News
Nov 30-Dec 4, 1998 / Azar 9-13, 1377
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Today
* AI calls for independent investigations into killings
* German banks talking to Iran on new loan - source
* Iran open for business but investors wary
* Omanis observing Iranian military maneuvers
* Jannati warns U.S. tourists may be spies
* Marriage turning into a crisis for young Iranians
Previous
* New reformist Iranian paper hits the streets
* Press watchdog says Iranian journalist disappeared
* Germany denies report of new Hermes loans for Iran
* Iranian banker reports breakthrough on $3 bln loan
* Lawmakers cite Iran drug problems
* Iran offers to help resolve row over Ocalan
* Khatami to visit Italy next March
* ABB wins 100 mln Sfr Iran hydropower deal
* Ukraine still mulling Iran turbine sale-source
* UAE renews calls for ICJ ruling in dispute with Iran
* Iran reaffirms claim over disputed islands
* Iran protests U.S.-jet interception
* New law could slash Iran gasoline use-oil minister
* Students gathering leads to
violence
* The plight of the Persian carpet
* Kharrazi hail relations with Italy
* U.S. not ready for relations with Iran: Iranian FM
* US official talks Iran deal compensation in Ukraine
* University students to reach 1.5 million
* Newspaper calls execution by stoning un-Islamic
* March prevented to protest murder of Forouhar
* Budget to triple petrol price for heavy users
* "Khordad" New pro-Khatami paper
* Navy to launch wargames
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Friday
December 4, 1998
* AI calls for independent investigations into killings
3 December (Amnesty International) - Amnesty International has been
alarmed by the recent killings of two prominent government critics -- as
well as by other recent events -- in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The
human rights organization calls upon the Iranian authorities to undertake
immediate, independent investigations into these events, in accordance
with United Nations "Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation
of Extra-Legal Arbitrary and Summary Executions", and to make public
the findings of any such investigations. Attacks against critics of the
government within Iran have rarely been subject to impartial and open investigation
in the past ... FULL
TEXT
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* German banks talking to Iran on new loan - source
BONN, Dec 4 (Reuters) - A consortium of German banks is holding talks
with Iran over a new $1 billion credit line, a German banking source said
on Friday. `There are talks. They are at a confidential stage at the moment.
There is no agreement which can be made public at the moment,'' the source
told Reuters. Germany's government-backed export credit guarantee agency,
HERMES, on Thursday denied an assertion by a top Iranian banker that an
agreement on principle had been reached on the loan and said no new loans
to Tehran were planned... FULL
TEXT
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* Iran open for business but investors wary
LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Almost 20 years after the Islamic revolution
swept away the pro-Western Shah, Iran is finally opening up to Western
investment again. But foreign investors are wary of the terms and timing.
A slump in oil prices, fierce international competition for investment
capital and the ``buyback'' terms offered by Tehran are doing more to discourage
foreign oil firms than a receding fear of U.S. sanctions, experts say...
FULL
TEXT
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* Omanis observing Iranian military maneuvers
TEHRAN, Dec 4 (AFP) - An Omani military team is observing Iranian naval
exercises which kicked off Friday in the Oman Sea and the strategic Strait
of Hormuz, in new sign of warmer ties between Iran and its Persian Gulf
Arab neighbours. "For the first time, the programmes and information
needed for the exercises have been communicated to the neighboring countries
in the Persian Gulf. This is an evolution in the exchange of military
information between the region's countries," Colonel Issa Golverdi
said. ... FULL
TEXT
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* Jannati warns U.S. tourists may be spies
TEHRAN (Reuters) - A top Iranian conservative cleric Friday blasted
a recent visit by a group of Americans, warning that U.S. tourist trips
could pave the way for spies. ``Our pessimism toward America will never
subside. We must treat with suspicion anyone who comes from there,'' Ayatollah
Ahmad Jannati said in a Friday sermon, carried by Tehran radio. ``As
far as tourism is concerned, we do not have any ban...but if dubious individuals
are to come and go, the way will be opened for espionage,'' said Jannati,
secretary of the powerful Guardian Council, during weekly prayers in Tehran...
FULL
TEXT
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* Marriage turning into a crisis for young Iranians
TEHRAN, Dec 4 (AFP) - Marriage in Iran, which has one of the world's
youngest populations, is turning into one of the country's biggest headcahes,
with young people facing both traditional taboos and tough economic choices.
There are about 10 million Iranians of marriageable age, who have found
themselves frustrated in their search for happiness. Now state television
has intervened in the search for a way out of Iran's "marriage crisis."
... FULL TEXT
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Thursday
December 3, 1998
* New reformist Iranian paper hits the streets
TEHRAN, Dec 3 (AFP) - The first edition of reformist newspaper Khordad,
run by a close associate of President Mohammad Khatami, hit Tehran's news
stands on Thursday. The paper takes its name from the date Khatami was
elected in May 1997. The 12-page colour newspaper is run by former interior
minister Abdollah Nuri, who was ousted in June after a censure motion by
the conservative dominated parliament amid a tense power struggle between
the regime's moderate and hardline factions ... FULL
TEXT
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* Press watchdog says Iranian journalist disappeared
PARIS, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Sans
Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) expressed deep concern on Thursday
about what it said was the disappearance of a journalist in the Iranian
capital Tehran. The group said in a letter to Iranian President Mohammed
Khatamai that Pirouz Davani, editor-in-chief of the moderate left-wing
publication Pirouz, had been missing since the end of August. IT said another
Iranian newspaper, Kar o Karagar, wrote on November 28 about rumours that
he had been executed. The press group asked Khatami, a relative moderate,
to investigate the matter.
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* Germany denies report of new Hermes loans for Iran
BONN, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Germany denied reports on Thursday that it was
about to extend new loans to Iran through its export credit guarantee agency,
HERMES. A spokesman for the Economics Ministry in Bonn said that Germany
had not extended Iran HERMES loans nor were there plans to supply new lending.
"There are no credits for Iran and nothing is planned," the spokesman
said.
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* Iranian banker reports breakthrough on $3 bln loan
LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian banker said on Thursday that
Iran had achieved a breakthrough in its efforts to negotiate a $3 billion
bridging loan from its major trading partners to enable it to service foreign
debt due by next March. Ahmad Azizi, chairman and managing director of
the state-owned Bank of Industry and Mines, said Germany's Ausfuhrkreditanstalt
(AKA), representing a consortium of about 40 German banks, had negotiated
an agreement in principle with the Iranian central bank to give Tehran
a $1 billion credit line... FULL
TEXT
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* Lawmakers cite Iran drug problems
WASHINGTON, December 3, 1998 (AP) - Two Republican lawmakers who monitor
international drug issues are urging President Clinton not to remove Iran
from an official list of 30 drug problem countries. Citing news reports
that Iran will be dropped from the list, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa,
and Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., said there is no basis for suggesting
Iranian drug enforcement has been strengthened... FULL
TEXT
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* Iran offers to help resolve row over Ocalan
ROME, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said
on Thursday his country was willing to help resolve the row between Italy
and Turkey over what to do with Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan.
``As duty president of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC),
Iran is willing to collaborate in ending the crisis,'' Kharrazi told a
news conference at the end of a two-day visit to Rome ... FULL
TEXT
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Wednesday
December 2, 1998
* Khatami to visit Italy next March
ROME, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami is scheduled
to viist Italy in March of next year, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
The ministry announced the visit in a statement after Italian Foreign Minister
Lamberto Dini held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi,
who is on a visit to Italy ... FULL
TEXT
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* ABB wins 100 mln Sfr Iran hydropower deal
ZURICH, Dec 2 (Reuters) - ABB Power Generation Ltd has won a 100 million
Swiss franc ($73 million) order for the extension of several hydropower
plants in northern and southeastern Iran, ABB Switzerland said on Wednesday.
Construction on the first extension phase is already under way and is due
for completion in 2003. The construction programme consists of two extension
phases with a total installed power of around 8,000 megawatts ... FULL
TEXT
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* Ukraine still mulling Iran turbine sale-source
KIEV, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Ukraine may yet take part in a Russian deal
to build a nuclear power plant for Iran if Kiev does not receive compensation
from the United States for bowing out, a top Ukrainian government official
said on Wednesday. ``Ukraine still has a chance to change its mind on not
participating in the Russian-Iranian nuclear project,'' the official told
Reuters... FULL
TEXT
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* UAE renews calls for ICJ ruling in dispute with Iran
ABU DHABI, Dec 2 (AFP) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has renewed
a call for a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the
Hague on its territorial dispute with Iran. "We call again on the
Islamic Republic of Iran to a constructive dialogue or recourse to adjudication
by the ICJ," UAE President Sheikh Zayed ibn Sultan al-Nahyan said
late Tuesday.
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* Iran reaffirms claim over disputed islands
TEHRAN, Dec 2 (AFP) -Iran reaffirmed on Wednesday its sovereignty over
three strategic Persian Gulf islands, also claimed by the United Arab Emirates,
but said it would welcome a negotiated settlement to the dispute. Foreign
ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi "stressed the territorial integrity
of the Islamic republic that also includes the three Persian Gulf islands
of the Great and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Mussa," the official IRNA news
agency reported.
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* Iran protests U.S.-jet interception
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Iran has protested to the United States that
an F-14 fighter jet from an American aircraft carrier intercepted an Iranian
aircraft, according to a document published by the United Nations. The
Iranian government said the incident took place on June 23 when an F-14
flying from the carrier USS John C. Stennis violated Iranian territory
``and in a vertical air intercept maneuver, soared sharply upward in the
path of the oncoming Iranian aeroplane.'' ... FULL
TEXT
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Tuesday
December 1, 1998
* New law could slash Iran gasoline use-oil minister
TEHRAN, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Iran's oil minister said on Tuesday that a
bill before parliament aims to slash domestic gasoline consumption, and
could involve scrapping subsidies. The official Iranian news agency IRNA
quoted Bijan Zanganeh as saying local gasoline consumption is expected
to rise to 32 million litres (8.5 million gallons) a day in the Iranian
year which starts on March 21, 1999... FULL
TEXT
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* Students gathering leads to violence
Tehran, (Hamshahri) - A moderate/leftist student
gathering calling for an end to the "militarization" of college
campuses and political violence leads to clashes ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
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* The plight of the Persian carpet
TEHRAN, Dec 1 (AFP) - Ali Bidani sits disconsolately in his corner shop
in a passage in Tehran's sprawling old bazaar, surrounded by piles of luxurious
hand-woven carpets he says he cannot afford to sell. After almost two decades
running a business that has been in his family for generations, Bidani
is considering joining some of his fellow Iranian carpet merchants and
simply shutting up shop... FULL
TEXT
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* Kharrazi hail relations with Italy
TURIN, Italy, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi
on Tuesday described relations between Iran and Italy as ``exemplary''
and said the two nations could jointly play an important role in the Middle
East. On the first day of an official visit to Italy, Kharrazi said Iran
did not need a rapport with the United States, ``which is not ready for
relations based on equality and mutual respect'' and sought to ``eliminate
Iran's liberty and independence.'' ... FULL
TEXT
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* U.S. not ready for relations with Iran: Iranian FM
TURIN, Italy, Dec 1 (AFP) -Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said
Tuesday that the US was "not ready" to resume official relations
with Iran. Kharazi, on a two-day official visit to Italy, said: "We
want relations based on mutual respect. The US is not ready for this kind
of relations."
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* US official talks Iran deal compensation in Ukraine
KIEV, Dec 1 (Reuters) - A top U.S. aid official visiting Ukraine this
week will discuss compensation to firms affected by Ukraine's agreement
not to participate in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant project, the foreign
ministry said on Tuesday. ``There will be talks about some compensation
for those Ukrainian companies which declined to take part in the Bushehr
project,'' First Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Bersheda told a news briefing...
FULL
TEXT
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* University students to reach 1.5 million
Tehran, (Hamshahri) - Students in Iran's universities will increase
by 125,000 next year (starts March 1999), reaching a total of 1.5 million
... FULL
TEXT IN PERSIAN
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Monday
November 30, 1998
* Newspaper calls execution by stoning un-Islamic
TEHRAN, Nov 30 (AFP) - Execution by stoning is a practice at odds with
the tenets of Islam and should be suspended immediately, a moderate Iranian
newspaper charged on Monday. "This practice does not conform to the
tradition of the Prophet (Mohammad) and is not mentioned in the holy Koran,"
said the moderate women's newspaper Zan, run by Faezeh Hashemi, daughter
of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani... FULL
TEXT
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* Police prevent march to protest murder of opposition leader
TEHRAN, Nov 30 (AFP) - Iranian police on Monday prevented around 1,000
people seeking to march in Tehran Monday following a memorial service for
slain nationalist opposition leader Dariush Foruhar and his wife. Witnesses
said the mourners started to march in the streets after the service demanding
an end to "repression and insecurity," but police immediately
ordered the crowd to disperse... FULL
TEXT
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* Budget to triple petrol price for heavy users
TEHRAN, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The Iranian government, facing crippling
costs for fuel subsidies, has proposed effective quotas for petrol consumption
and a big jump in prices for heavy users, press reports said on Monday.
The new budget for the next fiscal year, presented to parliament on Sunday,
includes increases in petrol prices to 250 rials (eight U.S. cents) per
litre from 200 rials for the first 45 litres purchased each month, Iranian
newspapers said... FULL
TEXT
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* "Khordad" New pro-Khatami paper
Tehran, (Hamshahri) - Abdollah Nouri, a former interior minister and
current vice president, will launch a new newspaper on Saturday. "Khordad"
is named after the Iranian month Mohammad Khatami won his landslide election
... FULL
TEXT IN PERSIAN
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* Navy to launch wargames
DUBAI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Iran's navy will launch military exercises
in the Persian Gulf on Monday involving 50,000 troops and missiles, the
official Iranian news agency IRNA said on Sunday. Titled Vahdat-77 (Unity-77),
the five-day wargames will cover an area stretching from the central part
of the Gulf to the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman, an Islamic Revolution
Guards Corps (IRGC) commander, Isa Galverdi, said ... FULL
TEXT
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