News
Feb 1-5, 1999 / Bahman 12-16, 1377
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Today
* Khatami to meet the Pope
* Farah Pahlavi interview on NPR
* Iranian refugee groups occupy UN office
* Grain as litmus test
* Russian ability to curb ties with Iran doubted
Previous
* Chirac: Paris looking forward to Khatami's visit
* Iran, Afghan Taleban hold first high-level talks
* Iran rejects Palestinian accusations
* Iran says Germany should do more to improve ties
* Bitter battle over landmark poll
* France annouces business deals with Iran
* Central bank demands rescheduling of bills
* CIA: Iran likely to face "serious unrest"
* Palestinian police uncovers "Hamas-Iran plot"
* Court bans liberal Adineh magazine
* Former official says press freedom threatened
* Guards warn against any compromise with US
* Iranians to get Russia nuke training
* Revolution anniversary at Khomeini tomb
* MKO says it attacked secret police HQ
* Press reformer resigns
* Rial near free fall, drops 6.7 pct in one day
* Economic woes mark revolution feast
* Khatami set to visit Germany: report
* Local elections spark new rift within regime
* U.S., Russia tackle Iran
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Friday
February 5, 1999
* Khatami to meet the Pope
Feb 5, 1999 (BBC) - The Vatican has announced that the Iranian President,
Mohammad Khatami, will meet Pope John Paul II next month when he visits
Western Europe -- the first such visit by an Iranian president since the
Islamic revolution in 1979. The President is to visit France and Italy.
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* Farah Pahlavi interview on NPR
Washington Feb 5, 1999 (NPR) - National Public Radio (NPR) in the U.S.
will air an interview with Farah Pahlavi this Sunday (Feb 7) on All Things
Considered, between 5 and 6 pm (broadcast time may vary. Check local listings).
She will speak about her impressions of the Iranian revolution 20 years
after the fall of the monarchy.
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* Iranian refugee groups occupy UN office
Feb 5, 1999, (International Federation of Iranian
Refugees) - On February 4, 1999, at 11:10am, the International Federation
of Iranian Refugees - Netherlands Branch and several others refugee groups
occupied the office of the United Nations in the Hague for several hours.
The occupation was in protest to the January 22 discussions of the Dutch
Council of Ministers regarding the new report on Iran from the Minister
of Foreign Affairs which cites only certain categories of persons as "still
running the risk of persecution." ... FULL
TEXT
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* Grain as litmus test
Feb 5, 1999 (Christian Science Monitor) - Editorial: Washington isn't
going to squeeze Iran into foregoing development of nuclear missiles by
withholding food. US farmers, facing diminishing exports to nations hit
by the Asia-Russia-Brazil economic downturns, need customers. A big majority
of the Iranian population obviously wants improved relations with the US.
Pressed by isolationist clerical opponents, the Khatami government needs
proof that its overtures are paying off. That's more than enough reason
to take this modest step promptly ... FULL
TEXT
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* Russian ability to curb ties with Iran doubted
WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - There are serious doubts about whether
Russian institutions are capable of halting missile exports to Iran, the
senior U.S. official in charge of Russian policy said on Thursday. The
admission by Ambassador Stephen Sestanovich underscoresthe difficulty in
trying to choke off cooperation that could prove crucial to Tehran acquiring
advanced capabilities which the United States views as threatening ...
FULL
TEXT
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Thursday
February 4, 1999
* Chirac: Paris looking forward to Khatami's visit
Paris, Feb. 4, IRNA - french president jacques chirac said here wednesday
evening that paris is impatiently looking forward to the upcoming visit
to france of president mohammad khatami. he made the remark in a meeting
with iranian foreign minister kamal kharrazi who wound up his official
visit to france wednesday night ... FULL
TEXT
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* Iran, Afghan Taleban hold first high-level talks
TEHRAN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A top official of the Afghan Taleban government
has met Iranian officials in the first high-level talks between the two
neighbours which have had tense relations, newspapers reported on Wednesday.
They quoted Iran's Foreign Ministry as saying Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil, a
top spokesman of the Afghan Taleban, held talks in Dubai in the United
Arab Emirates with Iranian officials on Tuesday ... FULL
TEXT
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* Iran rejects Palestinian accusations of bombing campaign "plot"
TEHRAN, Feb 4 (AFP) - Iran strongly denied Thursday Palestinian Authority
accusations that it is organising a wave of suicide bombings against Israeli
targets to favour the re-election of hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu. The Iranian foreign ministry "strongly rejected" claims
made by the Palestinian police that Iranians were planning a wave of suicide
bombings in cooperation with the Palestinian militant group Hamas ...
FULL TEXT
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* Iran says Germany should do more to improve ties
TEHRAN, Feb 4 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian official said in remarks
published on Thursday that Germany should do more to improve bilateral
ties damaged by political rows. ``Our response to Germany will depend on
their behaviour. The policies of the previous government in Bonn led to
Germany's exclusion from Iran's economic, trade and cultural sectors,''
Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Vaezi told the daily Iran News ... FULL
TEXT
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Wednesday
February 3, 1999
* Bitter battle over landmark poll overshadows Iranian anniversary
TEHRAN, Feb 3 (AFP) - Iran's sqabbling political factions continued
a bitter war of words on Wednesday over the country's first ever municipal
elections, despite repeated calls for unity on the Islamic regime's 20th
anniversary. The landmark vote, due on February 26, is considered the Islamic
regime's first great test in local democracy, and has provoked a violent
squabble between supporters of reformist President Mohammad Khatami and
conservatives who have striven to bar radicals and moderates from standing
as candidates ... FULL
TEXT
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* France annouces business deals with Iran
PARIS, Feb 3 (AFP) - France and Iran, breathing new life into bilateral
ties, on Wednesday announced new business deals in the offing while striking
a series of cultural and diplomatic agreements. The announcements came
during a meeting to France by Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Khatazi, Tehran's
first foreign minister in eight years to pay a "working visit"
to France ... FULL
TEXT
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* Central bank demands rescheduling of import payment bills
SEOUL, Feb 2 (AFP) - Iran, hit by currency shortages and falling oil
prices, has asked South Korea to reschedule some 100 million dollars worth
of import payments, officials said Tuesday. Iran's central bank called
for advance payment for oil imports from the South Korean government if
debt rescheduling is impossible, Daewoo Corp. said ... FULL
TEXT
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* CIA: Iran likely to face "serious unrest"
February 2, 1999 WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden,
blamed by the United States for last year's U.S. embassy bombings, is still
a threat and the CIA fears another attack could occur "at any time,"
the U.S. intelligence chief said Tuesday. Neighboring Iran, meanwhile,
was "more likely to face serious unrest in 1999 than at any time since
the revolution 20 years ago," Tenet said ... FULL
TEXT
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* Palestinian police uncovers "Hamas-Iran plot"
GAZA CITY, Feb 3 (AFP) - The Palestinian police said Wednesday they
had uncovered an Iranian "plot" to launch a wave of suicide bombings
in cooperation with the militant group Hamas, including one against an
Israeli school bus. Palestinian police chief Ghazi Al-Jabali said Palestinian
security forces "confirmed the arrival of 35 million dollars from
Iranian intelligence services," adding that relevant documents had
been seized last week at a headquarters of the Ezzedin al-Kassam brigade,
the military wing of Hamas ... FULL
TEXT
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Tuesday
February 2, 1999
* Court bans liberal Adineh magazine
TEHRAN, Feb 2 (Reuters) - An Iranian court has banned a liberal cultural
journal after it found its editor guilty of lies and dissemination of corruption,
the official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday. ``Branch 1410 of Tehran
court found the managing director of 'Adineh' bi-weekly, Gholam Hussein
Zakeri, guilty of insult and dissemination of lies and corrupt articles,''
IRNA said ... FULL
TEXT
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* Former official says press freedom threatened
TEHRAN, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Iran's former top press official, a noted
moderate, has compared the country's new-found press freedom to a young
tree about to be uprooted, newspapers reported on Tuesday. Moderate newspapers,
many of which started publishing after the 1997 election of moderate President
Mohammad Khatami, have expressed concern that Ahmad Bourqani's departure
might signal a more restrictive atmosphere against the press ... FULL
TEXT ... ALSO
SEE FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
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* Revolutionary Guards warn against any compromise with US
TEHRAN, Feb 2 (AFP) - The hardline commander of Iran'sRevolutionary
Guards warned against any "compromise" with the UnitedStates
on Tuesday saying that it went against the teachings of the20-year-old
Islamic revolution. "There is great antagonism between the United
States and therevolution," General Yahya Rahim Safavi told a crowd
of youngstersgathered to mark the revolution's 20th anniversary ...
FULL TEXT
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* Iranians to get Russia nuke training
MOSCOW (AP) -- A group of Iranian specialists will come to Russia earlynext
month for training in operating a nuclear power plant that Russia isbuilding
in Iran, according to a news report. Thirty Iranians will be trained at
the Novovoronezh nuclear plant in southernRussia as part of the $800 million
plant construction deal signed with Iran in1995, the Interfax news agency
reported Monday ... FULL
TEXT
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Monday
February 1, 1999
* Revolution anniversary at Khomeini tomb
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Large crowds gathered Monday at the mausoleum of
the late Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini at the start
of celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
Women in traditional black veils and men carrying portraits of Khomeini
packed the golden-domed mausoleum south of Tehran to mark the day in 1979
when Khomeini flew back to Iran at the end of 15 years in exile to lead
the final popular assault on the late shah's pro-Western monarchy. They
had gathered hours earlier in the chilly morning in several Tehran squares
to be taken by bus to the mausoleum ... FULL
TEXT
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* MKO says it attacked secret police HQ
LONDON (Reuters) - The Iranian opposition group Mujahideen Khalq said
its members had attacked the headquarters of the Intelligence Ministry
in Tehran with mortars Sunday. A Mujahideen spokesman said two military
units of the Iraq-based group fired mortar bombs at the main building of
the ministry, which is in charge of internal security, in Tehran's Pasdaran
Avenue at 6:30 p.m. (1500 GMT) ... FULL
TEXT
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* Press reformer resigns
Jan 30, 1999 (BBC) - A senior Iranian official who's been overseeing
reforms to extend press freedom has resigned. The Deputy Minister for the
Press, Ahmad Borghani, had been under attack from conservatives for his
liberal views about the freedom of expression. He particularly angered
the conservatives last year over his opposition to the banning of several
liberal newspapers ... FULL
TEXT
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* Iran rial near free fall, drops 6.7 pct in one day
TEHRAN, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The Iranian rial appeared to be on a free
fall on Monday, plunging 6.7 percent against the dollar in one day during
an accelerating slide, traders saaid. On Tehran's illegal but highly active
black market, dealers were trading at 8,700 rials to the dollar on Monay,
compared to about 8,120 on Sunday. Hectic street dealers were keen on buying
dollars and other hard currencies on the expectation that the rial would
continue its current slide. The rial has dropped 17.2 percent against the
dollar since January 23 ... FULL
TEXT
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* Economic woes mark Iran revolution feast
TEHRAN, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Iran celebrates the 20th anniversary of its
Islamic revolution faced with an economy gutted by low oil prices and in
need of long overdue reforms. The heavily state-dominated economy created
after the 1979 revolution has sunk into recession with mounting unemployment
as oil revenues have dropped, leaving state coffers empty. A financial
crisis has pushed the rial to record lows and forced Iran to seek $3 billion
in loans from foreign creditors to avoid defaulting on the repayment of
its heavy debt ... FULL
TEXT
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* Khatami set to visit Germany: report
BONN, Jan 30 (AFP) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is "delighted"
at a planned visit by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, spokesman Bodo
Hombach was quoted Saturday as saying. Chancellery Minister Hombach is
set to travel to Tehran next week when he will hand over an invitation
from Schroeder for Khatami to visit Germany in the spring, the daily Die
Welt reported ... FULL
TEXT
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