Iran: burst

Iranian swimmer Mohammad Alirezaei has pulled out Saturday for the beginning of the fourth heat of the men’s 100m breaststroke.
Tehrantimes wrote that he was transferred to a hospital in Beijing.
Various media reported that Alirezaei had pulled out because an Israeli was also racing.
Giselle Davies, director of communications of the IOC said that they have spoken with the Iranian National Olympic Committee and that they have underlined that all athletes compete against athletes of any nationality.
They take both the athlete and the National Olympic Committee at their word on this.



The writer Yusef Azizi has been sentenced to 5 years in prison
He is found guilty of "supporting unrest" during two days of protests in 2005 in Khuzestan province.
He remains free on bail, pending an appeal.




An Iran Air airplane Saturday on the airfield of Jeddah had to abort the start after two rear bands exploded and caught fire.
The Airbus300 was on its way from Jeddah to Tehran with 300 passengers.
No passengers were injured.



The daily Farhange Ashti writes that the chairman of Education and Research Commission from Iranian parliament rebutted rumors on recent forced retirement of university professors on political grounds.
He says that the only criteria for their retirement was the advanced age of the professors.


The daily Etemad Melli reports that former member of parliament Ali-Akbar Mousavi-Khoeini was prevented from departing Imam Khomeini International Airport and his passport is confiscated.
He was leaving with his family on a trip.
He is asked to appear before the Revolutionary Court.



August 8 is Bahram Vahedi, chairman of the Islamic Council of the University of Zanjan, is arrested.
The prosecutor of Zanjan warned already for more possible detentions, related to an assault by the university’s student affairs deputy that caused large protests both inside and outside the university.
Currently, Payam Shakiba, Hasan Jenidi and Arash Lahigi have been in detention for over a month,despite university authorities promised not to interfere and detain students for their activities during te protests.
For the first time, the Zanjan prosecutor spoke about the massive demonstrations in June, at Zanjan university.
He told ISNA among other things that people who were not affiliated with the university have been detained and did not exclude more arrests.
He named a female student who was arrested during these protests, but this name is different from the name of another arrested female student when a number of students announced as they had witnessed the student affairs deputy, identified as Hasan Madadi, forcing a female student to have an affair with him in his office.
In his interview with ISNA, the prosecutor stated that there are two other released convicts, referring to Madadi an the female student, who, according to reports, also was arrested, even though a condition set by students for ending their protest called for not detaining her.
The prosecutor said that during the initial investigation, both convicts stated that the female student had repeated the terms usually recited during the consummation of temporary marriage. He added that regardless the validity, the action itself within the university is immoral and obscene.
He said that and once the final statements are complete, the case will be sent to court for a final decision.



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: (il)legal

The daily Etemad Melli announced that a court in East-Azerbaijan sentenced four men to dead for raping a man after a fight.
One of the convicted men Mehdi is a minor and 17-year-old.
Thee names of the other three are: Hamid, Ebrahim and Mohammad.
The verdict needs still approval by the Supreme Court.
The daily reported that the men denied the charge and said police had forced them to sign a fake confession.



At a ceremony of the Law Enforcement Forces, the chief of natinal police said that the rates for violent crimes, including, murder, armed robbery and kidnapping over the two last years have dropped by 50%.
He added that over 85% of overall crimes and 90% of violent crimes are detected by police officers.
He also predicted that during the fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2005-2010) the traffic fatalities will decrease by 50% and the number of addicts will be reduced by 80%.




Friday August 4 is Khaled Ghasemi,35 by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in the city of Saghez, Kurdistan province sentenced to 5 years in prison.He was arrested six years ago and was later released after posting a bail bond.
Due to complications with his case,the case took a long time.
He was not allowed to hire a lawyer to represent him in the court.
Reza Ghaderi, 25 is sentenced by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in the city of Saghez to five years imprisonment on charge with association with the Kurdistan Free Living Party (PZAK).
He also was not allowed to hire a lawyer to represent him in court.
Six cultural and human rights activists who were arrested in July for supporting Farzad Kamangaran are still being held in a detention center affiliated with the ministry of intelligence in the city of Sanandaj.
Their names are Hasan Ghorbani and Keveh Rostami, teachers and Sama Bahmani, Habib Bahmani, Farzad Hasan-Mirzai, human rights activists.
Their legal status is unknown.
Ahmad Ghorbani is released after paying bail.
Saifullah Javanmardi, a teacher from the city of Sanandaj who was originally detained on August 3, 2008 for reciting a text during the closure of the gathering of July 19, 2008, was released after four days.


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: support

Habib Ghovati has been sentenced to four years in prison in Hamedan, by a special court for charges in religious affairs , for his involvement in the case related to Ayatollah Boroujerdi.
Majid Alasti, 35 is sentenced to four years in prison in Zanjan.
Initially he was sentenced to dead in 2007, but the sentence was overturned and substantially reduced to four years imprisonment. Majid Alasti is at Evinprison and was during his stay heavily mistreated.
Mehrdad Soori, 36 is sentenced to 2 years in prison and immediately brought to Evinprison. He was arrested in October 2006, but after paying bail of $65,000 temporarily released.
Mohammad-Reza Sadeghi is sentenced to two years in prison and also directly taken to Evinprison.
As result of mistreatment in prison he sustained injuries to his left foot and skull and was temporarily freed after paying a bail of $54,000.
In December he was re-arrested because he maintained his support of Ayatollah Borojerdi.


The managing director of Tehran's poultry union says if the inflation is not controlled, that, because of the reduced purchase power of consumers, the per capita consumption of chicken will be reduced.
When the cost price of a kilo of live chicken is 1650 Tomans, this price will be 2700 Tomans for consumers. (1Toman=10 Rial).
In 2006 was the consumption of chicken 18kg per capita per year, this will reduce to 16 kg.
As result of the high cost of breeding, chickenbreeders will be forced to offer their products to abattoirs, which will make bad effects on production.


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: transform

Thursday, the daily Kayhan reported that three men were hanged in the prison of the city of Qom.
The men, Mehdi 27, Javad 34 and Ali 38 were sentenced to death for murder and drugs trafficking.They were in posession of 1080 kg of opium.



Three people were killed and 80 others wounded by heavy rain and floods at the city of Makou, West-Azerbaijan province.
The floods have destroyed 300 houses and caused heavy damage.
The heavy rains have stopped but the flood-stricken houses have still power cuts.



Abdolmalek Rigi the leader of the violent group Jundollah (Gods Soldiers) said in an interview with satellite channel Al Arabiya that the group was willing to talk to the government in Tehran and turn itself into a political party.
Rigi also sai that the group, which is accused of having a link to al Qaeda, was thinking of expanding its operations to defend the rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran, even into Tehran.
The group abducted in June, 16 borderguards, of whom they executed four men.



Wednesday, IRNA published that the daughter of Shirin Ebadi has converted to the Baha'i-faith.
In the daily Kargozaran Shirin Ebadi denied the allegations and suggested that the allegation against her daughter had to do with her decision to defend seven Bahais together with two collegues.
She said to be proud to say that her family and she are Shiites.
The allegation is a serious one in Iran.
Not only is the Bahai faith outlawed but any conversion away from Islam is regarded as apostasy, an offence punishable by death.

Iranian journalist and human rights defender Asieh Amini said in an interview with Deutsche Welle (fa) that as long as stoning remains in the Iranian law, there is risk of execution by stoning in Iran.
In a statement Amnesty International welcomed the decision of the Iranian judiciary that execution by stoning has been suspended, as a result of which several women have had their sentences commuted.

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: turn

ISCAnews reported that the Iranian Supreme Court approved the deathsentence for Kamal, a childoffender, sentenced to death for a murder he committed when he was 17.
(Photo ISCAnews)


The site VOAnews, part of Voice of America, reports that it obtained a copy of a report (fa), prepared for Iran's parliament with detailed instances of corruption throughout the country's judiciary.
The report never made it to parliament.
In the 200-pages report are cases of corruption mentioned.
According to the report, these range from cases of judicial officials conspiring with convicted drug dealers who received reduced jail sentences or were allowed to escape custody, to instances of apparent profiteering by judicial officials who collaborated with private businesses for personal gain.
The names of top political and religious leaders allegedly linked to corruption are not mentioned, although in June arrested Abbas Palizdar mentioned examples from this report at the accusations he made before his arrest.
Palizdar is a supporter of Iranian President Ahmadinejad who in the past threatened to expose officials involved in corruption.
Many of the persons, named by Palizdar were conservative backers of supreme leader Khamenei.


At the Car Design News Contest won Seyyed Javad Ghaffarian a prize in the student category car designing.
He designed the "Magic Tricycle", a car which drives on all three wheels at normal use, but is capable of rotating around a longitudinal axis running from the front to the rear right wheel, lifting the third wheel, so the vehicle can be used as a motorcycle.
(Photo PressTV)


The Iranian Foreign Ministery announced to take action against the illegal trade in Persian artifacts.
Smuggling items out of Iran has been going on for years; items are sold both online and in auction houses worldwide.
Stricter customs and border control will make smuggling artifacts more difficult.
The government will develop closer cooperation with other countries to ensure the safe return of artifacts to the country.


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: review

According to the newspaper Etemad Shabnam, 34 will be executed August 13.
She is sentenced to death for the murder of her husband.
She already spent 3 years in prison, the deathsentence is approved by the Supreme Court and the order for the execution has been sent to prison.


Iran has placed a new moratorium on the execution of people by stoning.
Already in 2002 Iran's head of justice Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi announced a moratorium on execution by stoning, but last year a man was stoned to death and more cases were reported, but not officially confirmed.
At this moment nine people are known being sentenced to death by stoning.
The judiciary spokesman, Alireza Jamshidi said that four sentences are commuted, two people face long prison sentences and two will be flogged.
In other cases people have asked forgiveness and the cases are under review.


Iranian parliament gave a vote of confidence to the three candidate-ministers, proposed by president Ahmadinejad.
Shamseddin Hosseini is appointed economy and finance minister receiving 218 votes in favor, 29 against and 23 abstentions.
Ali Kordad became interior minister receiving 169 votes in favor, 64 against, and 36 abstentions.
Hamid Behbahani is appointed roads and transport minister receiving 181 votes in favor, 51 against, and 37 abstentions.



The newly-appointed minister of economy has said that Iran can control the "flames of inflation" within a year.
He does not think it is possible to sollve all of inflation in a year, but with good planning,a big part can be reduced in a few months.
The Central Bank of Iran said in her latest report that inflation for the month, ending July 21st, was 21.5 per cent.



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: transferable

Sunday is activist, blogger and journalist Yaghub Mehrnehad (Mirnahad) hanged in the prison of Zahedan, Sistan-e-Baluchestan province.
He was sentenced to death in Februar 2008 for moharebeh (enemy of god) and membership of the Jondollahgroup.
Abdolnaser Taheri, was also hanged, he was convicted of the same charges.
The report of the executions was announced in many Iranian newspapers.




August 3 started XVIII International Aids Conference in Mexico.
Arash and Kamiar Alaei were to attend this conference. Both doctors are known for their pioneering work on HIV/AIDS.
Physicians for Human Rights published a video on YouTube in which they ask for the release of the two physicians who got arrested last month on charges of plotting a "velvet revolution".
Together with Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, sixteen of the top Aids-doctors in the world have written a letter to the Minister of Health and Medical Education in Iran on behalf of the doctors, asking their release.
(photo rfe/RL)


President Ahmadinejad appeared in parliament today to defend his proposed changes for the posts of economy and finance, the interior, and roads and transport ministers.
The parliament decides today if they give their vote of confidence.




Three oilraffineries in Tabriz, Bandar Abbas en Lavan will be privatized soon.
Monday, the Oil Minister said that currently papers are been prepared to hand them to the Privatization Organization.



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: public

Friday, Augus 1, are, according to newsagency ISCA, five men flogged in public in the city of Khoramdarreh (west of Tehran).The men were convicted of closing the road for tracks transporting chickens, and stealing two cargoes containing 20.000 kg chicken.
The men were sentenced to 25 years of prison and 340 lashes in public.
Each of the men received 71 floggings, making the total 355. Also is not known whether the 25 years of prison is for each of them or for all the five together.


Friday, August 1st, a man was flogged 70 times in public in the town of Anaran in Kerman province.
The man Reza, 20, and another man identified as Iman (19), were convicted of stealing pistachio and sentenced to 9 months in prison and 70 lashes in public.
The lashes were so hard that it met with protests from people who were present, and as a result of the public protests and protests from Iman’s mother, the authorities couldn’t start flogging of Iman.

July 31 a father and her brother set a girl Somayeh, 27 on fire, causing her to die.
An eyewitness said that the mother came into the street screaming that her husband has set their daughter on fire.
The police has the case in investigation.


The Baha'i-community rejects statements of a Tehran prosecutor that the seven, earlier this year arrested members of the Baha'i, have confessed to operating an “illegal” organization with ties to Israel and other countries.
Fars newsagency wrote that the paper Resalat reported that the 7 in May arrested Bahaí have confessed to the formation of an illegal organization.



A cut in rainfall followed by drought this year has caused hydro-electric dams to shut down leading to daily power cuts in Iran.
The consumption of electricity shows a yearly growth of 15 per cent, the supply only increases with 7 per cent.
Power outage has become an order of the day, the shortage of electricity has forced Iran to ration electricity, leaving about a four-hour daily power outage quota in rural and urban areas.
93% of the country's electricity is produced by fossil fuel.
Expectations are once the nuclear power plant in Bushehr comes online, it will reduce the concerns over power outage.


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: approach

ISNA reported that the arrested physicians Arash and Kamyar Alaei are charged with violating national security.
The report says that Tehran deputy prosecutor Hassan Haddad Saturday told that the two physicians used AIDSconferences to recruit people to topple the Iranian government in a "velvet revolution".
(photo rfe/RL)



Friday is in Sistan-e-Baluchestan province 3358 kilograms of opium, 22 kilograms of hashish and 275 ampoules of hallucinatory drugs seized by Iranian border police.
22 drugsmugglers who entered Iran from Pakistan were arrested.
Six drugssmugglers were also arrested in South Khorasan province and 1576 kilograms of opium, six machineguns and three satellite phones were confiscated.
In twenty years of drugsbust 3500 Iranian law enforcement officers were killed.
The UN says that Iran seized 80 per cent of the opium which was sent out over the world in 2007.
Last year Iran confiscated 900 tonnes of drugs from Afghanistan.


The paper Farhang-e-Ashti says that the parliament’s Minority Faction wants to present a motion, calling for impeachment of the ministers of housing, energy and science.
A member of parliament, who wants to be anonymous, said that rising inflation in the housing sector, consecutive power cuts, and the current concerns and problems in a number of universities are the basis of the motion.


At a collision between a autobus and a truck 19 people got killed and 17 people got wounded.
The head-on collision happened on the Sirjan-Bandar Abbas Road when a bus got on the left side of the road because of a drowsy driver.
34 people were treated for minor injuries.


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: more

According to Iran Human Rights Voice is July 27 in Sanandaj prison a man hanged.
Naser Hamidi was convicted for mohareb (enemy of god) and murdering a securityguard in Sanandaj.

Prisoners of Hall 12, section 4 of Gohardashtprison in Karaj told that Mosayeb Sharif, born 1986 at July 28 is is transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution.
Hall 12, Section 4 which is isolated from other halls in the prison and communication here is limited, holds about 100 young prisoners, many of whom committed crimes when they were younger than 18 years of age and have been sentenced to death.
July 27 are executed:
Majid Pour-Bagher Hall 6, Section 2 of Gohardasht prison in Karaj
Mohammad Enatyati Hall 5, Section 2 of Gohardasht prison in Karaj
Ali Dekami Section 2 of Gohardasht prison in Karaj
Abas Kahani Hall 6, Section 2 of Gohardasht prison in Karaj
Ali Mazloom Section 4 of Gohardasht prison in Karaj
Reza Soltani Section 6 of Gohardasht prison in Karaj.
Reports also say that Yaser Kiani,,22 years, is transferred from section 4 Isfahan prison to solitary confinement in preparation of execution.



An earthquake with a magnitude of 4,5 on Richter scale, Friday jolted Kalaleh, Golestan province.
There are no damages 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: anti

In the prison of the city of Ahbar, near Zanjan is July 31 a man hanged.
The man, Asadollah is according to newsagency ISCA convicted for a murder he committed six years ago.


The organization Physicians for Human Rights has started an online petition for
Dr. Arash Alaei and Dr. Kamiar Alaei,two wellknown Iranian HIV/Aidsexperts, who were arrested in the end of June.
Since then their whereabouts are unknown.
Also there are no charges.
Physicians for Human Rights calls upon Iran to release these physicians immediately or charge them.
(Photo rfe/rl)



Iran plans to take part in an anti-drug drive in Afghanistan with other countries.
The deputy head of Iran's Anti-Drug Headquarters, said Thursday that Afghanistan had an increase in poppy cultivation from 85% for the production of opium in 2008.
UN calculates that the international drug trade generates $322 billion per year in revenue,
which makes drugs the most lucrative illicite activity in 2008.
Over the last 5 years Iran contributed $50 million annually to the Afghan government to help the country in its anti-drug efforts.
Reports say poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has reached an all-time high since 2001.
In many regions of Afghanistan, poppyculture is stabilized or dropped,but in the five southern provinces, controlled by Taliban is produced enough of the plant to double the world's opium output between 2005 and 2007.



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