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July 2005 Iranian human rights lawyer arrested Iran's conservative judiciary has arrested a leading human rights lawyer who was acting in two cases that have sparked international interest, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi said on Saturday. -CNN - 7/31/05 Israeli peace appeal to Iran Israel's State President Moshe Katzav has called on Iran to open a new chapter with Israel and drop its declared goal of destroying the Jewish state. -Isracast - 7/31/05 Iraq turns to Iran for aid, creating U.S. dilemma Regaining a semblance of stability here is a goal of both the Iraqi government and the United States. But the country's elected leadership apparently believes that Iraq's long-term welfare will depend on building a strong relationship with Iran as well as maintaining ties to the United States. -NY Times - 7/31/05 Iran Threatens to Restart Nuclear Work Without EU Offer Iran says it will restart sensitive nuclear activities Monday unless the European Union proposes how to end the diplomatic dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. - 7/31/05 Rowhani: EU will accept Iranian right to fuel cycle gradually Iran's Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Hassan Rowhani on Sunday offered a report to President Mohammad Khatami about his performance as the chief negotiator with European Union (EU) over nuclear program. - 7/31/05 Revolution? What's in it for them? This is an exciting time to be an Iranian American, a time for optimism, even — provided that one also has patience. -Nayereh Tohidi, LA Times - 7/31/05 UK warns Iran over nuclear plans The international dispute over Iran's nuclear programme appears to be escalating, with Tehran threatening to resume uranium conversion. -BBC - 7/31/05 Dog goes to veterinary hospital after car incident An intelligent dog went to Tehran Veterinary Hospital after meeting with a car accident, The Persian Daily 'Iran' wrote Saturday. The dog had been previously taken to the hospital for treatment. - 7/31/05 Spain to honour its first ambassador to Iran Spain intends to honour its first ambassador to Iran, who established bilateral relations around six hundred years ago, by launching a special research and tourism programme. - 7/31/05 New gas field "Sekouran" discovered in western Iran new huge gas field was discovered near the gas-rich region of Tange-Bijar in the western province of Ilam, official in charge of Ilam Gas Field Development Project announced Sunday. - 7/31/05 The Eminem Fan Who Polices Tehran's Morals Enforcing the strictures of the mullahs doesn't preclude a taste for Slim Shady and Fox News. Meet the new Basij -Azadeh Moaveni, TIME - 7/31/05 Iranian make up artist Hassan Lotfi underlines modern techniques in cinema US-based Iranian make up artist Hassan Lotfi said in Tehran on Sunday Iranian cinema is in dire need of modern techniques to proceed with its presence on international scene. - 7/31/05 Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji may die after 50-day hunger-strike Reporters Without Borders today (July 29, 2005) condemned what it called "the criminal attitude" of Iran's top leaders in refusing to release journalist Akbar Ganji, who has now been on hunger-strike for nearly 50 days. - 7/31/05 Iranian statesmen NY visit not diplomatic gesture: daily Iran's President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel are scheduled to attend the UN General Assembly and interparliamentary summits in New York in September, said a morning daily in Tehran on Saturday. - 7/30/05 Unprecedented Growth of Unauthorized Excavations in Mazandaran Lately increase of illegal excavations in Mazandran province, north of Iran, has made the region a hub for heritage looters and illegal excavators. - 7/30/05 Iran dissident 'cannot see wife' The wife of Iran's best-known political prisoner, journalist Akbar Ganji, says officials will not let her visit her husband, 49 days into a hunger strike. -BBC - 7/30/05 Teens hand Iran second spot at Asian freestyle, Greco-Roman bouts Iran ranked second at the Asian 16-17 freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling events held in Oarai, some 100 km northeast of Tokyo, on July 28-29. - 7/30/05 Iran: The Skeletons of Apostles Found in Saint Stepanos Church The remains of the Apostles' bones that according to some sources had been kept in Saint Stepanos church in Azerbaijan Sharqi (East Azerbaijan) province in Iran were found during archeologists' research. - 7/30/05 Center for Advocates of Human Rights protests to Iran's Judiciary for arrest warrant against lawyer Center for Advocates of Human Rights on Saturday protested to the Judiciary against arrest warrant the body issued for lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani. - 7/30/05 Iran's Ahmadinejad to address UN on first foreign trip: reports Iran's president-elect Mahmood Ahmadinejad plans to address the UN General Assembly in New York in September on his first official trip abroad -- despite US allegations of his role in the US embassy siege, press reports said. -AFP - 7/30/05 Iran: U.S. failure behind Ahmadinejad accusations Iran said U.S. accusations that its President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had helped take dozens of U.S. diplomats hostage after the 1979 Islamic revolution were due to its failure to influence Iran and its elections. -Reuters - 7/30/05 With Interest: 'China model' is tough to copy Countries are like people - they also like to try out the latest get-rich-quick scheme. The flavor of the moment is the "China model," whereby a controlling government carefully injects capitalism into its economy to spur exports and foreign investment. -IHT - 7/30/05 Iran rejects EU request to delay nuclear proposals Iran on Saturday rejected a European Union request to delay submitting EU proposals to solve a dispute over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, a spokesman for the Supreme National Security Council said. -Reuters - 7/30/05 U.S. says it has no evidence Iranian leader took hostages A month after Americans who were held hostage in Tehran 25 years ago asserted that the president-elect of Iran was among their captors, U.S. officials said they had turned up no evidence to support that contention. -NY Times - 7/30/05 Iran provides Iraq with electricity: Iraqi minister Iraqi Minister of Electricity Abd al-Muhsin Shalash said Friday that Iran has supplied Iraq with its electricity needs based on a mutual agreement and within the frameworks of the country's donation to the Iraqi nation. - 7/30/05 Iran-Turkey trade exchange up by 41 percent in first half of 2005 The value of trade exchange between Iran and Turkey exceeded 1.735 billion dollars during the first half of 2005, showing a 41.16 percent boost compared to similar period the previous year. - 7/30/05 Rafsanjani wants dissident freed Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has appealed to the judiciary to free an imprisoned writer who has refused food for 49 days. -BBC - 7/30/05 New Iranian President Expected to Focus on Domestic Issues Next week, Mahmood Ahmadinejad will officially become president of Iran. Mr. Ahmadinejad, the former mayor of Tehran, burst from relative political obscurity to win an upset victory in June's presidential election. - 7/30/05 Enemies and brothers Iran, with its unabashed nuclear ambitions, is top of the US's next-to-invade list. Is the mood in the country fearful or defiant? James Meek sounds out hardline clerics, Tehran liberals, mosque-goers, workers and the near-destitute - and finds surprising resonances with their superpower enemy -Gurdian - 7/30/05 Iran Struggles To Push Ahead With India Pipeline Officials in Iran are eager to get under way with a proposed gas pipeline to Pakistan and India that has been the subject of talks for more than a decade. Initial discussions among the participating countries concerning a 2,600-kilometer, overland natural-gas pipeline from Iran through Pakistan to India began in the early 1990s. - 7/30/05 UNDP to tackle depletion of land and water resources in Iran The Iranian government has recently signed a project with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to help it tackle the depletion of land and water resources by adopting community-based methods. - 7/29/05 Arshia Kiani, A Doctor who loves Photography more than Medicine Dr. Arshia Kiani is a young photographer with a difference. He is a fully qualified medical doctor, but apart from attending to family and friends he does not practice his profession. He rather spends his time and energies on his art, photography. - 7/29/05 Teens hand Iran Asian freestyle wrestling second spot Iran finished runner-up to India at the Asian 16-17 Freestyle Wrestling Championships ended in Japan Thursday. The Iranian team snatched three golds, two silvers, and two bronzes, ranking second on 77 points. - 7/29/05 Teenaged Alizadeh hands Iran first Asian Greco-Roman gold Mohsen Alizadeh won Iran's first gold medal at the Asian 16-17 Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships in Japan Friday. The Asian powerhouse Iran eyes five more golds following its teenagers' advancement to the finals. - 7/29/05 Iraq: Draft Constitutions Signal Loss Of Right At least two unofficial versions of Iraq's draft constitution have been leaked to the press in recent days, leaving many to speculate on what the future holds for Iraqi citizens in terms of individual and minority rights. - 7/29/05 Iranian child thanks for surgery A child from Iran has been welcomed by the community that raised money to enable him to be flown to Wales for life-changing surgery. -BBC - 7/29/05 North Korea Nuclear Talks Extended Multilateral talks aimed at resolving the North Korea nuclear dispute will continue into Saturday, in a sign that a consensus has yet to emerge on how North Korea might abandon its nuclear programs. - 7/29/05 Tremor hits Sabzevar in northeastern Iran A mild earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale jolted the city of Sabzevar in the northeastern province of Razavi Khorasan Thursday evening. - 7/29/05 U.S.: Iranian Cadres Training Hezbollah Iranian cadres are training Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, a State Department official told Congress on Thursday. -AP - 7/29/05 Preparing for a shipwreck in the Middle East the heart of the breakdown is Iraq. Even the war's supporters (this writer included) cannot honestly say that the postwar plan, if indeed there was one, was commensurate with the profound importance of the project. -Daily Star - 7/29/05 Iran: Daily Warns on Dangers to Government, Society of Censorship Text of unattributed editorial entitled "Crooked first brick!" by Iranian newspaper Aftab-e Yazd website on 28 July -Red Nova - 7/29/05 US still investigates Iran leader The US says it has concluded that Iran's president-elect was a leader of the group behind the 1979 hostage crisis at its embassy in Tehran. -BBC - 7/29/05 Raid on Iran dissident's lawyer Human rights activists have told the BBC that officials have raided the home of a lawyer representing Iran's best-known political prisoner. - 7/29/05 Book Review: The Treason of the Clerics Nation's Jonathan Rée reviews "Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islamism" by Janet Afary and Kevin B. Anderson - 7/29/05 Iran-Pakistan-India gasline plan making headway: report A meeting presided over by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz last Wednesday discussed Pakistan's growing energy needs and decided to pursue the three proposed gas projects, the report said. - 7/29/05 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980) Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980), A retrospective on his reign on the occasion of the twenty fifth anniversary of his death. -Darius Ryan, Switzerland - Persian Journal - 7/29/05 White House: Resumption of nuclear activities would violate Iran's commitments The United States expects Iran to abide by its commitments to suspend uranium enrichments and reprocessing activities, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said July 28 in response to reports that Iran plans to resume work on its nuclear fuel cycle. - 7/29/05 Iranian American Know Your Rights Campaign to Hold Press Briefing in San Francisco The Iranian American Know Your Rights Campaign is gearing up for its second press briefing on August 3rd at the National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement (NLSCA), headquartered in San Francisco, California. - 7/29/05 The hero and the heroin A survivor of the ‘human wave’ attacks of the Iran-Iraq war, Ebby died homeless 16 years later, one of a growing number of Iranian drug addicts. His cousin tries to understand why -Kamin Mohammadi, London - 7/28/05 Iran: Human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi accuses appeals court of refusing to call victim's witnesses Human rights lawyer and Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi has angrily denounced an appeal court that has heard the case of murdered Canadian photojournalist, Zahra Kazemi. - 7/28/05 IRAN: Extension of Afghan repatriation agreement under possible threat The Director-General of the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA) has warned that Iran would not extend its agreement with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the government of Afghanistan for the voluntary repatriation of Afghans in Iran. - 7/28/05 Who lost Iran? In October 1992, years before Iran enriched uranium or had ballistic missiles, Shimon Peres launched a campaign to portray Iran as "the greatest threat and greatest problem in the Middle East." Peres's premature warnings turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy. -Trita Parsi, Jerusalem Post - 7/28/05 Khatami criticises dissident's hunger strike "I think that even in the case where someone's rights are trampled on, it is necessary to act with restraint to achieve a right that is more significant. I hope that this problem can be solved by being reasonable." -AFP - 7/28/05 Iran's new president wants to meet team of Jews in Los Angeles Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is interested in meeting a delegation from the Iranian Jews living in Los Angeles in the United States of America, according to Israeli diplomatic sources -Khaleej Times - 7/28/05 President Khatami: Iran will not resume uranium enrichment for now The outgoing President Mohammad Khatami said in Tehran on Wednesday Iran reserves the right to enrich uranium but does not plan to resume it right now. Khatami, who was talking in his last press conference, made the statement in response to a question about the enrichment resumption, saying negotiations will continue. - 7/28/05 Afghanistan: Interview With UN Special Rapporteur On Violence Against Women Yakin Erturk, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women, says forced marriages are the prime source of violence in Afghanistan. - 7/28/05 Quake jolts Bandar Lengeh in southern Iran A mild earthquake measuring 3.8 on the Richter scale hit the city of Bandar Lengeh in the southern province of Hormuzgan in the wee hours of Thursday. - 7/28/05 Iranian President intervenes in bid to end jailed journalist's hunger strike Akbar Ganji would be a most embarrassing corpse. Iranian authorities are so concerned about political fallout if the country's most prominent jailed dissident dies from a hunger strike - becoming a martyr to reform - that the President has intervened in search of a solution. -Independent - 7/28/05 Analysts: Agreement at Korean Nuclear Talks Will Not Be Easy The United States has been saying since October 2002 that Pyongyang has a secret nuclear-weapons program. Since then, North Korea has pulled out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, expelled U.N. monitors, and re-opened a nuclear facility it had promised to dismantle in 1994. - 7/28/05 Six dead in Iran Kurdish region attacks linked to PKK Six people, including four Iranian soldiers, were killed in unrest near the Turkish border, officials said, with the interior ministry blaming Kurdish rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). -AFP - 7/28/05 Tehran accuses US of nuclear double standard Iran accused the Bush administration yesterday of operating a double standard and undermining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by agreeing to aid India's civil nuclear programme, while insisting that Tehran abandon its nuclear ambitions or face international sanctions. -Guardian - 7/28/05 Iran's Government Spokesman: President Khatami tolerated injustice, too often Iranian Government Spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said on Wednesday evening, "Many people observed injustice in treating Khatami and I was many times witness to dropping of tears from his eyes after hearing undeserved sarcastic mock." - 7/28/05 News and Truth Usually we think the News say the truth; in the same way that we think what is written in our history books is the truth about the past. But is it really so? How much can we assume that the News say the truth? -Roya Monajem, Tehran - 7/28/05 Officials: European Union set to make deal with Iran on nuclear fuel The European Union will offer Iran next week a guaranteed supply of nuclear fuel for civilian nuclear power plants and expanded economic cooperation if Iran agrees to stop trying to make its own fuel, two European officials said Wednesday. -USA Today - 7/28/05 Iran clamps down on Arab protests Iranian police have arrested at least 12 people in connection with fresh protests in Khuzestan province. -BBC - 7/28/05 Bush's war of terror, proxy war Our interest in the Middle East has always been driven by our oil dependence. Could we have developed our own oil resources? Was it orchestrated obsolescence designed to create weakness and vulnerability? -Renew America - 7/28/05 Human Rights Watch: End Juvenile Executions in Iran Iran's execution of a juvenile offender last week violated international law, Human Rights Watch said today in letters to the president and head of the judiciary. - 7/28/05 Mixed reports on Iran teen hangings But the circumstances that triggered the executions are now being questioned by several human rights groups, which claim the teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, may not have been killed for being gay. -Southern Voice - 7/28/05 Free Akbar Ganji - An appeal from the international community We, the undersigned independent, non-partisan, international organizations and community of concerned journalists, academics, artists, writers, intellectuals, and defenders of human rights, express our grave anguish over the critically deteriorating health of the jailed Iranian journalist Mr. Akbar Ganji and call on Iranian authorities for his immediate release. - 7/28/05 Poem for Akbar Ganji: Stay In the cold of night, they sold as day- In the house of chain, they had you stay- You decided, it is best, to starve away- You decided, your death, will show them the way -Alireza Nouri Razavi - 7/28/05 Is Iran Being Set Up? A recent article by Juan Cole depicts Iran as the real victor in the Iraq War. This is because Iran, which Washington officially designates "evil," has been able to establish warm relations with the government ushered into power by U.S. occupation forces in neighboring Iraq. -Counterpunch - 7/28/05 Cheney's Plan: Nuke Iran "The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons." -Antiwar.com - 7/28/05 A fatwa for freedom Maryam Molkara was a woman trapped in a man's body. She was also living under Islamic law in the Iran of Ayatollah Khomeini. Yet, as Robert Tait reports, her determination to confront the hallowed leader has made Tehran the unlikely sex-change capital of the world -Guardian - 7/27/05 Iran's government spokesman hopes Ganji's case to be settled soon Government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh on Tuesday expressed hope the case of the jailed journalist Akbar Ganji would be settled soon through coordination between the government and the judiciary. - 7/27/05 Iranian Oil minister inaugurates Sorush, Noruz development project Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh on Tuesday inaugurated the project for development of Sorush and Noruz oil fields in northern part of the southern Iranian province of Bushehr. - 7/27/05 Canadian envoy: Politics not to deter Tehran-Ottawa trade Canadian commercial attache in Iran John Rodney said on Tuesday the Iran-Canada political row will not have any negative effect on bilateral economic and commercial ties. - 7/27/05 Iran Achieves Solid Fuel Technology Iran said for the first time Wednesday it has fully developed solid-fuel technology in producing missiles, a major breakthrough that increases the accuracy of missiles hitting targets. -AP - 7/27/05 Pakistani Expert: Iran-Pakistan gasline viable Pakistan has said that the proposed gas pipeline from Iran was viable even if both the countries decide to carry it out bilaterally. Pakistan's Prime Minister's Advisor on Energy Mukhtar Ahmed said in Islamabad at a gas conference that Pak-Iran gas pipeline is technically, commercially and financially viable. - 7/27/05 India's Petroleum Minister: US has no objections on Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline The Indian government Tuesday categorically said the United States had not any objections on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project with New Delhi, reported Press Trust of India. - 7/27/05 US Raises Concerns about Energy use in China, India U.S. officials are raising concerns about the growing energy demands of China and India, but say the United States is actively working to engage both countries in cooperation over energy interests. A congressional committee has been holding hearings on the subject. - 7/27/05 Over four tons of narcotic drugs seized all over Iran Anti-drug police squads have seized 4.87 tons of illicit drugs in Iran over the past week, Police 110 Emergency Center announced Wednesday. - 7/27/05 Iranian gas victims want justice from Saddam tribunal The Iranian government is to contact the Iraqi tribunal prosecuting Saddam Hussein to seek justice for the Iranian victims of Iraqi chemical weapons attacks which contaminated up to 100,000 people. -Independent - 7/27/05 Iran body seeks suicide 'martyrs' An advertisement in an Iranian publication has called for people to come forward for "martyrdom operations" against the enemies of Islam. -BBC - 7/27/05 U.S. May Significantly Reduce Troops in Iraq Next Spring Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld met with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari and the top U.S. commander in Iraq Wednesday and discussed specific steps to speed preparations for the withdrawal of some of the 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq beginning as early as next spring. -Washington Post - 7/27/05 Rumsfeld Makes Unannounced Visit to Iraq Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Iraq for an unannounced visit with American and Iraqi officials. Secretary Rumsfeld arrived Wednesday morning, with a series of messages for the country's interim leaders. - 7/27/05 Iran National Youth Parliament to open Thursday The parliament comprises 193 exemplary representatives elected by national federations, provincial assemblies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for youth affairs, Public Relations Department of the parliament announced Wednesday. - 7/27/05 Indian Expert: Economics does not push Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project Talking to IRNA today, Lydia Powell, Senior Fellow at New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation said, economic facts on the ground was not supportive of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project. "There is a contradiction between India's foreign policy and energy policy. In such circumstances there is not a single bank that will come forward for fund it," Powell said. - 7/27/05 Rioters detained in southwest Iran Police have cracked down on fresh protests in Iran's restive southwestern oil province of Khuzestan, home to most of the Islamic Republic's Arab minority. -Aljazeera - 7/27/05 UK: Cancellation of Iran soccer match at Millwall blamed on racist elements Iran's second football match during its visit to the UK has been called off by London Championship club Millwall, citing fears for public safety even though the police were prepared to allow the game due this Saturday to go ahead. - 7/27/05 Iran firm on nuclear resumption Iran will resume some controversial nuclear activities regardless of EU proposals in the next round of talks, the outgoing president says. -BBC - 7/27/05 Iranian daily wishes outgoing Khatami will speak frankly in his final news conference Iranian daily "Iran News" referred on Wednesday to a scheduled farewell news conference by the outgoing President Mohammad Khatami, wishing that during his final talks with the press "Khatami speaks to the nation candidly, honestly and without stipulation or reservation." - 7/27/05 Branch of Iran-Europe Bank in Kish attracts deposits of Iranians in Dubai Director of the branch office of Iran-Europe Trade Bank in Kish, Sadeq Pour Asghari, here Wednesday announced that the Iranian businessmen residing in Dubai can now deposit their capital in this branch. - 7/27/05 UNICEF celebrates Iranian Women's Day A drawing competition form more than 100 hildren, a panel discussion, a photo exhibition and a traditional music performance were all held to celebrate Iranian Women's Day at the President's Official Club in Tehran on Wednesday. - 7/27/05 Judiciary Spokesman: 132,000 inmates kept in Iranian jails Pointing out that the number of inmates nationwide stood at 185,000 when Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi was appointed as the Judiciary chief six years ago, he said the decrease in the number was due to the policies adopted during this period to reduce imprisonment verdicts. - 7/26/05 Ebadi condemns Iran appeal court Iran's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi, has bitterly criticised an appeal court that has heard the case of the murder of a journalist. -BBC - 7/26/05 India's Petroleum Minister denies differences over Iran-India pipeline Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar today denied any differences within the government on the 7.4 billion US dollar Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline and said New Delhi was going ahead with the project as scheduled. - 7/26/05 Bush Administration Stokes Dangerous Arms Race on Indian Subcontinent For more than two decades, arms control experts have argued that the most likely scenario for the hostile use of nuclear weapons was not between the former Cold War superpower rivals, an act of terrorism by an underground terrorist group, or the periodically threatened unilateral U.S. attack against a “rogue state,” but between India and Pakistan. -Stephen Zunes - 7/26/05 Wives of Tehran-based diplomats hold charity bazaar Wives of foreign diplomats in Tehran have recently held a charity bazaar in favor of the poor and needy families, an English-language daily reported in Tehran on Tuesday. - 7/26/05 Iran urges EU to accept resumption of some nuclear work Iran has called on the European Union to agree to Tehran resuming some sensitive nuclear work to prevent a collapse of talks, a nuclear negotiator said. -AFP - 7/26/05 Iran says calm restored in Kurdish area after riots The Kurdish town of Mahabad in northwestern Iran was calm on Monday following days of riots that erupted after police shot dead a young Kurdish man, a spokesman for the Iranian Interior Ministry said. -Reuters - 7/26/05 Iran says needs foreign firms to stop oil depletion Iran's crude output capacity is depleting by up to 400,000 barrels per day each year, showing the need to overcome conservative objections to foreign investment, Iran's oil minister said on Tuesday. -Reuters - 7/26/05 Iran-Europe gas pipeline to bypass Russia The state-held Ukrainian company Naftogaz Ukrainy has announced its intention to participate in the construction of a transit gas pipeline from Iran to Western Europe, probably bypassing Russia, the daily newspaper Kommersant reported. -RIA Novosti - 7/26/05 Aids follows heroin trail to west Countries in Central Asia and parts of eastern Europe are facing an explosion of Aids/HIV, according to scientists at a conference in Rio de Janeiro. -BBC - 7/26/05 Saudi to finalize Al-Qaeda extradition pact with Iran Saudi government gave the green light to finalizing a security pact with Iran aimed at speeding up the extradition of Al-Qaeda suspects from the Islamic republic to Riyadh. -AFP - 7/26/05 Shots to the Heart of Iraq Innocent civilians, including people who are considered vital to building democracy, are increasingly being killed by U.S. troops -Los Angeles Times - 7/26/05 Iranian female student gets Germany's top foreign student award Iranian female student Maryam Kharazmi received this year's German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) award for her excellent academic achievements and remarkable social and inter-cultural engagements - 7/26/05 IRAQ: women alarmed at prospect of rights erosion, UNIFEM says Iraqi women are extremely concerned that the national assembly committee drafting the country's new constitution is curbing women's rights, established under the interim constitution and prior national laws, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) reported on Friday. - 7/26/05 EU reminds Iran of moratorium on executions European Union on Tuesday expressed concern over reports of executions of two youths in Mashhad on July 19. - 7/26/05 Activists condemn execution of gay teens in Iran Human rights groups the world over have strongly condemned the recent execution of two gay teenagers in northeastern Iran. - 7/26/05 EU calls for permanent release of Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji European Union said on Tuesday that journalist Akbar Ganji is prisoner of conscience and called for his permanent release. - 7/26/05 Iran: Shirin Ebadi tells Appeals Court Zahra Kazemi's death was "deliberate murder" Defense lawyer Shirin Ebadi told the court that the case of her client was "deliberate murder". She cited report of the Coroner's Office that Kazemi's head had been struck twice and so it cannot be taken as semi-deliberate murder. - 7/26/05 UNESCO Acknowledged Iran's efforts for Rescuing Bam In an unprecedented event, UNESCO general secretary, in an official letter acknowledged Iranian efforts to rescue Bam heritage and thanked the head of the project. - 7/25/05 Iran's Ebadi says reporter killed intentionally Lawyers representing the family of a Canadian photographer who died in custody in Iran said on Monday she was deliberately killed and demanded an impartial court retry the case, the ISNA students' news agency said. -Reuters - 7/25/05 Iran allocates one billion dollars for Iraq reconstruction: Minister Iraqi Minister of Electricity Abd al-Muhsin Shalash said Iran allocated one billion dollars for reconstruction of the war-torn Iraq, which will be mainly spent on infrastructural projects, particularly, energy industry. - 7/25/05 Entertainment Complex for non-Muslims to be established in Iran's Qeshm island A residential, tourist and entertainment complex will be soon constructed in Persian Gulf island of Qeshm by Armenians who live in Iran. In the complex, Iranian religious minorities and foreigners can experience entertainments without usual Islamic limitations which are current in Iran. - 7/25/05 Tehran finds a friend in Baghdad And there is another winner, too - one which the Americans can scarcely be very happy about. The Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq's next-door neighbour, has benefited in every way from President George W Bush's decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein. It is probably the best thing that has happened to Iran since the Islamic Revolution there in 1979. -BBC - 7/25/05 Iran: Health Minister stresses role of family doctors to lower child mortality Minister of Health, Massoud Pezeshkian, said in Tabriz on Sunday child mortality would drop once the family doctor plan is implemented. The minister made the remark on the sidelines of an international symposium titled 'Child Health and Disease Control'. - 7/25/05 Iran's Deputy Oil Minister: All oil, petrochemical deals lawful Mohammad Reza Ne'matzadeh said in Tehran on Monday that all oil and petrochemical contracts signed with domestic and foreign companies are legal and in accordance with domestic regulations. - 7/25/05 Iraq: In Cold Blood: Abuses By Armed Groups Thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed and thousands more injured in attacks by armed groups in the past two years. Some died or were wounded in attacks aimed primarily at United States (US) or other troops comprising the US-led military alliance that toppled Saddam Hussain's regime but others were victims of direct attacks intended to cause the greatest possible civilian loss of life. -Amnesty International - 7/25/05 Juggling foreign investment with nationalism Iran is struggling to boost investment for its energy sector while keeping its national interests untouched as it faces severe U.S. economic and political pressure. Iran is OPEC's second-largest oil producer and holds 10 percent of the world's proven oil reserves. It also has the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia -Daily Star - 7/25/05 Iran not to extend Afghan repatriation plan Director General of the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA) Ahmad Hosseini said in Tehran on Monday that Iran does not intend to extend the Afghan repatriation plan. Speaking to reporters, he added that according to the Geneva agreement, by the end of current Iranian year (March 20) the residence permit of Afghan refugees residing in Iran will have expired. - 7/25/05 Iran and the “Experts” On December 31, 1977, President Jimmy Carter made a speech in which he said: “Because of the greatness of the shah, Iran is an island of stability in the Middle East.” In January of 1979 “his highness,” the shah, fell out of his throne in a revolutionary upheaval that swept Iran. -Sasan Fayazmanesh, -ZNet - 7/25/05 Iran admits to abuse of prisoners The Iranian judiciary has said that human rights abuses have been taking place in the country's jails. - 7/25/05 Iran: Human Rights activists protest to government heads after allegations made against defense lawyer Shirin Ebadi The Center Advocating Human Rights on Sunday forwarded a letter to heads of three branches of government, expressing concern about "surprising allegations" being made by certain conservative papers against human rights activist Shirin Ebadi. - 7/24/05 Iran's Ebadi says jailed journalist in poor health Iranian human rights lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi warned on Sunday that her client, jailed journalist Akbar Ganji, is in failing health and complained she had not been allowed to visit him. -Reuters - 7/24/05 Oil Minster: Iran's gas distribution capacity to increase 3.5- to 4-fold Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Sunday that his ministry plans to raise the gas distribution capacity of National Iranian Gas Company by 350 to 400 percent this year. - 7/24/05 Laureate Condemns Hanging of Iranian Boys Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi on Saturday condemned the hanging of two teenagers accused of raping younger boys in northeastern Iran, a punishment that also prompted protests by the international community and rights groups. -AP - 7/24/05 Iran Students: Restart Uranium Program More than 13,000 Iranian students and academics signed petitions urging Iranian president Mohammad Khatami to resume the country's suspended uranium enrichment efforts, state-run radio reported Saturday. -AP - 7/24/05 Islamist wind blows ever stronger in the Middle East Hizbullah, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East today would relate easily to the words of that great American philosopher Bob Dylan, who once wrote that, "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." Islamist activist politics, legitimized by and packaged inside a political/military resistance role, is on the rise throughout this region. -Daily Star, Lebanon - 7/24/05 Iraq: This is now an unwinnable conflict As he completes another tour of duty in the chaos of Iraq, award-winning reporter Patrick Cockburn charts how Bush and Blair's 'winnable war' turned into a mess that is inspiring a worldwide insurgency -Independent - 7/24/05 Soccer: QPR 3-0 Iran Paul Furlong, Gareth Ainsworth and George Santos all scored headers as QPR enjoyed a 3-0 friendly win over Iran. -BBC - 7/24/05 Iranian Embassy in Baghdad comes under heavy gunfire Iranian Embassy in Baghdad came under heavy gunfire early Saturday morning. This is the third time that Iranian Embassy has been subject to heavy gunfire since Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari visited Iran last week. - 7/24/05 India to continue Iran pipeline talks despite deal with US Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who this year secured cabinet approval for the pipeline first mooted in 1994, said the nuclear technology agreement with Washington was not a "quid pro quo" for abandoning the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline. -AFP - 7/24/05 UN Human Rights Commission surveys Iran's housing condition The United Nations Special Rapporteur on housing, Miloon Kothari, said here Sunday that the main objective of his visit to Iran is to survey the latest housing developments in Iran and present a report on it to the UN Human Rights Commission. - 7/24/05 Iran says oil production to reach 4.2 million barrels a day Iran announced that its oil production will officially rise to 4.2 million barrels per day in the next few days once production begins in three new oil fields. -AFP - 7/24/05 Quakes jolt different parts of Iran Three earthquakes measuring 4.1, 3.7 and 3.9 on the Richter scale, respectively, hit the cities of Qidar, Genaveh and Kerman Sunday. - 7/24/05 U.S. And India Getting Closer Than Ever In his welcome to Prime Minister Singh, President Bush said "our two nations are closer than ever before." The Indo-U.S. rapprochement started a few years ago, leading to a strategic partnership plan that includes cooperation in areas ranging from missile defense, civilian nuclear energy and high-technology trade to rural education and agriculture. - 7/24/05 Iran working with Iraq Tehran-based English newspaper, Iran Daily, said on Sunday issue that Jaafari and his high-profile team signed several agreements to bolster economic cooperation and assist the mammoth task of post-war reconstruction in the neighboring state. - 7/24/05 Press Freedom Society criticizes Iranian judiciary for illegal action against IRNA director Verdict of culpability for IRNA Managing director Abdollah Nasseri is out of place, spokesman for Society Advocating freedom of the press Mashallah Shamsolvaezin said on Saturday. - 7/24/05 Action Alert: Congress Introduces Bill Comdeming Violence and Discrimination Against Iranian Americans In a show of support for the Iranian-American Know Your Rights Campaign, a collaborative effort of Iranian-American organizations and other civil rights organizations, a resolution has been introduced in the House of Representatives condemning bigotry, violence and discrimination against Iranian Americans. -NIAC - 7/24/05 The Iran War Buildup There is no evidence that President Bush has already made the decision to attack Iran if Tehran proceeds with uranium-enrichment activities viewed in Washington as precursors to the manufacture of nuclear munitions...But there are many indications that planning for such a move is well under way -The Nation - 7/22/05 Imprisoned Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji may be pardoned Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi said here on Wednesday that imprisoned Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji may be pardoned. "We are currently studying to see whether public amnesties can be applied to his case or not," Shahrudi told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA). - 7/22/05 Iran Restores the Timurid tomb in Samarkand In cooperation with Uzbek officials, Iranian authorities of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization dedicates a sound fund and collaborates in restoration of Shah Zand, a Timurid site in Samarkand. - 7/22/05 Security Council could get involved in Iran's nuclear issue: Chirac French President Jacques Chirac warned Tehran that the UN Security Council will have to become involved if agreement cannot be reached on Iran's nuclear ambitions. -AFP - 7/22/05 Iran: Moderate quake jolts Bagh Malek in Khouzestan province A moderate earthquake measuring 4.3 degrees on the Richter scale jolted Bagh Malek in the southwestern Khouzestan province on Friday. - 7/22/05 Iran: World fed up with extensive violation of human rights by US Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi reacting to interfering statement of US President George W. Bush, said, "The United States is talking about violation of human rights in Iran, while the whole world is disgusted of extensive violation of human rights in USA and by US government around the world". - 7/22/05 Email from Alamut: In Search of the Assassins' Paradise Inside the Iranian castle where Medieaval suicide-killers were given a foretaste of 'heaven' -TIME - 7/22/05 AFGHANISTAN: Women election educators at work in the provinces Female civic educators have been dispatched to provincial areas of Afghanistan to promote awareness of the forthcoming parliamentary elections among women, officials at the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA) announced on Thursday in the capital, Kabul. - 7/22/05 Pentagon Says Iraqi Forces Better, But Problems Remain A report issued Thursday by the U.S. Defense Department says Iraqi security forces are improving, but that border control units remain weak, with a high level of infiltration by insurgent groups. - 7/22/05 Democracy was only an afterthought The situation in Afghanistan is one of barely managed chaos -Guardian - 7/22/05 AFGHANISTAN: Violence against women needs to be addressed – UN rapporteur Violence against women remains a huge problem in Afghanistan, a visiting United Nations official said in the capital Kabul, on Monday. - 7/22/05 Iranian reformists fear era of repression With bone-cracking brutality, the waves of baton-wielding police seemed to confirm what the already demoralised Iranian reform movement had been dreading: the dawn of a new era of political repression. -Guardian - 7/22/05 Iranian American Know Your Rights Resolution Introduced in the House At the urging of the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC), Congressman Marty Meehan (D-5th/MA) and Congressman Christopher Shays (R-4th/CT) introduced resolution, H.Res.367, condemning discrimination and bigotry against Iranian Americans. - 7/22/05 H.R. 3358 Seeks Compensation For Americans Held In Iran A bipartisan bill introduced in the House Wednesday seeks to make the government of Iran liable for its actions against Americans held hostage in the country from 1979-1981. -Mahtab Farid - 7/22/05 Minister: Iran ready to help reconstruction of Iraq's industries Iran's Minister of Industries Es'haq Jahangiri said in Tehran on Wednesday that Iran is ready to contribute to reconstruction of Iraq's industries. "Iran's industrial and mineral industries are ready to launch joint ventures in any field necessary in light of government's support," Jahangiri told his Iraqi counterpart Osama Abdulaziz al-Najafi. - 7/21/05 Iran's Saipa company exports 60 million dollars of vehicles and parts Saipa with exports of over 20,000 Pride and Saipa 141 models to Syria, Egypt ad Brazil in the last quarter has strengthened Iran's auomobile industry position in the international markets. - 7/21/05 Interview: Indian Prime Minister Singh Washington Post: With the new special relationship between the United States and India, do you think that your country can use this new relationship in helping the United States on relations with Iran? - 7/21/05 Bush's Itinerary: First Stop Syria; Next Stop Iran If he were a thinking person, George W. Bush might today be increasingly concerned that any positive legacy he had ever hoped for was slipping into oblivion. -Counterpunch - 7/21/05 Indian pharmaceutical company planning joint venture in Iran The rs300 crore Ind-Swift Laboratories, the bulk drug arm of the Delhi-based Ind-Swift group, is in talks with an Iranian pharmaceutical company to set up a joint venture in Iran, reports 'Business Standard'. - 7/21/05 Tensions Rise Between Berlin and Tehran Ever since the German defense minister accused the Iranian president of having been involved in terrorist activities, the diplomatic exchange between Berlin and Tehran has taken an unusually acrimonious tone. -Deutsche Welle - 7/21/05 House bill seeks compensation for ex-hostages of US embassy siege in Iran A US lawmaker introduced legislation seeking to compensate 52 US embassy diplomats who were taken hostage in Iran 26 years ago. -AFP - 7/21/05 India, US Open Can of Nuclear Worms More than 30 years after the United States walked out of a nuclear cooperation agreement with India, because it conducted an atomic test, the two countries have agreed to resume collaboration in civilian nuclear energy. -IPS - 7/21/05 Iranian exile's info useless, officials say House intelligence committee chairman Rep. Peter Hoekstra and Rep. Curt Weldon met secretly in Europe last week with an Iranian exile who CIA officials charge has passed worthless or bogus intelligence to the United States, current and former U.S. government officials said. -Detroit Free Press - 7/21/05 First phase of Iran's Darkhoein oil field to come on stream next week Bahram Kakouleki told reporters that the contract for the development phase was signed between National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Italian oil concern ENI in July. "ENI has 60 percent stake of the deal, with the Iranian firm NIKO holding the remaining 40 percent," he added. - 7/21/05 Afghan Warlord Verdict in Britain Sets Precedent After hearing of beatings, summary executions, and hostage taking during a seven-week trial, a British jury today found Faryadi Zardad guilty for his actions during the Afghan civil war in the 1990s. The case is unique in Britain as it involves human rights violations committed abroad. - 7/21/05 Khatami: We tried for 8 years to prove powers is not sanctified In his last meeting with his cabinet ministers and government officials, outgoing President Seyed Mohammad Khatami said on Wednesday, "During our eight years of service, we tired, within the range of our legal responsibilities to prove that only power is not not sanctified, but it also should be accountable and subject to criticism." - 7/21/05 Iran to launch its 1st communication satellite this year Deputy minister of communication and information technology (CIT) Hassan Shafti said in Tehran on Wednesday that the first communication satellite is expected to be launched within the current Iranian year (ending March 20). - 7/21/05 Conference: The World of Achaemenid Persia This conference coincides with the forthcoming exhibition Forgotten Empire: the World of Ancient Persia which will also be held at the British Museum (8 September 2005 - 8 January 2006). - 7/21/05 Persecuted Writers Receive Awards: Nine Journalists and Authors from the Middle East and North Africa Awarded Hellman/Hammett grants Writers and journalists from Iran, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and other countries have been awarded Hellman/Hammett grants in recognition of their courage in the face of political persecution. - 7/21/05 Iranian tour company Darwan hosts mountain climbing group from Spain Darwan Tour & Travel Co. Ltd., an Iranian Tour Operator based in the city of Shiraz, Iran, hosted a climbing expedition group from Spain in July 2005. The group successfully reached the summits of mountains Damavand & Alam Kooh, from July 2 through July 14 2005. - 7/21/05 Iraqi Premier winds up visit to Iran Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari left Tehran for Baghdad Tuesday evening after he was officially seen off by First Vice-President Mohammad reza Aref at Sa'dabad Cultural Complex. - 7/20/05 Iran's Ahmadinejad pledges 'moderation', more nuclear talks Iran's president-elect Mahmood Ahmadinejad pledged to form a government of "moderation", saying Tehran would continue talks over its nuclear programme and reach out to the international community. -AFP - 7/20/05 Iran: New Ship of an Old Fleet Made in Shiraz In the construction of a new model of an Achaemenid battleship, which is made by experts of aero-marine research centre of Malek Ashtar University, all traditional and old techniques were respected. - 7/20/05 Iranian Environment Organization Sues Beaver Hunters juridical bureau of Iranian Environment Organization sues 3 Turkish tourists who have hunted 7 beavers in a village near Azna. - 7/20/05 Iraq: Turkey Proposes Cross-Border Action To Rein In Kurdish Fighters Turkish officials have been increasingly vocal in recent days over their desire to launch cross-border operations to rein in Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK or Kongra-Gel) based in the mountainous areas straddling Iraq and Turkey. - 7/20/05 IRAN: Exploring alternatives to youth custody Iran and Britain shared ideas on youth sentencing at a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) workshop in Tehran this month. - 7/20/05 25,000 Civilians Killed Since Iraq Invasion, Says Report The number of Iraqi civilians who met violent deaths in the two years after the US-led invasion was today put at 24,865 by an independent research team. -Guardian - 7/20/05 Iran: Quake jolts Bouin Zahra in Qazvin province A mild earthquake measuring 3.5 on the open-ended Richter scale hit the city of Bouin Zahra in the southwestern province of Qazvin in the wee hours of Wednesday. - 7/20/05 British gov't protests at Iran claims over London bombings Britain protested furiously to Iran over comments by a leading Iranian politician that the London bombings might have been deliberately carried out by the British government. -AFP - 7/20/05 India portrays itself as new type of superpower The visit to Washington this week by India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, symbolizes a change in the fraught but inextricable relationship between the world's two largest democracies: an unrivaled superpower and an aspiring one. -IHT - 7/20/05 Iran plans to launch first satellite in 2005 Iran plans to launch its Mesbah communications satellite in 2005, a source in the presidential administration said. -IAN, Russia - 7/20/05 Russia: Muslim Film Festival In Tatarstan Aims To Break Stereotypes Preparations are under way in Tatarstan's capital Kazan for the Golden Minbar International Muslim Film Festival, which opens in September. - 7/20/05 International donors stress reconstruction in Iraq A two-day conference on reconstruction in Iraq, bringing together the United Nations, the international donor community, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ended in Jordan Tuesday with a strong emphasis on Iraqi leadership of the process. - 7/20/05 US Won't Deal with Hezbollah Cabinet Member in Lebanon The United States Tuesday welcomed the formation of Lebanon's new government, the first cabinet there free of dominant Syrian influence in three decades. However, the State Department said it will have no dealings with the one cabinet official described as an active member of Hezbollah. - 7/20/05 Iran's Supreme Council of Space Technology holds first session Iran's Supreme Council of Space Technology held first session late Tuesday with President Mohammad Khatami attending the debate. - 7/20/05 Why US is shifting nuclear stand with India US plans to broaden India's access to nuclear technology, announced this week during an enthusiastic visit to Washington by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, have their roots in designs from the earliest days of the Bush administration to build India's stature as a counterbalance to a rising and problematic China. -CSM - 7/20/05 Iran's mujahideen: a role As Iran appears to harden its position on its right to develop a nuclear enrichment program, and the US and its European allies ponder alternative inducements or pressures that might cause Tehran to desist, the role of Iranian exile organizations like NCRI is likely to be a continuing topic of discussion. -CSM - 7/20/05 Iraq's Dangerous New Friend On Sunday, George W. Bush's war against terror was turned upside down — and this time the president might even notice. That's because when "our guys" in Iraq start firmly allying with an "axis of evil" nation, its got to ring some warning bells, no? -Los Angeles Times - 7/20/05 George W. Strangelove and the Triumph of Nuclear Faith The silver-spooned cowboy in the Oval Office just presented a fine new saddle to the nuclear horseman of the apocalypse. -Common Dreams - 7/20/05 Robotics Champions Crowned as RoboCup 2005 Osaka Comes to a Close RoboCup 2005 Osaka competition comes to a close and the 2005 champions are determined during the day’s final events bringing an end to the largest robotics competition held in the world. While the 2005 games wrapped up its final matchs—RoboCup 2006 in Bremen, Germany was announced. - 7/19/05 Home Decorating Ideas from Tehran Like so many others, I have now managed to recover from the utter surprise of the recent Iranian election results. Whatever the first round of the election might have been, the second round was as fair and square as you could get anywhere. -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 7/19/05 Iran's New President: Conservative Politics and Traditional Values Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is largely unknown outside of his country. He is also not someone within the visible internal circles of clerics and reformers. - 7/19/05 Akbar Ganji in the prison of Iran The jailed Iranian journalist and dissident Akbar Ganji is defying the Tehran regime through hunger striking. Can international pressure save his life? Masoud Behnoud, Ganji’s former prison comrade and fellow journalist, reports. -Masoud Behnoud, Open Democracy - 7/19/05 US Proliferation Rhetoric and Reality: What's fine for India is forbidden Iran If the EU-Iranian negotiations fail, and Iran turns to Russia or China for assistance with its nuclear programs, will Bush continue to press the NSG – which includes Russia and China – to deny Iran its inalienable rights under the NPT, all the while flouting NSG guidelines himself, to provide Westinghouse nuclear power plants and the fuel therefor to India? -Antiwar.com - 7/19/05 Get Out the Vote: Did Washington try to manipulate Iraq's election? The January 30th election in Iraq was publicly perceived as a political triumph for George W. Bush and a vindication of his decision to overturn the regime of Saddam Hussein. -Seymour M. Hersh, New Yorker - 7/19/05 Health concerns mount for hunger-striking Iran dissident Concerns about the health of dissident Iranian writer Akbar Ganji mounted after he was admitted to hospital outside his Tehran prison following a five-week hunger strike. -AFP - 7/19/05 Iran's gasoline imports between 4-4.5 billion dollars this year: Official The total refining capacity is 40 million liters daily whereas the gasoline consumption is estimated to exceed 64.5 million liters daily this year. "Hence, we have to import 24.5 million liters daily," he added. - 7/19/05 First Criminal Case Filed Against Saddam Hussein Ra'id al-Juhi, the chief investigating judge of Iraq's Special Tribunal, appeared before cameras yesterday to announce the first criminal case filed against the country's former dictator, Saddam Hussein. - 7/19/05 Iran leader tells Iraq PM US troops harming his country Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari that US troops were harming his country, in a reminder of Tehran's opposition to the foreign military presence in its former foe. -AFP - 7/19/05 US backs good Iraq-Iran ties The United States reiterated its backing for good relations between Iraq and Iran while calling on all of Iraq's neighbors to play a "more helpful" role in its development. -AFP - 7/19/05 Iraq's neighboring interior ministers hold 2nd meeting in Turkey Participants from Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain are due to discuss and approve a draft statement issued by an expert meeting which was held in the Turkish capital on Monday. - 7/19/05 Zoroastrians search for their roots Every year, hundreds of Indian Parsis are going on a pilgrimage to Iran where they visit Zoroastrian holy sites. -BBC - 7/19/05 Afghanistan: Race To Preserve Historic Minarets Of Herat, Jam Experts from the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, are back on the ground in western Afghanistan. They're working with local authorities on a $1 million project to preserve the crumbling, centuries-old minarets in Herat and Jam, which are in danger of collapse. - 7/19/05 Iran v Millwall football match 'likely to be called off' A report in the Guardian newspaper said that the game was "almost certain to be cancelled today because the organizers fear the game will be targeted by far right extremists." - 7/19/05 Tehran's final insult to Kazemi? Two years ago, Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi was murdered while reporting in Iran. Today, the prime suspect in her case is not only free, but is being considered as Iran's next minister of justice in president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's cabinet. -Toronto Star - 7/19/05 Inciting Iran's Color Coup Détat: Vetting a 'velvet invasion' Like the color-coded terror alert system, the Technicolor Velvet Invasions blink warning. Despite receiving an ugly bruise in Uzbekistan, the CIA and its NGO regime change industry hope to stage another cardboard coup in Iran. But it could be a Black & Blue Revolution. -Citizens For Legitimate Government - 7/19/05 CPJ concerned about health of jailed Iranian writer - Immediate release is sought The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed deep concern today about the health of jailed Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji, who was reported hospitalized during his more than month-long hunger strike. - 7/19/05 What's Good for the Goose, is Good for the Gander – Or Not! In a July 14, 2005 interview with Bernard Gwertzman, the consulting editor of Consul on Foreign Relations, the former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger stated: "Don't exclude military action against Iran if negotiations fail.". Surprisingly, Mr. Kissinger finds Iran's civilian nuclear program to be more worrisome than North Korea which has declared to have nuclear weapons. -Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich - 7/19/05 Akbar Ganji: Mandela or Hallaj? If Mr. Ganji’s cause is indeed a noble cause, if his motives are truly honest and sincere, he can better continue his plight and pursue his goals as a living, breathing and contributing force. Starving himself to death is like forcing his own fate as did Mansour Hallaj, who continued preaching, Ana Al Hagh. -Kam Zarrabi - 7/19/05 In praise of life: On Akbar Ganji When Akbar Ganji went to Prison, many Iranians said "he is one of them". They branded him, a practice which is all too typical in our political culture. Yet he wrote letters and books and sent his manifesto from prison and maintained his innocence and immense loyalty. -Fariba Amini - 7/18/05 Experts: US sanctions push Iran towards China In response to a decade of U.S. sanctions, Iran has turned to China as a durable trading partner, where “business is business with no political strings attached,” John Garver, Professor of International Relations and China Expert, said at the Woodrow Wilson Center on Thursday. “Sanctions should not be a mainstay of world politics,” he added. -NIAC - 7/18/05 Iran: Country's Drug Problems Appear To Be Worsening The use of narcotics, particularly opium, has always been a problem in Iran. Tehran eventually eradicated opium crops in the country; but having Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer, as a neighbor means that the problem not only persists but is getting worse. - 7/18/05 Discovery of Three-Thousand-Year-Old Remains of Burial Rituals in Qom Altars Discovering stony podiums near Sarem cemetery, a 3 thousand-year graveyard in Qom, led to belief that these podiums were actually altars in which sacrifice and religious rituals were practiced. Existence of these altars proves that the cemetery was limited to burial of noble people. - 7/18/05 Iran-Iraq talks heal old wounds "The visit of the Iraqi prime minister to Iran is a turning point in the historic relations between the two countries. It will allow us to heal the wounds and repair the damage caused by Saddam Hussein through joint co-operation," Mr Khatami said. -BBC - 7/18/05 Report: Bush Planned to Influence January Iraqi Vote A report in Sunday's New York Times says the Bush administration may have tried to influence Iraq's January elections by covertly supporting certain political parties. - 7/18/05 Quake shakes Kazeroun in southern Iran A mild earthquake measuring 3.4 on the open-ended Richter scale hit the city of Kazeroun in the southern province of Fars Monday morning. - 7/18/05 7,000 Pakistani kid camel jockeys stranded in Persian Gulf states As many as 7,000 Pakistani children being used as camel jockeys are stranded in the deserts of several Arab states of the Persian Gulf. - 7/18/05 Russia may probe funding of Iranian reactor-media Russian prosecutors may examine the financing of a nuclear reactor Moscow is building in Iran after a former Russian minister was arrested, local media quoted the head of Russia's Audit Chamber as saying on Sunday. -Reuters - 7/18/05 U.S. Says It Did Not Carry Out Plans to Back Iraqis in Election President Bush authorized covert plans last year to support the election campaigns of Iraqis with close ties to the White House, but government and intelligence officials said yesterday the plan was scrapped before the January vote. -Washington Post - 7/18/05 EU: Foreign Ministers To Debate Iran, Uzbekistan, UN Reforms The foreign ministers of the 25 European Union member states are meeting in Brussels today for the last time before September. The agenda of the monthly meeting is extensive, including nuclear talks with Iran, possible sanctions against Uzbekistan, and possible UN reforms. - 7/18/05 EU may be ready to help Iran build nuclear reactors: negotiator European nations negotiating with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme may be ready to help build nuclear reactors and supply them with fuel, Iranian negotiator Hossein Moussavian said. -AFP - 7/18/05 Iran-Iraq oil pipeline to become operational next year Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in Tehran on Monday that the construction of pipeline intended to transfer oil from Iran to Iraq, whose agreement was signed 10 months ago, is already underway and is expected to be implemented within a year. - 7/18/05 Three Iranian sisters relish opportunity to perfect their game Were they in their father's homeland, Maryam, Shabnam and Naseem Eslami would not be playing tennis. Where they are, the sisters would seem to have a future in tennis. During the recent La Jolla Championships, Naseem, 15, won the girls 18s; Shabnam, 13, captured the girls 14s; and Maryam, 12, was a finalist in the girls 12s. -San Diego Union-Tribune - 7/18/05 The National Day of Persian Gulf Anniversary of Portuguese withdrawal from Persian Gulf was labeled as "the national day of Persian Gulf" by the supreme council of Cultural Revolution of Iran. - 7/18/05 Iranian women who climbed Mount Everest honored by President Khatami President Mohammad Khatami described as a very brilliant success the great achievement of Iranian female climbers in ascending Mount Everest. - 7/18/05 Iran's Shahrokhi wins world junior discus gold Seyed Ali Shahrokhi from Iran grabbed the discus gold medal at the World Junior Track-and-Field Championships in Morocco, reported the federation Sunday. - 7/18/05 IAs Senior Visit Concludes, Deals Signal Increased Cooperation Between Iran and Iraq Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Ja'fari today ended a landmark visit to Iran that outgoing Iranian President Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami hailed as a turning point in relations between their neighboring countries. - 7/18/05 Jailed Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji hospitalized outside prison Iranian jailed journalist Akbar Ganji has been transferred to Tehran's Milad Hospital from Evin prison on Monday, his daughter said. - 7/18/05 Engage Iran, support pipeline The opposition to the pipeline reflects a wider failing in US policy - illustrated by its approach to Cuba and North Korea, among others - that stems from the assumption that the best way to handle hostile countries is through pressure and isolation, rather than by steadily integrating them into the global economy. -CSM - 7/18/05 Khatami: Iran will do its best to promote security, stability in Iraq Iranian President Mohammad Khatami in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari in Tehran Sunday said that though Iraq's enemies wish for sustained insecurity in the country, Iran will use its expertise towards renovation of Iraq and promotion of its security and stability. - 7/17/05 Iraq's Prime Minister On Landmark Visit To Iran With a Shi'a-dominated government in place in Baghdad, a closer relationship now appears to be developing between Iraq and Iran. Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Ja'fari is in Tehran to discuss security issues and future relations between the two countries. - 7/17/05 Iran, Iraq examine repatriation of Iraqi migrants Iraqi Migration and Displacement Minister Suhaila Jaafar and Director General of the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA) Ahmad Hosseini in a meeting in Tehran on Saturday discussed the issue of Iraqi migrants in Iran and ways of their repatriation. - 7/17/05 Iran, Iraq sign transportation cooperation agreement Iran and Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Tehran on Sunday on expansion of rail, road, air and sea transportation between the two countries. - 7/17/05 Iran says US and Israel snaring its atomic experts Iran on Sunday accused U.S. and Israeli agents of tricking Iranian nuclear scientists abroad into giving away crucial information, newspapers reported. -Reuters - 7/17/05 Iranian FM: European proposal should enshrine enrichment right Britain, France, Germany are going to offer a package of economic and political incentives to Tehran next month if Iran gives up uranium enrichment activities. - 7/17/05 Iran's exports to Iraq to rise to one billion dollars this year The worth of Iran's exports to Iraq will amount to one billion dollars this year from 800 million dollars last year - 7/17/05 Iranian students win 4 medals in China Biology Olympiad Iranian pupils participating in the sixteenth World Biology Olympiad in China managed to win three silver and one bronze medals. - 7/17/05 Iran, Iraq Herald 'New Chapter' in Shiite-Led Alliance A quarter-century after Iraq's invasion of Iran launched the Middle East's bloodiest modern war, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a three-day visit that officials on both sides said signals a new alliance that could change the religious and political balance of power in the region. -Washington Post - 7/17/05 EU to present its comprehensive package to Iran in August European Union Foreign Ministers' Council is to discuss the 25-member bloc's relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran during their regular monthly meeting in Brussels on Monday. - 7/17/05 Iranian intellectuals call on the jailed writer Akbar Gangi to end his hunger strike The letter is as follows: “We were all mistaken when we called for justice and the rule of law from a government of jurists. You are currently paying the price of our fantasies because you considered freedom to be crucial. Be strong and your spirit will not be broken. It is those that keep you behind bars that are losing the battle. Do not give up on life. Your departure will destroy us all. A hero is a thousand times better alive than dead.” -Asharq Alawsat, UK - 7/17/05 Iraqi Shi'ites Caution Government about Renewing Ties with Iran residents of the capital say, while they support better relations with their neighbor, they are concerned the visit to Shi'ite Iran may further alienate Iraqi Sunnis, and aggravate sectarian tension. - 7/17/05 Iraqi PM in landmark Iran visit More than 10 ministers are accompanying Mr Jaafari to open what Iranian media have called a new chapter in ties. -BBC - 7/17/05 India and Pakistan Commit to Building Gas Pipeline Linking Iran to India India and Pakistan say work on a gas pipeline linking Iran to India via Pakistan could begin next year. Officials from the two countries expressed serious commitment to the project at the end of two days of talks held recently in New Delhi. - 7/17/05 Jailed Iran dissident to continue hunger strike: wife Jailed dissident Iranian write Akbar Ganji, who has been on a hunger strike for more than a month, intends to carry on until he is unconditionally freed from prison, his wife told Iran's student-run news agency ISNA. -AFP - 7/17/05 Iran: Concern over political prisoners mounts Police used violence to break up a student demonstration in the Iranian capital on Tuesday, amid escalating protests and concern over the deteriorating health of political prisoner and journalist, Akbar Ganji. - 7/16/05 Akbar Ganji's Second Letter to the Free People of the World Today, Sunday July 10, 2005 exactly 30 days have passed since I started my hunger strike...Many inside and outside the country ask why I have gone on hunger strike and why I am trying to reach legitimate ends through self-destruction. - 7/16/05 Pressure on as jailed Iranian dissident hints death is near The pressure on Iran to free jailed dissident Akbar Ganji is growing with each day of his hunger strike, but the hardline judiciary insists it is not going to release every prisoner just because he goes without food. -AFP - 7/16/05 A Worldwide Call to Free Akbar Ganji Iran’s most prominent and internationally known political prisoner and dissident journalist, Akbar Ganji, has as of July 14, 2005 entered his 34th day of a hunger strike to protest the conditions of his unjust imprisonment. -Reza Fiyouzat, Dissident Voice - 7/16/05 EU-Iran discuss ways to boost cooperation in combating drug trafficking The sixth round of talks between the European Union and the Islamic Republic of Iran on drug issues at the experts level was concluded in Brussels on Friday. - 7/16/05 Iraq and Iran: Axis of Evil? I have to wonder what George Bush must be thinking as Iraq’s elected Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari readies for his trip next week to Iran. -Common Dreams - 7/16/05 Iraq keen to use Iran's expertise on energy production Iraqi Electricity Minister Abd al-Muhsin Shalash on Saturday called for using Iran's expertise in the field of generation and transmission of energy. - 7/16/05 US Still Pursuing Nuclear Options 60 Years After First Bomb Sixty years after the first atomic bomb was tested in the New Mexico desert, the United States still has some 2,000 nuclear weapons on hair trigger alert and is considering new weapons such as earth-penetrating bunker busters. -AFP - 7/16/05 Immigration Debate Misses the Point, Expert Says As a nervous Congress was approving billions of dollars to make the United States safer in the wake of the London bombings, a nationally recognized authority on immigration detention charged that the rights of refugees, asylum-seekers and other immigrants are being ignored. -IPS - 7/16/05 IRAN: A vote against neoliberalism In a result that has stunned most Western and Iranian political commentators, on June 24 Iranian voters decisively rejected business-backed candidate Ayallotah Hashemi Rafsanjani, an advocate of neoliberal “free-market” economic policies and resumption of diplomatic relations with the US. -Green Left - 7/16/05 Muslim World Rejecting Violence, Says Poll The study, by Washington polling organisation the Pew Centre for the People and the Press, found that many people in predominantly Muslim countries share concerns over Islamic extremism, with many seeing it as a threat to their own countries. -Guardian - 7/16/05 Iran, Iraq discuss expansion of economic cooperation Secretary-General of Iran's Chamber of Cooperative Mohammad Reza Ramezani, in a meeting with Iraq's Minister of Trade Abd al-Basti Karim Mawlud in Tehran, expressed the chamber's readiness to actively participate in reconstruction of Iraq. - 7/16/05 Bobby Sands and Akbar Ganji As an Iranian I used to feel proud to drive on “Bobby Sands Street” every time I visited Tehran, but the summer of 2005 may very well make me ashamed to be an Iranian. I don’t want to go anywhere in the world driving on “Akbar Ganji Street!” -Homayon, Berkeley Daily Planet - 7/16/05 Photos: Akbar Gani in Hunger Strike These photos of Akbar Ganji, who has been on a hunger strike in Evin prison for at least 35 days, were emailed to iranian.com today without any details. - 7/16/05 Information Minister: Al-Qaeda conspiracies foiled in Iran Iranian Minister of Information Ali Younesi said on Saturday that Iran has foiled five al-Qaeda conspiracies so far. He said that since collapse of Taliban in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda made five attempts against Iran which have all been thwarted. - 7/16/05 Soltanieh is seventh Iranian site in the UNESCO List of World Heritage Soltanieh dome , the biggest of the kind in the world which is made of brick, was approved to be registered on the UNESCO list of World Heritage today. - 7/16/05 UN rights experts express concern for failing health of jailed Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji Five United Nations human rights experts today urged Iranian authorities to guarantee that imprisoned Iraqi journalist Akbar Ganji be given a fair hearing and receive appropriate medical treatment for his severe asthma. - 7/16/05 US needs to address Iran's security concerns, says Hannay Former British Ambassador to the United Nations, Lord Hannay, insists that the US needs to be involved if the EU is giving to achieve any breakthrough in its negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme. - 7/15/05 Strategists Debate U.S. Military Policy Strategists Debate U.S. Military Policy - 7/15/05 San Francisco World Music Festival: September 26 – October 16, 2005 The San Francisco World Music Festival 2005 will celebrate its Sixth Anniversary with an exciting gathering of some of the most interesting musicians in the world. - 7/15/05 White House Says Iran Must Stop Enriching Uranium The White House says Iran must abandon efforts to enrich uranium, which the Bush administration believes Tehran wants to use to build nuclear weapons. A senior Iranian official says the country's incoming president may reverse an agreement to freeze those enrichment activities. - 7/15/05 Kissinger: Don't Exclude Military Action Against Iran if Negotiations Fail Former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, in a wide-ranging discussion of foreign-policy issues, says he is disturbed at the possibility that Iran will develop nuclear weapons know-how if current negotiations to stem Tehran's nuclear program fail. -Council on Foreign Relations - 7/15/05 Iraq PM to head large delegation on first visit to Iran Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari is to head a large delegation to Iran on his first official visit to the former foe, an Iraqi official said. It will be the first such high-level visit since the bitter 1980-1988 war between the two neighbours which left one million people dead. -AFP - 7/15/05 A slippery European energy outlook In coming years, the EU, which currently gets about a quarter of its gas from Russia, plans to increase gas imports from Qatar, Egypt and eventually Iran -IHT - 7/15/05 How much oil do we really have? As oil prices remain volatile the markets do their best to forecast future prices. Unfortunately this is not an easy task. While it may appear extraordinary to outsiders one of the main problems in the oil market is the reliability of basic statistics. -BBC - 7/15/05 Quality Of Life In Iraq Still Poor Virginia-based Dr. Ali Al-Attar left his native Iraq at the onset of Iran-Iraq war. At that time, he says, most Iraqis lived a middle-class life and enjoyed better education, health and employment than most other Arabs. - 7/15/05 Gloomy EU to press on with Iran initiative European Union foreign ministers will agree on Monday to press on with a diplomatic initiative to try to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions despite gloom since the election of an Islamic hard-liner as president. -Reuters - 7/15/05 AFGHANISTAN: Progress on disbandment of illegal armed groups More than 200 local commanders have been disarmed and tens of thousands of arms and ammunitions collected in Afghanistan since the government-led Disbanding of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) started early June - 7/15/05 EU3 to offer Iran help with nuclear power The UK, France and Germany, the so-called EU3, are expected to offer Tehran co-operation with its civilian nuclear power programme and help in reducing its dependency on fuel imports from Russia if it agrees to end its attempts to produce its own nuclear fuel. -Financial Times - 7/15/05 Sinister Paradise: Does the Road to the Future End at Dubai? Welcome to paradise. But where are you? Is this a new science-fiction novel from Margaret Atwood, the sequel to Blade Runner, or Donald Trump tripping on acid? No, it is the Persian Gulf city-state of Dubai in 2010. -TomDispatch - 7/15/05 Summer Fun, American Style At a Camp in Arlington, Children From Around The World Learn They Are Not Alone as Refugees -Tara Bahrampour, Washington Post - 7/15/05 Letter from Imprisoned Iranian Dissident Ganji Smuggled from Prison "I May Die, But the Love of Freedom and the Thirst for Political Justice Will Never Die" -MEMRI - 7/15/05 Iranian Officials to Complete Bam Report Reviewing the latest condition of Bam cultural landscape, UNESCO world heritage committee asked the Iranian officials in the 29th session of world heritage in Durban, South Africa, to complete the report on the case by February 1st. - 7/15/05 Iran's oil diplomacy frustrates U.S. policy Washington's goal of isolating the Islamic Republic stands in conflict with its aims in Iraq, Pakistan and India -Daily Star - 7/15/05 Open Letter to Mr. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General about Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji Dear Sir! As citizens of the planet earth who believe in the Declaration of Human Rights, we have a few questions for you:"How much information on a case is considered to be “enough” for you? Once this threshold is reached, what would you comment on such a case? And, as the head of a world organization that is created to expand peace and human rights all over the word, what will your action be after uttering that comment? - 7/15/05 Testing limits of dissent in Iran Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji entered the 33rd day of his hunger strike Thursday, demanding unconditional release from the notorious Evin prison in north Tehran. -CSM - 7/15/05 Iran: Top judicial official terms Ganji's conditions as good General conditions of jailed journalist Akbar Ganji is good, said a top Iranian judicial official here on Thursday. Deputy head of Tehran Justice Department Mohammad Salarkia told IRNA that Ganji is under intensive medical care and physicians visit him twice or three times a day at prison. - 7/14/05 US warns Iran on nuclear program, Iraq The United States told Iran not to resume enriching uranium, which could feed a nuclear weapon, and also cautioned Tehran to keep its hands out of Iraq's internal affairs. -AFP - 7/14/05 Iran MPs plan jailed writer visit Five Iranian MPs say they want to meet the jailed dissident Akbar Ganji, who has been on hunger strike for a month. -BBC - 7/14/05 Minister: Iran ready to help reconstruction of Iraq's industries Iran's Minister of Industries Es'haq Jahangiri said in Tehran on Wednesday that Iran is ready to contribute to reconstruction of Iraq's industries. "Iran's industrial and mineral industries are ready to launch joint ventures in any field necessary in light of government's support," Jahangiri told his Iraqi counterpart Osama Abdulaziz al-Najafi. - 7/14/05 Poem: The scale man Squatting on the pavement says the scale man against a wall -- come, pay what you can, weigh yourselves. -Leylanaz Shajii, Tehran - 7/14/05 Iran's new police chief pledges respect for 'private space' Iran's new chief of police promised not to infringe on people's private lives, amid concerns the Islamic Republic's shift to the political right could herald fresh curbs on social freedoms. -AFP - 7/14/05 Iran to earmark 180 million dollars for establishment of power plant in Tajikistan Sangtudeh-2 power plant will be established in Tajikistan with a credit of 180 million dollars that will be put at the disposal of the republic by Iran. - 7/14/05 New Report Says World Faces 'Tipping Point' In Nuclear Proliferation Much has happened in the world since the publication more than two years ago of the first edition of Carnegie's "Deadly Arsenals." The book is a unique public catalogue of threats from the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. - 7/14/05 Uzbekistan: UN Urges International Probe Into What May Have Been 'Mass Killing' In Andijon The UN's high commissioner for human rights says witnesses of the Uzbek government's crackdown in Andijon consistently describe the event as a "mass killing." - 7/14/05 Call for CIA probe into Iran dissident 'leak' A senior Republican politician will ask the Central Intelligence Agency to investigate whether a former agent endangered US national security by allegedly leaking the identity of an Iranian dissident to journalists. -Financial Times - 7/14/05 Mr. Rove and the Access of Evil The only thing more evil, small-minded and treacherous than the Bush Administration's jailing Judith Miller for a crime the Bush Administration committed, is Judith Miller covering up her Bush Administration "source." -Greg Palast, Common Dreams - 7/14/05 Iran: U.S. Should Leave Dissident Alone Iran's government said Wednesday that President Bush shouldn't intervene in the case of a jailed Iranian dissident, particularly given allegations of U.S. human rights violations in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prisons. -AP - 7/14/05 Ukraine: Would Hike In Russian Gas Prices Prove A Blessing In Disguise? During a recent this week to Iran, Petro Poroshenko, the head of Ukraine's National State Security and Defense Council, suggested that Tehran could use Ukrainian pipelines to export its gas to Europe. Iranian officials reportedly embraced the idea. - 7/14/05 Iran: Leading Dissident's Life in Danger The life of Akbar Ganji, Iran's imprisoned leading dissident, is under serious threat due to his illness and a month-long hunger strike, Human Rights Watch said today. - 7/14/05 US Congressman Jim McDermott Praises India-Pakistan Pipeline To Peace In a press conference on Wednesday in Capitol Hill, Democratic Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) told a group of international reporters about H.Res. 353, a bipartisan legislation in the House of Representatives expressing support for a natural gas pipeline linking India and Pakistan economically, and serving as a bridge to promote cooperation. -Mahtab Farid, USI NEWS - 7/14/05 Release Akbar Ganji: Jailed for Exposing Iranian Government's Complicity in Murder Imprisoned Iranian journalist and human rights activist Akbar Ganji is gravely ill and in need of immediate medical attention. -Human Rights First - 7/14/05 Police beat protesters at protest rally in Iran Iranian police beat dozens of protesters with batons on Tuesday at a demonstration to call for the release of Iran's most prominent jailed journalist. -Reuters - 7/13/05 Iran: Football teams trampling on ancient sites of Susa Natural disasters, the construction of dams and smugglers were not enough of a threat to the ancient sites, so the football fields were added to complete the mission. - 7/13/05 A new chapter to open in Iran-Iraq relations: Iranian diplomat On the eve of the first scheduled visit of Iraqi prime minister and his entourage to Tehran, Iran's Charge d'Affaires in Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, announced on Wednesday that a new chapter is expected to open in bilateral relations. - 7/13/05 Bush Calls for Jailed Reporter's Release President Bush called Tuesday for the release of an Iranian journalist jailed for writing articles linking government officials to murder. -AP - 7/13/05 AFGHANISTAN: Mixed reactions to rights watchdog report The United Nations and human rights activists in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Monday welcomed a recent report of Human Rights Watch (HRW), which called on the Afghan government to ‘bring war criminals to justice.' - 7/13/05 India, Pakistan pledge "serious commitment" to Iran gas pipeline India and Pakistan have pledged "serious commitment" to a 4.5 billion dollar Iran-India gas pipeline that would pass through Pakistan, setting the end of the year as a deadline for a final agreement on the tri-national venture. -AFP - 7/13/05 Tehran pressures EU as nuclear talks near Iran will resume uranium enrichment if the European Union does not recognize Iran's right to do so, two Iranian nuclear negotiators said in an interview with a newspaper. -NY Times - 7/13/05 Argentina admits bomb probe blame Argentina has issued a decree formally accepting a share of the blame for the failure of investigations into the bombing of a Jewish centre in 1994. -BBC - 7/13/05 Shiites bring rigid piety to Iraq's south In Basra these days, it's not uncommon to see armed men from Shiite religious groups standing at the gates of Basra University, scrutinizing female students to make sure their dresses are the right length and their makeup properly modest. -CSM - 7/13/05 Iraqi Independence Now Leads to Iran After last week, the president's speech to the nation on June 29 marking the official transfer of authority from the American occupation to the interim, quasi-elected government of Iraq needs revisiting. -Portland Press Herald - 7/13/05 Iranian author, translator Karim Emami dies at 74 Emami was considered a forerunner in the translation of works of contemporary Iranian poets into English. - 7/13/05 Russia sets dates for controversial Iranian nuclear plant The Bushehr nuclear power station being built by Russia in Iran should be ready to start operating by the end of the year and start test operations in mid-2006, the director of Russia's atomic energy agency said. -AFP - 7/13/05 Study Hopes To Promote Dialogue On Islam And Human Rights With the drafting of Iraq's constitution underway, it remains unclear what role religion and human rights will play within the document. - 7/13/05 Iran's top nuclear negotiator says may be replaced Iran's top nuclear negotiator has said he may be removed by hardline president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and warned that a new negotiating team may reverse Iran's decision to freeze uranium enrichment-related work. -Reuters - 7/13/05 Iranian dissidents criticize European political leaders A conference organised by the Green Party in the European parliament to examine the results of the recent Iranian presidential elections, which saw the victory of the ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ended in Brussels on Thursday. -AKI - 7/13/05 Released Iranian film-maker returns home from Iraq Iranian film-maker Farshid Faraji, who has been recently released from US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, arrived in Tehran Tuesday night. - 7/13/05 Quake hits Minoudasht, northern Iran A mild earthquake measuring 3.6 on the open-ended Richter scale hit outskirts of Minoudasht in Golestan province, northern Iran, in the wee hours of Wednesday. - 7/13/05 Tehran's Election Time Art Report (II) Another place I visited recently was Elahe Gallery here a new group called Halgheh meaning Ring or Circle was exhibiting their paintings. The group is made of four young lady artists: Sanaz Alavi, Azadeh Sherkat, Leila Sanaie-Pour and Elahm Bayati. -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 7/13/05 Iran: Action against freedom of press is against social progress, Khatami The outgoing president said in his address to journalists of Iran Cultural and Press Institute (ICPI) affiliated to IRNA that unfortunately, many cases of irrational and unjustified attitude against freedom of the press have been observed in the past eight years. - 7/12/05 Concern Grows Over Fate Of Jailed Iranian Journalist Akbar Ganji Despite his poor health, Iran's top journalist Akbar Ganji is determined to continue his hunger strike until his unconditional freedom. - 7/12/05 "Digitized Silk Road": National fiber optic network launched in Iran President Mohammad Khatami said in Tehran on Saturday that the national fiber optic network is the pivotal point of a "digitized silk Road." - 7/12/05 20 Billion Dollars Invested In Iran's Assalouyeh Since 1997 The hydrocarbon-rich southern area of Assalouyeh has absorbed some 20 billion dollars in foreign investments since 1997, when President Mohammad Khatami took office, the English-language paper `Iran Daily' wrote Tuesday. - 7/12/05 US Congress to be urged to support Indo-Iran pipeline project A resolution would soon be introduced in the US Congress seeking Washington's support for the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project. -Asia Pulse - 7/12/05 Oops, He Did It Again! Thomas Friedman's Muslim Problem In his op ed, "If It's a Muslim Problem, It Needs a Muslim Solution", in the July 8 edition of the New York Times, Tom Friedman called on Muslims around the world to condemn the violence committed under their name by al Qaeda jihadists. -Behrooz Ghamari, Counterpunch - 7/12/05 Bush Presses Iraq, Afghanistan As Fronts In Terror War U.S. President George W. Bush today updated the American people on the progress of the "war on terror" and thanked the country's armed forces for their efforts in the conflict. - 7/12/05 Iraqi Official Says Iran Will Not Train Troops Iraq's defense minister said Monday that a military agreement reached with Iran last week does not include any provision for the Iranian armed forces to help train Iraqi troops, contradicting reported assertions by his Iranian counterpart. -Washington Post - 7/12/05 Quake hits southern Iran A mild earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale hit Bandar Abbas and its vicinity in the southern province of Hormuzgan Tuesday. - 7/12/05 Quake shakes Khoy in northwestern Iran An earthquake measuring 3.8 on the open-ended Richter scale hit the city of Khoy in the northwestern province of West Azarbaijan in the wee hours of Tuesday. - 7/12/05 Ukraine Wants Iran to Ship Gas to Europe Ukraine wants Iran to ship its natural gas to Europe via Ukrainian pipelines, a top Ukrainian official said Tuesday. -AP - 7/12/05 Iran says new president won't change nuclear policy Iran said on Tuesday its nuclear policy would not change when hardline President-Elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes office next month. -Reuters - 7/12/05 Iran to resume sensitive nuclear work very soon: negotiators Iran will soon resume uranium enrichment and will reject any proposal from the European Union that does not recognise the Islamic republic's right to carry out this ultra-sensitive nuclear activity, top negotiators warned. -AFP - 7/12/05 NIAC Members to meet with Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) NIAC has secured a meeting with Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) on Tuesday August 16, 2005 for NIAC members in Georgia's District 6, in the Atlanta metropolitan area! - 7/12/05 Iran modernizes Afghanistan's 'Bamian' airport Head of Afghanistan Province airport said in Kabul on Monday that Iran has provided the central Afghan city of 'Bamian' with weather-related instruments. - 7/12/05 Signposts for Iran With less than a month to go before Mohammad Khatami officially leaves the presidency for newly-elected Mahmud Ahmadinejad, it is time review the eight years of Khatami's two terms and evaluate the record of a man often blamed in the West as being "powerless" or even "meaningless". -Kaveh Afrasiabi, Asia Times - 7/12/05 Condi Kills an EU-Iranian Agreement Even after years of go-anywhere, see-anything inspections, Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, continues to report to the IAEA Board of Governors that he can find no indication that Iran now has, ever had, or intends to have a nuclear weapons program. -Antiwar.com - 7/11/05 Iran's gasoline import to hit 4 billion dollars The government is expected to import four billion dollars worth of gasoline by March 2006, said a senior official at the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company. - 7/11/05 Iran's election may provide an Islamic role model Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent landslide election victory as president of Iran was a welcome development in a Middle East region profoundly disturbed by unresolved conflicts, corrupt elites and violent foreign intervention. When he is sworn in on August 4, his performance and style of government will be closely watched to see how he intends honoring his ambitious pledge to make Iran a role model of a modern, advanced and powerful Islamic society. -Daily Star - 7/11/05 Iran Election: No Surprise That Everybody was "Surprised"…! Why we are behind in assessing Iran? Thousands of articles and analysis have been published about Iran's election and the potential winner. After victory of Ahmadinezhad all sources admitted "The Surprise"! -Siamak Ahi - 7/11/05 U.S. Military Releases American Filmmaker The U.S. military released an Iranian-born American citizen on Sunday after nearly two months' detention in Iraq, according to his lawyer and military spokesmen. -Washington Post - 7/11/05 Ready, Willing and Evil? Great news from Iraq last week. Iran appears to have agreed to become the first member of the Axis of Evil to join the ever-dwindling Coalition of the Willing. -Washington Post - 7/11/05 Secret Plan To Quit Iraq Britain And America are secretly preparing to withdraw most of their troops from Iraq - despite warnings of the grave consequences for the region, The Mail on Sunday has learned. -Sunday Mail/UK - 7/11/05 Anti-Shiite Fervor Stuns Iraqi Community Salwa Jabr Saihoud wanted to grant her father's dying wish that she accompany his body on its journey to burial in Najaf. It mattered little to her that the road to the Shiite holy city is one of the most dangerous in Iraq. -AFP - 7/11/05 Quakes shake Qom, Tabas in Iran Two separate earthquakes measuring 3.6 and 3.9 respectively on the open-ended Richter scale hit the cities of Qom and Tabas, southwest and southeast Tehran, during the past 24 hours, it was reported here Monday. - 7/11/05 Released Iranian film-maker to arrive home soon Iranian Film-maker Farshid Faraji, who has recently been released from US prison in Iraq, is expected to arrive in Iran within the next 48 hours, his mother said here Monday. - 7/11/05 Iran: Karroubi urges Khatami to publish report on election violation Former Majlis speaker and a 9th presidential elections candidate Mehdi Karroubi urged President Mohammad Khatami to publish the report on the violations that had taken place during the recent presidential elections. - 7/11/05 'They Put Us in a Cell and Forgot Us'