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* Apeal to Khatami for news of three imprisoned politicians
TEHRAN, Jan 13 (AFP) - An Iranian opposition party called on President
Mohammad Khatami Thursday to protect the rights of three of its jailed
leaders, alleging that at least one had been tortured in detention. "Khosro
Seyf, Bahram Namazi and Farzin Mokhbar have been in prison for six months.
There has been no news about their interrogations and their trials,"
the Party of the Iranian People (PIP) said in a statement seen here by
AFP >>>
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* 'Assembly of Experts' warns future MPs not to create crises
TEHRAN, Jan 13 (AFP) - Iran's powerful Assembly of Experts warned members
of the parliament to be elected next month not to "create crises,"
the official IRNA news agency reported Thursday. The assembly met on Wednesday
and issued a statement stressing the primordial role of parliament, which
it said had the means "both of creating and of avoiding crises,"
IRNA said >>>
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* For a change, courts to try a conservative journalist
TEHRAN, Jan 13 (AFP) - Iran, which has become accustomed to seeing moderate
newspaper editors stand trial, will witness the trial next week of a conservative
publication's chief, a Tehran press court judge said Thursday. Hossein
Shariatmadari will have to defend himself against 27 charges concerning
news published in the Kayhan daily in the past few months. His trial by
jury will be public, the judge told AFP >>>
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* U.S. and Iran Soccer Match Encouraging to Humanitarian Efforts
PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second time in recent
history, and the first time on American soil, the U.S. and Iranian soccer
teams are about to take the field together in what Robin Wainwright views
as a symbolic step toward furthering humanitarian efforts in the Middle
East. Wainwright is president of Holy Land Trust-USA, a nonprofit organization
which supports humanitarian operations throughout the Middle East. His
group would like to see the upcoming match, scheduled for January 16 at
Pasadena's Rose Bowl, duplicated later this year in Iran. >>>
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* Woman medical students protest poor education
TEHRAN, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Students at an all-women medical school in
Iran have gone on strike to protest against poor education which they blame
on segregation of the sexes, a newspaper reported on Thursday. The daily
Aftab-e Emrouz said the students from Fatemieh medical school in the city
of Qom, a stronghold of the Shi'ite Moslem clergy, had boycotted classes
for two weeks >>>
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Wednesday
January 12, 2000
* Jailed Iran students begin hunger strike - paper
TEHRAN, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Several Iranian students jailed for their
alleged role in widespread unrest in July have gone on hunger strike, a
newspaper reported on Wednesday. Among the strikers is 22-year-old Ahmad
Batebi, sentenced to 10 years in prison for engaging in propaganda against
the state, the reformist Sobh-e Emrouz newspaper said >>>
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* Vetting body's rejections of candidates not yet final
TEHRAN, Jan 12 (AFP) - Would-be candidates for next month's parliamentary
elections who have been rejected by the vetting body which has to approve
all names, can have their cases reconsidered, the head of the interior
ministry's election office said Wednesday. The rejections are not "definitive,"
and have not yet been officially notified to the ministry, Djavad Ghadimi-Zakeri
told the official IRNA news agency. Cases can be reexamined up to January
28, he said >>>
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* Brother of Ayatollah Khamenei condemns rejection of poll candidates
TEHRAN, Jan 12 (AFP) - The brother of Iran's supreme leader has condemned
the wholesale rejection of reformist candidates for next month's elections
by a vetting body dominated by conservatives, press reports said Wednesday.
"The way in which the candidates were rejected, and the consequences,
are illegal," Hojatoleslam Hadi Khamenei was quoted as telling students
at Tehran's Khajeh Nasireddin Tusi university >>>
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* Conservatives name Rafsanjani to head electoral list
TEHRAN, Jan 12 (AFP) - Iran's conservatives decided Wednesday to put
former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani at the head of their Tehran list
of candidates in next month's elections, one of their leading spokesman
said. The agreement of Rafsanjani, who has said he will stand as an independent
and enjoys the support of many reformists and moderates, is not required
>>>
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* Conservative says economy key issue in poll
TEHRAN, Jan 12 (Reuters) - A leading Iranian conservative urged his
allies on Wednesday to focus on economic and social realities in next month's
general election as he rallied support for a ticket led by former President
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. ``The people are not interested in political
disputes,'' said Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, spokesman of a newly formed alliance
of a dozen conservative groups to contest the elections >>>
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* Intelligence chief backs democratic elections
TEHRAN, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Iran's powerful intelligence chief has said
the people, not the secret service, should assess candidates for next month's
parliamentary elections and determine the fate of the nation. Intelligence
Minister Ali Yunesi, appointed last February in the wake of the ``mystery
murders'' of dissidents by rogue agents, told Entekhab newspaper his agency
had exercised unprecedented restraint in vetting candidates for the February
18 poll >>>
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* Australia refuses visa to Iranian porn actress
SYDNEY, Jan 12 (Reuters) - An Iranian woman who appeared in soft-porn
movies was refused an Australian protection visa on Wednesday despite her
fears of persecution in Iran because of roles in X-rated movies. The Australian
Associated Press (AAP) national news agency reported that Fatemeh Moradgholi,
42 >>>
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Tuesday
January 11, 2000
* President Khatami urged to act over rejection of poll candidates
TEHRAN, Jan 11 (AFP) - Candidates barred from standing in next month's
key parliamentary elections called on reformist President Mohammad Khatami
Tuesday to end his silence over their wholesale rejection by a vetting
body dominated by his conservative opponents. Failure to act against the
disqualification of hundreds of reformist and opposition figures risked
putting an end to the president's efforts to reform Iran's Islamic Republic
and could fatally undermine the regime's popular legitimacy, the candidates
warned >>>
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* Foreign Minister welcomes new era of warmer ties with Britain
LONDON, Jan 11 (AFP) - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, on a
landmark visit to London, on Tuesday welcomed a new era of warmer relations
with Britain but reserved sharp words for the United States and Israel.
Addressing the Royal Institute of International Affairs here, Kharazi said:
"We are hopeful that this new era of relations between Britain and
Iran will be promising." >>>
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* Britain, Iran Sign Agreement
LONDON (AP) - Couching differences over human rights in diplomatic niceties,
Britain and Iran signed a joint declaration Tuesday to fight terrorism
and drug trafficking, promote trade and strengthen ties. The declaration
came at the end of a visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi that
represented a giant leap in relations between two countries which only
exchanged ambassadors in May after a 20-year break >>>
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* Egg-throwing dissidents target Kharrazi, two arrested
LONDON, Jan 11 (AFP) - Egg-throwing Iranian dissidents hounded Foreign
Minister Kamal Kharazi on the second day of his landmark visit to Britain
on Tuesday, prompting police to move in and make two arrests, police and
protestors said. Police confirmed that two men were arrested in connection
with protests that have been aimed at Kharazi since the minister arrived
on Monday for the first visit by an Iranian government minister since the
1979 Islamic revolution >>>
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* German invitation to Khatami still open: MP
TEHRAN, Jan 11 (AFP) - Germany hopes to welcome President Mohammad Khatami,
but Iran must realise that there could be demonstrations against him, a
senior German member of parliament told journalists here Tuesday. "The
invitation is still open, and we hope the visit will be a success,"
said Hans Ulrich Klose, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the
German parliament >>>
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* Khatami's camp hopeful despite ban on candidates
By GUY DINMORE
Financial Times
January 11, 2000
TEHRAN Iran's conservative-dominated Guardian Council was reported yesterday
to have disqualified dozens of reformist candidates from taking part in
next month's parliamentary elections on political and religious grounds.
But members of the loose coalition backing Mohammad Khatami, the moderate
president, said far fewer of their members had been ruled out than feared,
and they still hoped to overturn the conservative-held majority in the
February 18 polls >>>
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* WAN Protests Prosecution of Iranian Journalist
Paris, 10 January (WAN) -- The World Association of Newspapers (WAN)
has protested against the prosecution of a pro-reform journalist in Iran
and called on President Mohammed Khatami to halt the trial. According to
reports, Journalist Said Hajarian of the pro-reform Sobh-e Emrooz newspaper
appeared in Tehran's Press Court last week, accused of having "disclosed
confidential information," though no further specifics were given
>>>
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Monday
January 10, 2000
* Many Khatami allies barred from Iran polls
TEHRAN, Jan 10 (Reuters) - A conservative panel has barred prominent
reform candidates close to Iran's president, including dissident cleric
Abdollah Nouri, from next month's parliamentary polls, press reports and
individual candidates said on Monday. An official at the Islamic Iran Participation
Front, President Mohammad Khatami's political faction, told Reuters the
supervisory board had recommended the hardline Council eliminate 90 of
290 prospective contenders on its own national list >>>
FULL TEXT... >>>
ALSO IN PERSIAN
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* Iranian minister meets UK's Blair, Cook
LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi met
British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Monday on a landmark visit aimed at
strengthening a cautious rapprochement between London and Iran's reformist
President Mohammad Khatami. Kharrazi, the first Iranian minister to visit
Britain since the 1979 Islamic Revolution which overthrew the Shah, met
Blair for half an hour at his official residence in Downing Street >>>
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* Rafsanjani says duped by secret service
TEHRAN, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Iran's former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
was quoted on Monday as saying he had been kept in the dark about certain
operations of the secret service during his tenure, including a case of
arms smuggling. Rafsanjani, who stepped down as president in 1997 after
two terms, was referring to a band of renegade senior intelligence officials
implicated in the murder more than a year ago of several dissidents and
liberal intellectuals >>>
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* MKO claims "dozens" of Tehran troops killed or wounded
PARIS, Jan 9 (AFP) - Iran's outlawed armed opposition claimed Sunday
that its fighters had killed or wounded "dozens" of Tehran's
elite Revolutionary Guards in attacks on three areas of the southwestern
province of Ilam. "Dozens of Revolutionary Guards and Intelligence
Ministry officers and agents, including several commanders, were killed
or wounded in these attacks, which also inflicted heavy damages to the
command centers' buildings and facilities," in fighting Saturday,
the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen said in a statement received here >>> FULL
TEXT
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* German MPs visit Iran ahead of businessman's new trial
TEHRAN, Jan 10 (AFP) - A senior German MP called for the strengthening
of Berlin's ties with Tehran as he began an official visit Monday ahead
of a new trial of a German businessman jailed here for most of the past
two years. The chairman of the German parliament's foreign affairs committee,
Hans Ulrich Klose, called for the "development of the historic ties"
between the two countries after a meeting with Iran's deputy speaker Hassan
Ruhani, state radio said >>>
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Friday
January 7, 2000
* Iran conservatives accuse reformers
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A powerful Iranian hard-line council has accused
reformists of seeking to create tension ahead of key parliamentary polls
next month, Iranian radio reported Thursday. ``Allegations of unconstitutional
measures by the Guardian Council creates tension in the country. The allegations
are false. We are committed to the constitution,'' council spokesman Reza
Ostadi told the radio >>>
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* Hardliners demand cancellation of minister's landmark London visit
TEHRAN, Jan 7 (AFP) - Several hundred hardline students demonstrated
in central Tehran Friday to demand that Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi
cancel a landmark visit to Britain next week because of an "insulting"
article in the London Times. The 1,000 or so protestors who gathered in
Palestine Square after the main weekly Muslim prayers at Tehran University
also demanded the expulsion of the British ambassador and an end to dealings
with oil giant Royal Dutch Shell >>>
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* Britain denies official apology over "insult" to Iran
LONDON, Jan 7 (AFP) - Britain denied Friday that its ambassador to Tehran
had apologised for an alleged insult to Iran by a leading British newspaper,
as reported earlier by the Iranian government. An Iranian government statement,
carried by radio and television, said ambassador, Nick Browne, had offered
"apologies and regrets for this article, particularly for the fact
it offended the feelings of the Iranian people." >>>
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* Ethnic Azeris say 17 injured in Iran demonstration
BAKU, Jan 7 (Reuters) - An Azerbaijan-based group representing ethnic
Azeris from Iran said 17 people were injured when police broke up demonstrations
in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz on Friday. The report could
not be independently confirmed. Piruz Dilenchy, head of the National Liberation
Movement of Southern Azerbaijan, told Reuters about 3,000 ethnic Azeris
had gathered in two sections of Tabriz on Friday afternoon and were confronted
by security forces >>>
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* Ayatollah Khamenei pardons more than 1,000 prisoners
TEHRAN Jan 7 (AFP) - Iran's supreme guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has
decided to pardon 1,026 prisoners to mark the end of the Muslim fasting
month of Ramadan, state radio said Friday >>>
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