Iran: the reason why

Friday , March 28 spanish Police have ruled out politics and revenge as motive for the murder on Manouchehr Farhangi , 82.
A 24-year-old brazilian woman is arrested (es) the same day for attempting murder on another man in the area and for murder.



The spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday that three Iranian Islands in the Persian Gulf, Greater an Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, are inseparable part of Iranian territory.
Iran says that every interference will be regarded as interference in Iran's domestic affairs.
He added that interference of third parties stemming from their misunderstanding of the dialogue between Iran and the Emirates is unacceptable and will not help it.
The Arab leaders on the Arabian summit said in a "Damascus Declaration" they urged the UAE to seek "legal and peaceful ways to regain" three Islands in the Gulf controlled by non-Arab Iran and claimed by the UAE.
The declaration said resolving the dispute in the Gulf, a crucial outlet for world crude oil supply, would help improve relations between the Arab world and Iran.



The last week on the Istanbul airport arrested Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, 31, is released by Turkish authorities thanks to the intervention of human rights groups and U.S. consular officials in Turkey.
According to a familymember he was treated in a German hospital for injuries caused by beatings from the Turkish airport police.
After his arrest Thursday an Iranian intelligence officer demanded that the Turks extradite him to Iran.He presented an official document to the Turkish police demanding that Ebrahimi be immediately deported to Iran.
Ebrahimi fled Iran in 2003 after serving almost 2 years in jail for producing a film which criticized the regime.
He told that that the Iranian intelligence officer was accusing him of having aided the defection of former deputy Defense Minister Gen. Ali Asghari last 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: immoral

Human Rights Watched urged in a statement the Iranian authorities to release the 30 men arrested in late February, at a private party in Isfahan.
They are detained on charges of consensual homosexual conduct, drinking alcohol, and other related morals offenses.
Sources reported to HRW that the police in Isfahan raided a private home and arrested 30 or more men attending a party.
They have been jailed for almost four weeks without access to lawyers and without charge.
Police referred them to a forensic medical examiner to look for evidence that they have engaged in homosexual conduct.
Other reports indicate that in March 2008, Isfahan police entrapped several men over the internet by answering personal advertisements, and interrogated them to reveal the names of friends and contacts.
Police found erotic pictures of men on another man's mobile phone after arresting him, and a court reportedly sentenced him to three years of imprisonment.


Reuters said that Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to Iran on Sunday to protest against the Wilders-film.
This came two days after Iran denounced the film .



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: violence

A helicopter from the Islamic Republic of Iran Police (IRIP) crashed, killing all five people aboard.
The accident happened near the city of Varazhgan, East-Azerbaijan province.
The helicopter was on a mission to monitor highway traffic in the Varzeqan area.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.



Iran harshly condemned the Wilders-movie. In a statement of the Iranian Foreign Ministry it said that the video is "insulting and anti-islamic" with "deep antagonism" of some western states towards islam and muslims and warned of "consequences of such provocative move."
The film recycled clips from terrorist attacks in the US, Spain and the Netherlands, mixed with passages from the Quran and speeches by extremist islamic preachers.
The film began and ended with one of the for islam insulting cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.
The Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the film equates islam with violence, and "we reject this."



On Thursday evening, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards resumed bombarding the Iraqi Kurdish border villages of Rizgah, Shinawa, Spigle, Maraud and Arke in Pishder district, and Sulaimani province.The shelling is aimed at bases of the Kurdish rebel group PJAK (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan) which is a breakaway faction of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party).
6 villages were de-populated in the shelling, 4 houses were demolished, and dozens of families were moved to areas far from the border.
No casualties were reported.


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: stop

The Russian State Fisheries Committee urges a ban on sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea.The committee spokesman said that Russia is ready to announce a moratorium. Russia will formally propose the ban to the other four Caspian Sea states of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan soon.
The reason is because the sturgeon is about to disappear. Russia was not able to fish its annual quota of 50 tonnes of sturgeon last year because overfishing and poaching had depleted stocks.
The international environmental watchdog WWF warned earlier this year that the population of Caspian Sea sturgeon, including the osetra, servruga and beluga species, had fallen by as much as 70 percent in the past few decades.
According to official data from the EU, between 2000 and 2005 almost 12 tonnes of illegal caviar were sold in Europe.
Experts believe that is only a fraction of the caviar poached from the Caspian Sea.


Trade Unionleader Mahmoud Salehi is still not released from prison.
His sentence ended March 23.
Protesting to new charges, short for his releasedate, he went in hungerstrike.
Familymembers and friends protested outside the jail in Sanandaj, a protest which was violently ended by Iranian security forces and one participant, named Behrooz Sohrabi, was arrested and harassed and reportedly beaten. After protesters demanded his release they freed him a couple hours later.
Judicial authorities said they would release Mahmoud Salehi March 26, but they did not.


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: increase

Kurdmedia writes that March 25, in the city of Baneh, Kurdistan province, Sadiq Amin Nejad, Saman Rasoulian, Abdollah Ranjbari, Kaveh Hassani, Mohammad Bahrami, Rastgar Mesgari and Mohamad Amin Ghaderi are sentenced for participating in demonstrations, up to 3 years in prison.
The charges were acting against national security, disturbing general order and participating in a covert meeting.
They were imprisoned since their detainment following the demonstration.


According to the deputy Minister of Oil Iran's oilproduction capacity has hit 4.2 million barrels per day last Iranian calendaryear.
He said that the main goal of the Oil Ministry is to achieve an increase in the production capacity. Some 2.5 million barrels of Iran's daily production are exported.


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: large numbers

Reuters reported that Iran was struck by a 5.3 magnitude earthquake.
This is not correct
A map from the area at university Tehran.
The data is from European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.

Magnitude ML 3.5
Region SOUTHERN IRAN
Date time 2008-03-26 at 04:44:33.6 UTC
Location 30.35 N ; 50.78 E
Depth 10 km
Distances 101 km SW Yasuj (pop 135,142 ; local time 08:14 2008-03-26)
1 km S Do gonbadan (pop 94,638 ; local time 08:14 2008-03-26)

The correct newsitem as reported by IRNA.
Earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 and below are mostly harmless and cause little to no damage.



Iran Khodro increases its annual auto production capacity to 1,080,000 by 2011.
According to the managing director broke Khodro its own production record for the fifteenth time by manufacturing 525,172 vehicles in 2007.
Iran Khodro produces the Samand, which is also exported to various foreign countries, including Russia and Syria.


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: divert

March 20 is Manouchehr Farhangi, 82-year-old, murdered at the door of his house in La Moraleja, Spain.
He was stabbed in the stomach by a woman, from who is only known that she is between 28 and 30 of age and 1.70m of length.
The spanish police considers the murder as from political origin.
Manouchehr Farhangi was the founder of the prestigious ICS Madrid (Spain International College).
He was a businessman, Zohroastrian and monarchist.
After the Islamic Revolution he lived in Spain.


Iranian statetelevision reported that Mondaynight 23 people were killed at an autobusaccident in Khuzestan province.
15 others were injured.
Since the beginning of Norouz are almost 100 people killed in traffic-accidents.


The spokesman of the Guardian Council said that the second round of parliamentary elections will be held 25 April.
More than 80 seats will be decided in the run-off, including 11 in Tehran.
From the 132 seats won by conservatives March 14th, supporters of Ahmadinejad won 90 seats.


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: shaken

An earthquake, measuring 5.0 at Richterscale jolted Khalkhal in Ardebil province Sunday.
No casualty is reported but at least 100 houses were damaged and 30 houses were levelled to the ground.
There are also reports on damaged livestock.


On the site you tube is an informative video about the One Million Signaturecampaign.





The web campaignfilm is here






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: tourism

IRNA published on her website various sites with Cultural and historical tourist attractions .
Abyaneh and Qazvin, Ardabil, Hamadan, Isfahan,
Kashan, Kerman, Kermanshah, Mashhad and Gilan,
Orumieh and Tabriz, Semnan, Shiraz, Teheran and Yazd.

Also natural attractions are listed:

lakes and wetlands, altitudes and summits, forests, valleys, plains and deserts , protected and wildlifezones, caves, gardens, islands, springs,
waterfalls.


Here, here and here are some photo's.



According to Fars newsagency, in the first three days of the current Iranian calendar year, 70 people died in road accidents in the country




Singer Chris de Burgh confirmed that he would have an open-air concert with popular Iranian band Arian in Tehran this summer.
He responded to critics who believe he should not play in Iran.



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: value and valuable

The managing director at Iran LNG Company said Iran has signed its largest natural gas liquefaction contract valued at 700 million Euros.
Iran LNG and two consortiums have signed the deal.
One consortium consists of Iranian and Chinese companies, the other of an Iranian firm and a multi-national company.
The consortiums will carry out the project.
Once the project is finished, the plant will annually produce 10.5 million tons of liquefied gas.
The production and export of Iran LNG adds 3 to 4 billion Dollars to the country's annual export surplus value.



Iranian wrestlers won 2 gold medals at the 2008 Asian wrestling championships on Jeju Island, South Korea.
Hamid Sourian won the gold medal of the 55 kg category and Masoud Hashemzadeh won gold in the 120 kg category.
Both men were also qualified for the Olympics in Beijing.



According to an Iranian official 600 thousands foreign tourists entered Iran in the last few days.
Half of this number are Iraqi pilgrims who travel to Mashhad for the pilgrimage of Imam Reza's shrine. Imam Reza died in Sanabad, 818 AD.
In Mashhad, capital of Khorassan province, are except the mausoleum, a museum, library, mosque and some other buildings.
Between 15 and 20 millions pilgrims go to the Imam Reza's shrine every 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: representing

ADNkronos reports that the Kurdish journalist Hiwa Boutimar has been sentenced to death for the second time.
The first time he was sentenced to death in July 2007.
Een international campaign forced Iran's judicial authority to cancel the first verdict.
The new trial was carried out in the same way as the first trial without legal representation.
The new death penalty was not officially communicated to Hiwa, only to his lawyer verbally.


A Haft Seen table was spread in Persian Gulf waters near Qeshm island. Visitors can scuba dive to see the underwater Haft Seen, which will be on display until the last day of the Iranian New Year holidays (April 2).





The haft seen table includes seven items specificly starting with the letter S.
sabzeh - wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish - symbolizing rebirth
samanu - a sweet pudding made from wheat germ - symbolizing affluence
senjed - the dried fruit of the oleaster tree - symbolizing love
sîr - garlic - symbolizing medicine
sîb - apples - symbolizing beauty and health
somaq - sumac berries - symbolizing (the color of) sunrise
serkeh - vinegar - symbolizing age and patience
There also can be other symbols at the table,like a bowl with goldfish (life, and the sign of Pisces which the sun is leaving), coins ((as a symbol for prosperity and wealth), and a mirror.
wikipedia (Dutch) and
wikipedia (English).



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: counting

Ex-president Mohammad Khatami and the head of the reformist National Confidence Party, Mehdi Karroubi, wrote a joint letter to the Guardian Council, calling for a recount of votes in the capital Tehran.
ISNA reported that the letter asked for recount of all votes in Tehran and if this is not possible a random recount of ballot boxes in the presence of the candidates' representatives.
Conservatives took 19 of the 30 seats available in Tehran.
The rest will be decided by a run-off vote in around a month.
The conservative news website Tabnak wrote that 19 conservative candidates only achieved the minimum required 25 percent cut-off because 170,000 void or blank ballots were ignored.
According to Tabnak, only 11 conservative MPs should have been elected in the first round in Tehran.

Amnesty International, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) are calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mahmoud Salehi, the former leader of the Saqez Bakers’ Union, who was imprisoned in 2007 for the pursuit of legitimate trade union activities.
Mahmoud Salehi, who has serious long term medical concerns, is now on a total hunger strike and there are serious fears for his safety.
He went on hunger strike after he was summoned to appear for questioning by Branch 4 of the Sanandaj Courts on 17 March 2008 when, new charges were issued against him.
He is accused of ‘communicating with those outside prison for the purposes of issuing messages of solidarity’ for other individual prisoners on hunger strike and students facing arrest.
It looks like the new charges have to justify a continued detention of Mahmoud Salehi.
23 March 2008 release date, when he will have completed a one year prison sentence.
Amnesty International, the ITUC and the ITF are calling on the Iranian authorities also for the immediate and unconditional release of Mansur Osanloo, leader of the Tehran bus workers’ union, who is imprisoned since 2007.


March 21 will the Daylight Savings Time (DST)(summertime) be adjusted for Iran; the clocks will be adjusted forward one hour.
President Ahmadinejad had abolished summertime, but the Parliament approved the bill in August 2007.
The official Iranian time will change once at the beginning of the Iranian calendar year, and once again at the start of the second half of each year, on September 23.

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: New Year-Norouz

Norouz started in Iran. The New Year holidays are from March 19 till 2 April.
The new Iranian caledaryear 1387 starts March 20.


In amsterdam is a noroozparty Saturday March 22 from 1900-2400.
This site lists countries where Iranian norouzcelebrations are held.

Despite heavy security preparations for the last Wednesday of the year, the Fire Festival turned into clashes in Iran.
In various big cities like Tehran, Kermanshah, Ahwaz, and Isfahan but also in small remote townships people filled the streets shouting slogans against president Ahmadinejad and burned portraits of the Supreme Leader.
Fars Newsagency reported Tuesdaynight that in less than thirty minutes 20 different places were set on fire in the capital.


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

Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, convicted of adultery who faced being stoned to death was released, together with her 4-year-old son Ali, from a prison in the city of Qazvin Monday.
This happened on the orders of Iranian judiciary's amnesty commission. Lawyer Shadi Sadr told this to AFP.
Ebrahimi and her partner were, but for a short period of time, imprisoned for 11 years.
Her partner was stoned to death last July, which led to international protests.
ISNA reported she was pardoned by the Supreme Leader ayatollah Khamenei on suggestion of Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi.



Throughout the Persian New Year holidays gasoline will be sold at the free market price of 45 cents per liter.
Gasoline is currently sold at 11 cents per liter under the quota system.
Unrationed gasoline will be offered at filling stations countrywide from 2400 hrs (local time) Wednesday for 45 cents per liter.
Since last year June, Iran has a gasoline-rationing plan to cut the country's fuel consumption.
Despite large oil and gas reserves, Iran lacks refineries,and has to import gasoline at high costs.



During past weeks and up to the Iranian New Year, are more than 15 factories and workshops on strike.
Among them:
Minoo Food Packing Factory, Tabas Mining Factory, Sarcheshmeh Cupper Factory in the city of Kerman, Jahad Agricultural workers in the city of Bushehr, Gavmishan Dam Factory and Beet Factory in the city of Kamiyaran, Siyah-Roukh Factory in the city of Divandareh, Energy Company workers in Asaloyeh, Aras China Factory in Azerbaijan province, Pashmineh Baft Factory in the city of Qazvin, Mehrpoya Textile Factory in the city of Isfahan, Navard Company in the city of Karaj, Iran's Telecommunications en Sandoq Nasoz in Tehran, Hamid China Factory, municipal workers in Sadabad a Tehran suburb, Surge Cane Factory in Shoosh en Pashmineh Baft Factory in Qazvin.
All these strikes are to protest over substantial pay cuts.


The final results of the parliamentary elections for Tehran can be found here.
A total of 1,909,562 votes were casted in Tehran.
Over 28 million out of some 43.8 million eligible voters participated in Iran's parliamentary elections on Friday.


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