Iran: intention

Daily Iran said that in the city of Kazeroun, Fars province, a man named Sirouz is publicly hanged.
The man was convicted for murder.


Former president Khatami is criticized by the hardline newspaper Siasat-e-Rouz for "shaking hands with a woman".
The newspaper wrote that a video has been circulating on the Internet showing a former top official visiting Italy, shaking the hands with several women and young girls.
The internetaddress was not published by the newspaper, because they "don't want to propagate corruption in society".
(Of course I googled
this, showing Khatami in Udine, leaving after making a speech and on 4.19 shaking hands with a woman.)

The judiciary in Iran said through Justice ministry spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi that there is no problem for Shirin Ebadi to be the lawyer for Haleh Esfandiari and that she can carry out her legal job with freedom , as she has done before.
Shirin Ebadi said in a statement Tuesday that she had been to Tehran's revolutionary court for a meeting with prosecutors but was told that Esfandiari "did not need a lawyer."She said that anything her client says in prison is legally invalid and legal authorities are responsible for her health and security since they deprived her of her citizens' rights by overlooking the relevant laws.

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: system

In the city of Gorgan, Golestan province,a man, named Abolfazl Shahrabadi publicly hanged.
IRNA reported he was sentenced to death for killing two inmates.


A court in Sanandaj, Kurdestan province, sentenced two reporters for attending illegal rallies in 2005 in front of the governor’s office.
ISNA reported that Jalal Ghavami for three years and Saeed Saedi to two and a half years in prison were convicted.
The verdict said they had been ‘acting against the system and national security by participating in illegal gatherings'.
Ghavami was also sentenced for ‘insulting’ officials.
Last month, the court in Sanandaj sentenced a woman activist to six years in jail for attending the same two banned protests.
The lawyer of the reporters said his clients only went to the demonstrations to report on them.


Iranian researchers developed a drug against digestive cancer. The drug is called Spinal-Z and is made from herbs and succesfully tested on 700 patients.
PressTV writes that although digestive system cancers are mostly preventable or curable, they remain the most common cancers worldwide. Each year there are three million new cases and two million people die.
The drug has been approved for sale by Iran's Research Center for Digestive Diseases and is to be mass produced for Iranian and global markets in about two months.

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: moral

In the LAtimes you find two (english) backgroundarticles about the dayly life in Iran.
One article is about the crackdown on women, youth, journalists and dissidents, the other about young men who joined the religious Bassij.

The articles can be found here and here.



June 9th, a benefit exhibition of visual arts for the assistance of cancer patients opened at the Niavaran Cultural Center in Tehran.
150 artworks by 130 prominent artists including Iran Darrudi, Mohammad Ehsaii, Gizella Sinaii, Habibollah Sadeqi, Bahram Dabiri, Hamid Ajami, Hossein Mahjubi, and Shahla Homayuni are being exhibited.

The exhibit will continue until June 16.



Floods, caused by cyclone Gonu took 12 lives and trapped 40.000 people in Hormuzgan and Sistan-e-Baluchestan provinces.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps IRGC is bringing aid to the victims.
Some 3000 livestock were also killed in the cyclone. State emergency chief Farzad Panahi said that there have been no outbreaks of disease in the cyclone-hit areas so far, but since the people are facing a drinking water shortage, there is a possibility of health problems arising.


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: statements

The newspaper Etemad Melli reported that April 23 a man is hanged for a murder he committed when he was 16.
The newspaper identified him only as Mohammad and said he was 20 at the time of his execution.


The Iranian government distanced itself on Friday from comments made last week by interior minister Mustafa Pour Mohammadi about temporary marriages.
Government spokesman Gholam Hussein Elham said to IRNA that the recent remarks made by the interior minister are not the government's view and that it was said in his capacity as a cleric.
Last week Pour Mohammadi was quoted as saying that the practice of temporary marriage, known as sigheh in Farsi, was a correct way to respond to young people's sexual needs within the framework of an Islamic society.


Iran has told the United States that it has no information of the missing American Robert Levinson. The State Department deputy spokesman told this Friday.
He said that they are going to continue to be pursuing this, but unfortunately the Iranian government's response to this has again been to simply and is not very credible.
Levinson disappered on Kish island on March 8.

Amnesty International asks urgent action for Khaled Hardani, Shahram Pourmansouri and Farhang Pourmansouri, sentenced to death for hijacking an airplane in 2001.
All three were sentenced to death as minors.
The execution of Hardani is scheduled for July 4. Regarding the Pourmansouri brothers Amnesty has no new information. .



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: refusals

June 7, USA urged in a pressrelease Iranian authorities to release immediately the Americans in their custody, as well as return the passports.
They additionally call on Tehran to cooperate in the case of American citizen Robert Levinson, who has been missing in Iran since March 8.



The journalist Ali Farahbakhsh, who is serving a three years prisonsentence in Evinprison, Tehran is severely ill and is being refused proper treatment by the prison authorities.
According to his family he suffers from digestive problems but now, because of the water he is drinking in prison, he has kidney problems as well.
The prison authorities have been refusing to give him his medicine since the start of May


On March 14, 2008, the first automated election in Iran will be held.
The parliamentary elections, to choose the eighth parliament since the Islamic Revolution will be held just a few days before the Iranian New Year holidays that begin on March 19-20 and continue for several weeks.
It is a time when the majority of Iranians stop working, with many traveling to visit friends and relatives.
Politicians are concerned that holding elections at that time would affect public participation and it might affect the ability of candidates to complain about possible discrepancies.
Moreover, a good part of Iran's state bureaucracy and media winds down for the holidays at that time.


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: return

Since yesterday the cyclone Gonu hits the southcoast of Iran.
Thousands of people are evacuated in Hormuzgan and Sistan-e-Baluchestan province. High waves caused floods near Konarak.Bandar Abbas has been visited twice by the storm. Also on the islands in the Persian Gulf people were evacuated. Up till now the deathtoll is 3.
The speed of cyclone Gonu is decreasing but it would keep roaming and lashing southern Iranian coasts for the next couple of days.



The 3 Saturday detained Finnish fishermen are according reports released.
The Finnish MTV3 reported on its Web site that Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva said the men were released.
A Nokia spokesperson said that the men contacted him and were on their way to Dubai.



The disciplinary board of the University of Karaj, has suspended 93 students for not abiding by a strict new Islamic dress code which became effective late April.Under this dresscode women as well as men can be arrested for not dressing according to the rules.
The suspensions which will last for up to two months were reportedly imposed on female students who did not fully cover their hair with the veil or wore makeup.Also suspended were a few men who wore their beards too long, a sign of protest in Iran.
In Tehran 16 students were suspended for demonstrating against president Ahmadinejad, last December.
In the past few weeks, students in Tehran, Lorestan, Babol and Shiraz, have been staging protests against new government measures imposing the strict new dress codes and opening hours on campus as well as restrictions on political activity.


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: water

Iran detained 3 Finns who had gone drifting in Iranian waters near Abu Musa.
The Finns came Saturday from Dubai and got lost in the Persian Gulf.
All three men work for the Nokia Siemens branch in Dubai.
Finland expects the soon release of the men.



The cyclone Gonu will enter Iran today. A couple of hundred residents of the port of Chabahr are evacuated.
Iran ordered people living on the coast or river banks in two southern provinces to move inland.
The prices for a barrel crude oil have risen, due to Uncertainty about the cyclones course.
The storm is the strongest in sixty years.

The cyclone started near the Maldives.

In the city of Mashhad the 3rd International Water, Wastewater Equipment and Environment Exhibition will be held from June 14-18.
More than 90 domestic and foreign companies will exhibit pumps, generators, pipes, joints and other water installation equipment as well as wastewater treatment facilities.
Foreign companies from Italy, France, China, Germany and Hungary will display state-of-the-art water equipment and technology.


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: ancient

The Chahar-Nimeh Dam has been relocated 250 meters to save the Achaemenid city of Dahaneh Gholaman.
This ancient city in Sistan-e-Balochistan province dating from the Achaemenid dynastic era (550-330 BC) is in danger being destroyed by moisture.

A great number of ancient sites and monuments dating back to various historical eras mark the existence of a rich culture and civilization in the area.



One of Worlds oldest churches is located in province of Azerbaijan, named Qara Kilisa, which literally means 'Black Church' in the local Azeri language.
The church dates from the first century when missionaires spread christianity. The present structure of the church, between Chaldaran and Qara Ziyaeddin towns, was built some time between the fourth and sixth centuries.
In 1319 an earthquake destroyed the building and it was rebuilt in 1329. Some parts of the altar still come from the 10th century. Most of the present structure dates to the early 19th century when the Qajar prince Abbas Mirza contributed to renovations and repairs.

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: strike

In Azerbaijan province are during collisions on May 22 with Iranian policeforces two men killed and a number of others injured.Sadiq Isabayli, director of the Southern Azerbaijan International Forum, told newssite APA that Sina Targ from Tabriz died after strikes.
Majid Khudayi died in Tehran prison, where he was tortured.





Amnesty International asks urgent action for Hossein Forouhideh, alias Khatibi, a human rights activist, and Iraj Naji.
Hossein Forouhideh is reportedly facing imminent execution. His cousin, Iraj Naji, is in solitary confinement and
Amnesty International fears that he may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment.



Iran says, that the arrested Americans confessed of spying.
The daily Ham Mihan wrote that Hassan Hadad, Tehran deputy prosecutor for security affairs,said regarding the espionage of some Iranians, there were good results. They have confessed to many issues. He emphasised that "all of those arrested" have Iranian citizenship, a reference to Iran's longstanding rejection of dual nationality.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman on Sunday also told the United States to stop interfering in the cases after President George W. Bush called for their immediate release


IRNA reported that Iranian drivers will from Saturday only be able to buy gasoline using electronic cards. This is part of plans to ration fuel and cut surging consumption.
But IRNA did not say when rationing would start after a delay from May 22. The postponement was partly blamed at the time on hitches in issuing the "smart" cards to drivers.
If and how many fuel will be consumed less, is not known.




Nehbandan city police, South Khorasan police, has in the past 48 hrs. seized some 952 kilograms of drug.
Police intercepted 633 kilograms of opium being carried by animals in Nehbandan city, and also uncovered 230 kilograms of opium being carried in a Peugeot motor-car.Major Hasan Shojaei told IRNA that in another operation, they also seized 89 kilograms of drugs,three cars and five mobile phones and arrested 22 drug traffickers.

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: temporary

Iran´s Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi, started promoting ´temporary marriages´ as a way to avoid extramarital sex and to ´solve social problems´.Thursday he said so in Qum.
Shia Islam allows a man and woman to marry for a fixed period of time, ranging from an hour to a century.A man can also have any number of temporary marriages(sigha).
Sunni Muslims say it is illegal and akin to prostitution.
Iranian society still looks down on temporary marriage as a cover for prostitution.
Young people use temporary marriages to go on holiday together.
The Minister, a cleric himself, got a lot of criticism. There are already tens of thousands of children from temporary marriages whose fathers will not acknowledge them and are therefore considered illegitimate.



After his imprisonment in Evinprison Kianoosh Sanjari is fled to Iraq where he waits for Amnesty International to bring him to The United States.

Maryam Maktoob interviewed him.

The interview 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: confluence

In Mazandaran province, northern Iran, are two men publicly hanged on Thursday.
Daily Etemad Melli wrote that the men were convicted of raping and killing two girls aged seven and eight.



Thursday, an earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale has jolted the city of Borazjan in Iran's southern province of Boushehr.
The quake has reportedly caused no casualties or property damage.
Almost every day Iran has at least a minor earthquake.
Seismologists say this is because Iran is at the confluence of three of the tectonic plates, and is literally being squeezed by them.


In spite of, or maybe thanks to the Islamic Dresscode, the Iranian man and woman spend a lot of money at cosmetic surgery, f.i. nose-jobs.
Many Iranians have a prominent nose and reducing this size is fairly common.
Everywhere in Tehran young women, as well as some men, with post-surgery gauze on their faces as "proof" of the surgery, are seen.
A nose-job costs between $1,600 and $2,200.


On the site of Turkish Weekly is an article by Aamir Latif, Islam Online correspondent, about womens position in Iran.
In western media the steretype of oppressed women in a man-dominated society is mostly seen. A closer look told him thats not quite right.
Although the position of Iranian women has bettered for the last two decades, there is still a lot that can be done. The women he spoke to, seemed fairly satisfied, but asked him not to ask anything more or they "would be in trouble".


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: troublemakers

In a joint statement Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation for Human Rights, Reporters Without Borders and Nobelprize winner Shirin Ebadi urge Iran to immediately release of the arrested Iranian-Americans and ending the harrassment of dual nationals.
Kian Tajbakhsh and Haleh Esfandiari are detained inside Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
Ali Shakeri is probably arrested too, but his whereabouts are unknown.
The government has confiscated the passports of Parnaz Azima and Mehrnoush Solouki preventing them from leaving te country.

About Robert Levinson the American who went missing early in March while on a visit to the Iranian island of Kish is nothing known yet. USA thinks he is also arrested.
Iran has denied this.






Thursday, USA gave a travel warning to US citizens against travel to Iran, citing hostility against Americans.
‘Some elements of the Iranian regime and the population remain hostile to the United States, American citizens may be subject to harassment or arrest while traveling or residing in Iran,’ the department said in a statement.




In Qazvin province Iranian State Security Forces (SSF) have arrested 32 “trouble-makers” .
Newsagency Fars reported that they have been arrested as part of the nationwide “National Security Plan”, a part of the nationwide crackdown primarily targeting youths and women under the guise of combating “trouble-makers” and “mal-veilers”.


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