South Florida Sun-Sentinel: On Dec. 20, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning human rights abuses in Iran, citing the crackdown on media, use of torture and discrimination against women. The resolution further demonstrates the international community's awareness of the Iranian regime's atrocities. This fundamentalist government's violations of human rights have been well-documented over 50 times by the United Nations and other groups.Legitimate resistance can prevail
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: On Dec. 20, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning human rights abuses in Iran, citing the crackdown on media, use of torture and discrimination against women. The resolution further demonstrates the international community's awareness of the Iranian regime's atrocities. This fundamentalist government's violations of human rights have been well-documented over 50 times by the United Nations and other groups.Iran to resume uranium enrichment
Al-Jazeera: Irans senior nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, said that Tehran will continue uranium enrichment and that its freeze on the process will not last long. The Hamshari newspaper quoted Rowhani as saying that "The length of the suspension will not be very long and will be valid for the duration of the negotiations and only on the condition that the negotiations make progress."
Iran says seized boats belong in museum
Reuters: Three British naval boats confiscated by Iran's military last June must go to Iran's war museum, rather than be returned as London has demanded, a senior military official has said. Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized the three boats last June and arrested eight British crewmen, accusing themof straying into Iranian waters in the Shatt al-Arab waterway which divides southwestern Iran from Iraq.
Iran worker hangs self amid government crackdown
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jan. 31 A worker from Iran's "Foumanat Textiles" factory attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself inside the factory but was prevented when a fellow worker cut the rope aroundhis neck.
Ahmad Agahi, the spokesperson for workers in the factory based in
the town of Fouman (northern Gilan province), told a state-run news agency yesterday that poverty and social pressures were what
brought the man to commit suicide.
Bam prosecutor files charges against daily in Iran
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jan. 30 - In a letter to Tehrans prosecutor, his counterpart in the earthquake-stricken city of Bam(southern Iran) filed a complaint against Sharq daily for publishing an article about the spread of corruption in the ancient city following the December 26, 2003 earthquake ...
At polls in Iran, voters hope for victory for Islam
USA TODAY: Here in the theological hub of Shiite Islam for the past quarter-century, thousands of Iraqis who fled the regimeof Saddam Hussein voted Sunday for candidates who they hope will make Iraq a more Islamic state. "I'm very happy if Islam gets the biggest victory," said Zohour Aziz Ansar, 56, who came to Qom from the Iraqi Shiite city of Karbala 23 years ago.
Rice criticizes actions of Iran, Syria in Iraq
AFP: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern Sunday over the actions of Iran and Syria in neighboring Iraq, saying the two countries have not been helpful. "We certainly are concerned by the role that Iran has tried to play in Iraq," Rice said in an interview with the ABC television program "This Week." Officials: U.S. Rebuffs Europe on Iran Nuke Talks
Reuters: The United States has rebuffed pleas to join a European diplomatic drive to persuade Iran to give up any ambitions to add nuclear bombs to its arsenal, U.S. officials and foreign diplomats say. For months, Britain, France and Germany have hoped to improve their bargaining power with the Islamic republic by involving Washington in a proposed accord over an end to its uranium enrichment activities.U.S., Gulf States Review Iran Nuclear 'Threat'
Reuters: The United States and Gulf Arab states are discussing ways of pressuring Iran over a perceived threat from Tehran's nuclear and missile program, the top U.S. diplomat in charge of disarmament said Sunday.
U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton told reporters in Bahrain
he was trying to coordinate policies on Iran with its Gulf Arab neighbors, and that Washington sought a "peaceful and diplomatic solution."
Focus: Only Iraqi democracy for Iran
Sunday Times: Democracy came to Iran last week, but unfortunately for the budding reformists who dream of ending theocratic rule in Tehran, the ballot boxes were Iraqi. The lines of men and women outside polling stations were expatriates casting early votes for a new government in Baghdad. More than 60,000 exiled Iraqis have registered to vote in Iran, which is watching todays elections with a mixture of caution and avarice. Egyptian charged as spy for Iran
BBC: A Cairo court has charged an Egyptian national with spying for Iran. Prosecutors said Mahmoud Eid Muhammad Dabbous was paid by the Revolutionary Guard to provide information about a number of locations in Egypt. Mr Dabbous pleaded not guilty and said Egyptian intelligence had tortured him while he was in detention. Iran Has Stake in Namibia Uranium Mine, Says Owner
Reuters: Iran, which the United States accuses of secretly pursuing nuclear weapons, has a stake in the world's biggest open-pit uranium mine in the African state of Namibia, the mine's owner told Reuters.
Rossing Uranium Limited, which is majority owned by Anglo-Australian firm Rio Tinto, sells its uranium to nuclear power plants in the United States, Japan, South Korea and Sweden.
Sen. Biden, Iran Minister Clash Over Nukes
AP: Sen. Joseph Biden and Iran's foreign minister clashed Friday over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, with Biden hinting at the possibility of armed conflict unless fears of an Iranian weapons program were put to rest. The rare and frank public exchange between a senior American politician and a ranking member of the Iranian government came at a dinner during the World Economic Forum held in this Alpine resort town. Military group reports to Iran Qods Force commander
Iran Focus: Baghdad, Jan. 29 Sources within the Iranian Resistance told Iran Focus that they had obtained a secret report sent from an insurgent group operating in Iraq to a senior commander of Iran's Qods (Jerusalem) Force.
The latest revelation comes after another classified document was obtained by the Resistance from within Iran's intelligence and security apparatus earlier this month confirming insurgents' links to Iran.
Iran's Khamenei warns EU it may reconsider nuclear cooperation
AFP: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned European powers Saturday that they must take their nuclear negotiations with Iran seriously, otherwise Tehran will reconsider its cooperation. "The Europeans negotiating with Iran should know that they are dealing with a great, cultured nation... if Iranian officials feel that there is no seriousness in the European negotiations, the process will change," ...Halliburton Will Withdraw From Energy Projects in Iran
New York Times: The chief executive of Halliburton said on Friday that the company would withdraw all employees from Iran and end its business activities there after its Iranianenergy exploration contracts came under criticism this month. Halliburton, the nation's largest energy- and military-services company, plans to cease dealings in Iran when it completes
its present commitments, David J. Lesar, Halliburton's chief executive, told investors on a conference call.
Iran embassy official arrested in Baghdad
Iran Focus: Baghdad, Jan. 29 An official from Iran's embassy in Baghdad was arrested by Iraq's security apparatus. Heydar Javaheri was gathering intelligence under the cover of an economic attaché in the Iranian embassy. He admitted to having illegally entered the country from Iran using fake travel documents after the fall of the previous regime.Schroeder urges Iran to renounce military use of nuclear power
AFP: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Friday urged Iran to completely renounce military use of nuclear power, but emphatically ruled out the use of force to ensure that Iran complies with international demands.
"We are most decisively in favour of the fact that Iran completely gives up military use of nuclear power, forever if at all possible," Schroeder told global political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum.
Journalist has spent 5,000 days in prison
Reporters Without Borders: Reporters Without Borders strongly condemned the hounding by the authorities of Taghi Rahmani, who since 1981 has spent a total of 5,000 days in prison, sentenced each time in connection with his journalistic work. Rahmani has been in jail this time for 19 months without charge and the worldwide press freedom organisation called on the Iranian authorities for his immediate and unconditional release.
Halliburton to Wind Down Iran Operations
AP: The oil services conglomerate Halliburton Co. will wind down its operations in Iran and seek to separate its engineering and construction subsidiary KBR from the parent, chairman and CEO Dave Lesar said Friday. Lesar made the disclosures Friday to analysts in a conference call after the ...U.S. warns EU firms to stay away from Iran-diplomats
Reuters: The United States, determined to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons, is piling pressure on European firms to stop them doing business with Tehran, diplomats say.
In turn this is making it harder for Europe to offer Iran economic incentives to persuade it to abandon nuclear processes that could be used to build weapons.
UN Urges Iran to Halt Execution of Young Offenders
Reuters: A United Nations human rights body called on Iran on Friday to abolish the death penalty as well as amputation, flogging and stoning for people who committed crimes as minors. The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child "deplored" the fact that during its three-week session an Iranian was executed for a killing carried out when he was ...Time to confront Iran Threat
European Voice: The West needs a radical new approach to confront the growing threat posed by the theocratic regime in Iran, as it relentlessly pursues its regional and global ambitions. Tehran remains the worlds most active state sponsor of terrorism, continues its destructive meddling in Iraq, and tops the list of states bent on nuclear proliferation. There are good reasons to mistrust the hardline ayatollahs ruling Iran. In Iraq, they have organized a Shiite list for the upcoming parliamentary elections, counting on terrorism and chaos to derail the democratic process, discredit ... Iran smuggling weapons to mercenaries, Lebanese insurgents
Iran Focus: Baghdad, Jan. 28 Iran is secretly transporting weaponry to Lebanese insurgents and its own agents carrying out operations throughout Iraq, according to a Kuwaiti daily. Al-Siasa (Politics) revealed, "The weapons, to be used by Iranian agents and terrorists in Iraq, are being transported by mercenaries via Syria".
