Iran: between the lines

The interim chairman of Iranian Football Federation (IFF),Mohsen Safaei Farahani says that Iran will face problems if FIFA regulations are not met in IFF elections.
FIFA has opposed the candidacy of members of Iran's Physical Education Organization (PEO) in the IFF presidential elections. He says that there are certain rules on who can and who cannot run for the IFF presidency.
If FIFA objections are removed, there will be no ban for Iran.



Reporters without Borders called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, to act over the unresolved murders of five Iranian journalists and intellectuals, nine years after the killings.
"Although 15 Iranian intelligence agents were eventually tried and found guilty of the 1998 murders those behind the killings (see blog) were never prosecuted.An Iranian parliamentary commission concluded that high-ranking figures were implicated in the cases but it was impossible to confront them with it.
These killings caused an outcry and many people still hold commemorations of them, despite the efforts of the authorities to stop them being held.
It is essential that the UN takes a stand to give new hope to the families of the victims that justice will be done one day and those who ordered these murders, will perhaps be put on trial, however much influence they may have."RSF said.



The daily Jamajam published on her website a serie photos showing persons, held for 'bad hijab'.The 'moral police' started a crackdown last week on winterfashion. For instance: wearing boots over trousers.




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

Hundreds of Iranian students protested yesterday at Tehrans university against the recent governmental crackdown on student-activists.
According to several reports on student-websites and a witness who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, there were some 1500 students involved.
It was the 2nd demonstration within a weeks time.
Also students from other universities in the country took part on the demonstration which lasted two hours and during which one of the gates around the university broke down.


Iran's Oil Minister announced that the monthly gasoline ration of private cars would go to 120 from current 100 liters.
He said that at the moment, they were trying to identify the weak and strong points of the first gasoline rationing plan



Reza Jafarzadeh,speaker of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said that there are no barriers for the employment of Iranian women in various fields of the aviation industry.
He said no resolution has been made, or circular issued to prohibit women’s employment in this industry.
Aviation companies are allowed to employ male or female competent forces including pilots, copilots, aviation engineers, or workers for other sections.




Newsagency Fars reported that a 24-year-old French student has been shot dead at a busstation in Isfahan.
The criminal is known with police, but could yet not be arrested.
The French embassy confirmed the police statements.

The city of Isfahan is visited by thousands of foreign tourists each 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: view

Iran abandoned selling crude oil against American dollars.
Iranian Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari said that considering its devaluation and the resulting loss suffered by oil exporters,the dollar is no longer a reliable currency.
According to ISNA Iran's crude oil sales are now being paid for in non-US currencies, mainly the Euro.


Press-tv publishes an interview with Fatemeh Alia,head of the Iranian Parliament's Committee for Women and Family Affairs and member of the Majlis Cultural Commission.
In this interview she expresses her view on womens position and equal rights for men and women in Iran.

On the website we-change.org is a column written by Nafiseh Azad about the campaign for equal rights in Iran and reactions of the authorities on the women who are active for the campaign.



The Iranian statetelevision reported on Sunday that Iran's Intelligence Ministy has detained a group of activists. The group planned to stage an illegal gathering in Tehran University.The report said the activists, who came from various cities, entered the university using fake identification cards.
Concussion grenades, illegal books and statements as well as alcoholic beverages were confiscated.



The date of the arrests was not elaborated, but Wednesday 28 people, among them four women, were arrested on the campus of Tehran University.
(see blog).


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: bother

Iran has together with Japanese experts started to make some of its major oil refineries in Tehran, Tabriz and Bandar Abbas quake-resistant.
Safety evaluations were conducted in the refineries, oil depots and oil and gas- pipelines and measures are being implemented to improve the resistance of the oil and gas installations in the face of possible quakes.


Fardablog says that according to Sobh Sadegh, a weekly magazine published by Revolutionary Guards, two Japanese citizens were arrested in the city of Yazd.
The weekly wrote also that photos of military bases were found in their cameras.


Akbar Ganji received December 4 in Ottawa, Canada, the John Humphrey Freedom Award .
He made a speech, titled, “Bloody Frontiers and the Anti-Human Rights Double Standards”,
which is here (English) and here (Farsi).


The Article-90 Commission of Majlis(Iranian parliament) has 24,690 complaints received since the start of the current parliamentary term.
Of those were 4,000 rejected because of lack of documents and evidence. 6,000 complaints were handed to the judiciary for further investigation.
According to Mohammad Madani, a MP from Gonabad, 14,600, mostly economic, complaints are scrutinezed.
Some of the most important dossiers were a case related to infected blood and problems of teachers who were not paid as well as repealing the contract related to Imam Khomeini International Airport.
Majlis Article 90 Commission investigates complaints by citizens against any of the three branches of power.


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: police-activity

December 4 are at Amir Kabir university 28 students arrested, of which some are transferred to Evinprison ward 209, others are being hold in the Tracking office (Daftare Peygiri).

The names, as provided by website Polytechnic Free Campaign are:


From the University of Mazandaran; Milad Moeeni, Behrang Zandi, Hamed Mohammadi, Arash Pakzad, Nader Ahsani and Hassan Moarefi, Saeed Habibi, prior member of Shoraye markaziye daftare tahkime vahdat.
From the university of Tehran: Anooshe Azadfar, Behrooz Karimizade, Mehdi Gerayloo, Rouzbeh Safshekan and Rouzbehan Amiri.
From the Polytechnical University: Ali Salem and Mohsen Ghamin.
From the Al'ame University: Nasim Soltanbeigi and Saeed Agham-Alikhalili.
From the Shahed University: Yasser Pirhayati.
From the Industrial university of Sharif: Keyvan Amiri-Alyassi.
From the Central Tehran Azad University: Ilnaz Jamshidi, Mahsa Mohabi, Ali Kallayi, Amir Mehrzad, Hadi Salaari, Farshid Farhadi Ahangaran, Amir Aghayi, Milad Omrani.
The arrestations followed a raid of security agents on the homes of a majority of the left winged students, whom were planning to initiate a demonstration on "Students Day" inside the Tehran University.


The Tehran Emrouz newspaper reported that the commander of the capital's women police academy of Kowsar, said that the authorities plan probably to set up special police stations for women in Tehran.
Two such police stations have already been launched in the city of Mashad.
Women police officers, who previously had been seen mostly in administrative departments, have been increasingly involved over the past few years in enforcement of observing Islamic rules.


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: clearly unclear

ISNA reported that in the city of Bam four men are hanged.
One man was also hanged in Baft.
They were convicted for drugssmuggling.



In the prison of Kermanshah is yesterday Makwan Mouloudzadeh,20 hanged. He was convicted of raping three teenage boys when he was 13 years old.
His lawyer says that despite his victims withdrawing their complaint and the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi quashed his death sentence on November 11th. the case, which was supposed to be reviewed in Tehran, was sent back from there to Kermanshah, and the execution was carried out quickly without revision.

The American State Department calls upon Iran to help the family of Robert Levinson with any information it has about his disappearance.
Levinsons wife and son of Levinson plan to visit Tehran later this month.
Levinson disappeared in March while visiting the island Kish.
The Iranian authorities say they do not know what happened to Mr. Levinson.



A police-communiqué says that the police and a few other organizations will confront violators of the ban on smoking tobacco products and waterpipes in public places, as of Dec. 15 in Tehran and from Dec. 22 across the country.
Managers and employers in public outlets, including hotels, restaurants and inns, should install no-smoking signs in visible places.
In case of violations, police will confront managers and employers administering public places.


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: repent and satisfaction

The case of Reza Alinejad who is sentenced to death for a murder committed in self-defence when he was 17-year-old, was ordered back for mediation, by Ayatollah Shahrudi to the court of Fasa.
The considerations were the age of the convicted and the unintentional circumstances that he was faced.
Attempts must be made in order to bring a resolution between parents of the victim and the murder convict. Results have to be reported back.



Global Voices Online writes that Reza Valizadeh, journalist and blogger who was arrested November 26 for writing about the dogs of the security staff of the president, erased his post about the dogs from jail.
After this, he wrote a new blog (farsi), in which he writes that the news about the dogs was misrepresented by some anti-governmental and anti-Islamic Republic websites, blogs and radios. He added that as a journalist just provide information about an interesting subject, that he thinks that using these dogs shows the country moving towards technology and progress and that some imams consider dogs can be used for security reasons.
He also wrote that that he did not intend to destroy the president.
Iranwatch writes that in a report on Roozonline is said that Valizadeh on Saturday evening was transfered from Evin Prison to Ghazal Hesar Prison and was left in a cell with drug addicts.
The last three years interrogators have learned about the internet and how to write a blog.
Fardablog says that many political prisoners have been forced to make false confessions and adds that in recent years political prisoners used to appear on TV to “confess and repent”.
Others wrote letters. Bloggers do not need to appear on TV or write letters.
They just write new posts.


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: smelly

In the city of Zahedan, Sistan-e-Baluchistan province was a man hanged this weekend.
According to IRNA the name of the man was not revealed.



Iran has expelled the Canadian ambassador. The Canadian Foreign Minister says the expulsion resulted from an impasse between the two countries to come to an agreement on an exchange of ambassadors for some time.
Ottawa has been unable to approve Iran's proposed diplomatic representation to Canada.
Canada's diplomatic business in Tehran will now be handled by the embassy's charge d'affaires.



In Roozonline tell sources in the Presidential Office that employees at the president's office got a paymentreduction to finance Ahmadinejads provincial tours.
Reports say that an employee infuriorated so much that he placed his excrement in a paper bag in front of the office of Ali Shoghi, Saeedlu's finance director. It is said that the president's security guards have been put in charge of identifying this ‎disgruntled employee and jokes are made they will send each employee to a laboratory to test his or her excrement.
Following Ahmadinejad's election, a large number of employees at the president's office were laid off and replaced by individuals close to Ahmadinejad.


Laleh Seddigh , Iran's first woman racecar driver is banned for a year.
The Iranian Auto Racing Federation has banned her for infringing technical rules during the fifth race of this year's saloon-car championships.She supposed to have broken the seal on the motor and made modifications without notifying the officials.
She denies and claims that she is the victim of a concerted campaign against her as a female racer.
Iranian racing officials have prevented her from taking part in several competitions on different pretexts.


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: avouch

On Sunday are 3 men hanged in public in the city of Qom.
The men, Yahya Maddadi, Atta-ollah Pul-Zohi, and Hossein Saffarlou are convicted for druggsmuggling.
November 20 were 5 drugssmugglers hanged in the city of Birjand.


The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters on Sunday that kidnapped Japanese student Satoshi Nakamura is in good health and spoke to his family.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send someone to Iran this week to discuss the abduction.




The Iranian Health Ministry has asserted that the news of a bird flu outbreak in northern and western parts of the country is baseless.
The Ministry has presented its official report on bird flu to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Hajj Organization has declared that a bird flu outbreak in Saudi Arabia is not a threat to Iranian pilgrims. The Iranian pilgrims' food program has also undergone changes, f.i. eggs and chicken have been removed from menus.
Iranian pilgrims also have been warned to avoid any contact with birds during their stay in Mecca and Medina.

Womens rights activist Jelveh Javaheri is Sunday arrested in Tehran. She was summoned to the court and after interrogation she was arrested on charges of disrupting the public opinion, anti-regime propaganda, and spreading false news. She is a sociology student and has been active in women rights’ groups for a long time.
She has written extensively for various sites,among them www.we-change.org.
Jelveh Javaheri is transferred to Evinprison.
Maryam Hosseinkhah, another member of the One Million Signatures Campaign was imprisoned 13 days ago on similar charges and is also currently being held in Evin Prison.

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: embattled

Now the winterseason has started, the Iranian police will hold a crackdown against women who wear tight trousers tucked inside long boots while wearing short overcoats.
Wearing a hat or cap instead of scarves is also against Islamic dress codes.
Police regularly clamp down on unislamic dresses in the summer.
There has not recently been a move against winter fashion.


The United Arab Emirates reiterated its claim Saturday to three Persian Gulf islands.
The islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa are according to the UAE illegally occupied by Iran.
Iran gained control of the islands after British forces left the Gulf in 1971.
The islands are part of Hormuzgan province and are located in the Street of Hormuz.



The embattled Minister of Education Mahmoud Farshidi has resigned
Reports say that President Ahmadinejad accepted the resignation and will introduce the Chancellor of Payam-e Nour University Alireza Ali-Ahmadi as candidate for the post of education minister.
In recent months the previous oil and industry ministers and the head of the central bank were also replaced.


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: withdraw

Dresdner Bank AG, a unit from Allianz SE shut down the accounts of more than 100 customers with ties to Iran.
According to Stern magazine this is done to safeguard the company's business ties in the US.
A spokesman for Dresdner Bank told Stern that the bank is closing accounts of private customers who have a residence in Iran as well as those from which there are 'regular' money transfers to Iran.


The German ambassador in Tehran said that the pressure on Germany from the United States is the main reason that German banks have reduced their cooperation with banks and companies in Iran. He added that the German government wants to expand bilateral ties.
The director of the Central Bank Iran said that the Central Bank of Iran is ready to cooperate with Spanish banks.
The director of the Spanish Central Bank said that Spanish banks can boost their cooperation with their Iranian counterparts and that Spanish banks are major investors in Latin America.



The English Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC), ruled Friday that the decision to keep the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) on the blacklist under the 2000 Terrorist Act was "perverse".
The PMOI was the armed wing of the France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran but renounced violence in June 2001.
The British Home Office interior ministry said it would appeal against the judgement.
The appeal to the POAC was brought by 35 parliamentarians.
Hossein Abedini, a member of the foreign affairs committee of the wider National Council of Resistance of Iran umbrella group, told that the judgement would have a "very big impact inside in Iran."
Home Office minister Tony McNulty said that he is disappointed at this judgment and that they don't accept it.


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