* U.S. eases immigration rules to boost `Wrestling
Diplomacy' with Iran
WASHINGTON (Washington Post) - After having warmly
welcomed a U.S. wrestling team to Tehran, Iranians were incensed when a
dozen of their own wrestlers landed in Chicago last April only to be promptly
fingerprinted and photographed at the airport by immigration officers.
In a little-noticed regulation published July 17 in the Federal Register,
Attorney General Janet Reno, who oversees immigration officials, allowed
exemptions for "certain nonimmigrants" from four countries [including
Iran] "when such action is deemed to be in the interest of foreign
policy or national security."... FULL
TEXT
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* MKO accuses Tehran of killing Kurdish dissident
in Iraq
NICOSIA, Aug 6 (AFP) - Agents sent by Tehran have
killed a member of the Iranian Kurdish opposition at a base in northern
Iraq, Iran's biggest armed opposition faction, the People's Mujahedeen,
said Thursday. Mohammed Heidari of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
(KDPI) was gunned down late last Friday at a party base in Iraq and died
the following day, the People's Mujahedeen said in a statement received
here ... FULL
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* Freedom from religious persecution
NEW YORK (New York Times) - On July 21 Iran hanged
a citizen who follows the small faith of Bahai, on the charge of trying
to convert a man who follows the huge faith of Islam. Fifteen other Iranian
Bahais have been sentenced for the same crime; seven are scheduled for
hanging. The execution got four paragraphs in The New York Times; other
papers gave zero. The State Department condemned the execution. But next
to the story of the hanging was another, continued from the front page.
Headline: "Senate Drops Bill Punishing Lands That Persecute Religion."...
FULL TEXT
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* Publisher found guilty of press violations
TEHRAN, Aug 3 (Reuters) - A court on Monday found the publisher of a
journalists' newspaper guilty of violating press regulations after the
weekly printed a letter attacking Iran's late spiritual leader Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeinei. Justice Department Secretary Saeed Nobari said a press
court found cleric Mohammadreza Zaeri, publisher of the weekly Khaneh (House),
guilty but released him after he paid 20 million rials ($6,700). Nobari
said the sentence was relatively light because of Zaeri's record and an
apology to the public... FULL
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* Iran to offer consular services to dissidents abroad
TEHRAN, Aug 3 (AFP) - Iran said Monday it had started to offer consular
services to dissidents living abroad, in line with new efforts to persuade
Iranian exiles to return home. "All our diplomatic missions abroad
are ready to provide services to Iranians, independent of their political
tendencies," said Mohammad-Ali Hadi, deputy foreign minister for consular
affairs... FULL
TEXT
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* Banned Iran paper keeps publishing
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A pro-democracy newspaper defied two orders to shut
down and began publishing under a new name Sunday, setting the stage for
a clash with powerful hard-liners opposed to Iran's reformist president.
The paper's editor, Mahmoud Shams, said it was published under the name
Aftab'e Emrooz, or The Sun Today, with the lead story an account of an
attack Saturday on the newspaper's offices by thugs believed tied to ultra-conservative
politicians... FULL
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* Iran writers attacked
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Hard-liners in Iran's government banned a liberal
newspaper Saturday, dealing a blow to the moderate camp of President Mohammad
Khatami. Hours before the ban was served on Tous, demonstrators assaulted
the newspaper's editor and two Associated Press reporters who arrived on
the scene afterwards... FULL
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* Journalist stands trial for insulting late Iranian leader
TEHRAN, Aug 3 (AFP) - The director of an Iranian weekly stood trial
on Monday, accused of "insulting" the late founder of the Islamic
republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the official IRNA news agency reported.
But Mohammad-Reza Zaeri, director of Khaneh (Home) magazine, said the charges
arose from a "misunderstanding." "This is a misunderstanding
and I ask for pardon because I never intended to insult our Imam,"
he told the court in a reference to the late Iranian leader... FULL TEXT
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* Iranian leader gives interior minister control of police force
TEHRAN, Aug 2 (AFP) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on
Sunday gave new Interior Minister Abdol-Vahed Musavi-Lari expanded powers
by also naming him commander of the police force, the official IRNA news
agency said. Khamenei made the move at the request of Musavi-Lari, who
took over as interior minister late last month after his predecessor Abdollah
Nuri was ousted by parliament ... FULL
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* Yazdi calls for closure of "illegal" paper
TEHRAN, July 31 (AFP) - Iran's judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi
on Friday branded as "illegal" the return under a new name of
a banned moderate newspaper which supports reformist President Mohammad
Khatami. "The publication of a previously forbidden newspaper under
a new name is illegal, and we are asking the culture ministry to take action
before someone else does," Yazdi said during the weekly Moslem prayers
at Tehran University... FULL
TEXT
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* Humanitarian plea: A child With
Profound Disabilities Who May NEVER See His Family Again
Iranian American Republican Council: Ali Aleaziz is a 13 year old boy
who is a US citizen born in Oregon to Iranian Nationals (Farzad and Roya
Aleaziz). The Immigration and Naturalization Service is trying to force
Ali's parents to leave the country and abandon Ali in the United States.
They are unable to take Ali with them due to his chronic and serious medical
condition. Ali is a quadriplegic, has epilepsy and suffers from cerebral
palsey and profound mental retardation. (see
report in The Oregonian).
Ali lives at the Children's Nursing Center at Providence Child Center
in Portland, Oregon, a pediatric skilled nursing facility, because at this
time his family cannot manage his multiple disabilities and fragile health
condition at home... FULL
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* Iranian magazine chief detained for insulting Khomeini
TEHRAN, July 29 (AFP) - Police have arrested the director of a weekly
magazine for publishing "insults" about the founder of the Islamic
republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's official news agency IRNA
said Wednesday. Mohammad-Reza Zaehri, a conservative cleric who heads the
weekly Khaneh, was detained for "offending Islam, the Shiite clergy
and Imam Khomeini and for publishing photgraphs which violate public modesty,"
justice ministry spokesman Said Nobari said ... FULL
TEXT
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* No press law to stop Toos
ORUMIYEH (IRNA) - minister of culture and islamic guidance ataollah
mohajerani said here on wednesday that the current press laws do not cover
a case where the staff of a banned paper transfer to another daily. mohajerani
was commenting on the 'toos' daily which has employed at least part of
the staff of the recently banned controversial daily jame'e ... FULL TEXT
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* Pro-democracy student leader claims abuse
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A student leader said he was beaten and detained
by security men to prevent him from speaking at a pro-democracy rally at
Tehran University. Manouchehr Mohammadi said he was kicked and punched
by five intelligence agents and university guards Tuesday, and then hauled
away to a police station, where he was held for five hours ... FULL
TEXT
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* Human rights group will meet Saturday
TEHRAN (Hamshahri) - The Islamic Human Rights Commission in Iran will
hold a public meeting this Saturday to look into the judiciary's policies
toward free speech and women's rights ... FULL
TEXT IN PERSIAN
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* Khatami: "Don't hide the truth"
TEHERAN, (Hamshahri) - Meeting officials at the Islamic Republic News
Agency, President Khatami called on the news media not to "hide the
truth" ... FULL
TEXT IN PERSIAN
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* Khatami defends religious, press freedom
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami made a ringing call on Tuesday for freedom of the press and religion
as core principles of the Islamic republic. ``These are important principles
of our nation and they should be defended,'' Khatami was quoted as saying
by state television in a ceremony at Iran's official news agency IRNA...
FULL
TEXT
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