Iran: ties

Ali Shakeri is arrested on the same accusations as the other two, previous arrested Iranian-Americans. This was said by the daily Kayhan.
"Ali Shakeri's arrest, the third prosecution of 'Velvet Agents' in the past month, can reveal the hidden ties between opposition groups seeking to overthrow the regime and so-called reformists inside the country," wrote the conservative daily.
Shakeri was supposed to return to USA, after visiting relatives in Iran, beginning of May.




Frederic Fabre, director of Iran operations at Peugeot said that Peugeot is not leaving Iran..
He said that the company is expanding its strategic partnership with its important partner Iran Khodro Company (IKCO).
He referred to the successful launch of Peugeot 405, 206, and 206 sedan as the most recent fruit of its cooperation with IKCO.
The recent incidents were a misunderstanding and he added that Peugeot accompanied by a strong partner, IKCO, is building on this partnership, and sees no reason to establish on independent Peugeot plant in Iran.


The director of the Louvre Museum, Henri Loyrette, has said France welcomes the expansion of cultural and artistic ties with Iran.
He told this at the end of a three-day-trip to Iran to sign an agreement with Iran's National Museum officials for holding an exhibition of Iranian arts at the Louvre.
The exhibition is titled 'Iran's Culture, Art, and Civilization in the Safavid Dynasty' and set to open in October 2007'.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: national security

IRNA reported that during clashes between troops of the Revolutionary Guards and members of Pejak (PKK) in a mountainous area near the town of Salmas, near the Iranian-Turkish border, at least 12 people were killed of which five insurgents.



According to reports of ILNA, is on May 28 Mansour Osanloo sentenced to 5 years imprisonment by the 14th Branch of the Revolutionary Court for “acting against national security” and “propaganda against the system” .
Mansour Osanloo is the president of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company.

According to his lawyer, the verdict has been given on the phone to Osanloo’s other lawyer, but no official verdict has yet been given to Osanloo or his lawyers.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: endangering

In Zahedan, Sistan-e-Baluchistan province is a man, named S. Gh,alias Rahmatollah hanged for armed revolt, belonging to a terrorist group, bombing and assassinating four policemen. This was reported by Fars Newsagency.
Also four drugstraffickers are hanged for the smuggling of 600kg of opium in Birjand, Khorasan province.


Iran has lifted the ban on news network Al-jazeera.
The network apologised for the controversial talkshow, broadcasted May 6, during which a Shia cleric was insulted.

According to Mohsen Moqaddas Zadeh of the Ministry of Culture, the network officially apologized to Iran and made some changes at managerial level.


Iran has officially charged the three arrested Iranian-Americans for espionage.

Haleh Esfandiary,





Kian Tajbakhsh and






Parnaz Nazima




are charged with endangering national security through propaganda against the system and espionage for foreigners.
Ali Reza Jamshidi, judiciary spokesman said that no trial date has been announced and that the investigation against all three is continuing.



Iranian lawmakers passed a draft forbidding the production, sale and possession of killing tools, including sword, dagger and clasp knife.

If approved by the Guardians Council, the production, sale and possession of killing tools used in physical fights will be banned and violators will be sentenced from six months to two years in prison.




In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: reason(s)

Journalist Kaveh Javanmard, of the weekly Karfto was jailed for two years by a court in Sanandej (Iranian Kurdistan) on 17 May and will serve his sentence at a prison in the northern town of Maragheh, more than 300 km from his family home.
He was tried in secret and was not allowed to have a lawyer.


The weekly Ayaran was shut down May 21 by court officials in the southeastern province of Sistan-o-Baluchistan and will be prosecuted for printing statements by Sunni leaders that were “inaccurate” and “likely to inflame the public” and “spread separatist ideas".




The French-Iranian journalism student Mehrnoushe Solouki is banned from leaving the country.
February 17 she was arrested in Tehran and brought to Evinprison for filming the families of the victims of violence in the 1980s in the aftermath of the war between Iran and Iraq.
Her films and notes were confiscated and after paying €80,000 bail, she was released March 19.
But her passport was retained.


Students of Amir Kabir university in Tehran announced that they will hold a rally on campus on Monday calling on authorities to release seven of their arrested fellow pupils.





In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: networks

Nurali Tabandeh (aka Majzub Ali Shah), the sufileader of the Nematollah Gonabadi order is released after his arrest on May 21.
After his arrest in Gonabad, he was forcibly taken to Tehran and released.
Tabandeh had refused to leave his city of birth different times.




The Intelligence Ministry said that Iran has uncovered several spy networks working for "occupying forces in Iraq and certain Iraqi groups".
This was announced in a broadcast by Iranian state-television. The broadcast did not elaborate, saying further details would be published within days.
The White House said it does not confirm nor deny allegations about intelligence matters.
Last month Iran had captured 10 men crossing the country's eastern border, with $500,000 in cash, maps of sensitive Iranian locations and modern spying equipment. No other details were available.
Also Iran arrested five Iranian-Americans.
One American is missing in Iran since March.



There is an online petition which asks the release of Kian Tajbakhsh.
The address of the petition is hier.

Kian Tajbakhsh was arrested May 11 and since then he is detained without charge in Evinprison.





In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: criticising

In Fars province, two men, were sentenced to death by being thrown of a cliff.This was reported by the daily Iran.
The men were identified only by their first names Tayyeb and Yazdan. They were accused of rape.



Human Rights Watch reported the disappearance of another US citizen believed to have been detained during a visit to Iran.
Ali Shakeri is a businessman from Irvine, California, who has not been heard from since he left for the airport.
Hadi Ghaemi, Iran analyst for Human Rights Watch, says that Mr Shakeri probably is arrested.
According to friends Shakeri made one call from Tehran to his family to say he had been detained.
Familymembers went to the airport and were told his luggage had been pulled from the plane's cargo and his ticket had been cancelled.
According to Ghaemi, they haven't seen this kind of kidnapping for a decade , if so, they have taken many steps backwards."



Amnesty International has called an urgent action for release of Mohammad Hassan Fallahiya, a journalist, who is sentenced to three years of imprisonment for criticising the Iranian government.
Since November 2006 he is in jail in Evinprison.He suffers from sickle cell anaemia,and has a heartcondition. He is reportedly being denied medical treatment.





On the blog Inside Iran is a log with photographs about police brutalities during the 'bad hijab' action in Tehran. Ordinary people, walking in an ordinary street.
The photos have been made by an anonymous photographer.





















In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: report(er)

In Sistan-e-Baluchistan are two men hanged.
Ali Khashi is hanged in the central prison in the town of Iranshahr for drugs trafficking.
Abdolhagh Askani was hanged in public for armed robbery and 'banditism'.




Amnesty International has published her annual report 2007.

This report clearly shows that the human rights situation deteriorated, with civil society facing increasing restrictions on fundamental freedoms of expression and association.




At Iranfocus one can see a videoclip which shows the police brutality at the 'moralization'campaign in Iran.
The clip has been made with a mobile phone.



The correspondent from Radio Farda Parnaz Azima is still being hold by authorities in Iran.
She was not returned her passport, although she and her family paid the $440,000 bail.
Her lawyer says the bail was “unprecedented” in Iran and the case against Azima has no basis.
The prosecutor’s office has called Radio Farda an organization that “spreads propaganda against the Islamic Republic".



In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: much, more, most

Kian Tajbakhsh, 45, an independent consultant, a.o. working for U.S. philanthropist George Soros' Open Society Institute and the World Bank, has been arrested by the Iranian government.
The US-government has confirmed that three other Iranian-Americans are also in Iranian custody.
It is said that Iran is holding the detainees in a bid to get five Iranians imprisoned by US forces in Iraq released.

Photo: website Kian Tajbakhsh


Traffic Police Chief Brigadier Mohammad Royanian said 50 mln tickets on average are issued in Tehran annually for drivers who violate traffic rules.
He also said only 22% of the drivers admit that they have violated traffic regulations when they are fined by the police.
After a ticket is handed over by police officers, 78% of drivers either insult or threaten or try to bribe or bargain.
About the traffic in Tehran he said three million cars are plying the Tehran streets, which has the capacity of only one million cars.
Yearly 40mln tickets are issued for reckless drivers.
The police is currently negotiating with the judiciary for a judicial permit to arrest drivers who jeopardize their life and that of others by reckless driving and send them to court.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: trigger_off

Iran arrested 15 people in Tabriz, East-Azerbaijanprovince for calling to demonstrate to mark the anniversary of the publication of a cartoon offensive to the Azeri minority and Weeks of unrest followed.
The Azeri form an ethnic minority in Iran, living in East and West Azerbaijan provinces.
Newsagency ISNA reported that t the individuals arrested in East Azarbaijan province were inspired by foreign agents.



During the third phase of the police plan to promote social security, high risk and injection addicts are being rounded up by the police.
Secretary-General of Drug Control Headquarters Brigadier Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqaddam said that high-risk addicts will be rounded up in Tehran as of May 22 and in other provinces as of June 22,
50,000 addicts will be collected and treated every month while 300,000 high-risk addicts are estimated to be treated by the end of the current Iranian year



Gasolineprices in Iran jumped with 25% Tuesday. Also the government made the announcement it will begin rationing fuel in two weeks.
These measures are certainly not going to rise the popularity of the government of president Ahmadinejad.
The cost of housing has doubled and prices for basic goods such as vegetables have tripled since last summer.
Last Sunday the government had said it would not increase fuel prices "at the moment." So drivers were shocked Tuesday morning to find gasoline prices were raised overnight.



In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: crackdown

Pictures of the crackdown against 'thugs', young criminals and youth , can be seen here, here, here and here .


Haleh Esfandiari is accused of trying to establish a network that would work “against the sovereignty of the country.”.
She allegedly worked together with USA based organizations, whose goal is to foment a velvet revolution.
According to a statement from the Iranian Intelligence Service, these organizations are under the umbrella of such titles as democracy, human rights, trying to overthrow the Iranian government.


Prominent Iranian Sufi leader Nurali Tabandeh (aka Majzub Ali Shah) was detained today by security forces on the outskirts of the city of Gonabad.
Last October 300 security forces surrounded Tabandeh's Gonabad residence after he refused to leave his city of birth.
The reasons for the arrest of Tabandeh, a leader of the Nematollahi Gonabadi dervish order, are still unclear.
Tabandeh's arrest has upset many supporters, who have said they will peacefully protest his arrest and call for his release.



Iran has carried out an operation aimed at the Danish based, Kurdish station Roj TV .
Thousand of satellitedishes enabling Iranian Kurds to watch the channelhave been confiscated and those found in possession of the reception equipment could end up in court and liable for a $5,500 fine or imprisonment.
Roj-tv is closely tied with PKK.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: necessary need?

The Iranian police have arrested more than 1,000 "thugs" in a new morality crackdown.
This doings led to widespread criticism especially about the handling of arrestants.
In some cases the perpetrator was paraded through the streets, and pictures by Fars newsagency and several dailies showed a man, barefoot and stripped to the waist, with two plastic watering cans used for lavatory ablutions round his neck, being grabbed by a police officer.
Sarmayeh, a reformist economic daily, said in its headline that "putting a watering can around the neck of criminals has no legal justification."
Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a human rights lawyer,told the press that according to the constitution, no authority has the right to take away people's legal freedoms.


The construction of a ventilation system for the metro and the establishment of a station in Tehran threatens a schoolbuilding from 1936, Anoushirvan High School, which was registered on the national heritage list in 2002.
The ventilationsystem will be located in the yard of the school and for installing the system over an area of 18 meters long and three meters wide, the school wall should be demolished.
Experts believe that the project will damage the foundation and the main façade of the structure.

Female members of the moderate Hezbeh Mosharekat Eslami (the Party of Islamic Cooperation) founded by the brother of former reformist president Mohammad Khatami have abandoned the party and plan to found a new party.
The women, including member of the direction of Mosharekat, Fatemeh Rakei, have announced the upcoming constitution of the new party to be called 'Society of Islamic women of the new vision'.
They say to have abandoned Khatami's party for being sexist.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: chemistry

40,000 victims of chemical weapons live in Iran. 85% of these war veterans from Iraq-Iranwar from 1980-1988 suffer from mild symptoms of diseases, only 100 patients are in very critical conditions.
Research has shown that it takes 10 to 15 years for a chemical disease to advance from a mild stage to a moderate or serious stage.
Referring to pulmonary impairment as the most widespread problem among chemical victims, Director of the Center Dealing With Chemical Victims, Mostafa Qanei said that many chemical victims are also suffering from eye, nerve and mental impairments.
The past 20 years there has been much research in Iran by Iranian doctors, resulting in great progress in treating the diseases of chemical victims.



A judiciary official in Hormuzgan province told according to IRNA that vehicles, vessels, houses and stores used by smugglers of alcoholic drinks according to the law will be seized.
All the vessels and vehicles used for transporting alcoholic drinks will be confiscated and sold in tenders. Revenues will go to the state treasury.
Nobody can lodge an appeal against the confiscated properties, also he pointed out that smugglers of alcoholic drinks will be fined at least 300,000 rials per liter.
According to him the demand for alcoholic drinks has declined in the last few years.


It looks like Iranian society ignores the governments' moralization campaign.
Adnkronos reports that police says that thousands of satellite dishes have been confiscated, nevertheless most Iranians have managed to appear to ignore.
Thousands of women are addressed for "mal-veiling", are fined or have to appear in court.
Hundreds of people are fined for listening to western music or for walking a dog, banned in public places in Iran as considered impure by Islam.
So far the campaign only produced disrupt, f.i. at universities.
In Tehran, as in all major cities, few people seem willing to change their habits although many are being more cautious about hiding them.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl