspaper reports that Iraq has been helping Iran skirt economic sanctions.
“The New York Times” said on August 18 that Iraq has been using oil-smuggling operations and a network of financial institutions that are providing Tehran with a flow of dollars.
Citing current and former American and Iraqi officials along with banking and oil experts, the report said Iraqi government officials were “turning a blind eye to the large financial flows, smuggling, and other trade with Iran.”
In some cases, it added, other officials in Baghdad were directly profiting from the activities, including some close to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The United States acknowledged the problem last month when it barred an Iraqi bank, the Elaf Islamic Bank, from any dealings with the American banking system.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iraq-helping-iran-to-skirt-sanctions/24681402.html
Iran’s Ahmadinejad Launches Fresh Attacks On Israel
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad — who is notorious for his verbal attacks against Israel — has said the Jewish state’s existence is an “insult to all humanity.”
Ahmadinejad made the remark following nationwide pro-Palestinian rallies, an annual event marking Quds (Jerusalem) Day on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.
He said Quds Day is a day of unity to remove what he called the Zionist “black stain” from the human society.
Ahmadinejad accused the West of protecting Israel as a “tool to control the Middle East and the entire world.”
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-ahmadinejad-attacks-iran/24680214.html
Iranian leader asks Muslims to remain vigilant
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Sunday urged Muslims all over the world to remain vigilant against the conspiracies of their enemies, Iran’s state-run Press TV reported.
“The issues of the Muslim world at the current juncture are unprecedented ones. These developments that have occurred in the Muslim world are peculiar and shocking and will determine the course of the Muslim people in the future,” Khamenei told worshippers during Eid-ul-Fitr prayers at Tehran University.
http://www.newkerala.com/news/newsplus/worldnews-68326.html
Iraq to transfer Iranian refugees to camp Hurriya
The United Nations top official in Iraq Saturday hailed the announcement of a further transfer of Iranian exiles currently located in a camp outside of the capital, Baghdad.
“I welcome the announcement that the next group of 400 residents are willing to commence the move from Camp Ashraf to Camp Hurriya immediately after the Eid holiday,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Martin Kobler, said in a news release issued by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), which he also heads.
http://www.newkerala.com/news/newsplus/worldnews-68162.html
“Banditry and Extortion” Replace “Apostasy” Charges for Christian Pastor!
Maar veroordeeld zal hij worden is de boodschap.
Youcef Nadarkhani, a Christian pastor accused of apostasy will be put on a new trial on August 27. Nadarkhani, who refused to repent from being a Christian in earlier judicial proceedings and faces a death sentence, is now facing the new charges of “banditry and extortion.”
The Christian pastor’s earlier charges were “apostasy” and “converting to Christianity,” but the new charges of “banditry and extortion” were first mentioned last year on Fars News Agency. A source close to the case of Youcef Nadarkhani who wishes to remain anonymous on security grounds told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that, “Mr. Nadarkhani’s ‘banditry’ charges are fundamentally meaningless; he is not a thief or a bandit. This is a new accusation leveled against him for unknown reasons.”
Youcef Nadarkhani, 33, was born to Muslim parents and converted to Christianity at the age of 19. Prior to his arrest, he led a congregation of about 400 Christians in the Northern city of Rasht. Nadarkhani’s death sentence on charges of apostasy was upheld by Branch 11 of Gilan Province’s Appeals Court on August 23, 2010. On June 28, 2011, Iran’s Supreme Court overturned the ruling, but made the decision conditional on Nadarkhani’s repentance. There were three court sessions between September 25 and September 28, 2011 in which Youcef Nadarkhani was asked to repent and he refused. Nadarkhani is currently in detention inside Rasht Prison.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1155.html
14 Political Prisoners Reportedly Flogged in Iran
Iranian opposition sources, including the “Kalame” website, are reporting that 14 political prisoners held in Tehran’s Evin prison have been flogged. Most of them were reportedly jailed following the 2009 mass street protests over the disputed reelection of Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
Among them is journalist and blogger Siamak Ghaderi, who was sentenced to four years in prison and 60 lashes on a number of charges, including insulting Iran’s president, spreading lies, and acting against Iran’s establishment.
Ghaderi’s wife, Farzaneh Mirzavand, told Mahtab Vahidi of RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that she was shocked when she found out her husband had been lashed.
She said her husband told her about the punishment during a prison visit. She said Ghaderi told her that his flogging had been enforced “symbolically.”
“I use the term ‘symbolic’ because [my husband] said they lashed him slowly while not [using full force],” she said. “However, he said that one prisoner had been flogged harshly.”
The families of some of the other prisoners who were lashed told Radio Farda that one of the prisoners had been badly injured as a result of the flogging.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1141.html
Iranian Media Reports On Calls For Khamenei To Curb Ahmadinejad’s Power
Several “personalities” of the Iranian establishment and a number of lawmakers have sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that apparently suggests moves that could dilute the powers of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. That is according to a report by the website Fardanews, which is said to be close to Tehran Mayor Mohammad Qalibaf.
The website quotes a former lawmaker who didn’t want to be named as saying that the letter had been received by Khamenei but that he hadn’t responded yet.
“We’re still waiting,” he was quoted as saying.
The report comes two days after the government daily “Iran” claimed that two former ministers who were dismissed by Ahmadinejad have written to “a top official of the establishment” (Khamenei) calling for the setting up of a committee with the participation of the heads of the three branches of power and other senior officials for managing the country’s executive affairs during the next year, which is the final year of Ahmadinejad’s two-term presidency.
The paper claimed the two former ministers made the suggestion while citing the “sensitive and critical situation” of the country.
Fardanews reports that the letter signed by senior establishment officials and sent to Khamenei contains a similar suggestion.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1142.html
Israel Ups Iran Ante, But Is It Bluff?
Heightened Tension May Be Effort To Leverage U.S. Election
On August 12, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, called for an international declaration that diplomacy with Iran had definitively failed. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government itself declared the talks all but dead even before they began, but Ayalon’s explosive comments added fuel to the bizarrely public debate in Israel about whether to bomb Iran.
This debate has lingered for several years now, though currently it appears to be at a crescendo. But precisely because it’s yesterday’s news, both the markets and the international community seem to be treating it as yet another Israeli cry wolf moment.
Indeed, the timing of the latest round of public speculation and leaking by Israeli Cabinet ministers seems to have more to do with America’s election cycle than with any particular developments with the Iranian nuclear program.
It is no secret that Netanyahu prefers a Romney victory in November. His tensions with President Obama are well documented and cover a broad spectrum of issues — from the Iranian dossier, to the Palestinian conflict, to the Arab Spring.
http://forward.com/articles/161221/israel-ups-iran-ante-but-is-it-bluff/?p=all#ixzz23k2pdnyS
Ex-Obama Official Warns: Take Israel Iran Threat ‘Very Seriously’
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl traveled to Israel 13 times during his tenure as the Obama administration’s top Pentagon Middle East civilian policy advisor from 2009 to the end of 2011. Kahl, now a Georgetown University professor, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and foreign policy advisor to the Obama campaign, told Al-Monitor in an interview Tuesday that he takes the signs that Israeli leaders are contemplating a fall strike on Iran “very seriously.”
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/israel-threats-against-iran-are.html
Four arrested in Germany for Iran embargo violation
Four men have been arrested in Germany charged with delivering valves for a heavy-water reactor to Iran.
The four men, one German and three that hold dual German-Iranian citizenship, were arrested at their homes in Hamburg, Oldenburg and Weimar last week, and their homes and offices were reportedly searched by customs officers, Reuters reports.
Prosecutors announced on Wednesday: “In 2010 and 2011, the suspects are believed to have helped in the delivery of special valves for the construction of a heavy-water reactor in Iran and, therefore, to have broken the Iran embargo.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/four-arrested-germany-iran-embargo-violation
Nasrallah warns Israel against attacking Iran
After numerous Israeli media reports about imminent military attacks on Iran, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the militant Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, announced that in case of such an attack on Iran, his organization will not hesitate to target Israel with rockets.
In a speech marking Quds Day and the end of Ramadan, delivered at annual rally in support of Palestinians, Nasrallah pointed out that their rockets are ready and targeted at Israel for such an eventuality, adding: “Hezbollah cannot destroy Israel but we can transform the lives of millions of Zionists in occupied Palestine into a real hell.” The black-turbaned Nasrallah added further: “We can change the face of Israel.”
He went on to warn Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama that an attack on Iran would be “at the price of Israel’s existence.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/nasrallah-warns-israel-against-attacking-iran
Ik mis nog enkele berichten luitjes maar het zou kunnen dat er spectaculair nieuws bij zit
Ik kan de berichten helaas niet geven Payvand ligt eruit.
Niet per ongeluk denk Ik zo maar.
Laatste berichten 18-08-2012
Iran bemoeid zich met de bouw van een R.K. kerk in bahrain. Waarschijnlijk vind Iran dat er in geen enkel islamitisch land godsdienstvrijheid mag bestaan. Kerken mogen in Iran al vanaf het begin van de revolutie niet meer gebouwd worden.
http://www.mohabatnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5189:construction-of-a-church-in-bahrain-irritates-islamic-republic-authorities&catid=36:iranian-christians&Itemid=279
@ Willem.
In Iran ius de religieuze elite zo bang voor elke godsdienst wegens het gevaar dat dezelfde “elite” er geen moiete mee heeft om elke andere godsdienst dan de ilsam direkt te elimineren Kijk maar wat gebeurd met de Bahai’j.
En dat zijn de voorlopers van andere religieen
Gelukkig de ramadan is weer voorbij, we mogen weer mensen vermoorden.
Veel executies verwacht in Iran.
http://iranhr.net/spip.php?article2566
Steun aan het regime van Iran kalft gestaag af.
Weinig publieke belangstelling bij kutdag-parade(sorry voor het taalgebruik ik hoop dat het fonetisch hetzelfde klinkt en dus door de censuur komt).
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1199.html
Hier doet men niet zeikerig Willem Als er geen bedreigingen geuit worden, of ander soort onzin mag iedereen in duidelijke bewoordingen zijn mening geven .
Iran in het nauw – Oorlog met Israël steeds waarschijnlijker.
De laatste ontwikkelingen in het conflict rond Iran en haar nucleaire programma duiden op een escalatie waarbij oorlog met de dag waarschijnlijker lijkt te worden.
De retoriek die vaak vooraf gaat aan militair ingrijpen bereikte de afgelopen maand een hoogtepunt.
Kankercellen
De Iraanse president Achmadinejad zei bijvoorbeeld op 18 augustus jl. opnieuw dat Israel (Zionistisch regime) een kankergezwel is. Dit keer voegde hij er echter aan toe dat alle ‘kankercellen’ (Zionisten) op het “Palestijnse’ land (Israël) uitgeroeid dienen te worden.
Deze en andere recente opmerkingen van Iraanse leiders werden beantwoord door Avi Dichter, de nieuwe Israëlische minister voor de veiligheid van het thuisfront. Hij zei onder meer, dat voor de eerste keer sinds de oprichting van de staat, Israël nu direct in haar bestaan wordt bedreigd (door Iran).
http://missingpeace.eu/nl/2012/08/iran-in-het-nauw-oorlog-met-israel-steeds-waarschijnlijker/?fb_action_ids=4564123509534%2C4563720099449%2C4563541854993&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%224564123509534%22%3A10151183683086639%2C%224563720099449%22%3A10151055564652992%2C%224563541854993%22%3A10151957798748475%7D&action_type_map=%7B%224564123509534%22%3A%22og.likes%22%2C%224563720099449%22%3A%22og.likes%22%2C%224563541854993%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=
Lieberman: Iran Must Give Up On Nukes Or Chances Of Military Action Are ‘High’
PRAGUE –- During a visit to RFE/RL’s headquarters in Prague on August 26, U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman (Independent-Connecticut) said there is “clear” evidence that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear weapons capacity and that if Tehran achieves this goal it would represent a threat to the entire world.
“I am supportive of the current approach of the Unites States administration toward Iran’s nuclear weapons development program,” he said. “We think this is evidence — clear — not just from the U.S. but international United Nations agencies, that the Iranian regime is building the capacity to build a nuclear weapon — many of them — and that if that happened it would be threatening to the entire region and the entire world.”
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-nuclear-weapons-joseph-lieberman/24688446.html
Iran Confirms It Has Troops On The Ground In Syria
A senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards admitted that Iranian forces are actively operating in Syria in support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime as the U.S. and its Gulf allies continue to back the Syrian opposition.
“Before our presence in Syria, too many people were killed by the opposition but with the physical and non-physical presence of the Islamic republic, big massacres in Syria were prevented,” deputy head of Iran’s Quds force Ismail Gha’ani said in an interview with the semi-official Isna news agency that was published then removed from its website.
http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-confirms-they-have-troops-on-on-the-ground-in-syria-2012-8
Israel calls Iran the greatest nuclear threat
Muslim nations and Israel are heading for a confrontation at a 154-nation nuclear meeting next month over an Arab initiative to criticize Israel’s secretive atomic program.
Documents submitted for that gathering show that Arab nations are seeking Israel’s censure -- a move the Jewish state says is a sideshow that deflects attention from the real danger to Mideast peace -- Iran.
In asking September’s International Atomic Energy Agency meeting to reprimand Israel, Jordan says Israel is guilty of thwarting “all initiatives to free the region of the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction, and in particular of nuclear weapons.”
Israel, in turn, warns that the Arab initiative is “serving Iran’s attempt to divert the attention of the international community … (from) its quest for nuclear weapons.”
Israel is widely assumed to be the only Mideast country with such arms. But it refuses to either confirm or deny its status, sticking to an official policy of ambiguity that, combined with the stalemate over Palestinian demands, feeds tensions in the region.
http://www.wmdt.com/story/19396768/israel-calls-iran-the-greatest-nuclear-threat
Iran will seize back assets from Great Satan: Iran Cmdr.
A senior Iranian commander has censured the blocking of Iran’s assets by the US as “economic terrorism” and reaffirmed Tehran’s determination to seize its national wealth back by all means necessary.
“If it takes 50 years, we will take back the frozen assets in the US even if by force,” said Deputy Commander of Iran’s Armed Forces Chiefs of Staff Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri on Tuesday.
“The blocking of the assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran is economic terrorism and financial theft in which, unfortunately, the US is adroit like in other forms of terrorism and physical elimination of human beings,” he added.
A senior Iranian commander has censured the blocking of Iran’s assets by the US as “economic terrorism” and reaffirmed Tehran’s determination to seize its national wealth back by all means necessary.
“If it takes 50 years, we will take back the frozen assets in the US even if by force,” said Deputy Commander of Iran’s Armed Forces Chiefs of Staff Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri on Tuesday.
“The blocking of the assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran is economic terrorism and financial theft in which, unfortunately, the US is adroit like in other forms of terrorism and physical elimination of human beings,” he added.
Experts: Tightening Iran Sanctions Hurts Ordinary Iranians
Iran is hosting a summit for dozens of nations in the Non-Aligned Movement, while some of those countries are complying with U.S. and international sanctions against Tehran for its nuclear program. Iran says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.
Tehran’s refusal to address international concerns about its atomic ambitions has forced the United States and the United Nations to tighten sanctions on Iran. U.S. authorities are investigating the Royal Bank of Scotland and Germany’s second-biggest lender, Commerzbank, in an effort that already has led to large fines for others caught doing business with Iran.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1234.html
US-Iran: Can there ever be a compromise?
What is rare about this relationship is that the two states have been locked in a state of non-communication (or inconsistent and failing communications) for over thirty years. In other words, the two governments simply cannot or do not talk with each other. This condition was not seen even during the Cold-War between the US and its adversaries. The US not only had diplomatic, but also economic relations with the communist bloc.
The relations between Iran and the US continue to deteriorate, inching closer to the danger zone. The conflict between these two states is multi-faceted. Competition over power and interests, clash of cultures, the factor of Israel, profound mistrust, perceptions and misperceptions, and last but not least, misanalysis of the situation by American experts are responsible for the current perilous state of affairs.
What is rare about this relationship is that the two states have been locked in a state of non-communication (or inconsistent and failing communications) for over thirty years. In other words, the two governments simply cannot or do not talk with each other. This condition was not seen even during the Cold-War between the US and its adversaries. The US not only had diplomatic, but also economic relations with the communist bloc.
Surprisingly, experts pay no attention to this odd situation although it is obvious that in the absence of meaningful and enduring talks between Iran and the US, expecting “a negotiated solution,” as advocated by the US government, is not logical. And when there is no negotiation and no negotiated solution, only one thing can resolve the disputes-war.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1225.html
Iranian activists urge UN chief to visit opposition leaders
More than 400 Iranian political and social activists have written to the UN Secretary General to urge him to visit Iranian opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi, who have been under house arrest in Iran for more than 18 months. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, is scheduled to attend the NAM meeting in Tehran this week.
The signatories have written that this is the best opportunity for the UN Secretary General to directly evaluate the human rights conditions in Iran.
The letter refers to Mir Hossein Mousavi’s heart complications, which led to his recent hospitalization, saying a meeting with the Iranian opposition leader could defuse some of the threats against him.
Mousavi underwent heart surgery last week and was returned immediately to house arrest.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1219.html
Mousavi family kept from talking about ill opposition leader
After reports hit the media that opposition leader Mir Hosein Mousavi had undergone surgery in hospital, his brother was quoted as saying that the Mousavi family cannot give out information about his health.
The Kaleme opposition website reported today that following Mir Hosein Mousavi’s angiography procedure, his brother Mir Mahmoud Mousavi told Kaleme that the Mousavi family is not free to discuss the opposition leader’s health with the media.
He was quoted as saying that while the public had the right to know about the situation, that information cannot be disseminated through his family because security considerations have tied their hands.
Radio Farda reported today however that Ardeshir Amirarjomand, a spokesman for the Coordination Council for the Green Path of Hope has infromed them that Mousavi has already been returned to house arrest following his heart treatment.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1212.html
Iran complains to UN about Israel’s threats
Iran’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN has written to the UN Secretary General to condemn the threats against Iran made by Israeli officials, stressing that such statements are “a threat to humanity.”
ISNA reports that Eshagh Al-Habib forwarded a letter to Ban-Ki-moon this morning, urging the UN chief to pay close attention to the recent military threats against Iran reported in the Israeli media.
Al-Habib expresses the Islamic Repubic’s “deep concern” about the statements from the Israeli Defence Minister and Prime Minister, saying such statements are in violation of the UN Charter and international laws, and they run contrary to global efforts for international peace and security.
In recent weeks, Israel has become more vocal in its threats against Iran, while the Israeli media have speculated about an imminent attack on Iran in advance of the U.S. presidential elections in November.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/aug/1203.html
Press freedom group calls for Mousavi’s release
Reporters Without Borders has expressed deep concern about Iranian opposition leader MirHosein Mousavi, who was hospitalized on Thursday to undergo heart surgery.
The press rights group issued a statement on Friday, writing: “The conditions of Mousavi’s house arrest have damaged his health and he must be released at once. We urge the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, to act quickly to avoid exposing him to further danger. We will hold Khamenei responsible for anything that happens to Mousavi or to the many other journalists who are being kept in detention despite their poor health.”
Mousavi has been under house arrest together with his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, since February of 2011. Reports from Iran indicate that Mousavi, who was taken to hospital with heart complications, underwent angiography and treatment for a blocked artery. He has now reportedly been released from the hospital and returned to house arrest.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/press-freedom-group-calls-mousavi%E2%80%99s-release
Netanyahu Urges International ‘Red Line’ To Stop Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged major world powers to set “a clear red line” for Iran’s nuclear program.
Speaking during a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said the international community had not done enough to deter Iran from pursuing a program that Israel and the West believe is aimed at producing nuclear weapons.
“The Iranians are using the talks with the world powers to gain time and to advance their nuclear program. I believe we must state the truth,” Netanyahu said. “The international community is not laying down a clear red line for Iran and Iran is not seeing an international determination to stop its nuclear program.
“Unless Iran sees this clear red line and this clear determination,” he continued, “it will not stop advancing its nuclear program, and Iran must not have nuclear weapons.”
http://www.rferl.org/content/israel-iran-red-line/24695626.html
North Korea, Iran Vow Stronger Ties
North Korea and Iran have taken a vow to strengthen ties and increase science and technological cooperation.
The development comes after Pyongyang’s ceremonial head of state, Kim Young Nam, met with Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad on September 1 on the sidelines of the Nonaligned Movement summit in Tehran.
North Korean state media reported the officials discussed cooperation on “the joint anti-imperialist, anti-U.S. front” and signed an agreement on technology sharing.
The deal, which proposes the creation of joint laboratories and scientist-exchange programs, is likely to raise suspicions in the West.
Both Pyongyang and Tehran have been placed under an international sanctions regime for their nuclear programs, and the United States has accused North Korea of providing Iran with parts for advanced ballistic missiles.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-north-korea-common-enemies/24695358.html
Who Is Behind Iran’s ‘Dangerous’ Satellite Jamming?
That’s the question people have been asking in the Islamic republic in recent days.
While officials have acknowledged that signal jamming is taking place, and even warned of potentially negative consequences, no one in the government has stepped up to assume responsibility.
Earlier this week, Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Reza Taghipour denied his department’s involvement in jamming satellite signals, and said the ministry was “seriously” pursuing the case.
“It is essential to trace and identify the source of jamming as the practice has many negative consequences,” he said in an August 21 interview with the Iranian parliament’s Icana website.
http://www.rferl.org/content/satellite-jamming-dangerous-health-iran/24686214.html
Filtered News Is Good News During Tehran Summit
As leaders of the Nonaligned Movement (NAM) were settling in for their two-day summit in Iran, capping off a week of events intended to showcase Tehran’s global voice, they might well be remarkably unaware of goings-on in the country itself.
That’s because the country’s media, dominated and heavily filtered by the state, has been ordered to forgo real news in favor of glowing reports on its international guests.
A three-page directive issued by Iran’s Culture Ministry and obtained by RFE/RL gives precise instructions on what the country’s media outlets should be covering during the event and, perhaps more tellingly, what they should not.
They shouldn’t: write stories that undermine the summit; give voice to opposition political groups; write stories about human rights in Iran; cover Western allegations against Syria; raise concerns about security in Tehran; report on warnings about bad weather, natural disasters, energy cuts, or crime.
http://www.rferl.org/content/filtered-news-good-news-during-tehran-uam-summit/24693018.html
Iran, Syria Criticized at NAM Summit Intended for Support
Iran, which sought to use a Tehran summit to win support and repel efforts to isolate it, instead found its leaders rebuked by United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon over their stance on Israel and its ally Syria accused of losing legitimacy.
“I strongly reject threats by any member states to destroy another, or outrageous attempts to deny historical facts such as the Holocaust,” Ban told the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement today. “Claiming that another UN member state, Israel, does not have the right to exist, describing it in racist terms, is not only utterly wrong, but undermines the principles we have all pledged to uphold.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-30/un-s-ban-rejects-racist-attacks-on-israel-in-tehran-speech-2-.html
Ahmadinejad accuses US of killing people in large numbers
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [ Images ] on Friday accused the United States of killing people in “large numbers and in organised ways” in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan and also blamed the UNSC for the crisis in the Middle East.
Addressing the 16th Non-Aligned Movement Summit, Ahmadinejad also said that the grouping of 120 nations should reconsider its goals and aspirations to have a part in governance of the international community.
“The UNSC’s behaviour has in practice led to the stabilisation and expansion of occupation, oppression and crimes of the imposed and bogus Zionist regime,” he said.
He criticised the UN Security Council for the current situation in different countries of the Middle East and said, “People are being killed in large numbers and in organized ways in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan and the UNSC justifies the situation since the main side (culprit) of these events (the US) is the permanent member of the Security Council and enjoys the unfair veto advantage,” FARS news agency reported.
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/ahmadinejad-accuses-us-of-killing-people-in-large-numbers/20120830.htm
Ahmadinejad calls for new world order
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday slammed the United Nations and called for a new world order, in an opening speech at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran.
“There are wars and killings, with all justified by the UN Security Council,” said Ahmadinejad, who was seated on the podium next to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3839810.ece
Syria Delegation Leaves Tehran Summit in Protest
The Syrian delegation to the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran on Thursday walked out in protest during a speech by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said.
Morsy called the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “despotic” and urged it to step down in the face of the civil war ongoing in the country, which he called “a revolution against an oppressive regime.”
The speech was “interference in Syria’s internal affairs and…instigation for continuing the shedding of Syrian blood,” Moallem said, Syrian state television reported.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20120830/175518936.html
From Security Charges to Moldy Bread: Details of Earthquake Camp Raid and Arrests
In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Ahmad Ronaghi Maleki provided details about the raid on the earthquake relief camp and the brutal arrests of volunteers, including verbal and physical abuse.
Two days after police and plainclothes forces attacked the earthquake relief camp and arrested 35 relief workers on Thursday, August 23, ten detainees (all of the female and three of the male detainees) were released on bail. The rest of the relief workers were transferred to the Central Prison of Tabriz, according to Kaleme website (link in Persian).
The camp is located a few kilometers from Varzaghan village around a plastics manufacturing plant. Relief workers collected donated goods and used the factory’s warehouse to store supplies. Some of the 35 relief workers were students and civil activists who had set up tents around the factory, where they lived.
Kaleme website reported that male relief workers were transferred to Ahar Moral Security Base and female relief workers were transferred to the town’s Investigative Police Office. Within the first few hours, three judges from the judicial complex of the town of Khajeh informed the detainees they were being charged with “political activities through helping the earthquake victims.” However, during interrogations with Ahar intelligence forces, they were accused of “threatening public health through distributing unsafe food items.”
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1011.html
United for Iran Welcomes UN Chief’s Support for Human Rights and Democracy in Iran
Ban Ki-moon calls on Iran to free political prisoners and permit free expression ahead of 2013 elections
United for Iran welcomes remarks from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran this week, where he expressed “serious concerns” about Iran’s human rights situation, and urged Iran to cooperate with the United Nations to improve freedoms for its citizens. On his visit, Ban pledged the support of the United Nations and the international community for the people of Iran’s “long struggle for human rights and democracy.”
“We have discussed how the United Nations can work together with Iran to improve the human rights situation in Iran. We have our serious concerns on the human rights abuses and violations in this country,” Ban said at a news conference on Wednesday.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1010.html
Iran begint steeds meer op China te lijken. Ze Nemen in ieder geval een aantal zaken over. Het nationale internet is nu in de meeste provincies gelanceerd, nog wel naast het gewone internet , maar voor hoelang nog?
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/iran-launches-national-internet
Ook de filmindustrie word verder gecensureerd zodat over een tijdje waarschijnlijk alleen maar religieuse films die de iraanse heilstaat bejubelen worden gemaakt.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/culture-ministry-reconsider-iranian-film-presence-abroad
Je mag alleen nog maar lesgeven aan de universiteiten als je praktiserend islamiet bent. Alle seculiere docenten worden uitgesloten van lesgeven.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1030.html
Lijkt me alles bij elkaar toch een gevalletje China 2.0
@ Willem.
Ik zou je zeer erkentelijk zijn als je komende week een paar Posts zou doen, het probleem is namelijk dat Mijn Laptop op dit moment voor onderhoud en herinstallatie weg is.
Op dit moment gebruik Ik de PC van de winkel hier, maar `s avonds kan Ik daar niks mee.
OK, ik maak wel even tijd. groetjes
Verdubbeling van het aantal kindbruidjes onder de 10 jaar in Iran.
Ze mogen daar al op hun negende jaar trouwen. Omdat de mensen armer worden verkopen ze hun dochters aan oude pedofiele haatbaarden.
Zoals een politici zegt, ze zijn om hun negende er al klaar voor. “As some people may not comply with our current Islamic legal system, we must regard nine as being the appropriate age for a girl to have reached puberty and qualified to get married”
http://www.mohabatnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5236:alarm-as-hundreds-of-children-under-age-of-10-married-in-iran-&catid=35:inside-iran&Itemid=278
Er komt een nieuwe wet aan in Iran die er voor kan zorgen dat meerdere zaken onder de islamitische sharia kunnen vallen. Wanneer deze wet wordt ingevoerd zullen er waarschijnlijk meer gevallen van steniging, amputaties en zweepslagen volgen.
http://www.mohabatnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5247:new-islamic-penal-code-brings-death-to-apostates&catid=36:iranian-christians&Itemid=279
Sanctie tegen Iran treft ook de medische sector doordat banken geen zaken durven te doen met Iran.
De amerikanen zeiden dat de sancties niet zouden gelden voor de medische sector. Helaas is dit dus wel het geval.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/sanctions-take-toll-on-irans-sick/2012/09/04/ce07ee2c-f6b2-11e1-8253-3f495ae70650_story.html
VS wil dat Irak wapenleveranties van Iran aan Syrie via het Iraakse luchtruim blokkeert. Ik geef ze weinig kans dat de irakezen dit gaan doen.
http://www.rferl.org/content/us-warns-iraq-over-possible-iran-arms-shipments-syria/24699495.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/world/middleeast/iran-supplying-syrian-military-via-iraq-airspace.html?pagewanted=all
2 Azerbeidjaanse dichters vrijgelaten. Ze werden beschuldigd van spionage als reactie op de arrestaties van iraanse spionnen in Azerbeidjan.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-azerbaijani-poets-spying/24698533.html
Iraanse asielzoeker word Nederland uitgezet. Even naar beneden scrollen want eerste gedeelte is in farsi.
http://persiandutch.com/2012/09/04/persian_activist_in_danger_of_deportation_from_holland/
Iran vraagt of hoofdverdachte van 3 miljard aan bankfraude zijn onschuld wil komen bewijzen in Iran. Ik denk niet dat ie dat gaat doen.
Oh jee, de link over de bankfraude vergeten.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/sentences-issued-bank-fraud-major-suspect-still-abroad
De soap rond de nucleaire inspecties blijven voortduren. En Iran blijft bewijzen verdoezelen, en de boel vertragen.
http://www.freedomessenger.com/archives/50452
Iran opnieuw in opspraak vanwege terrorisme. Nu ivm Yemen en oost-afrika.
http://www.freedomessenger.com/archives/50390
Volgens dit artikel zou Iran al vuistdiep in het syrische conflict zitten.
Helaas zijn de feiten niet te verifieren.
http://www.freedomessenger.com/archives/50262
Activisten die tijdens de aardbeving in Iran hulp verleenden en vervolgens gearresteerd, werden ondervraagd en gevangen gezet.
http://banouyesabz.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/rising-concerns-over-the-health-of-hossein-ronaghi-maleki-rearrested-while-providing-aid-to-irans-earth-quake-stricken-region/
Directeur van gevangenis in Khuzestan klaagt er over dat er in zijn provincie geen nieuwe gevangenissen worden gebouwd terwijl zijn gevangenis 3x zoveel gevangene heeft dan waarop de gevangenis is ingesteld.
http://www.freedomessenger.com/archives/50367
Heel hartelijk Dank Willem dat je de honneurs waar hebt genomen.
Mijn laptop is weer terug helemaal geformateerd en opnieuw geinstalleerd zodat Ik een en ander weer bij elkaar moet sprokkelen, maar vanavond ben Ik weer van de partij.
U.S. “not setting deadlines” for Iran
Hillary Clinton announced today that the United States is “not setting deadlines” for Iran and still believes that negotiations are the best approach to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
In an interview with Bloomberg Radio on Sunday night, September 9, the U.S. Secretary of State stressed that economic sanctions are building pressure on Iran.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that the sanctions on Iran will not slow that country’s nuclear progress “because it doesn’t see a clear red line from the international community.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/us-%E2%80%9Cnot-setting-deadlines%E2%80%9D-iran
Student activist arrested in Esfahan
Iranian student activist Rashid Esmaili has been arrested by security forces in Esfahan.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that Esmaili, an executive member of the student group Tahkim-e Vahdat, was arrested on Saturday September 8 without an arrest warrant.
According to the HRANA report, Esmaili was first arrested in December of 2009 while he was undergoing cancer treatment. He was banned from graduate studies in human rights at Allameh University and in recent months was involved in journalistic activities with various websites.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/student-activist-arrested-esfahan
Iranian currency falls once again
Iranian currency has fallen against the dollar for the fourth consecutive time and was traded today, September 10, at more that 26,000 rials per dollar.
Meanwhile the official bank rate for the dollar remains at 12,260 rials, and the administration has been silent about the extreme fluctuations in the currency market.
The head of Parliament’s Budgeting Commission, Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghaddam, has told the Fars News Agency that the Central Bank has stopped providing foreign currency for the market, and he blamed the policy for the sudden rise in the rate of exchange.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/iranian-currency-falls-once-again
Journalist temporarily released after 3 years
Jailed Iranian journalist Massoud Bastani has been given a furlough for the first time in three years.
The Kaleme website reports that Bastani was released on Sunday, but the authorities have refused to give a similar temporary release to his wife, Mahsa Amrabadi, another jailed journalist.
Bastani was arrested in July of 2009 and sentenced to six years in jail for “propaganda against the regime and assembly and collusion to create disruption.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/journalist-temporarily-released-after-3-years
Iran criticizes talk of new sanctions
Iran says recent statements by EU foreign ministers about increasing sanctions on Iran are “irresponsible.”
IRNA reports that Ramin Mehmanparast, the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said the Western countries’ approach of trying to pressure Iran will not yield any positive results.
He stressed that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and that all of its activities are “carried out under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.”
The United States and the EU have imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran in response to disputes over Iran’s nuclear program. Iran has refused to halt its uranium enrichment, a process used to produce fuel for nuclear reactors. The West is concerned that the process could also give Iran the capability to produce nuclear weapons.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/iran-criticizes-talk-new-sanctions
EU wants more sanctionBritain,
France and Germany have called for a new round of sanctions on Iran in connection with the country’s nuclear program.
Reuters reports that Guido Westerwelle, the German Foreign Minister, said on September 7, on the sidelines of the EU foreign ministers meeting in Cyprus, that Iran’s failure to heed international demands to reduce its nuclear activities means that in the coming weeks, the EU should begin discussing a new round of sanctions.
Maintaining that the outcome of the last three rounds of nuclear negotiations had been “disappointing”, Westerwelle told Reuters: “If they will not come back to the table, then probably the next round is necessary. This is not something for next year; we are talking about next weeks.”
s on Iran
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/eu-wants-more-sanctions-iran
U.S. Says Religious Situation In Iran Still ‘Grave’ Despite Release of Pastor
The United States has welcomed the release of Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani reportedly sentenced to death on charges of apostasy.
Nadarkhani’s lawyer told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that his client had been acquitted of apostasy and freed on September 8.
The lawyer said Nadarkhani who had been held since 2009 had been sentenced to three years imprisonment for proselytizing Muslims but he was released because he had already served the term.
http://www.rferl.org/content/us-pastor-release-nadarkhani/24704241.html
IAEA Chief Urges Immediate Access To Iran Site
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is pressing Iran to grant his inspectors access “without further delay” to a military site where Iran is believed to conducting nuclear activities.
IAEA head Yukiya Amano told the governing board of the IAEA in Vienna on September 10 that “activities” at the Parchin facility — a reference to suspected clean-up work there — could have an “adverse impact” on the IAEA’s investigation, if and when inspectors were allowed to go there.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iaea-amano-urges-immediate-access-to-iran-site/24703583.html
At the NAM Summit in Tehran, ‘It’s the Economy, Stupid!’
With the 16th Non-Aligned Movement summit in the books, Iran has finished hosting its largest international conference in over three decades. Iranian officials sought to make a case that it is not the “international community” that has problems with the Islamic Republic, but rather a U.S.-led “coalition of the willing” that is held together through pressure. The Obama administration essentially conceded this point by trying to dissuade various leaders from attending the summit.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/reza-marashi/at-the-nam-summit-in-tehr_b_1848057.html
Israeli Defence Minister Rumoured Cooling on Attacking Iran
Reports in Israeli press suggest Netanyahu’s main supporter on attacking Iran may be backing off
According to local press, the Israeli leadership has been “climbing down from the tree” this week with a distinct change in tone from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding attacking Iran. The change in mood is said to be linked to rising tensions with the Obama administration and new rumours that Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has changed his mind and is no longer supporting a unilateral attack by Israel.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1096.html
Closing of Iranian Embassy in Canada: Why we should not be surprised
Many of my academic friends outside of Canada have been asking about what has been happening in Canada. And all the protests and the terrorist attach in Quebec? And now why the Iranian Embassy in Canada has been closed?
At the time when I was asked why there was a terrorist attack in Quebec, I responded that when a government excludes its population from legitimate venues to express their political views, they can expect violence. Quebec is no longer going to be a player in Ottawa politics which is increasingly in the hands of ultra right conservatives, and there is little Quebec can do for the federal politics to save its social programs.
From the outsider’s view, student protest was a protest over increase in tuition fee; and what people did not hear much was how it expanded into civil protest and among the ordinary people (in solidarity with students) and against the Canadian austerity measures, who were coming out in the evenings banging on their pots and pans.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1091.html
Jailed Iranian Journalist On Hunger Strike
Issa Saharkhiz, an Iranian journalist who was returned to jail part way through his medical treatment in hospital, is refusing food and medication until the authorities heed his demands.
The Kaleme website reported on Monday, September 10, that the medical team at Rejai Shahr Prison, where Shahrkhiz was serving his sentence, announced that it was not able to provide for his medical needs and will not be responsible for him.
Issa Saharkhiz, according to the report, had been in hospital for the past six months to undergo treatment but, on August 28th, he was transferred to Evin Prison, at which time he began his food and medication strike.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1095.html
U.S. Welcomes Release of Iranian Pastor
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland issued a press release on Monday on the freeing of Pastor Nadarkhani by Iranian authorities.
Release of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani
Press Statement Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
September 10, 2012
The United States welcomes reports that Iranian authorities have released Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani and finally allowed him to reunite with his family. This comes after nearly three harrowing years during which he faced a death penalty sentence on charges of apostasy--in clear violation of Iran’s international human rights commitments.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1092.html
Judge praises public punishments for some convicts
The head of the Tehran Criminal Court says sentences issued for armed robbers, rapists and those who cause public disorder must be carried out in public for the good of society.
Judge Amirabadi Farahani told the Mehr News Agency on Tuesday, September 11: “The judiciary is determined to carry out in public the sentences of armed robbers, rapists and disturbers of peace and order in society.”
His statements come on the day that Sadegh Moradi, a convicted rapist, was hanged in public in Tehran.
“When such sentences are carried out in public,” Amirabadi Farahani said, “those who think they can get away without public shame will see themselves in that position and do away with stupid thoughts.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/judge-praises-public-punishments-some-convicts
Iranian officials meet to remedy currency fall
The leaders of Iran’s three branches of government met behind closed doors on Monday to discuss the critical decline in the value of the national currency.
Iranian media report that Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president, and Ali Larijani, the speaker of Parliament, met for three hours behind closed doors.
No details have emerged from that meeting, but Ayatollah Larijani announced that, while no legislation was expected from the session, the officials managed to “discuss important issues” and “reach good results.”
The rial fell yesterday to a record low against foreign currencies, so that more than 26,000 rials were needed to buy one dollar.
In Parliament, Economic Minister Shamseddin Hosseiny attended an unofficial meeting today, Tuesday, to discuss the deep fluctuations in the currency market.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/iranian-officials-meet-remedy-currency-fall
Condemned prisoner spared death sentence for now
Iranian authorities did not go through with the execution of Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani yesterday, and his death sentence has been delayed, a family member informed the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
Khosravi Savadjani was visited by relatives on Monday, and while the family was relieved that the sentence had not been carried out, there is still a chance that it will happen any day.
The condemned prisoner’s lawyer is applying for another hearing to review the case and overturn the death sentence.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/condemned-prisoner-spared-death-sentence-now
Iranian official calls for open elections
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of Iran’s Expediency Council and a seasoned Islamic Republic politician, says “free and open elections would solve many of the current problems of the country.”
The moderate cleric stressed that “in addition to building trust amongst the people, the supporters of the system, it will disappoint foreign enemies and disarm them in many ways.”
Other critics of the country’s current political situation, such as former president Mohammad Khatami, have expressed similar views in the past.
The moderate cleric is quoted as saying: “The exit path from the current situation is through measured and wise decisions and exploiting all human, managerial and resource potentials to protect and strengthen unity and refrain from extremism and scandal mongering.”
Hashemi Rafsanjani sided with the opposition following the controversial 2009 elections, which led to to the complete isolation of the reformists in Iranian politics and the incarceration of thousands of protesters, who alleged that the vote was rigged.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/iranian-official-calls-open-elections
If Iran builds bomb, US has a year to act: Panetta
The United States would have about a year to take action if Iran decided to build nuclear weapons and the American military is well-prepared if the moment comes, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a television interview Tuesday.
The Pentagon chief told “CBS This Morning” that it would take Iran some time to construct a nuclear device once the Tehran leadership chose to go ahead.
“It’s going to take them a while once they make the decision to do it,” he said.
Asked how much time it would take, Panetta replied: “It’s roughly about a year right now. A little more than a year.
“And so, we think we will have the opportunity once we know that they’ve made that decision, take the action necessary to stop (the program).”
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-builds-bomb-us-act-panetta-172932432.html
Daar gaat ie weer de Gek
Ahmadinejad says enemies destroy Iran’s rain clouds: reports
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused his country’s enemies of enacting a sinister plan to create a drought by somehow destroying the rain clouds before they reach Iran, several Iranian websites reported on Tuesday.
Well-known for his anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric, Ahmadinejad has made similar remarks before and last year accused the West of devising a plot to cause drought in the Islamic republic.
“The enemy destroys the clouds that are headed towards our country and this is a war Iran will win,” Ahmadinejad said on Monday, according to several websites including the BBC’s Persian-language site and http://www.snn.ir.
http://news.yahoo.com/ahmadinejad-says-enemies-destroy-irans-rain-clouds-reports-172854205.html
Questions grow over Iran’s influence in Iraq
As Tariq al-Hashemi’s death sentence heightens sectarian tensions in Iraq, Shiite Iran’s role there is getting more attention, including a potential clerical succession struggle in Najaf.
The death sentence issued for Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on Sunday is the latest measure of sectarian division in Iraq, where questions about dictatorial rule and the influence of Iran have grown in the nine months since US troops withdrew.
Mr. Hashemi responded to the verdict by accusing Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki – and, obliquely, Shiite Iran – of sowing the seeds of sectarian strife in Iraq. More than 100 people died in explosions and insurgent violence on Sunday alone, one of the bloodiest days since US troops withdrew.
“My people, don’t give Maliki and those who stand behind him the chance. They want to make this a sectarian strife. Oppose his conspiracies and provocation calmly,” Hashemi said, speaking to journalists in the Turkish capital Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/questions-grow-over-irans-influence-iraq-165927040.html
Powers to voice deep concern about Iran nuclear advance
Six world powers at a U.N. nuclear meeting are set to voice deep concern about Iran’s expanded uranium enrichment and urge it to open up to investigations, diplomats said on Tuesday, in search of a breakthrough to head off a risk of Israeli military action.
They said the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany had agreed a joint text on Iran’s nuclear program that could be submitted as a resolution to this week’s meeting of the 35-nation governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), or take the lesser form of a statement.
It was meant to reaffirm big power unity on the matter, whether or not they achieve a resolution rebuking Iran over its defiance of international demands to curb activity seen by the West as a disguised effort to develop nuclear arms capability.
The text expresses particular concern about Fordow, an Iranian enrichment site deep underground where an IAEA report in late August said the Islamic state had doubled its capacity over the last three months, the diplomats said.
http://news.yahoo.com/powers-voice-deep-concern-iran-nuclear-advance-165020733.html
AP Exclusive: New intelligence on Iran nuke work
The U.N. atomic agency has received new and significant intelligence over the past month that Iran has moved further toward the ability to build a nuclear weapon, diplomats tell The Associated Press.
They say the intelligence shows that Iran has advanced its work on calculating the destructive power of an atomic warhead through a series of computer models that it ran sometime within the past three years.
The diplomats say the information comes from Israel, the United States and at least two other Western countries and concludes that the work was done sometime within the past three years. The time-frame is significant because if the International Atomic Energy Agency decides that the intelligence is credible, it would strengthen its concerns that Iran has continued weapons work into the recent past — and may be continuing to do so.
http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-intelligence-iran-nuke-110135519.html
Iran steunt de PKK in Turkije en stuurt spionnen om terroristische aanslagen te plegen in Turkije.
Toch raar, in Iran hebben ze dit jaar juist honderden koerdische opstandelingen afgemaakt.
http://www.mohabatnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5303:iran-sends-terror-teams-into-turkeyq&catid=35:inside-iran&Itemid=278
De sancties eisen langzaam maar zeker hun tol. Weer 280 mensen op straat.
http://banouyesabz.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/mandatory-unpaid-furlough-for-280-workers-employed-at-ahvaz-urban-suburban-railwa/
In vergelijking met Iran is de huurprijsstijging miniem.
http://banouyesabz.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/rent-prices-increase-by-a-staggering-60-says-irans-census-bureau/
Iranian Atomic Chief Claims Nuclear Sites ‘Sabotaged’
Iran’s nuclear chief has said that “terrorists and saboteurs” may have infiltrated the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in an effort to derail Tehran’s nuclear program.
Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, said saboteurs have targeted two key nuclear facilities in Iran by bombing power lines to the sites.
He told a Vienna meeting of the IAEA’s 155-nation general conference on September 17 that power lines to the Fordow uranium enrichment complex were cut on August 17 by explosives.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iranian-atomic-chief-claims-sites-sabotaged/24711072.html
U.S., Allies Begin Gulf Military Exercises
Naval exercises involving vessels from 30 nations, including the United States, are under way in the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. military is calling the antimine maneuvers the most widely attended international naval exercise ever held in the Middle East.
They come amid rising regional tensions over Iran’s controversial nuclear program and a fresh warning from the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) that the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-third of the world’s traded oil passes, would be a legitimate target in the event of conflict.
http://www.rferl.org/content/us-allies-begin-persian-gulf-exercises/24710472.html
Iranian Foundation Boosts Bounty For Rushdie
Iranian media are reporting that an Islamic foundation has increased a bounty being offered for the death of British writer Salman Rushdie.
Reports say an increase in the bounty from $2.8 million to $3.3 million is in response to recent insults to the Prophet Muhammad, a reference to an obscure, anti-Islam film that has sparked a series of violent protests across the Muslim world.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-foundation-bounty-rushdie-fatwa/24710022.html
Mir Hossein Musavi ‘Is Fine’
Iranian judiciary spokesman Mohseni Ejei was quoted as saying that Mir Hossein Musavi’s “health is fine” at a September 3 press briefing with reporters.
Ejei was responding to a question about the condition of Iran’s leading opposition leader and former prime minister, who was last month treated at a coronary-care unit of a Tehran hospital, reportedly after his blood vessels became blocked.
“There is concern about the health of Mir Hossein Musavi after his heart surgery. What is the view of the judiciary?” a reporter asked Ejei, according to a report by Iran’s “Sharq” daily.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-official-statement-says-musavi-fine/24698089.html
Netanyahu Says Iran Containment Policy Won’t Work
Israel’s prime minister says a policy of containment for Iran will not work because Tehran is guided by a “leadership of fanaticism.”
Netanyahu made the comments in an interview with the U.S. television network NBC, which will be aired on September 16.
Netanyahu also said he disagrees with those who argue that going to war with Iran would be worse than a nuclear Iran.
Analysts say the United States wants to give diplomacy and sanctions more time to pressure Iran to abandon its suspect nuclear work.
http://www.rferl.org/content/israel-iran-containment-policy/24709797.html
Iran’s Ahmadinejad Accused Of Planning Putin-Style Power Grab
A recent comment by Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has revived speculation about his political future.
During a live interview on September 4 with Iranian state television, Ahmadinejad appeared to suggest that he might remain in power beyond the end of his term. Ahmadinejad’s second term as president ends in 2013 and under Iran’s constitution, he cannot run for a third consecutive term.
During the interview, the reporter asked the president if he planned to publicly name people involved in state corruption, as he had promised to do. “There is only one year left of the government…,” the reporter began.
“How do you know it will be the final year?” a smiling Ahmadinejad responded. The government is part of the Iranian nation, he added, and the nation will remain forever.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-ahmadinejad-accused-of-trying-to-emulate-putin/24699285.html
Iran to prosecute director of “blasphemous film”: Official
Tehran says it has decided to prosecute the culprit behind making the blasphemous film that has insulted Prophet Mohammad.
The Monday cabinet meeting being presided by First Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi while condemning the film asserted that the government will definitely track down the director of the short online film to bring him to justice.
“If the American side intend to show their honesty in this regard and claim that they have respect for divine religions, they should punish this culprit,” Rahimi said.
“Under the pretext of freedom of speech they commit any sort of crime but if something happens in other countries they condemn nations under the same pretext of freedom of speech and human rights,” he noted.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1144.html
IRGC confirms presence in Syria as advisors
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps has confirmed the presence of Qods Force members in Syria, adding, however, that “this does not mean that Iran has a military presence in that country.”
At a press conference in Tehran, Mohammad Ali Jafari said: “Everybody knows that the IRGC has a unit called Islamic Movements, which was established with the objective of helping the oppressed and exporting the Islamic Revolution, and it is active toward this mission.”
Since the Qods force was established in the IRGC, Jafari said, it has been present in Lebanon and Syria with the aim of “protecting Muslims.”
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1132.html
Sick Of Sanctions
America might one day soon wake up to find it’s lost the Iranian people. Recent developments point to a shift in the balance of anger among Iranians—a shift that likely will be detrimental to America’s interests. Not only could the factors driving these changes sour the goodwill enjoyed by the U.S. in Iran, but they will likely also harm President Obama’s chances of softening Tehran’s position on issues like the nuclear standoff with the West.
It may sound like a cliché, but the Iranian people really matter. In spite of the Iranian government’s venomous enmity and trite rhetoric against the United States, Iranian people—even overlooking past U.S. interference in their affairs—maintain considerable respect and admiration for the Americans, American culture and American values. Iranians’ affinities afford the U.S. a degree of soft power in Iran that it arguably doesn’t enjoy in any other Middle Eastern countries.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/12/sick-of-sanctions.html
Nuclear Warheads Needed To Take Out Iran Facilities: Report
A DC think tank report suggests nuclear strikes are required to take out Iran’s underground facilities because conventional weapons are incapable of doing so.
Yesterday Business Insider alerted us to a detailed researched report released by Washington D.C. foreign policy think tank the Center For Strategic & International Studies.
The report examines the various military strike scenarios for taking out Iran’s civilian nuclear power program.
The report addresses 3 scenarios in detail: an Israeli airstrike, an Israeli nuclear strike and a US military strike launched in cooperation with Gulf States.
The scenario where Israel launches an airstrike on its own is described as a high risk operation with very low probability of success with numerous difficulties that must be overcome.
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/09/08/nuclear-strike-needed-irans-facilities-report-182201/
Reformists should participate in election: Khatami
Former Iranian president and prominent reformist Mohammad Khatami says he wants reformists to participate in the coming presidential election.
“Participating in the election is a right, and we will make every effort to ensure this right is not taken from anyone,” the former president’s website quotes him as saying.
Following the 2009 presidential election, which was challenged by reformist candidates MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the country was rocked by mass protests, which in turn sparked a violent government crackdown. Since then, the reformists have been severely isolated from the political scene and many are currently serving jail terms, while the two reformist candidates have been under house arrest since February of 2011.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/reformists-should-participate-election-khatami
Iranian leader condemns controversial film
Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a statement condemning the distribution of the “anti-Islamic” film Innocence of Muslims and accusing the United States and Israel of being chiefly responsible for its production and dissemination.
Iranian media report that following two days of violent protests against the amateur film, which was distributed by the Christian extremist pastor Terry Jones, Ayatollah Khamenei issued a statement.
He referred to the distribution of the film as “an odious and maddening action,” adding: “The hostile policies of Zionism, the United States and the head of world arrogance are behind this evil move.”
The Iranian leader went on to add that if those countries had not supported “Salman Rushdie, the Dutch cartoonist and the American pastors who burn the Quran, [today] we would have reached this great and unforgiveable sin.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/iranian-leader-condemns-controversial-film
UANI Calls on Moldova to Stop Reflagging Iranian Vessels
On Thursday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on the Republic of Moldova to immediately stop its reflagging of Iranian shipping vessels.
As the international community imposes a shipping blockade against the Iranian regime, Moldova has stepped in and been extensively reflagging Iranian vessels. Moldova has reflagged as many as 11 vessels owned, managed, or operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its affiliated entities, at the same time that nations such as Sierra Leone, Tuvalu and Tanzania have made the responsible decision to stop flagging such vessels.
UANI is now calling on Moldova to join, not counteract, the international effort to isolate the Iranian regime. UANI has also notified Moldova that it is risking being sanctioned and/or jeopardizing its trade relations with the U.S.
http://news.yahoo.com/uani-calls-moldova-stop-reflagging-180200602.html
Rushdie says something wrong at heart of Islam
British author Salman Rushdie, who lived in hiding for nine years under a death sentence from Iran’s supreme leader, said in an interview published on Thursday that something had gone wrong at the heart of Islam.
Rushdie told Le Monde newspaper that his years fleeing the 1989 fatwa from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had forced him to pay close attention to a radicalization of the Muslim world.
“Something has gone wrong at the heart of Islam. It is quite recent. I remember when I was young, many cities in the Muslim world were cosmopolitan cities with a lot of culture,” he said in an interview published in French.
“For me, it is a tragedy that this culture has regressed to this point, like a self-inflicted wound. The Islam in which I grew up was open, influenced by Sufism and Hinduism, and not like the one which is spreading rapidly at the moment.”
http://news.yahoo.com/rushdie-says-something-wrong-heart-islam-173409722.html
Christians face arrest, persecution in Iran, UN experts say
More than 300 Christians have
been arrested since mid-2010 in Iran where churches operate in a
climate of fear and Muslims who convert to Christianity face
persecution, United Nations human rights investigators said on
Thursday.
They welcomed the release earlier this month of Yousof
Nadarkhani, a Christian pastor who spent three years in prison
before his death sentence for apostasy and evangelism was
commuted, but voiced deep concerns for those still detained.
In a joint statement, the independent investigators called
on authorities in the Islamic Republic to “ease the current
climate of fear in which many churches operate, especially
Protestant evangelical houses of worship”.
http://news.yahoo.com/christians-face-arrest-persecution-iran-un-experts-152039035.html
West warns Iran time running out for nuclear accord
The United States, Britain and France warned Iran on Thursday that time is running out for a negotiated settlement to the showdown on its nuclear program.
“Time is wasting,” US ambassador Susan Rice told a UN Security Council meeting on nuclear sanctions against Iran.
Iran is “at a crossroads,” Britain’s UN envoy Mark Lyall Grant told the meeting at which western nations also slammed Iran for its arms deliveries to Syria and alleged links to terrorism.
The meeting was held amid mounting speculation that Israel is planning a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to speak at the UN General Assembly of world leaders next week.
A series of reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, have said Iran is stepping up uranium enrichment and not providing proof that its nuclear activities are peaceful.
The western powers say Iran is seeking a nuclear bomb but the Tehran government says its drive is peaceful.
http://news.yahoo.com/west-warns-iran-time-running-nuclear-accord-153357945.html
Israeli strike on Iran may wreck Arab treaties: US
Egypt and Jordan could annul their peace treaties with Israel if it carries out a preemptive strike against Iran, US officials have warned the Jewish state, an Israeli newspaper reported Thursday.
Quoting a high-level Israeli official, Yediot Aharonot said Washington had warned the Jewish state that Arab leaders would not be able to control an angry public backlash if Israel were to mount an attack on Iran.
The newspaper said the US official pointed to the violent response in several Middle Eastern countries to a film insulting Islam, saying: “Today the Arab leaders do not control their peoples, the streets control the leaders.
“An Israeli strike is just what the Iranians need. The entire Arab and Muslim street will take to the streets to demonstrate,” the official said.
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-strike-iran-may-wreck-arab-treaties-us-144647465.html
Iraq denies airspace used by Iran to ship arms to Syria
Iraq on Thursday denied a Western intelligence report that said Iranian aircraft had flown weapons and military personnel over Iraqi airspace to Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad battle an 18-month-old uprising.
The allegation, reported by Reuters on Wednesday, said arms transfers were organized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Although charges that Iraq has allowed Iran to send arms to Syria are not new, the report said the extent of such shipments is far greater and more systematic than has been publicly acknowledged, thanks to a deal between senior Iraqi and Iranian officials.
The report also said Iran was dispatching trucks overland via Iraq westwards to Syria.
http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-denies-airspace-used-iran-ship-arms-syria-104633472.html
Syria’s Assad Says War Targets His Regime, Iran, Hizballah
President Basher al-Assad has told visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi that the war engulfing his country threatens not just Syria, but also Iran and Lebanon’s Shi’ite Hizballah movement.
Syria’s state news agency SANA quoted Assad as telling Salehi in Damascus on September 19 that “the ongoing battle is targeting” not just Syria but “the whole of the resistance axis.”
“Resistance axis” is a term that Assad’s regime, Iran, and Hizballah use to refer to themselves in their common opposition to Israel.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iranian-foreign-minister-in-damascus-for-talks/24713156.html
Iranian Nuclear Negotiator Waiting For Results Of Ashton’s UN Meeting
Chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili says that Tehran is awaiting the outcome of consultations between EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and representatives of six world powers before holding more talks with her.
Ashton is expected to meet with the representatives of the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany during the UN General Assembly session in New York next week.
http://www.rferl.org/content/tehran-and-eu-hold-nuclear-talks/24712818.html
Unemployment mounts as Iran’s economy falters
A wealthy Iranian businessman sits in the lobby of one of Dubai’s most luxurious hotels, shaking his head as he laments the state of Iran’s economy.
“Business is drying up, industry is collapsing. There’s zero investment,” he said. “I know. I see it with my own eyes.”
He is en route from Europe, where he runs a company that makes electrical goods, to Iran, a trip he makes several times a year.
Iranians are reeling under tough economic sanctions imposed by Western countries since the start of the year over the Islamic Republic’s pursuit of its nuclear program, which Washington says is a drive to develop a weapons capability.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49093516/ns/world_news/#.UFqLho1lQlQ
Anti-Woman” Tradition Kept From Official List
Iranian women’s rights activists have scored a victory by keeping a local tradition from being enshrined in Iran’s National Heritage registry list -- a tradition that involves ending blood feuds between families by forcing a woman from one family to marry into the other.
The tradition of Khoon Bas, literally translated as “enough blood”, is a local custom in Iran’s Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province.
The Mehr News Agency reported today, September 19, that the deputy head of National Heritage announced: “‘Khon Bas’ was not registered because we had other priorities… however the file will be reviewed at a later time.”
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1166.html
United for Iran Highlights Ongoing Abuses at the 21st Session of the UN Human Rights Council
United for Iran’s Puyan Mahmudian addressed the 21st UN Human Rights Council on a range of ongoing human rights violations in Iran. Mahmudian called upon Iran to allow access for the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, who authorities have denied entry to the country since the mandate’s establishment. Mahmudian further noted the climate of political repression, increased discrimination against women, and efforts to deny Iranian citizens online freedom and access to information. Additionally, he highlighted the deeply flawed penal code bill currently under consideration, which contravenes Iran’s international human rights obligations. Among other things, he urged authorities to end impunity for abuses, undertake a legitimate reform of the penal code, and ensure free and fair presidential elections in 2013.
A webcast and the full transcript of Mahmudian’s statement to the UN Human Rights Council can be viewed here.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1165.html
Justice Delayed: The massacre of political prisoners in Iran
1988 is a year that is remembered for large, militant protests against the 1988 World Bank and IMF meetings in West Berlin. It was also the year “Mississippi Burning” and the “Rain Man” received Oscars and the music group Public Enemy garnered publicity by staging a concert at Riker’s Island prison for 250 inmates and 100 journalists. It was also the year that “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho , and “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking were published. And a year that will be remembered for the end of the Iran–Iraq War, in which an estimated one million lives were lost and thousands of political prisoners were executed in Iran followed by dumping their bodies in a mass grave in the outskirt of Tehran.
Who were these prisoners in Iran? What crimes did they commit? Why were they executed en masse?
The systematic execution of thousands of political prisoners across Iran by the government of Iran began on July 19, 1988, lasting about five months. A majority of the prisoners, men and women, were young political opponents to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Many received their sentences, yet they were executed in masses in extreme secrecy.
http://womennewsnetwork.net/2012/09/19/justice-delayed-iran/
Iran’s political survivor Rafsanjani raises profiles with presidency in play
The political obituary of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been written a number of times: when he lost a comeback presidential bid, when he was dumped from leading Friday prayers at Tehran University, when he was pushed out as head of a panel that will pick Iran’s next supreme leader.
Yet there he was last month walking alongside Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and greeting dignitaries at a global gathering of so-called nonaligned nations in Tehran. Rafsanjani was then seated next to the main VIP guest, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/irans-political-survivor-rafsanjani-raises-profiles-with-presidency-in-play/2012/09/19/df20aa5c-027c-11e2-9132-f2750cd65f97_story.html
Iranian Government Facing Budget Shortfall
The Iranian government has announced in Parliament that in the first half of the Iranian calendar year, it has taken in only 25 percent of its budgeted annual revenue.
The Mehr news agency is reporting on the budget commission’s announcement that so far the government received 141 trillion toumans in revenues in the first half of the year, even though government legislation had budgeted for revenues of 566 trillion toumans for the entire year.
Iran is facing severe international sanctions on its crude oil exports, and it is highly unlikely that the government could make up its budget shortfall by the end of the year.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1163.html
Senior cleric warns against loss of support
Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi has warned the establishment about the regime’s loss of popularity under the “pressure of rising prices.”
In a meeting with Parliament’s clergy members on Thursday, September 20, he said: “Rising prices and economic problems are putting pressure on the people every day…. People can only endure so much, we should not think that their endurance is limitless.”
The Mehr News Agency reported today that the senior Qom cleric warned that if the economic problems are not resolved, the regime will “gradually lose its support and face serious problems in this area.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/senior-cleric-warns-against-loss-support
Iran set to launch National Internet
Reza Taghipour, the Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, has announced that Iran’s “National Internet” will operate nationwide starting next week.
The Mehr News Agency reported that, according to the Communications and IT Minister, the National Internet or the National Information Network will be launched in all government offices.
“About 42,000 government offices will have their internet networks transferred to the national network,” Taghipour said.
He added that the switch to the National Information Network has been accomplished in government offices in 29 provinces and by next week it will be nationwide.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/iran-set-launch-national-internet
MEK Delisting is a Gift to the Regime, a Disaster for the Iranian People and the U.S.
Washington, DC -- The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) deplores the decision to remove the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations. The decision opens the door to Congressional funding of the MEK to conduct terrorist attacks in Iran, makes war with Iran far more likely, and will seriously damage Iran’s peaceful pro-democracy movement as well as America’s standing among ordinary Iranians.
“The biggest winner today is the Iranian regime, which has claimed for a long time that the U.S. is out to destroy Iran and is the enemy of the Iranian people. This decision will be portrayed as proof that the U.S. is cozying up with a reviled terrorist group and will create greater receptivity for that false argument,” said NIAC Policy Director Jamal Abdi.
Members of Iran’s democratic opposition, Iran experts, human rights defenders, and former U.S. officials have warned that delisting the MEK “will have harmful consequences on the legitimate, indigenous Iranian opposition.” Kaleme, a leading pro-democracy newspaper in Iran run by supporters of the opposition Green Movement, has warned that support for the MEK strengthens the Iranian regime. According to the opposition paper, “there is no organization, no party and no cult more infamous than the MEK amongst the Iranian nation.”
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1188.html
Student Peace Prize goes to imprisoned Iranian student
The Student Peace Prize of 2013 was awarded to the Iranian student leader Majid Tavakoli. The winner was announced in the main library at NTNU on Friday, UN’s International Day of Peace.
The prize committee wishes to acknowledge Tavakoli for his non- violent fight for freedom of speech and democracy. “The Student Peace Price is this year awarded to a young and brave person,” commented the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1182.html
Military Chief Says Iran Should Gear For War
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said that armed conflict with Israel appears to be in the picture and warned: “We must all be prepared for war.” In a report by ISNA, Commander Jafari stressed that Israel’s “threats and enmity” against Iran should be taken seriously and they will “eventually result in physical conflict.”
This is the first time that a senior Iranian military official has described Israeli threats as serious and spoken of the possibility of military engagement.
At a press conference in Tehran, Jafari was quoted as saying: “This stain of shame and cancerous tumour that is Israel wants to get into war with us, but we do not know when it will begin… Right now they have decided that the only way to confront us is through war, and they are so stupid that their masters should try and stop them.”
Israeli threats about mounting an attack on Iran have become sharper in recent weeks, while the United States has called for more time to resolve nuclear disputes with Iran through diplomatic channels as the sanctions against Iran take deeper effect.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1186.html
Faezeh Hashemi arrested in her home
Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, an Iranian political activist and the daughter of the head of Iran’s Expediency Council, has been arrested at her home and transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran.
The head of prisons told the Mehr News Agency that Faezeh Hashemi was arrested on orders from the prosecutor to serve out her prison sentence.
Faezeh Hashemi was sentenced last year to six months in jail and a five-year ban from political, cultural and media activities for the charge of “propaganda activities against the regime.” The charge was in connection with an interview Faezeh Hashemi had given to the Rooz-on-line website in which she referred to the Iranian judiciary as “thugs and hoodlums who [target people] in the name of Islam, the Revolution and its values.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/faezeh-hashemi-arrested-her-home
Iranian official accuses Siemens of sabotage attempt
The head of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission has accused the German company Siemens of attempting to sabotage Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi told the Khaneh Mellat News Agency: “Our security and intelligence officials managed to identify explosives installed in machines that were sold to us for our nuclear activities.”
“These machines were supposed to explode and completely destroy the system once they were put to use, but they were cleverly removed by our experts and the enemy’s conspiracy was defused,” Boroujerdi claimed.
He accused Siemens of carrying out this operation and called on the German company to answer for such actions.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/iranian-official-accuses-siemens-sabotage-attempt
UPDATE 2-Iran accuses IAEA of passing nuclear secrets to Israel
A senior Iranian lawmaker accused
the UN nuclear watchdog on Sunday of passing confidential
details of Iran’s atomic work to Israel, and a military
commander said Tehran may consider a pre-emptive strike on the
Jewish state if it looked set to attack.
Javad Jahangirzadeh, a member of parliament’s presiding
board, said International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya
Amano had made “repeated trips” to Israel, divulging sensitive
information about what Tehran says is its peaceful nuclear
programme.
“Amano’s repeated trips to Tel Aviv and asking the Israeli
officials’ views about Iran’s nuclear activities indicates that
Iran’s nuclear information has been disclosed to the Zionist
regime and other enemies of the Islamic Republic,” Jahangirzadeh
was quoted as saying by Iran’s English-language Press TV.
The IAEA declined to comment. Records show Amano has made
only one visit to Israel in his capacity as IAEA chief, in
August 2010. He visited Tehran in May this year.
http://news.yahoo.com/1-iran-accuses-iaea-passing-nuclear-secrets-israel-131600493--sector.html
Iran threatens attacks on US bases in event of war
A senior commander in Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard warned that Iran will target U.S. bases in the region in the event of war with Israel, raising the prospect of a broader conflict that would force other countries to get involved, Iranian state television reported Sunday.
The comments by Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who heads the Guard’s aerospace division, came amid tension over Iran’s nuclear program and Israel’s suggestion that it might unilaterally strike Iranian nuclear facilities to scuttle what the United States and its allies believe are efforts to build a bomb. Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Hajizadeh said no Israeli attack can happen without the support of its most important ally, the United States, making all U.S. military bases a legitimate target.
“For this reason, we will enter a confrontation with both parties and will definitely be at war with American bases should a war break out,” Hajizadeh said in remarks that were posted on the website of Iran’s state Al-Alam TV. U.S. facilities in Bahrain, Qatar and Afghanistan would be targeted, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-threatens-attacks-us-bases-event-war-143141162.html
http://missingpeace.eu/nl/2012/09/iran-geeft-bedrog-over-nucleaire-programma-nu-toe/#content
Iranian Ex-President’s Son Detained On Return
The son of former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been detained after his return from a stay abroad, Iran’s official news agencies report. Mehdi Hashemi returned to Iran on September 23 after a three-year stay in the United Kingdom.
He has been taken for interrogation to Tehran’s Evin Prison, the Iranian reports say, and has been charged with corruption and antistate propaganda.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1206.html
Consequences Of War With Iran
The US military forces can destroy Iran, or as an Iranian-American analyst told the author of this article, they can take that country back to the 19th century, but they will become trapped in another long, unconventional, asymmetric conflict -- known as fourth generation warfare (4GW) -- that has the potential to damage the US economy beyond repair.
The US grand strategy in the Middle East is driven primarily by two elements; first, the security of energy resources and the safety of sea-lanes for steady flow of oil, and second, the security of Israel. Energy resources in the region have both, security and economic significance for the US. Therefore, the security of oil supply has been a major element of the US national interest since Franklin Roosevelt (1933-1945)
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1202.html
Iran-U.S. Hostilities Must Stop
President Obama’s policy of engagement with Iran has failed. Recent steps have led to unprecedented hostilities between the two countries with Washington conducting a full-scale economic, covert, cyber and political war with Iran. Yet these measures have not quenched the thirst of the electorate, as both presidential candidates continue the trend of past election campaigns by competing to see who can deliver a more hostile posture toward Iran. Despite this saber rattling, a good relationship is still possible-but only if the United States changes course and opens up to the idea of genuine engagement.
Iran’s strategic location places it at the center of greater Middle East’s main energy sources. It sits on top of the world’s two major energy hubs-the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf-and that’s why the United States cannot neglect Iran. But the reluctance to end the decades of bilateral hostility will ensure Iran remains a major foreign-policy dilemma and bring the countries closer to the brink of war.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1201.html
Demonstrators Protest Outside Ahmadinejad Hotel In New York
Demonstrators protested outside the hotel housing Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad who is in New York City for the UN General Assembly. Protesters criticized the Warwick Hotel for agreeing to host the Iranian leader.
“We’re here to protest the presence of Ahmadinejad and the Iranian delegation in New York,” David Ibsen, the executive director of United Against Nuclear Iran, which organized the protest, said, “and also to protest the decision of the Warwick Hotel to host the delegation.”
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1212.html
Iran Blocks Popular Google Products
Iranian Internet users are reporting many popular Google products, including its email service Gmail, have been blocked. Users in Iran reported Monday that Google Search was still available, but any product that required signing into an account was blocked. This included Gmail, Google Drive, Google Talk and others.
“Google is not accessible on https, but it’s open on http,” a Tehran-based computer science graduate told VOA in a Facebook interview.
Websites using https are considered secure, while http sites are susceptible to monitoring by virtually anyone, including governments.
“You can search, but any service that requires login, is closed,” the computer science graduate said. “Some people have saved their passwords on their Google accounts, so it redirects them on the https port, and for those people, Google doesn’t work.”
Another engineering graduate confirmed this, telling VOA on Facebook that with only http access, “anywhere you go, anything you search, can be controlled.”
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1210.html
UN General Assembly Opens After Ahmadinejad Outburst
World leaders are gathering at United Nations headquarters in New York for the start of the annual UN General Assembly Debate. Among the speakers scheduled to address the assembly on September 25 are U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande.
On the eve of the General Assembly, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad condemned the UN Security Council for protecting the “nuclear warheads” of Israel, thought to be the only Middle Eastern country to possess nuclear weapons although it refuses to disclose any capability.
Ahmadinejad’s attack on Israel prompted a walkout of the Israeli delegation from the UN special session on the rule of law.
The Iranian leader also accused members of the Security Council of using the UN charter to justify remaining silent on an anti-Islam video that has sparked protests throughout the Muslim world.
“Divine prophets and heavenly religions which are the common heritage of mankind should be respected by the law in all societies, so that the conflicts leading to hatred, war and hostility between human beings will be avoided leading to peace and integration,” Ahmadinejad said.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1211.html
Family pleads with Iran to free jailed ex-Marine
The family of a former Marine imprisoned on espionage charges in Iran is using Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York to address U.N. General Assembly to renew their pleas for his release.
The family of Amir Hekmati, who was arrested while visiting his grandmothers in Iran in August 2011, held a news conference with the Council for Islamic-American Relations in suburban Detroit in which they appealed to Iran to release Hekmati on humanitarian grounds. Hekmati’s father was diagnosed last week with an inoperable brain tumor, and the family asked that the 29-year-old be allowed to return home to be with his father.
http://news.yahoo.com/family-pleads-iran-free-jailed-ex-marine-173304653.html
EU mulls ‘full’ financial freeze, shipping ban on Iran
EU nations are discussing a British sanctions proposal against Iran that notably calls for a ban on shipping and “full” freeze on financial transactions with Iran’s central bank, European diplomats said Tuesday.
“Most member states are largely supportive” of the proposals, an EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
“The discussions are ongoing, there is still a long way to go,” cautioned another source who also asked not to be named.
Britain, France and Germany jointly urged their European Union partners last week to step up pressure on Iran over its contested nuclear drive by agreeing new sanctions to be adopted at EU foreign ministers’ talks in Luxembourg on October 15.
Currently under discussion is a London proposal to strengthen existing punitive measures in four areas — finance, trade, energy and transport. The Netherlands has tabled similar ideas.
The hardest-hitting British suggestions, according to an EU diplomat, are a “full freeze on Iran’s central bank, on all its financial transactions” as well as “a wide sectorial ban on shipping”.
http://news.yahoo.com/eu-mulls-full-financial-freeze-shipping-ban-iran-163942712.html
Iran’s economy sags under sanctions
Iran’s oil-dependent economy was showing the strain of punishing Western sanctions on Tuesday, on the eve of a speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the UN General Assembly in New York.
The Iranian currency dived around four percent close to an all-time low against the dollar, while thousands of workers publicly complained of unpaid wages, importers struggled to pay for goods, inflation climbed and travel agencies bemoaned a rapidly shrinking pool of travellers able to afford to go abroad.
Government initiatives to maintain the value of the rial and the volume of oil exports have failed, with both halved from their levels of a year ago.
Iran’s leaders, though, are defiant in the face of the Western pressure, vowing to never roll back its nuclear programme as demanded by the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany.
http://news.yahoo.com/irans-economy-sags-under-sanctions-163756626.html
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Israeli report says sanctions hitting Iran hard
A new Israeli government report published in local media on Thursday concludes that international sanctions are hitting Iran hard and called for another round, adding a new wrinkle to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that tougher action is needed to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons.
The Foreign Ministry report — which surfaced on the same day Netanyahu made his case before the U.N. General Assembly — adds to the cacophony of voices coming out of Israel over the showdown with Iran.
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-report-says-sanctions-hitting-iran-hard-100034237.html;_ylt=AvcfJ6E7YbPgV6A65Iy5wdu1qHQA;_ylu=X3oDMTQwcnRxaGo5BG1pdANUb3BpY3MgQ29sbGVjdGlvbiBMaXN0BHBrZwM0MmQ2NmQ1YS1hM2Q0LTM0ZjgtYmVhNS01M2ViZmE0OWU4NzEEcG9zAzIEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDMWE5ZTQ5NTAtMDhkYS0xMWUyLWFmZjctNjhmMjczM2EyZWZm;_ylg=X3oDMTFlamZvM2ZlBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3
Clinton talks Iran with world powers, then Israel
With Iran’s nuclear program sparking tension around the world, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton looked for a diplomatic way to halt Tehran’s uranium enrichment in meetings Thursday with world leaders. Later, she was expected to hear an alternative argument for possible military action in a private meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The diplomacy came in an action-packed day at the U.N. General Assembly, where Netanyahu told global leaders that Iran will have enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon by next summer. He also drew a “red line” across a drawing of a bomb on a poster, reminding everyone of his demand for President Barack Obama to declare when the U.S. might attack Iran. Obama has rejected the demand.
http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-talks-iran-world-powers-then-israel-180346936.html
AP Interview: UK minister says Iran must end support for Assad to take role in aiding Syria
Britain’s Middle East minister says Iran should only take a role in helping end violence in Syria if it halts support for President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Alistair Burt told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that Iran could “be part of the answer” if it changes approach.
Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday he is developing a 12-nation group on Syria. Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has also invited Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia to join a contact group aimed at ending the conflict.
http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-uk-minister-says-iran-must-end-182807856.html
Watch Live: Netanyahu Addresses the U.N.
The most anticipated address at the United Nations today is the speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is expected to issue an unusually specific ultimatum to Iran regarding its nuclear program. After failing to cajole President Obama into issuing a “red line” threat to Iran from the United States,
http://news.yahoo.com/watch-live-netanyahu-addresses-u-n-170351438.html
Iran Spokesman Harassed In NY
Iran has blamed a “terrorist sect” for harassing a senior Iranian diplomat in New York and criticized Washington’s decision to remove the group, the Mujahadin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), from a U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.
New York police said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was verbally assaulted and pushed by antiregime protesters and that he was pulled to safety by police officers.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-mehmanparast-assaulted-united-nations/24722207.html
Iran rial hits record low despite new effort to stabilise it
The Iranian rial tumbled 5 percent to an all-time low against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, suggesting a fresh effort by the government to stabilise the currency may have backfired.
The rial was trading at 26,500 to the U.S. dollar on the open market on Tuesday afternoon, according to Persian-language currency tracking website Mazanex, compared to a closing price of 25,200 rials on Monday.
The Iranian currency has lost more than half its value in the past year because of U.S. and European sanctions against the country’s banking sector and oil exports, aimed at forcing Tehran to give up its disputed nuclear programme. Iranians have rushed to informal money changers to convert their savings into hard currencies, accelerating the rial’s slide.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/09/25/iran-currency-idINL5E8KPAD520120925
Iran’s President Takes New York By Storm, One Last Time
The “Mahmud Ahmadinejad Show” is off to a quick start, with the Iranian president revealing some fresh material as he prepares to address the UN General Assembly this week.
Ahmadinejad is well-known for using the general debates as an annual stage for political theater and abrasive comments. He wasted no time getting the ball rolling during a press conference in New York on September 24.
“They [Israel] don’t even enter the equation for Iran. What are these Zionists? Put a map of the world in front of you, put an atlas in front of you,” Ahmadinejad said. “Iran has been around for the past 7,000 or 10,000 years. [Israelis] have been occupying those territories for the last 60 to 70 years with the support of force of the Westerners. They have no roots there in history.”
In addition to his frequent targets, Israel and the United States, Ahmadinejad also had some choice words for gay-rights activists, Syrian rebels, and “full-of-s**t” Iranian lawmakers. And following up on his assessment that the controversy over Iran’s nuclear program “resembles a comedy,” the Iranian president even tried out a few jokes of his own.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1220.html
Letters of Anti-War Advocates to Iran’s Supreme Leader: Do Not Take the Country to War
Even before the recent comments by some senior Iranian commanders about the inevitability of war, some of the close associates or former friends of the current supreme leader of the Islamic republic of Iran had issued direct or implied warnings against a war with Israel or the United states. Such warnings have been particularly present since Ahmadinejad came to the presidency in 2005.
The last week of summer is a particularly meaningful period for Iranians. It is commemorated as the day when Iraq attacked Iran in 1981. Therefore, every year on the last day of summer Iranian officials go to military bases and participate in military parades to remind the public of the beginning of the eight-year war. They do this for a week and call it the Week of the War.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1222.html
Vitol trades Iranian fuel oil, skirting sanctions
Vitol, the world’s largest oil trader, is buying and selling Iranian fuel oil, undermining Western efforts to choke the flow of petrodollars to Tehran and put pressure on Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program.
Vitol last month bought 2 million barrels of fuel oil, used for power generation, from Iran and offered it to Chinese traders, Reuters established in interviews with 10 oil trading, industry and shipping sources in Southeast Asia, China and the Middle East.
The Swiss-based firm issued a statement saying Vitol Group is in compliance with all international laws on trade with Iran.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/26/us-iran-oil-sanctions-vitol-idUSBRE88P06C20120926
Iranian President’s Video Hits The Fan
A video that appears to show Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad insulting the country’s lawmakers has provoked a harsh response from Tehran and questions about the clip’s authenticity.
The video in question shows a BBC Persian service reporter, Bahman Kalbasi, questioning Ahmadinejad about the size of the delegation he brought to this week’s opening of the UN General Assembly.
“They are full of s**t,” Ahmadinejad is seen saying when told that Iran’s parliament was questioning the need to send 160 people to New York.
After the video went viral, the fecal matter really hit the fan.
In a statement published on September 25 by the semiofficial Fars news agency, the president’s office “strongly” denied that Ahmadinejad had uttered the insult, and described the video as “ridiculous.”
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1229.html
Israeli official predicts resumption of protests in Iran
Israel’s deputy foreign minister says international sanctions on Iran have been effective and the country is on the verge of bankruptcy.
Danny Ayalon told Israeli public radio on Thursday: “Iran is on the verge of bankruptcy because of the sanctions, and there are growing protests against the ayatollahs.”
He added, however, that he believes these sanctions have not dissuaded the the ruling regime in Tehran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions.
Despite the Israeli allegations, Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful.
Meanwhile, Israel and Washington appear to be going through a rare public divide over the issue of military action against Iran.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/israeli-official-predicts-resumption-protests-iran
Iran says it could halt uranium enrichment
Iran is prepared to end its 20 percent uranium enrichment if international sanctions against it are lifted, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA said.
Mehr News Agency quoted Ali Asghar Soltanieh on Wednesday September 26 saying Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili made the offer once more to Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief in their recent meeting in Istanbul on September 18.
Soltaneih reportedly said: “We are prepared to suspend enrichment to 20 percent, provided we find a reciprocal step compatible with it.”
He added: “We said this in Istanbul. If we do that there shouldn’t be sanctions.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/iran-says-it-could-halt-uranium-enrichment
The Iranian rial slumped on Saturday to a historic low against the U.S. dollar, according to Iranian media and currency tracking websites.
The rial fell by 5 percent and was trading at about 28,400 per dollar, compared with about 26,920 on Thursday and about 26,400 on Wednesday, according to Persian-language currency tracking website Mazanex.
Iran’s rial currency dives to historic low
There was no clear reason for the latest slide in the value of the rial, which is traded in an informal market of money changers, where ordinary Iranians go to access hard currencies.
Previous falls have coincided with new sanctions or diplomatic isolation of Iran over its contested nuclear programme, suspected by the U.S. and its allies of being aimed at obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran denies this, but has faced successive rounds of stricter sanctions in the last two years.
http://news.yahoo.com/irans-rial-currency-dives-historic-low-110339695--finance.html
German Foreign Minister Says ‘Time Is Short’ For Iran Nuclear Solution
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has said that time is running out to find a solution to Iran’s nuclear development program.
Speaking to the UN General Assembly on September 28, Westerwelle said Iran has failed to provide evidence to the International Atomic Energy Agency that its uranium enrichment activities were meant solely for civilian use.
The German foreign minister said, “We call on Iran to stop playing for time, the situation is serious indeed, time is short.”
http://www.rferl.org/content/german-foreign-minister-westerwell-time-is-short-for-iran-nuclear-situation/24723432.html
Chinese Foreign Minister Says Iran Issue Entering A ‘New Stage’
NEW YORK — Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi says the Iran nuclear crisis has entered “a new stage” as Israel has called for a “red line” to prevent the Islamic republic from acquiring a nuclear bomb.
Addressing the UN General Assembly on in New York on September 27, the Chinese foreign minister called on all parties “to intensify their diplomatic efforts, maintain and promote talks, stabilize the situation, and gradually seek a comprehensive, long-term and proper resolution.”
http://www.rferl.org/content/chinese-foreign-minister-says-iran-issue-entering-a-new-stage/24723047.html
Iran Responds To Netanyahu, Vowing To Retaliate If Attacked
Iran has vowed to “retaliate” against any attack after Israel’s prime minister called for a “red line” to prevent the Islamic republic from acquiring a nuclear bomb.
Iran’s deputy UN ambassador Eshagh al-Habib told the UN General Assembly on September 27 that the Islamic Republic “is strong enough to defend itself and reserves its full right to retaliate with full force against any attack.”
Al-Habib added that Israel had made “baseless and absurd allegations” against Iran’s “exclusively peaceful” nuclear program.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-responds-tonetanyahu/24722365.html
Rafsanjani Jailings Come Against Backdrop Of Battle For Influence
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, once one of Iran’s most influential men, now has two children in Tehran’s Evin prison — where opposition activists and critics of the Islamic establishment are routinely held.
The arrests are just the latest blow to the former president, who has long come under fire from hard-liners over his support for the opposition movement that challenged the reelection in 2009 of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
In the past four years the pragmatic Rafsanjani — whose star began to fade after his defeat at the hands of Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential election — has been banned from leading Tehran’s Friday Prayers, lost his role as the head of the Assembly of Experts, and been openly attacked at public events.
http://www.rferl.org/content/rafsanjani-children-evin-prison/24718916.html
Reporter’s Notebook: Ahmadinejad’s Last Bittersweet Trip To New York
Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad is likely to have mixed emotions about his last official visit to New York to appear at the United Nations General Assembly. Ahmadinejad’s two term presidency ends in 2013 and, according to the Iranian constitution, he cannot seek a third consecutive term.
The 55-year-old Ahmadinejad was interviewed by a number of major news outlets, including CNN and “The Washington Post,” which gave him the attention he so much enjoys.
And he didn’t deliver his speech to a “bunch of empty seats,” as some Iranians had predicted on social media sites, anticipating another provocative speech that would lead to a mass exit by Western delegates.
He kept his 40-minute speech relatively mild, refraining from his usual inflammatory comments, while making references to Persian poetry and the return of the Hidden Imam. The Iranian president also managed to bring a large delegation of some 140 close aides and others with him to New York, despite criticism at home.
http://www.rferl.org/content/reporters-noterbook-ahmadinejads-bittersweet-last-trip-to-new-york/24722866.html
Rights Charter Attempts To Unify Iranians
Inspired by Czechoslovakia’s renowned Charter 77, a group of Iranian intellectuals have penned a new document that aims to unite the Iranian people around a common human rights and civic agenda.
“Charter 91,” so called because this year is 1391 under the Persian calendar, enshrines basic rights and rejects violence. It also provides a blueprint for a future democratic Iran under which the rights of all minorities, including homosexuals, are protected. Religion is separated from the state, under the document, and freedom of speech is protected.
“In order to transit from dictatorship and despotism and reach democracy, we Iranians need to review and rebuilt our political culture,” the charter reads.
http://www.rferl.org/content/rights-charter-attempts-to-unify-iranians/24704125.html
Iran’s Ahmadinejad Accused Of Planning Putin-Style Power Grab
A recent comment by Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has revived speculation about his political future.
During a live interview on September 4 with Iranian state television, Ahmadinejad appeared to suggest that he might remain in power beyond the end of his term. Ahmadinejad’s second term as president ends in 2013 and under Iran’s constitution, he cannot run for a third consecutive term.
During the interview, the reporter asked the president if he planned to publicly name people involved in state corruption, as he had promised to do. “There is only one year left of the government…,” the reporter began.
“How do you know it will be the final year?” a smiling Ahmadinejad responded. The government is part of the Iranian nation, he added, and the nation will remain forever.
The cryptic answer made headlines on several Iranian news sites, including Khabaronline, which said Ahmadinejad made the comment with what it called a “meaningful” smile.
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-ahmadinejad-accused-of-trying-to-emulate-putin/24699285.html
Iran’s Opposition Leader Musavi Transferred to Hospital
Iranian opposition websites are reporting that leading Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi, who has been under house arrest since February 2011, has been taken to hospital.
The reports quote unnamed sources as saying that Musavi was treated at the coronary care unit of a Tehran hospital that specializes in cardiology for a heart condition.
The reports say he was taken to the hospital on August 23 under tight security.
The opposition website IranGreenVoice reported that the night before Musavi was admitted to the hospital, security forces arrived and installed surveillance cameras inside the building.
Ardeshir Arjomand, who is Musavi’s advisor and a spokesman for the opposition Coordinating Council for the Green Path of Hope, confirmed in an interview with RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that Musavi was taken to a Tehran hospital, where he remains.
http://www.rferl.org/content/musavi-hospital-iran-opposition-leader/24686287.html
The Possibility of a Coup d’Etat in Iran
The concurrence of the repeated remarks by Revolutionary Guards commanders about the inevitability of war and their welcoming of a full conflict with Israel and the United States, and the imprisonment of Hashemi Rafsanjani’s children should not be viewed as coincidental events unraveling in Iran. Whatever the Revolutionary Guards may not understand, they certainly know the meaning of war and realize the irreversible consequences of US and Israeli threats to the region for this country.
At a time when the situation in the country seems to be in a free fall and the sale of oil has fallen to just a million barrels a day, and where the government is expected to be soon unable to pay even the salaries of its own staff while other issues such as inflation, rising prices, availability of basic needs, the value of the Dollar and gold have all spun out of control, putting Hashemi Rafsanjani under new and intense pressure cannot be viewed as something that was decided on the spur of the moment.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1244.html
Iran: Bring Notorious Abuser to Justice: Try Mortazavi for Deaths of Election Protesters
Iran’s Judiciary should move forward speedily and transparently with the criminal investigation of Saeed Mortazavi, the former Tehran Prosecutor General, for the deaths of protesters after the June 2009 elections and prosecute if there is evidence implicating him. Mortazavi, now head of Iran’s Social Security Organization, is accused of involvement in the deaths, torture, and arbitrary detention of dozens of protesters following the disputed presidential poll and other rights abuses perpetrated over more than 12 years.
After years of delay, a judiciary spokesperson announced on September 17, 2012, that authorities have opened a criminal case against Mortazavi in connection with alleged post-election abuses at Kahrizak prison, but he has not yet been indicted. A 2010 parliamentary investigation implicated Mortazavi in the 2009 abuses.
“Mortazavi is accused of the worst abuses against Iranian detainees, so an investigation into the allegations is good news, if long overdue,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch. “But justice won’t come from making Mortazavi the regime’s fall guy: the Judiciary should pursue other high-ranking officials for abuses following the 2009 elections.”
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1246.html
Israeli official predicts resumption of protests in Iran
Israel’s deputy foreign minister says international sanctions on Iran have been effective and the country is on the verge of bankruptcy.
Danny Ayalon told Israeli public radio on Thursday: “Iran is on the verge of bankruptcy because of the sanctions, and there are growing protests against the ayatollahs.”
He added, however, that he believes these sanctions have not dissuaded the the ruling regime in Tehran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions.
Despite the Israeli allegations, Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful.
Meanwhile, Israel and Washington appear to be going through a rare public divide over the issue of military action against Iran.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1242.html
Iran must act now on nuclear concerns: EU official
The EU’s foreign policy chief says Iran must act immediately to ease international concerns about its nuclear program.
According to Ria Novosti, Catherine Ashton told reporters after a meeting with the G5+1 foreign ministers: “We discussed at length the need for Iran to take action urgently as we considered the Iranian nuclear issue.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters the meeting was aimed at finding ways to make both Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency find ways to resolve the problems.
The meeting between the British, Russian, American, Chinese, French and German foreign ministers and Catherine Ashton took place on the sidelines of the United Nation’s 67th general meeting, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had just called for the setting of red lines for Iran.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1243.html
Iranian daily Shargh shut down for publishing “insulting” cartoon
The Iranian daily Shargh was shut down by the Islamic Republic authorities after a cartoon published by the independent newspaper was branded as insulting to the memory of Iran’s war veterans.
Iranian media report that one day after the scandal over the cartoon, the newspaper was shut down on Wednesday night by the order of the Press Supervisory Board.
Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabayi, the attorney for the Shargh newspaper, reported that the authorities have also issued a warrant for the arrest of Mehdi Rahmanian, the director of publication, for whom he is trying to secure a release on bail.
The controversy has risen over a cartoon titled “blindfold” that was published in a special issue commemorating the Iran-Iraq War. The cartoon shows people standing in line, with each putting a blindfold on the person in front.
The Minister of Guidance announced that the cartoon was an insult to “the soldiers of the sacred defence”, which is how the establishment refers to the eight-year Iran-Iraq War.
Parliament also condemned the cartoon in a statement, which has so far been signed by 120 MPs.
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/sep/1228.html
Prisoner repents in face of death penalty
Saeed Malekpour, an Iranian computer programmer who has been jailed and sentenced to death in Iran, has reportedly “expressed remorse and repented”, allowing his lawyer to apply for clemency in his case.
On Saturday, the Mehr News Agency reported that Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabyi, Malekpour’s lawyer, confirmed that his client’s death sentence has been approved by the Supreme Court.
Malekpour, a 35-year-old engineering graduate of Iran’s Sanati Sharif University and a software developer, arrived in Iran in 2008 from Canada, where he was residing, and was arrested by Iranian authorities.
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/prisoner-repents-face-death-penalty
Ahmadinejad under fire by Iranian MP
Iranian MP Ali Motahari has slammed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and called for his immediate resignation.
Motahari, a staunch critic of the Ahmadinejad administration who did not get a chance to deliver his speech in Parliament yesterday, released the text of his speech to the media today.
In it, Motahari accuses Ahmadinejad of “despotism” and “dictatorship”, saying: “In his latest television interview, the president said ‘I will sign and implement a law that I feel corresponds to the constitution; if I decide that a law does not correspond with the constitution, I will not sign or execute it.’ This is despotism and dictatorship and torpedoing the Parliament.”
http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/ahmadinejad-under-fire-iranian-mp