Augustus week 30/31
26 Jul 2010 | Door Ingezonden | Category: Ondertussen in Iran
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 weken vernieuwd. Een chronologisch overzicht kunt u vinden in de categorie "Ondertussen in Iran".
Continued Persecution of Bahai Citizens in Iran
HRANA- Repressive measures against Bahai citizens in Iran have resulted in the arrest of one individual in Abadan and the destruction of a Bahai cemetery in Kerman.
http://www.en-hrana.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=192:continu...
Iranian Christians Arrested in Mashad
HRANA- A number of followers of the Christian faith in Mashad were arrested by state security and intelligence forces. There is no word on the fate of two of those arrested.
HRANA has learned that on Thursday July 8, 2010 a group of fifteen Iranian Christians were arrested by state security and intelligence forces in Mashad as they were departing for a meeting with Christians from the city of Bojnourd.
According to informed sources, intelligence agents were aware of the trip in advance. The bus was stopped minutes after the travelers boarded. Security and intelligence forces then arrested the fifteen Christians on board who had been identified in advance
http://www.en-hrana.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=190:iranian...
Canada Hits Iran With New Sanctions
Canada has followed the European Union in adopting tougher sanctions targeting Iran's energy sector in an effort to curb its disputed nuclear program.
The European and Canadian sanctions include measures to block dealing with Iranian banks and steps to prevent investment in Tehran's oil and gas sector, including refining.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said his country's new measures will include a ban on any new Canadian investment in Iran's oil and gas sector.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Canada_Hits_Iran_With_New_Sanctions/2110596.html
Lloyd’s won’t cover Iran petroleum shipments
Free Iran: If only the US would place the same pressure on the world’s insurance and shipping companies not to insure or ship Iran’s oil exports till this regime frees all political prisoners and permits free elections monitored by international observers. So long as this regime has access to Iran’s oil income, it’ll have the will and ability to use violence to repress the Iranian people.
Lloyd’s of London will not insure or reinsure petroleum shipments going into Iran, the insurance market said, in another blow to the Islamic Republic from wide-ranging US sanctions.
http://www.irannewsdigest.com/2010/07/28/lloyds-wont-cover-iran-petroleum-shipme...
Iranian Exiles Struggle to Stay Involved
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A political tract hammered out by an Iranian feminist this spring presents a snapshot of activism from exile.
IranIncensed by an aging ayatollah’s pronouncement that women exposing excessive flesh cause earthquakes, the young lawyer, who fled to Germany after her arrest in Iran, fired off a Web post accusing all Iranian men of complicity in the oppression of women propagated by the ayatollahs.
The diatribe went viral instantly, provoking a global debate among Iranians, with countless men denouncing the premise. But the furor soon died, underscoring the quandary faced by former high-ranking reformist politicians, journalists, academics, student leaders and others who have sought safety abroad since the contested presidential election in June 2009.
The Web keeps them involved with events inside Iran, easing some of the isolation of life in exile. Still, they can no longer directly confront the government in the Islamic republic, where widespread bloody repression has left the opposition Green Movement with an uncertain future. From Ankara, Turkey, to Oslo to New York, the exiles struggle to remain relevant, hoping that by reflecting on past experience they can somehow shape whatever future emerges.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/world/middleeast/28exiles.html?_r=1&partner=rs...
Q&A: Will new Iran sanctions dent Iran's oil industry?
The EU today implemented tough new Iran sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions. The sanctions specifically target Iran's oil industry, which accounts for roughly 80 percent of Iranian exports but faces numerous challenges.
The European Union's tough new Iran sanctions, which go into effect today, aim to pinch Iran where it will hurt the most: Iran's oil industry. Oil accounts for roughly 80 percent of Iran's exports, and Tehran derives more than half of its revenue from its energy sector.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0727/Q-A-Will-new-Iran-sanctions...
West spreads evil tentacles into Iran
Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says media sensation and front-cover star Paul the octopus – as if he needs an introduction – spreads "western propaganda and superstition", according to the Daily Mail. He said that Paul represents decadence and decay among Iran's enemies. "Those who believe in this type of thing cannot be leaders of the global nations that aspire, like Iran, to human perfection." Paul was unavailable for comment.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mediamonkeyblog/2010/jul/28/paul-octopus-iran
Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall reworked for Iranian protest
Ik had hem al eerder gezien maar Ik blijf hem goed vinden!!
Exiled brothers urge Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to 'leave those kids alone' in YouTube hit
It is unlikely that Iran's supreme leader has ever muttered the words "absolute rubbish, laddie" while checking a schoolboy's homework, but a figure resembling Ayatollah Ali Khamenei does feature in a reworking of a Pink Floyd anthem that has been renamed Another Brick in the Wall (Hey Ayatollah, Leave Those Kids Alone!).
The new version – sung by Blurred Vision, two Iranian-born brothers living in exile in Canada – has become a YouTube phenomenon, attracting more than 100,000 hits on the online video site.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jul/27/pink-floyd-iran-protest-song
Five Year Old Girl in Italy Writes Message of Support for Majid Tavakoli
Het zijn niet alleen de volwassenen die achter de groene revolutie staan.
Een hartverwarmende brief van een vijfjarig Italiaans maisje voor studentenleider Majid Tavakoli die sinds maanden In Evin word vastgehouden door het Regime.
On July 18, 2010, at the annual Giffoni Experience, a popular film and cultural festival in Giffoni Valle Piana (a city in the south of Italy), Amnesty International was present to draw attention to human rights abuses taking place around the world. There was a booth set up as well that gave the chance for people to write letters to political prisoners.
http://persian2english.com/?p=13153
Saharkhiz’s Letter, Activists’ Disappearance
With the disappearance of one civil and political activist, one lawyer and the arrest of his family members, a new round of oppression has begun in Iran, showcasing the judicial and security officials’ utter disregard for the law. Nationalist-religious activist Hoda Saber has disappeared since Sunday and his wife, Farideh Jamshidi, told Rooz that she had not received a response from any government agency regarding her husband’s fate. Nothing is known of the fate of attorney Mohammad Mostafaei, while his wife and brother-in-law were also arrested on Sunday night.
Under these circumstances, Isa Saharkhiz released an open letter calling for the prosecution of those who ordered and carried out beatings against him during the past year, and Emadeddin Baghi was sentenced to imprisonment for one year and banned from political activism and journalism for five years for his work at the Association for Defense of Prisoners’ Rights.
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/july/28//saharkhizs...
Mysterious blast hits Japan oil tanker near Iran
DUBAI (AFP) – A mysterious explosion hit a Japanese oil tanker near Iran in the vital Strait of Hormuz early on Wednesday, spotlighting a potential threat in a chokepoint for global oil supplies.
There were differing theories about the cause of the blast — which did not cause any serious injuries or an oil spill — ranging from a terrorist attack to an explosion of gases.
Port officials in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates even said the ship was hit by a tremor-triggered wave.
On Wednesday afternoon, the M.Star of the Mitsui OSK Lines, was steaming under its own power to the United Arab Emirates for repair.
Japan's transport ministry suspected an attack on the tanker.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/7665585/mysterious-blast-hits-japan-oil-tanke...
Political Prisoner Sentenced to Life Describes Hellish Conditions in Rajai Shahr Prison
Dr. Saeed Masouri, a prisoner in ward 10, cell 4 of Rajai Shahr âGohardashtâ prison located in Karaj, was arrested December 2000 in Dezful (southwestern Iran). He was sentenced to death by the Preliminary and Appeals courts for association with the PMOI. His sentence was eventually changed to life in prison. He was transferred to Rajai Shahr several years ago. In ten years of detention to date, Masouri spent a total of three years in solitary confinement in Dezful and Tehran. He is detained under hard conditions and has experienced horrible psychological and physical tortures.
HRDAI has obtained a letter written by Saeed Masouri from inside prison:
Although life may go on naturally outside prison, people, even the ones who live in Karaj, would not believe what infernal and humanitarian tragedies take place a few meters away behind the walls of the prison they pass by; almost similar to the situation of the people who lived near Auchwitz and Dachau [concentration camps] and did not realize what was taking place inside.
http://persian2english.com/?p=13193
@ Henk 12 juli # 5
Uit onverdachte want joodse bron. HIJ komt na het overlijden van de Slager http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eATJ4PRXEJk&feature=player_embedded
Mahboubeh Karami Suffers from Depression and Respiratory Problems in Prison
On July 17, 2010, Mahboubeh Karami, womenâs rights activist and member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, was transferred from Evin prison to Taleghani hospital to undergo a scheduled septoplasty surgery. According to RAHANA, Karami cancelled the surgery to demonstrate against restrictions imposed on her by prison officials.
In a recent conversation with her lawyer and family, Mahboubeh Karami stated that she preferred to stay in prison since the problems inside Evin extend beyond surgery and treatment.
After persistent efforts by her family and lawyers to follow up on her condition, Mahboubeh Karami was summoned for an examination by the medical forensics office. According to the International Support for Womenâs Campaign, a letter from the forensics office was sent to the clinic in Evin prison that indicates Karami suffers from depression. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports that she also experiences respiratory problems.
http://persian2english.com/?p=13179
Tensions rise in Iran capital
Tehran, Jul. 29 â From the Grapevine…
Pro-democracy activists in Tehran have continued writing graffiti on metro and petrol stations, urging people to hold new anti-government protests and stage strikes.
There were many slogans in petrol station on Kargar Street, saying “workers, bazaaris, teachers and students, strike”.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21203:t…
Political graffiti in Tehran’s bus terminals
Tehran, Jul. 29 â From the Grapevine…
Passengers and employees in Tehran’s southern and western bus terminals reported new graffiti in at least 30 different locations. Some of writings were:
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21202:p…
Japan’s Mitsui maintains oil tanker was likely attacked
TOKYO (AFP) â A Japanese shipping company maintained Thursday that its oil tanker was likely attacked in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, dismissing reports it may have been hit by a freak wave.
Mitsui OSK Lines officials reiterated at a Tokyo press conference that crew members saw a flash and heard an explosion in the incident shortly after midnight local time on Wednesday in the waterway between Iran and Oman.
“There are some reports saying the tanker was hit by strong waves, but it’s quite unlikely,” said Mitsui safety management official Masahiko Hibino.
“We have not reached a conclusion, but we still suspect” the tanker was hit by a blast, Hibino said of the mysterious incident some 18 kilometres (11 miles) off the coast of Oman, in which one crewman was slightly injured.
He said the company had not changed its stance since Wednesday when it said it suspected it had been attacked, perhaps by terrorists.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21206:j...
Japan supertanker probe reveals crash impact
FUJAIRAH/TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese supertanker, which triggered fears of an attack in the sensitive Strait of Hormuz oil shipping route, collided with something, possibly a submarine or mine, UAE port officials inspecting the ship said on Thursday.
Damage to the massive crude carrier’s hull suggested a collision, although the nature of the incident was under investigation.
“What we know is some collision happened. We don’t know what it was,” said Captain Mousa Mourad, a general manager at the UAE port of Fujairah.
“It’s possible that it could be a submarine collision, or that it could be a sea mine,” he said, adding the investigation was ongoing.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21205:j…
Netwerk 20.30u. had een heel interessant onderwerp; hooggeplaatste officieren van de nationale revolutionaire garde gevlucht naar het buitenland.
15.Tulay juli 29th, 2010 21:34
Zoals je weet Tulay zit Ik nog midden in een verhuizing en heb zodoende op dit moment geen audio.
Zou je zo vriendelijk willen zijn om een korte weergave te geven van de Youtube video.
Btw. bedankt voor je steun.
@ wachteres
Achter # 15 hierboven nog een Saulus die het licht heeft gezien. Ben benieuwd wie de stekker uit het lijf van de Slager trekt.
@ Henk
Wat is op het moment de prijs van een liter benzine in Teheran ? http://www.irannewsdigest.com/2010/07/28/lloyds-wont-cover-iran-petroleum-shipments/
@ Henk # 22
Druk op het rode cc knopje en je krijgt de stem in script omgezet.
Weet ik. Dat je geen audio hebt
Hehehe zou kunnen zijn en het zal ook wel werken bij iedereen maar verd. niet bij mij Ik zal zien dat Ik mijn speakers ergens uit de puinhopen vandaan haal whoehahahaha.
@ Tulay:
Het gaat hier om Dollarcenten per Gallon.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pritheworld/sets/72157600240177534/
Even een aanvulling op de laatste, even een verhoging van ongeveer 25 % zal niet goed over komen bij de Iraanse bevolking.
Om iets dergelijks is al eerder een nationale staking geweest een aantal jaren terug.
Goed nieuws Wachteres er kunnen er maar niet genoeg vluchten het is al een maand of 6 bezig maar het haalt nergens het nieuws en zeker niet in Iran natuurlijk, maar op een moment kunnen ze het niet meer verzwijgen natuurlijk en dan worden er weer ongeloofwaardige smoesjes verzonnen waar de hele Iraanse bevolking het scheur bij lacht en tegelijkertijd word daarmee ook de macht van deze Maffiaclan weer een stukje ingeperkt.
Heerlijk nieuws !!!!
@ 15 Tulay
Volgens mij maakt die man ook gewoon een vergissing.
Hij haalt messias en judas door elkaar.
Beetje dom van mij. Ik weet nu dat het audiotranscript eerst werkt als je het ook kunt horen. Het filmpje van eind juni 2010 zegt dat een van de belangrijkste rabbijnen – overleden in 2006 toen meneer 101 was – op een briefje de naam van de joodse messias had geschreven. Het briefje was verzegeld en mocht eerst na zijn dood worden geopend. Op het briefje stond verder dat de joodse messias eerst zou verschijnen na het overlijden van Ariel Sharon. De Slager die nog steeds in coma ligt. De naam aan het slot van het filmpje is een achrosticon van het woord YESUS. That’s all. Shi’iten geloven dat als de Mahdi aan het einde der tijden op komt dagen hij wordt vergezeld door de profeet Isa. Jesus that is.
@ Henk
Dat was de prijs in 2007. Als straks de tienduizenden taxis en dolmussen in Teheran door een toenemend gebrek aan gelode benzine stilaan stil komen te staan is dat weinig bevordelijk voor de steun aan het regime. Goed voor het milieu maar niet voor de kat die rare sprongen maakt.
@ wachteres
Dacht het niet. Maar als HIJ perse Judas moet heten dan opteer ik voor Judas Taddeus. Die ligt begraven in de Zwarte Kerk. In Iran.
Overigens nu we even bezig zijn met religie.
Het schijnt dat het graf van Johannes de doper gevonden is op Bulgaars grondgebied.
Ik hoorde het gisteren van een Bulgaarse bekende en wacht even af wat de conclusies zijn, echt of niet echt bedoel Ik.
Iran’s Wishful Thinking As Sanctions Take Hold
Falling Behind
Since the Islamic regime took power in Iran 30 years ago, the country has never been a desirable destination for FDI. It certainly never stood a chance of placing inside the top 10 in the world, despite its world-class energy resources. Iran is unattractive primarily because of its constitutional structure and the unfavorable investment climate that has resulted from the government’s ever-increasing control over the national economy. Article 81 of Iran’s constitution forbids multinational corporations from taking over certain businesses and bans “concessions to foreigners or the formation of companies.”
In addition, the government relies on energy exports as the main source of foreign-currency revenues and controls almost 90 percent of the economy. In such an environment, the private sector has been unable to thrive and has grown in recent years at a slower pace than that in neighboring countries.
FDI has increased sharply in recent years in countries such as Brazil and India because of their rapid economic growth, and in Nigeria and Egypt because their governments have committed themselves to economic reforms. But despite Tehran’s efforts to convince the world otherwise, FDI into the Islamic republic has undoubtedly stagnated.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Commentary_Iran_Wishful_Thinking_Sanctions/2114100….
Iranian opposition leader slams accusing hardliner
Iranian opposition leader, Mehdi Karroubi lashed out against accusations from hardliner, Ahmad Jannati saying that Iranian opposition leaders were in receipt of financial support from the US.
Hardliner, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati at a speech in a Qom mosque said this week that he is in possession of documents that prove opposition leaders in the recent post-election protests had received a billion dollars from the US to topple the regime.
In a letter published on his website, Saham News, Karroubi describes Jannati as âcollaborator of those who stole peopleâs votes.” He addresses Jannati saying: âYour unwise tracks can be seen in all the events that took shape before and after the election and unfortunately they were all against the people and in support of the oppressive and violent movements in the country.â
Opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2009 presidential elections claim that the ballot was rigged and peopleâs votes were stolen to secure Ahmadinejadâs victory. Millions of people demonstrated on the streets of Tehran last summer calling to have their votes returned.
http://www.zamaaneh.com/enzam/2010/07/iranian-opposition-leader-26.html
Kadivar Writes Letter to Assembly of Experts: âImpeach Khameneiâ
Mohsen Kadivar, the exiled cleric, professor and activist, has written a forty-three page letter to the head of the Assembly of Experts, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, citing the reasons why Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei should be impeached.
By law, the Assembly of Experts can vote to question, impeach and replace the Supreme Leader, although it has never carried out these responsibilities in its 30-year history.
Kadivar begins by writing: âAs an Iranian citizen, I accuse the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, of despotism, tyranny, cruelty, breaking the law, attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic of Iran and insulting Islam.â He writes the letter in six parts, highlighting instances of each of these accusations and citing articles of the constitution, which the leader has undermined in each case.
In the letter, Kadivar also highlights the history of the Assembly of Experts, and the âvicious cycleâ which has been in practice since the laws changed regarding the Assembly in 1990. In that year, after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, the Guardian Council â now filled with Khamenei appointees who are loyal to him â was given the authority to disqualify candidates running for the Assembly of Experts. This gives the leader total control of the Assembly, whose primary function is to oversee the conduct and selection of the Leader.
http://www.insideiran.org/media-analysis/kadivar-writes-letter-to-assembly-of-ex…
Questions Swirl About Damaged Japanese Tanker
Shipping officials said Thursday that they were examining the hull of a Japanese oil tanker that was mysteriously damaged this week as it traversed a strategically vital waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. The shipâs owner has said that it may have been attacked.
With the tanker docked in the United Arab Emirates, the owner, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, and port officials puzzled over what had shattered windows on the vessel, knocked off a lifeboat and punched a dent into its hull. The damage was apparently inflicted early Wednesday morning in the Strait of Hormuz, a passageway for shipping much of the worldâs oil from the Middle East.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/world/middleeast/30ship.html?_r=1&src=mv
Iran report: Cigarettes implicated in Western plot
En zoals gewoonlijk draait een of andere gek weer door.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) â An Iranian official says cigarettes smuggled into Iran have been tainted with pig blood and nuclear material as part of a Western conspiracy.
The semiofficial Mehr news agency quotes Mohammad Reza Madani from the Society for Fighting Smoking as saying contraband Marlboros have been contaminated with pig hemoglobin and unspecified nuclear material.
Madani claims Philip Morris International, which sells Marlboro outside the U.S., is “led by Zionists” and deliberately exports tainted cigarettes.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21218:i…
Sanctions! What sanctions? China invests $40 bln in Iran oil, gas: minister
TEHRAN â Iran’s main economic partner China has invested around 40 billion dollars in the Islamic republic’s oil and gas sector, a senior Iranian official said on Saturday.
Deputy Oil Minister Hossein Noqrehkar Shirazi also said that Tehran’s oil exports to China fell by 30 percent in the first six months of 2010 compared with the corresponding period last year.
“The volume (of Chinese investment) in upstream projects is 29 billion dollars,” Noqrehkar Shirazi told Mehr news agency, adding that Beijing had signed contracts worth another 10 billion dollars in petrochemicals, refineries and oil and gas pipeline projects.
He said China has also put forward proposals to participate in building seven new refineries in Iran.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5izA2emskb8TvY-H8d7_1h4rnbyIg
Obama calls on Iran to release 3 American hikers
En Obama gaat er dus vanuit dat men hem in Iran niet opnieuw belachelijk gaat maken.
Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama is calling for the immediate release of three American hikers seized by Iranian forces along the Iraqi border who will have been in custody for exactly a year on Saturday.
“Their unjust detention has nothing to do with the issues that continue to divide the United States and the international community from the Iranian government,” Obama said in a statement Friday. “This is a humanitarian imperative, as these three young people are innocent of any crime.”
The three Americans — Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal — were detained after they allegedly strayed across an unmarked border while hiking in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. The Nation magazine reported last month that two witnesses have said they saw members of Iran’s national police force cross into Iraq to apprehend the three.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/07/30/obama.iran.hikers/index.html?hpt=T2#f…
In ironic twist, Iran detained US hikers critical of Israel and America
Just before Iran arrested US hikers Shane Bauer and his friends a year ago, he was nearly finished with an exposĂ© on the Israeli army’s use of illegal weapons against protesters.
âHe would have published it long ago if he had not been arrested,” says his friend Shon Meckfessel. “You would say the Iranians are standing in the way.â
In an ironic twist, Iran appears to have arrested a trio of passionate young Americans who espouse some of the same causes as Iran itself, particularly taking a stand against United States and Israeli aggression.
Mr. Bauer, an Arabic-speaking journalist, had previously exposed pitfalls in the US strategy in Iraq. His fiancée Sarah Shourd was teaching Iraqi refugee children in Syria, where an estimated 2 million Iraqis fled during the US-led war in their country. And their college friend Josh Fattal had fought to get military recruiters off United States campuses.
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/jul/31/2205
Iran gives Zimbabwe 40 million Euro loan
Iran has extended a 40-million-euro line of credit to Zimbabwe to finance energy, banking and industrial projects, the local media reported Wednesday, quoting the country’s t op diplomat in Tehran.
Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Iran, Nicholas Kitikiti, said the funds would be used, among other projects, to rehabilitate the country’s main power station to increase electricity supplies and reduce rationi ng.
The country faces critical power shortages, producing only 65 percent of its nor mal requirements. It imports the balance from neighbours.
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/jul/31/2202
Iran Says U.S. Hikers Should Face Trial
Duidelijk is dat deze drie mensen gebruikt gaan worden als politiek drukmiddel.
Iran says that three American hikers detained in Tehran for a year should stand trial on charges of illegally crossing the country’s borders.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that it was “evident” the three — Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal — had entered the country illegally.
Mehmanparast said that Iran was also considering other possible charges, including intentionally acting against Iranian security, according to a state media report.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Iran_Says_US_Hikers_Should_Face_Trial/2115360.html
Brazil Offers Haven To Iranian Woman Facing Stoning Sentence
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has offered refuge to an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of adultery.
Speaking in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba , Lula said he was prepared to use his “friendship” with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad of Iran to offer asylum to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose case has provoked an international outcry.
“With my friendship and the consideration I have for the president of Iran and the Iranian people, if this woman is causing problems there, we would be glad to welcome her in Brazil,” Lula told a gathering of Brazil’s Workers’ Party, where he was campaigning in support of Dilma Rousseff, a candidate in October’s presidential election.
Ashtiani, 43, has already been flogged 99 times after being found guilty of adultery. The case was later reopened after a court in Tabriz suspected her of murdering her husband.
Despite being acquitted, the adultery charge was reviewed and a stoning sentence imposed based on the “judge’s knowledge.”
http://www.rferl.org/content/Brazil_Offers_Haven_To_Woman_In_Iran_Adultery_Case/…
Beating the Drums of War. In spite of our gallant stand we were outmatched
I hear pulsating sound of drum beat from not so far distance. I pretend to sleep the remaining hours before dawn. That is when I must be brave and face my enemy on a hand to hand combat. If I must die let it be quick and unexpected. And if I should live, then I thank my creator for the reprieve. For tomorrow is not such a special day.
It is another day of exercise in futility, eliminating my perceived enemy whom I do not know or do not care to know. I am here because of the failure of my king. He was offered a vast tract of bottom land suitable for agriculture, fruit trees, with running water through the land. A village blessed with active people, young and old, children playing hopscotch. Wind mills, horses, sheep, cows, goats, flour milling stones grinding the wheat. Smell of freshly cooked bread waft through the air. It was a heaven, but my king refused it all and chose war instead. I am not here because I want to be; I was brought to service from my beloved far away mountains. I know I am irrelevant to his majestyâs whim. Again, if I should die, so I will with honor, for I know not better and refuse to fight. Now the morning dawn is upon me and the nightmare must end; it is time to go.
http://www.iranian.com/main/2010/aug/beating-drums-war
Postje van Henk in het Nederlands (De wakkere krant is wakker):
De Braziliaanse president Luiz InĂĄcio Lula da Silva wil een tot steniging veroordeelde Iraanse vrouw asiel aanbieden. Dat heeft Lula zondag aan zijn Iraanse ambtgenoot Mahmoud Ahmadinejad aangeboden.
http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/7304075/__Lula_wil_Iraanse_asiel_aanbieden__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland
Five imprisoned Iranian journalists call for debate with Ahmadinejad
Ahmadinejad wilde graag een televisie debat met Obama maar het werd afgewezen als een propagandastunt van Ahmadinejad.
Nou krijgt hij reacktie uit eigen land van een 5 tal Journalisten van formaat hebben hem nu uitgenodigt om een debat met hen aan te gaan en een aantal vragen te beantwoorden.
Achteraf gezien niet zo’n beste propagandastunt denk Ik.
Five imprisoned Iranian journalists call for debate with Ahmadienajd
A day after Ahmadinejad invited US President Barack Obama to face him in a televised one-on-one debate; five imprisoned Iranian journalists have now called for a press conference with Ahmadinejad in which he would the illegitimate âpresidentâ would be required to answer certain question regarding his administrationâs past performance.
According to sources close to the Jaras opposition website, Issa Saharkhiz, Rafei, Mahdi Mahmoudian, Masoud Bastani and Heshmatollah Tabarzadi called on Ahmadinejad engage with them in a debate on the issue of his governmentâs performance.
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/aug/03/2217
US gets serious on Iran sanctions
For banks, oil companies and other big businesses around the world, from India to Japan, Russia and Germany, the US now has a clear message: you’re either with us or with Iran.
Doing business with both is no longer possible, at least in theory.
“This cannot be business as usual and we recognise that there is going to have to be a lot of due diligence,” said State Department spokesperson PJ Crowley in a BBC interview.
The unilateral US sanctions passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on 1 July go further than the fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran approved by the Security Council in June.
Iran nuclear crisisSqueezing Iran: Oil and sanctions
Q&A: Iran nuclear issue
UN sanctions against Iran
Guide: How Iran is ruled
Washington will now penalise companies that invest more than $20m (ÂŁ12.5m) in any project that significantly “contributes to the enhancement of Iran’s ability to develop petroleum resources”.
The export of refined petroleum products to Iran is also a target, and sanctions build on past UN and US designations of entities.
Those companies found guilty could find themselves shut out of the US financial system.
The US treasury department’s sanctions tsar, Stuart Levy, told the BBC this wasn’t US bullying because companies had a choice about whether “they’ll do business in Iran or with the United States, and for example get US government contracts”.
The new law will in fact require that American and foreign businesses that seek contracts with the United States government certify that they do not engage in prohibited business with Iran.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10850161
Brazilâs Plea for Asylum for Iranian Facing Stoning Seems to Fail
Iranâs conservative establishment appears to have reacted coldly to an entreaty by Brazilâs president to allow an Iranian woman convicted of adultery to take asylum in Brazil rather than face execution by stoning at home.
The reaction to the plea over the weekend by President Luiz InĂĄcio Lula da Silva may introduce a strain into what has been an increasingly cordial relationship between Iran and Brazil. It also reinforced what critics of Iran view as a barbaric form of justice that is especially repressive toward women.
While no Iranian government officials commented on the Brazilian presidentâs plea, Jahan News, an ultraconservative news service in Iran that is regarded as credibly reflecting the governmentâs thinking, said Sunday that it was a âclear interference in Iranâs domestic affairs.â
Jahan also said that the Brazilian offer was made âunder the influence of foreign mediaâ and that the defendant, Sakineh Ashtiani, 43, might not be stoned to death because Iranâs judiciary was reviewing the lower courtâs sentence. She could be hanged instead.
Ms. Ashtiani, 43, was convicted of an âillicit relationshipâ with two men. She denied the accusations during her trial.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/world/middleeast/03iran.html?_r=1&partner=rssn…
Jailed Former Iranian Vice President: ‘We Had To Practice For The Court’
Een gevaarlijk statement van Mohamad Abtahi.
Door dit statement loopt hij het risico om opnieuw opgepakt te worden en opnieuw onder grote psychologische druk te komen staan
Mohammad Ali Abtahi is a former Iranian vice president who was jailed in the crackdown following last year’s disputed presidential election and put on trial along with over 100 other key reformist figures, journalists, student activists, and others.
He has for the first time publicly acknowledged that the trial was staged.
Abtahi — a close aide to former President Mohammad Khatami who campaigned for reformist cleric Mehdi Karrubi before last year’s presidential vote — had criticized the reformists in televised confessions and said that they tried to insinuate that there was fraud in the election.
His family has said that he had been put under pressure to make false confessions.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Jailed_Former_Iranian_Vice_President_We_Had_To_Prac…
Iran transforming Afghan war
The night Canadian Master Corporal Darrell Priede of Brantford died in Afghanistan, the Afghan war took a sudden dangerous new twist.
A stream of secret U.S. military intelligence reports released this week by the WikiLeaks website suggests the May 2007 death was the result of a Taliban attack with a heat-seeking, surface-to-air missile launched from the shoulder.
In all likelihood, the deadly weapon was provided by Iran.
Those two facts alone may be transforming the almost nine-year-old Afghan war.
Iran has long been suspected of covertly supplying arms to the Taliban, but the WikiLeaks data dump suggests it could now be almost as crucial to the Afghan insurgency as Pakistan.
Summaries of classified U.S. military and diplomatic reports among the documents demonstrate a growing concern over Iran’s influence in Afghanistan and catalogue fears Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is waging a secret campaign to arm, train, fund and equip the Afghanistan insurgency.
Master Cpl. Priede’s death may have been a point of convergence for those fears.
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/Enter%20Iran/3345166/story.html#ixzz0vZXE…
@ Henk # 50 en Frik # 47
http://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/article1405986.ece/Met_steniging_bedreigde_Iraanse_mag_niet_weg
Supreme Mistake Khamenei has has doomed himself to the fate of the fort
Since he stole the majority of the peopleâs votes in last yearâs election, Iranâs Supreme Leader has also stolen for himself, or tried to, every other public occasion all through the year. Already by far the most powerful tyrant Iran has ever known, he demonstrated again and again, all year long, before the shocked eyes of the world to what unbelievably murderous and perverted lengths he will go not just to snuff out every last vestige of his peopleâs freedom â but to break their very spirit.
On the first anniversary of the stolen election he had his riot police and government toughs out in greater numbers than ever before to arrest and intimidate anyone who dared speak out. People largely kept off the streets. His forces quickly dispersed the very few, and very small, scattered protests.
http://www.iranian.com/main/2010/aug/supreme-mistake
Oil exports to Iran drop by 50%
Sanctions having an effect: Oil exports to Iran have drooped sharply after the United States and European Union imposed tougher sanctions on Tehran, a new report says.
The report, published by the UK-based Energy Market Consultants Ltd, points to a drastic 50% decline in the exportation of refined oil to Iran. In July, the Islamic republic imported only 60,000 oil barrels a day, compared to 120,000 barrels in June.
In an interview with the Bloomberg network, Vijay Mukherji, a London-based research associate with EMC, said International companies have pulled back from Iran.
“The US, Europe and the UN are aiming to cut Iran off. They just donât want them to get any oil-product supplies,â he said.
According to Mukherji, fuel shipments to Iran are now dominated by Turkish and Chinese companies. Notably, EMC’s figures are based on information relayed by oil exporters, Iranian officials and information available to the public. The company specializes in international energy trade with a special focus on the Middle East and its data serves the US Department of Energy.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3929725,00.html
De Iraanse president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad heeft woensdag een aanslag op hem en zijn entourage in Hamadan in het westen van Iran overleefd. Wel is een onbekend aantal mensen gewond geraakt. Dat berichtte het Libanese televisiestation Future TV op basis van informatie van het kantoor van Ahmadinejad.
http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/7325016/___Aanslag_op_Ahmadinejad___.html?p=1,1
Er zijn links en rechts toch wel tegenstrijdige berichten.
Iran denies claims of assassination attempt on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Confusion surrounded reports of an assassination attempt on the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today after sources in Tehran denied initial claims that an attack had taken place.
The Iranian website, khabaronline.ir, said a homemade grenade exploded near Ahmadinejad’s presidential motorcade in Hamedan in western Iran as he was on his way to address a crowd. Reuters said a source in the president’s office had confirmed the attack but other news outlets reported that presidential sources later denied any such attack had taken place. Khabar, the website, said he was unhurt and went on to give his speech as planned, which was broadcast live on state television.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/04/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-assassination-ir…
Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike Deliver Demands
HRANA- Seventeen political prisoners in Ward 350 of Evin Prison on hunger strike since last Monday have stated their demands. The prisoners delivered their demands to prison officials and a representative of Tehranâs prosecutor stating they will not end their hunger strike until their demands are met.
The seventeen political prisoners have been on hunger strike since being transferred to solitary confinement last Monday for protesting inhumane treatment by prison officials. They are on hunger strike demanding their basic human rights.
Their demands include the recognition of prisoner rights, an end to the insulting treatment by prison officials, and the right to have access to newspapers and books.
The striking political prisoners further demand that those officials who are violating the basic rights of the prisoners be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that those prisoners in solitary confinement be immediately transferred back to the general population ward.
http://www.en-hrana.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=196:politic…
Social Activist Ahmad Bab: Tortured to Confess to Espionage
Physical torture is a long-lasting human rights violation inflicted on political prisoners in Iran. The media tends to focus on conditions in the Tehran prisons, so it is common that acts of torture go unnoticed in other provinces where it is more violent and severe, such as is the case with prisons in the Kurdistan province of Iran.
This report describes the inhuman treatment inflicted on social activist Ahmad Bab by interrogators of the Ministry of Intelligence. Ahamd Bab, a resident of Marivan (a city in the province of Kurdistan) spent 195 days in detention and was subjected to the most severe forms of physical and psychological torture. Ahmad Bab is currently released from prison. His case is now open before branch 1 of the Marivan Revolutionary Court with judge Lotfi. So far, one court session was held with the presence of his lawyer Bahram Khalilian. His second court date is scheduled for August 21, 2010.
Ahmad Bab was arrested on the evening of September 25, 2009 after Ministry of Intelligence agents broke the door of his residence and entered without showing any ID or warrant. He was transferred blindfolded to the solitary confinement ward of the Marivan Intelligence office.
http://persian2english.com/?p=13307
Espionage Charge Reduced to Illegal Entry. Lengthy Game of Investigation in Case of American Prisoners
One year after three American citizens were arrested and jailed by Iranian agents and charged with espionage, the spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry displayed a more visibly cautious tone, blaming âillegal entry into Iranian territoryâ as the âobviousâ violation committed by the three Americans. The change in tone follows a series of declarations by American officials, though the Iranian spokesperson said that âpolitical pressureâ would not influence the fate of the three individuals.
The foreign ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast said, âThe three American citizens were detained on July 31, 2009 for illegally entering Iranian territory. The violation therefore is clear and they need to be held accountable before the law, like any other individual.â
En het meest cinysche is wel te vinden op het einde van de verklaring.
âWe expect that the Americans, who claim to respect human rights, would respect human rights as we do, before we can discuss whether an exchange should take place or not,â he told reporters.
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/august/04//lengthy-…
Iran obtains surface-to-air missiles
Iran has obtained four S-300 surface-to-air missiles despite Russia’s refusal to deliver them to Tehran under a valid contract, a semi-official Iranian news agency claimed on Wednesday.
The Fars news agency, which has ties to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s most powerful military force, said Iran received two missiles from Belarus and two others from another unspecified source.
Fars didn’t elaborate, and there was no immediate official confirmation of the report.
Russia signed a contract in 2007 to sell S-300 missiles to Iran, a move that would have substantially boosted the country’s defence capacities. Israel fears that supplying S-300s to Iran would change the military balance in the Middle East.
The S-300 anti-aircraft missile defence system is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missile warheads at ranges of over 144 kilometres and at altitudes of about 27,430 metres.
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/iran-obtains-surfacetoair-m…
Huge Iranian energy plant explosion coincides with bid on Ahmadinejad’s life
http://www.debka.com/article/8949/
http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/960/Buitenland/article/detail/1141352/2010/08/05/Iran-wil-muziek-verbieden-Pink-Floyd-steunt-tegenbeweging.dhtml
The Widening Rift Among Iran’s Clerics
Pijnlijk duidelijk word uit dit artikel dat de Iraanse bevolking alles in het werk zullen moeten stellen om van die Mullahs verlost te worden.
Zelfs als de clerics zich van Khamenei zouden ontdoen zal het huidige systeem gehandhaaft blijven en zal er feitelijk niks verbeteren in Iran voor de bevolking.
Just a few years ago, it was rare to hear public declarations from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claiming vast authority as a theologian. But today it is unusual if a few weeks go by without a public pronouncement from him boasting of his Islamic credentials.
Recently, Khamenei issued a fatwa on his Web site, demanding that Shiites obey him as the ultimate spiritual leader on earth. In his words, Khamenei said he was the earthly âdeputyâ of both the Prophet Mohammad and the Hidden Imam, who is the 12th imam Shiites believe will return to earth one day to save the world.
There is a purpose behind Khameneiâs increasing public attempts to assert his self-proclaimed religious authority. As the supreme leader feels more and more threatened by Iranâs clerical establishment â which is increasingly challenging his ability to lead an Islamic state, particularly in the aftermath of the June 2009 presidential election â he becomes more abrasive and outspoken in an attempt to assert his questionable religious credentials. His fatwa two weeks ago, for example, constitutes heresy in the view of some theologians who believe no one can claim to represent the Prophet on earth.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/opinion/05iht-edabdo.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt
Seeking Sanctuary, Finding None
Blijkt dat de EU er geen moeite mee heeft om 10.000 den kansloze immigranten binnen te halen maar men heeft er hier in Europa nogal moeite mee om mensen uit Iran binnen te laten komen die onder zeer moeilijke omstandigheden worden verplicht om min of meer in Turkije te moeten blijven.
Shame on You Europa.
BERLIN â Ever since the brutal crackdown on the Iranian opposition in June 2009, in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadâs security forces and militias killed at least 250 people, more than 4,300 Iranians have fled to Turkey.
There, they are stuck in a difficult situation. The European Union has not opened its doors to people who had won so much international respect and praise for their courage in challenging Mr. Ahmadinejadâs election victory, which was widely criticized as fraudulent.
âThe attitude by the E.U. is so hypocritical,â said Volker Beck, a German legislator with the opposition Greens who is a member of Parliamentâs human rights committee. âHere we have European governments saying that the E.U. stands for human rights, democracy and values. But it seems that values stop when it comes to refugees. Europe is not protecting the Iranian refugees.â
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/world/europe/05iht-letter.html?partner=rssnyt
Lying Friday Prayer Leader, Oppressive Basij
Mir-Hossein Mousavi dismissed Ahmad Jannatiâs accusations against the green movement leaders as absolute lies, saying, âLying is a one form of oppression that is appalling at any time, especially if it comes out of the mouth of the chairman of the Guardian Council of the Constitution and the capitalâs Friday prayer leader; the person who is supposed to be the guardian of peopleâs votes, the principles of the constitution and the national covenant. Can anyone provide a clearer proof of fraud in the election than this fellowâs recent great lie? Especially if we consider the fact that this is not the first time he has made such false statements.â Later, after a joint meeting, Karoubi and Mousavi declared, âThe Basij has now become a military-political party to suppress people, students, the Darvish community and their civil rights, and to engineer elections.â
Taking to a group of Iran-Iraq war veterans on Friday, Mir-Hossein Mousavi pointed to conditions in Iranian prisons and said, âThe disaster that is happening now in prisons is the consequence of the views of the chairman of the Guardian Council and his protĂ©gĂ©s. The Kahrizak tragedy, the attack on student dormitories and assaults on people are consequences of the view that one can clearly see the ugliness and brutality of all aspects of totalitarian and authoritarian tendencies. It really is impossible to forget his statements from the holy podium of Friday prayers praising the judiciary for executing prisoners and encouraging more executions.â
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/august/05//lying-fr…
Iran stoning case lawyer arrested in Turkey after escaping across border
En nu is het wachten op de reactie van de EU die waarschijnlijk nooit zal komen.
Turkish police have arrested an Iranian lawyer who represented Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.
Mohammad Mostafaei went into hiding after Iranian authorities detained three of his relatives and issued a warrant for his arrest. Mostafaei’s brother-in-law and father-in law were subsequently released, but his wife remains in solitary confinement in Evin prison, although she has not been charged with any offence.
Mostafaei was apparently smuggled into Turkey but was arrested on immigration charges on Monday.
Human rights activists expressed concern for Mostafaei’s safety and the possibility that Turkey, an ally of Iran, might return him. “He was treated very poorly by the Turkish police and was threatened that they might send him back to Iran,” said Shadi Sadr, an Iranian human rights activist who spoke with Mostafaei by phone today. Mostafaei was concerned about his seven-year-old daughter who is with his wife’s family in Iran.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/04/iran-stoning-lawyer-arrest-turkey
Prisoner update: Political activist Esmael Sahabeh sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison, judge absent during defence
GVF — Esmail Sahabeh, a member of the Islamic Participation Front has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
It should be noted that astonishingly, Judge Salavati who is in charge of the case was absent during the hearing and handed down the ruling without even hearing Sahabehâs defence. Sahabeh had been arrested during a religious ceremony held in support of the political prisoners in October 2009. He was temporarily released on bail after two months of imprisonment.
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/aug/04/2225
Iranian Culture Ministry: Critical Films Worse Than Espionage
Een volgende poging om vergaande cencuur in Iran door te drukken.
Iran’s deputy culture minister reportedly has said that Iranian filmmakers who raise critical questions about life in Iran are guilty of “cultural betrayal” that is “worse than espionage.”
Iran’s ISNA news agency quotes the deputy culture minister, Javad Shamqadri, as saying some Iranian filmmakers “just look for the dark sides of Iran and expose them in their films” in order to get awards at international film festivals.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Iranian_Culture_Ministry_Critical_Films_Worse_Than_…
Iran’s Stats Center Takes Over Reporting Of Economic Indicators
Je moet het zo zien, geen onafhankelijk bureau meer maar een staatsgestuurd bureau die de roeptoeter moet zijn voor het Regime en dus de wereld in roeptoetert dat het in Iran geweldig gaat met de economie.
An Iranian official says major economic indicators will no longer be announced by the Central Bank but will instead be reported by the Statistics Center of Iran, RFE/RL’s Radio Farda reports.
Adel Azar, head of the Statistics Center, confirmed the change to the semi-official Fars news agency on August 4.
Paris-based economist Fereidoun Khavand told Radio Farda that Iran’s Central Bank has been responsible for calculating and announcing the country’s inflation rate since it was established in 1960. He said he thinks the reason for the switch is that the bank is refusing to follow government orders.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Irans_Stats_Center_Takes_Over_Reporting_Of_Economic…
‘England Is A Small Island West Of Africa,’ Says Ahmadinejad
Apparently England is a small island located west of Africa, according to a speech given by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in Hamedan today.
“England, a tiny little island west of Africa,* they built boats, they made weapons, they attacked India which is 10 times bigger than England and has a population 10 times bigger than England. They brought it under their control,” Ahmadinejad said.
The video clip of him saying this has become an instant hit among Iranians.
Slip of the tongue? Or was the Iranian president nervous after the “blast” or “minor explosion” that reportedly happened near his convoy?
http://www.rferl.org/content/England_Is_A_Small_Island_In_West_Africa_Says_Ahmad…
The Iran Sound From Way Out: Episode 1
“The Iran Sound From Way Out” is a new music program from RFE/RL with the best of Iran’s underground music scene.
Despite the restrictions imposed by the Islamic republic’s ruling authorities, Iran has a vibrant underground artistic life. In the last 10 years, many Iranian musicians have introduced Western musical devices, influences, and instruments into traditional Persian melodies and musical traditions, branding their own Persian sub-genre in familiar styles such as rap and blues.
http://www.rferl.org/archive/Music_Podcast/latest/3227/3227.html
Slogans mark Iran’s Constitutional Movement
Simultaneous with the anniversary of Iran’s Constitutional Movement of 1906, pro-democracy activists in Tehran’s Charsad Dastgah and Jalalieh districts wrote a series of slogans on public walls.
Slogans in Charsad Dastgah included: “Long live the memory of the martyrs of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners”, “3 September is the day the nation will rise and velayat will die”, and “our uprising is alive, Khamenei is dead” (referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader).
In Jalalieh, walls in Mirkhani, Nosrat and Gharib streets, Baqer Khan Junction, Keshavarz Boulevard, and 1,000-bed Hospital, had graffiti all over them.
Slogans included: “sanctions are the beginning of change; Iranians rise up and strike. Next meeting on 3 September. Khamenei should know, the uprising will continue”.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21318:s...
Protest in Tehran cinema
As the lights came on at the end of a movie in Tehran’s Esteghlal cinema on Wednesday evening, those in the theatre saw extensive graffiti on seats, walls and corridors, eyewitnesses claim.
Slogans included: “Our uprising is alive, Khamenei is dead” (referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader), “let us get together on 3 September”, “we will avenge the martyrs and political prisoners”, “sanctions are a prelude to regime change”, “Iranians rise up and strike”, and “death to Khamenei”.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21317:p…
Iran pays 25 pct more for gasoline
Sanctions on Iran’s fuel imports are forcing the Islamic Republic to pay well above the market rate for its gasoline, figures from the Turkish government seen by Reuters showed on Thursday.
The data from TUIK, the Turkish statistical institute, showed Iran was forced to pay a premium of around 25 percent for its imports even before U.S.-led sanctions took full effect, as the Islamic Republic turned to a dwindling number of suppliers.
“With the number of suppliers dwindling its a natural reaction for prices to get forced up, but this is a real worry for the Iranian government that is already battling high inflation,” Middle East analyst Meir Javendafar at Meepas said. “The Turks are saying we can be your friend in the region, but only for a price.”
Wide ranging U.S. and European Union sanctions that came into force in July are designed to squeeze Iran’s fuel imports and increase its international isolation over its nuclear programme.
The West suspects Iran of attempting to build nuclear weapons, but Tehran says its development of nuclear technology is for peaceful purposes.
Iran is the second-largest crude oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) but relies on imports for up to 40 percent of its gasoline needs because it lacks refining capacity.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21313:i…
Sale of History by Ahmadinejadâs Office
The publication of a report in Hamshahri Mah about plans by the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization to organize a sale of the countryâs historical artifacts revealed another behind-the-scenes effort by Ahmadinejadâs chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, to engage in activities outside the supervision of the Majlis and the State Audit Organization.
In her piece in Hamshahri Mah, reporter Sahar Bayani was astonished to find that some were planning to put Iranâs historic artifacts on sale on the Kish island. What added to the astonishment was the confirmation of the report by Omolbanin Nemat Gorgani, head of the Cultural Heritage Organizationâs division on museums and cultural artifacts. Having recently failed in its bid to bring under its control the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization â under pressure from high-ranking clerics â the Cultural Heritage Organization now plans to put on sale historic artifacts, which are held in extremely poor conditions in Iran.
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/august/06//sale-of-…
950,000 child wives live in Iran
In een woord ZIEK.
Nearly a million Iranian children – mostly girls – are married due to provisions in Iran’s Islamic marriage laws which allow the existence of child wives, according to an official with knowledge of the matter.
“Official sources put the number of child spouses in the country at between 900,000 to 950,000. This violates the international Convention on the Rights of the Child”, Mohammad Bonyazadeh, a member of the Cultural Association in Support of Working Children, told the semi-official news agency ILNA on Thursday.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20961:9…
Marriage for Minutes forces children into prostitution in Iran
Hier nog zo,n voorbeeld van wie het kan bekostigen mag de Pedofiel uithangen.Een gezond mens zal het niet in zijn hoofd halen.
According to Shia version of Sharia law, marrying a girl [either adult or infant] is legitimate in Iran. Any male can marry a girl or woman in that country, which is under the cruel grips of Mullacracy for decades, simply by performing a religious ritual, which takes less than a minute. In most cases, such âMarriage for Minutesâ or âMutâah Marriageâ take place to meet mere sexual desires of the men.
First of all, let us have a glimpse on the existing marriage law in Islamic Republic of Iran. In Iran, marriage law has become extremely complicated, confusing and mostly against the rights of women. Let me begin with a quote from a fatwa by the late and unlamented Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, where the readers will possibly understand the state of mind of the Islamist clergies on this particular issue:
http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2010/08/marriage-for-minutes-forces-children.htm…
Iranian facing stoning speaks: ‘It’s because I’m a woman’
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the woman whose sentence of death by stoning triggered an international outcry has accused the Iranian authorities of lying about the charges against her to pave the way to execute her in secret.
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery but it was commuted to hanging after an international outcry. Her initial sentence was for “having an illicit relationship outside marriage” but Iranian officials have claimed that she was also found guilty of murdering her husband and should still face death by stoning.
In the interview, which took place through an intermediary who cannot be named for security reasons, she said: “They’re lying. They are embarrassed by the international attention on my case and they are desperately trying to distract attention and confuse the media so that they can kill me in secret.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/06/sakineh-mohammadi-ashtiani-iran-inte…
Geweldig nieuws: De Groene Beweging heeft binnen korte tijd zijn eigen TV zender om de propaganda van het Regime het hoofd te bieden.
RASA TV to beam into millions of Iranian homes
When it comes to the struggle for freedom, justice and democracy, the media play an undisputed role in Iran. If thereâs one thing all sides can agree upon, it is the importance of media since the birth of Iranâs Green Movement. The fact that Iran has been called the worldâs worst jailer of prisoners is a testament to the Iranian authoritiesâ fear of free press and its potential.
Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the Islamic Republic has followed a path of censorship. Year after a year, the Iranian people witnessed a gradual yet persistent assault on the free flow of information. One regulation after another, every measure was taken to ensure that Iranians would receive only images and sounds deemed by the authorities as âacceptableâ and âappropriate.â
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/aug/06/2234
Committee to Protect Journalists: ‘Evin hunger strike highlights inhumane conditions’
A hunger strike by Evin Prison inmates, including at least five journalists, underscores inhumane conditions at the prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today as it called for the release of all journalists unjustly jailed for their work.
“We are gravely concerned about the health of our colleagues, who are on their second week of a hunger strike,” said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “We call on the Iranian authorities to release all imprisoned journalists and to respect freedom of the press.”
At least 37 journalists were behind bars in Iran as of June 1, when CPJ conducted its most recent in-depth survey. About half were being held at Evin Prison.
The five journalists are among at least 16 political prisoners transferred to solitary confinement last week, after objecting to restrictions on family visits and inhumane treatment, according to news reports. Radio Zamaneh said the strikers are demanding respect for prisonersâ rights, improved health care, and their own return to the general prison population.
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/aug/05/2233
Iranian Opposition Leader Karroubi Attacked by Ahmadinejad Supporters in Tehran
Fars news agency reports that the Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi was attacked at Nour Mosque of Tehran which caused his bodyguards to defuse the situation by shooting into the air.
Taghi Karroubi, son of the opposition leader, confirmed the news for Radio Zamaneh and informed us that a number of “armed” individuals which appeared to be Basij members tried to attack Mehdi Karroubi and threw eggs at him.
Taghi Karroubi went on to say that his father’s bodyguards shot into the air to disperse them and since they were armed “to prevent other possible incidents.”
Mehdi Karroubi was attending a funeral in Tehran.
Taghi Karroubi contended that “a number of old members of the Revolutionary Guards” are in charge of “a permanent group of mercenaries” who are charged with disturbing the events that government opposition figures attend.
He reported that Mehdi Karroubi was not injured in the attack and it happened after the end of the ceremony outside the mosque.
http://www.payvand.com/news/10/aug/1059.html
Mousavi urges Iranian political prisoners to end strike
Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iranian opposition leader issued a letter addressing political prisoners on hunger strike in Evin Prison urging them to end their strike.
Kaleme Website reports that while Mousavi expressed his support for their demands, he writes: “Now that your message and that of your valiant families has spread across the country and the globe, people are concerned for your health because you are the country’s Green resources.”
He also urged prison officials to “respect detainee rights even according to the inadequate regulations in place.”
Earlier other Iranian political figures such as Mehdi Karroubi, Abdollah Nouri and Parvin Fahimi called on the political prisoners to end their strike.
RejaiShahr prisoners also issued an open letter in support of their peers at Evin Prison but urged them to break their strike.
http://www.payvand.com/news/10/aug/1057.html
Iran’s Stats Center Takes Over Reporting Of Economic Indicators
An Iranian official says major economic indicators will no longer be announced by the Central Bank but will instead be reported by the Statistics Center of Iran, RFE/RL’s Radio Farda reports.
Adel Azar, head of the Statistics Center, confirmed the change to the semi-official Fars news agency on August 4.
Paris-based economist Fereidoun Khavand told Radio Farda that Iran’s Central Bank has been responsible for calculating and announcing the country’s inflation rate since it was established in 1960. He said he thinks the reason for the switch is that the bank is refusing to follow government orders.
http://www.payvand.com/news/10/aug/1055.html
Price of goods increasing in Iran
Prices for basic necessities have increased dramatically in Tehran, including for public transportation and food.
The Tehran bus company recently stopped service at Tajrish Terminal, instructing residents to use the metro instead. However, many of the nearby neighbourhoods do not have access to the metro.
There are now two bus routes operating between Vali Asr and Jomhouri streets, which for the first time charge cash from commuters rather than accepting tickets.
The government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced that starting in March 2011, taxi rates will start at 20 cents, with 15 cents for every additional 100 metres.
Last week, the price of a chicken in Tehran increased from $2.80 dollars to $3.80.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21328:p…
Iran starts more efficient uranium enrichment – ISIS
Iran has begun using extra equipment installed earlier this year to enrich uranium more efficiently, stepping up its nuclear work despite U.N. sanctions, a Western think-tank said on Friday.
The Institute for Science and International Security said on its website that Iran was now using a second set, or “cascade,” of centrifuge machines at its Natanz pilot plant. It did not disclose the source of its information.
Iran has been producing low-enriched uranium for some time and announced in February that it had started enriching uranium to a higher, 20 percent, level to make fuel for a medical research reactor.
Analysts said the single cascade of machines Iran was using for the higher-level enrichment was inefficient because it left over a large quantity of low-enriched uranium alongside the highly enriched material.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21326:i…
Obama appeals to Iran’s top cleric
Obama kan het dan ook niet laten om zich onsterfelijk belachelijk te maken.
US President Barack Obama has sent a letter to Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, urging him to persuade the country’s squabbling political leaders to form a new government, Foreign Policy magazine reported on Friday.
The magazine’s online edition, which cited an unnamed individual briefed by members of the cleric’s family as its source, said that the letter was delivered to Sistani by a Shi’ite member of the Iraqi parliament.
Obama sent the letter shortly after a failed attempt by Vice President Joe Biden to settle the dispute over the new government during a visit to Baghdad July 4, the report said.
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/obama-appeals-to-irans-top-...
Voor diegenen die niet weten wie is.
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_al-Sistani
Wife Of Lawyer In Stoning Case Released
The wife of Iranian lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who served as legal defense for a woman sentenced to death by stoning, has been released from prison
http://www.rferl.org/content/Wife_Of_Lawyer_In_Stoning_Case_Released/2121765.htm…
The Secret Letter. Mousavi exposes IRI killing expat opponents
Hidden away for more than 20 years, a mystery letter suddenly reappeared last week.
The letter, supposedly written by a Tehran insider turned opposition leader, was explosive: it alleged that Iran sponsors terrorism abroad.
Like a middle manager ignored by his bosses, the letter writer expressed frustration that he was kept in the dark about Iran’s involvement in events that he described as âoperations abroad.â
âAfter an airplane is hijacked, we are informed; After a machine gun opens fire on a street in Lebanon and its sound is heard, we learn about it; After explosives are found on our pilgrims in Jeddah, I am informed of it,â said the letter, allegedly written by Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the leader of the Green Movement that sparked massive protests after last yearâs fraudulent election.
http://www.iranian.com/main/2010/aug/secret-letter
The Islamic Republic Is Not Iran
âWe just donât get it. The Left in America is screaming to high heaven that the mess we are in, in Iraq and the war on terrorism has been caused by the right-wing and that George W. Bush, the so-called âdim-witted cowboy,â has created the entire mess. The truth is the entire nightmare can be traced back to the liberal democratic policies of the leftist Jimmy Carter, who created a firestorm that destabilized our greatest ally in the Muslim world, the shah of Iran, in favor of a religious fanatic, the ayatollah Khomeini.â â Michael Evans, Jerusalem Times, Jan 20, 2007
In 1979, the U.S. Government, notably, Jimmy Carter and company, with the help of its allied forces created the greatest Islamic terrorist nation on the face of the earth and the rise of Islamofascisim elsewhere. In fact, Jimmy Carter by his mere interference in another country betrayed the most valued friend the West ever had, the late Shah of Iran, and he is perhaps responsible for the formation of Islamic terrorism, not only in Iran, but around the world, including the United States. There have been more than 10,000 Islamic terrorist attacks since 9/11 with 60,000 dead and 90,000 injured.
âCarterâs pro Human Rights campaign shocked the foundations of many American allies including the late Shah of Iran who was running an ancient country with cultural and historical complications that needed time to be corrected.â
http://www.faithfreedom.org/articles/op-ed/the-islamic-republic-is-not-iran/
Ahmadinejadâs Govt Has Halted Iranâs Projects Waiting On Imam Mehdi, Mousavi
Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iranâs opposition leader has accused the government of the Iranian President Ahmadinejad of suspending government projects believing in the superstition of the arrival of the last Shiite Imam Mohammedi Mehdi, reported by several local and regional Media outlets last week.
âSome government officials have predicted the coming of Mahdi soon. Therefore, the government has halted working on several important projects,â said Mousavi.
Mousavi, leader of Iranâs so-called Green Movement, lost last yearâs highly disputed presidential elections to Ahmadinejad.
Since then, he as well as many others have not recognized Ahmadinejad as president believing that election results where changed by a massive fraud conducted by pro-Ahmadinejad circle including Iranâs supreme Leader Khamenei, who had supported Ahmadinejad.
âSome people believe Mahdi will come in the next six months or next year. That is why the government has stopped working on several industrial, as well as water and energy projects,â Mousavi ridiculed.
http://rudaw.net/english/news/iran/3086.html
Ray Close, Directorate of Operations, Near East Division, CIA (26 years)
Phil Giraldi, Directorate of Operations, CIA (20 years)
Larry Johnson, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA; Department of State, Department of Defense consultant (24 years)
W. Patrick Lang, Col., USA, Special Forces (ret.); Senior Executive Service: Defense Intelligence Officer for Middle East/South Asia, Director of HUMINT Collection, Defense Intelligence Agency (30 years)
Ray McGovern, US Army Intelligence Officer, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA (30 years)
Coleen Rowley, Special Agent and Minneapolis Division Counsel, FBI (24 years)
Ann Wright, Col., US Army Reserve (ret.), (29 years); Foreign Service Officer, Department of State (16 years)
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2010/080310c.html
Isa Saharkhiz Experiences Paresis in Prison
According to reports by the Iran Green Voice site, Imprisoned journalist Isa Saharkhiz is experiencing paresis (partial loss of movement) since Friday morning. Over the past year, Saharkhiz suffers from severe back pain and a heart condition, yet prison authorities refuse to allow a prison leave, even for a day, to receive treatment for his deteriorating health.
Saharkhiz was transferred from Evin to Rajai Shahr prison (I.e. Gohardasht prison) last year after the execution of a number of Kurdish citizens. Rajai Shahr prison is notorious for its inhumane conditions and prison officials are generally indifferent toward the health and well being of prisoners.
Paresis can lead to the paralysis of the entire face and body, thus it must be treated immediately under the supervision of specialists at a hospital. Paresis is a neurological disorder associated with severe pain in the area of the face. Even though the immediate transfer of Saharkhiz to a hospital would prevent the condition from spreading to his entire body, prison officials have remained indifferent about his dire physical condition.
http://persian2english.com/?p=13380
Isa Saharkhiz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isa_Saharkhiz
And earlier this year we could read in the Sunday Times of London: “Brigadier-General Uzi Eilam, 75, a war hero and pillar of the [Israeli] defence establishment, believes it will probably take Iran seven years to make nuclear weapons. The views expressed by the former director-general of Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission contradict the assessment of Israel’s defence establishment and put him at odds with political leaders.” [Sunday Times (London), January 10, 2010]
If any country in this world is a threat to use nuclear weapons with remarkably little regard for the consequences it’s Israel.
Martin van Creveld, an Israeli professor of military history and loyal Israeli citizen, remarked in 2002: “We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that this will happen before Israel goes under.” [Originally in the Dutch weekly magazine, Elsevier, April 27, 2002, pages 52-3; picked up in many other international publications]
Think of the scene near the end of “Dr. Strangelove a.k.a. Drs.G.B.J.” That’s Israel sitting astride the speeding nuclear bomb waving the cowboy hat.
http://consortiumblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/is-iran-like-iraq-asking-for-war.html
Amirkabir University Students to Launch Hunger Strike
Students at Amirkabir University released a statement to announce that they will launch a hunger strike on August 8th in solidarity with the political prisoner currently on hunger strike in Evin prison.
The following is the English translation of the statement:
Translation and editing by NEGAR IRANI and Persian2English.com
We salute and praise your perseverance & tenacity that has made life bitter for the ruling powers. We salute and praise the students who have once again proven that the university is alive in Evin prison. We salute and praise the journalists whose prose has become even stronger behind bars. We praise and salute the honorable Green thinkers of our nation.
In honor of the resilience and resistance demonstrated by our cherished loved ones, in particular our dear Majid Tavakoli and his colleagues, we will join them in a hunger strike that will begin on Sunday August 8th. We will continue our hunger strike in solidarity with the prisoners for as long as it takes. We call all Green students and Green citizens in Iran to join us and do everything in their power to support the prisoners of conscience who are on hunger strike now for 13 days.
http://persian2english.com/?p=13396
Zoll stoppt Siemens-Teile fĂŒr Reaktor Schalterkomponenten und Rechenmodule angeblich fĂŒr AKW Bushehr
MĂŒnchen – Der Zoll am Frankfurter Flughafen hat nach einem Bericht des Nachrichtenmagazins “Der Spiegel” die Lieferung von Siemens-AusrĂŒstung in den Iran verhindert. Die Schalter, Schalterkomponenten und Rechenmodule seien angeblich fĂŒr den Atomreaktor im iranischen Bushehr bestimmt gewesen, hieĂ es in dem Bericht. Sie hĂ€tten ĂŒber Moskau gehen sollen.
Die Siemens AG erklĂ€rte dazu auf Anfrage, sie halte an ihrem im JĂ€nner verkĂŒndeten RĂŒckzug aus dem NeugeschĂ€ft im Iran fest. Es gebe im Unternehmen keinerlei Anhaltspunkte, “dass gegen Bestimmungen verstoĂen wurde und dass es sich um eine direkte Lieferung von Siemens handelt”, betonte der fĂŒr das IrangeschĂ€ft zustĂ€ndige Siemens-Vorstand Siegfried Russwurm.
http://derstandard.at/1280984207256/Zoll-stoppt-Siemens-Teile-fuer-Reaktor
Iran launches four home-made submarines
Iran showed off four new domestically made small submarines on Sunday that Tehran said would bolster its defence capability as it vows to confront any military threat from countries opposed to its nuclear program.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3932104,00.html
Iran: Man accused of homosexuality to be executed
Islamic court convicts 18-year-old of sodomy, issues death sentence without presenting evidence or lawyer representation. Man admits to acts after allegedly being tortured
An Iranian court handed a death sentence to an 18-year-old man accused of homosexuality offences. The British newspaper Guardian reported on Sunday that the man was convicted of sodomy although no evidence was presented against him and his “victim” admitted of lying to the court.
According to the Report, Ebrahim Hamidi, who is not gay, was arrested two years ago along with three of his friends at a Tibliz suburb, after fighting with members of another family.
The prosecution accused the four of trying to “homosexually assault” another man. Three days later, Hamidi confessed to the crime, after allegedly undergoing torture. Hamidi’s friends were released after agreeing to testify against him.
An Islamic court convicted Hamidi of sodomy, although the victim admitted last month that he fabricated the claims because he was pressured by his family. In addition, the court did not present any evidence to substantiate the accusations against Hamidi, and his lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, was absent from the hearing after being forced to flee due to his involvement in Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s trial, who been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3931835,00.html
Iran: 11 hangings in the cities of Ahwaz, Esfahan, Behbahan, and Dezfoul
Major portion of hangings in recent weeks carried out in southern cities
NCRI – On Saturday, August 7, the inhumane clerical regime carried out yet another heinous act by collectively executing five prisoners at Karoun Prison in the southern city of Ahvaz. The state-run Fars news agency, affiliated with the regimeâs Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), identified the victims with their initials as âM. M.â âM. G.â âY. S.â âS. A.â and âA. R.,â claiming that they were charged with drug trafficking.(…)
Setting up gallows in various parts of Iran is done with the intention of spreading terror and fear in society and demonstrates the weakening regimeâs inability to confront growing protests and anger from the Iranian people.
http://ncr-iran.org/content/view/8656/1/