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Home News News Archive Sports News Interesting Sites Directory Persian Calendar Bookstore Archive	October 2002 Arab women lift the veil on business Over the past three years the Arab world has experienced a discreet but dramatic shift in attitudes toward women in work. -BBC - 10/31/02 Kazakhstan: Nazarbaev Courted By Rabbis To Spearhead Jewish-Islamic Dialogue Herb Keinon, the diplomatic correspondent for the "Jerusalem Post" who attended the rabbinical conference, told RFE/RL that Kazakhstan might also serve as an effective channel of communication between Israel and Iran, which is believed to have a 30,000-strong Jewish population. -RFE - 10/31/02 Iran, Azerbaijan ink agreement on economic cooperation Under the agreement which was inked by Iran's Minister of Cooperatives Ali Sufi and Azeri Minister of Development Farhad Aliyev, the two sides pledged to work together on the exploitation of the energy deposits, transportation, car manufacturing, electricity and road building. - 10/31/02 To Some, Real Threat Is U.S. Many members of the U.N. Security Council see American bullying, not Iraqi defiance, as the greater risk to geopolitical stability. -Los Angeles Times - 10/31/02 Meeting on Caspian status to be held in Baku The groups of experts of the five Caspian countries on the Caspian legal status will have a meeting on November 19-20 in Baku, Halaf Halafov, the Azeri deputy foreign minister told reporters. - 10/31/02 Canadians 'treated like criminals' at border Like common criminals, Ottawa residents Tahereh Shahparaki and her husband were made to pose for mug shots, have their fingerprints taken, and provide detailed personal information under interrogation by armed officers. Their crime, according to a new U.S. law? Being born in Iran. -Canada.com - 10/31/02 Canada advises citizens born in U.S.-targeted countries to reconsider travel to United States The Canadian government has issued a travel advisory with a twist: It suggests citizens born in Iraq, Syria and other countries targeted by U.S. anti-terrorism policies consider avoiding travel to the United States. -Newsday - 10/31/02 Albanian and Russian observers sent to monitor American elections The joke, during the endless presidential election recounts in Florida two years ago, was that Russia and Albania would send poll monitors to help the United States with its unexpected bump on the road to democracy. Now, the joke has become reality. -Independent - 10/31/02 Iran blames Iraq for border fires Iran has complained to Iraq about huge fires which are reported to be burning large areas of the former marshland on the border between the two countries. -BBC - 10/31/02 Five Iranian Jews remain jailed, contrary to reports of their release Three Iranian Jews imprisoned on charges of spying for Israel have been released, but the last five remain in jail, contrary to earlier reports. -JTA - 10/31/02 Endless suffering of chemical gas victims Tehran hospital bears witness to Iraqi tactics -Guardian - 10/31/02 The Underground Music Competition I already knew several underground bands in Tehran. They pursued their music with an all-consuming passion and the minimum of resources. Some didn’t even know anything beyond music. But their futures were unclear and unpromising. Their main problem was that they weren’t sure if they should persevere with music of the type they liked in Iran. -TehranAvenue - 10/31/02 Rumsfeld predicts early overthrow of Iranian govt US sees no need to resort to military action to topple Iranian regime as it expects it to tumble under own weight. -Middle East Online - 10/31/02 The exotic and the everyday Shirin Neshat's startling films take life in Iran and turn it into something poetic. -Guardian - 10/31/02 Details of the car crash claiming lives of two MPs The accident was caused by the carelessness of the driver who was overspeeding and lost control of the car at the dangerous curve. - 10/31/02 Theology and politics split Iran The omens are not good for Hashem Aghajari, an Iranian academic charged with insulting the Prophet Mohammad during a controversial trial that goes to the heart of the theological and political battle-lines splitting the Islamic republic. -Financial Times - 10/31/02 Iran's female students stretch lead over male Hardliners cry foul over dangerous imbalance as Iranian women in classroom widen academic superiority over male counterpart. After this year's university entrance exams, female students secured 122,000 out of 195,000 places - or 63 percent. -Middle East Online - 10/31/02 Remaining Iranian Jews released from jail on an indefinite furlough Iran has released the final five of 13 Iranian Jews arrested on charges of spying for Israel, but — unlike three other Jews set free last week — this quintet has not been pardoned, American advocates say. -JTA - 10/30/02 Morella and Van Hollen on Iranian-American Issues Morella is running for a ninth term. Democrat state Sen. Chris Van Hollen. NIAC asked both candidates’ offices and some answers on the following issues that are of particular concern to Iranian-Americans in Maryland. -NIAC - 10/30/02 Spokesman says parliamentary commission approved two landmark bill Government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said on Wednesday that the parliamentary commission has approved the bill on amendment to the election law and giving more authority for the president. - 10/30/02 Neohawks What we know about U.S. foreign policy is that it played a crucial part in the rise of Muslim militance. You don't have to condone the attacks of 9-11 to understand that suicide bombers are driven by a response to real conditions, and America had much to do with creating those conditions. -Village Voice - 10/30/02 Brazil's Lula: A Challenge to Washington? On Jan. 1, 2003, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva -- elected in a landslide victory with over 61 percent of the vote -- will become president of Latin America's largest country. Lula, as he is commonly known, received three million more votes for president than George W. Bush did in the United States in 2000. -AlterNet - 10/30/02 'Sex-troubled teens need to lust for God' A top Iranian cleric claims that 70 percent of problems encountered by the country's youth are caused by sexual matters and has urged young people to love God rather than drool over their classmates. -AFP - 10/30/02 Iran crushes Japan, snatches 4th Asian Futsal Championship Iran was able to crush Japan 6-0 in the final game in an over-powering performance. - 10/30/02 Opposition to Iraq resolution still firm On Tuesday, France and Russia, so far supported by China and most of the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, continued to oppose a US and UK sponsored draft resolution. -Financial Times - 10/30/02 In pictures: Iran and Iraq exchange war dead Iran and Iraq exchanged the remains of 150 soldiers killed in their bloody eight-year war in a ceremony at the border between the two countries. -BBC - 10/30/02 Historical city in the Medes era is unearthed in Savojbolagh The leader of an excavation team working on an ancient site in Ozbaki in Savojbolagh, Yousef Majidzadeh, said here on Wednesday that a historical city in the Medes era has recently been unearthed. - 10/30/02 Iran can be highly competitive in the world gas market According to an energy expert analyst (Julian Lee of the Center for Global Energy Studies in London), while Iran's gas is well placed geographically and has a highly potential competitive status in the gas market, the business is going to be increasingly competitive and restricted worldwide. - 10/30/02 EU-Iran trade talks postponed to December Talks due to start here Tuesday between the European Union and Iran on a trade agreement have been put back to December over EU demands for a political declaration, officials said. -AFP - 10/30/02 Iran ranks 23th in world economy and top 50 in e-commerce The disclosure was made in the country (Iran) progress report by Iran's Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (Iran Edifact) Committee to the 20th Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) Meeting in Kuala Lumpur which began on Monday. - 10/30/02 Pomegranates for One and All When asked about the Saveh, Iran's most celebrated variety, named for a city south of Tehran, Mr. Khodadad got a faraway look in his eyes, as if transported to a paradise with twinkling fountains and azure skies. "It's big as a baby's head, has shiny purple skin, and so sweet," he said -New York Times - 10/30/02 Allied flotilla, with Iran's aid, cuts flow of illegal Iraqi oil The United States and its allies, with quiet help from Iran, have all but shut off the flow of illegal Iraqi oil in the Gulf, playing a game of cat and mouse with small boats that had proved effective tools for smugglers and terrorists alike. -New York Times - 10/30/02 Iran: a mosque vs. state shift? Reformist President Khatami challenges the powerful clerics with bills in parliament. -Christian Science Monitor - 10/30/02 Khatami accuses US of hampering "every" Iranian goodwill gesture "Unfortunately in recent years, Iran's every goodwill step has been met with unhelpful response of the American side for a variety of reasons," he said during a joint news conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. - 10/30/02 Iran promotes foreign investment Minister of Finance and Economy: Grounds prepared for foreign investment in Iran; Khatami calls on Spanish companies to invest in Iran; Majlis Speaker: Iran, a safe haven for foreign investments. - 10/30/02 Azerbaijan: Villagers Find Fountain Of Youth In Their Own Backyard If you're searching for the secrets to a long life, you could do worse than visit the small town of Lerik in southern Azerbaijan. People here regularly live into their 80s and 90s, and local records claim the region has more centenarians than anywhere else in the world. -RFE - 10/29/02 Was Paul Wellstone Murdered? Paul Wellstone was the only progressive in the U.S. Senate. Mother Jones magazine once described him as, "The first 1960s radical elected to the U.S. senate." He was also the last. -AlterNet - 10/29/02 A Place of Tears On February 13, 1991, at 4:00 in the morning, during the height of the U.S. air war against Iraq, U.S. Stealth fighter-bombers dropped two laser-guided 2,000 pound bombs on a bomb shelter, killing hundreds of civilians and evoking world-wide outrage. The U.S. military claimed there was a military communications center under the shelter, but when a reporter asked to see the evidence, the military refused to provide it. -CounterPunch - 10/29/02 The Language of Signs old Iranian astrologers define 'free will' as 'discernment of the right timing.' In other words, according to this view, or my understanding of this view, we possess only this much of free will, 'to be able to discern the right timing,' otherwise we are just a doll in the hands of fate. I remember that when I first read this 'statement' I was going crazy. -Roya Monajem, Tehran - 10/29/02 BP pipe plan to pour oil on conflict Plans by the British oil company BP to construct a 1,100-mile pipeline from the Caspian sea to the Mediterranean will reignite regional conflicts and deliver few benefits to communities, a coalition of more than 60 environmental and human rights groups has warned. -Guardian - 10/29/02 Human rights take a backseat in the 'war on terrorism The Chechen conflict is essentially one of sovereignty and began long ago. The Chechen people, indigenous to the Northern Caucasus for millennia, have been actively engaged in bitter conflict with the various Russian regimes for centuries. -Yellow Times - 10/29/02 IRAN: Focus on repatriation of Afghan refugees To date, some 35,000 families like the Hoseynis have gone home from Iran since the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) joint voluntary repatriation programme was launched on 9 April. -United Nations - 10/29/02 Swiss forge closer ties with Iran The Swiss foreign minister, Joseph Deiss, say he has held frank and open discussions with Iran on human rights during a visit to Teheran. In an interview with swissinfo, he said the two countries were gradually forging closer ties, which was paving the way for dialogue over difficult issues. - 10/29/02 Nuclear bombing for the beginner The North Korean's No Dong missile was subsequently transferred to Iran (where it is known as the Shahab 3) and Pakistan (where it is known as the Ghauri). Both nations could use the missile to deliver nuclear payloads to targets throughout the region. If light-weight biological payloads were employed, the range could be far greater. -Financial Times - 10/29/02 INTERVIEW-Mr Buy-back's return may spark Iran oil investment The return of "Mr Buy-back" to Tehran has raised hopes that Iran's massive oil investment drive, stalled for more than a year, will be kick-started. -Reuters - 10/29/02 UK women MPs visiting Iran The British Foreign Office confirmed Monday that an all-party group of women MPs has travelled to Tehran for a four-day visit in response to an invitation by Iranian MP Fatemeh Khatami. - 10/29/02 US administration has escalated international terrorism, President Khatami According respect to the American people, President Khatami said that US President George W. Bush and al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden are the two poles of extremism which both lead to terrorism in the world. - 10/29/02 FILM: Award winning documentary, The Tree that Remembers In 1992 a young Iranian student hanged himself from a tree on the outskirts of a small Ontario town. He had escaped the Ayatollahs' regime, but he could not escape his past. News of the young stranger's death hit home with filmmaker Masoud Raouf. The Tree that Remembers is his compassionate reflection on the betrayal of the 1979 Iranian revolution and the tenacity of the human spirit. - 10/29/02 Short Story: Here and Now (by Mahshid Amirshahi) ...And when the subject of intimacy and love-making was formally brought up, it arrived without love; it arrived with the clergy and the Mullah and Arabic sermons. I moved to a new house and in that new house nothing was new except fears... - 10/29/02 Nourbakhsh puts economic growth at 6.6pc this year Governor of Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Mohsen Nourbakhsh said here Monday that preliminary data indicate a 6.6 percent economic growth rate in the current Iranian year (started March 21). - 10/29/02 Spanish King greets President Khatami at his royal palace The current visit of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to Spain ''is another sign of the cooperation which is growing between the EU and EU member states and Iran,'' said Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU high representative for the common foreign and security policy, Javier Solana. - 10/29/02 Statoil to invest $300m in Iranian project Statoil, Norway's largest oil company, on Monday made its first foray into the strategically important Middle Eastern energy market with an agreement to invest $300m in Iran. -Financial Times - 10/29/02 A Kazakh oligarch trying to be a Jewish tycoon Up to 1987 Alexander Mashkevich was a lecturer in clinical psychology, and was the youngest professor in his field. In the past 15 years he has become a businessman and has accumulated personal wealth estimated at more than $1 billion. -Ha'aretz, Israel - 10/28/02 Chavez: 'Axis of good' emerging in Latin America Noting left-winger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was set to win Brazil's presidential election, Chavez said some critics were portraying him, Cuban President Fidel Castro, and Lula as a Latin American "axis of evil," a phrase used by U.S. President George W. Bush to describe Iran, Iraq and North Korea. -CNN - 10/28/02 One week ahead of national elections, Turkey's ban on head covering is fueling controversy. One week ahead of national elections, Turkey's ban on head covering is fueling controversy. -Christian Science Monitor - 10/28/02 Quake hits northwestern Iranian cities A moderately strong earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.1 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale, shook the city of Ahar in the northwestern Iranian province of East Azarbaijan Monday. - 10/28/02 Inside the 'axis of so-and-so' Although Iran is often portrayed as a hardline theocracy, there is a vibrancy about its society that is rarely found in its Arab neighbours, writes Brian Whitaker -Guardian - 10/28/02 Saddam keeps eye on silent majority KARBALA, Iraq -- The golden domed shrine of Imam Hussein, a grandson of Muhammad and third in rank for Shi'a Muslims, is swarming with thousands of pilgrims who have walked for miles because the city is closed to car traffic. -Farnaz Fassihi, Star Ledger - 10/28/02 Jailed Iranian Jews pardoned Reports suggest the Jews still in jail will be released and the rest of their prison term changed to a suspended sentence. -BBC - 10/28/02 Last laugh for reformist daily Gol Agha Iran's most widely-read satirical newspaper closed its doors yesterday, but journalists insisted that financial and not political problems forced it from the news stands. -AFP - 10/28/02 In Tehran, enjoy war game of paintball Two Iranian entrepreneurs build world's largest indoor paintball venue where players will need cash, energy. -Middle East Online, UK - 10/28/02 Prof praises changes in Iranian academics When Tehran University of Medical Sciences professor Siavosh Nasseri-Moghaddam was a medical student in Shiraz, Iran, he and his male peers were not allowed to talk to girls unless "it was a very important or vital issue." He and his classmates were also forbidden from taking photographs of people because of Islamic law. -Yale Daily News - 10/28/02 Documentary Film: Shahrbanoo (on PBC channel 13, New York) “Shahrbanoo” is an unlikely story. The encounter of an American woman with a super-conservative Iranian family living in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Tehran was surely not an accident waiting to happen. - 10/28/02 Mehrangiz Kar Awarded Human Rights Prize in Paris PARIS, 24 October - Mrs Mehrangiz Kaar, an outspoken activist lawyer and human rights activist was presented Wednesday the prestigious Ludovic Trarieux Prize for International Human Rights and was promised that France and European lawyers would do their best supporting their Iranian colleagues. - 10/28/02 Al-Jazeera hit by advertising ban Al-Jazeera's management blames its financial troubles on Arab governments who are unhappy with its uncensored coverage, which has seen it carry not only the Bin Laden tapes, but also interviews with Israeli ministers and Saudi Arabian dissidents and, last week, messages from the Chechen kidnappers in Moscow. -Independent - 10/27/02 Belgian official says improved Iran-EU ties requires long period Belgian Deputy Foreign Minister Mrs. Annemie Neyts said on Saturday establishment of a full Iran-EU ties may need several years to get realized. - 10/27/02 Over 90% of Caspian sturgeon going extinct: press Caspian Sea is seeing more than 90 percent of its exotic delicacy caviar resources having long gone, it was announced at a trans-Caspian seminar held in the northern Iranian city of Rasht, press said Sunday. - 10/27/02 Political party says peace, democracy guarantee system's legitimacy A leading, but embattled Iranian political party said here today that long life of the Islamic Republic can be ensured through supporting President Khatami's plans. - 10/27/02 U.S. Protesters Rally Against Iraq War Tens of thousands of anti-war protesters circled the White House on Saturday after Jesse Jackson and other speakers denounced the Bush administration’s Iraq policies and demanded a revolt at the ballot box to promote peace, while thousands gathered in cities across Europe and elsewhere around the world to demand an end to threats of an “unjustified” war against Iraq. -Common Dreams - 10/27/02 Iran will never accept democracy, says supreme leader The call by a senior political ally of President Mohammad Khatami for Iran to seek "détente" with the United States has been sharply rebuked by Iran's supreme leader. -Middle East Times - 10/27/02 Reformists persist in Iran Late last month I made my first visit in 22 years to Iran, where I had covered the Islamic revolution under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini as a Japanese newspaper correspondent. Some conspicuous changes in the country attracted my attention. -Japan Times - 10/27/02 Deiss: Switzerland respects Iran's independence on human rights Swiss Foreign Minister Joseph Deiss stressed here Sunday that his country respected Iran's independence on human rights, despite having some reservations on the issue. - 10/27/02 Kharrazi says Iran-US distrust has increased Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said here Sunday that despite a slight change of tone in US rhetoric toward Iran recently, the two countries remained at odds as before even with a more distrust existing between them. - 10/27/02 Iranian women rev up for motorbike classes Thousands of Iranian women are lining up for free motorcycle riding classes as another taboo in the Islamic Republic quietly crumbles. -SABC - 10/27/02 Russia refuses to stop aiding Iran's nuclear programme Iran will soon commission its first civil nuclear plant at Bushehr, greatly speeding up its clandestine race to produce a nuclear weapon that could threaten its neighbours – unless it brings a pre-emptive attack from Israel, which destroyed Iraq's only nuclear reactor in 1981. -Independent - 10/27/02 Afghanistan: UN Report Says Opium Output Rising The United Nations says Afghan poppy production accelerated this year despite authorities' efforts to eradicate the crop. -RFE - 10/26/02 US ambassador: Turkish-Armenian relations don't directly depend on Karabagh conflict regulation Regarding Iran-USA relations, Ordway said that the States are ready to start a dialogue with Iran, but it should include certain preconditions. By ‘certain preconditions’ Ordway meant the issue of production of weaponry of mass destruction in Iran, as well as the testing of long-range missiles and facts of human rights violation in that country. -AZG Armenian Daily - 10/26/02 Two Latin Americas? Observers of the Latin American scene over the past several months have begun to notice a subtle but important shift. We are witnessing the beginnings of a split into two Latin Americas--one running on an irregular axis from Mexico City through Central America to Chile, and the other from Havana, passing through Caracas, Brasilia, and possibly Quito and Buenos Aires. -AEI - 10/26/02 International archaeological team survey Shahr-e Soukhteh At the outset of the sixth archaeological excavation season, an international team comprising Iranian, Georgian and Italian experts hope to make new discoveries in the ancient city of Shahr-e Soukhteh, Sistan and Baluchestan province. - 10/26/02 Quakes shake Qazvin, Semnan and Kohkilouyeh and Boyerahmad provinces A mild quake measuring 3.5 on the open-ended Richter scale shook Qazvin province on Saturday. - 10/26/02 Subtle performance from the pretender to Saddam's throne Exiled Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al Hakim combines anti-American sentiments with a desire to see Saddam Hussein toppled -Independent - 10/26/02 Azerbaijan ferry disaster raises questions about joint flotilla The Mercury-2 sank in the Caspian on October 22 five hours after sending an SOS call, according to a report by Azerbaijan’s Turan news agency. The sinking left an oil slick 15 kilometers long. Search teams have rescued 13 of 56 passengers, with little hope of saving more. -Eurasianet - 10/26/02 The Persian Princess Iranians by and large are true party people. Indeed, any excuse is a good one for a celebration. On the way back from the Caspian, my friends and I, and a few hundred other cars, were drawn to a halt due to a rockslide. To my amazement, after about 5 minutes in the pitch black of the night and cold of the mountain road, people got restless, turned up their stereos and started dancing. -Oxford Student - 10/26/02 Iran: Khatami's Bid For More Authority Opens Bitter Power Struggle Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's bid to strengthen his office is turning into a highly charged, highly public confrontation between the country's reformist and conservative camps. -RFE - 10/26/02 Iran and the Jews: drawing on ancient traditions Over the last five years, relations between Maurice Motamed (Iranian MP representing Jewish religious minority in Iran) and Khatami’s reformist supporters have been excellent. Motamed used this relationship to further the interests of his community and solve whatever legal and social problems they had with the authorities. -Ali Nourizade, Daily Star - 10/26/02 Iran Behind the Scenes Women and cinema are controversial, problematic and significant topics in modern Iran, a nation that benefits from an unexpectedly rich film tradition, as well as the active participation of women in all areas of society, including filmmaking. -InTheseTimes - 10/26/02 Tehran welcomes shift in US approach Iran's foreign minister, Kamal Kharrazi, said on Thursday he saw a shift in the US approach to the Islamic republic and that, if there was a real political will in Washington to move relations forward, then Tehran would respond. -Financial Times - 10/26/02 Iran bucks the regional trend as neighbours shun US goods Coca-Cola and Pepsi are ringing up increasing sales in "axis of evil" Iran, as the craze for all things American gathers strength. -Financial Times - 10/26/02 Palestinians 'forced to abandon village' Palestinians have abandoned a West Bank village because of what they describe as harassment by inhabitants of a nearby Jewish settlement. -BBC - 10/25/02 Top Israeli General: Iran Behind Terror Attacks Hezbollah, Ya’aser Arafat's Palestinian Authority and Iran are the architects of the homicide bombing spree in Israel, Mofaz says, and they have abandoned the peace process to try to attain their political goals by violence and bloodshed. -NewsMax - 10/25/02 Blacks and Arabs most frequent victims of racist violence in Finland The largest single ethnic group among the victims are Somalis, who were the target of nearly one third of all racially motivated crimes. After the Somalis come citizens of Morocco, Iraq and Iran, followed by Turks and Russians. -Helsingin Sanomat, Finland - 10/25/02 Ninth Circuit Rejects Attempt to Collect on Terror Award Against Iran The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Stephen M. Flatow’s bid to execute his judgment on property in Carlsbad owned by Bank Saderat Iran, ruling that Flatow failed to show that the bank is simply an agent or front for the Iranian state. -Metropolitan News Company - 10/25/02 A Saudiless Arabia: Saddam Hussein Public Enemy Number One? Not if one considers it was Saddam who actually rocked the House of Saud when his military forces struck deep inside their desert kingdom during the Gulf War. The Saudis, the primary financial backers of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and likeminded terrorist groups, were delivered a sucker punch by Iraq - a blow that would have never even been contemplated by the Americans or Israelis. -CounterPunch - 10/25/02 The history of Hizbullah The war between Israel and Hizbullah was not simply born. It was conceived in a seething cauldron of all the things that make the Middle East a snake pit of unending bloodshed, unrivaled bitterness, and unfathomable duplicity. -Yellow Times - 10/25/02 Empire of chaos challenged Who can explain the chaotic affairs of today's world? Samir Amin for one. Fatemah Farag interviews Egypt's most famous Marxist theorist -Al Ahram, Egypt - 10/25/02 Groups Appeal to U.N. to Avert War in Iraq A broad coalition of American peace activists and religious leaders, along with representatives of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), appealed to the U.N.'s 190 member states Thursday to help avert a new war in the Middle East. -Common Dreams - 10/25/02 Belgian and Swiss ministers to visit Iran Belgian deputy foreign minister Mrs. Annemie Neyts leaves for Tehran Friday (today) for a 4-day visit aimed at strengthening relations between Belgium and the Islamic Republic. Also, Swiss Foreign Minister Joseph Deiss will pay a two-day visit to Iran. - 10/25/02 Champs Iran hit 17 past Malaysia's futsal team Defending champions Iran handed Malaysia a lesson in futsal when they whipped them 17-0 in a one-sided Group B match in the fourth Asian Football Confederation's futsal tournament at the Istora Senayan Stadium, in Jakarta on Thursday. - 10/25/02 Tehran sets its terms for US-led action Iran - the wild card in Washington's Middle East calculations - said yesterday that it would accept US-led military action against Saddam Hussein if efforts to achieve a peaceful solution through the United Nations failed. -Guardian - 10/25/02 Remapping Mideast: Whose war is it this time? As the Bush Administration beats the war trumpets against Iraq, a remarkable similarity can be discerned between the Middle East today and eighty years ago. The important question is whether the United States is likely to succeed in reshaping the strategic landscape in this troubled region more than did the British. -Middle East Online - 10/25/02 Iran expert sees Iranians yearning to speak and listen Young people in Iran, who comprise a disproportionately large part of Iran’s population, are anxious for political change that promotes a more open society, a leading expert on Iranian affairs told an Open Forum in New York on October 24. -Eurasianet - 10/25/02 Three Iranian Jews released; hopes raised for five still held U.S. advocates for the Jewish prisoners, who over the years have been outspoken in their defense — and harshly critical of the Iranian government — were tight-lipped about the release. -JTA - 10/25/02 Iran accepts UN action on Iraq; welcomes shift in US attitude Since last February, when Iran was billed part of George W Bush's "axis of evil", Mr Karrazi said America seemed to have realised that Iran was quite different from Iraq and the US tone had changed markedly. -BBC - 10/25/02 Internal rifts hamper Iran's reforms Reformists in Iran have had to postpone their first-ever congress because of divisions within their ranks. The reform movement appears to be moving into a period of crisis. -BBC - 10/25/02 Israel struggles with war and slowing economy The two-year intifada is exacting a heavy price, not just in human lives but also in economic pain as unemployment and inflation march upwards and growth heads south. -Financial Times - 10/24/02 Book Review (Caviar): You expect me to eat that? Sturgeon eggs have risen from peasant slop to aristocratic treat – to threatened extinction -Christian Science Monitor - 10/24/02 Italian painting collection "Naples" to go on display in Tehran According to a report released by the public relations department of the Niyavaran Cultural Complex, this is the first time after the victory of the Islamic Revolution that a collection of the original ancient European paintings has been taken on loan. - 10/24/02 Opposition in Bahrain calls polls boycott The boycott of Thursday's poll will be a test of strength of the majority Shia Muslim opposition in the island nation, which is the headquarters for the US Fifth Fleet and could be a key base for any push to oust Saddam Hussein of Iraq. -Financial Times - 10/24/02 Brazil's Election Could Trigger Left-Wing Surge in South America As Brazilians prepare to elect their new president Sunday in a run-off election, a Latin American expert believes a victory by leftist candidate Lula da Silva could produce a domino effect in South America that could evolve into a dangerous strategic alliance against the United States. -CNSNews - 10/24/02 Proscription of MKO as terrorist group justified, says UK minister The British government's proscription of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MKO) as a terrorist group is fully justified, according to Minister for Trade Baroness Symons, who also spoke of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCR) as its front group. - 10/24/02 AFGHANISTAN: Special report on the struggle for shelter Finding somewhere to live is becoming critical for returnees. Some 100,000 shelters are needed throughout Afghanistan for returning refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as for an extremely poor population living or sharing very limited covered space, both in urban and rural areas. -United Nations - 10/24/02 Spain says Khatami's trip more important than protocol "We will cooperate and strive to assimilate eclectic cultural views," the Spanish foreign minister said. Also, the Spanish official news agency reported Wednesday that the diplomatic sources have denied that Iran has put forth demands regarding women's dress at official receptions. - 10/24/02 Noam Chomsky: "It's Extremely Easy to Frighten People" But don't forget this (Iraq) isn't the last step. The next one will be Iran -- that's already started. Syria -- again, that's already started. You can have quite a string of these things to keep people frightened, and to expand control -- until there's a reaction somewhere. The reaction ought to be inside the United States, but that won't happen if people are terrified. -Austin Chronicle - 10/24/02 U.S. Asks Enron for Details on Dealings Involving Iran The Treasury Department has directed Enron to provide information about deals the company did in the late 1990's involving products that originated in Iran. -New York Times - 10/24/02 Iraq: In Turkey, Iran, And Syria, Kurdish Minorities Watching With Interest Comments from top officials in Turkey, Iran, and Syria -- all neighbors of Iraq with sizeable Kurdish minorities -- appear to indicate a growing rapprochement between the three countries on the issue of a possible U.S.-led war on Iraq. -RFE - 10/24/02 A Tiny Gulf Kingdom Bets Its Stability on Support for U.S. "We are pumping out billions of dollars to develop our relations with the United States," said Hassan Saleh al-Ansari, director of the Gulf Studies Center at the University of Qatar, who, like many people here, believes that having the American military in Qatar ensures the security the small country needs to reach its ambitious goals. -New York Times - 10/24/02 Nuclear Enabler: Pakistan today is the most dangerous place on Earth Pervez Musharraf's Pakistan is a base from which nuclear technology, fundamentalist terrorism and life-destroying heroin are spread around the globe. American and French citizens and Christians of any nationality, including Pakistani, are indiscriminately slaughtered by fanatics as occasion arises. This nuclear-armed country is in part ungoverned, in part ungovernable. -Washington Post - 10/24/02 Russia: Blue Stream Pipeline A Technological Feat, But An Economic Misadventure Turkey is celebrating the completion of Russia's giant Blue Stream gas project across the Black Sea, but there are signs that the world's deepest underwater pipeline will be underutilized. European nations are busy planning more routes to make use of surplus Turkish gas, but the effects of the huge Russian pipeline may not be felt for many years. -RFE - 10/24/02 Iran government: Reopen poll center The Iranian government called Wednesday for the reopening of a banned polling institute and cast doubt on spying allegations made against the head of the organization. -CNN - 10/24/02 Morella, Sherman and Honda Oppose Ban on Iranian Visas NIAC has surveyed the position of House Representatives with large Iranian-American communities on the SAFER Act, which will ban all visas to Iranians. - 10/24/02 Iran Conducts a Crackdown on Prostitution The police have arrested 243 members of five "corruption networks" and a 74-year-old woman who they said had lured hundreds of young women into her brothel, the Entekhab newspaper reported today. -New York Times - 10/24/02 Iran opens up mobile phone market Iran plans to open its mobile telephone market to foreign firms, in a move that would end the state's monopoly in the telecoms sector, a report has said (President George W Bush will not be happy) -BBC - 10/24/02 US rice farmers seal Iran export deal A co-operative of US farmers has sold rice to Iran in the first such deal since President Bill Clinton barred exports to the country seven years ago, a report said. -BBC - 10/24/02 Afghanistan: Abdullah Urges U.S. To Focus On Kabul, Even Amid Iraq Crisis Afghanistan's foreign minister is in Washington again, urging the United States to keep its focus on Kabul, even if it goes to war with Baghdad. -RFE - 10/23/02 Iran expands its Hebrew radio broadcast to reach Jews globally The radio program began airing in June through the hard-line controlled Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, with officials saying they wanted to counter a "one-sided news monopoly." It initially could only reach listeners inside Israel. -AP - 10/23/02 Daily oil surplus revenues $8 million The Government secured a daily surplus Forex revenue of $8 million from the sale of oil in the first half of the current Iranian year (started 21 March 2002), said a report in the Persian daily, Kar-o Kargar. - 10/23/02 Saddam Hussein: 'Not a lunatic' In the high-stakes game of geopolitical chicken in which Washington and Baghdad are engaged, President Saddam Hussein is not going to blink first, according to biographers of the Iraqi leader and others who have studied his character and behavior. -Christian Science Monitor - 10/23/02 Saudis urged to speed up economic reform The International Monetary Fund has called for the acceleration of economic reforms in Saudi Arabia, warning that inaction would swell an already large public debt, put pressure on public finances and discourage investment. -Financial Times - 10/23/02 More than 40 dead in Azerbaijan boat disaster More than 40 people died when a boat carrying passengers and oil across the Caspian Sea sank in stormy weather, Azerbaijan's interior minister said on Wednesday. -Reuters - 10/23/02 In Iraq, joyous events amid clouds of war A family birthday and a coming birth will be mere memories if U.S. bombs begin to fall -Farnaz Fassihi, Star-Ledger - 10/23/02 Italian author Oriana Fallaci slams Islam's 'hate' for West A partisan in the Italian resistance in World War II and a lifelong leftist, she once became so disgusted while interviewing Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that she ripped off her head scarf and threw it in his face. -Washington Times - 10/23/02 Direct foreign investment at the Tehran Stock Exchange For the third time after the revolution, Iran’s Government granted a permit to a foreign company, German ZF for investing directly at the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). - 10/23/02 Shamkhani: Claim on Iran giving base to US 'joke of the year' Defense Minister Rear-Admiral Ali Shamkhani here Wednesday dubbed as 'joke of the year' western press reports that Iran may give bases to the US in the event of a probable attack on Iraq. - 10/23/02 Thousands of Iranians chant "Death to Saddam" Thousands of Iranians on Tuesday chanted "Death to Saddam" at a public ceremony to mark a key religious holiday, adding the Iraqi leader's name to denunciations traditionally reserved for Israel and the United States. -Reuters - 10/23/02 The varied US spins on 'axis of evil' members President Bush's "axis of evil" – Iraq, Iran, and North Korea – may indeed be linked by the evil actions of their respective regimes. But as the Bush administration is learning, each of the three poses a different threat and challenge that requires a separately tailored US response. -Christian Science Monitor - 10/23/02 Asian champion Iran drubs Uzbekistan in first futsal fight The undisputed champion Iran thrashed the Uzbek side Tuesday, the first day of the 4th Asian Futsal Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia. - 10/23/02 Immigrants Reel From Post 9/11 Policies Immigrants are the real targets in post-9/11 policy, representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Immigration Lawyers' Association said recently at a meeting with New California Media. -New California Media - 10/23/02 Analysis: Non-proliferation and the 'war on terror' The three principle countries of US concern - Iraq, Iran and North Korea - have earned for themselves a new label in the Bush diplomatic lexicon - dubbed by U.S. President as an "axis of evil". -BBC - 10/22/02 Opposition: Iraq Should Oust Saddam The leader of the biggest Iraqi opposition group said he would welcome international - including U.S. - support to oust the Iraqi president, but won't accept a U.S. puppet government in Saddam Hussein's place. -AP - 10/22/02 AFGHANISTAN: Focus on the plight of widows There are an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 widows in Kabul alone, most of whom lost their husbands during the last 23 years of civil war and conflict. However, with between 1.5 and two million killed altogether, that number could be in the hundreds of thousands nationwide. Ranging in age from 20 to 40, about 90 percent of widows have children. -United Nations - 10/22/02 Vietnamese president winds up Iran trip Ayatollah Khamenei hailed Vietnam as an example of struggle and resistance against "arrogant powers", referring to the country's war against the US which resulted in America's humiliating defeat. - 10/22/02 Russia Resists Ending Iran Project Moscow Balks at U.S. Offer for Curtailing Work on Reactor -Washington Post - 10/22/02 U.S. Oil Still Pours From a Mideast Barrel Even as talk of war with Iraq and the continuing fallout from Sept. 11 stoke concerns about American dependence on Persian Gulf oil, Western oil companies are showing no intentions of veering away from the Middle East, industry executives say. -New York Times - 10/22/02 Iranian film director denounces US immigration policy Iranian film director Bahman Ghobadi forwarded a prize bestowed on him by the Chicago International Film Festival to President George W. Bush as a protest against US immigration policies. -World Socialist - 10/22/02 Foreign student scrutiny According to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), students from nations that sponsor terrorism could be learning in American universities the very skills they need to harm the US later on. -The Scientist - 10/22/02 Official rues lost chance over Iran's WTO entry An official here Tuesday accused unnamed parties in Iran of blocking the country's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the back of consistent US objection to such an accession. - 10/22/02 Short Story: The Lost Ones (by Ali Samadpour) The corridor was dark and small with names written on its wall as a memorial. "Hussein Roshan was killed in the war, 5/9/60, (Nov. 1981);" "Death to Saddam, 6/12/61 (Dec. 1982);" "Iran is victorious, 7/2/62 (April, 1983);"... - 10/22/02 Behind the Drive to War: Justifying the Continued Increase in Military Spending There are clear indications that the Bush administration is pushing for the invasion of Iraq. Not only does the administration seem determined to invade Iraq, but it is bent to do so in a hurry. -Ismael Hossein-zadeh - 10/22/02 Jabba apologizes Reverend Jerry Falwell has apologized again. It is his third-favorite occupation. His first, as we all know, is using national television to promote the kind of intolerance and ignorance long associated with sweltering, fly-blown corners of America's south. -Yellow Times - 10/21/02 U.S. Snubs China At Space Congress Chinese engineers provided new details on the SMMS satellite being developed to broaden space ties with Iran and Thailand World Space Congress (WSC). . -Aviation Week - 10/21/02 Bush's Armageddon Obsession: The Looking Glass War I'd become accustomed to George W. Bush's use of the word evil until he told the nation this last spring, "The evil one is among us." Anyone with a passing understanding of the evangelical world of Bush' faith knows he was referring to the Antichrist. -CounterPunch - 10/21/02 Persian Gulf gas pipeline to Europe urged Demand for gas in Europe is estimated to soar to 632 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2030 from the current 187 bcm, thus accounting for 34 per cent of Europe's energy demand. -Gulf News - 10/21/02 40 jailed over prostitution ring An Iranian court has reportedly jailed about 40 Pakistanis who duped girls, some only 12-years-old, into going to Pakistan where they were forced to work as prostitutes. -Herald Sun, Australia - 10/21/02 Meeting Azrael Love life, do not fear! Our beautiful planet is in real danger. There is no time for hesitation. -Roya Monajem - 10/21/02 Iran begins export of Shihab-3 technology U.S. officials said Iran has signed a multi-year deal with Libya for the export of technology, know-how and training in the Shihab-3. The officials said North Korea will participate in the project. - - 10/21/02 North Korea producing enriched uranium in Iran Part of North Korea's efforts to produce enriched uranium, as well as tests on its long-range missile engines, are being conducted in Iran, in exchange for Pyongyang aid to Tehran in these two areas, as well as the concealment of such efforts from the United States' and North Korea's neighbors. -Ha'aretz, Israel - 10/21/02 Iran gas pipeline for study An EU energy official yesterday confirmed that feasibility studies on the construction of a pipeline in Greece to export Iranian gas through Turkey to Europe would start in November. -Financial Times - 10/21/02 Aid agencies caught off guard as Afghans flock home A year after the United States and its allies launched their military campaign in Afghanistan, more than two million Afghans who fled the fighting -- and years of drought that preceded it -- have come home. -Reuters - 10/21/02 Sustainable Development: Iranian Student News Agency's Interview with Dr. Davood N. Rahni Question: In related to cultural situation in Iran, what is the best model for sustainable development in our country, and according to your views, how much the current sustainable models are related to our cultural, political and economic situations? - 10/21/02 Should the US Continue Working with Iran's Reformists? New House and Senate Resolutions offer competing views on US-Iranian relations. -NIAC - 10/21/02 FILM: This Is My Home: Iranians in America This film takes the viewer on a complex journey into a community composed of different religious sub-cultures. (Directed and produced by Tanaz Eshaghian; Co-directed by Sara Nodjoumi) - 10/21/02 U.S.: Official Disputes Iranian Success With Caspian Project A U.S. official said there is little chance that Iran will be able to settle its Caspian oil field dispute with Azerbaijan by proposing a joint development. A U.S. company is already part of a consortium for the field, and Tehran has shown no sign that it will drop its claim to 20 percent of the Caspian, clearing the way for an agreement among the five shoreline states. -RFE - 10/21/02 Iranian President Calls Unelected Institutions a Threat to Democracy Meanwhile, several reformist members of Iran's parliament say they have had a brief visit with Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the disgraced former leader-in-waiting who is under house arrest in the Shi'ite holy city of Qom, south of Tehran. -Voice of America - 10/21/02 Official: 15 percent of population live under poverty line The press quoting official figures have reported that about 3.5 million people of the active population, between 15 to 64 years old, are currently out of job in Iran. At least 5.5 million high-school graduates would join the jobless within the next four years to increase the unemployment rate to 24 percent. - 10/21/02 Khatami rejects 'dictatorship' claims The BBC's Jim Muir in Tehran says the bills - aimed at enhancing the president's powers and reforming election procedure - are seen as a last ditch attempt by the frustrated reformists to break through the obstructions raised by entrenched hardliners. - 10/21/02 What Sharon wants What was the point of the Israeli army reducing Mr. Arafat's compound to ruins, firing shells that came within the smallest margin of killing him? -Yellow Times - 10/20/02 Number of Nations With Nukes Grows North Korea admitted this month that it has flouted a 1994 agreement to freeze nuclear weapons development. The revelation adds to growing worries over nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan and efforts by countries such as Iraq to develop the ultimate weapon. -AP - 10/20/02 Drilling for Freedom A funny thing happened in Iran the other day. The official Iranian news agency, IRNA, published a poll on Iranian attitudes toward America, conducted by Iran's National Institute for Research Studies and Opinion Polls. -New York Times - 10/20/02 Iran places missiles in Lebanon, capable of striking Tel Aviv Lebanese-based Iranian forces have received ballistic missiles that are capable of carrying a half-ton chemical or conventional warhead as far as Tel Aviv, the London Sunday Times reported Sunday. -Jerusalem Post - 10/20/02 Iran receives UNDP aid package to protect Asian cheetah At present the rare species of Asian cheetah are proved to exist only in Iran and many people worldwide are unaware of it and the cooperation of people with the Department of Environment (DoE) for its protection is quite necessary. - 10/20/02 North Korea: A pariah state, its secret nuclear programme - and a new crisis for Bush It is a tale of fathers and sons: of a reclusive dynasty in an impoverished country in Asia, where the son, like the father, has lavished its few assets on building a terrifying array of weaponry; and of an American presidential dynasty, in which the father began a war in Iraq the son now wants to finish. -Independent - 10/20/02 Kurdish Army Seeks Oil-Rich Areas The top Iraqi Kurdish military commander said Saturday his forces would try to capture nearby oil-rich areas if the United States strikes at Saddam Hussein's regime. -AP - 10/20/02 Iran signs $354 million petrochemical deal with Technip: press Iran on Thursday signed a deal worth 354 million dollars with French company Technip to build a petrochemical plant in the southern port of Assalouyeh - 10/20/02 Iran-EU ink two agreements in energy sector Iran and EU inked here Saturday two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Energy affairs. - 10/20/02 U.S.-Iraq war seen stirring Iran's political mix The prospect of conflict in neighbouring Iraq has exposed political divisions in Iran where Saddam Hussein and the United States are viewed with equal suspicion. -Reuters - 10/20/02 Opportunity missed to improve US-Iran relations, says Gary Sick Former US President Jimmy Carter's principal aide for Iran, Gary Sick, blames both Washington and Tehran for squandering the opportunity to improve bilateral relations following the events of September 11. - 10/20/02 Iran's Khatami Takes Swipe at Conservative Rivals In an unusually hard-hitting address to parliament, the moderate cleric responded strongly to conservative criticism that he was seeking dictatorial powers, saying that unelected institutions in the country were a greater threat to democracy. -Reuters - 10/20/02 US seeks Saudi help to stem flow of cash The US has been discussing with Saudi Arabia the creation of an investigative unit aimed at stemming financial support by Saudis for terrorist groups, according to western diplomats in Riyadh. -Financial Times - 10/19/02 Of Occupation and Apartheid: Do I Divest? The end of apartheid stands as one of the crowning accomplishments of the past century, but we would not have succeeded without the help of international pressure-- in particular the divestment movement of the 1980s. Over the past six months, a similar movement has taken shape, this time aiming at an end to the Israeli occupation. -Desmond Tutu, CounterPunch - 10/19/02 Money and gold flows back to Iran post-Sept 11 The Financial Time reported, that for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has experienced a net inflow of capital and gold bullion, drawn by domestic investment opportunities as well as driven by a sense of financial insecurity outside the country following the September 11 attacks on the US. -IFT - 10/19/02 Western Consumer Demand Fuels Resource Wars in Poor Nations Consumer demand in Western industrialized countries for sophisticated electronic equipment and luxury goods earned at least US$12 billion last year for rebels groups, rapacious governments, and warlords in resource-rich developing nations around the world, according to a new report released by the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D.C. Thursday. -Common Dreams - 10/19/02 The Bloodstained Path When Iraq possessed and used weapons of mass destruction, quite sad to say, it did so with the knowledge of, and sometimes with materials from, the United States. -The Progressive - 10/19/02 Iran to hold first air show in Persian Gulf Kish Island Iran will soon hold its first ever international air show in the Persian Gulf island of Kish with a view to introduce Iran into the global arena of aviation industry. - 10/19/02 Quake shakes Damavand town near capital Tehran An earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.2 degree on the open-ended Richter scale, shook Damavand near capital Tehran early Saturday. - 10/19/02 Spanish Wine Could Derail Iranian State Visit dispute over serving wine at a state banquet might lead to the cancellation of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's planned visit to Spain, a newspaper said Thursday. -Reuters - 10/19/02 EU, Iran to begin human rights dialogue in December EU foreign ministers are to discuss the human rights situation in Iran during their meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, said EU sources in Brussels. - 10/19/02 German Protestant Academy to host major Iran seminar next week The seminar will feature distinguished Iranian and German political, cultural and religious figures who will address various aspects of Iran. - 10/19/02 Iraq: 'Arabization' Of Kurdish Areas Poses Challenge For Any Post-Saddam Order No one knows precisely how many Kurds and members of other minority groups have been forced out of northern Iraq's predominantly Kurdish districts of Kirkuk, Khanaqin and Sinjar, to be replaced by settlers from Iraq's Arab majority. -RFE - 10/19/02 Zoroastrianism: Good thoughts, good words, good deeds In about 1,400 B.C. a man named Zarathustra Spitama, a member of a warrior clan in ancient Persia, had a vision that had a far-reaching impact on his society and the rest of the world. -Lincoln Journal Star - 10/19/02 ECONOMY: Insurance of Foreign Direct Investment Also, New tax regime on the way; And Joint Iranian-Russian bank to be established -Iran Financial Times - 10/19/02 Researcher jailed in Iran In a related development, Kayhan, a hardline newspaper, accused the Japanese embassy in Tehran of espionage by commissioning the research centre to do a separate poll on views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. -Financial Times - 10/19/02 Shrinking capacity threatens OPEC oil market rescue Rampant overproduction above official quotas, a lack of new investment and higher demand have slashed the amount of oil the OPE cartel can access quickly in the event of an emergency supply disruption, analysts said. -Reuters - 10/18/02 Iran in weapons race, group says Known also as the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization, among a number of other names, the National Council figures on the U.S. State Department's list of recognized terrorist groups, and reportedly receives backing from Iraq. -UPI - 10/18/02 Who Hates Ya, Baby? According to State Department reports just released, a secretary of defense, who shall remain nameless, went over to Baghdad as a special envoy in 1983 for President Reagan. His mission was to sell Hussein biological weapons so Iraq could poison the hell out of Iran, which at that time was the United States' worst enemy. -Art Buchwald, Washington Post - 10/18/02 Quake rattles southeastern Iranian city again The city of Ravar in the southeastern Kerman province was shaken Thursday by another earthquake -- the fourth since Monday -- but there was no immediate report of damage or casualties. - 10/18/02 Blood and oil Europe and America are taking increasingly divergent approaches to the unreliability of the Middle Eastern petroleum supply - one green, the other unrepentantly black, writes Randeep Ramesh -Guardian - 10/18/02 First MP of Iranian origin takes up seat in new German parliament The first legislator of Iranian origin, Michaela Marion Tadjadod, on Thursday took up her seat in the German parliament as it formally opened its 15th session since the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. - 10/18/02 AIC Holds Congressional Roundtable on Drug Use and HIV/AIDS in Iran Princeton, NJ (October 16, 2002) The American Iranian Council yesterday held a Congressional roundtable on the soaring rate of drug use and HIV/AIDS infections in Iran. - 10/18/02 Visitors to Iran: Citizens not hostile The people of Iran, which has been defined by President Bush as part of the "axis of evil," have no animosity toward Americans, said Patricia Shahrivar, who, with her husband, Naser, visited Iran earli- er this year. -Cedar Rapids Gazette, IA - 10/18/02 Burning Our Cultural Bridges Take the shabby way our government treated Iranian filmdirector Abbas Kiarostami, widely viewed as one of thegreatest living filmmakers. -PopPolitics Media - 10/18/02 Bush sets terms for military action on Iraq As negotiations at the United Nations enter their most intense phase, President George W. Bush on Wednesday issued an uncompromising challenge to Iraq and the Security Council, threatening military action if Baghdad failed to disclose all its weapons. -Financial Times - 10/17/02 Iran: Head Of Polling Institute Jailed An Iranian court has jailed the head of a polling institute that published a survey showing that most Iranians support dialogue with the United States. -RFE - 10/17/02 Islamist sympathisers' return worries Kuwait All over the Arab world, the "Afghans" - those who trained and fought alongside Islamist groups, or those who simply helped with finances - have gone home after the destruction of the Taliban regime. -Financial Times - 10/17/02 Royal party 'jostled by Iraqis' A royal party that included Prince Andrew was reportedly jostled by Iraqi delegates at a defence industry trade fair in Jordan. -BBC - 10/17/02 Opportunity, peril seen in N.Korea nuclear admission The United States said North Korea had admitted running a secretive nuclear-weapons programme, a disclosure that surprised Asian neighbours but which experts said showed Pyongyang's desire for talks with Washington. -Reuters - 10/17/02 Health center says Iran has 4,237 AIDS patients There are 4,237 AIDS patients in Iran and 585 people have died of diseases related to acquired immune deficiency syndrome in the country so far, Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization said in its latest report on Wednesday. - 10/17/02 9-11 and the Rise of the Academic Redneck American Arabs and Muslims have arguably now replaced Blacks as the most vulnerable and most reviled of minorities. Even the conventional terms of abuse for African Americans have been modified to apply to Americans of Middle Eastern ancestry e.g. 'sand-nigger' and 'dune-coon'. -CounterPunch - 10/17/02 UN's Largest Group of States Rejects War on Iraq The 114-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which represents the overwhelming majority of the 191 U.N. member states, said it just does not want a war with Iraq. -Common Dreams - 10/17/02 Saddam's hometown: All cheers TIKRIT, Iraq -- Salah al Din al Ayubi, a Kurdish warrior who became the Sultan of Egypt and champion of Islam when he cleared the Crusaders from Jerusalem centuries ago, was born in this region, some 100 miles northwest of Baghdad. -Farnaz Fassihi, reporting from Iraq - 10/17/02 Russian-Azerbaijan Agreement in the Caspian Sea: What Does It Mean for Iran? The Russian Federation and Republic of Azerbaijan agreed on Sept 23, 2002 to divide their parts of the Caspian Sea?s seabed. The Division was based on the Russian proposed formula of Modified Median Line (MML). -Bahman Aghai Diba - 10/17/02 Iranian director hands back award Iranian film director Bahman Qobadi has handed back a prize awarded to him at the Chicago Film Festival after the US authorities failed to issue him a visa to collect it. -BBC - 10/17/02 The Real Danger for (and of) Iran: A romantic View of democracy Nowadays Iranian media, inside as well as outside of the country are full of commentaries and news about Mr. Khatami's complaints about lack of power and the bills that he has submitted to the Majlis (parliament). -Reza Ghorashi - 10/17/02 Court summons MP over link to banned opinion center A court here has summoned the rapporteur of the parliament and an MP from Tehran, Ahmad Bourqani, over links to a polling center which was closed down recently for publishing a controversial survey on ties between Tehran and Washington. - 10/17/02 Northern Alliance Veteran Hopes Emeralds Are Key Part of Afghanistans' Economic Recovery Rashid Mohammadi, a little-known veteran of former Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud?s inner circle, has led Afghanistan?s emerald trade for a decade and now serves the post-Taliban government. -Camelia Entekhabi-Fard, Eurasianet - 10/16/02 Iraq isn't the only war shaping up in the Middle East Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has threatened military action against Lebanon to prevent what he and other officials in the Jewish state ludicrously describe as the theft of their water. -Yellow Times - 10/16/02 Comment: The Truth Inside Everyday, my peers and I sit and talk. We want only one thing: Freedom. Basic human rights. The same thing those who fled Iran 20 years ago now enjoy in the suburbs of Los Angeles and Washington. -Farideh Tehrani, National Review - 10/16/02 Mehregan Celebration in New Haven, Connecticut Sunday 28 Mehr 1381 (20 October 2002). Organized by Foundation of Iranians of Connecticut. - 10/16/02 Iran executes four Kurdish prisoners-party Iran has executed four members of a Kurdish opposition party in the last eight days, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) said on Tuesday. -Reuters - 10/16/02 Cleric Demands Death For Christian Leaders Last week Falwell and other conservative American Christians faced fierce condemnation from interfaith leaders in Washington and the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw who described Falwell's remarks as "outrageous and insulting." -Maranatha Christian Journal - 10/16/02 Is it all about oil? Cheap oil may not be the prime US motive in confronting Hussein, but it could be the outcome. -Christian Science Monitor - 10/16/02 Environmental bodies call for ecological protection Environmental bodies attending the Child, Nature and Sustained Development Festival in Tehran on Tuesday issued a statement addressed to President Mohammad Khatami and senior state officials and called for protecting the environment. - 10/16/02 Iran "won't hamper" two-state Mideast solution "We want a one (Palestinian) state solution," Hamid Reza Asefi (foreign ministry spokesman) told Reuters in an interview. "But if they want a two-state solution, the Israelis and Palestinians, we are not going to hamper that." -Reuters - 10/16/02 ECONOMY: $400 million worth Eurobonds to be issued Also, Transit of goods on the increase; And Foreign investment in Shahrvand supermarket. -Iran Financial Times - 10/16/02 Iran's women want same 'blood money' as men Iranian women began talks with Islamic clerics on Tuesday to demand that "blood money" compensation for a murdered woman should equal that of a man. -Reuters - 10/16/02 Iranian War Victims Still Suffering To understand the unending nightmare of an Iraqi chemical barrage, there's ward 10-D. The patients -- all veterans of Iran's 1980-88 war with Iraq -- shuffle about in plastic sandals and pale yellow hospital pajamas. They talk little. Even a shallow breath can be painful. -AP - 10/16/02 Saddam aims for 100% support The people of Iraq queued outside polling booths on Tuesday, voting in a referendum on whether or not to give Saddam Hussein another seven years in office.He is the only candidate. -BBC - 10/15/02 From ?bomb them? to ?I want proof?: U.S. Jews speak out on war with Iraq One thing is certain: U.S. Jews have strong opinions on the matter - like those Iranian Jewish worshipers leaving the Eretz Cultural Center in Reseda, Calif., recently after Saturday morning services. -JTA - 10/15/02 Iran sees large inflow of gold and capital Iran has experienced a net inflow of capital and gold bullion for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution. It has been drawn by domestic investment opportunities and driven by financial insecurity outside the country following the September 11 attacks on the US. -Financial Times - 10/15/02 Iran says Afghan opium yield increasing A new wave of drugs is flowing towards Europe through Iran and Pakistan because of the international community's failure to deal with the root of the problem in Afghanistan, a narcotics conference in Tehran was told on Monday. -Financial Times - 10/15/02 Afghanistan re-opens Hirmand river into Iran Afghanistan has finally re-opened the Hirmand river into Iran after three years, the press reported here Tuesday - 10/15/02 Baghdad dresses up for pro-Saddam vote Today's election will guarantee that Saddam's pictures are cemented in place for yet another seven years. -Farnaz Fassihi, Star Ledger - 10/15/02 Satire: WAR CRY Making the case for United Nations intervention against the United States, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told the organization yesterday that military action will be "unavoidable" unless the U.S. agrees to destroy its weapons of mass destruction. -Ted Rall - 10/15/02 14th Asian Games concludes Iran was placed 10th as it won 36 medals -- 8 golds, 14 silvers, and 14 bronzes. - 10/15/02 Khatami in Ukraine for two-day visit President Mohammad Khatami arrived in Ukrainian capital of Kiev Tuesday on a two-day visit to discuss ways of boosting bilateral ties as well as latest regional and international developments. - 10/15/02 Pakistan tilts toward extremism? Musharraf this week said he will still support the US terror war, despite Islamic parties' election success. -Christian Science Monitor - 10/15/02 EU, Iran to resume talks on trade and cooperation agreement An EU trade delegation will be in Tehran Wednesday for talks with Iranian officials to boost conclusion of an EU-Iranian trade and investment cooperation agreement currently under negotiaiton. - 10/15/02 Official: support of expatriates is a duty of foreign ministry Speaking at a gathering of the staff of Iranian consulate in Russia, he said the foreign ministry is considering putting into effects provisions for facilitating activities related to an estimated 2-2.5 million Iranians residing abroad. - 10/15/02 Iranian cleric denounces dog owners "I demand the judiciary arrest all dogs with long, medium or short legs - together with their long-legged owners," Hojatolislam Hassani is quoted as saying in the reformist Etemad newspaper. - 10/15/02 Iranian Court Summons Two Top Reformist Deputies "This summons is related to an opinion poll conducted on Iran-U.S. ties," the source said. A survey last month which showed that most Iranians favored talks with the United States resulted in a court summons for the head of the polling institute and the chief of the state news agency which published the poll findings. -Reuters - 10/15/02 Hardliners say Khatami seeking dictatorship Conservative clerics and hardline newspapers have launched a barrage of criticism at moderate President Mohammed Khatami, accusing him of seeking "dictatorial" powers. -Reuters - 10/15/02 Report of the International symposium on Modern Boundaries of Iran ?Problems and practices of Iranian boundaries? Arab League Ambassador was told of Iran?s indisputable rights to the islands of Tunbs and Abu Musa -Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh - 10/15/02 Liberal Iranian cleric jailed The main charge against Hassan Youssefi Eshkavari was his rejection of the compulsory veiling of women. -BBC - 10/15/02 Anti-War Protests Get Louder In California Most Americans -- about 61 percent, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll -- support using force to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but anti-war activists contend that is true only when people are asked the question in the broadest terms. -Common Dreams - 10/14/02 Oil hugs $30 as bombs seen bolstering Bush stance World oil prices stayed firm on Monday, hovering just below $30 a barrel, as brokers speculated the weekend bombing in Bali would bolster international support for U.S. President George Bush's stance against Iraq. -Reuters - 10/14/02 Iranian band plays to packed Dinkelspiel (at Stanford, California) Formed in 1992, the six-member ensemble (Axiom of Choice ) - consisting of immigrants of Middle Eastern and southern European descent - aimed to define a new sound within the context of Iranian music. -Stanford Daily - 10/14/02 Quake jolts Kerman An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.3 degree on the open-ended Richter scale shook the Iranian city of Kerman Monday morning. - 10/14/02 Soccer: Four-time winners Iran aim to be continental kings Iran are hoping their fourth Asian Games gold medal football triumph will set the stage for a sustained bid to become the undisputed rulers of the sport on the continent. -AFP - 10/14/02 Zam Zam Cola to be sold in Denmark Having conquered a sizeable share in the Middle Eastern market, Zam Zam is ready to take Europe by storm, and Denamrk is set to become its first continental venue, the Danish news agency Ritzau reported Monday. - 10/14/02 Short Story: In the Neighborhood of Café Shuka: Almas (By Yarali Pour Moghadam) The sound of a piano. Estella?s head is bent over the Bible. An old man is sitting behind a counter on a stool and every now and then he coughs and spits in his handkerchief. - 10/14/02 President Khatami arrives in Turkey to attend ECO Summit President Mohammad Khatami at the head of a high-ranking delegation arrives in Istanbul Sunday night to attend the 7th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). - 10/14/02 Nations to Discuss Afghan Pipeline The leaders of 10 Central Asian and Caspian nations met Monday to discuss an ambitious natural-gas pipeline project through Afghanistan and other ways to revive the devastated country. -AP - 10/14/02 Dissident Iranian cleric gets 7-year jail term An Iranian court has handed a seven-year prison term to leading dissident cleric Hassan Yousefi-Eshkevari for attending a conference in Germany two years ago about the future of reforms in Iran, his wife said today. -Reuters - 10/14/02 Court summons two MPs Tehran court has summoned two MPs from Tehran on a series of charges including propaganda against the Islamic Republic and insulting state officials, a member of the Presiding board of the Parliament said on Monday. - 10/14/02 ECONOMY: Bill on Money Laundering submitted Also, Trade with Afghanistan will be insured; And Government bill to end tobacco monopoly -IFT - 10/14/02 Outrage as Iraq views UK arms Peace campaigners angered as Saddam's top brass 'rub shoulders' with British firms at weapons bazaar -Guardian - 10/13/02 Nobel winner Carter voices Iraq concern Winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, former US President Jimmy Carter, has said the US Congress was wrong to give President George W Bush power to go to war with Iraq. -BBC - 10/13/02 Bali night club bomb kills 180 At least 182 people are dead after a car bomb destroyed a nightclub on the tourist island of Bali in the worst terrorist act in Indonesia's history. -Guardian - 10/13/02 Kuwait's hidden threat to US There are growing signs that US forces and civilians in Kuwait face a bigger threat than was previously recognised. -BBC - 10/13/02 Iran stands second in Pusan volleyball event In final, Iran lost to the powerful side of South Korea 18-25 19-25 23-25 in three consecutive sets. - 10/13/02 Canadian edifices land in exotic site That's basically what is happening as a team of Canadian architects, led by Toronto architectural firm Core Architects Inc. (Babak Eslahjou as a partner) , helps to redesign a stretch of desert coastline that is a 10-minute drive outside Dubai City in the United Arab Emirates. -Globe & Mail - 10/13/02 Muslims Welcome Falwell Apology for Mohammad Slur Falwell's apology came after top Iranian and British officials condemned the remarks, which he made last week in an interview on the CBS news show ? Minutes." -Reuters - 10/13/02 Iran wins fourth Asiad football crown after beating Japan Iran Sunday won its fourth Asiad football title in the Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea after beating Japan 2-1. - 10/13/02 US risks 'setting off powder keg' over Iraq: former Iran president The United States risks "setting off a powder keg" in the Middle East with its policy over Iraq, former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said. -Australian Broadcasting Corporation - 10/12/02 Agencies off guard as Afghans flock home According to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 1.6 million refugees have returned from Iran, Pakistan and central Asian countries with UNHCR assistance... -Reuters - 10/12/02 Muslims wage war on US cola giants THE US may be girding for war with Iraq, but it is already fighting "cola wars" throughout the Middle East. Factories in Iran making Zam Zam Cola are struggling to keep up with demand for their version of Pepsi and Coca-Cola. -The Australian - 10/12/02 Iran slam biased judges as S. Korea make clean sweep in taekwondo IRAN’s taekwondo team became the latest to lash out at Asian Games officiating here yesterday, complaining of bias judging against them in as South Korea swept all four gold medals on offer. -AFP - 10/12/02 Axiom of Choice updates traditional Iranian music Contemporary Persian music group, Axiom of Choice, kicks off the University of Washington's World Music and Theatre Series on Saturday. -Seattle Times - 10/12/02 Iraq: Britain Pushes Russia, Iran To Accept More Forceful Stance British Prime Minister Tony Blair is in Moscow today to urge Russia to back a tough stance against Iraq. The visit comes as part of a British diplomatic offensive which this week also saw Foreign Secretary Jack Straw urging Iran to accept forceful demands upon Baghdad. -RFE - 10/12/02 Iran's Reaction to War in Neighboring Iraq is Uncertain Iran is monitoring closely the debate over whether to wage a war against Baghdad. The government is reported to be preparing camps for Iraqi refugees along its common border, much as it did during the 1991 Gulf War. -Voice of America - 10/12/02 Iranian women bags Asian taekwondo bronze Female taekwondo player of Iran Parvaneh Mohammad Taqipour Tehrani won the -55 kg bronze medal Saturday in the 2002 Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea. - 10/12/02 Velayati opposed to resumption of ties with US Ali Akbar Velayati, senior advisor to the supreme leader of the Islamic revolution on international affairs expressed opposition on Friday to an idea on the resumption of ties with the United States. - 10/12/02 Iran: Reformists See New Crackdown In Row Over Poll On U.S. Ties The uproar over the closing of one of Iran's most prestigious polling institutes is pitting hard-liners and reformists against each other in an increasingly angry debate over freedom of opinion and focusing new attention on Iran's difficult relations with the United States. -RFE - 10/12/02 Straw completes Mid-East mission He was forced to repeatedly stress that he was not in Iran as a messenger of the US and denied suggestions that both Britain and America were guilty of double standards and were intent on regime change in Iraq because of the country's oil riches. -BBC - 10/11/02 Quake shakes Damavand near capital Tehran An earthquake, measuring 4.3 degrees on the Richter scale, shook a town near capital Tehran on Thursday, an Iranian seismological base said. - 10/11/02 Jimmy Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize "In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law, respect for human rights and economic development," the citation said. -Guardian - 10/11/02 Central Asia aid offered but not proffered The two Central Asian countries at the hub of the U.S.-led war on terrorism were on Thursday issuing conflicting statements to the international community's aid donors. -CNN - 10/11/02 Thousands March Against War: Candlelight Vigil, Procession Again Fill Seattle Streets Crowd estimates then ranged from 12,000 to 30,000. It was considered the largest such anti-war protest in the country. -Common Dreams - 10/11/02 Iraq seeks regional ally in Iran Abdolrazzaq Hashemi, a high-ranking Iraqi diplomat, said Thursday Baghdad is "very serious" about normalizing its relations with neighboring Iran and at the same time disclosed that Iraq had sent weapons to Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani fighting the Ansar al Eslam terrorists who had established bases in Iraqi Kurdistan.-Japan Today - 10/11/02 Detailed Analysis of October 7 Speech by Bush on Iraq "Tonight I want to take a few minutes to discuss a grave threat to peace and America's determination to lead the world in confronting that threat." -Institute for Public Accuracy - 10/11/02 Revolving-Door Monsters In the 1980's we provided his (Saddam's) army with satellite intelligence so that it could use chemical weapons against Iranian soldiers. When Saddam used nerve gas and mustard gas against Kurds in 1988, the Reagan administration initially tried to blame Iran. -New York Times - 10/11/02 Concert in aid of Science & Arts Foundation GOLRIZ HASHEMI, Piano; Saturday 19 October in London - 10/11/02 Mehregan 2002 at Orange County Fairgrounds - October 26-27, 2002 Mehregan is a celebration of nature, a festival of seasons, and the birthday of light. It commemorates the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. Mehregan is a festival of Mehr, Goddess of ... - 10/11/02 UK urges Iran to join anti-Saddam coalition Britain yesterday lobbied Iran to join an international coalition against Iraq, as Washington and London gained ground in pursuading the United Nations Security Council to agree a tough new resolution. -Financial Times - 10/11/02 Iranian Mir-Karimi wins Silver Peacock of Indian film festival Iranian filmmaker Reza Mir-Karimi got the Silver Peacock Award for the most promising Asian Director at the conclusion of International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2002) - 10/11/02 We can teach Bush what not to do in the Middle East British mistakes 80 years ago should be a warning to the US today -Guardian - 10/11/02 Helping Iraq Kill with Chemical Weapons: The Relevance of Yesterday's US Hypocrisy Today The US not only helped arm Iraq with military equipment right up to the time of the Kuwait invasion in 1989, as did Germany, Britain, France, Russia and others, but also sold and helped Iraq to integrate chemical weapons into their US-provided battle plans while fighting Iran between 1985-1988. -CounterPunch - 10/11/02 Middle East faces jobs challenge The Middle East needs to create almost 50 million new jobs in the next 10 years just to keep pace with the consequences of the region's rapid population growth, the World Bank has said. -BBC - 10/10/02 EU Bid to Grow Excludes Turks In rejecting Turkey, the commission said the government there still fails to respect human rights. In particular, Turkey has been condemned for its repression of its ethnic Kurdish minority. -Newsday - 10/10/02 Iran hears UK message on Iraq The British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, has been holding talks with Iranian officials in Teheran, largely focused on the crisis over neighbouring Iraq. -BBC - 10/10/02 Artists, actors - and Duane protest president's war plans Wearing a three-sided "Axis of Oil" hat with Cheney, Bush and Rumsfeld pictures on the sides, John Bostrom of Peace Action of Staten Island, among the crowd, said the issue is oil. "It's not about Iraq. It's about Iran," he said. "It sits between the Caspian oil reserves and the gulf. Iran is the big dog in the Middle East." -The Villager - 10/10/02 Conservative Christians Biggest Backers of Iraq War Of the major religious groups in the United States, evangelical Christians are the biggest backers of Israel and Washington's planned war against Iraq, says a new survey released here Wednesday by a politically potent group of fundamentalist Christians and Jews. -Common Dreams - 10/10/02 Iran's Saei takes Asian taekwondo gold Representing Iran in the -72 kg category of taekwondo contests of the 14th Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea, Hadi Saei snatched the coveted gold Thursday as he beat the host country's finalist. - 10/10/02 Experts debate ailing Caspian Sea Ecologists from Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran have joined their Azeri colleagues in the capital, Baku, this week to discuss environmental problems in the Caspian Sea. -BBC - 10/10/02 Khatami: Majlis is primary factor in controlling power President Mohammad Khatami said here Wednesday that Majlis is the cradle of democracy, people sovereignty over their destiny and the most important institution for reining in power. - 10/10/02 HIV/AIDS and Drug Use in Iran: Opportunities for Partnership Roundtable and Briefing for U.S. Congressional Staff. Organized by the American Iranian Council, Princeton, NJ; October 15 in Washington, DC -AIC - 10/10/02 Iran's Rezazadeh wins Asian +105 kg weightlifting gold Iranian world heavyweight champion Hossein Rezazadeh Thursday lifted a total of 440 kilograms to win the crown of the men's +105 kg weight category at the Asian Games 2002, leaving his rivals far behind. - 10/10/02 Britain finds common ground with Iran Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has wrapped up his Middle East tour in Iran where despite Britain's chequered diplomatic history he found much common ground on dealing with Iraq, sources said. -Reuters - 10/10/02 Asian Games: Iran's soccer team stuns Korea in semifinal on penalties Playing without inspirational skipper Ali Daei who returned home Tuesday after sudden death of his father, the Iranian side silenced the powerful side of Korea and a packed stadium by winning the 120-minute match 5-3 on penalties. - 10/10/02 Theatre of the Reflecting Pool Music, Dance & Video Celebration of Feminist Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad; Nov. 8 in New York. - 10/10/02 Iran unimpressed by Straw the mediator The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, flew into a storm of protest orchestrated by Islamic hardliners against British attempts to mediate between Iran and the US. -Guardian - 10/10/02 Maritime Boundaries in the Persian Gulf - the case of Tunb and Abu Musa Islands A summary of the text of speech by Professor Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh to the international symposium on Modern Boundaries of Iran - University of London - October 9-10 - 10/10/02 US Mulls Blacklisting Saudis on Religion The United States is debating whether to include Saudi Arabia on a blacklist of "countries of particular concern" that restrict religious freedoms, and a decision may be affected by U.S. plans for military action against Iraq, U.S. officials tell United Press International. -NewsMax - 10/9/02 Iran brands Israeli Gaza raid "inhumane crime" An Israeli helicopter fired a missile into a crowd on Monday during an attack on suspected militants. U.N. human rights chief Sergio Vieira de Mello denounced the raid on Tuesday and demanded a full and impartial investigation. -Reuters - 10/9/02 CNN jounalist Christiane Amanpour refused entry to Iran CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour was last night refused entry to Iran when travelling on an official trip with the foreign secretary, Jack Straw. -Guardian - 10/9/02 Riyadh 'to fingerprint US visitors' US diplomats say Saudi Arabia is set to impose tit-for-tat immigration procedures on American citizens following the tightening of security checks on some visitors to the United States. -BBC - 10/9/02 Raid on US marines puts question mark over friendly Kuwait So yesterday's killing of one US marine and the wounding of another during a live-fire exercise by 1,400 American troops on Failaka Island comes as another surprise for Washington. -Robert Fisk, Independent - 10/9/02 Survey: Israel is number 2 threat to world peace, just after Iraq The list (according to a recent survey conducted by French newspapers) includes a total of 15 countries. Following Iraq and Israel were Afghanistan, the United States, Palestine, Iran, Pakistan, Algiers and Libya in that order. Syria appears number 12 on the list. -Ha'aretz - 10/9/02 Iran assures EU it is not sheltering al Qaeda A top European Union envoy said Tuesday he had received an assurance from Iran that it was not sheltering al Qaeda militants who had fled Afghanistan. -Reuters - 10/9/02 Iranian newspaper tells Straw: “Iranians hate the English” In an editorial entitled "What Mr. Straw needs to know", the hard-line Jomhuri-Eslami newspaper said Britain was considered in Iran as "crafty enemies" and a "messenger boy" of the United States. -Albawaba - 10/9/02 White House 'Exaggerating Iraqi Threat' Bush's Televised Address Attacked by US Intelligence -Common Dreams - 10/9/02 The Spoils of War: Be the First on Your Block to Make a Buck off Iraq As they prepare to make war on Iraq, cowboy-in-chief George Bush and his cohorts have pulled out all the stops. -Village Voice - 10/9/02 Iran, Turkey agree to resume gas trade Tehran and Ankara on Wednesday signed an agreement to resume flow of Iranian gas after a halt of 144 days by Turkey on quality grounds. - 10/9/02 "Emir of Herat" lords over the strategic Afghan west And Khan is a key figure in the strategies of the United States and Iran, the two countries most interested in ensuring that his province, rich from the trade that passes through it, does not fall out of their spheres of influence. -Reuters - 10/9/02 Iran takes Asian freestyle wrestling bronze The world champion in 2002, Iran took the bronze medal of the Asian freestyle wrestling tournament ended Tuesday in Pusan, South Korea. - 10/9/02 Britain's Straw in Iran to press for Iraq action British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw arrived in Iran on Wednesday on a tour to seek support for a tough U.N. resolution to halt Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's suspected weapons of mass destruction programme. -Reuters - 10/9/02 Poet's words from behind the wire Some of Mohsen Soltanyzand's poetry grabs life by the throat. Much of it touches the heart... Mr Soltanyzand is an Iranian asylum seeker who has spent nearly the past four of his 32 years in Australian detention centres, first Port Hedland, now Villawood. -Sydney Morning Herald - 10/9/02 Police arrest party-goers in Iran Iranian police have arrested dozens of party-goers in Tehran and charged them with mingling with the opposite sex and dancing, according to newspaper reports. -BBC - 10/9/02 Khatami at a crossroads: more powers, or an exit like that of Mossadegh? Things have not been the same in Iran since Sept. 24. At 8am that day, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, President Mohammad Khatami’s adviser for legal and parliamentary affairs, left his office and drove to the Majlis (Parliament), where he handed Deputy Speaker Mohammad Reza Khatami a draft for new powers Khatami wanted to assume. -Ali Nourizadeh, Daily Star - 10/9/02 Saudi Arabia Places Travel Restrictions on Americans U.S. officials have announced that Americans wanting to travel to Saudi Arabia may soon have to pay higher fees and limit the length of their stay. The announcement comes after United States recently issued new and stricter security procedures that directly affect many Arabs who want to visit the United States.-VOA - 10/8/02 Group: Libya killed Lebanon Shiite leader Iran has confirmed that Libya killed Lebanese Shiite leader Imam Moussa al Sadr who disappeared mysteriously along with two of his companions during a trip to Tripoli in 1978, a Lebanese Shiite group said Monday. -UPI - 10/8/02 North Korea: U.S. Envoy 'Arrogant' North Korea said a visiting top U.S. diplomat displayed a "high-handed and arrogant" attitude in demanding that it address global concerns about its nuclear and other weapons programs. -AP - 10/8/02 Smugglers enter Iran via Iraq's treacherous peaks Iraq's Kurdish breakaway enclave relies on such "informal" trade for much of its income and this corner of Kurdistan, close to the point where Iraq, Iran and Turkey meet is a busy crossroads of smugglers' secret trails. -Reuters - 10/8/02 N.Hydro starts seismic in Iran, to spud well in Dec Norway's Norsk Hydro has started shooting its seismic programme at the Anaran exploration block in southwestern Iran and expects to spud a test well there before the end of the year, a company official told Reuters on Tuesday. -Reuters - 10/8/02 Vets Group Wants Rumsfeld Out Over Alleged Shipment to Iraq The American Gulf War Veterans Association (AGWVA) is calling for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for his reported denial that he knew anything about U.S. shipments of chemical and biological agents to Iraq in the 1980s. -CNS News - 10/8/02 Organized Phone Campaign Regarding Visas to Iranians Representative George Gekas (R-PA) has introduced immigration legislation that would ban all visas to Iranians (except diplomatic visas). The legislation, Securing America?s Future through Enforcement Reform (SAFER) Act of 2002, H.R. 5013. -NIAC - 10/8/02 Police says average crime age is plummeting in Iran Deputy Police Chief for Intelligence Brigadier General Mohammad Nouri said here Monday that the average age of delinquency is plummeting in Iran. ?.5 percent of prisoners are less than 21 years of age," he added. - 10/8/02 Playing with fire: Pakistan juggles with US and al-Qaida If George Bush's "war on terror" were remotely rational, or even roughly reasoned, then its next target might be Pakistan, not Iraq. It should be said that the US is not justified in pre-emptively and unilaterally attacking either country - or any other sovereign state for that matter. -Guardian - 10/8/02 Government busy drawing up 4th development plan Vice-President and Head of the Management and Planning Organization (MPO) Mohammad Sattarifar said here on Monday the Fourth Five-Year Economic, Social and Cultural Development Plan (2005-2010) is in the stage of compilation on the basis of the Third Plan. - 10/8/02 Turkey seeking lower gas prices Turkish Energy Minister, Zeki Cakan will visit Iran to negotiate a reduction in the price of gas imported from Iran, Istanbul based daily Watan reported on 6 October. -IFT - 10/8/02 Soccer: Determined Iran through to Asian Games semis Iran advanced to a semi-final showdown with South Korea here Tuesday as the Asian Games footballtournament heated up with the start of theknockout stage -AFP - 10/8/02 Daei turmoil on eve of Asian Games clash The father of the 33-year-old veteran has fallen seriously ill at his Tehran home and the striker has decided to leave South Korea as soon as possible to fly home to be with his family. -AFP - 10/7/02 Iran hanging stalled by heart attack A convicted Iranian murderer has been spared from a public hanging after he suffered a heart attack when the noose was placed around his neck, newspapers reported. -BBC - 10/7/02 Straw in Middle East to gather allies Mr Straw then flies on to the Middle East for four-day tour during which he will meet counterparts in Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan and Iran. -BBC - 10/7/02 Seven killed in shooting rampage over noise complaint in Iran The newspaper said Jamshid Soleimani pulled out his hunting rifle when his neighbour, accompanied by two police officers, appeared at his door in the town of Mahalat to complain over noise. -ABC Online - 10/7/02 President calls for Islamic nations vigilance to deal with threat President Mohammad Khatami on Sunday called for vigilance of Islamic nations to deal with the threats to which the Muslim world has been exposed. - 10/7/02 Breaking Self or the Mirror The higher the number of people who realize that the slogan ?Death to? is not any permanent solution for the ugly image that they see in the mirror, the greater would be the hope for survival of this beautiful blue planet of ours. -Roya Monajem, Tehran - 10/7/02 This woman lost everthing in a US air raid. A year on, she is still living amid the rubble Rory McCarthy returns to Kabul where the US campaign began a year ago today. In the first of a two-part special report he talks to the civilian victims who have yet to receive a penny in compensation -Guardian - 10/7/02 Short Story: The Story of the Rabbit and the Tomato (by Zoya Pirzad) Every single day, I would tell myself that ?today, I will write a story.? But at night, after washing the dishes I yawn and say, ?Tomorrow; tomorrow I will definitely write.? - 10/7/02 Book: Persian Pilgrimages (by Afshin Molavi) The truths about Iran-quite different truths from versions put forward by Washington, Tehran, and the media - 10/7/02 ECONOMY: Inflation rate may hit 16.7% Also, Production of automobiles up 41%; And Establishment of first reinsurance company in Kish Free Trade Zone. -IFT - 10/7/02 Iran says no objection to new Iraq UN resolution said on Monday it would not object to a tougher United Nations resolution on its former foe Iraq but strongly condemned any unilateral military action by the United States. -Reuters - 10/7/02 Reduced to a trio, Iranians adjust, perform sublimely Hossein Alizadeh, celebrated tar (lute) player from Iran, did not make it to the Masters of Persian Music concert Friday night at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Instead, he was stuck in Paris awaiting permission to enter the United States. -Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH - 10/7/02 Director's Cut Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami can't visit New York, but his film is the talk of the town -TIME - 10/7/02 Leader Calls for Crackdown After Kiss Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Sunday called on police to crackdown on immoral behavior in public after a storm of protest over a kiss at a film awards ceremony. -Reuters - 10/7/02 Tanker blast terror link denied Yemeni officials are denying an explosion on board a French oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden was caused by a terrorist attack. -CNN - 10/6/02 U.S. says wants dialogue with North Korea U.S. special envoy James Kelly told Japanese officials on Sunday that the United States was committed to dialogue with North Korea and there were indications that Pyongyang too was prepared to keep talking. -Reuters - 10/6/02 The bad news is, 'Bush doctrine' will succeed ALL THE MONKEYS aren't in the zoo, as an old song says, and not all the regime-changing war hawks are in the Republican wildlife refuge. -New Hampshire Sunday News - 10/6/02 Afghans hope to control economy with new currency Afghanistan will launch a new currency on Monday aiming to regain control of an economy devastated by more than 23 years of war and internal strife. -Reuters - 10/6/02 Should Iran's Frozen Assets be Used to Compensate Victims of Terrorism? The American Jewish Congress is currently engaged in lobbying efforts to persuade Congress to insert new language in Section 11 of the Terrorism Risk Protection Act, as well as in Section 2002 of the Victims Act of 2000 -NIAC - 10/6/02 A persuasive answer The English-language Iran Daily stressed Sunday that dependency on oil revenues has led to a slow economic growth and deprived the country of meaningful investments in profit-making ventures such as tourism. - 10/6/02 America: Falwell is free to be a bigot if he wants Muslim leaders throughout the world, expressed outrage Sunday over reports that Christian fundamentalist Baptist Minister Rev Jerry Falwell had verbally attacked the Prophet Muhammad during a recent television interview. -Official Spin, Scotland - 10/6/02 Daily comments on Straw's forthcoming trip to Tehran The English-language paper 'Iran Daily' on Sunday focused on the upcoming visit of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to Tehran, and hoped that the negotiations between the two sides' top-ranking officials will lead to positive and constructive results in deterring the US from initiating military attacks against Iraq. - 10/6/02 Stopped at the Border New restrictions signed by President George W. Bush in May have been making it impossible for many foreign artists to get into the country in time for their scheduled appearances. -Newsweek - 10/6/02 Iraq's Bio Weapons Were Made in USA America created a monster when it backed Saddam through the 1980s. And documents show that from 1985 to 1989 deadly germs were legally exported from the US to Iraq. -Sunday Mirror, UK - 10/6/02 The Axis of Envy: Why Israel and the United States both strike the same European nerve Anti-Israelism and anti-Americanism travel together. In the Arab Middle East, the link is standard fare, but a more interesting case in point is Europe. -Foreign Policy - 10/6/02 ECONOMY: Non-oil export reaches $2.9 billion Also, Large-scale privatization by Ministry of Energy; And Two banks to enter the Tehran Stock Exchange -IFT - 10/6/02 "Afghanistan Is a Mess and the Taliban Are Coming Back" Tayyib Agha (spokesman of the Taliban leader Mullah Omar) says that when the Americans started their military actions against Afghanistan, the Taliban sustained heavy losses. But now they are "more organized, flexible and in better condition than before." -New California Media - 10/5/02 The upside down Thomas Friedman In a New York Times editorial, Thomas Friedman writes "What the Arab world desperately needs is a model that works - a progressive Arab regime that by its sheer existence would create pressure and inspiration for gradual democratization and modernization around the region." May I advise Mr. Friedman that there were such regimes in the Middle East? One example is Iran under Mosaddeq in 1953. What happened to it, Mr. Friedman? -Yellow Times - 10/5/02 Kurds say U.S. has questioned Islamists in N.Iraq U.S. officials have visited part of northern Iraq controlled by Kurds to question Islamist prisoners suspected of links to al Qaeda, the head of one of the Kurdish factions controlling the region said on Friday. -Reuters - 10/5/02 Afghan blames heavy content not Americans for returning Iranian books An official of Afghanistan's Education Ministry has denied reports that Americans were behind a decision to scrap Iranian textbooks from school programs in that country and cited the books as being over the heads of Afghan students. - 10/5/02 Educator sacrifices dream In his native hometown of Tehran, the capital of Iran, Hossein Pezeshki dreamed of becoming a doctor or a professional soccer player. -Valley Morning Star, TX - 10/5/02 Caterer stays focused on what he knows best: food service Hamrah was born in Iran in 1954, the youngest of six children. He served in the Shah's army as a teenager and then left Iran with his parents? blessing when he was 20 to study in the United States. -KYTV, MO - 10/5/02 Building (in Palo Alto, California) is a home for tech success Amidi didn't start out looking to be a tech investor. In 1976, he left Iran to study in the United States. When the Shah was overthrown three years later, Amidi decided to stay in this country, eventually bringing over his family, who had been business owners in Iran. -ZDNet News - 10/5/02 Khatami phones Nelson Mandela to ask for his anti-war hand President Mohammad Khatami on Friday called on former South African President Nelson Mandela on phone to use his international image to preempt a probable US attack on Iraq which the two condemned. - 10/5/02 Iraq Invasion Poses Kurdish Dilemma TIME's Azadeh Moaveni takes the temperature of Iraq's long-suffering Kurds - 10/5/02 Shiite leader vocal adversary of Hussein -- and U.S. U.S. forces will have to overthrow Saddam Hussein without the help of Ayatollah Sayed Mohammad Baqir Al-Hakim, an Iraqi Shiite leader whose 8,000 armed fighters and experience at battling the dictator would surely come in handy. -San Francisco Chronicle - 10/5/02 Turkey warns Iraqi Kurds against independence bid Turkey warned Iraq's Kurds on Saturday not to use U.S. support for their newly-reopened regional parliament as a licence to declare a separate state. -Reuters - 10/5/02 Clerics' enforcers crack down In a final effort to salvage the reform movement that sprang to life with his 1997 election, President Mohammed Khatami, the sometimes reluctant leader of the movement to create a kinder, gentler Islamic Republic, has answered them back. -Washington Times - 10/5/02 Asian Games (Soccer): Lacklustre Iran move into last eight (Iran 1 Qatar 1) The draw meant they won Group E and will now face either Kuwait or North Korea for a place in the semi-finals. -AFP - 10/5/02 Iran woos Caspian oil firms Iran has urged Caspian oil producers to pipe their oil through Iran, despite US sanctions. - 10/5/02 A revolution crumbles Alongside the boys of the Islamic militia, eager for martyrdom, there is another Iran - of rock bands and weblogs, teenage runaways and prostitution. Tim Judah investigates Tehran's underground -Guardian - 10/5/02 Turkish court lifts death sentence on Ocalan Turkey's state security court on Thursday formally lifted the death sentence passed on Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan after his capture and trial in 1999, the state-run Anatolian news agency said. -Reuters - 10/4/02 Pakistani missile tests India's nerve Pakistan said it test-fired a surface-to-surface ballistic missile today capable of having a nuclear warhead fitted, in a move that was immediately dismissed by India as a publicity stunt ahead of Pakistani elections. -Guardian - 10/4/02 Racist thugs attack Iranian AN ASYLUM seeker who was told to come to Norwich because it was a "safe, family city" has been driven out of his home by racist thugs. -Evening News, UK - 10/4/02 Iraq's rival Kurdish factions seek common ground In Tehran, an Iranian government spokesman said that the meeting was a "very domestic issue for Iraq" and that Iran had declined an invitation to attend as a guest. Turkey and Syria are also expected to stay away. -Financial Times - 10/4/02 US talks underway in North Korea The US and North Korea held talks on Friday that could lead to a shift in President George W Bush's hard-line stance towards the secretive state. -BBC - 10/4/02 Cleric says council will vet Khatami's bills without "fear" Former judiciary chief, currently a member of the Guardians Council, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi vowed here Friday that the supervisory council will not be "intimidated by anybody" to vet President Mohammad Khatami's two bills, introduced to the parliament recently. - 10/4/02 Iraqi Kurds reopen regional parliament Iraq's Kurds reopened their regional parliament on Friday, aiming to put years of feuding behind them and stake a claim for autonomy from Baghdad should U.S. military might topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. -Reuters - 10/4/02 Why Sharon wants war Gas masks and smallpox vaccinations are being dispensed, strategies for evacuation discussed: Israel is preparing for war with Iraq. This is a war which, as former UN weapons inspectors and others have warned, could be a disaster for Israel. Paradoxically, the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, is all for it. -The Spectator, UK - 10/4/02 In Prison, Iranian Found Solace in Art When Soudabeh Ardavan, an Iranian student of architecture and interior design, was thrown into prison at age 23, she painted prison scenes and portraits in miniature. She was in Washington to speak at a gathering commemorating prison massacres in Iran in 1981 and 1988. -Washington Post - 10/4/02 Iran invites US scholars to meetings to promote culture of dialogue Head of the International Center for Dialogue among Civilizations Ata'ollah Mohajerani has said that American scientists are invited to attend the seminars, held in Iran, to propagate the culture of dialogue among Americans - 10/4/02 Afghan refugees and U.N. say Iran deports them illegally Fatima is a 10-year-old Afghan girl on her own in the world. "No one knows where I am," said the almond-eyed girl in a shaky voice. Speaking at a refugee camp in the nearby city of Herat, where she has been for two weeks, she explained how she had demanded that Iranian police let her go. -Reuters - 10/4/02 Head of Iranian missile project: Our rockets can reach Israel In a rare statement, the head of the Iranian missile development project said Thursday that Teheran's long-range rockets were meant to hit Israel in the event of an Israeli strike on Iran. -Ha'aretz, Israel - 10/4/02 U.S. Denies Visa To Iranian Director - Kiarostami was to visit Harvard Two other foreign directors, Aki Kaurismaki of Finland and Abderrahmane Sissako of Mauritania cancelled their trips to the film festival in a gesture of solidarity to protest the U.S. government?s actions -Harvard Crimson - 10/4/02 ''Oy!'' On September 11, 2002, the New York Times allowed George W. Bush to present his Orwellian "War is Peace" vision in an Op-Ed. One wonders what brought the Times editors to become an official government mouthpiece. -Yellow Times - 10/3/02 Protesters (in U.S.) turn to thoughts of Iraq The anti-globalisation movement is often considered a youth movement, but new concerns about a war in Iraq have brought many veterans of the protests against the Vietnam War back to the barricades. -BBC - 10/3/02 Afghan President Hamid Karzai Maintains Focus on Reconstruction Afghan President Hamid Karzai traveled to the Persian Gulf in late September to drum up aid for his country’s reconstruction and security. -Camelia Entekhabi-Fard, Eurasianet - 10/3/02 In new U.S. Congress, anti-Israel voices to be muted It's anyone's guess which party will hold the majority in Congress come November, but one thing is for sure: Several leading anti-Israel voices no longer will be heard in the Capitol's halls.-JTA - 10/3/02 Iraq's Forgotten Majority Shiite Muslims would be the largest voting bloc in any democratic Iraq. This is why the Bush administration must find a way to integrate them into its Iraq planning, something it has so far failed to do. It is also a principal reason why Saddam Hussein has suppressed Shiism. -New York Times - 10/3/02 U.S. Jerusalem move will stir Muslim hatred -Iran Iran hit out on Wednesday at U.S. legislation identifying Jerusalem as Israel's capital and warned it would trigger a wave of Muslim hatred against the United States. -Reuters - 10/3/02 Iran says will start military ties with Kuwait Iran on Wednesday signed an accord with Kuwait aimed at launching military cooperation between the Islamic Republic and a pro-Western Gulf Arab state for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution. -Reuters - 10/3/02 Israel: Sharon stirs up conflict with Syria and Iran Israel?s Ariel Sharon is intent on exploiting the opportunity provided by US plans for war in the Middle East to press forward his aim of creating a Greater Israel. -World Socialist - 10/3/02 New airbuses to be delivered to Iran Based on the latest negotiations between Iran and France, three airbuses will be delivered to Iran by the end of 2003. -Iran Financial Times - 10/3/02 Man Allegedly Attempts To Board Plane With Knife In Cane A 71-year-old Iranian man was arrested for allegedly trying to take an 18-inch knife, concealed in a cane, on a flight out of Los Angeles International Airport. Motamedi purchased the cane on a visit to Chinatown about four or five months ago and he didn't know there was a weapon secreted inside, his son, Hosein Motamedi, said. -AP - 10/3/02 Chaman Andam, slavery in early 20th century Iran Slavery has been a major institution in our area both before and after Islam. Its? history has not been narrated in Iran and in fact most Iranians have no knowledge of it. -Massoume Price - 10/3/02 Armenia: Westward Foreign-Policy Shift Brings Unease In Iran Iran is showing signs of discontent with an apparent pro-Western tilt in the foreign policy of Armenia, its sole Christian neighbor and closest ally in the South Caucasus. A senior Iranian diplomat has voiced a thinly veiled criticism of the Armenian government, hinting that Yerevan should step up security ties with Tehran instead of courting the United States and other Western powers. -RFE - 10/3/02 Iran government upbeat over Khatami reform bills Iran's pro-reform government on Wednesday put a brave face on hardline criticism of two bills it has presented to parliament aimed at strengthening President Mohammad Khatami's authority. -Reuters - 10/3/02 Poll on US ties rocks Iran Media heads face prosecution in Iran over a ground-breaking opinion poll on mending relations with the United States. The parliament, or Majlis, confirmed on Wednesday that it had commissioned the poll as part of a study of ties with the US. -BBC - 10/3/02 Abduction by a parent difficult to stop: Treaties are best hope of returning children from foreign lands And when a Scarborough man used a purported outing to Canada's Wonderland this week to bolt with his daughter to his native Iran, he added another small face to a growing gallery of children who have been torn from this country (Canada). -Toronto Star, Canada - 10/2/02 The sun can't set on this empire too soon: The U.S. has no right to indulge in imperialism That is why our CIA facilitated the rise to power of Iraq's Baath party and ultimately the succession of Saddam Hussein as its current leader. The first Bush administration supported Hussein, providing him with the means to wage chemical and biological war, up to the day he invaded Kuwait, another of our client states. -Working For Change - 10/2/02 Cleric opposes Saddam and U.S. Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al Hakim, an Iraqi opposition leader with 8,000 armed fighters, has plenty of reasons to overthrow Saddam Hussein, but he refuses join the United States in doing so. (63-year-old cleric said in an interview at his Tehran compound) -Washington Times - 10/2/02 US Commission cites countries on religious freedom An independent advisory group funded by the U.S. government has recommended that the administration add India, Laos, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam to its black list of countries that restrict religious freedoms. The list of "countries of particular concern", updated in October 2001, now has six countries -- China, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea and Sudan. -Reuters - 10/2/02 IEA: Iran to be a major gas supplier to EU The International Energy Agency (IEA) Wednesday predicted that the Islamic Republic of Iran will be a major gas supplier to the EU in the future. - 10/2/02 ECONOMY: World Bank to invest $80m in Alborz dam Also, New incentives for private exporters; And Modernization of Tehran Stock Exchange trading system. -IFT - 10/2/02 Arabs and Muslims to be fingerprinted at US airports The US yesterday introduced a sweeping new security regime at its airports and borders, photographing and fingerprinting visitors from Arab and Muslim countries. -Guardian - 10/2/02 US criticised over Muslim checks Malaysia and Pakistan have reacted angrily to new American regulations to register people from selected Arab and Muslim countries on arrival in the US. -BBC - 10/2/02 Gekas Bill (SAFER ACT) will stop visas to all Iranians House Immigration Subcommittee Chairman George Gekas (R-PA) has introduced sweeping immigration reform legislation designed to cut back on immigration. The bill will prohibit visas to all Iranian nationals. -NIAC - 10/2/02 US treated me like a terrorist, says Mahathir Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad hit out at the United States for treating him and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi like 'terrorists' during recent visits there, and said such actions reflected the kind of 'anti-Muslim hysteria' prevalent in America. -Straits Times, Singapore - 10/2/02 Symposium in London: ‘MODERN BOUNDARIES OF IRAN’ - The problems and practices of Iranian boundaries 9th and 10th October 2002; Organized by: The Centre of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, The Society of Contemporary Iranian Studies, and The Urosevic Research Foundation. - 10/2/02 As Iraq teeters, Iran weighs its options Many have made clear that while they have no desire to see the US extend its influence on Iran's western border, they believe any regime in Baghdad would be better than Hussein's. -Christian Science Monitor - 10/2/02 Iran rejects bilateral deals on Caspian rights Iran rejected on Wednesday any piecemeal attempts to resolve border limits in the mineral-rich Caspian Sea in the absence of an overall deal between the five countries that surround it. -Reuters - 10/2/02 Son values lessons from 'nightingale' Homayoun Shajarian grew up listening to the nightingale sing. In his native Iran, the melodious night bird is regarded as a symbol of musical creativity because it never repeats itself, and its voice is considered the most beautiful on earth. -Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH - 10/2/02 Court seals off opinion polls institute The institute, affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, along with two other institutes had carried an opinion polls about Iran's relations with the United States. - 10/2/02 U.S. likely sent Iraq toxic bugs Evidence that the U.S. government once authorized and sent to Iraq germ cultures capable of being used for biological weapons underscores the sometimes fuzzy boundary separating research on public health from that on weapons of mass destruction. -Atlanta Journal-Constitution - 10/2/02 Barring the Gate to a Great Director The idea that the United States government is incapable of distinguishing between a potential terrorist and a renowned 62-year-old filmmaker who has been here seven times before without incident is not flattering to America's intelligence capacities or its reputation for cultural literacy. -New York Times - 10/2/02 Iran reformer says UK's Straw can bring US message "There is no obstacle for the United States to send its transparent and clear messages to Iran through Britain," Mohammad Reza Khatami, head of Iran's main reformist party and brother of the president, said according to the Hamshahri daily. "Toppling Saddam would make Iranian nation happy but it should be based on an international consensus," Khatami said.-Reuters - 10/2/02 Bush Rejects Embassy Move in Israel As a candidate in 2000, President Bush backed Israel's claim on Jerusalem as its capital. But he has turned aside a congressional demand for steps toward moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. -AP - 10/1/02 EU Caves In To Washington Over International Criminal Court The EU is ready to agree a deal with the US giving American citizens a degree of immunity from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court, having been persuaded by Britain to step back from its hardline opposition to prevent a transatlantic row. -Common Dreams - 10/1/02 Saudi gas deal 'stalled again' A landmark $25bn (£16.1bn) gas deal between Saudi Arabia and western energy firms is reportedly facing yet more delays. The deal represents the first major foreign investment in the Saudi energy sector since it was nationalized in 1975. -BBC - 10/1/02 Iranians have special memories of Lebanon Lebanon occupies a very special position in Iranian culture for many reasons. Among these is the fact that numerous Iranian intellectuals, writers, thinkers and jurists of the renaissance (the period that extended from the constitutional revolution of 1907 to Mohammed Mossadegh’s nationalization of the oil industry in 1952) were graduates of Lebanese schools and colleges. -Daily Star - 10/1/02 Queueing up for 'nosy' business Though standards are often high, plastic surgery is far less expensive in Iran than it is in the west. A nose job is done for $1200, which is a fraction of the cost compared to the ones done in Europe or America, although that is seven months salary for most of the Iranians. -Gulf News - 10/1/02 One Visa Problem Costs a Festival Two Filmmakers The backup has left performers, students and academics stranded, while wreaking havoc on cultural programs across the country and throwing future plans into doubt. "The reaction that this has engendered makes you wonder what the sense of this policy is," said Richard Peña, director of the New York Film Festival, which opened on Sept. 27. -New York Times - 10/1/02 Gathering in Yazd to protest at un-Islamic act during film festival During the protest, staged upon an invitation made by the representative of the leader of the Islamic Revolution in the region, the protesters shouted slogans, asking for legal and jurisdictional punishment against renowned, aged actress Gowhar Kheirandish, who had kissed teen-aged filmmakers, Ali Zamani, while presenting a rophy during the closing ceremony of the "Haqiqat (Truth) Film Festival" at the presence of the large group of audience. - 10/1/02 Khatami warns against "failure" of Islamic Republic President Mohammad Khatami on Monday warned against the "failure" of the Islamic Republic and cited two extremist groups which were practically undermining the Islamic Republic -- one in the name of Islam and the other in the name of democracy. - 10/1/02 Student group calls for "quick" release of political prisoners The Office to Foster Unity (OFU), Tehran Council, has further welcomed the release of three students this year, saying they wanted judiciary officials to free the remaining political activists. - 10/1/02 Iran willing to attract foreign direct investment: expert Ali Khorram, international advisor to the secretary of the High Council of Free Trade Zones, told IRNA in an exclusive interview that there are four free zones and 23 special economic zones (SEZ) in Iran. - 10/1/02 Dividing Caspian unfairly would divide neighbors: daily An English-language daily on Tuesday focused on the legal regime of the Caspian Sea and stressed that there is still time for Iran to redouble its diplomatic efforts aimed at reaching a fair, multilateral pact with the four Caspian littoral states sharing the world's largest lake with Iran - 10/1/02 Iranian news agency head in court over poll The head of Iran's state news agency, Irna, was yesterday charged in court in connection with publication of an opinion poll showing that most Iranians support the resumption of ties with the US. -Financial Times - 10/1/02 Iranian Film Director Abbas Kiarostami Denied U.S. Visa A second director with a film at the festival, Aki Kaurismaki of Finland, refused to come to the United States in a show of solidarity. "Under the circumstances I, too, am forced to cancel my participation - for if the present government of the United States of America does not want an Iranian, they will hardly have any use for a Finn, either," he said in a statement. -AP - 10/1/02 Iran says will not help any attack on Iraq Iranian Defence Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani said on Tuesday Iran would not take part in any military action on neighbouring Iraq, even if approved by a United Nations resolution. -Reuters - 10/1/02 Russia, Azerbaijan Delimiting Caspian Sea: How Did It Happen? Who Won? The visit of the President of Azerbaijan to Moscow resulted in the signing of the Agreement on the Delimitation of the Contiguous Areas of the Caspian Sea Floor. In a way, this is a sensation. Yet only in a way. -Rosbalt, Russia - 10/1/02 © Copyright 2009 NetNative (All Rights Reserved)