email us

US Transcom
US Transcom

Shahin & Sepehr

 

Sehaty Foreign Exchange

Advertise with The Iranian

News
Feb 8-12, 1999 / Bahman 19-23, 1377

Sports | Arts | Business| Rights | Community

Today

* Jurists urge Iran to give ex-deputy PM a free trial
* Iran local elections test reformists
* Pride, grumbles mingle on Iran anniversary
* Iran warns Azerbaijan against NATO base

Previous

* Party's over, Tehran faces testing times ahead
* Ayatollah Azari Qomi dies
* Arafat congratulates Iran on anniversary of revolution
* U.S.-Iran exchanges sensitive to political climate
* Israel says Iran exaggerating missile capability
* Conservative to lead Iranian intelligence
* Iranians urged to turn out in millions
* Khamenei on the revolution's 20th anniversary
* Amir Entezam in danger - group
* CIA reports on weapons concerns
* Khatami ousts security chief
* Intelligence minister's resignation letter
* Oscar nomination helps Iran movies
* Radical reformers found new left-wing party
* MPs challenge UK's warmer relations with Iran
* Intelligence minister resigns - paper
* Montazeri calls for studying re-establishing U.S. ties
* U.S. embassy occupiers are Iran's new ``liberals''
* Liberals barred from council elections
* Iran sends condolences, protest to Jordan
* Iran to test motor for new space rocket
* Iran 'armed and safe' 20 years after revolution
* Iran says U.S. base in Azerbaijan ``intolerable''

Sports | Arts | Business| Rights | Community


Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday


Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand


email us


Friday
February 12, 1999

* Jurists urge Iran to give ex-deputy PM a free trial

GENEVA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said on Thursday its observer had been barred from the trial of a former Iranian deputy prime minister and urged the authorities to ensure the proceedings were fair. The Geneva-based ICJ, which promotes the rule of law, said the trial of Abbas Amir-Entezam, a deputy prime minister just after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, is due to begin on February 16 ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Iran local elections test reformists

Feb. 12, 1999 (The Financial Times) - For millions of Iranians the 20th anniversary of the Iranian revolution this week is a cause for celebration. For many others, however, including President Mohammad Khatami and his reformist supporters, the forces spawned by the Islamic revolution - creatures of the underground alliance of wealthy merchants and Shia clergy - have become one of the greatest threats to the reforms espoused by the president and supported by more than 70 per cent of the electorate which swept him to office in May 1997 ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Pride, grumbles mingle on Iran anniversary

TEHRAN, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The streets bear martyrs' names. Giant murals of murdered religious leaders and fallen war heroes festoon the walls. Blood red is the dominant colour on the 20th anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution. But Tehran's streets are also draped with colourful party lights, and millions of Iranians have something to celebrate on Thursday, although economic crisis means many are grumbling more openly than at any time since the 1979 upheaval that toppled the Shah's dictatorship ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Iran warns Azerbaijan against welcoming any NATO base

TEHRAN, Feb 12 (AFP) - Iran warned neighbouring Azerbaijan on Friday to drop any plans to welcome a NATO base on its territory to counter alleged Russian support for its rival Armenia. "Azerbaijani officials should know that any NATO base in the Caspian Sea region will be extremely dangerous and constitutes a threat to peace and development," said Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who is now a top aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ... FULL TEXT

Go to top


Thursday
February 11, 1999

* Party's over, Tehran faces testing times ahead

TEHRAN, Feb 11 (AFP) - The climax of 10 days of lavish 20th birthday celebrations Thursday highlighted the durability of Iran's Islamic regime, but daunting challenges remain to be tackled if this durability is to give way to real stability. The mass rallies attended by hundreds of thousands of Iranians in cities across the country displayed the regime's continuing ability to mobilize large numbers of the population 20 years after the revolution. But the Iranian press grows daily bolder and more open in expressing concern about the declining living standards and mounting disenchantment of ordinary people ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Ayatollah Azari Qomi dies

Feb 11, (BBC) - Reports from Tehran say that a prominent member of the Iranian clergy, Ayatollah Ahmad Azari Qomi, has died of a stroke, at the age of seventy four. Ayatollah Azari Qomi was a leading theologian who served as a revolutionary prosecutor after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1979. He supported the conservative faction and backed the formalisation of theocratic rule. But, correspondents say Ayatollah Azari Qomi recently came under attack from the conservatives after he criticised -- in an open letter -- the leadership of Ayatollah Ali Khamanei.

Go to top

* Arafat congratulates Iran on anniversary of revolution

GAZA CITY, Feb 11 (AFP) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Thursday sent messages congratulating Iranians on the 20th anniversary of the Islamic revolution which toppled the Shah, the Palestinian news agency reported. Arafat sent one message to President Mohammed Khatami and a second to former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Wafa reported ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* U.S.-Iran exchanges sensitive to political climate

WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Little by little, especially after Iranians elected Mohammed Khatami as president in 1997, sportsmen, academics and tourists are trying to bridge the gap that still exists between political leaders in Tehran and Washington. And Iranians, in smaller numbers and with greater hesitation, are coming the other way despite a risk that on their return they may run into trouble with the Iranian authorities ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Israel says Iran exaggerating missile capability

JERUSALEM, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Arens said on Thursday Iran was experiencing problems with its missile programme and had made exaggerated statements about its capability. But Arens said with more help from Russia and other countries, Iran's long range surface-to-surface missiles would become operational ... FULL TEXT

Go to top


Wednesday
February 10, 1999

* Conservative to lead Iranian intelligence

President Khatami of Iran has nominated the chief military prosecutor, Ali Yunesi, as the new intelligence minister following the resignation of the minister on Tuesday over a scandal involving the killing of dissidents ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Iranians urged to turn out in millions for revolution anniversary

TEHRAN, Feb 10 (AFP) - The Islamic regime is calling on Iranians to turn out in their millions Thursday in a bid to demonstrate its continuing power to mobilise exactly 20 years after the overthrow of the last imperial government. "Every year the revolution's enemies look carefully to see whether people will participate," warned Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Khamenei's message on the revolution's 20th anniversary

Tehran, feb. 11, irna - the leader of the islamic revolution, ayatollah seyed-ali khamenei, on monday sent a message to the nation on the eve of the anniversary of the triumph of the islamic revolution ... FULL TEXT: Part (1) - Part (2)

Go to top

* Amir Entezam in danger - group

Washington DC, Feb 10, (Alliance for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran) - The life of one of the most prominent political opponents of the Islamic regime of Iran , Mr. Abbas Amir Entezam who had served as deputy prime minister under the government of Mehdi Bazargan after the 1979 revolution is in grave danger. He is the longest held political prisoner in Iran for "crimes" in defense of human rights and for advocating democracy in Iran ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* CIA reports on weapons concerns

February 10, 1999, WASHINGTON (AP) - The CIA is becoming increasingly concerned that business ``entities'' in China and Russia are trafficking weapons of mass destruction to countries such as Iran, Syria and India despite restrictions imposed by their own central governments ... FULL TEXT

Go to top


Tuesday
February 9, 1999

* Khatami ousts security chief

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Moderate President Mohammad Khatami took a major step Tuesday to extend his authority over Iran's powerful secret police, after a string of dissident murders threw his conservative rivals on the defensive. Tehran state television reported Khatami had officially accepted the resignation of Intelligence Minister Qorbanali Dorri Najafabadi, responsible for both internal security and foreign espionage ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

    * Intelligence minister's resignation letter

    Feb 9, (BBC) - Intelligence Minister Qorban Ali Dorri-Najafabadi submitted his resignation on Monday, following revelations that maverick members of his ministry had been involved in killing dissidents. His resignation was accepted by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday. An edited version of his resignation letter follows ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Oscar nomination helps Iran movies

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Although Iranian films have won awards at international festivals for years, Tuesday's Oscar nomination for ``Children of Heaven' is a first for a movie from the Islamic Republic. Despite strict government rules for filmmakers, Iranian films have won praise for their frank portrayal of social issues in Iran's restrictive society ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Radical reformers found new left-wing party

TEHRAN, Feb 9 (AFP) - Left-wing supporters of reformist Iranian President Mohammad Khatami announced the formation of a new party Tuesday ahead of the country's first ever local elections. The left-wing minority in Iran's conservative-dominated parliament said they were forming the Islamic Labour Party to encourage political participation by the working class ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* MPs challenge UK's warmer relations with Iran

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Britain's efforts to forge closer diplomatic and commercial ties with Iran were condemned on Tuesday by a majority of members of parliament who asked the government to reconsider its stance. Leaders of the 330 strong cross-party group of MPs who signed the statement said Britain should not have changed its policy towards Iran until there was clear evidence of greater freedom of expression and human rights ... FULL TEXT

Go to top


Monday
February 8, 1999

* Intelligence minister resigns - paper

February 8, 1999 (Theran Times) - Information Minister Qorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi yesterday went to President's Office to submit his resignation to President Seyed Mohammad Khatami, a reliable source said yesterday. The source, talking to the TEHRAN TIMES on condition of anonymity, said the President has accepted his resignation. Also yesterday, Yunesi was appointed as minister of information by the President and he is now busy preparing his future agenda as country's intelligence chief ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Montazeri calls for studying re-establishing U.S. ties

TEHRAN, Feb 6 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian dissident cleric, in remarks published on Saturday, called for Iran to study re-establishing ties with the United States, saying the two countries' estrangement did not need to be permanent. "This issue should be studied by foreign policy experts...away from factional considerations, and one should act resolutely if they conclude that it is in the interest of the country to re-establish relations," the daily Khordad quoted Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri as saying ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* U.S. embassy occupiers are Iran's new ``liberals''

TEHRAN, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Twenty years after Iran's Islamic revolution, the militants who seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran have returned to power and influence -- this time as born-again libertarians backing reformist President Mohammad Khatami. Today, some of those former students are prominent in government and the media, but they are now preaching greater political liberty, pluralism and free-market economic reform ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Islamic liberals barred from Iran's landmark council elections

TEHRAN, Feb 7 (AFP) - Islamic liberals will be barred from running for Iran's first ever municipal elections later this month, Vice-President Hassan Habibi said Sunday. Habibi, a member of the arbitrating committee set up to resolve a growing political row over barred candidates, said members of the liberal Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI) cannot run in the poll as the group is illegal ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Iran sends condolences, protest to Jordan

TEHRAN, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami sent condolences to Jordan's new King Abdullah on the death of his father King Hussein, Tehran radio reported on Monday. Khatami expressed condolences to ``the Hashemite (royal) family, the government and the people of Jordan,'' in a message on Sunday, it said ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Iran to test motor for new space rocket

TEHRAN, Feb 7 (AFP) - Iran announced on Sunday that it is to test the motor for a new space rocket, just six months after the successful launch of a medium-range missile sparked concern in the United States and key regional ally Israel. The test will be carried out by the armed forces on Tuesday, just two days before 20th anniversary of the Islamic revolution which overthrew the pro-Western shah, Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani told a news conference here ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Iran 'armed and safe' 20 years after revolution

TEHRAN, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Iranian Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani said on Sunday Iran felt safe 20 years after its Islamic revolution thanks to strong deterrent power. ``Iraq would have undoubtedly not attacked us 20 years ago if we he had then the power we have now,'' said Shamkhani, referring to the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

* Iran says U.S. base in Azerbaijan ``intolerable''

TEHRAN, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it would not tolerate the establishment of a U.S. military base in neighbouring Azerbaijan, which has been suggested by a senior Azeri official. ``The Islamic Republic of Iran would not tolerate such a base near its borders and we have expressed this matter to Azerbaijan's officials,'' Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told a news conference ... FULL TEXT

Go to top

  BBC Persian

Morning news broadcast


For the latest news visit
THE IRANIAN
Newsroom




IRNA Logo


email us



Copyright © 1997 Abadan Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved. May not be duplicated or distributed in any form