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Feb 8-12, 1999 / Bahman 19-23, 1377
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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''
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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
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* 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
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* 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
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* 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
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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
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* 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.
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* 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
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* 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
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* 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
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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
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* 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
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* 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)
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* 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
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* 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
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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
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* 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
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* 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
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* 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
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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
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* 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
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* 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
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* 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
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* 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
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* 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
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* 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
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* 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
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