Iran: The Netherlands rules out Iranian students

December 20, UT nieuws, online university magazine from Universiteit Twente, reported that on behalf of Immigratie en Naturalisatie Dienst (IND), which department hands out visa, students from Iran only can study in The Netherlands, when universities guarantee, such student has no access to knowledge about nuclear technology.

Of course universities cannot guarantee this.
Everybody, all over the world, can find these things on internet, for instance on the site of Technical University Delft.
The search phrase "nuclear technology "returns hits already.


The Technical Universities of Delft and Eindhoven got similar requests by the IND.
This means study in The Netherlands is a No Go-area for Iranian students.
The number of Iranians who want to study in The Nederlands is not very high. This year Twente University got 3 applications.
The current total of Iranian students in The Netherlands is five, these persons have a permit.
University Twente says that things won't change for them; the new rules don't apply.

Parliamentarians of the Socialist Party (SP) asked the government about this new rule.
On the weblog of SP-member Harry van Bommel you can read the questions(Dutch).


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: decision

45,000 inspectors will supervise elections for the next Majlis in Iran in March.
Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Hossein Mousapour said on Saturday that safeguarding people’s votes and holding healthy elections are among the government’s priorities.
He said that per law the Interior Ministry is duty-bound to organize elections in a healthy manner.Therefore, the Central Election Inspection Headquarters will be based at the Interior Ministry and affiliated headquarters will be based in all polling stations.
The inspectors will start activities on January 1.


Shell delayed again the decision to seal a lucrative oil deal with Iran to participate to develop two phases of Iran’s South Pars gas field.
In January both Shell and Spanish Repsol undersigned a preliminary deal to develop the South Pars gas field.
Shell announced then it might need a year to proceed, but insiders say that Shell is "still 12 months away from a decision".Also the pressure on companies not to do business with Iran is a factor.
Meanwhile other rivals seek to seal energy contracts.
Tehran has called on all companies interested in investing in the country’s energy sector to submit their plans by June.


Iran has despite other reports, not closed her borders with Pakistan.
Governor of Iran's province of Sistan-Baluchestan, described the situation of that province, as well as other areas bordering Pakistan, as normal.
The internetedition of Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported that Iran closed the border with Pakistan due to clashes following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.



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: worries

Reporters without Borders published a pressrelease in which she is extremely worried about the health of journalist and human rights activist Emadoldin Baghi, who was rushed to hospital after suffering a double heart attack on 26 December.
He was returned to a general wing of the prison Friday.
Baghi has been held in solitary confinement in Evin for the past 74 days.
His lawyer is afraid he will not survive another heart attack.


Fishing on shrimps is banned in the waters of Khuzestan province.
The ban has been made in order to prevent the fishers from harming the shrimp sources as well as to support the stable exploitation of sea and its related employments.
It also is forbidden to have shrimp fishing instruments on board so fishermen have to empty their crafts from instruments of shrimp fishing.

The annually Shrimp production rate is 500 to 1000 tons in Khuzestan.



In the first 8 months of current Iranian calendaryear 10,400,000,000 dollars of various commodities were exported. This shows an increase by 12.6 percent in comparison with that of past year.
Fresh or dried pistachio were the main export commodity with 689,400,000 dollars accounting for 6.9 percent of the whole value of exported commodities. The next commodity is liquefied propane with 688,000,000 dollars and liquefied butane was at the third position with 458,000,000 dollars of exports’ value.
In this period of time 26.035,000 tons of commodities valued at 29,280,000,000 dollars have been imported to Iran. This is an increase by 4 percent in weight and 9.9 percent in value in comparison with that of past year.


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: children

Stop Child Execution asks attention for a 19-year-old boy Ali, who is convicted of murdering a 8 year old boy called Ahmad, after rape in semi completed building 2 years ago. Ali has confessed to the crime. He was 17 years of age at the time. A court in Tehran sentenced him to death and the sentence has been confirmed by Iran's supreme court, and about to be carried out.
According to the newspaper Iran a boy, called Mohsen on the execution row , was pardoned by the victim's family on Christmas day at the age of 18.
Mohsen was accused of killing his brother's friend 3 years ago , at the age of 15, during a soccer game after the alleged victim and his younger brother get in to a fight. He was consequently sentenced to death by hanging. The verdict was approved by Iran's superior court but the file was sent to the mediation committee which resulted in pardon by victim's family on December 25, 2007.


December 24 is Sina Paymard after 3,5 years in prison and paying $160,000 bloodmoney, freed.
He was sentenced to death after stabbing a drugsdealer in a park in Tehran. He was then 17-year-old.
In July 2006, 2 weeks after his 18th birtday he was about to be executed, but fullfilling his last wish, he was allowed to play the flute. The victims family were very moved by his playing, and agreed not to have him executed.
n July 2007 he was taken to be executed a second time and after urgent call by Sina's attorney, Stop Child Executions Campaign contacted Amnesty International, UN and Canadian Government which lead to immediate objections by UN, Canada and other countries.
After mediation by UNESCO office in Tehran and human rights activists in Iran such as Mr. Emad Baghi, the alleged victim's family agreed to delay the execution for 10 days which eventually lead to forgiveness in return for payment of diyeh (blood money).
The family of the victim received $ 160,000 in retributions and Sina was taken to prison pending the court order about the length of imprisonment. After the court determined the prison sentence of Sina was three and half years and he already had served the same number of years in prison he was eventually released on December 24, 200


This year 6 children are executed by Iran and as far as known at the moment, there are 81 childoffenders on deathrow.
This number may be even higher as according to reports, at least a further 15 Afghan child offenders may be under sentence of death.
According to the recent statistics provided by an Iranian police official about 170 children can be facing execution in Iran.


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

Iran: fear

The ancient city of Bam was hit by a mild earthquake almost four years to the day after a catastrophic quake there killed tens of thousands of people. The earthquake had a 4.2-magnitude.
There were no reports of any casualty or damage to property caused by the quake.
Thursdaymorning, an eartquake measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale hit suburbs of Ravar, in Kerman province.
No damages were reported.


According to newsagency ISNA the journalist and human rights defender Emadedin Baghi was rushed into hospital Wednesday.
His wife said in a telephone interview Wednesday that her husband had called her in the morning from prison and sounded as if he was barely conscious.
The general director of prisons in Tehran Province, said that Mr. Baghi was taken to a hospital but was expected to return to prison Wednesday evening.
The lawyer of Mr. Baghi was turned away in the morning by prison officials who said Mr. Baghi was being interrogated.
Although prison officials had promised Mrs. Baghi that her husband would call her back Wednesday, she said he had not called as of late Wednesday evening.


According to Ciamak Morsathegh, who heads the Tehran Jewish Committee,the recent immigration of 40 Iranian Jews in Israel is a misinformation campaign and that Jews living in the Islamic Republic were not endangered.
Tuesday, a group of 40 Iranian Jews landed in Israel after a secret journey. In Israel, the broadcasters did not show their faces because there was concern that publicity could lead to retaliation against their Jewish relatives or friends still in Iran.
Morsateghi says that because of this he could not confirm that 40 Iranian Jews landed in Israel.
A joint statement signed by Morsathegh and Morris Motamed, the only Jewish lawmaker in the Iranian parliament, also said the Iranian Jews have never been part of any "organized immigration" to Israel.



IRNA reported Wednesday that Iranian Securityforces killed three drugssmugglers in Kerman province.
Also 132 kg of narcotics were confiscated.
A local security officer said that these people, in addition to smuggling drugs, used to create fear among people.
The newsagency also described them as "rebels" without elaborating.
Tourists visiting southeastern Iran have been advised not to travel at night in the area.




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: substitute

In the city of Kazeroun is Monday a man hanged in public.
The man, Abouzar was convicted for murdering his wife two years ago.



Four former Iranian officials, including one who held a key oil ministry position and an ex-customs director, have been jailed for up to five years for taking bribes and embezzlement.
Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi said that a sales executive of Iran Khodro,who is convicted to eight months in jail and a fine of 100 million rials and a former state bank employee were included, but declined to give their names.
He also said that a former employee of an oil ministry unit for legal affairs involved in contracts was jailed for four years and fined a total of around $700,000 on charges of accepting bribes and commissions.
A former deputy head of a Bank Mellat branch was sentenced to five years imprisonment and fined $47,000.The former customs official was jailed and was fined 230 million rials.
He did not say where the four convicted ex-officials held office.


The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs said Sunday that moving the capital of Iran from Tehran to another province is on the agenda of the Housing Council.
He said this could solve the problem of emigration from small towns to Tehran and to solve the unemployment, housing, social, and cultural problems.
Also seismologists have urged the government to move the capital out of Tehran.
They say that the city, which lies on at least 100 known fault lines, could be hit by a major earthquake.


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: pelusa, fluff

Legendary Argentinean soccer player Diego Maradona says he wants to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He said this to an Iranian diplomat when he handed him an autographed T-shirt.
Maradona, a critic of President Bush said that the Iranian people are in his heart and he told that he already met Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez,and likes to meet President Ahmadinejad.
The shirt will be sent to Tehran Museum of Presents of Foreign Affairs Ministry to be showcased publicly.








Iranian police detained 28 youth during a party in Shahrud (10 boys and 18 girls).
Also 10 liter of alcohol was confiscated. The arrested were according to local police wearing "inappropriate and repulsive" clothing.
They did not say when it happened.





Sales of live poultry have been banned in Tehran to prevent the outbreak of bird-related diseases.
Fars reported that the deputy head of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences however underlined that no case of bird flu has been reported across the country.
The threat of bird flu has not yet been removed.
Preventive measures have been taken to halt the spread of H5N1 virus in border areas.


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: spreading

Iran increased gasrations for private cars for the next four months from 100 liter monthly till 120 liters monthly.
The average daily consumption over six months was showing a 22 percent fall in comparison with the same period in the previous year.
A liter of petrol costs 11 cents in Iran, which is less than the cost of a liter mineral watef.



Saturday, Tehran's police held a crackdown on suppliers of illegal DVD movies and other videos .
At least 60 people got arrested. According to Tehrans police chief Ahmad Reza Radan the confiscated material included discs containing decadent and immoral videos as well as movies that are currently being screened.
The lack of an enforceable copyright law in Iran has made it easy for illegal distributors of movies to sell them on DVDs before they are even shown in the cinemas.
Tehran police chief for public security said that more than 300,000 discs containing illegal materials have been confiscated.



On the website Roozonlineis an interview from the parents of Ali Azizi who was arrested November 4.
Ali Azizi is a student at Amir Kabir university and member of the leadership of Iran’s largest student organization, Daftar-e Tahkim Vahdat.
After his arrest he was transferred to Evin prison ward 209 where he spent weeks in solitary confinement.
December 17 his parents were allowed to visit him.
He told his father that he was not tortured and that he had been transferred from solitary confinement to the general ward of the prison, and that his interrogation phase had ended .


Human Rights Watch published a statement in which they call for the immediate release of Jelve Javaheri and Maryam Hosseinkhah , who were arrested on charges related to their writings in support of women and the OneMillionSignatures Campaign and Hana Abdi and Ronak Safarzadeh,who were arrested in Kurdestan province, on charges of endangering national security.

The newspaper Etemad Melli reported that Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi has protested at the high bail sums demanded for Jelve Javaheri($57.000) and Maryam Hosseinkhah($107.000), by the court on December 18 and 19.
She said that despite the fact that they have not committed a crime, the bail sums are too high.
The trial against Javaheri over her March protests was hold on Sunday in the absence of Ebadi.


The same newspaper also reported that journalist Mohammad Javad Rooh has been sentenced to 35 lashes for "insults and spreading lies" over an article about a court verdict against a writer in 2003.
His lawyer Abdolfatah Soltani says that in this article, Rooh criticises the views of a political camp which supports cultural control and censorship, but the judge who gave the verdict claims he was insulted. The lawyer goes in appeal.


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: suspicious

Ex-president Khatami told Saturday the residents of the city of Tabriz that arbitrarily banning candidates was against Iran's constitution and Islam.
Khatami, who voiced similar criticism earlier this month, was referring to threats made by Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council, Iran's constitutional watchdog.
Jannati, said in early December that any candidate determined by the Guardian Council to be disloyal to the principles of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution would be barred from parliamentary elections in March.
Reformists are trying to form a grand coalition with independent groups in the hope of winning the upcoming elections. However, disqualification of prominent reformists could dash their hopes of retaking control of the parliament.

The wife of Robert Levinson said Saturday that she has been unable to find out what happened to her husband despite visiting Kish island where he was last seen. She retraced his steps and met with airport officials and members of the hotel staff where he stayed before he disappeared.
Gouvernment spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters Saturday that the Iranian government had no information proving that Levinson had gone missing while visiting Kish.


Seven students who were returning from pilgrimage to the city of Qom have been killed in a passenger bus crash.
Two passenger buses collided on the road to the city of Damghan . Twenty-nine people were also injured in the deadly crash, three of whom are reportedly in critical condition.
Officials have confirmed that driver fatigue was suspected to be the main cause of the accident.





Ehsan Mansouri, Majid Tavakoli and Ahmad Ghassaban were still in jail on Saturday after failing to raise bail from 85,000 dollars each.
They are in prison since May for insulting Islam by publishing anti-Islamic images in four student reformist newspapers and were sentenced to three years in jail.
For this they were acquitted in appeal, but the court uphold the only outstanding charge against them, which is insulting the leader.


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: punishment

The imprisoned Iranian trade union leader Mahmoud Salehi was rushed into hospital. According to Amnesty International he was delivered unconscious to the hospital in Sanandaj on December 11. He suffers from a heart disease and chronic kidney disease, for which he requires dialysis. According to the Committee in Defence for Mahmoud Salehi,he was returned to prison December 16, despite being extremely ill.
On http://amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=386 calls Amnesty International for urgent action to release Salehi immediately or to ensure he urgently receives appropriate medical treatment.


December 16 is Ebrahim Madadi, vice president of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company,released.
He was charged with “acting against national security by gathering outside Mansour Osanloo’s residence”. According to his lawyer he is acquitted of this charge. He however spent since August 9th, totally unjustly in jail for these charges.
Reza Dehghan, member of the Founding Committee of the Syndicate of Building 's Painters and Decoration's Workers, is released after paying bail of 50,000,000 toman.
He was arrested November 18.


A top cleric in Iran, Hojatolislam Gholam Reza Hassani said on Wednesday that women in Iran who do not wear the hijab should die.
The imam, who leads Friday prayers in the city of Urumieh, and is the representative of the Supreme Leader Ayatolla Ali Khamenei in eastern Azerbaijan, said that he does not understand that these women 30 years after the Islamic Revolution, are still alive.
He said that these women and their husbands and their fathers must die.
Thousands of women in Iran have already been warned this year for their "un-Islamic dress".

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: imprinted

Iran's largest gasoline supplier, Swiss-based oil company Vitol, is planning to end its contract with the country in the coming year.
Reuters reports that Vitol has made the decision because it had made a loss of an estimated $70 million for the calendar year 2007 . The source did not mention any political considerations.
About 60 percent of the gasoline needs of Iran are met by Vitol.



According to Civil Aviation spokesman Reza Ja'farzadeh Iran will add 130 passenger planes to its fleet . He told IRIB that despite US pressure on its aviation industry, Iran is determined to purchase the aircraft and authorities are preparing the way for the purchases which will take place over a ten-year period. The planes are Tupolev models which are manufactured by Russia's Gorbunov Company.



The journalist Yaghub Salaki Nia is released against paying a bail of 80.000Euro.
He was arrested October 31.
Adl Mazri, editor of the newspaper Sobh e Zahedan, was released on 12 December, four days after being summoned and arrested. He is now awaiting trial. The charges are publishing false information and disturbing public opinion.
The wherabouts of Omid Ahamadzadeh, who contributed for Aso and Didgah,two newspapers that have been suspended since 2005. is still unknown. He was arrested November 28.
Abolfazl Abedini Nasr of the daily Bahar Khozestan has been charged with “complicity with a terrorist entity.” .He was arrested November 13 in Ahwaz city and is suspected of links with someone responsible for a bombing.
Said Matinpour of the weekly Yarpagh has meanwhile been allowed to receive a visit from his family for the first time since his arrest on 28 May.



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: reconsider

According to the daily Iran are Wednesday 3 men and one woman hanged in Evinprison.
The men, Qasem Yaqoubi, 29-year-old Reza, and 28-year-old Erfan were accused of murder and rape.
The woman, Zahra had been found guilty of poising her husband to death.



Thursday are 18 members of the Jundallahgroup killed or arrested by Iranian police. General Ghaffari, provincial policecommander in Sistan-e-Baluchestan province. said arms, explosives, communication equipment and documents were seized, showing that the Jundallahgroup were planning attacks with foreign back-up.
The daily Iran says that members of the group were hiding in the city of Iranshahr and they planned to assassinate provincial officials.

Ehsan Mansouri, Majid Tavakoli and Ahmad Ghassaban students of Amir Kabir university, who were sentenced to three years in prison for publishing anti-islamic images in four student newspapers.were acquitted of some charges by the Tehran public court and they were given new four-month terms, which means they will be released on Saturday.
Their detention led to fierce studentprotests in the previous months.


The ban on exporting shrimps to the European Union has been lifted.
The European ban on shrimps was made five years ago.
According to Managing Director of Iran Seafood Farm and Exports Cooperatives Arsalan Qasemi,this ban was lifted through efforts by the Ministry of Agricultural Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and without this the ban would have lasted longer.
Both Ministries have together with a special committee and a laboratorium made plans. With the lifting of the ban, other obstacles to the development of the industry should be removed in an effort to make optimum use of the potentials.
President Ahmadinejad has ordered in a letter the banks to reconsider lending rates and fines imposed on shrimp farmers’ who had defaulted in payments.
The letter has been notified to all banks by deputy commerce ministers for banking affairs and if banks support shrimp farmers, output could reach 15,000 tons.




The Dutch tenor, Marcel Beekman, will hold workshops in Tehran on December 25-26, as part of programs for the 23rd Fajr International Music Festival.
Beekman is a soloist in both the Baroque/Classical and the contemporary concert and opera repertoire and has performed with many orchestras, namely the Berlin Symphoniker, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and Netherlands Bach Society.
The secretary of the festival told that one of the goals is to familiarize Iranian musicians with orchestration of classical instruments.


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