Iran: to register

Tuesday two men are hanged in prison in Zahedan, Sistan-e-Baluchestan province.
The men were sentenced for drugstrafficking.




The families of the two journalists, condemned to death have great concern of the men's health.
Adnan Hassanpur and Hiwa Butimar are as a protest in hungerstrike since their conviction.
Their lawyers, who were able to meet them for the first time recently, have said that their psychological and physical conditions are a cause of concern.





The Committee To Defend Political Prisoners in Iran's Azerbaijan, a human-rights group in northwestern Iran, claims that state pressure on political activists in the region has increased in recent months.
More than 20 Iranian citizens have been jailed by authorities for their political activities.
A spokesman for the group said that a lack of media attention contributes to rights abuses in Iran's Azerbaijan provinces.


Iran is registering the country's oldest cypresstree as a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
The tree is located in Abarkooh, Yazd province and is approximately 4,500 year-old .
In 1933, the 11.5 meters in diameter and 33 meters in height tree, was registered as a National Heritage .
The cypress tree plays a significant role in Persian culture and it has been used in the design of famous Persian Gardens.
The worlds oldest tree is located in California.


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: fish

Wednesday is in Shiraz, Fars province a man hanged.
IRNA reports that the man was convicted for murder and armed robbery and that the initial death sentence was confirmed by the supreme court.




The Pakistan police have not so far handed over the bandits who took 21 Iranian hostages from Sistan-e-Baluchestan to Pakistan,
The hostages returned to Iran on a charter Tuesday.
The Pakistani government claims that the hostage-takers are Pakistani nationals.Based on an agreement between Tehran and Islamabad, the Pakistani government should deliver armed insurgents to Iran.
Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said on Tuesday the hostage-takers are bandits, but not linked to terrorist Abdolmalek Rigi.



The Intelligence Ministry says members of a separatist group have been arrested in the city of Ahwaz.The Iranian authorities declared that they are arrested for causing rift and propagating sectarian and religious divisions amongst the people.
According to Mehrnews also a substantial cache of weapons were seized.
Earlier this month officials said members of a "terrorist" group had been arrested on suspicion of planning an attack.



The Iranian Fisheries Organization has arrested over 1,400 illegal fishermen and confiscated over 9,000 kilograms of cartilaginous fish over the last five months.
Some fishermen illegally net fish in Iran's Caspian waters in an effort to obtain caviar.
336 illegal fishing vessels, over 23,000 kilos of shrimp and 62,000 kilos of other fish that were illegally harvested, have also been seized.


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: at high cost

Iran released Haleh Esfandiari on bail set at the equivalent of $333,000.
She is still accused of espionage and may not leave the country.
ISNA news agency reported that a source in the Tehran prosecution office said that it is possible that Kian Tajbakhsh,'s situation also changes the coming days.



The Dresdner Bank also has decided to wind up its remaining business in Iran.
A spokesman said that the administrative costs of doing business in Iran had become too high.
Dresdner Bank, part of German insurer Allianz, has been scaling back its activity in Iran for months.


Last Friday the Dutch RTL4 broadcasted an item (in Dutch) about Dutchman Abdullah al Mansouri who is imprisoned in Iran for over a year.
The Dutch government is tapping Iran about this. Iran doesn't recognize any other nationality than Iranian, although Al Mansouri is Dutch citizen since 1988.
Iranian authorities said Al Mansouri is on trial for terroristic activities.
There have been reports of torture.
When found guilty Al Mansouri faces deathpenalty.


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: lost and found

The wife of Robert Levinson, since March missing American in Iran, plans to go to Iran to look for her husband herself.
Levinson disappeared on the island Kish where he investigated cigarette smuggling.
After a meeting with Dawud Salahuddin, he disappeared.
His wife says in an interview, also aired in Iran by Radio Free Europe, that she is planning to go to Kish to search for him, even though the American State Department has advised against it.
She also is hoping that anyone who has seen him or heard anything about him will contact the website.



Iranian and Pakistan authorities say Pakistani police have freed 21 Iranian hostages.
Pakistan Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said that during this operation, they also arrested 16 kidnappers.
He added that the kidnappers have links with Abdelmalek Rigi's group, but that Rigi was not among those captured.
An exchange of fire took place that lasted for about two hours, and one kidnapper was killed and two were wounded.
IRNA reported that all the hostages are in good health.

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: conceptions

An Iranian military chief told that the yesterday abducted 21 people, were abducted by the group of Abdelmalek Rigi.
The group around Rigi(Jundallah) has been responsible in recent years for several kidnappings and attacks in Sistan-e.Baluchistan.





The two Chinese arrested for spying last month are freed.
China's foreign ministry told Reuters in a fax that all was based on a misunderstanding.
In July both men were arrested while taking photographs of military nuclear installations in Arak.


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: investigate?

In Saveh, southwest of Tehran, 3 men are hanged in public.
IRNA reported that they were convicted for rape and that the verdict was endorsed by the Supreme Court.




Armed bandits kidnapped 31 passengers on the Chabahar-Iranshahr road in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
They also attacked a number of passing cars, set them on fire, wounded some of the passengers and took some people hostage.
Fars Newsagency reports that the bandits have abducted the director of the education ministry's regional office in Chabahar, Ali Zare'ee.
A local ministry official said that Za'ee was accompanied by an expert, who was freed, being a Balouchi, while Za'ee is Fars.


Iranian police anti-drug squad has busted an international band of drug traffickers. 90 members of the band were arrested, including 85 individuals from Tanzania, Nigeria, and Ghana, two individuals from Pakistan and three Iranians.
General Hamid Reza Hossein-Abadi told reporters that they have received reports early this year that African nationals smuggled drugs through Iran.
After five months of intensive investigation together with police in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey, they could identify this international network of drug traffickers.



According to an article in The Observer Iran has hanged up to 30 people in the past month.
Many executions have been carried out in public. Opposition sources say at least three of the dead were political activists, contradicting government insistence that it is targeting 'thugs' and dangerous criminals.
The executions have coincided with a crackdown on student activists and academics accused of trying to foment a 'soft revolution' .
The government has also sought to publicise executions conducted behind closed doors. Last month state television broadcast footage of 12 condemned men as they were about to be hanged in Tehran's Evin prison.
However, there have been signs of official disquiet over the recent trend. Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the relatively moderate judiciary chief, has openly criticised President Ahmadinejad's government on a range of issues and also ordered to investigate claims that student activists were tortured during a recent detention in Evin prison.
He also was unhappy over the stoning to death last month of a man convicted of adultery after he had ordered a stay of execution.
However, for the moment it doesn't look like the end of the mass executions is near.
Saeed Mortazavi,Tehran's prosecutor has announced that he is seeking the death penalty against 17 'hooligans'.


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: technics

A court in Kurdistan province has sentenced two labor activists to 2 1/2 years in prison.
Sheys Amani and Sedigh Karimi were found guilty of security charges that include ties to banned opposition groups.
They have 20 days to appeal their sentences.



Friday night near the town of Tamarchin in West Azerbaijan Province, an Iranian military helicopter has crashed.
All 11 men on board died.
Probably the incident was caused by a technical problem.







A Wikipedia scanner online tracks and shows edits.
This way it allegedly showed that workers on the CIA agency's computers edited the page of Iran's president Ahmadinejad.
Wikipedia posted a warning on the profile of the anonymous editor saying: “You have recently vandalized a Wikipedia article, and you are now being asked to stop this type of behavior".
The CIA denied confirming whether the internet traffic came from any of the agency computers.
Also the Vatican has edited entries about Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and "massaged" entries on several Catholic Saints.


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: gangs

Thursday is in the town of Astaneh-Ashrafiyeh in Gilan province a man hanged. The name was not revealed.
The website of the statetelevision also reported that in Zahedan, in Sistan Baluchestan province a man was hanged for armed robbery.



In Farsnews is an article which says that both Belgians are freed. The mother of one of them told the Belgian authorities that she talked to them by phone.
According to the Belgian Foreign Ministry the exact location is not known. They were in an isolated place 150 kilometers southwest of the area where they went missing.



Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi has urged the criminal court to issue the death sentence for 17 hooligans.
According to newsagency Fars they all have been convicted of rape, armed robbery and other major crimes.



According to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence are seven drug gangs busted across the country and a large volume of drugs from the smugglers. seized.
At least 18 smugglers have been arrested and seven guns and 11 grenades were seized.
Mehr News also reported that more than 1,900 kg of drugs, including 1,400 kg of opium, 450 kg of cannabis and 50 kg of morphine were confiscated.


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: in the eye of

Mohammad Latif is sentenced to death for a murder he committed when he was 14 years 11 month and 23 days old .
Now he is 17 years and 9 months old, which could mean that they could execute him in three months when he turns 18 years old.
He has spent the last three years in prison.
Even according to Islamic Sharia laws of Iran Mohammad was not at the legal age of puberty (15 for boys) and in official papers The Ministry of Health confirmed that at the time of incident, Mohammad was not mentally considered an adult, the sentence is confirmed by the Supreme Court.
Mohammads father wrote a letter (farsi) to Ayatollah Shahroudi, the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the head of the Majles (Iranian Parliament) asking for help.


Iran has detained two Chinese nationals on charges of spying on its military and nuclear facilities. They were while taking photos and recording video of a military complex in Arak city.

They entered Iran through Kish Island, 435 km in the South, as tourists.
No further details were given.






America wants to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guards force as a foreign terrorist unit.
If confirmed, this will be the first time official armed units of a sovereign state are included in the 'list of banned terrorist groups'.
USA accuses the Revolutionary Guards for supplying and training insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Revolutionary Guards force was established after the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979.
It is estimated to have 125,000 active members, and operates separately from Iran's main armed forces, boasting its own ground forces, navy, air force, intelligence and special forces capability.


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: clarifications

In the town Taibad, province Khorazan Razavi two men are hanged in prison.
The men, M.T. and M.R were convicted for drugs smuggling.



Contrary to other reports, only óne Belgian hostage has been freed.
Tuesdaynight the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told that both Belgians, Stefaan Boeve and Carla Van den Eeckhout , were released.
IRNA reported today that only the woman is freed. Colonel Mohammad-Javad Asna-Ashari of the Rasoul Akram military base said that they are making further efforts to release the man.


The according to Fars on or around August 8, in relation with planned terroristic activities in Khuzestan (Ahwaz) arrested men, are named by BAFS as Issa Mahdi Sawari, Mohammad Hatab Sari, Issa Zaeri, Abdulrahman Haidari and Abdolnaser Hamadi.
Informed sources in Ahwaz say that none of the men were known to have been involved in serious political activities.


Last week resigned Minister of Industries and Mines, Alireza Tahmasebi, has criticised in his resignation letter the economic policies by President Ahmadinejad. He wrote that prices had been frozen artificially, industrial plants are suffering from under-investment, and that the Industry Ministry was enduring poor personnel changes.


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: conditions

According to Fars are the two missing Belgians kidnapped by a group of bandits. Ismaeel Shahbakhsh, leader of the bandit group wants his brother Gol-Mohammad Shahbakhsh, released from prison.
Colonel Abbas Ebrahimi from local police said that the two Belgians have been taken to an unknown place and that the kidnapper has given guarantees that if his brother is released from prison, he will release the two tourists.




Earlier this year have Iranian authorities lashed a man for having a bible and a video of Jesus Christ in his car.
On the website of an Iranian Christian group it says that the man, A.Sh. in May this year was involved in a road accident with a car belonging to security guards for a government official in Tehran.
The man admitted to being Christian, prompting the security agents to beat him up, the report said. He was arrested and taken to a holding cell in Detention Centre 102.
He was released two days later after his family made bail.
Photo IranFocus website

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: Sunday

President Ahmadinejad replaced two Ministers on Sunday.
The minister of industries and mines, Ali Reza Tahmasbi, who resigned last week is replaced by caretaker Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian.
Gholam-Hossein Nozari is appointed as caretaker Oil Minister over sunday dismissed Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh.
Reasons were not given, but an informed source told Baztab that both ministers were forced to resign due to their mismanagement.

Five members of Tehran's bus drivers' union, Ebrahim Madadi, Yagoub Salimi, Davoud Razavi and Ghojari and Homayoun Jaberi got arrested after they visited the home of Mansour Osanloo.
This told the men's lawyer on Sunday.
Osanloo was arrested in July to serve a sentence to four years in prison for acting against national security and to an additional year for disseminating propaganda against Iran's Islamic system.
Prosecutor Hadad told that his arrest has nothing to do with labour issues.


Since Sunday two Belgian tourists are missing in Kerman province.
The married couple (30 and 27 years old) were travelling by a car in Fahrouj district, 60 km from Bam, near the provincial border with Sistan-Baluchestan province.
The road on which they went missing is a mayor drugssmuggler route on which often attacks and kidnappings take place.

The Governor of Bam, Majid E'temadi, told that police and security forces are patrolling the region to find the missing couple.


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