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News
Feb 1-5, 1999 / Bahman 12-16, 1377

Sports | Arts | Business| Rights | Community

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

Sports | Arts | Business| Rights | Community


Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday


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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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