Iran: first

The former speaker for parliament Mehdi Karoubi announced his candidacy for the presidentially elections of 2009.
He said that the Ahmadinejad administration has failed in its handling of foreign policy and economic issues.
Karoubi is the first major political figure to declare himself a candidate for the Iranian presidency.

The gold- carpet- and textile unions have called off the strike in the bazars after the government decided to suspend the VAT measure with two months.
Merchants in Isfahan and Tabriz recommenced work from Saturday and Tehran joined the resumption today.
Carpet- and textilemerchants also opened shops this morning after the unions agreement with the Ministry of Commerce.
The bazaar, the backbone of Iran's traditional economy, demands the Iranian government to permanently suspend the new tax system, claiming that VAT would contribute to the rising inflation.



Three films by Iranian directors will be shown at the 22nd international Cinekid filmfestival for children that will be held in Amsterdam from October 19 to 26.
Handlebar Moustache by Javad Ardakani and Token by Fereydoun Hasanpour will participate in the competition section of the festival.
The debut film by director, Jafar Panahi, and winner of Prix de la Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995, The White Balloon will be screened at Cinekidklappers.
The festival will host over 200 events and be attended by over 35,000 children.


This year more then 1,800,000 tons of tangerine will be harvested from about 100 thousand hectares of the under cultivation area in Mazandaran province.
55% of oranges and 65% of tangerines are produced in this province.
Mazandaran province produces 38 percent of Iran’s composites and has the country’s first grade in production amount.


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: happened

In the village Tijtij near the city of Marivan, Kurdistan province, are four Kurds killed during clashes between Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) and the Basij militia.
According to PressTV the journalist Seymour Hersh revealed in The New Yorker, that USA and Israel are assisting PJAK with weapons and other support.


A month ago the Iranian parliament voted in favour of a draft bill called "Islamic Penal Code" with 196 votes for and seven against.This bill punishes apostates with the death penalty. The new law is not yet in force in Iran: it requires another vote in parliament, and then the signature of Ayatollah Kamenei.
The deathpenalty for changing religion violates one of the most fundamental of all human rights.
The right to freedom of religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and in the European Convention of Human Rights. It is even enshrined as Article 23 of Iran's own constitution, which states that no one may be molested simply for his beliefs.
In Mashhad is Ramtin Soodmand imprisoned since August and has not been charged.
Soodmand is not a "converted muslim".He is born and raised as a Christian.His father, Hossein Soodmand, converted to Christianity at the age of 13, in 1960 and was hanged as an apostate in 1990.
The story is written in Telegraph.co.uk.


Ghajarboys (fa) writes that Emaddeddin Baghi is released from prison. He officially ended his prisonterm of one year.
Baghi was imprisoned in Evinprison in Tehran in deteriorating conditions.
He suffered two heartattacks and has been hospitalized twice.
Reports say that he spent most time in solitary confinement and also members of his family were interrogated by the prosecutor.



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: following

The Iranian vessel that 7 weeks ago was hijacked by Somali pirates has been released.
Stateradio announced that the head of Iran's Shipping Line said that a ransom has been paid to release the vessel and the 29 members of the crew.
The ship is now sailing towards international waters.



Footballplayer Ali Karimi wrote in an open letter to IFF President, Ali Kafashian that he 'due to the events in the past months and obstacles in the way' turned down the invitation to play for the national team.
He was, netting four goals in two games for the Tehran-based club Persepolis, invited by national team coach Ali Daei to play in the game against North Korea, October 15th.
The former Bayern Munich player also wished the Iranian national team success in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup .


Hamideh Nabavi-Chashemi, 45 is arrested by securityagents and a computer and other related equipment in her house were confiscated.
Her child, a toddler, was taken to her store, where the child was left with her employee and security guards stated that Mrs. Nabavi-Chashemi will be returned in the next two days and that no one should talk about the incident.
Familymembers think that her arrest is related to her participation in last month’s ceremonies held in Khavaran.
She had received a five-year suspended sentence for her participation in ceremonies held to commemorate Dr. Mosadegh.
She is a feminist activist and was cooperating with local organizations in the areas of women’s rights.


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: inflate

The Central Bank of Iran has announced that the inflationrate is 29,4%.
The implementation of the VAT is postponed for two months by president Ahmadinejad, due to widespread protests around the country (f.i. in the bazaars gold-and silvertraders went on strike).
The bill was meant to put a hold on inflation.
Yesterday the jewelers in Tabriz have gone on strike for the second time this week.
They protest because they claim it has slowed gold markets and increases prices.


The workers of the Alborz Tire company did gather on the premises of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to protest the lack of response to their demands by the authorities.
ILNA reports that the chairman of Unemployment Insurance in the Ministry has said that the presidential officeis asked to take similar steps as in the case of Farnakh and Mehnakh factories, and issue the removal of the current owner.
The workers say that officials who have been put in charge of reviewing the issues of the workers in Alborz tire factory have taken a protracted position and instead of reviewing and addressing labor issues, they put their support behind the management.
According to statements of the workers in Alborz tire factory, officials have told them that if they are interested in preserving their position in the factory, they must participate and become partners in managing the workshop.


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: postpone

In bazars from Isfahan, Mashhad an Tabriz shopkeepers went on strike. This happened because of the governmental plan to introduce value added tax.
Traders and shopkeepers on the bazar withdraw their money from banks to protest against the law,because they say that it will cause price increases which they will have to pass on to consumers.
Bazaars in Iran play an important political as well as economic role.
The daily Yaari writes that in Isfahan not only the shops closed but that there were also protests with demonstrators blocking the city's main streets.
According to Washington Post the government suspended the implementation temporarily.


Iranian police has arrested a notorious drug smuggler who runs a gang of armed men in Eastern and Southeastern Iran.
Alizehi, also known as Sardar was smuggling drugs from Afghanistan to Iran.
In the past year Iran confiscated 4 tons of narcotics from the drugsring.



Footballplayer Ali Karimi is called by coach Ali Daei for the next game from Iran's national footballteam.
It is the first time since his suspension in May, that the international, who played for the national team 109 times, will play for Iran.
October 15th Iran meets North Korea.


In an interview with the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, the father of Amir Karim Bahram said that his son's execution is halted by Ayatollah Shahroudi pending the appeal court review. He was sentenced to death for a murder he allegedly committed in a group fight when he was 15 years old.


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: aftermath

The execution of the deathsentence of Mohammadreza Haddadi is stopped said the daily Iran.
According to this daily the executions of the four men scheduled to be hanged in Isfahan today have been postponed.


A jet that violated Iranian airspace was forced to land at Mehrabad airport in Tehran.Reports say it was a NATO jet on its way from Turkey to Afghanistan. It carried military personnel from various nations including Hungary.
Initially various Iranian newsagencies reported that the plane carried American militairy personnel.
After investigation it was allowed to leave for its earlier destination.


The Iranian judiciary spokesman said that the court calls the death penalty against seven people found guilty of the bombing of a mosque in April.
Their names were not revealed.
Initially 15 people were arrested. The ministry says that these members of a unnamed terrorist group were also planning to bomb oil pipelines.Iran accused USA and Great-Britain of training and financing the attackers.


The Blood Transfusion Agency in Iran will sue the French company Meri Institute that between 1984 and 1985 exported coagulant blood derivatives contaminated with the HIV virus to a number of countries, including Iran.
A number of hemophiliac patients have been infected with AIDS, and a number of them have since died.
A court in Iran ordered the Ministry of Health and Blood Transfusion Agency to pay a sum of 22,000,000 USD as restitution to 974 hemophiliac patients and remaining family members of those who had received blood contaminated with the HIV virus.
The court case lasted nearly two years and, finally, the Blood Transfusion Agency and Ministry of Health were found negligent.
The chairman of the Blood Transfusion Agency in Iran said that by accessing recent and reliable scientific documents, can be shown that the HIV virus in hemophiliac patients infected with AIDS came from an external source, and that there is a possibility to contest the court ruling.

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: transfers

In the prison of Hamedan is October 6th a man hanged.
The man Taher H. was sentenced for drugstrafficking.


Four people were transferred to solitary cells for executions in the prison of Isfahan.
Normally the executions take place one day after the transfer to the solitary cell. In Isfahanprison, executions take place on Tuesdays.
The names of the men are Ali Ziaee (22), Naghib Alemi (26, Afghan citizen), Nasrollah Heydari (30) and Hamid heydari (29).
It is not known what they are convicted of.



GlobalVoicesOnline writes that former member of parliament Ahmad Shirzad wrote(fa) that the Iranian ministry of information banned several students from study at universities.
He regrets that the ministry of science has given such permission to Iranian security services.


Adnkronos writes that Kurdish feminist and journalist, Neghin Sheikholeslami, has been arrested in Tehran. She is the fourth Kurdish female activist to be imprisoned in Iran. No charges have yet been made against her.
She is one of the founders of the Azar Mehr feminist association, which is especially active in Iranian Kurdistan.

The woman rights activists and members of the OneMillionSignaturescampaign Ronak Safarzadeh, Hana Abdi, en Fatemeh Goftari, who are imprisoned in the prison of Sanandaj,were transferred to solitary confinement and lost their visiting rights for 3 weeks.




The daily Kayhan reports that imports of basic materials, food and drink products made in China, in which milk has been used as an ingredient, are banned.
The health ministry published a statement.
Four children died in China and thousands got ill, due to contamination of babymilk by added melamine (which normally is used to fabricate plastics).


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: intentions

The daily Kargozaran reports that the executiondate for the hanging of Mohammad Reza Haddadi is scheduled on October 9. in Adelabad prison of Shiraz, Fars province.
Mohammad Reza Haddadi is sentenced to death for a murder he has allegedly committed in 2003 when he was 15 years old.
According to his lawyer Haddadi did not committ the murder, but he just took the responsibility and confessed to the murder.
In Februar, his lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei,wrote a letter to the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, with the request of reconsidering the case.


A bill, approved recently by the Tehran City Council authorizes Tehran’s Municipality to pay off debts of about 2000 female prisoners.
An amount of $ 1.01 million is allocated for this.
The bill is an attempt to support foundation of the families, prevent an increase in number of delinquent women, and separate first-time offenders from the habitual criminals.
Female heads of families, married women with or without children,girls who have not committed moral and security crimes or have not been imprisoned for drug smuggling, are among the members to be released respectively based on the bill.
The municipality will provide facilities for the prisoners whose debt doses not exceed $1,015.


The conservative Principalists bloc in Iranian parliament will discuss further measures against Interior Minister Ali Kordan.
A member of parliament said Sunday that the parliament plans to impeach the minister if the gouvernment fails to take action against him. A minister may be impeached if at least ten lawmakers endorse the impeachment motion and he said that hat more than 30 lawmakers from the Principalist bloc have called for his impeachment.
Ali Kordan had earlier said that he held a doctorate from Oxford University but his degree was later proved to be fake.



Iran is facing an increase in the number of breastcancer rate when the young female generation gets older.
One out of four female cancer patients in Iran suffers from breast cancer.
Lack of exercise, getting overweight, eating fat calories and unhealthy diet, as well as genetics are the main factors in the rise of woman's risk of breast cancer.
The secretary of the 4th congress of Iran Cancer Association Paiam Azadeh said that life style changes can help women reduce their risk of breast cancer.
The congress is to be held from October 22 to 24 in Tehran’s Imam Khomeini hospital and will be attended to by foreign cancerspecialists from around the world.






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: through

Armed men killed 2 persons and wounded 5 when they opened firw on a mosque in the city of Mhashar, Khuzestan province.
Two armed bikers opened fire on the mosque.
Police injured one of the men before they fled the scene.


Saturday last week, students of the university of Tabriz held together with members of the Islamic Society of this university a sit-in demonstration to protest the detention and continued detention of ethnic activist students during the summer season.
They called slogans and carried signs which among other things said: release our comrades: "Sajad Radmehr, Faraz Zehtabi, Idin Khojei, Amir Mardani, Mansoor Aminian, Maghsoud Ahdi".
Protesting students gathered at the main building of the university and read a statement addressed to the head of the university,



August 22, Kurdish political prisoners Ehsan Topooz, Morad Diar, Ali-Ahmad Solaiman, Mostafa Ali-Ahmad, Balal Chiligar, Nehad Toonjehr, Omar Chaparaz, Jumhoor Azgooch, Yosef Atsaz began a hunger strike to demand compliance with their rights as prisoners in Oromieh central prison.
Under the cover of discussing their demands with prison authorities they were transferred to solitary confinement. They are not allowed to have public view.
Their physical condition have deteriorated and their lives are in danger.
Sahand Ali-Mohammad, Bakhshali Mohammadi, Abadullah Ghasemzadeh, Mehdi Ghasemzadeh en Yones Aghaian are five prisoners who have been imprisoned in the same prison for more than five years. September 15 they were transferred to solitary confinement as they began their hunger strike to protest the illegal handling of their case.Due to previous hungerstrikes and the bad sanitary conditions of the Oromieh prison,their physical condition
is weakening.
Khalil Mostafa-Rajab, a Kurdish political prisoner and a citizen of Syria, has been on hunger strike for more than one month. He suffers from arthritis and a kidney disease. He is currently being kept in Sepah hospital in the city of Saghez where he continues his hungerstrike.
Hedayat Ghazali, an imprisoned Kurdish student, began a hunger strike in Evin prison August 22. Due to the hungerstrike he has experienced convulsions and in spite of his transfer to the medical unit of the prison, he has rejected intravenous treatment.
His physical condition has been weakened and his life is in danger.


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: youth

According to ISCA a man was hanged in the prison of Hamedan last week.
The man, Nosrat A. (43) was convicted for a murder he committed in 2006.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran writes that Homayon Shabestari, (21) is hanged for a crime he committed in 2005 as a minor.
Stop Child Executions has not independently verified this execution.


"Generation Tehran" is a 24 minutes short documentary made by filmmaker Sara Bavar, portraiting hope and expectations from young people in Tehran.






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: to study, or not

Also in this schoolyear Iran does not permit followers of the Bahaí-faith to attend university.
In recent years the Education Measurement and Evaluation Organization (EMEO) used different ways to refuse these students. If their entrance examination results were successful the application could not be completed while "necessary papers" were missing.
On the national university examination website it shows, instead of the exam result, to a Baha'istudent an "error page",with the words “Error – incomplete file.”
screenshot (fa).
The page to which they are automatically directed is http://82.99.202.139/karsarasari/87/index.php?msg=error_bah , a website which address ends on error bahaí.
This errorpage is shown to every student of the Baha'i-faith, despite the fact that he filled out all required information and successfully sat for the examination.
Also students who successfully entered universities in recent years, are expelled as soon as their faith is known.
Without complete files, enrollment in all public and most private universities in Iran is impossible.
The court refuses all appeals.
In one case the court referred to (English translation), (Persian) the 1991 Golgaypani memorandum which outlines a broad plan to block the “progress and development” of the entire Iranian Baha’i community, including by expelling Baha’i university students.



The human rightsactivist Ahmad Batebi wrote September 2 in Rooz online an article in Persian about the educational problems from the Baha'i English translation (each note is from the translator) and he wrote September 29th an article about the Baha'i.




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: unlawful

Six people were killed and 32 injured when a coach crashed in East Azerbaijanprovince, in Iran.
De driver lost control and the bus overturned and caught fire.



Mahmood Matin-Azad and Arash Basirat, two christians who were converted from islam, who were arrested in May in Shiraz along with 13 others, were released. The others were later interrogated and released, but they remained detained on accusations of apostacy.
According to the new draft Penal Law this is punishable with death.
The Italian newsagency Adnkronos reports that they were released September 30th, after a tribunal ruled that charges of "offence to Islam" and "diffusion of falsities" were "invalid".


Iranian teachers trying to attend a trade union meeting have been arrested in Iran. Every year is World Teachers Day worlwide celebrated.
Teachers who wanted to discuss possible activities to celebrate this day in the private building that was to host the meeting were harrassed by intelligence agents and arrested.
After 16 hours of illegal detention, 22 teachers were released; others were released later, after having been beaten.
Education International objects to the order by the Iranian Interior Ministry banning teacher union activities. The right of trade unions and teacher associations to operate and hold meetings to discuss professional questions, is an essential element of freedom of association.
The arrest of trade union leaders and members constitutes a violation of the trade union rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
EI protested to the Iranian authorities requesting that teachers arrested in connection with the meeting about World Teachers' Day do not suffer consequences in their private or professional lives.


The ALO "Ahwaz Liberation Organization" condemned in a letter sent September 30, Syrian authorities who once again extradited Iranian refugees to Iran.
This time they extradited a family from Ahwaz, a mother,Massouma Al-Kabi and her five minor children, Shaima Habib Jaber, 14 year old, Asiyah Habib Jaber 13 year old, Asmae Habib Jaber 11 year old, Ayad Habib Jaber 7 year old and Emad Habib Jaber 4 year old.
The family fled Iran four months ago and was recognized by the UNHCR.
They should be reunited with the father in Denmark.




In 2006 the Netherlands citizen and human rightsactivist Abdullah Al Mansouri,was arrested along with Rasoul Mazrae, Saeed Saki en Taher Mazrae by the Syrian authorities and they were, against the Geneva Conventions and Syrian laws, extradited to Iran.
Since then the only thing that is known from Abdullah Al Mansouri is, that he is inside an Iranian prison and that he faces a trial.
In 1988 Al Mansouri was already in absence sentenced to death.


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: felonious

Iranian Interior Minister Ali Kordad admitted in a letter to president Ahmadinejad that the honorary Oxford University degree was invalid.
He writes that he did not know and that he pressed charges against the person who claimed to represent Oxford University in Tehran.
The president had a copy from the letter sent to parliament.


According to Deputy Police Commander Hossein Zolfaqari Iran's overall crime rate and murder rate declined during ramadan. Homicide rate dropped with 32%.
In Iran happen six murders per day. There is no motivation behind 50 percent of the homicides.15 percent of the murders are a result of family disputes.
Iran ranks 50 in the world in the homicide rate.
There was a 34 percent decrease in armed robberies, a 67 percent decrease in bank robberies, a 6 percent decrease in car theft, an 8 percent decrease in house robberies, a 12 percent decrease in shop robberies, and a 6 percent decrease in kidnapping and hostage taking.



In some parts of the Khuzestan province workers have protested in recent days in response to a two month delay in salary and benefits payments. The workers of the Haft Tapeh sugar factory started their protest September 22nd.
After negotiations agreements were supposed to be in a written form, which has not happened yet, and workers are waiting for the agreement to become a reality.
The workers of Pars paper mill in Shoosh have also gone in strike. They receive raw material from the refinery from the sugar factory. They have been told that the mill will be closed for the next two months, and this news comes as the workers at the mill have not been paid salaries and benefits for the past three months.
In Khuzestan also 1700 truckdrivers have demonstrated.In unofficial reports it has been said that about 1,700 of protestors in recent days rallied their trucks on a three-lane road in Khoramshahr, headed towards the terminal in Ahvaz. The truck rally stretched for three kilometers, and drivers demanded to have their needs met.
Among these demands elimination of middlemen in the transfer of loads to truck drivers, the creation of a syndicate for truck drivers in Ahvaz, the establishment of rest areas and medical treatment centers for drivers at Ahvaz terminals, and proper inspection of the activities in the terminals by the Ministry of Roads and Transportation.



GlobalVoicesOnline reports that in recent weeks several Iranian cities in the south and southeast of the country faced sandstorms from which several bloggers say that Iranian media did not cover these events.
Mohammad Darvish, an environmentalist writes (fa) about the sandstorm in Sistan-e-Baluchestan.
Blogger Vatanema wrote (fa) that he named the sandstorm in Ahwaz just like a hurricane: Jasem.
Probably between four and eight people were killed in this storm.
He also made a film:







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