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April 24-28, 2000 / Ordibehesht 2-6, 1379
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* Hardliners in elite force 'plotting
coup against Iranian president'
* Judiciary shuts last two reformist papers
* Khamenei endorses media crackdown
* Student protests grow at press closures
* New ban on papers fuels Iran crisis
* Election campaign reopens in Iran as political confusion
persists
* Iran frees eight accused of serial killings
Recent
* Khamenei proclaims full backing for
Khatami
* Reformers Say Iran's Hard-Liners Plan
Revolt
* Students across Iran protest press bans
* Date for second round of elections finally set
* Iran pro-democracy newspaper warned
* Pro-reform cleric rejects charges against him
* Four Iranian immigrants charged with Sweden disco
arson
* Saudi rules out any defence accord with Iran
* Protests mount at closure of pro-reform press
* Iran waives ban on daily, protests mount
* Hard-liners boost Khatami pressure
* Arrest warrant issued for Ashkevari
* Trial of Hajarian attack suspects open
* Iran's reforms "will continue": Deputy foreign
minister
* Iran seeks to expand improved ties with Saudi to all Persian
Gulf states
* Iran bans 14 pro-reform publications
* Khatami appeals for calm after press suspensions
* U.S. condemns pro-reform media closings in Iran
* U.S. amends sanctions on Russian entities over Iran
* Iran jails another publisher
* Iran ex-police chief blames student unrest on higher authorities
* Iranian defence minister off to Saudi Arabia
* Iranian Armenians commemorate 1915 Turkish genocide
* Reformists battered from all sides
* Rallies in Iran following call by Guards, but turnout
low
* Iranian demonstrators, police clash
* Mohajerani summons newspaper chiefs for meeting
* Iran rejects US remarks about freedom of the press
* Air base remembers men killed on failed Iran hostage
rescue mission
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Thursday
April 27, 2000
* Hardliners in elite force 'plotting coup against Iranian president'
Thursday April 27, 2000 (The Guardian, London) -- Several commanders
in Iran's Revolutionary Guards have mapped out a strategy to force reformist
foes to "stay silent or pull aside" in a planning session which
it is claimed could be described as a precursor to a coup against President
Mohammad Khatami. Three senior officials of the Revolutionary Guards and
their allies outlined a three-stage plan to be carried out by a "crisis
committee", according to notes taken from a tape of the meeting two
weeks ago, which have been made available to the Guardian >>>
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* Judiciary shuts last two reformist papers
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's hard-line judiciary shut down the last two
major national newspapers from the reformist camp Thursday, bringing to
16 the number of publications banned this week. The two newspapers, including
a leading daily published by a brother of President Mohammad Khatami, were
the last hit in a wave of closures that began Sunday >>>
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* Khamenei endorses media crackdown
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's supreme leader on Wednesday endorsed the
recent crackdown on reformist newspapers, describing the publications as
``deviant'' and urging his supporters not to remain silent. Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei condemned what he called ``a deviant media movement that is
trying to shape public opinion and turn it against Islam, the revolution
and the Islamic Republic.'' >>>
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* Student protests grow at press closures
TEHRAN, April 27 (AFP) - Students held their biggest protest yet late
Wednesday at the closure of pro-reform newspapers by Iran's conservative
press court, press reports said Thursday. The daily Bayan, one of the
few pro-reform dailies to escape suspension, said 5,000 students demonstrated
peacefully at Ahvaz University in the south of the country in support of
reformist President Mohammad Khatami >>>
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* New ban on papers fuels Iran crisis
TEHRAN, April 27 (AFP) - Iran's conservative judiciary stoked up tension
again Thursday by ordering the closure of the two most important reformist
newspapers, including that of President Mohammad Khatami's brother. The
move, reported by the official news agency IRNA, on top of previous suspensions
left the reformist camp without a voice for the second round of the parliamentary
elections on May 5 >>>
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* Election campaign reopens in Iran as political confusion persists
TEHRAN, April 27 (AFP) - Campaigning opened for the second round of
Iran's parliamentary elections Thursday amid continued political uncertainty.
But analysts said the mere fact that the polls were taking place, coupled
with a strong expression of support for reformist President Mohammad Khatami
from Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had helped to calm
the volatile situation >>>
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* Iran frees eight accused of serial killings
TEHRAN, April 27 (AFP) - Iran Wednesday freed eight of the 22 people
accused of serial killings of opponents of the regime and intellectuals
in late 1998 on "clear proof" they were not guilty, the justice
department said. The reason the case has gone so slowly up to present
is precisely because of the charges against the eight were baseless, the
department said in a statement quoted by the official IRNA news agency
>>>
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Wednesday
April 26, 2000
* Khamenei proclaims full backing for Khatami
TEHRAN, April 26 (AFP) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
proclaimed Wednesday his full support for beleaguered reformist President
Mohammad Khatami, state radio reported. "The president is a defender
of Islam the revolution," the radio quoted Khamenei as saying in a
speech to leading politicians >>>
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* Reformers Say Iran's Hard-Liners Plan Revolt
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's reformers say they have learned of a ``master
plan'' by hard-liners in the security forces and their allies to crush
the movement for change and even topple the government of moderate President
Mohammad Khatami. They say some elements of the elite Revolutionary Guards,
the police and the state broadcast monopoly have formed a ''crisis committee''
to fan social, political and religious tensions and pave the way for a
possible coup d'etat >>>
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* Students across Iran protest press bans
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Students at Tehran's technical university said on
Wednesday they had suspended classes for the day, as peaceful protests
spread against the banning of 13 pro-reform publications spread across
the country. Hundreds of students at the University of Science and Technology
rallied inside the enclosed campus, chanting slogans, clapping and stamping
their feet in unison >>>
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* Date for second round of elections finally set
TEHRAN, April 26 (AFP) - The run-off second round of parliamentary elections
in Iran will be held on May 5, state radio said Wednesday, quoting an official
announcement by the interior ministry. "The second round will take
place on Friday, May 5 in 52 constituencies," the announcement said,
adding that the total of 132 candidates for the 66 seats could begin campaigning
Thursday >>>
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* Iran pro-democracy newspaper warned
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A court representing Iran's hard-line clergy has
sent a warning to the president's brother to rein in his pro-democracy
newspaper or face sanction, state radio reported today. Saeed Mortazavi,
a judge of the Press Court, notified Mohammad Reza Khatami by letter Tuesday
that his Mosharekat daily newspaper had broken press laws by publishing
additional copies in recent days, the radio said >>>
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* Pro-reform cleric rejects charges against him
PARIS, April 26 (AFP) - Iranian pro-reform cleric Hassan Yussefi Eshkevari
rejected Tuesday charges brought against him by hardline Tehran clerics
and described the accusations as "strange and incredible". Iran's
Special Court for Clergy issued an arrest warrant against Eshkevari for
having attended a controversial seminar in Berlin on April 7 and 8, the
official Iranian news agency IRNA reported earlier Tuesday >>> FULL TEXT
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* Four Iranian immigrants charged with Sweden disco arson
STOCKHOLM, April 26 (Reuters) - Four young immigrants to Sweden from
Iran were charged with arson on Wednesday in connection with a Gothenburg
discotheque fire in which 63 youngsters died and 250 were injured, some
seriously. If arson is proved, the fire on October 29, 1998, in the western
port city would be the worst such case in modern Swedish history >>>
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* Saudi rules out any defence accord with Iran
RIYADH, April 26 (AFP) - Saudi Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdel
Aziz on Wednesday ruled out signing any kind of defence agreement with
Iran. "Any direct cooperation with Iran to guarantee the protection
of the Gulf is quite inadmissible," Prince Sultan told journalists
after inaugurating in Riyadh a Franco-Saudi symposium on satellite technology
>>>
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Tuesday
April 25, 2000
* Protests mount at closure of pro-reform press
TEHRAN, April 25 (AFP) - Anger at a crackdown on the pro-reformist press
spilled on to the streets of Tehran for the first time Tuesday as students
staged demonstrations in favour of freedom of expression. Meanwhile the
conservative-dominated courts kept up their offensive against the allies
of President Mohammad Khatami, levelling serious charges against a cleric
who attended a controversial seminar in Berlin >>>
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* Iran waives ban on daily, protests mount
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's hardline judiciary lifted a ban on a popular
pro-reform daily, allowing it to appear on newsstands Tuesday, but 13 other
publications remained closed. Sobh-e Emrouz newspaper, whose publisher
Saeed Hajjarian was gravely wounded in an assassination bid last month,
was ordered closed late Monday afternoon, journalists told Reuters >>>
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* Hard-liners boost Khatami pressure
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's hard-liners have stepped up pressure on President
Mohammad Khatami, annulling another election result in a legislative district
won by a moderate Khatami ally. Alarmed by the sound beating they took
from reformists in February's legislative elections, hard-liners are trying
to roll back Khatami's reforms in a bid to protect their own rule. In addition
to annulling election results in 12 seats won by Khatami allies, they have
closed 13 pro-democracy publications and jailed two journalists in recent
weeks >>>
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* Arrest warrant issued for Ashkevari
TEHRAN, April 25 (Reuters) - Iran's hardline clerical court has issued
an arrest warrant for an outspoken cleric who took part in a seminar in
Berlin on the reform movement, the official IRNA news agency said on Tuesday.
It quoted prosecutor Mohammad Ebrahim Nekounam of the Special Court for
Clergy as saying Hasan Yousefi-Ashkevari would be arrested on his return
to Iran >>>
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* Trial of Hajarian attack suspects open
TEHRAN, April 25 (AFP) - The trial of 10 defendants accused of planning
the assassination of leading Iranian reformist Said Hajarian last month
opened here Tuesday amid extreme political tension in the country. Despite
a statement by the judiciary last week that the hearings would be in open
court the foreign press was banned from the tribunal, with only local journalists
being admitted >>>
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* Iran's reforms "will continue": Deputy foreign minister
OSLO, April 25 (AFP) - Reform in Iran will continue despite the suspension
of 13 pro-reform publications, the country's deputy foreign minister for
Europe and America, Morteza Sarmadi, said Tuesday during a visit to Oslo.
"In Iran, there is a strong tendency for continuation of reform. We
think it is natural that we will have ups and downs," he said following
a meeting with Norway's Foreign Minister Thorbjoern Jagland >>> FULL TEXT
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* Iran seeks to expand improved ties with Saudi to all Persian Gulf
states
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, April 25 (AFP) - Iranian Defence Minister Ali
Shamkhani, in Saudi Arabia on a groundbreaking visit, said Tuesday that
Iran wants good ties with all Persian Gulf states, including the United
Arab Emirates with which it has an islands dispute. "Iran wants to
eliminate tension and reach peaceful coexistence not only with Saudi Arabia
but with all our brothers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),"
the rear admiral said. >>>
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Monday
April 24, 2000
* Iran bans 14 pro-reform publications
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's hard-line judiciary has suspended 14 pro-reform
publications in the biggest blow yet to press freedoms championed by President
Mohammad Khatami. The state news agency IRNA said early Monday eight dailies
were among 12 publications banned without trial by the Tehran justice department
for printing material that ``disparaged Islam and the religious elements
of the Islamic revolution.'' >>>
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* Khatami appeals for calm after press suspensions
TEHRAN, April 24 (AFP) - President Mohammad Khatami appealed for "calm
and solidarity" on Monday, a few hours after Iran's press court suspended
publication of eight daily newspapers politically close to the reformist
Khatami. "Iran today, more than ever, needs calm and solidairty to
achieve our aims. Today, we need tranquility, especially at the start of
a new Majlis (parliament)," he said at military parade commemorating
the Iranian army and the 20th anniversary of a failed attempt to free US
embassy hostages then held in the eastern city of Tabas >>>
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* U.S. condemns pro-reform media closings in Iran
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday condemned Iran's
hardline judiciary for closing 14 pro-reform publications, saying the move
was a ``blow to the Iranian people.'' State Department spokesman James
Rubin told a regular news briefing: ``These actions are a blow to the people
of Iran, which have clearly expressed their desire for openness and this
kind of freedom in successive elections.'' >>>
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* U.S. amends sanctions on Russian entities over Iran
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday it would slap
sanctions on the head of a Russian university suspected of helping Iran
develop a missile program and lift restrictions against two enterprises
it said had stopped helping Tehran. ``The United States intends to remove
restrictions imposed in July 1998 on two Russian entities -- INOR Scientific
Center and Polyus Scientific Production Association -- which have ceased
the proliferant behavior that led to the imposition of these penalties,''
State Department spokesman James Rubin said >>>
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* Iran jails another publisher
TEHRAN, April 23 (Reuters) - The publisher of a banned newspaper was
jailed on Sunday when Iran's Supreme Court rejected his final appeal, the
official IRNA news agency said, in a continuing clampdown on the liberal
press. Latif Safari had been sentenced to 30 months imprisonment by the
hardline press court for offences including insulting religious sanctities
-- the most common charge brought against pro-reform journalists in Iran
>>>
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* Iran ex-police chief blames student unrest on higher authorities
TEHRAN, April 24 (AFP) - Tehran's former police chief on Monday rejected
all charges against him and his officers over their role in last year's
attack on student demonstrators, insisting that they were only acting on
orders. "Regarding the attack against the university site, there is
a chain of command, which is why it is up to my superiors and politicians
to respond" to the charges, said Farhad Nazari during the eighth hearing
at Tehran's military court >>>
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* Iranian defence minister off to Saudi Arabia
TEHRAN, April 24 (AFP) - Iranian Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani said
Monday that a security pact for the Gulf region is still a long way off,
although he looked forward to cooperating with Saudi Arabia over security
issues. Shamkhani was speaking on his departure for a three-day official
visit to Riyadh, which will focus largely on issues of regional security.
>>>
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* Iranian Armenians commemorate 1915 Turkish genocide
TEHRAN, April 24 (AFP) - Some 10,000 Armenian Iranians held a rally
here Monday to mark the anniversary of the 1915 Turkish massacre during
World War I that killed more than a million Armenians. The rally to commemorate
the genocide, marked annually by Armenians throughout the world, was headed
by leaders of the Armenian community here including Archbishop Sebu Sarkissian
>>>
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Friday
April 14, 2000
* Reformists battered from all sides as Iran political tensions mount
TEHRAN, April 20 (AFP) - Supporters of Iran's reformist President Mohammad
Khatami came under increasingly heavy attack Thursday as political tensions
mounted in the country. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei flayed pro-reform
newspapers and a hardline court summoned Khatami aides for questioning,
accusing them of making anti-Islamic statements at a recent conference
in Berlin >>>
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* Rallies in Iran following call by Guards, but turnout low
TEHRAN, April 21 (AFP) - Thousands of Iranians demonstrated here Friday
to denounce reformist politicians, including allies of President Mohammad
Khatami, following a call from the regime's elite Revolutionary Guards
corps. Similar rallies were held nationwide, notably in the holy city of
Mashhad, but turnout was relatively low for the demonstrations, called
by the Guards as a show of support for supreme leader, or Guide, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei >>>
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* Iranian demonstrators, police clash
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Demonstrators clashed with police Friday and at
least 150 people were arrested in the third day of protests after hard-liners
annulled a reformist's election victory, a local journalist said. ``The
protesters hurled stones at anti-riot police and set one of the police
cars on fire,'' said the journalist from the town of Sarvestan in southern
Fars Province >>>
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* Mohajerani summons newspaper chiefs for meeting
TEHRAN, April 21 (AFP) - Iran's culture minister called for a Saturday
meeting of Iranian newspaper chiefs amid mounting pressure on the pro-reform
press, the official IRNA news agency said. Ataollah Mohajerani, a close
ally of President Mohammad Khatami, called for the meeting following strong
criticisms of the reformist press by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
on Thursday >>>
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* Iran rejects US remarks about freedom of the press
TEHRAN, April 21 (AFP) - Iran rejects remarks made by the US State Department
expressing "concern" about attacks on the press by the country's
supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the official IRNA news agency reported
Friday. Iran rejects the comments by the State Department, and regards
them as "flagrant interference in Iran's internal affairs," said
foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, quoted by IRNA >>> FULL TEXT
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* Air base remembers men killed on failed Iran hostage rescue mission
April 21, 2000, HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AP) - A rose bush has been planted
for each of eight servicemen, including five Hurlburt-based airmen, who
died in a failed attempt to rescue American hostages from the U.S. embassy
in Iran 20 years ago next week. The bushes were ceremoniously placed Thursday
in the ground outside the chapel at this Air Force Base in the Florida
Panhandle as mission veterans and family members of their lost comrades
looked on. A commemorative coin, each with the name of one the deceased
engraved on it, was buried with each rose bush >>>
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