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News
Nov 9-13, 1998 / Aban 18-22, 1377

Sports | Arts | Business| Rights | Community

Today

* Quake kills four in southern Iran, official says
* Iran says strikes target Iraqi people, not Saddam
* Bulgaria, Iran seek to revive economic ties, trade

Previous

* British energy industry delegation due in Iran
* Smuggling blamed for currency freefall
* Women bring Iranian cinema to the U.S.
* Women take off their hijab? In a theater?
* University basij units get broader powers
* Iranian offers vineyard for Rushdie's death-paper
* Internship: Christine Mirzayan Memorial Fund
* Cash-starved Iran asks West for $3 bln loan

* Iran official wants black forex market stopped
* U.S. relaxes rules on petrochemical deals with Iran
* "American spy" arrested in Iran: daily
* Taleban ask Iran to stop returning Afghan refugees
* Islamic militants to be allowed greater say in Iran universities
* Iran urges UN to seek diplomatic solution on Iraq
* Lack of exercise threatens Iranian girls' health
* Turkey starts building gas pipeline
* Majlis discusses plummeting carpet exports
* Russia's Tupolev seeking to build planes in Iran
* Iran marks slaying of Islamic Jihad leader
* Iran asks Turkey to withdraw troops from N. Iraq
* Iran puts out one forest fire, contains second
* Rial falls to historic low on infaltion
* MP calls for $10 barrel oil price in budget
* U.S. firms lay groundwork for Iran oil investment
* Group threatens to strike if ex-hostages visit
* Iran forest fires rage for fourth day - TV

Sports | Arts | Business| Rights | Community


Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday


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Friday
Nov 13, 1998

* Quake kills four in southern Iran, official says

TEHRAN, Nov 13 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake rocked southern Iran on Friday, killing at least four people and injuring up to 40 others, an Iranian official said. The interior ministry official told Reuters the earthquake, measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale, hit an area near the town of Khonj in Fars province in the afternoon.... FULL TEXT

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* Iran says strikes target Iraqi people, not Saddam

TEHRAN, Nov 13 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian cleric on Friday condemned possible U.S. strikes against Iraq, saying they targeted the Iraqi people and not President Saddam Hussein. ``What sin have the Iraqi people committed, they who even lack daily food..., to deserve to be threatened by rapidly arriving new naval forces and military aircraft?'' Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in a prayer sermon carried on Tehran radio... FULL TEXT

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* Bulgaria, Iran seek to revive economic ties, trade

SOFIA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Bulgaria and Iran on Friday signed agreements to encourage bilateral trade and investment in a step towards reviving their once active economic links. Bulgaria's Transport Minister Wilhelm Kraus and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Hojjati signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding at the end of a joint session of an economic commission that committed the two countries to boosting exports and cooperation in agriculture and other areas... FULL TEXT

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Thursday
Nov 12, 1998

* British energy industry delegation due in Iran

TEHRAN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A delegation from the British energy industry arrives in Tehran on Friday for a series of talks on potential oil and gas projects, a British official said on Thursday. Several days of talks were scheduled with representatives of Iran's state energy complex and the private sector, the official said ... FULL TEXT

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* Smuggling blamed for currency freefall

TEHRAN, Nov 12 (AFP) - An Iranian finance ministry official on Thursday blamed illegal imports of goods for the dramatic fall in the value of the national currency, the rial. Deputy Finance Minister Morteza Qarah-Baqian said up to 1.6 billion dollars of goods were being smuggled into the country each year. "This helps create a currency black market and contributes to the instability in the exchange market," he said, quoted by newspapers. He called on the government to eliminate the underground economy, which he estimated represented between 15 percent to 30 percent of the total economy... FULL TEXT

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* Women bring Iranian cinema to the U.S.

WASHINGTON, DC (Search for Common Ground) - Six of Iran's foremost women film-makers will visit the U.S. in November as part of a continuing effort to foster greater American-Iranian understanding. The visit is being organized by Search for Common Ground (SCG), a Washington-based conflict resolution organization, and Khaneh Cinema, a professional association for film-makers in Iran, in close cooperation with the Film Center at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and the Film Society at Lincoln Center in New York... FULL TEXT

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* Women take off their hijab? In a theater?

Tehran, (HAMSHAHRI) - Culture Minister Ataollah Mohajerani has denied an accusation by a member of the Majlis that 30 women took off their scarves in a movie theater in Tehran ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN

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* University basij units get broader powers

Tehran, (HAMSHAHRI) - Hardline students have gotten new powers from the Majlis in dealing with moderate forces in universities ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN

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* Iranian offers vineyard for Rushdie's death-paper

TEHRAN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - An Iranian grape grower has offered a vineyard as a new bounty on the head of British author Salman Rushdie, a newspaper reported on Thursday. Ebrahim Qassemi told the hardline daily Kayhan he was making the offer because it was his ``ardent desire that a proud and noble Moslem would one day end Salman Rushdie's life.'' ... FULL TEXT

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Wednesday
Nov 11, 1998

* Internship: Christine Mirzayan Memorial Fund

The National Academy of Sciences has established the Christine Mirzayan Memorial Fund to celebrate Christine's love of life, enthusiasm for science, intelligence and high aspirations for contributing to human welfare. Mirzayan, a highly regarded 28-year-old biologist was raped and murdered in a Washington DC's Georgetown last August 1... FULL TEXT

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* Cash-starved Iran asks West for $3 bln loan

TEHRAN, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Iranian government, beset by doggedly low oil prices and mounting debt, is negotiating with creditors in Japan, Germany and Italy for $3 billion in bridge loans to stave off a default on debt payments. ``They need to get that $3 billion as soon as possible,'' said an analyst close to the debt talks. ``If these three countries cannot help them, then they may have to declare bankruptcy.'' ... FULL TEXT

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* Iran official wants black forex market stopped

TEHRAN, Nov 11 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian official called on Wednesday for a clampdown on Iran's black money market to stop a plunge in the value of the rial which has fallen to record lows this week, state media reported. ``To prevent all instability in foreign exchange rates, the contraband exchange market must be eliminated from the country's economy,'' said Deputy Economy and Finance Minister Morteza Qarabaqian, quoted by Iranian television... FULL TEXT

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* U.S. relaxes rules on petrochemical deals with Iran

WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Tuesday relaxed the reporting requirements for foreign affiliates of U.S. But a U.S. State Department official on Tuesday emphasised that this is not an attempt by the Clinton administration to improve relations with Iran: ``This is not intended as a signal to Iran.''... FULL TEXT

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* "American spy" arrested in Iran: daily

TEHRAN, Nov 11 (AFP) -Iranian secret services have arrested an "American spy" in the southern port of Mahshahr, a major petrochemical base on the Persian Gulf, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. The suspect, whose identity was not revealed, was picked up in Mahshahr, Khuzestan province, Jomhouri Islami newspaper said without giving the date of his arrest ... FULL TEXT

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* Taleban ask Iran to stop returning Afghan refugees

ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Taleban militia asked Iran on Wednesday to stop sending Afghan refugees back and urged the United Nations to provide food and shelter for those who had arrived in Afghanistan, an Afghan news service reported. The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press quoted Taleban spokesman Wakil Ahmed as saying that thousands of Afghan refugees in neighbouring Iran were being sent back... FULL TEXT

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* Islamic militants to be allowed greater say in Iran universities

TEHRAN, Nov 11 (AFP) -Iran's conservative-dominated parliament approved a controversial law on Wednesday allowing Islamic militia and militant activists to play a more active role in universities. The law in principle allows the militia, a voluntary force of Islamic loyalists, to "reinforce their presence" in universities and regulate cultural activities... FULL TEXT

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* Iran urges UN to seek diplomatic solution on Iraq

TEHRAN, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Iran urged United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday to seek a diplomatic solution to the deepening Iraq crisis over arms inspections, Iranian state television reported It said Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi called Annan and asked him to ``act towards a peaceful solution of this crisis.'' ... FULL TEXT

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* Lack of exercise threatens Iranian girls' health

TEHRAN, Nov 11 (AFP) -The health of Iranian schoolgirls is under threat from a lack of physical exercise, an education ministry official warned Wenesday. Muhammad Reza Pahlevan, head of the ministry's physical education department, said the country's approximately 9.5 million schoolgirls are suffering from an increase in "physical lethargy" because of a paucity of sporting activities in schools ... FULL TEXT

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Tuesday
Nov 10, 1998

* Turkey starts building gas pipeline

ERZURUM, Turkey (AP) - Despite U.S. criticism, Turkey began building part of a pipeline today to carry natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to Turkey and the rest of Europe. Turkey is also scheduled to receive Iranian gas by mid-1999 through another pipeline, 188 miles long, already under construction between the eastern city of Erzurum and the Iranian border ... FULL TEXT

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* Majlis discusses plummeting carpet exports

TEHRAN, Nov 10 (AFP) - Iran's parliament met in closed session on Tuesday to examine plummeting carpet exports, the state's second most important source of revenue, state radio announced ... FULL TEXT

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* Russia's Tupolev seeking to build planes in Iran

TEHRAN, Nov 10 (AFP) -Russian aircraft manufacturer Tupolev is in Iran looking for a partner to begin local production of passenger planes, Iranian radio reported Tuesday ... FULL TEXT

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* Iran marks slaying of Islamic Jihad leader

TEHRAN, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Iran on Tuesday marked the third anniversary of the assassination of Fathi Shqaqi, former leader of the radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported. Mohammad Shariati, an advisor to President Mohammad Khatami, said at an official ceremony ``that Palestinian martyrs' blood would pave the way of struggle against the Oslo and Maryland agreements,'' the state-run agency said... FULL TEXT

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* Iran asks Turkey to withdraw troops from N. Iraq

TEHRAN, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Iran urged Turkey on Tuesday to pull its troops out of northern Iraq, saying its recent incursion to fight Kurdish rebels increased regional tension, the Iranian news agency reported. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mahmoud Mohammadi, quoted by Iran's IRNA news agency, said: ``Such moves, which coincide with a crisis in the region, lead to increased tension...It is necessary that these forces promptly leave northern Iraq.''... FULL TEXT

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* Iran puts out one forest fire, contains second

TEHRAN, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Iranian firefighters on Tuesday extinguished a raging forest fire and contained another blaze threatening a nature reserve in northwest Iran, officials said. Wildfires fanned by winds destroyed 170 hectares (420 acres) of woodland and pasture in 12 hours on Tuesday near Piranshahr on the border with Iraq before being put out, a local official told Iran's news agency IRNA... FULL TEXT

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Monday
November 9, 1998

* Rial falls to historic low on infaltion

TEHRAN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - The Iranian rial fell to historic lows on Monday, losing 2.8 percent against the dollar since late October on inflation fears and concerns that the latest Iraq crisis could lead to open conflict. Businessmen said the U.S. dollar fetched as much as 7,050 rials on Tehran's illegal but active black market, compared to about 6,850 rials in late October ... FULL TEXT

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* MP calls for $10 barrel oil price in budget

TEHRAN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Iran should base its 1999-2000 state budget on an oil price of $10 per barrel, $2 less than in the current budget, an Iranian member of parliament said in remarks published on Monday. ``It would be realistic to set the price of each barrel (of crude) at about $10 in the budget bill so that we do not face a budget deficit,'' Reza Abdollahi, told the daily Abrar... FULL TEXT

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* U.S. firms lay groundwork for Iran oil investment

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Smooth-talking American oil executives, eager to pounce on lucrative deals in oil and gas giant Iran, are busy handing out business cards in Tehran. Officials from major U.S. energy companies, who are barred by their government from dealing with Iran, are using oil conferences instead of boardrooms to explore future opportunities in the Islamic republic, which is hungry for foreign investment... FULL TEXT

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* Group threatens to strike if ex-hostages visit

TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) - An Iranian group said it would launch suicide attacks against former American hostages if they visited Iran, a national newspaper reported Monday. ``A group called Devotees of Islam announced it would follow the path of suicide martyrs ... if Bruce Laingen, Barry Rosen and other persons related to the former U.S. den of spies return to Tehran,'' the conservative daily Qods said... FULL TEXT

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* Iran forest fires rage for fourth day - TV

TEHRAN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Forest fires raged for a fourth day in northwestern Iran on Monday, threatening one of the country's main nature reserves, Iranian television reported. It said firefighters have been unable to control the blaze which has destroyed dozens of hectares (acres) of the 150,000-hectare (370,000-acre) Arasbaran forest since Thursday... FULL TEXT

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