Iran: old or new

For the first time Iran gained a slot for the woman's ski tournament at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
One out of present three woman candidates has to qualify in the ski-tournaments which are to be held in December 2009.
85 countries are participating in the 2010 Winter Games in Canada.
source: Fars newsagency


In june 2008, Silva Harotonian, an employee from IREX was arrested and detained by authorities in Tehran, January 19, she was sentenced to a three-year prison term in Iran on charges of trying to soft topple the Iranian government.
Harotonian is an Iranian citizen from Armenian descent and is employed for IREX since 2007 in an exchange programme to enhance cooperation between Iran and the United States.
She works as an administrative support for Maternal and Child Health Education and Exchange Program (MCHEEP), in Yerevan, Armenia.
On the site free Silva is backgroundinformation and a petition.
source: payvand.com


Naser Zarafshan,a member of "Iran writers Association" and " Iran Lawyers Society ", is banned to leave the country and his passport is confiscated. He is as well lawyer for the family's of the victims of "chain murdering" in 1988.
He was invited to European Parliament by the president of all Europe Green Party to discuss on environmental issues in Iran and the future relation of Iran and Europe.
In May 2008 he was stopped at the airport in Tehran and they took his passport under the pretext that he had a case file in court .
source: Iran watch Canada


On the day before the last Wednesday for the end of the Iranian calendaryear, the ChaharShanbeh Soori fest is celebrated in Iran.
People go out and make fires and jump over them. Originally there were seven fires to pretend that the sun will not set.
The tradition dates from the Zoroastrian era. Following this tradition the jumping is to banish misfortune, marking the arrival of spring and the revival of nature.
Also a lot of people and children dress in costumes, make a lot of noise and go from house to house for a treat. These can be nuts, chocolate and candy.
Nowadays the fest is celebrated quite different from what was practiced during ancient times. The explosives are louder and the fires more dangerous and accidents happen.
source: Press-TV
photo's: http://www.payvand.com/news/09/mar/1232.html


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

In a statement on yaarinews.com has Mohammad Khatami formally ended his candidacy for the June presidential race.
The main reason behind the withdrawal is that Khatami wishes to prevent dividing of the votes.
After Mir-Hossein Mousavi announcing his candidacy there were speculations about the need to unite and that not both be candidates together.
At the end of last week it was announced that the Principlist reached consensus to support one candidate only.
Although nobody of the Principlist yet announced their candidacy, it is expected that President Ahmadinejad will run for a second term.
source: Press-TV


According to information from Evinprison, the physical condition of Mohammad-Sedigh Kaboodvand is a cause for serious concern.
He is chairman of Kurdistan Human Rights organization an detained for 21 months.
Medical officers of the prison have warned of the criticality of his heart condition, but the deputy prosecutor’s office and the Ministry of Intelligence have rejected a relief plea to seek medical treatment outside of the prison. At the same time he was more then twice admitted to the prison hospital.
Kurdistan Human Rights organization has issued statements warning of the extent of Kaboodvand’s health issues and they have identified the deputy of the prosecutor’s office in Tehran and the Ministry of Intelligence as responsible parties.
source: ihrv.org


March 16 is the trial against students from Zanjan University held.
The students Alireza Firoozi, Surna Hashemi, Bahram Vahedi, Payam Shakiba, Arash Rayeji, Hasan Jenidi, Dr. Sarami and Tofighi are charged with holding a demonstration to protest against actions by an university deputy against a female student.
The next court session is scheduled to be held on April 7.
source: ihrv.org

Mohammad Ehsani, a linguistic student and filmer is named as fourth of a group of people who are charged with a "soft overthrowing" of the Iranian regime.Earlier this year the brothers Alaei and an unknown third person were sentenced to jail for cooperating with USA.
Ehsani was in 2008 invited by the Asian Association of New York and 5 other film centers in five US states, to exhibit his work.
It is said that he was arrested unexpectedly during his wedding ceremony on 6 July 2008 in Tehran and sent to Evin prison where he spent his detention in solitary confinement while his situation was not mentioned by the media.
It is unclear where and when his court has been held and if he was allowed an attorney, however he has been charged with cooperating with the United States.
Last year a film was showed at the inauguration of the Iranian art and culture centre in New York.
Reports indicate that the film was the request of the Iranian Cultural Heritage and tourism and it was confirmed after visit of the Asian Associations delegation and US Metropolitan Museum to Iran.
source: ihrv.org


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: traffic

The director-general of the Office for Coordinating Municipalities' Transportation and Traffic Affairs told Fars newsagency that Iran plans to place new restrictions on car owners in Tehran and other municipal cities to solve the traffic problem.
He pointed that if personal car-use is limited, people will use public transportation .One way is to increase car maintenance costs, fuel prices and parking fee in city centers.
source: english.farsnews.com



Fars newsagency reported that in Shiraz, Fars province, a woman is arrested who promoted the Satanism in her clothesshop.
The chief of provincial police intelligence said that in the shop of the woman, Rezvan H. 387 symbols of Satanism were found.
In Iran heavy metal music and other hard rock attributes are often looked at as satanic.
source: irannewsdaily.com



President Ahmadinejad officially ordered the Oil Ministry to import gasoline for the next three months till mid-June to build enough reserves for next year.
The president had proposed a 20-billion-dollar economic reform plan to redistribute the oilsubsidies as part of the budget bill, but the parliament removed the plan before ratifying the bill.
The head of Iran's National Refinery and Distribution Company said that the Ministry of Oil would use oil revenues for gasoline imports if the budget allocated for the purpose is not enough.
source: Press-TV



264,000 police agents will be on guard since Sunday on behalf of the holidays around the Iranian Newyear (Nowruz), March 21.
They will provide the safety on the roads in the country during the New Years travels.
Driving license of those motorists who drive beyond speed limits or show other dangerous behaviors will be revoked.
source: mehrnews.com

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: implement

The request for appeal from the Kurdish womans right activist Zaynab Bayazidi is denied.
She is member of the OneMillionSignaturecampaign and Kurdistan’s Human Rights Defense organization.
July 9, 2008 she had to appear in the Ministry of Information and was detained.
Within a month her trial was held without the presence of her defense lawyer She received a four-year jail sentence to be served in exile in the city of Zanjan’s central prison.
source: ihrv.org



Reza Abdi, member of the Teachers Union was charged with public disorder by holding an illegal gathering in front of the parliament, to five months imprisonment and 20 lashes, was ordered March 14 to the Revolutionary Court for implementation of the flogging.
He had been detained during teachers protest events of April 2007 and his sentence was issued in September 2008.
source: ihrv.org


12 fired miners of Agh Dareh mine in the city of Tikan Tapeh (Tukab)(Azerbaijan) who had been poisoned severely by inhaling mercury vapors filed a suit.
According to workers, they were not equipped with safety gear at the work site and the factory also lacks proper equipment to trap pollutant materials, adding to the contamination of underground water.
source: ihrv.org


Ali Mihan-Torabi,who is sentenced to death for a murder he committed when he was below the age of 18, has been tortured by the deputy of prison security of Raja’i Shahrprison. Gohardasht.
The reason was contacts with political prisoners in the same prison and because of the multiple protests by the foreign press against the capital punishment.
source: ihrv.org


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: figures

In Adelabad prison in Shiraz are according to daily Etemaad four men opgehangen.
Their names are:
Abolhassan convicted for murder in 1981,
a man, 26, convicted for murder,
a man, convicted for murder,
a man, 23, convicted for rape of two boys (name and age at the time of committing the offence not given).
Sources say also there are several minor offenders on death row in the Adelabad prison of Shiraz.



Farsnews reported that the povertyline for Iranian metropolitan areas has risen with 10% and now is $860.
At a possible inflationrate in next year of 35%, a family of five would be in absolute poverty with a monthly income of under $860.
Also the former Minister of Welfare said that the figure had risen compared to last year. He added however that the increase was not so high as to cause panic.
Universitary studies say that low income groups have spent less while high income groups have spent more.
This means that the poor have become poorer while the rich have spent more.
It is also announced that the minimum wage for Iranian workers was set at a monthly rate of
$ 279.
source: Press-TV



The Iranian parliament ratified after 5 days of lenghty debate, the budget for the next Iranian year, after a $19 billion to redistribute subsidies was cut,to $279 billion.
President Ahmadinejad has proposed a 20-billion-dollar economic reform plan which would entail cutting subsidies for fuel, natural gas and electricity and redistributing hard cash among low-income families to compensate them for the price hike caused by the plan.
The budget needs a yes vote from the 12-member Guardians Council in order to come into effect.
source: Press-TV



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: reasons

In the prison of Sari were March 11 two men hanged.
The men, Ali Asghar F. en Ismaeil A. were according to the site of the police convicted for drugstrafficking.

source: iranhr.net



Jinous Sobhani,who was arrested in Tehran, January 14th, was released on Wednesday after paying a bail from $70,000.
Sobhani, who works on the human rights office of Shirin Ebadi and is of Baha'i faith, is not allowed by the court to get legal assistance nor have they allowed her lawyers access to seeher file.
According to her lawyer, Abdulfatah Soltani, a member of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, the reason for her arrest is probably her work with the Center for the Defense of Human Rights and also because she is a Baha’i, although neither of these is a crime, and no other charge against her has yet been announced.
source: iranVNC.com



Reporters without Borders has published a report: "Enemies of the Internet" .
In this report they name 12 countries which have transformed their Internet into an Intranet in order to prevent their population from accessing ‘undesirable’ online information.
These countries are: Burma, China, Cuba, Egypte, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
The entire report can be read: here (pdf).
source: Reporters without Borders



The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has answered the written questions of Dutch MP's Van Bommel, Peters and Van Dam.
This is in Dutch.
My incomplete and grammatical often wrong translation:
The Minister confirmed that the Iranian government told the Dutch Ambassador in Tehran that Abdullah Al Mansouri is convicted to 30 years in prison.
The Iranian government also told the Ambassador that Al Mansouri can appeal to this sentence.
Whether this was a fair trial is not known, while the Iranian government has not (yet) handed out papers.
Iran will not allow consular assistance, while Al Mansouri in Irans opinion is an Iranian citizen.
For this reason there has been no visit from a Dutch governmental representative to Al Mansouri.
According to Minister Verhagen the Dutch government will do its utmost to ensure Al Mansouri can be visited by Dutch governmental representatives.
source: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nlc

Iran: report

The daily Kayhan writes that Wednesday in the prison of Tabas four men are hanged
The men, Ali Abestan, Ali Dehqani, Ali Damshad, and Mahmoud Moradi were convicted for drugssmuggle. The daily also wrote that they took part in armed clashes with the police two years ago and resisted arrest.

source: IranFocus



Amnesty International published a report called "Challenging Repression: Human Rights Defenders in the Middle East and North Africa" in which she warns for the fact that human rights organizations in Iran face continued repression in governmentrules and other forms of repression.
According to the report human rights defenders are imprisoned on vague charges such as “propaganda against the state”, “insulting others”, and “acting against state security”.
Families of human rights defenders have also been targeted by Iranian authorities.
Woman's rights activists in Iran still face huge challenges and constant state repression, but they continue, to make their voices heard.
Also human rights defenders are persecuted by the state.
Freedom of press is decreasing.
Charges as “insulting the country’s leader” and “making anti-government propaganda”, are punishable by imprisonment.
Workers’ rights are also under attack. Union members are jailed.
source: amnesty international usa

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: official

According to AmirKabir Newsletter is March 5th in Lakanprison in the city of Rasht, Gilan province, a man stoned to death.
The man, Vali Azad, 30, was convicted for adultry.
The report is not confirmed by official sources.
source: iranhr.net



700 women celebrated International Women's Day in Malatpark, Mashhad, Khorasan province.
They chanted slogans in support of freedom of women in the country.
The police were dispatched to the Azadi Square across from the Malat Park to disperse the demonstrators.
50 women were arrested and transferred to a unknown location.
source: ncr-iran.org


Mir-Hossein Moussavi has officially announced his candidacy for the presidential elections in June.
Moussavi is a member of Iran's Expediency Council, runs on the reformist platform and is a member of the National Confidence (Etemad-e-Melli) Party.
Together with Khatami and Karroubi, he is the third reformist cansidate.
soource: press-TV


The secretary of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization said that the nuclear installations in Bushehr during the holidays of the Iranian New Year (Nowruz, March 21) will be opened for tourists.
The aim is to further highlight the peaceful nature of Tehran's atomic work.
source: Press-TV


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: motion

March 9 are in the prison of the city of Zahedan four men hanged.
One of the men was accused of kidnapping a Belgian couple in 2007.
IRNA said they were also convicted for killing of eight security agents and the kidnapping of a cleric.
source Herald Tribune iht.com


March 4, one man was hanged in the prison of Isfahan.
The daily Quds reported that the man Mostafa, an Afghan citizen, murdered his wife and his father in law.
source iranhr.net


According to the Kurdish human rights site "Parezeran", March 4, one man was hanged in the prison of the city of Miandoab, West Azerbaijan.
The man, Nader Shokrollahi was convicted for murder.
source iranhr.net



GlobalVoicesOnline writes that a group of muslimbloggers wrote a letter to the head of the judiciary Shahroudi to act in bringing justice to Hossein Derakhshan, who is detained for 4 months.
The letter has been translated in English and is here
source GlobalVoicesOnline




The wife of the missed American Robert Levinson has released a computer-enhanced photograph of what her husband may look like now, 2 years after he disappeared.
Today is Levinson's 61th birtday, he disappered during a businesstrip to the Island Kish.
The Iranian government claims to have no information about him.
source Foxnews.com




Roxana Saberi is visited in jail by a lawyer.
More then 6 years she worked as a journalist in Iran.
She was detained more than a month ago for continuing working as a journalist after her presspermit was revoked in 2006.
Friday one of the deputy prosecutors in Tehran said that she may be released soon.
source Press-TV


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: strain

Iranian statetelevision reported that in Kermanshah province one man was hanged.
The man was convicted for murdering a jeweller, two years ago.
source iranvnc



The government in Tehran confirmed that Morocco has cut diplomatic ties with Iran.
The Moroccan Foreign Ministry said Friday, after the King expressed his support for Bahrain over a recent misunderstanding between Iran and Morocco, that Iran's irrational stance against Morocco has strained Tehran and Rabat relations.
source Press-TV



Dögan News wrote that yesterday two Turkish children were shot when they illegally crossed the border between Turkey and Iran.This happened in Saray, Turkish Van province.
One of the children died, the other was injured.
source hurriyet.com



President Ahmadinejad said he will put an end to recent limitations on campaign speeches.
This announcement comes shortly after Karroubi and Khatami were barred from election speeches.
Karroubi was barred to speech in Gorgan, Hamadan and Urumieh, Khatama was not allowed to speech in Shiraz.
Ahmadinejad said that no government official will be allowed to keep presidential candidates from expressing their political views.
In the end, it is the Guardian Council, consisting of 12 clerics and jurists, who has the final say as to which candidates are eligible to contest the presidency.
They can reject any contender deemed unfit to run for presidency.
The officials who barred the candidates defended their move by saying that both had not been vetted by the Guardian Council.
source Press-TV



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: consumption

The Iranian police has during a crackdown in Sistan-e-Baluchestan province, killed six drugsmugglers.
Also one soldier was killed.
The crackdown is still being seriously enforced. The border Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan is a busy narcotics smuggling route.
At the latest action, almost five tons of narcotics were confiscated and the police managed to control the region in the past 72 hours.


In Tehran is the third festival of aquatics and health held in the fruits and shrimp center. 15 companies from this sector were present.
In Iran the average consumption of fish and seafood is 7.2 kg a year, but in Tehran this is 8.8kg of fish per capita per year.
Tehran is the main consumption market of the country.
The festival is to promote consumtion of aquatics and health in Iran.



Candidate for president Mehdi Karroubi wants to include female ministers and deputies in his Cabinet should he be elected.
He said in a speech that Iranian culture does not welcome the public presence of women in political, social and even cultural spheres. Religious figures even object.
He also said that imam Khomeini fought against such convictions and significantly changed the status of Iranian women.
Karroubi was speaking on the eve of the International Women's day.



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