Iran: suspension

Women’s rights activist Parvin Ardalan is sentenced by the 13th branch of the Revolutionary Courts to 2 years suspended prison sentence, for the period of three years.
June 2007 she was arrested along with 32 other women’s rights activists during a demonstration in Tehran.
She is found guilty on the charges of "illegal gathering and collusion and refusal to obey the orders of the police with the intent of endangering national security."
She will appeal to the verdict.
March 3 she was banned to travel to Sweden to collect the Olof Palme Prize and she was summoned for her activities on the sites of Change for Equality and Zanestan.In this case she is charged with "propaganda against the state".
Her passport is confiscated and the trial in this case is set on August 2nd.


The Iranian health minister said Saturday that the carrier rate of thalassemia, a genetic blood disease, carried by people of Chinese, South Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean or African origin. decreased by %75.
He says this is the success of the preventive measures taken by the government over the past years.
Elaborating successes in preventing the spread of measles and tetanus, he said that measles deaths are down, from an estimated 3,000 child deaths in 1979 to 40 in 2007.


Press-tv writes that according to a recent government decision, all foreign nationals will automatically be covered by health insurance upon entering Iran.
Farsnewsagency wrote that the deputy Minister of Health has said that foreigners holding health insurance from their countries of origin will not have to apply for medical insurance in Iran, provided their home country health insurance is acceptable to Iran's insurance companies.
He also said that the only difference between health insurance coverage for foreigners and Iranians is that foreigners will pay all insurance premiums on their own.


The Spanish newspaper Expansion wrote Saturday that oilgiants Shell and Repsol are pulling out of the $10 billion project to develop certain parts of the South Pars gasfield.
The newspaper says this is partly due to US pressure exerted on companies doing business with Iran.
The report also says that the two companies want to be allowed to bid for other parts of the field in the future if the international political climate improves.
Reuters reported that a Repsol spokeswoman declined to comment on the report,

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