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News
January 10-15, 2000 / Dey 20-25, 1378

Sports | Arts | Business| Rights | Community

Latest

* Montazeri breaks silence
* Appeal to Khatami for news of imprisoned politicians
* Assembly warns future MPs not to create crises
* For a change, courts to try a conservative journalist
* U.S.-Iran Match Encouraging to Humanitarian Efforts
* Woman medical students protest poor education

Recent

* Jailed Iran students begin hunger strike - paper
* Vetting body's rejections of candidates not yet final
* Khamenei's brother condemns rejection of candidates
* Conservatives name Rafsanjani to head electoral list
* Conservative says economy key issue in poll
* Intelligence chief backs democratic elections
* Australia refuses visa to Iranian porn actress
* Khatami urged to act over rejection of poll candidates
* Kharrazi welcomes new era of warmer ties with Britain
* Britain, Iran Sign Agreement
* Egg-throwing dissidents target Kharrazi, two arrested
* German invitation to Khatami still open: MP
* Khatami's camp hopeful despite ban on candidates
* WAN Protests Prosecution of Iranian Journalist
* Many Khatami allies barred from Iran polls

* Iranian minister meets UK's Blair, Cook
* Rafsanjani says duped by secret service
* MKO claims "dozens" of Tehran troops killed or wounded
* German MPs visit Iran
* Conservatives accuse reformers
* Hardliners demand cancellation of London visit

* Britain denies official apology over "insult" to Iran
* Ethnic Azeris say 17 injured in Iran demonstration
* Khamenei pardons more than 1,000 prisoners

Sports | Arts | Business| Rights | Community


Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday


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Thursday
January 13, 2000

* Montazeri breaks silence

    BY: Geneive Abdo in Qom
    The Guardian (London)
    January 13, 2000

    The man behind profound change in Iran is the invisible resident of this holy Shi'ite Muslim city.

    He has been under house arrest for more than two years, exiled to his modest home on Riverbank Street. Few dare to mention his name in public. Newspapers which print his ideas are closed or taken to court. Fellow clerics who spread his opinions in public are imprisoned. And thousands of his disciples, the seminarians who read his banned books, do so clandestinely.

    Now, Ayatollah Ali Hossein Montazeri is tired of being silenced. In his first interview ever, according to his aides, he told the Guardian of his vision for a new Iran >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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. >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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." >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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." >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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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 >>> FULL TEXT

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