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CBS News: Iran, Iraq directing, financing attacks against Israel
CBS News, in a special broadcast, has presented evidence said to show a direct link between Palestinian terror and Iran and Iraq. -Ha'aretz - 9/30/02
Iraq woos Iran in anti-US drive
The BBC's David Chazan says that while Iran may have little affection for its old enemy, the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein might give Tehran less cause to celebrate if carried out by the Americans. -BBC - 9/30/02
Freedom, Acceptance of Fatality?
It is said that caged-birds cannot survive outside the cage. If freed, they are hunted either by another predator or a human bird-hunter. But the English say, ‘there is an exception even in the exception.’ -Roya Monajem, Tehran - 9/30/02
Egyptian Foreign Minister says Cairo to hold talks with Iran
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher says Cairo is to hold talks with Iran, aimed at normalizing diplomatic relations broken off after the 1979 Islamic revolution there, Israel Radio reported. -Jerusalem Post - 9/30/02
Girl abducted to Iran amid breakup
Police want to know how a Scarborough man abducted his daughter and managed to board a plane to take her out of Canada to Iran without written approval from his wife. -The Star - 9/30/02
Iran warning in response to Iraq peace offer
Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, yesterday offered a final peace deal to Iran - but his envoy to Tehran was told Iraq would have to co-operate fully with United Nations weapons inspectors to avert war. -Financial Times - 9/30/02
Short Story: Poems of Soumanaat (by Aboutorab Khosravi)
In the biography of Persian poets of India, Shafigh Lahouri writes, the reason that Poems of Soumanaat were never written down was not because the poet did not have the chance to finish the collection, or that he chanted his last elegy loudly before the state guards of Fars, but because it was not possible to convey the poems in words. - 9/30/02
President Khatami: Iran opposed to external interference in Caspian Sea
He said in his address to thousands of people in the northern provincial capital city that the Caspian Sea should be fairly and logically used by all the littoral states. - 9/30/02
Iraq plea for support falls on deaf ears in Iran
"The message to the world is that Iran and Iraq are alike, which in reality it is not true," said reformist deputy Noureddin Pirmoazen. "The world knows that Saddam's regime's time is over. If there is a discussion, it is about how it should be toppled." -Reuters - 9/30/02
Iran starts to see benefit of deal with the devil
IN PUBLIC, the Islamic Republic of Iran has scowled at the United States’ apparent plans to overthrow the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein. However, a delegation of Iraqi Kurds who travelled to Iran over the past couple of weeks found that even Iran’s most traditionally anti-US institutions have accepted and acceded to the possibility of a regime change in Baghdad. -Scotsman - 9/30/02
Iran hangs rapists in public
The five had been convicted of vicious attacks on women across Tehran. A sixth man was given a 20-year prison sentence. -BBC - 9/30/02
Iran's caged songbird Wildly popular singer suppressed for 21 years
It was going to be another chance for fans to see the legendary Iranian singer named Googoosh, but the U.S.-led war on terrorism has had unintended consequences on Tehran's most popular artists, who are finding it almost impossible to practice their craft in the United States. -San Francisco Chronicle - 9/30/02
Three Iranians to Be Lashed for Filming Women
An Iranian court has sentenced three Iranian men resident in Germany to 64 lashes each for filming and harassing women in the streets, the official Iran newspaper said Thursday. -Reuters - 9/30/02
Specter of War Stirs Campus Dissent
Opposition to U.S. Action in Iraq Quietly Grows as Many College Students Question Administration's Motives -Common Dreams - 9/29/02
Minorities finding political voice
“In reality, most of us really don’t bother to go and vote,” said Jalal Farzaneh. “Our kids were born here, are going to be living here for many years and our grandchildren will live here longer. We want them to have a good land.” -Norman Transcript, Oklahoma - 9/29/02
Iran Nationwide Internet Programming Contest
This contest is held for the first time in Iran with the goal of encouraging programming and problem solving in Iran and also help Iranian universities select their best teams to attend the ACM/ICPC Tehran site contest. -Sharif University - 9/29/02
Official warns of human crisis in Sistan-Baluchestan
Anti-Desertification Organization Chief Mohammad Jarian said that rolling dunes and moving sandstorms in the province have already inflicted heavy damage to residents from the economic, ecological, social and sanitary points of view. - 9/29/02
CBS to broadcast proof of Iraq-Iran ties to Palestinian terror
Palestinian ties to Iraq and Iran are a focus of a Minutes" report to be broadcast on CBS Television on Sunday. CBS said in a statement that its report will present what Israel says is proof of these ties, including documents confiscated by Israeli troops during a takeover of Arafat's office earlier this year. -AP - 9/29/02
Palestinians are dying for relative calm
The baby died, naked, on a wooden table. Her only exposure to the idyllic language of her ancestors arose from memories of prenatal calm. In life, she lived and died hearing only the peculiar vocabulary of her mother's unacknowledged screams. -Yellow Times - 9/29/02
Orwell's memory hole
"One has no way of verifying the facts, one is not even fully certain that they have happened, and one is always presented with totally different interpretations from different sources." George Orwell -The Star - 9/29/02
Kabul's Invisible Women
A popular Afghan proverb warns against asking Afghan men about "zan, zar and zamin" -- women, gold and land -- because they are symbols of honor and pride that must be protected. -Farnaz Fassihi, Star-Ledger - 9/29/02
'This War is Wrong and We Won't Stand For It'
Eye witness: Up to 350,000 people marched in London yesterday against military action in Iraq. And they were not the 'usual suspects' -Independent - 9/29/02
US quietly turns up the heat on Iran
Recently, however, many have argued that in Iran's case that policy has been counterproductive to American interests. It all seems promising, but evidence is emerging that the pro-Israeli neo-conservatives in the Bush administration aren't interested in engagement with Iran. -Guardian - 9/29/02
Two political leaders sentenced to 6 and 30 months jail, flogs
A court in this western city has sentenced two political leaders to jail--one to 30 months and the other to six months--and 74 lashes each on charges of insults and instigating public opinion by heaping scorn on judicial officials. - 9/29/02
ashcroft's support of iraqi terrorist group
One of those supporters, the documents show, is a top commander in President Bush’s war on terrorism: Attorney General John Ashcroft, who became involved with the MKO (Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization) while a Republican senator from Missouri. -Disinformation Company - 9/28/02
Moroccans to elect 30 female MPs
After years of exclusion, candidates looked forward yesterday to shaking up this North African country - and perhaps others in the Muslim world - by bringing fresh faces, ideas and pent-up feminine zeal to a male-only world. -Scotsman - 9/28/02
Official Says Iran Planning Israel Missile Strike
An Israeli official said Lebanese guerrillas are planning a missile attack on Israel designed to disrupt a possible U.S. strike on Iraq. -AP - 9/28/02
Blue Planet: The end is near
About half of the known and expected reserves are in five countries in the Middle East -- Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Much of the rest is within the territory of the former Soviet Union. -UPI - 9/28/02
Kurds say Iran is rooting for Saddam ouster
Iran would never say publicly that it is rooting for the United States to topple the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, even though the two nations share a status as part of President Bush's "axis of evil." -Washington Times - 9/28/02
Expert sees Iran as ally against Saddam
"The United States and Iran now have a real opportunity to work to destroy Saddam Hussein," Dr. Amirahmadi, a professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University, said. -Pricneton Packet - 9/28/02
President Khatami critical of those making hue and cry over bill
Speaking in a meeting with Majlis Presiding Board members, President Khatami said some individuals or camps have contributed to the hue and cry over a bill set forth in the parliament to increase the presidential powers. - 9/28/02
Asian Games: North Korea start on winning note, Afghans routed
Afghanistan mounted little resistance against defending champions Iran as they were hammered 10-0 on their first appearance at the Asian Games since Hiroshima in 1994. -Reuters - 9/28/02
Students ask President to quit politics if reforms fail
A group of Iranian students in an open letter urged President Mohammad Khatami to be sincere in his reforms promises and platform or else quit politics. - 9/28/02
Iran's leading filmmaker denied U.S. visa
Director Abbas Kiarostami, one of international cinema's biggest names, is blocked from attending the New York Film Festival and speaking at Harvard. -Salon.com - 9/28/02
Ashcroft’s Baghdad Connection
Why the attorney general and others in Washington have backed a terror group (Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization) with ties to Iraq -MSNBC - 9/28/02
Women's divorce right is rejected by Iran's Guardians Council
The bill which, besides full divorce rights, would have given divorced women the right for financial claims and inheritance, was ratified by the majority of votes at Majlis open session of August 25, 2002. - 9/28/02
Afghan women banned from parks in city of Herat
Religious authorities in the western Afghan city of Herat have banned women from visiting parks at night and from wearing colourful clothing in public, local television announced. -Reuters - 9/27/02
Militants Are Said to Amass Missiles in South Lebanon
Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon have amassed thousands of surface-to-surface rockets, including missiles with the range to strike cities in northern Israel, according to senior Israeli and Western officials. -Financial Times - 9/27/02
Sculptor pays tribute to Trudeau
When Esphandiar Bakhshi fled revolution-torn Iran in 1981, it was the humanitarian image of Pierre Elliott Trudeau that led him and his family to seek refuge in Canada. -The Gazette - 9/27/02
From the mouths of babes
I've written before that much of American foreign policy is determined by domestic attitudes and politics, in a society driven by the fantasies of adults who never want to grow up, rather than by the complex realities of the world. -Yellow Times - 9/27/02
Persian Gulf women spend a fortune for beauty
Most Gulf women may be covered from head to toe, but behind the veil, they are spending a staggering $1.7 billion each year on beauty products. -AFP - 9/27/02
World Bank head:Higher oil price impact "significant"
The impact of higher oil prices on the world economy could be "quite significant," World Bank President James Wolfensohn said on Thursday. -Forbes - 9/27/02
Follow the leader
There is controversy over whether (during Iran-Iraq war) the United States actually supplied ingredients for the gas (to Iraq), or merely supplied helicopters and other useful equipment, or did nothing more than smother the odd unfriendly U.N. resolution. But there is no question that we knew all about it and looked the other way. -MSNBC - 9/27/02
A war for oil
Khodorkovsky, is the chairman and CEO of Yukos Oil, Russia’s second-largest oil company. He is convinced that the medium-term effect of a new Gulf war will be to drive the oil price down to levels which will radically rewrite the map of world oil production, and give the USA total control of supplies. -UK's Spectator - 9/27/02
Iran to talk to Iraq, UK in hope of averting war
Iran, keen to avert war in neighbouring Iraq, said on Thursday it was to hold talks with foreign ministers from both its old enemy Baghdad and Washington's closest ally Britain. -Reuters - 9/27/02
Students get enriched education
On a recent Sunday morning, a group of Iranian girls between 4 and 6 years old busily shook their hips and moved their arms in a classroom at De Anza College for a Persian dance they will present at the sixth annual Iranian Arts and Cultural Events. -Cupertino Courier - 9/27/02
Guzzling the Caspian
With little fanfare in the midst of so much attention on Iraq, construction started last week on a $3 billion pipeline that marks a US victory in the geopolitical jockeying over world oil supplies. -Christian Science Monitor - 9/27/02
Modernism Gets a Revolutionary Makeover in Iran
Until just a few years ago, "modern art" and "contemporary art" meant "Western art," at least in this part of the world. Then came multiculturalism, globe-trotting biennials, the Internet and other such mind-dilating phenomena, and the perspective changed. -New York Times - 9/27/02
Missing Out on an Opportunity
Lack of a U.S. relationship with Iran is hurting American efforts to replace Hussein -Newsday - 9/27/02
Weapons of mass hypocrisy
Ross Clark on Israeli nukes and US research into biological warfare -UK's Spectator - 9/27/02
Official lashes out at Khatami's bill as 'unconstitutional'
Head of GC Research Center Gholam-Hussein Elham said the bill was an updated version of a previously rejected move with new guarantees that the president's warnings on violations of the Constitution are heeded and taken into effect. - 9/27/02
Film: Ten
Emboldened, I suggested he throw his corporate muscle behind Abbas Kiarostami's brilliant, radically minimal new film Ten. At this thought, sadly, the executive (in the British film world) flinched as if someone had presented him a large tax bill while simultaneously hitting him over the head with a frying pan. -Guardian - 9/27/02
Iran's economy healthy but fiscal changes needed-IMF
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said Iran's economy performed well this year, but that the country's expansionary fiscal policy could worsen inflationary pressure and lead to more appreciation of its currency. -Forbes - 9/27/02
ANALYSIS-Mideast wary of new U.S. drive to export democracy
President George W. Bush has vowed to spread freedom, democracy and free enterprise across the globe, especially the Muslim world, and strike pre-emptively at the perceived enemies of the United States. -Reuters - 9/26/02
Iran’s hopes of defending soccer title suffer setback
Iran’s hopes of successfully defending their Asian Games football title have suffered a setback as infighting within the squad threatens to destabilise their gold medal dreams. -AFP - 9/26/02
Arabs view US: Clumsy hegemon? Noble cop?
As Bush continues urging a preemptive strike against Iraq, Arabs question broader US goals in the region. -Christian Science Monitor - 9/26/02
Testimony sends Qwest president into spotlight
Qwest President Afshin Mohebbi, despite twice testifying before Congress, had not been seen as a key player in the company's financial shenanigans. -Rocky Mountain News - 9/26/02
Commentary: World War IV
The first major engagement waged against the United States in World War IV was in Iran in 1978-79 when the Shia clergy seized power and executed more people in three months than the deposed shah had done in 30 years. -UPI - 9/26/02
Muslim attack on Jews after party shocks Los Angeles’s Iranian communities
After a recent evening at a “Persian Night” in a Los Angeles club, some 20 young Iranian Muslims followed two young Iranian Jews into the street and, hurling threatening epithets, allegedly attacked the two. -JTA - 9/26/02
Russo-Azerbaijani Deal on Caspian Encourages Putin’s Ambitions
The deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliyev gave Russia momentum as it seeks to persuade all five Caspian nations to adopt its approach to the sea. -Eurasianet - 9/26/02
The Portrait of Uncle Sam
Like the painting of Dorian Grey, which portrayed eternal youth and goodness before it began to reflect the contents of Dorian's soul, the face of the once-kindly Uncle Sam is today exposed for all to see. -CounterPunch - 9/26/02
Cinema: 'Ten' smashes the Ya-Ya girls
The title is mischievous. Many people in future decades will rent this film from Blockbusters thinking it features Dudley Moore pigeon-toeing over hot sand towards Bo Derek. Then they'll find this Ten is a metaphysical Persian film trapping them with permutating motormouths in a Tehran gas-guzzler for 90 minutes, divided into 10 chapters. -Financial Times - 9/26/02
Britain moves to remedy mistakes, seeks better ties with Iran, daily says
"In order for the two nations to establish a stable and mutually beneficial relationship, continual high-level exchanges of diplomats and businessmen seem essential," said the daily `Tehran Times' under its Editorial column. - 9/26/02
Britain's Straw to press anti-Saddam case in Iran
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will visit Iran next month as part of a Gulf tour to drive home London's warning that Saddam Hussein poses a serious threat to the region, a British official said on Wednesday -Reuters - 9/26/02
IRAN: Special report on the Hamun lake crisis
Largely unknown by the international community, this man made disaster with acute political and social implications, has now hit crisis level, impacting on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Iran and Afghanistan. -United Nations - 9/26/02
Strong quake jolts Iran's western Masjed-Soleyman township
An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the open-ended Richter scale shook Masjed-Sleyman township in west side of Iran, near the country's border with Iraq, on early hours of Thursday morning. - 9/26/02
Secretary-general of Association of Women Journalists named
Majlis Deputy Jamileh Kadivar was appointed as secretary-general of Iran's Association of Women Journalists - 9/25/02
Fatwa Reportedly Issued in Iraq
In the edict, or fatwa, (Shiite Muslim leader) cleric Sayyid Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani is quoted as saying ``it is the Muslims' duty, under this critical situation, to be united and do their best to defend Iraq and protect it from the plots of the aggressors.'' -Guardian - 9/25/02
Parisa in Concert: Masters of Persian Traditional Music
September 27 in Berkeley, California. Parisa, Iran's foremost female vocalists, is a master of the radif or classical Persian repertoire. This traditional musical style is based on improvisation within a modal structure known as dastgah. - 9/25/02
4.5 million elderly people in Iran
There are 4.5 million elderly people out of a population of 66 million in the Islamic Republic of Iran, said an Iranian expert. Of this number of elederly, 46 percent are women. - 9/25/02
Portland’s Muslims feel all eyes on them — then and now
The Portland intelligence files, which document local surveillance from the mid-1960s to the mid-’80s, show that local police long have targeted Oregon’s Arabs and Muslims, building more than 20 dossiers on groups such as the Foundation for Middle East Peace, the Organization of Arab Students and the Committee for Artistic and Intellectual Freedom in Iran. -Portland Tribune - 9/25/02
Afghan Diplomats Press for Broader American Security Commitment
The United States and Afghanistan have not resolved the question of how to patrol Afghanistan’s provinces, nearly ten months after an American-led campaign ousted the Taliban militia from power. -Camelia Entekhabi-Fard, Eurasianet - 9/25/02
Iran’s President Khatami Fights Right Wing with New Laws
In a dramatic move drawing attention throughout Central Asia, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami submitted two bills to Parliament on September 24 that could curb the political power of Iran’s clerics. -Eurasianet - 9/25/02
Iraq Kurds say Qaeda-linked group near collapse
A militant Islamist group in Kurdish-held northern Iraq accused of having links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group is near collapse after the recent arrest of its leader, an Iraqi Kurdish faction said on Wednesday. -Reuters - 9/25/02
U.S. Intensifying Efforts in Central Asia
The United States is "rethinking and intensifying" efforts to help the countries of Central Asia become "stable, prosperous, and fully integrated members of the world community and the global economy," the State Department's B. Lynn Pascoe told a conference at Yale University September 20. - 9/25/02
India, Iran relations growing in economic areas: Iranian expert
Relations between India and Iran are growing especially in the economic areas and the expansion of these relations are in the interest of both countries, said an Iranian expert Wednesday. - 9/25/02
U.S. represents threat to world peace
Mandela was not alone. “More than half the people in (the United Kingdom) believe President George W. Bush to be the third biggest threat to world peace after Osama bin Laden and Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein,” the Mirror of London found in a recent poll. -Minnesota Daily - 9/25/02
MP urges collective measures by Caspian states to save the sea
Majlis deputy and an observer in Caspian Sea negotiations, Elaheh Koulaei, here Wednesday criticized moves by certain littoral states creating a condition of military rivalry among these states with respect to the exploitation of the sea, and warned against such "unwise moves." - 9/25/02
ECONOMY: Japan conditions disbursement of US$ 1 billion
Japan announced conditions for payment of its last $1 billion installment under a $3 billion loan to Iran. Japan has conditioned the payment to be used for the purchase of goods and services from the Japanese market. -IFT - 9/25/02
INTERVIEW-West should have dealt with Saddam years ago-Iran
But Vice-President Mohammad Ali Abtahi said Iran opposes any U.S. strike on its former foe, saying a war in the region would inflict great suffering on the Iraqi people. -Reuters - 9/25/02
Bush team wants world focus on Iraq, not Israel
UN Security Council Resolution blames Israel for recent violence, with US – in awkward bind – abstaining. -Christian Science Monitor - 9/25/02
Turkmenistan: Russia May Come To Terms On Gas Deal
Russia has announced new plans for a long-term gas deal with Turkmenistan, although previous agreements have stalled over Ashgabat's price demands. This time, larger forces may be in play as Ukraine holds talks with Russia to re-export Turkmen fuel to Europe and Moscow seeks a settlement on division of the Caspian Sea. -RFE - 9/25/02
Khatami faces clash over move to increase power
In a highly controversial bill presented to parliament, widely seen as the most significant legislation since he took office in 1997, the president is seeking to stop conservative clerics in the judiciary violating the constitution through politically motivated trials and closures of newspapers. -Financial Times - 9/25/02
Persian Experts: U.S. Dangerously Ignorant Of Invasion Consequences
Hundreds of specialists in Persian languages and societies from around the world gathered in the capital of Tajikistan last week to discuss topics ranging from Sufi mysticism to modern Iranian painting. The conference was rescheduled to Dushanbeh when the U.S. Treasury Department prevented American organizers from holding it in Iran, where U.S. visitors would have learned more about the current Iranian political and cultural situation. -PNS - 9/25/02
Iran's Khatami challenges hardliners with bill
Many ordinary Iranians, beset by dire economic woes, have grown impatient for change and are sceptical of the president's ability to deliver on his promises for reform. "The approval of the bill can secure the legitimacy of the system both inside the country and abroad," Abtahi said. -Reuters - 9/24/02
Brothers ready to take reins
Ghermezians' grandfather was a developer and rug merchant who immigrated from Iran and began what has become an empire with interests in real estate, technology and investment banking. -Edmonton Journal - 9/24/02
Experts say dossier strong but not conclusive
The keenly awaited British government document on the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was viewed by defence specialists as making a strong case about why the world should worry about Saddam Hussein. -Financial Times - 9/24/02
12 Iranian sportswomen to compete in Asian Games
The Iranian sportswomen are to compete in the boating, taekwondo, track-and-field, and shooting competitions of 2002 Asian Games. - 9/24/02
UK Ministers misled MPs over arms to India and Iran
The Government admitted misleading Parliament yesterday over approval for the export of weapons components to India and Iran. -Independent - 9/24/02
Saudis Are Among Those Added to INS List for Scrutiny
A program that requires registration of foreign visitors from some countries in the Middle East and North Africa is being expanded to include men from Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally but also the home country of 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers. -Washington Post - 9/24/02
Iranian film-maker awarded German prize for runaway girl documentary
Iranian film-maker Ziba Mir-Hosseini and her British co-director Kim Longinotto shared the "Film Prize for Children's Rights" at the Independent Film Festival of Osnabrueck for their documentary entitled 'Runaway' - 9/24/02
Flight student arrested, faces loss of credentials
A federal judge Monday ordered a flight-school student born in Iran to remain in jail until he surrenders his pilot's license and a medical certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration. -Orlando Sentinel - 9/24/02
Iran calls for consensus among Caspian Sea states
Iran calls for a condominium or common sovereignty on the sea and has made it known that it considers any unilateral deals for energy exploration in the Caspian Sea as null and void before the issue of legal regime of the Caspian is settled. - 9/24/02
Putin, Aliyev Sign Agreement That Divides Up Caspian Sea
President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliyev signed an agreement Monday delineating the boundary between their countries' sections of the oil-rich Caspian Sea. -AP - 9/24/02
UK appeases Iran with new envoy
On the day that Tony Blair spells out the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, the Foreign Office will hail the appointment of the fluent Farsi speaker as a sign of improving relations with Iraq's historic enemy. -Guardian - 9/24/02
Iran's Khatami wants more powers
Iran's frustrated reformist President Mohammed Khatami has presented a new bill to parliament aimed at enhancing his powers. -BBC - 9/24/02
A journey to understanding Iran
Iran, a country known for its dynamic past, amazes tourists and visitors alike with its present. It is a nation highly misunderstood, a nation to which one must travel to realize its beauty, importance, and amazing history. -Reza Kazempour, La Voz Online - 9/24/02
Iran bans frog hunt
Turkish dealers paid up to 7,000 rials ($0.88) per kg for the frogs, froze them and then shipped them to Europe where in France their legs are a traditional delicacy. Abrar said officials had banned the hunt to stop the Turkish dealers from profiteering. -Reuters - 9/23/02
Turkey's 'men-only' politics angers women
There are 550 seats in the Turkish Parliament, but on the basis of the candidate lists published by the political parties this week, women are unlikely to win more than 21 of them. -BBC - 9/23/02
Israel presses on with Arafat siege
Israeli troops are pressing on with their siege of Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters after halting demolition of his presidential complex following U.S. criticism. -Financial Times - 9/23/02
Military needs: quick forces, broad reach
As US forces prepare for a possible war to unseat Saddam Hussein, the Bush administration has formally put the world on notice that its approach to Iraq is not the exception – but rather the rule – of a new US national security doctrine. -Christian Science Monitor - 9/23/02
Defending ourselves
Only a united Europe can counterbalance an increasingly paranoid and hawkish America -Guardian - 9/23/02
Pyeongyang on U.S. 'rogue' list; Iran off
North Korea remains a "rogue state" along with Iraq in the U.S. administration's book. But Iran, the third constituent of U.S. President George W. Bush's "axis of evil," has been dropped from the annual White House report on national security strategy. -JoongAng Ilbo - 9/23/02
Islamist Kurds upset by Iranian switch
A revolutionary Islamist force in Iraqi Kurdistan has been thrown into consternation by a switch in Iranian policy that resulted in the arrest in the Netherlands of its military leader, Kurdish sources said Sunday. -Washington Times - 9/23/02
Are sanctions on Syria a way to get at Iran?
US Congress is considering imposing sanctions on Syria, which some analysts fear can indicate a return to the “sanctions frenzy” of the mid 1990’s when sanctions were imposed on Iran. -NIAC - 9/23/02
A way of life, growing opium, continues to tempt the poor in Afghanistan
October is the traditional time to plant poppies. "The opium seed is as ancient as this land," Gul Mohammad said. "Every Afghan has a stash hidden somewhere. -Farnaz Fassihi, Star-Ledger - 9/23/02
Quakes jolt central Iran
A moderately strong earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.7 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale, shook the central Iranian city of Yazd Monday. - 9/23/02
Iran Accepts New British Ambassador, Ending Rift
Iran said on Monday it had accepted London's nomination of a new British ambassador, ending a seven-month diplomatic dispute following Tehran's rejection of Britain's former candidate for the job earlier this year. -Reuters - 9/23/02
Majlis to receive bill seeking authority for president
Vice-President for Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Mohammad Ali Abtahi will deliver a bill to Majlis on Tuesday on giving more authority to the president in line with the Constitutional provisions. - 9/23/02
IMF reports on Iran
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a report on Iran’s economic performance in 1380 (ended 20 March 2002) and the first four months of 1381 (started 21 March 2002). -IFT - 9/23/02
UK 'sells' bomb material to Iran
British officials have approved the export of key components needed to make nuclear weapons to Iran and other countries known to be developing such weapons. -BBC - 9/23/02
Japan lessens oil dependence with gas deal
The Y500bn (£2.6bn) deal with Iran and Qatar reflects Tokyo's strategy of diversifying from oil, which meets about half its energy needs. It also reflects Japan's search for more environmentally friendly sources of energy to meet Kyoto Protocol targets. -Financial Times - 9/23/02
Status of Orumiyeh lake cause for concern
The drastic drop in rainfall and control of rivers flow have provided enough cause for concern over Orumiyeh Lake, as one of the largest water expanses in the country, subjecting it to high crisis. - 9/23/02
Toyota unit to join Iran fuel project - paper
A unit of Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> plans to join a $1.5-$2.0 billion international project producing clean fuel from natural gas in Iran, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said on Monday. -Reuters - 9/23/02
President Khatami rings in new academic year
Some 18 million students are enrolled in schools all over the country in the current academic year. - 9/23/02
Opinion poll: Most Tehranis favor Iran-US negotiations
Based on an opinion poll conducted here recently on relations between Tehran, the European Union (EU) and the United States, 74.7 percent of the citizens favored negotiations with the US while 17.5 percent were opposed to it. - 9/23/02
U.S. tightens up visa procedures for Israelis
The tightening of procedures for the entry of foreigners into the United States has affected many Israelis in recent months, particularly those born in Arab countries and in Iran. -Ha'aretz - 9/22/02
EVENT: Axiom of Choice concert at Stanford University, California
Friday, October 11; Presented by the Persian Student Association at Stanford University. - 9/22/02
Revealed: Iraq's quest to build nuclear bomb
New evidence proves that Saddam Hussein has continued his efforts to assemble an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. -Guardian - 9/22/02
Russia Admits Problems With Iran Deal
Russia has admitted for the first time that Iran has stalled the return of nuclear waste for Russian processing -- after Moscow informed the United States that all was in order. -UPI - 9/22/02
Caspian: Setbacks In Gas Exports Could Affect Oil Pipeline
Setbacks over gas sales and development in the Caspian Sea region could lessen some of the promised benefits from this week’s dedication of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. -Eurasianet - 9/22/02
Press jury finds editor of daily Hambastegi guilty
Salami, who is also a Majlis representative from the northeastern constituency of Khaf and Roshtkhar in Khorassan province, is now awaiting sentence. - 9/22/02
Iran should welcome unconditional talks with US: former envoy to UN
"If Americans seek unconditional talks with us, we should welcome it," Iran's former ambassador to the United Nations Saeed Rajaee Khorassani told IRNA here Sunday. - 9/22/02
Iran's women fans await stadium access
For 23 years, supporting their favourite football team from the terraces has not been an option for women in Iran. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, women have been banned from attending men's sporting events. -BBC - 9/22/02
The War And Iran
Kamal Kharrazi, the foreign minister of Iran, was interviewed by Washington Post columnist Lally Weymouth this week while he was in the United States for an international conference. - 9/22/02
Singing those red pistachio blues
U.S. producers had been growing pistachios for years, but the industry really took off in the mid-1970s in California, freeing us from dependence on foreign pistachio cartels. -Arizona Republic - 9/21/02
Empire: Military Supremacy at Heart of Bush Strategy
NO state will be allowed to challenge the military supremacy of the United States under a national security strategy for the 21st century revealed by President Bush yesterday. -UK's Times - 9/21/02
Christians, Muslims Must Understand Each Other, Professor Says
It was during this stint as a Baptist missionary in Iran that Braswell says he “began to cut his teeth on the Muslim religion.” But according to his colleagues, Braswell did far more than that. -The Pilot - 9/21/02
Apopka businessman is guilty in road-rage incident in Lake
An Apopka man (Mohammad Golchini, 49, a native of Iran) charged with three felonies in a Sorrento road-rage incident last year was found guilty Wednesday morning of two lesser charges. -Florida's Sentinel - 9/21/02
‘War Is the Worst Choice’
An Iraqi diplomat discusses Saddam Hussein, George W. Bush and his country’s relations with Iran -Maziar Bahari, Newsweek - 9/21/02
Grandson of Hassan al-Banna praises reformist movement in Iran
One of Europe's leading Islamic thinkers has expressed support for the reformist movement in Iran, saying it is having a good impact on the society in general. - 9/21/02
FILA president urges US to stop fingerprinting guest wrestlers
Martinetti, in response to a request by the Head of Iran's Wrestling Federation Amir-Reza Khadem to the effect, said FILA has discussed the issue of fingerprinting wrestlers with authorities of US sports authorities. - 9/21/02
Gone to seeds
It's the latest beauty wonder ingredient, but can pomegranate really make you look and feel great? -Guardian - 9/21/02
Hedye Tehrani wins award for best actress at Pyongyang film festival
Iranian actress Hedye Tehrani won the Best Actress prize of Pyongyang International Film Festival of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) states. - 9/21/02
Before he was famous
Abbas Kiarostami is acclaimed as one of cinema's most intriguing contemporary directors. But he learned his craft making films about oral hygiene and school discipline -Guardian - 9/21/02
Iran's junkies consume four tons of drugs daily: official
Three percent of of Iran's near 70 million people are drug addicts who consume four tons of narcotics each day, head of the State Welfare Organization, Mohammad Reza Rahchamani, said in this northern city on Thursday. - 9/20/02
U.S. Hypocritical on Human-Rights Abuses
"Tens of thousands of political opponents and ordinary citizens have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, summary execution, and torture by beating and burning, electric shock, starvation, mutilition and rape," President George W. Bush told the United Nations in seeking to push Saddam Hussein out of Iraq. -Common Dreams - 9/20/02
US unveils muscular new foreign policy
President George W. Bush on Friday set out a new military and foreign policy doctrine for the US as it faces the uncertainties of terrorist threats and rogue states. -Financial Times - 9/20/02
Short Story: The Man (by Mahmoud Dolataabadi)
Zolfaghar, his sister Mahroo and his smaller brother Jamal lived in the same inn, in one of the huts situated in a corner. Their father Cheraghali and their Mother Atash lived with them too, but what a presence they had! - 9/20/02
Iran's Khatami heads for showdown with hardliners
Iran's parliament is to reopen on Sunday with moderate President Mohammad Khatami planning to introduce two bills challenging the authority of his hardline rivals in a power struggle that could end in his resignation. -Reuters - 9/20/02
Bush Senior: Hating Saddam, Selling Him Weapons
According to Teicher (Former Reagan official and National Security Council staffer), he and Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Iraq to make sure the Iraqi dictator received what he needed in order to win the Iran-Iraq war--or if not win at least make sure there was a draw. -CounterPunch - 9/20/02
Brussels remains keen to build closer relations with Iran
The European Union's enthusiasm for developing closer ties with Tehran appears undampened, despite a high-ranking Iranian official last week rejecting EU demands that developing trade links be conditional on political reforms and the country's full cooperation in the fight against terrorism. -EU Business - 9/20/02
Struggle for future of US Iran policy heats up on Capitol Hill
While the nation is discussing how to deal with Iraq and Saddam Hussein, the debate on what to do with Iraq’s neighbor to the east – Iran - is heating up on Capitol Hill. While the hawks are preparing the ground for a regime change in Tehran, the doves are not willing to give up on the reformists just quite yet. -NIAC - 9/19/02
Iran wary of U.S. push to change Iraq regime
No country has suffered more at the hands of Saddam Hussein than Iran, which Iraq invaded in 1980, provoking a bloody war that killed or injured more than a half-million Iranians. But Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi says it is not up to "others from the outside" to change Iraq's regime. -USA Today - 9/19/02
Interview with leading female reformist MP, Fatemeh Rakei
One of the more pressing issues in Iran today is the rights of women. Iranian women still lack essential rights such as being unable to travel without a husband’s permission, and the fact that their testimony in court is only worth half of a man’s. -IRIN - 9/19/02
Interview with Dr. Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh about possible US attack on Iraq
Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh is professor of geopolitics at Tarbiat Modares (postgraduate) University of Tehran and is Chairman of Urosevic Research Foundation in London. - 9/18/02
Iran to build more nuke power plants-atomic chief
Iran intends to go ahead and build more nuclear power plants despite U.S. accusations the Islamic Republic is pursuing weapons of mass destruction, newspapers on Wednesday quoted its atomic energy chief as saying. -Reuters - 9/18/02
Iran's elected leaders are ready to listen
Iran is on the edge of imminent implosion. Poverty, unemployment, drug addiction and prostitution are widespread among the young. People under 34 constitute half of the country's population. Many of them voted for the reformist president, Mohammed Khatami. Now they are deeply disappointed. -Elahe Sharifpour-Hicks, IHT - 9/18/02
Caspian pipeline dream becomes reality
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline will start a few kilometres south of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and will run through the territory of neighbouring Georgia to the Turkish Mediterranean coast. -BBC - 9/18/02
Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline: The Biggest Development In the Caspian Sea Since the Collapse of USSR
This week a ceremony will be held in Azerbaijan to mark the actual construction phase of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The pipeline will be the main route for export of the Caspian Sea oil to world markets. The representatives of concerned countries will take part in this occasion. -Bahman Aghai Diba - 9/17/02
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