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Home News News Archive Sports News Interesting Sites Directory Persian Calendar Bookstore Archive	November 2004 Iranian “Salt Men” Lived Contemporarily Iranian “Salt Men” Lived Contemporarily -CHN - 11/30/04 US Says Iran Increasingly Isolated, Pressured, on Nuclear Issue The Bush administration says the new International Atomic Energy Agency resolution on Iran shows that Tehran is increasingly isolated over its nuclear program. Officials insist the measure approved by the IAEA Monday was not a diplomatic setback for the United States. -VOA - 11/30/04 A Key Role for Europe in US-Iran Conflict Europe's initiative to prevent a military confrontation between the United States and Iran represents a new coming of age in world affairs for a Europe often described as an economic giant but a geo-political dwarf. Nowhere is this more true than in Germany. -Boston Globe - 11/30/04 Iran boasts 'great victory' over US, warns nuclear freeze is temporary Iran boasted it had humiliated the United States at a board meeting of the UN atomic watchdog by agreeing to what it reiterated was only a temporary freeze of its suspect nuclear programme. -AFP - 11/30/04 Burnt City Women Picky on Fashion Women living 5,000 years ago in the Burnt City in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan were fastidious when it came to fashion, sporting the latest trends in designer dresses and jewelry. -CHN - 11/30/04 US thwarted over Iran This latest IAEA resolution on Iran isn't the result the United States wanted. -BBC - 11/30/04 Iran-Armenia gas pipeline project launched An Iranian company started construction work on a 41-km gas pipeline at Armenian border town of Megri on Tuesday to carry Iranian gas to the republic. - 11/30/04 Tackling Iran's growing drugs problem "If I wasn't here I would be dead or in prison," says Behrouz Shahkuri, one of 100 drug addicts who receive methadone tablets daily at the Persepolis centre in south Tehran. -BBC - 11/30/04 Iraqi neighboring states hold conference in Tehran At the meeting chaired by Iran's Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs Ali Asghar Ahmadi, senior experts from Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq studied the statement issued by Iran on Iraqi issues. - 11/30/04 EU eyes 'new chapter' in Iran ties, but tensions remain The EU hailed a "new chapter" in ties with Iran and confirmed plans to resume trade talks rapidly, after a UN-brokered deal under which Tehran pledged to freeze uranium enrichment activities. -AFP - 11/30/04 US keeps nuclear pressure on Iran The US has said it could still refer Iran to the UN Security Council, even though nuclear inspectors said Tehran had fully suspended uranium enrichment. -BBC - 11/30/04 Will nuclear bargain with Iran work? A European deal with Iran is approved, but some see its demands as too ambiguous. -CSM - 11/30/04 Tehran, Baghdad hold talks on legal pilgrimage tours Iran's Charge d'Affaires to Baghdad Hassan Kazemi Qomi said on Tuesday that Tehran and Baghdad were holding negotiations to arrange pilgrimage tours for nationals of both countries after observing special laws and regulations. - 11/30/04 UK condemns TV man who Iran hardliners want dead Britain on Tuesday strongly condemned a UK-based Iranian exile TV presenter whose inflammatory broadcasts insulting Islam have provoked religious hardliners in Iran to call openly for his murder. -Reuters - 11/30/04 Iranian police slice open six camels in drugs haul Iranian police seized 18 kilograms of opium after cutting open the stomachs of six camels, which are being increasingly used to carry narcotics from Afghanistan, media reported on Tuesday. -Reuters - 11/30/04 Fire Threatening to Burn Down Iran's Cultural Heritage Sites The destruction caused by fire at Tehran's Masoudieh Palace, whose ceiling had unique mirror works, has sounded out a note of warning for officials in charge of the cultural heritage sites that the same threat is looming for other historical edifices. -Irandaily - 11/30/04 Iran finishes fourth at China judo meet An all-star judo team from Tehran ranked fourth in an international tournament in China Monday. - 11/30/04 Iran Nuclear Program: Analysts Argue Nature of Regime Poses Higher Risk The regime of the mullahs in Iran is ready to fall, says Assad Homayoun. Let's give it a timely push. An Iranian opposition leader in the United States whose sources inside Iran may be second to none, Mr. Homayoun has little patience with efforts to conciliate or compromise with the government in Tehran. -VOA - 11/30/04 Nuclear watchdog backs Europeans' accord with Iran Iran's nuclear agreement with European governments was endorsed by the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday despite resistance from the US, which urged inspectors to remain vigilant. -Financial Times - 11/30/04 Iran scoops up world kyokushin matsushima titles Iranian karatekas garnered all the three titles at the 7th world kyokushin matsushima in Japan Monday. - 11/30/04 Persian Gulf forever In an unscientific and politically motivated measure, the recently published eighth edition of the National Geographic Atlas used the unacceptable alternative name “Arab Gulf” in parentheses alongside the waterway’s historic name, the Persian Gulf. -Tehran Times - 11/30/04 News Media in the 60th Year of the Nuclear Age Top officials in Washington are now promoting jitters about Iran’s nuclear activities, while media outlets amplify the message. A confrontation with Tehran is on the second-term Bush agenda. So, we’re encouraged to obliquely think about the unthinkable. -Common Dreams - 11/30/04 Rowhani: Iran to suspend uranium enrichment only for as long as talks with EU continuing Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) secretary Hassan Rowhani said on Tuesday that Tehran's commitment to freeze its uranium enrichment activities would be good only for as long as it was engaged in talks with Europe. - 11/30/04 Azar Foundation supports surviving children and widows of Bam earthquake In memory of Azar Abooameri (Zahir), Bonyad Azar was found soon after the Bam earthquake to support the surviving children and widows. - 11/29/04 Macroeconomic stability falls victim to factionalism A year into his first term as president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami admitted that the Iranian economy was “chronically ill ... and it will continue to be so unless there is fundamental restructuring”. His economic team has managed to address a number of economic shortcomings but many problems are still unresolved. -Iran Focus - 11/29/04 Winners of 4th Golshiri Award announced In a ceremony in Tehran’s Niavaran Cultural Center, the winners of the 4th Golshiri Award in 4 categories were announced. - 11/29/04 Iran says has clinched 'most positive' UN nuclear deal ever Iran welcomed Monday a revised draft resolution, prepared by the Europeans which is due to be presented to the world nuclear watchdog in Vienna later in the day. - 11/29/04 "Twin Salt Man" Discovered in Iran Technicians and miners in a salt quarry in the central province of Zanjan have unearthed the remains of an ancient man, with some members of his body still intact -CHN - 11/29/04 Iranian cyberjournalist Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi released from prison Reporters Without Borders welcomed the release on bail on 26 November of Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi, former political editor of the daily Etemad. He had been arrested at his home on 27 September 2004 for contributing to reformist Internet websites. - 11/29/04 Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline to provide energy security: India India's Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Sunday that in order to meet growing demand for natural gas India will increase domestic production and import gas by pipeline from Iran through Pakistan. - 11/29/04 Iran, EU to resume trade, cooperation talks mid-December: official Iran and the Europeans will resume their trade and cooperation negotiations as of mid-December, putting their political, economic and security cooperation back on track, after they were stalled over Tehran's nuclear dispute. - 11/29/04 Iran, Venezuela call for expansion of mutual relations Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Monday conferred with Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on expansion of mutual ties as well as regional developments. - 11/29/04 The Iranian Mojahedin: What Kind of Alternative? The People’s Mojahedin of Iran has of late been receiving increasing coverage by the Western and especially the US mainstream press, who quote them copiously, ala Ahmed Chalabi, as “opposition sources.” -Dissident Voice - 11/29/04 Canada fires new diplomatic shot at Iran over murdered photographer Canada hit straight back after Iran warned its new ambassador to Tehran would get into "trouble" if he pursued the case of a murdered Iranian-Canadian photographer, which has already sparked a diplomatic crisis. -AFP - 11/29/04 DNA Tests to Detect Iron Age Dwellers' Race, Skin Color A group Iranian heritage and academic experts plan to conduct DNA tests on bones of people dating back to the Iron Age to discern their race, complexion color and endemic diseases at that time, in the most daunting project for local archeology in recent memory -CHN - 11/29/04 Stones, petrol bombs thrown in demo outside British embassy in Iran Hundreds of members of Iran's hardline Basij militia rallied outside the British embassy in protest at Britain's military deployment in Iraq , throwing stones and petrol bombs at the already damaged compound in Tehran. -AFP - 11/29/04 Pakistan tests mid-range missile Pakistan has test-fired a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads in what is its fifth missile test this year. -BBC - 11/29/04 New era of Iran-Europe cooperation ahead: Iranian official Iran thinks that the EU-negotiated nuclear agreement at the UN atomic agency should open up a new era of cooperation between Tehran and Europe after a quarter-century of tension, a senior Iranian official told AFP. - 11/29/04 2nd Iran-Armenia electricity line to be launched "Electricity exchanges between the two countries will reach a total of 450 megawatts through this project," the managing director of the Iranian SANIR Electricity Company said on Monday. - 11/29/04 Iran to Escape Censure After Nuclear Cat-And-Mouse Iran looked set to avoid being reported to the United Nations Security Council Monday after reaffirming its commitment to a deal meant to reassure the world it is not trying to build a nuclear bomb. -Reuters - 11/29/04 Interior ministers of Turkey, Iraq and Jordan arrive in Tehran Interior ministers of Turkey, Iraq and Jordan arrived in Tehran Monday to participate in a two-day meeting of Iraq's neighbors slated for November 30 as part of efforts to restore security in the war-torn country. - 11/29/04 Iran's Conservatives Consolidate Power After eight years of a bold but bungled experiment with reform, Iran's government is in the throes of a takeover by conservatives determined to restore the revolution's Islamic purity, according to Iranian politicians and analysts. -Washington Post - 11/29/04 Iran, Venezuela stress promotion of bilateral ties President Mohammad Khatami in a meeting with his visiting Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez, said Iran always supports the Venezuelan government and nation and called for expansion of bilateral relations in all fields. - 11/28/04 Statue of Venezuela's founding father unveiled in Tehran in presence of Chavez Statue of Venezuela's nineteenth century leader Simon Bolivar was unveiled at Goft-o-gou (dialogue) Park in Tehran on Sunday in a ceremony attended by President Hugo Chavez, Chairman of Tehran City Council Mehdi Chamran and Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. - 11/28/04 India - Pakistan Talk on Gas Pipeline Project When Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz made his first visit to India this past week, talks were not limited to politics. Mr. Aziz revived an eight-year-old project to build a $4 billion pipeline to carry natural gas from Iran to India through Pakistan. -VOA - 11/28/04 Iran's legendary keeper Abedzadeh returns to soccer scene Iran was overwhelmed with grief on March 2, 2002 as the bad news on Abedzadeh's brain hemorrhage spread. He underwent a brain surgery in Kasra Hospital in central Tehran the day after and narrowly survived. - 11/28/04 Iranian youth using apathy as a political weapon A new movement of passive resistance is quietly sweeping young people in Iran, a response both to the reform movement's failure to introduce political and economic change and conservatives' control over who can run for office, according to Iranian student leaders and political analysts. -Washington Post - 11/28/04 Pomegranates: the fruity panacea Pomegranates are being hailed as a super-food which can protect the heart. -BBC - 11/28/04 Insurgency threatens Iraq election Iraq's fragile political settlement appeared to be on the brink of collapse last night, with Sunnis, Shias and Kurds divided over whether elections can take place in January as planned. -Guardian - 11/28/04 Iran cautions Canada against following case of murdered photographer Canada's newly-appointed ambassador to Iran will get into "trouble" if he pursues the case of murdered Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi, Iran's foreign ministry warned. -AFP - 11/28/04 Iranian film 'Turtles Can Also Fly' awarded in Japan Filmex Bahman Qobadi's 'Turtles Can Also Fly' received the special jury's award in Tokyo Film Festival (Filmex) - 11/28/04 Iran ready to train Iraqi police: official The announcement came as Iran prepared to host a two-day meeting of Iraq's neighbors on November 30 at interior minister level as part of efforts to restore security in the war-torn country. - 11/28/04 Zahra Asgardoun adds silver to Iran's Asian sanshu asset Zahra Asgardoun from Iran snatched a silver medal in sanshu competitions of the Asian women's wushu event in Yangon, capital of Myanmar, Sunday. - 11/28/04 Iran may back down on exemption from nuclear fuel cycle freeze - diplomats Iran may be backing down on a demand to exempt some equipment from a freeze on fuel cycle activities that can make atomic weapons, diplomats said today, a day before a UN nuclear watchdog meeting that could be a step towards UN sanctions against Tehran. -AFP - 11/28/04 Iran and EU continue talks over 20 centrifuges Iran and the Europeans took up their lengthy negotiations in Vienna on Sunday afternoon to salvage an agreement before Tehran's nuclear dossier is tabled at a UN nuclear watchdog meeting Monday. - 11/28/04 Iran Makes Key Nuclear Concession in EU Talks Iran formally withdrew its demand to exempt sensitive research from a freeze of key parts of its nuclear program -- a last-minute bid to remove the threat of U.N. economic sanctions, Western diplomats said Sunday. -Reuters - 11/28/04 Iran to privatize 65 percent of state-owned firms The Expediency Council (EC) in a directive on Saturday approved the ceding of over 65 percent of shares of state-owned firms to the private and cooperative sectors, the EC public relations department reported. - 11/28/04 Iran: First Electronic Government starts operation in Isfahan The goals in launching the Electronic Government is to increase use of electronic systems by governmental bodies to conduct their business as well as to provide civilians with their needed services in the city. Some ten governmental bodies have been engaged in the project to render services to people. - 11/27/04 US commander warns Iran, others not to underestimate US military power A top US commander has warned Iran and other countries to never underestimate US air and naval power, discounting concerns that US forces are too tied down in Iraq to respond to challenges elsewhere. -AFP - 11/27/04 Iran says European position at nuclear talks still unacceptable Iran is still unable to accept some positions of European countries in crucial talks on its nuclear programme at the UN atomic agency, but an agreement remains possible, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi says. -AFP - 11/27/04 Guardian Council rejects 2nd proposed date for Iran's presidential election Guardian Council's Spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham rejected the Interior Ministry's proposed date (May 20, 2005) for the upcoming presidential elections. - 11/27/04 Iraqi Official Briefs Iran on Insurgency An Iraqi vice president briefed neighboring Iran on his country's ongoing insurgency Saturday, demanding the Tehran government's assistance in curbing the infiltration of terrorists into Iraq, his adviser said. -AP - 11/27/04 IAEA Rebukes South Korea for Secret Nuclear Experiments The International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, has criticized South Korea for past secret plutonium and uranium experiments, but is not referring the matter to the United Nations Security Council. -VOA - 11/27/04 Satrapi follows up Iran picture book Iranian author Marjane Satrapi has released a sequel to her unexpected hit book Persepolis - a graphic novel detailing her experience of life as a child during the Iranian Revolution. -BBC - 11/27/04 IRAQ: Insecurity adds to huge southern demining task Work on clearing mines and unexploded ordnance (UXOs) in southern Iraq is continuing at a slow pace due to insecurity, with international NGOs and other partners of the Regional Mine Action Centre (RMAC) in the city of Basra just getting back to work after eight months of delays - 11/27/04 Iranian President warns of failure to form Iraqi government in democratic manner President Mohammad Khatami said in Tehran on Saturday that if the Iraqi government is not formed in a democratic manner, the country's century-old problems would be repeated. - 11/27/04 Iran, Russia resume talks on Zohreh Satellite Iranian and Russian officials will resume talks on the project concerning Zohreh Satellite as of Monday, it was announced in Moscow on Saturday. - 11/27/04 Congressman Jim Leach Says Military Action Against Iran Would Be Unwise Republican Congressman Jim Leach of Iowa says the possible use of military force by the United States or Israel to eliminate Iran's nuclear installations would be an unwise course of action. Says increased problems in Iraq, terrorism, global economy could ensue. - 11/27/04 Iran mulling answer to new European resolution: diplomat Iran will decide 'within today and tomorrow' about a revised draft resolution, which the Europeans want to submit to the world nuclear watchdog concerning Tehran's uranium enrichment activities, a senior Iranian diplomat told IRNA in Vienna on Saturday. - 11/27/04 Iran's Naqian bags bronze at Asian women's sanshu meet Khadijeh Naqian handed Iran a bronze medal of the Asian women's sanshu competitions in Yangon, capital of Myanmar, Saturday. - 11/27/04 Iran's Lonely Crowd Today's intellectuals, if they haven't turned to smoking opium or drinking homemade liquor, devote themselves to literature, primarily Farsi, European, Russian and South American. The few who remain politically active, mostly defeated reformists, take refuge in religion and fast for a day, half-seriously dubbing it a "hunger strike" or "political fasting." -NYT - 11/27/04 NDLO objects to National Geographic over distorting Persian Gulf on maps The name of the Persian Gulf originated from historical, geographical and scientific documentations and it will be a distortion to give another name for the Persian Gulf, deputy head of National Deeds and Library Organization (NDLO) Kianoush Kiani said on Saturday - 11/27/04 Geographic's Gulf gaffe has Iranians irate For thousands of years, the people of ancient Persia and their descendants in modern Iran have called it the Persian Gulf. For thousands of years, the people of ancient Persia and their descendants in modern Iran have called it the Persian Gulf. -Seattle Times - 11/27/04 US hawks sharpen talons as Iran accord falters Military strategies have been discussed among the community of think-tanks and armchair generals. But the options remain unattractive, partly because of Iran's ability to retaliate itself or through its allies, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah. Daniel Byman, a terrorism expert, said Iran had the capability to make Iraq "a living hell for the US". -Financial Times - 11/26/04 A Contemporary Sha'baan Ja'fari Mojahedin's November 19 Washington rally and march from the White House to the US Congress was well organized and disciplined, even though the promised American entertainers were absent. The target audience were, of course, the US politicians and opinion makers who favor what Mojahedin call "appeasement" with regard to Iran. Hence the event posters and props that focused on Iran's "nuclear terrorism." Hence also the need to impress the wimps with inflated strength. -Rostam Pourzal - 11/26/04 EU Stands Firm on Nuclear Freeze, Iran Backs Down Iran backed down in the face of fierce international pressure on Friday and dropped its demand for changes to a key agreement designed to reassure the world that Tehran does not want nuclear weapons. -Reuters - 11/26/04 Mousavian: Iran, EU have made very good progress in bilateral The spokesman of the Iranian delegation to the IAEA Board of Governors, Hossein Mousavian, said in the Belgian capital on Friday that Iran and the EU bloc have had very good progress in bilateral negotiations. - 11/26/04 Iran-EU dispute unresolved on parts of draft resolution to IAEA A senior diplomat said in Vienna on Thursday that Iran-EU differences of opinion over parts the union's amended draft resolution about Iran's nuclear energy program still remain unresolved. - 11/26/04 Iran 'committed' to nuke freeze Iran's chief negotiator to the United Nations nuclear agency says Tehran is committed to the freeze on uranium enrichment agreed earlier this month. -BBC - 11/26/04 Italian Architect Unveils Plan to Revamp Iranian Museum Italian architect Bruno Geneto elaborated his project to renovate and reinforce the Ancient Iran Museum's building, carried out by Ancient Iran Museum in cooperation with the Italian Foreign Ministry -CHN - 11/26/04 Argentina 6-1 Iran: Scoreline flatters subdued Albicelestes Despite never playing with the fluency of their first two outings, Argentina strolled into the second round after a 6-1 defeat of Iran in the FIFA Futsal World Championship Chinese Taipei 2004. -FIFA - 11/26/04 'Jury is still out' on Iran's nuclear ambitions - IAEA chief The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has accounted for all declared nuclear material in Iran, but it does not have a full picture of Tehran's clandestine arms ambitions, the Agency's chief said today. - 11/26/04 HSU professor hopes for stability in Iran Someone once said, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Saeed Mortazavi worries that that's the case in Iran. Mortazavi, a professor of business at Humboldt State University, said he's been increasingly concerned about the United States' approach toward his native country. -Times Standard - 11/26/04 Iran Offers India One More Oil Field Iran has offered India one more oil field to get New Delhi to buy 7.5 million tonnes of LNG, 50 per cent more than 5 million tonnes LNG Tehran had previously offered India together with a stake in a discovered oil field. -Asia Pulse - 11/26/04 Ancient Conqueror, Modern Devotees Like America's current president, the hero of Oliver Stone's new movie, "Alexander," is a man who invades the Middle East in the name of high-minded ideals. "To free the people of the world," Alexander (Colin Farrell with blond hair) sighs early in the film. "Such would be beyond Achilles." -NYT - 11/26/04 Tehran Municipality Responsible for Protecting Historical Buildings Member of Tehran City Council Rasoul Khadem said that Tehran Municipality was required to implement Note 166 of the Third Five-Year Development Plan (March 2000-2005) which calls for undertaking expert studies on ways to safeguard cultural heritage sites. - 11/26/04 Iranians Retain Plutonium Plan in Nuclear Deal The recent nuclear accord European officials signed with Iran appears to have halted Tehran's uranium enrichment program at least temporarily, but it leaves Iran free to make plutonium, which can also be used as fuel for nuclear weapons, diplomats and arms experts say. -NYT - 11/26/04 SAF supports ICT programs for the hearing impaired in Iran In September 2004, Science and Arts Foundation (SAF) supported a group of educators working with hearing impaired students to attend the 1st International Deaf Association Conference held in Istanbul, Turkey. The educators found the conference events constructive and motivating. - 11/26/04 National Geographic's Statement on Persian Gulf National Geographic Books has recently published its Eighth Edition Atlas of the World. Questions have been raised regarding the decision to use both a primary name, "Persian Gulf", and an alternative secondary name, (Arabian Gulf), for the body of water situated between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. - 11/26/04 The case for not attacking Iran Do the last few days remind you of anything, by any chance? Presidential heavy breathing about a ‘rogue’ Middle Eastern state; a supporting chorus of exiles with dramatic new claims; and a senior member of the US government bearing intelligence which turns out to be more spin than spine-chilling. -Spectator, UK - 11/26/04 US continues to warn travelers to Iran The Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens to carefully consider the risks of travel to Iran. Due to ongoing tensions, particularly along the border with Iraq, U.S. citizens may be at higher risk of harassment or kidnapping. This Warning is being reissued without change after periodic review and supersedes the Travel Warning for Iran issued May 14, 2004. - 11/26/04 Iranian Anthropologist Catalogs Tallest, Shortest Skeletons The tallest man in ancient Iran was 192.5 centimeters while the shortest was 145 centimeters and the oldest human being was 85 years old, announced an Iranian anthropologist -CHN - 11/26/04 A Thoughtful Look at Iran No matter the justifications, Roger Howard's book Iran in Crisis? Nuclear Ambitions and the American Response should be required reading for anyone demanding immediate U.S. intervention in Iran. -Antiwar.com - 11/25/04 Economic Issues, Iran Top Washington-Beijing Agenda Analysts say U.S.-China relations will be a key component of President Bush's policy in his second term. -VOA - 11/25/04 Risky revival of Afghan theater puts women center stage Iran's suspension of its uranium enrichment programme is not yet complete, the UN's chief nuclear inspector has reported. -BBC - 11/25/04 Arms Control Activists Hail Bush Setback The defeat over the weekend of President Bush's attempts to fund research and possibly development of a new family of nuclear weapons was hailed Monday by arms control advocates as their biggest success in more than a decade. -Chicago Tribune - 11/25/04 IAEA Meeting Set For Key Decision On Iran's Nuclear Program The two-day meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors could bring to a head the simmering dispute over what exactly Iran is doing with its nuclear program. -RFE - 11/25/04 Small group of MKO members gather at UN building in Vienna Carrying placards and chanting slogans, the MKO group called for referring Iran's nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council. - 11/25/04 CIA Releases Report on WMD in Iran, North Korea The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has restated its belief that Iran has secretly pursued nuclear weapons, and also says North Korea is continuing to develop ballistic missiles that could reach parts of the United States. -VOA - 11/25/04 Iran nuclear freeze 'incomplete' Barely three years ago, at a time when women in Afghanistan were not permitted even to leave their homes, the idea of a woman performing on stage - and in mixed company! - seemed inconceivable. Any woman who did so risked life and limb. -BBC - 11/25/04 Quake again shakes western Iran An earthquake measuring 3.8 on the open-ended Richter scale rocked the suburbs of Poldokhtar in the western Iranian province of Lorestan, with no immediate report on probable damage. - 11/25/04 British MPs urge UK to resist US pressure on Iran group of MPs are calling on the British parliament to urge Prime Minister Tony Blair to stand up to US threats against Iran's nuclear programme. - 11/25/04 Khatami: EU's draft resolution on Iran 'not good' Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Thursday that a draft resolution prepared by the European trio on Tehran's nuclear activities is far from good. - 11/25/04 Iran: Where Next on the Nuclear Standoff? With Iran's nuclear clock ticking, the U.S. must become engaged in seeking a comprehensive resolution to the crisis that includes addressing legitimate Iranian security concerns. -ICG - 11/25/04 CIA Issues Nuclear Report On Iran Iran continued to vigorously pursue indigenous programs to produce nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Iran is also working to improve delivery systems as well as ACW. To this end, Iran continued to seek foreign materials, training, equipment, and know-how. - 11/25/04 Iranian bridge could bring new hope to Afghanistan's troubled south A new bridge linking southern Afghanistan with Iran could breathe new life into Afghanistan's poverty stricken south and shorten the landlocked country's route to the sea by 1,000 kilometers (about 600 miles), officials and analysts. -AFP - 11/25/04 The Lying Game, Revisited Iran has nukes – they really really do! Scout's honor! Cross my heart and hope to die! -Antiwar.com - 11/24/04 Congressman Waxman and NIAC members join to launch NIAC’s student fellowship program NIAC Board members, NIAC members and the Honorable Congressman Henry Waxman (CA 30th), gathered for a CITIBANK sponsored reception to mark the launch of the NIAC Public Service and Journalism Fellowship Program. - 11/24/04 War Against Iran Would (They Think) Take Our Minds off Disaster in Iraq Reading the newspapers and listening to Wisconsin Public Radio, "Democracy Now" and Air America radio is scary. Given the new appointments to the Cabinet, the bad guys are clearly in control. -Capital Times - 11/24/04 Canada names new ambassador to Iran as diplomatic showdown cools Canada named a new ambassador to Iran, to replace an envoy recalled during a diplomatic spat over the death of an Iranian-Canadian photographer mortally injured in jail. -AFP - 11/24/04 Iranian parliament threatens to push for end to nuclear freeze The head of Iran's hardline parliament warned that deputies would press for a resumption of a controversial nuclear fuel programme if the country comes under too much pressure at this week's meeting of the UN atomic energy watchdog. -AFP - 11/24/04 IRGC commander: US, Israel not in a position to attack Iran He told a press conference on the sidelines of a large military exercise of one hundred thousand Basij (volunteer forces) that it would be foolish if the US opted for military confrontation with Iran. - 11/24/04 C.I.A. Says Pakistanis Gave Iran Nuclear Aid A new report from the Central Intelligence Agency says the arms trafficking network led by the Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan provided Iran's nuclear program with "significant assistance," including the designs for "advanced and efficient" weapons components. -NYT - 11/24/04 Iranian young inventors win awards at Brussels technology fair A group of four young inventors from the Islamic Republic won medals and certificates at the World Exhibition of Innovation, Research and New Technology, dubbed 'Brussels Eureka'. - 11/24/04 UN cites ‘alarming’ reports of refugees fleeing camp in central Iraq The United Nations refugee agency today expressed concern over “alarming” reports that up to a third of the Iranian Kurd refugees at Al Tash camp in Iraq have fled because of the fighting last week around the town of Ramadi. - 11/24/04 Iran's electricity capacity up 3,000mw Electricity production of the country is expected to increase by 3,000 megawatts in 1384 (starting March 21, 2005), the deputy minister for electricity said in Tehran on Wednesday. - 11/24/04 Clarifying and strengthening the Iran-European nuclear accord If the Paris Accords are going to work as a stepping-stone toward ending Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions -- rather than as a stalling tactic while Iran makes progress on that program -- several steps will be necessary to clarify and build on the Paris Accords. -Washington Institute - 11/24/04 Hoon: I'd Blast Iran DEFENCE Secretary Geoff Hoon has said he would "press the button" for a nuclear strike on Iran if it was menacing Britain with ballistic missiles. -Mirror, UK - 11/24/04 India, Pakistan Agree to Press on With Peace Process During visit to India by Pakistan's Prime Minister, the two sides are also expected to discuss a proposed gas pipeline running from Iran to India, which would have to pass through Pakistan. -VOA - 11/24/04 Iran Wants to Change Conditions of Freeze Iran is demanding that it be allowed to make an exception in its commitment to freeze all uranium enrichment activities so it can operate about two dozen centrifuges, diplomats said Wednesday. -AP - 11/24/04 Demand for full access to Iran's nuclear sites Britain, Germany, and France are demanding that UN nuclear inspectors in Iran be allowed to go wherever they see fit in their efforts to investigate Tehran's nuclear programme. -Guardian - 11/24/04 Iran clears Cuba to eye decisive Argentina game in World Futsal Championships Iran edged past Cuba 8-3 drubbing in its second match of the fifth World Futsal Championships in Taipei, capital of Taiwan, Wednesday. - 11/24/04 The IAEA and Iran: Crisis averted - for the time being Notwithstanding the fact that Iran signed the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1970 and concluded a Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA in 1974, unease about the intent behind its developing nuclear programme has long persisted. -BASIC - 11/24/04 Iran Bans Sale of Nat'l Geographic Atlas Iran has banned the sale of National Geographic Society publications to protest the use of the term ``Arabian Gulf'' alongside ``Persian Gulf'' in its new world atlas, an Iranian official said Tuesday. -AP - 11/24/04 International Conference Promises Support for Iraqi Election An international conference on the future of Iraq, which ended in Egypt Tuesday, offered support for the interim Iraqi government's election plan, and called on all nations to help make the election a success. -VOA - 11/24/04 Understanding Nuclear Iran The reasons why a country chooses to go nuclear are simple, and often have nothing to do with mad mullahs. A scan of the who’s who of nuclear powers reveals that none of them are the crazy, drooling at the mouth murderers that popular media portrays Iran to be. So why are there so many great power nations that keep stockpiles of nuclear weapons, such as the United States, but so few of the outsiders? -Common Dreams - 11/24/04 Iran's women news agency to be launched Iranian women will have an independent news agency and information base for the first time in the history of the country, said Head of Women Forum affiliated to Iran's Islamic Councils Sediqeh Qanadi. - 11/24/04 Going Nuclear: The Coming Wars with Iran and North Korea The news from Washington this past week had eerie echoes of the lead-up to the war in Iraq. Now that George Bush has been re-elected President what might we anticipate as future scenarios? If the doctrine of pre-emption is followed the next conflict is likely to go nuclear. -Common Dreams - 11/24/04 24 November 2004: International Jailed Journalists Support Day Six countries are holding over 80% of the world's imprisoned journalists: The biggest prisons are China (26 journalists and 62 cyber-dissidents), Cuba (26 journalists), Iran (15), Eritrea (14), Nepal (12) and Burma (11). These six countries account for more than 80% of the total. -RSF - 11/24/04 Powell: US-Iran Ties Could Be Restored Secretary of State Colin Powell says America and Iran could restore relations one day, but only after Iran has changed course on terrorism and nuclear development. -AP - 11/24/04 Impunity triumphs in Iranian justice Families still waiting six years after serial killings of intellectuals and journalists -RSF - 11/24/04 Iranian Women NGO’s Empowerment Bazaar in Tehran I would like to share with you the empowerment, not charity type of bazaar that we went to a short while back. This bazaar was mainly inspired by women groups involved in environment and women empowerment programs. These include Green Outlook Supporters, Women with Good Intention, Green Women Co-op. Gitta Mehr Group and 13th Abban Local Kitchen. -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 11/23/04 Iranian photographers hold exhibition in European Parliament An exhibition of photographs by six women and three men Iranian photographers opened in the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels Monday night. - 11/23/04 Powell Has Dinner Chat with Iranian Minister Secretary of State Colin Powell had "polite dinner conversation" seated alongside his Iranian counterpart on Monday in the most extensive, high-level contact between the countries in years -Reuters - 11/23/04 If Iran goes nuclear ... Bush softens his rhetoric as new intelligence indicates Iran is accelerating nuclear pursuit. -CSM - 11/23/04 Bush Wants Proof of Iran's Decision to Stop Enriching Uranium President Bush says it looks like some progress is being made in getting Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, but he wants international inspectors to verify the country's compliance with a deal negotiated by European leaders. -VOA - 11/23/04 U.S., European, Iranian And Arab Officials Seek Consensus Over Iraq's Future The two-day meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh is the first major international conference on Iraq in the Middle East since U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein's regime more than 18 months ago. -RFE - 11/23/04 Sunni Arab govt's wary Iraq elections will bolster Iranian influence Sunni Arab neighbours fear that elections in Iraq will likely empower the Shiite majority there and bolster the influence of Shiite Iran in the region, officials said privately and publicly at an international conference on the country's future. -AFP - 11/23/04 EU Wants Iran to Maintain Uranium Enrichment Freeze European Union foreign ministers are pushing Iran to maintain its temporary freeze on uranium enrichment, which the International Atomic Energy Agency says began Monday. -VOA - 11/23/04 EU drafts Iran nuclear timetable The three European nations that won Iran's consent to suspend uranium enrichment have drawn up a resolution to maintain pressure on Tehran. -BBC - 11/23/04 Spotting the differences Anyone following the gathering drama over Iran's nuclear ambitions could be forgiven for blinking at the strange sensation that we have been here before. The US accuses a problematic Middle Eastern country, an alleged supporter of terrorism and oppressor of its own people, of secretly developing weapons of mass destruction.-Guardian - 11/23/04 Iranian FM Spokesman denies Kharrazi-Powell talks Kharrazi was seated at dinner near Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. Upon his entrance, Colin Powell shook hands with Kharrazi and took seat between the Iranian and Iraqi foreign ministers. - 11/23/04 Drug abuse rising in Afghanistan, warns CND Drug abuse is continuing to rise with little happening in the area of demand reduction, the Afghan Counter Narcotics Directorate (CND) warned on Sunday at a donor conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul. - 11/23/04 Successive quakes hit Lorestan province of Iran An earthquake measuring 4.7 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale jolted the town of Poldokhtar in this western province on Monday. The quake was the seventh to hit the town since Sunday. - 11/23/04 Iran welcomes UN role in holding democratic election in Iraq Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes the United Nations effective role in holding democratic election in Iraq scheduled for January 30. - 11/23/04 EU Ministers Meet On Iran, The Middle East, And China European Union foreign ministers meet in Brussels today. Their monthly meeting will this time focus on the nuclear deal three EU member states struck with Iran, the situation in the Middle East after the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and relations with China. -RFE - 11/23/04 Not Much of an Opening in the Mullahs' Robes A real live American is a rare find in Iran these days. At an official "Death to America" rally in Tehran last year, a horde of giggling chador-clad high school girls asked for my autograph. Like many other Iranians I talked to during the 18 months I spent working there, they were tired of the regime's rants about the "Great Satan" and greeted me like a long-lost cousin. -Washington Post - 11/23/04 Full text of draft resolution issued by European trio on Iran's nuclear programs The European trio (Britain, France, Germany) issued a draft resolution on Iran's nuclear programs in Vienna on Monday. - 11/23/04 Iran: Psychosocial Rehabilitation program for Bam Teachers In the aftermath of the tragic Bam earthquake, the Science and Arts Foundation planned and implemented a number of programs aimed at the psychosocial rehabilitation of children in Bam. - 11/22/04 Inspiring, Remarkable and Fantastic Events in Tehran A few days ago I attended a very inspiring and interesting speech on “Reading & Translating Virginia Woolf” at the British Council in Tehran. What was so significant about the event was that the talk was given by an Italian Professor -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 11/22/04 Iran bans public commemoration of dissident murders Iranian authorities have barred relatives of a dissident couple murdered by intelligence agents in 1998 from marking the anniversary in public this year, the couple's daughter told AFP. - 11/22/04 Government confirms Iran's bid to suspend enrichment Monday Iran said it will start suspending uranium enrichment as of Monday, making good on its word which it gave at a recent agreement with the Europeans. - 11/22/04 Iran freezes sensitive nuclear work to avert threat of sanctions In Vienna, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei said his watchdog should be able to verify the suspension by Thursday, when the agency is due to decide on the next step in the stand-off. -AFP - 11/22/04 Successive quakes damage houses in city of Khorramabad in western Iran Successive earthquakes have incurred property damage in several villages in the western city of Khorramabad in the Lorestan province, but there is no report yet on probable casualties, the provincial governor said Monday. - 11/22/04 Iraq to Discuss Borders, Security with its Neighbors An international conference to address the political and security situation in Iraq begins Monday in Egypt. The first day of the conference will be a meeting between Iraq and its neighbors: Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and Jordan, as well as host country Egypt. -VOA - 11/22/04 Tehran's Sharif University calls for setting up shipbuilding industry in Iran The Center for Technology Studies of Tehran-based Sharif Industrial University called for establishment of shipbuilding industry and called for the parliament's legislation to that effect. - 11/22/04 Watchdog welcomes Iran nuclear move The head of the world nuclear watchdog today welcomed Iran's promise to suspend uranium enrichment in the hope of allaying fears that it wants to make a nuclear bomb.-Guardian - 11/22/04 Iran Bars National Geographic Over Map Dispute Iran banned National Geographic reporters and sales of the magazine until it corrects an atlas it published using a disputed name for waters off the Islamic Republic's south coast. -Reuters - 11/22/04 Britain reiterates warning to Iran in nuclear row British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw voiced hope for an accord to end a nuclear standoff with Iran, but reiterated the row could still end up in the UN Security Council if Tehran fails to comply. -AFP - 11/22/04 Three Wives Attempt Suicide After Argument All three wives of a 67-year-old Iranian man took overdoses in an unsuccessful triple suicide attempt after the youngest wife bought an expensive pair of boots, a news agency reported on Sunday. -Reuters - 11/22/04 Princess to Star in New E! Reality Series The granddaughter of HH Princess Shams of Iran's Pahlavi Dynasty is the subject of a new E! Networks comedy/reality hybrid series in which she must find a good job and a suitable love interest or risk losing a hefty financial pipeline from her family. -World Screen - 11/22/04 Indian petroleum secretary heads for two-day visit to Iran During the visit, Tripathy will discuss a number of issues, including a stake in an oil field in return for buying liquefied natural gas (LNG), the sources in Indian Petroleum and Gas Ministry told IRNA. - 11/22/04 Portugal pulverizes Iran at world futsal meet Portugal upset the undisputed Asian futsal champion, Iran, 4-0 in their opening match in Taiwan Monday. - 11/22/04 $20 million for a coup in Iran? Overthrow Tehran? Hey, Not So Fast The Ledeen initiative shows the contradiction of the neoconservative worldview: While seeking to liberate and empower the peoples of the Middle East it also makes them pawns in a historical drama in which they have little voice. The execution of this sort of radical foreign policy vision has often run roughshod over the details, as the aftermath in Iraq has shown. -Houston Chronicle - 11/21/04 Iran to suspend production at UCF of Isfahan, Natanz voluntarily: Aqazadeh Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh said in Tehtran on Sunday that Iran is to suspend Uranium activities of the Conversion Facility (UCF) of Isfahan and Natanz voluntarily based on an agreement reached with the European trio of Britain, Germany and France. - 11/21/04 Experts Conduct DNA Tests on Ancient Skeletons in Tabriz Iranian archeologists have managed for the first time to conduct DNA tests on skeletons found in the ancient cemetery of the Azure Mosque of in the northwestern city of Tabriz -CHN - 11/21/04 FM Spokesman: Iran to begin suspension of uranium enrichment starting Monday Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in Tehran on Sunday that Iran will suspend uranium enrichment activities starting Monday, November 22. - 11/21/04 Holding onto faith Iranian native keeps her Baha'i religion alive in Salinas -The Californian - 11/21/04 Tajik Independent Newspaper Waiting For A New Day A 9 November report on Tajik television detailed the government's efforts to create a "reliable legal basis for a free press," noting darkly that some individuals in the media "are taking advantage of this and breaking the law." -RFE - 11/21/04 Bush Seeks Unity on North Korea, Iran Facing nuclear challenges on two fronts, President Bush warned Saturday that Iran's suspected weapons program is ``a very serious matter,'' and he stood united with leaders of Asia and Russia in demanding North Korea's return to stalled disarmament talks. -AP - 11/21/04 Iran to implement water, electricity projects in Cuba Iran's Export Development Dank Manager Norouz Kohzadi and Cuban Minister of Government Cardio Cabrisas concluded the agreement to that effect in Cuba on Saturday, according to the Iranian embassy in Havana. - 11/21/04 A 'Good-Cop, Bad-Cop' Approach on Iran It took the bluntest-talking member of the Bush administration - Richard L. Armitage, who is leaving his post as deputy secretary of state - to explain the strategy of suddenly increasing the heat on Iran's nuclear program. -NYT - 11/21/04 Iran, Afghanistan To Invest 2 Billion Dollars In Transportation Sector Iran, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan officials were present at the inaugural ceremony for the bridge which was held in the Afghan province of Nimroz on Saturday. - 11/21/04 NAM trio stresses international recognition of Iran's nuclear dossier Non-Aligned-Movement Troika and Head of Group of 77 and China of the Intentional Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Saturday the international community should recognize efforts by Iran's confidence building measures regarding its nuclear program. They talked to reporters after they visited Isfahan's uranium processing facilities. - 11/21/04 FM spokesman says Bush's recent spurt of anger caused by Iran's agreement with Europe To a question of whether Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi was to meet his American counterpart during the Sharm-el-Sheikh summit which opens tomorrow, he said that any meeting with the US official would be futile. "A meeting with him at the present juncture when he no longer has the authority would have little prospect," Asefi said. - 11/21/04 Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Art: A Museum with Mixed Design and Audience As a contemporary example of Iranian architecture, the design of Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Art has been inspired by certain traditional Iranian as well as modern architecture. -CHN - 11/21/04 Iranian website operator jailed An Iranian operating a news website from the central clerical city of Qom has received a 15-month suspended jail term amid a jusicial crackdown on internet writing, Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Thursday. -AFP - 11/21/04 Pentagon turns heat up on Iran With a deadline of tomorrow for Iran to begin an agreed freeze on enriching uranium, which can be used to produce nuclear weapons, sources have disclosed that the latest Pentagon gaming model for 'neutralising' Iran's nuclear threat involves strikes in support of regime change. -Guardian - 11/21/04 US problems in dispersing MKO terrorists from Iraq US has encountered "complex logistical problems" in their attempts to disperse most members of Mojahedin-e Khalq (MKO) terrorist group held at their Camp Ashraf military base in Iraq, IRNA has learnt. - 11/20/04 CD Of Lullabies Sends Message Of Peace From 'Axis of Evil' The project features singers from Bush's "axis of evil" countries, as well as other countries in the news, such as Syria, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan. The collection of songs aims to be a message of peace and hope -- and to show that, wherever people come from, they have much in common. -RFE - 11/20/04 The EU carrot, not the US stick Diplomacy on Iran's nuclear strategy may not succeed, but it's our best hope -Guardian - 11/20/04 Afghan minister hails Iran's help in rebuilding Afghanistan Afghan Minister of Reconstruction Mohammad Amin Farhang said Saturday that Iran has rendered to Afghanistan considerable assistance for rebuilding the country as well as combating poppy cultivation. - 11/20/04 Bush Warns Iran After Uranium Processing Reports President Bush on Saturday warned Iran of growing international concern over reports that Tehran is preparing large amounts of uranium for an enrichment process that can be used to make nuclear weapons. -Reuters - 11/20/04 Non-aligned and G-77 delegation heading for Iran on nuclear mission A four-member delegation representing the Non-aligned states in the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as well as the G-77 group countries left Vienna for Iran Friday night for a three-day official visit. - 11/20/04 UN humanitarian assistance continues despite insecure conditions in Iraq The United Nations continues to deal with the Iraqi Interim Government and the humanitarian community to coordinate and provide emergency assistance to civilians inside and displaced around Fallujah, a UN spokesman said today. - 11/20/04 Road accident in Iran leaves 18 people dead, 52 injured Eighteen people were killed and 52 others wounded after three buses collided with each other on the Isfahan-Golpaygan narrow road in the central province of Isfahan early Saturday. - 11/20/04 Hawk Sightings Could Be Premature Four years ago, the world thought it knew what kind of foreign policy George W. Bush would pursue. He had arrived in the Oval Office talking of a more "humble'' America that didn't tell countries how to conduct themselves inside their borders. -NYT - 11/20/04 Iranian Opposition Balks at Terror Label At a rally in the Capitol, thousands of Iranians gathered to call on world governments to denounce the terrorist label that has been applied to the People's Mujahedeen, or Mujahedeen Khalq. -AP - 11/20/04 Iran 'rushing nuclear enrichment' Iran is producing a gas that can be used to make nuclear arms, days before its promise to freeze such activities takes effect, Western diplomats say. -BBC - 11/20/04 EU Drafts UN Nuclear Resolution on Iran-Diplomats France, Britain and Germany are drafting a resolution on Iran for a key meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog next week and Washington is pushing the trio to include some tough language, diplomats said on Thursday. -Reuters - 11/20/04 Iranian director turns lens on India Mohsen Makhmalbaf, one of Iran's most celebrated directors, will shoot his next film in the heat and dust of India. -BBC - 11/20/04 "Alexander" under fire for bisexual king Oliver Stone's new film about Alexander the Great depicts the king as bisexual, fuelling outrage from Greeks and prompting Hollywood to ask if a world conqueror with dyed blond hair and waxed legs will be able to attract box office hordes.-Reuters - 11/20/04 EU Foreign Ministers' Council to welcome deal with Iran The Council of European Union Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels Monday will welcome the agreement reached between the EU Big 3 (Germany, France and Britain) and Iran last weekend. - 11/20/04 Analysis: Echoes of Iraq in Case Vs. Iran The Bush administration is building a case against Iran with disclosures of a covert nuclear weapons program that carry echoes of the run-up to the war with Iraq. -AP - 11/20/04 Khatami unveils Iran's South Pars 1 gas plant Iran brought on line a new phase of a colossal gas project, implemented on this tiny port on the Persian Gulf, with President Mohammad Khatami hailing it a 'great honor' for the nation. - 11/20/04 Letter from Masjed-e Soleiman “Four More Years”, the slogan of President Bush’s supporters in America has a different resonance in Iran. Here it means four more years until the centenary of the Middle East’s oil industry. It was on 26 May 1908 that the first commercially viable oil well in the region was struck here in the southwestern province of Khuzestan. -MEI - 11/19/04 Maybe Americans would not elect Bush! Three years ago, on the first day of November, I was in a solitary cell at the Evin Prison, a horrifying prison in Tehran. All the signs were telling me that I should have been proud of myself. I just wrote articles and nothing else. -Massoud Behnoud - 11/19/04 Blair, Chirac hope IAEA confirms Iran's voluntary suspension British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac Thursday jointly welcomed the agreement negotiated by the European Union on Iran's nuclear programme. - 11/19/04 Iran Faces New UN General Assembly Censure On Human Rights A UN General Assembly committee has voted to condemn human rights abuses in Iran, citing a crackdown on media, use of torture, and discrimination against women. -RFE - 11/19/04 Brzezinski slams "paranoid" US policy on Iran nuclear program Former US national security advisor Zbiginiew Brzezinski criticized the American government's "irrational and paranoid" policy towards Iran's nuclear program - 11/19/04 Solana, Ahani discuss EU-Iran ties Iran's ambassador to Brussels, Dr.Ali Ahani, met EU foreign policy chief Dr.Javier Solana Thursday evening and discussed the latest developments in relations between the European bloc and the Islamic Republic. - 11/19/04 New Funds for Restoring Prominent Alborz and Anushiravan Schools in Tehran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Tehran province has set aside 500 million rials for the restoration of two of Tehran's old high schools, Alborz and Anushiravan. - 11/19/04 Local Iranian music group from Abadan to participate in music festival in France A local music group from Abadan called 'Black Pearl' left for the French capital of Paris on Wednesday to attend an international music festival. - 11/19/04 Beyond Fallujah Men from all the Sunni areas, I was told, were coming to Fallujah to fight, a situation that one U.S. Marine had called the Sunni "Super Bowl." -Harper's Magazine - 11/19/04 The Role of Boycotts in the Fight for Peace After the election of George Bush, it took less than a week for peace activists to reach a consensus: "Stand and fight." -Common Dreams - 11/19/04 The hawks have landed Having crushed the resistance in Falluja, President George W. Bush is now trying to do the same at the State Department and the CIA. -IHT - 11/19/04 Weaving Western Instruments and Asian Hammers Together Music institutions in New York tend to present one kind of music. But the goal of Zankel Hall is to undercut the dominance of 19th-century Western art music at Carnegie Hall - undercut literally because it is in Carnegie's basement and figuratively by bringing in world music, jazz and other kinds of performance. -NYT - 11/19/04 U.S.-Iran Talks on Nukes May Be Ruled Out The Bush administration is not considering talks with Iran on developing nuclear weapons even though Secretary of State Colin Powell will attend a conference next week with diplomats from Iran and other countries. -AP - 11/19/04 Federal officials won't release Iranian brothers in L.A. Federal officials have denied the release of four Iranian brothers jailed for three years for supporting an alleged terrorist organization. -AP - 11/19/04 UN calls for global help in Afghanistan's battle against rising opium production Alarmed by the massive growth in opium production this year in Afghanistan, the United Nations crime fighting agency today called on the international community to do more in that country's battle against the illicit drug trade or risk a reversal of recent gains there and it becoming a "narco-state." -IRIN - 11/19/04 US, EU Urged to Step up Pressure on Iran Over Nuclear Issue Two non-proliferation experts say the United States and the European Union must raise the stakes with Iran over its suspected efforts to develop nuclear weapons. The experts briefed members of Congress and others on Capitol Hill. -VOA - 11/19/04 First nanotechnology center established in Kashan University Chancellor of Kashan University said the first nanotechnology research center was established in Kashan University this academic year - 11/19/04 Experts Link Iran Missile Development to Nuclear Concerns Iran's development of ballistic missiles has sparked concerns about the missiles' possible application to nuclear technology. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has cited Iran's missile program as evidence it is attempting to build nuclear weapons. -VOA - 11/19/04 Bush Confronts New Challenge on Issue of Iran While assembling a new national security team, President Bush is confronting what could become the biggest challenge of his second term: how to contain Iran's nuclear program and what some in the administration believe to be Tehran's support of violence in Israel and insurgents in Iraq. -NYT - 11/19/04 Dangerous catch-phrases Advertising and misinformation of the public have many (often too many) close similarities, as we all know. We also know that governments and rulers make regular use of both, although we have to admit that advertising can be put to good use. -Axis of Logic - 11/19/04 First phase of Iran's South Pars gas field becomes operational According to the relevant contract inked in 1997 based on buy back scheme, Petro Pars Co. was charged with producing 25 million cubic meters of natural gas, 40,000 barrels of gas condensates and 200 tons of sulfur per day. - 11/19/04 UN Panel Calls For Human Rights Reform In Iran A UN General Assembly committee has voted to condemn human rights abuses in Iran, citing a crackdown on media, use of torture, and discrimination against women. -RFE - 11/18/04 Soccer: Iran tops group after defeating Laos 7-0 Iran beat Laos 7-0 in Tehran on Wednesday, while Qatar denied Jordan any chance to advance in Asian World Cup qualifying, beating its fellow Arab state 2-0 to secure Iran's passage to the final round. - 11/18/04 Nuclear deal shows value of engagement with Iran, says UK envoy The agreement on Iran's nuclear program is "an excellent platform for step change" in the country's relations with the European Union, said British Ambassador Richard Dalton in London on Wednesday. - 11/18/04 Iran Says It Has No Secret Nuclear Activities Iran denied an exiled opposition group's allegations it was secretly seeking material to build an atomic bomb, a senior official said on Thursday. -Reuters - 11/18/04 Iran 'may seek to adapt missiles' US Secretary of State Colin Powell says he has seen information which suggests that Iran is seeking to adapt its missiles to carry nuclear warheads. -BBC - 11/18/04 Exiles Add to Claims on Iran Nuclear Arms David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a nonpartisan arms control group in Washington, said, "The timing of these revelations raises suspicions that the group is attempting to derail Iran's deal with the Europeans, particularly since there is no evidence to back up any of these claims." -NYT - 11/18/04 Is U.S. behind claims that Iran has secret nuclear facility? What we do not need is some group connected to terrorists and possibly sympathetic to the US or Israel, trying to derail the agreement after just a few days. Surely the world has had more than enough of those tactics with Iraq! -Profindpages - 11/18/04 Chirac Decries Iraq War Before London Trip The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq mobilized Islamic extremists and made the world more dangerous, French President Jacques Chirac said, keeping up his vocal opposition to the war on the eve of a visit to London. -AP - 11/18/04 Four charged in scheme to sneak Iranians into US LOS ANGELES: US authorities said Tuesday they had arrested four people in an alleged scheme to bring hundreds of Iranians into the United States with fraudulent work visa applications. -AFP - 11/18/04 Neoconservatives Gain Strength in New Bush Team Neoconservatives, seen as the ideological architects of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, appear to be gaining strength in President Bush's second administration, foreign policy analysts said on Wednesday. -Reuters - 11/18/04 Iran 'UK credit agency's most active market' Iran has become one of the most active markets for the British government's Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) in recent years, according to its deputy chief executive John Weiss. But from the number of contracts and in terms of interest shown by British businesses, it is now the "ECGD's most active market," Weiss told company representatives at an economic conference on Iran in London Wednesday. - 11/18/04 Activist talks of life in Iran Mehrangiz Kar, an Iranian human rights lawyer and writer, spoke about the struggles for freedom in Iran during a lecture Tuesday at UC Davis -Davis Enterprise - 11/18/04 Iranian striker Ali Daei becomes first man to score 100 goals Iran's prolific striker Ali Daei by scoring four goals at the Iran-Laos football match played as part of the 2006 World-Cup Asian Group A qualifying, became the first man to score over 100 goals in international football bouts. - 11/18/04 Iran: Interior Minister deplores arrest warrants against former MPs Minister of the Interior Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari on Wednesday criticized the justice system for issuing arrest warrants against several reformist members of the former parliament. - 11/18/04 Analysis: Has Iran Traded A 'Pearl' For A 'Bonbon'? Iran will voluntarily "continue and extend its suspension to include all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities," according to its 14 November agreement with the European Union's "Big Three" -- France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. -RFE - 11/18/04 Credit agencies accused of being politically biased on Iran's rating The accusation followed a presentation by James McCormack, senior director of Fitch Ratings, who insisted that the low standing attributed to Iran was "not just politics." McCormack tried to justify the ratings, which puts Iran below such countries as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, by questioning why Tehran was able to attract so little foreign investment. - 11/18/04 Silencing a modern Scheherazade In the old and turbulent history of Iran, women have relied on words as their weapon of choice to struggle for peace and justice. Their foremother, Scheherazade, knew the futility of fighting injustice through violent means. For one thousand and one nights, under the looming threat of having her head chopped off, she resorted to storytelling to cure a serial killer, her husband King Shahriyar. -Farzaneh Milani, CSM - 11/17/04 The Paradox of Anti-Americanism in Iran Iran itself suffers from internal contradictions that the mullahs wish did not exist. The Iranian people love America, and there is very little the government in Tehran can do to cool pro-Americanism on the streets. In an ironic twist of political fate, twenty-five years after the Islamic Revolution, Washington probably influences public opinion in Iran more than the Islamic regime. The Iranian government unwittingly created pro-Americanism in their country; the American government should be diligent not to unwittingly destroy it. -Nicholas Schmidle, Henry L. Stimson Center - 11/17/04 Iranian President: Democratic election in Iraq serves national sovereignty "The US policy has caused losses to Iraqi people and the other nations in the region and Iraq. According to the American experts, the US is engaged in quagmire of Iraq. We are ready to help the US get out of the current trouble, because, we want to help salvage the Iraqi nation," President Khatami said. - 11/17/04 Hewitt confident of improving economic ties between UK, Iran British Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt is optimistic that economic relations between London and Tehran will be boosted following this week's EU agreement on Iran's nuclear program. - 11/17/04 Iran's New Alliance With China Could Cost U.S. Leverage A major new alliance is emerging between Iran and China that threatens to undermine U.S. ability to pressure Tehran on its nuclear program, support for extremist groups and refusal to back Arab-Israeli peace efforts. -Washington Post - 11/17/04 Huge capacity to expand UK-Iran trade, says Iranian Minister of Industries and Mines Speaking in a keynote address at a London conference on 'Fueling Economic Growth in Iran,' he said that the trading relations of both countries have the "potential and the possibility for further expansion." - 11/17/04 Detained A/G Church Leader in Iran May Face Death Penalty One of the ten evangelical church leaders of the Assemblies of God Church in Iran reportedly released from detention by police authorities on Sept. 12 may possibly be charged with “espionage” and face the death penalty, sources reported today -Christian Post - 11/17/04 Iranian grandmaster Ghaem Maghami wins International chess tournament in India An Iranian grandmaster won the International Open Chess Tournament at Alekhine Chess Club in Gorky Sadan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, Wednesday. - 11/17/04 EU says nuclear deal with Iran "step in the right direction'' Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, whose country currently holds the current European Union presidency, Wednesday said the weekend's EU-Iran agreement on Iran's nuclear program "is a step in the right direction." - 11/17/04 Iran warns nuclear suspension subject to progress in talks with EU Iran warned that its agreement to suspend sensitive nuclear activities in order to ease fears it is seeking the bomb was subject to rapid progress in a new round of negotiations to begin next month. -AFP - 11/17/04 A change of guard - not policy - at State With Iran, Bush and his new secretary of State must strive to forestall that unpredictable state's development of nuclear weapons. The governments of France, Germany, and Britain are reacting cautiously to an Iranian pledge to suspend uranium enrichment activities temporarily in return for a variety of economic incentives. -CSM - 11/17/04 Fremont native worth a million A financial analyst who moved from Fremont to Morgan Hill three months ago, Sam Heshmati was one of 16 contestants on the Fox reality TV show "The Rebel Billionaire." -Argus - 11/17/04 Group Says Iran Has Secret Nuclear Arms Program An Iranian opposition group says it has new evidence that Iran is producing enriched uranium at a covert Defense Ministry facility in Tehran that has not been disclosed to United Nations inspectors. -NYT - 11/17/04 Japan arrests Iranian drug boss Japanese authorities have arrested the Iranian boss of a drug-smuggling group that allegedly hired some 1,000 of his countrymen to peddle hashish in Japan. -UPI - 11/17/04 Bush Threatens Mankind, says Caldicott Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr Helen Caldicott fears US President George Bush's re-election will lead to Armageddon and she isn't sure if mankind would survive another four years. -Sydney Morning Herald - 11/17/04 Solana hopeful of opening new chapter in EU-Iran ties European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana is optimistic that the EU-Iran nuclear agreement concluded on Sunday would open the way for closer cooperation between Brussels and Tehran. - 11/17/04 Defusing the Cold War Between Iran and Israel Will Israel attack Iran? While Americans focused this fall on the presidential campaign, the rhetorical conflict between the Middle East's two most formidable military powers steadily deepened. -Washington Post - 11/17/04 Oil fuels Asian giants' tensions The row over the intrusion into Japanese waters of one of China's nuclear submarines is the latest in a long series of awkward moments in the fraught relationship between Asia's two most powerful nations. -BBC - 11/17/04 Iran’s Foreign Minister to Attend Sharma El Sheikh Conference Although, direct negotiation between Iran and US is not on the agenda according to Asefi, the US Secretary of State will directly hear Iran’s views on Iraq and a range of other issues he confirmed. -Radio Farda - 11/17/04 Iran dissident faces prison term Leading Iranian dissident Ebrahim Yazdi has been sentenced to prison for acting against the national interest. -BBC - 11/17/04 Stop National Geographic’s Historical Revisionism: Protect the Persian Gulf! The current editions of National Geographic’s “Almanac of World History” and “Atlas of the World 2005” have listed the Persian Gulf with an alternative name “Arabian Gulf.” -NIAC - 11/17/04 UK Annual Report on Human Rights Condemns Iran United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office published it annual report on human rights on November 10. Jack Straw the British Foreign Secretary presented the report, on the same day, at a press conference at the Foreign office and answered questions from the media. -Radio Farda - 11/17/04 Yesterday & Today at Tehran’s Saless Gallery Last month was rather a busy one for me and I was lucky enough to have the time and the chance to visit several galleries. I share one of my joys here with you! -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 11/16/04 Online journalist Hanif Mazroi released Iranian journalist Hanif Mazroi was freed on 11 November, two months after being arrested in a crackdown against online journalists on 8 September. -RSF - 11/16/04 Iran ranks second in number of casualties from earthquakes per million inhabitants: UN UN Resident Coordinator Fredrick Lyons said in Tehran on Tuesday that Iran reported the highest number of deaths from earthquakes during 1980-2000. - 11/16/04 Rafsanjani may run for president in upcoming Iranian election Secretary of Presidential Campaign Headquarters for Iranian Experts Council Mohammad Reza Tourani said in Tehran on Tuesday that Head of Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in his meeting with a member of the political wing on Tuesday has officially rejected the views of some individuals on his withdrawal from upcoming presidential campaign. - 11/16/04 ElBaradei's Iran report to IAEA Board of Governors Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei has released his report on Iran to the Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors, that is to start its meeting on Iran's case in Vienna, Austria, on November 25. - 11/16/04 Iran tourism revenue stands at 500 million dollars annually: Official Head of Iran cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) Hossein Marashi said here Monday that Iran's share of world-wide tourism is about dlrs 500 million annually. - 11/16/04 Winners of tenders for phases 15 and 16 of Iran's South Pars oil and gas fields to be announced soon Winners of tenders for development of phases 15 and 16 of the South Pars oil and gas field are to be announced within the next 15 days. - 11/16/04 Iranian Hardliners Unhappy with Nuclear Deal Iranian hard-liners are angered over a deal Tehran has agreed with the European Union to suspend all activities related to its enrichment program in a bid to end an international standoff over its nuclear program. -Reuters - 11/16/04 Remnants of 1,000-Year-Old Mosque Found The remnants of a 1,000-year-old mosque have been unearthed near the southern town of Baft, in Kerman province -CHN - 11/16/04 Mideast Closely Watches US Secretary of State Succession Secretary of State Colin Powell's resignation and the reported selection of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice as his successor is being watched with great interest in the Middle East. - 11/16/04 Keeping Iran From The Bomb The Bush administration's hope of punishing Iran for hiding its nuclear-enrichment activities for 18 years will just have to wait. -CSM - 11/16/04 Sassanid Bust Discovered in Bishapour A Sassanid bust weighing 10 kilograms and dating back to 1,700 years ago is unearthed in the ancient city of Bishapour, Fars province -CHN - 11/16/04 Iran Agrees to Temporarily Suspend Uranium Enrichment We're joined by Mansour Farhang, an Iranian author and diplomat who served as revolutionary Iran’s first Ambassador to the United Nations and worked as a mediator in the early months of the Iran-Iraq war. He left Iran as a dissident in 1981 and now teaches international relations and Middle East politics at Bennington College in Vermont. -Democracy Now - 11/16/04 A City Lies in Ruins, Along with the Lives of the Wretched Survivors After six days of intense combat against the Fallujah insurgents, US warplanes, tanks and mortars have left a shattered landscape of gutted buildings, crushed cars and charred bodies. -Independent - 11/16/04 EU nuclear deal with Iran puts hardline US on spot - analysts The EU deal that got Iran to freeze key nuclear activities puts the United States on the spot since Washington must now decide whether to continue confronting Iran as an enemy or join Europe in trying to engage it, analysts and diplomats told AFP. - 11/16/04 Straw: Iran Nuclear Agreement a Milestone in Iran-EU relations British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Monday that the agreement reached between Iran and EU on nuclear and technological cooperation was a milestone in relations between Iran and Europe. - 11/16/04 Oil Rebounds After Heavy Falls OPEC's second top producer Iran believes cartel members needs to cut production back to official quota levels to bolster prices for its lower-quality crude supplies, an Iranian oil official said on Tuesday. -Reuters - 11/16/04 US Skeptical About Iran Nuclear Pledge U.S. officials have reacted skeptically to Iran's latest pledge to rein in its nuclear activities. Iran says it is willing to suspend any uranium enrichment, and Iran and the European Union have hammered out the outlines of a deal on the nuclear issue. Iran still remains under close scrutiny. -VOA - 11/16/04 EU Hails Nuclear Agreement With Iran As 'Qualified Success' Three EU member states – Britain, France, and Germany, accompanied by EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana -- have said a deal has been reached with Iran committing it to suspend its uranium-enrichment program. -RFE - 11/16/04 Text of Iran-EU agreement on nuclear program Iran and the European Union reaffirm the commitments of Tehran Declaration they signed on October 21, 2003 and decided to move forward building on that agreement. - 11/15/04 Iran's Rowhani: Suspension not Tehran's red line Suspension of uranium enrichment program has never been the red line, said Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Hassan Rowhani in a press conference in Tehran on on Monday. Rowhani said that rather, Tehran's red line has been complete suspension of uranium enrichment process. - 11/15/04 Mild quake jolts suburbs of Qouchan in northeastern Iran A mild earthquake measuring 3.4 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale jolted the outskirts of the northeastern city of Qouchan in Razavi Khorassan province early Monday morning. - 11/15/04 Iran Pledges to End Uranium Conversion from Nov. 22 Iran will stop converting uranium from Nov. 22 to dispel fears Tehran is seeking atomic arms, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said Monday. But Hassan Rohani said Iran still wanted a full nuclear fuel cycle, which would include uranium enrichment. -Reuters - 11/15/04 The pomegranate: an ancient fruit with modern appeal The pomegranate is an ancient fruit, cultivated in Persia and Greece several hundred years BC, well before the almond, apricot or peach were grown. -Valley News Network - 11/15/04 Report: Iran has spies, fighters in Iraq IRAN has spies, weapons and attackers in Iraq, and may have a US$500 ($650) bounty on the head of each US soldier there, according to a report based on intelligence documents published by a US news magazine. -The Australian - 11/15/04 English Version of Iran’s First Tourism News Site Launched Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency (CHN) has launched the English version of its tourism news site in a bid to cover latest developments of Iran’s fledging tourism industry, aggressively developed to diversify its oil-dependent economy. - 11/15/04 Historiographers invited to present essays on Siraf port in Iran A foundation specialized in research on the historical aspects of Bushehr called on domestic and foreign historiographers to submit their essays touching on the subject of the historical port city of Siraf for submission to the secretariat of the upcoming Siraf International Congress (April 12-14, 2005). - 11/15/04 Verdict due on Iran nuclear plans The UN nuclear watchdog is preparing to issue a report on investigations into Iran's nuclear activities. -BBC - 11/15/04 Iran sends women golfers to India Four women golfers leave for India Sunday to represent Iran in an international tournament. - 11/15/04 Tehran to host ministerial meeting of Iraqi neighbouring states The interior ministers of the Iraqi neighbouring states -Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Kuwait and Egypt- are due to meet in Tehran in December - 11/15/04 Iran's Ja'fari wins world sanshu gold Mohammad-Reza Ja'fari snatched the world's 85 kg sanshu gold medal at Stars Cup in Macau, China, Monday. - 11/15/04 Blast of war time unexploded device kills 3, injures more in Dezful The blast of an unexploded device left over from the eight-year Iraqi imposed war against Iran (1980-1988) killed three children and wounded four others including a 30-year-old woman in this southwestern provincial city on Sunday. - 11/15/04 UN probe backs Iran nuclear claim Iran has not diverted nuclear materials it declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to make weapons, the UN watchdog has concluded. -BBC - 11/15/04 Iran Agrees to Suspend Uranium Enrichment Iran has agreed to a full suspension of uranium enrichment in an effort to avoid referral to the U.N. Security Council. Diplomats are waiting for a formal letter to arrive from Tehran. -VOA - 11/15/04 Quake shakes Tehran's suburb An earthquake measuring 3.1 degrees on the Richter scale shook a town near the sprawling Iranian capital Saturday evening, but there was no immediate report on probable damage. - 11/14/04 IAEA inspectors arrive in Iran: spokesman A team of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors arrived in Tehran and immediately started their work Saturday evening, an IAEA spokesperson said in Vienna. - 11/14/04 US does not plan regime change in Iran: Powell The United States has no intention to change Iran's regime and it has no plans to invade the nation neighboring Iraq , where 140,000 US troops are stationed, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview to be broadcast Sunday. -AFP - 11/14/04 UNHCR cuts training, reduce health assistance to Afghans in Iran Director of Khorassan province Bureau for Alien and Foreign Immigrant Affairs said here Saturday that the United Nation High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) has cut training assistance to the Afghan refugees in Iranian camps. - 11/14/04 Iran to Announce Decision on EU Nuclear Deal -Reports Iran will announce its final decision later on Sunday on an EU proposal that it freeze sensitive nuclear work in return for avoiding referral to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions, local news agencies reported. -Reuters - 11/14/04 Iran, Azerbaijan to bolster border cooperation Iran's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Afshar Soleymani on Sunday informed Azeri commander-in-chief of border guards A. Goliev of Tehran's willingness for expansion of cooperation with the Republic of Azerbaijan on border regions. - 11/14/04 Kurds in Iran Cheer Iraqi Neighbors' Efforts for Greater Voice Iran's six million Kurds are avidly following events across the border in Iraq, hoping that the Kurds there will blaze a trail to greater freedoms that can be duplicated in Iran. -NYT - 11/14/04 Iran and EU reach agreement in nuclear talks Iran says it has submitted a letter to the United Nations' atomic watchdog announcing it will suspend uranium enrichment activities as part of a deal with the EU to avoid possible U.N. Security Council sanctions. -Reuters - 11/14/04 Iran Prepares For What Could Be Bruising Presidential Election Iran is gearing up for what could be, given the existing tension in the Persian Gulf region, the most important presidential election in the Islamic republic’s history. Ascendant conservative forces will be looking to cement their stranglehold on the country’s political institutions. However, the conservatives are far from united, raising the odds that the election campaign will be bruising. -Eurasianet - 11/13/04 Former state broadcast boss mulls run for Iran presidency The longtime boss of Iran's state broadcast media, Ali Larijani, said that he was considering standing for the presidency in elections due next year. -AFP - 11/13/04 Pakistan's oil minister to visit Iran Pakistan's Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Amanullah Khan Jadoon will visit Tehran to discuss the proposed gas pipeline project with authorities in Iran. - 11/13/04 Iran will not give up on nuclear negotiations: FM Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said in Cairo on Friday that Iran will never give up any opportunity to continue negotiations on the nuclear issue. - 11/13/04 ElBaradei's report on Iran's nuclear program postponed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Chief ElBaradei has postponed submission of his report on Iran's nuclear programs, saying he is still waiting for the final result of the EU Big 3-Tehran negotiations, it was announced in Vienna on Friday evening. - 11/13/04 EU weighs Iranian nuclear reply Iranian negotiators have responded to a deal struck with EU nations last week about the Islamic state's nuclear programme, reports say. -BBC - 11/13/04 Book Review: Globalised Islam (By Olivier Roy) The issue is not whether democracy is on the move, Roy argues. What is under way is sociological modernisation. Although the Islamic republic of Iran lowered the legal age of marriage for women to nine, the real average age of marriage has gone on rising in Iran and reached 22 by 1996. Literacy rates among Iranian women rose from 28% to 80% between 1976 and 1996. - 11/13/04 U.N. Report Slams Use of Torture to Beat Terror The 19-page study, which is likely to go before the current session of the U.N. General Assembly in December, does not identify the United States by name but catalogues the widely publicized torture and humiliation of prisoners and detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. troops waging the so-called ”war on terrorism.” -IPS - 11/13/04 Quake jolts western Iranian city of Qarveh An earthquake measuring 3.6 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale shook the city of Qarveh in the western province of Kurdestan on Saturday morning. - 11/13/04 Victories Rooted in Barren Ground The Forthcoming Election in Iraq Will Be as Hollow as the Latest US Triumph There -Sydney Morning Herald - 11/13/04 Syria to take part in Tehran meeting of Iraq's neighboring states The two-day meeting of the interior ministers of Iraq's neighboring states is scheduled to be held in Tehran from November 30 to December 2, 2004. - 11/13/04 Explosion in Mazandaran coal mine leaves 3 dead An explosion at a coal mine in Vaz village, near the town of Nour, in Iran's northern Mazandaran province at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday left three dead. - 11/13/04 Springtime for Spooks? The biggest source of speculation about President George W Bush's foreign policy in a second term is if it will continue on the same aggressive trajectory that marked the first or whether, chastened by Iraq, it will be more restrained over the next four years. Much will, of course, depend on who will get which positions in the new administration. -IPS - 11/13/04 Signs of US-Iran warming? The rapprochement between the US and China started with an exchange of ping-pong players. Maybe this one will start with an exchange of books. Never mind that one of the signs carried by the students in the anti-American demonstration was, "Death To American Culture." -CSM - 11/12/04 Communicating the Iranian experience visually and verbally In September 2002, Nikoo Paydar (LA '04) had quite an answer for the perennial question, "What did you do last summer?" Short answer: she took a two-month trip to Iran, her birth country, funded by the then-UCCPS Omidyar Scholar Community Project Fund and a Massachusetts Campus Compact Social Awareness grant. -Tufts Daily - 11/12/04 Diplomats say Iran might adopt harsher position on nuclear issue Diplomats in Vienna say Iran is going to adopt harsher positions in reaction to proposals of the European trio regarding its nuclear activities. - 11/12/04 Retired US general Tommy Franks urges diplomacy for Iran, North Korea Retired US general Tommy Franks, who oversaw the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq , said that diplomacy was the best way for Washington to deal with concerns over Iran and North Korea 's nuclear programs. -AFP - 11/12/04 US traps rebels as fighting spreads American led forces today said they had trapped insurgents in southern Falluja, on the fifth day of their assault on the rebel-held city. -Guardian - 11/12/04 Tajikistan: President's Remarks On Women And Mosques Draw Sharp Reactions Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov has backed an edict from the country's Muslim spiritual council that bans women from attending mosque. In an address to the nation on 6 November, Rakhmonov laid out his arguments for supporting the ban, but not everyone is certain of his motives. -RFE - 11/12/04 Quake hits northern Iranian town of Minoudasht An earthquake measuring 3.7 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale shook the southern parts of the town of Minoudasht in the northern province of Golestan Thursday evening. - 11/12/04 Iranian FM in Cairo to attend Arafat funeral Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi Thursday night left for Cairo, capital of Egypt, where the funeral ceremony of late leader of Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, is held Friday. - 11/12/04 UN Iran Report Held Up as Nuke Freeze Talks Stall The U.N. nuclear watchdog has held up a new report on inspections in Iran while Tehran and the EU's "big three" try to break a deadlock in talks aimed at freezing Iran's uranium enrichment program, diplomats said on Friday. -Reuters - 11/12/04 Iran gives response to EU pressure on nuclear activities: France Iran has given a response to EU pressure for it to suspend uranium enrichment, the French foreign ministry said. Iranian authorities delivered their reply late Thursday to Britain, France and Germany and to EU high representative Javier Solana late Thursday, the ministry said without divulging its contents. -AFP - 11/12/04 Rafsanjani says way open for Europeans to come to an agreement with Iran on nuke issue Rafsanjani stressed that the way is open for the European Union to reach an agreement with Iran on the nuclear issue if its representatives act more rationally and stop being too demanding. - 11/12/04 Another War? For Israel's sake What next for the War Party? Like a giant anaconda after a humongous meal, the monster is hardly finished with the process of swallowing its latest prey, let alone digesting it. Yet the hunger that drives it is relentless and the creature is already eyeing the next course: Iran. -Antiwar - 11/12/04 Nine Iranian with links to reformist sites freed but seven cyberjournalists still in prison Reporters Without Borders welcomed an announcement by justice spokesman Jamal Karimi-Rad that nine people accused of links to reformist websites have been released in recent weeks, but regretted that seven journalists remain in prison in the same case. - 11/11/04 Iran’s Glassware & Ceramic Museum, Housing a Fragile Collection The premises that have been turned into museum where glass and clay works are on display were built about 90 years ago upon orders of Ahmad Qavam (Qavam-ol-Saltaneh) for his personal lodging (residence and working office). -CHN - 11/11/04 Iran prepares to give response on nuclear deal Iran will probably give its formal response to Britain, France and Germany on whether it will agree to a suspension of some of its nuclear activities in order to avoid possible UN sanctions, a top official told AFP. - 11/11/04 Fire Temples Empty as Parsees' Spiritual Flame Begins to Die THEY have survived as exiles for 13 centuries, since Alexander the Great drove them from Persia to the western shores of India, where they took refuge and flourished. They found favor with the British, taking high office during the Raj, and founded some of India's most prominent business houses. Now, 3,000 years after their Zoroastrian religion was first born, the Parsees of India are facing extinction. -CHN - 11/11/04 Palestinians mourn their leader The Palestinian Authority has declared 40 days of mourning as preparations are made to return Yasser Arafat's body from the Paris hospital where he died. -BBC - 11/11/04 Vanunu arrested by Israeli police The Israeli former nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu, released in April after 18 years in jail, has been re-arrested, police say. -BBC - 11/11/04 Analysis: Azerbaijan Rejects Armenian Warning Over Karabakh Talks In an exclusive interview on 9 November with RFE/RL's Armenian Service, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said that he and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov made "serious progress" during their four rounds of talks on approaches to resolving the Karabakh conflict. -RFE - 11/11/04 US Faces Criticism in British Government Human Rights Report The United States faced rare criticism over human rights from close ally Britain, with an official British government report taking Washington to task over concerns about Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay jail. -AFP - 11/11/04 Iran mulls 'noteworthy' response to EU's nuclear offer Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi says Iran is still examining a European proposal which offers Tehran a package of incentives in return for suspending some of its nuclear activities. - 11/11/04 Fischer reports no breakthrough yet on Iran-EU nuclear talks German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said Thursday there had been no breakthrough yet in the ongoing nuclear negotiations between Iran and the European Union trio (Germany, Britain and France). - 11/11/04 EU Digs in Heels on Iran Nuclear Freeze-Diplomats Iran has told France, Britain and Germany it wants more than promises of future benefits if it suspends its controversial uranium enrichment program, but the Europeans have refused, Western diplomats said on Thursday. -Reuters - 11/11/04 Arab tourists flock to Iran Western tourism to Iran dropped off after the US government's "war on terror" began after the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. But a growing number of Arab visitors are now filling the gap. -AME Info - 11/11/04 Iranian war disabled sets off on world tour with message of peace An Iranian war disabled kicked off his round-the-world tour from Iran's northwestern city of Maku on Thursday saying he aims to spread the culture of peace throughout the world. - 11/11/04 Iranian couple biking for peace An Iranian couple has arrived in Brussels on a cycle tour for peace and friendship. - 11/11/04 Saffron: The immigrant experience, as Chicago teens see it The collection of languages spoken by the young performers in "Saffron" -- the new show by the nationally recognized Albany Park Theater Project set to debut this weekend as part of the Children's Humanities Festival -- could easily keep the translation department of the United Nations busy. -Chicago Sun Times - 11/11/04 China Looking To Iran To Fuel Its Booming Economy China's economy is booming, witnessed by its skyrocketing energy needs. Oil imports have doubled over the past five years and surged nearly 40 percent during the first eight months of 2004 alone. In an effort to secure future energy reserves, state oil trader Zhuhai Zhenrong agreed earlier this year to buy $20 billion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran over the next 25 years. -RFE - 11/11/04 Powell to Meet Iranian Officials Secretary of State Colin Powell says he expects to meet Iranian officials later this month at the Egyptian-hosted international conference aimed at building support for elections in Iraq. - 11/10/04 Wargaming Iran Assumptions are sought and accepted. The question was asked: "Should Iran be likened to Saddam Hussein 's Iraq , in whose possession nuclear weapons would pose an unacceptable threat, or to Pakistan, India, or even North Korea , whose nuclear ambitions the United States regrets but has decided to live with for now?" The immediate answer: The United States cannot "tolerate Iran's emergence as a nuclear power." -William F. Buckley Jr. - 11/10/04 Iran at 'crucial point' in nuclear stand-off, issues fresh warning Iran is at a 'crucial point' in its stand-off with the UN's atomic watchdog, one of the country's most senior figures was quoted as saying, as another official warned too much pressure could push nuclear activities 'underground'. -AFP - 11/10/04 EU-Iran deadlock over uranium processing-diplomats France, Britain and Germany have been negotiating with Iran for over a year to try to persuade the Islamic republic to abandon its nuclear fuel production plans. Over the weekend, diplomats from the four parties reached a tentative deal, though they have not been able to agree on its scope. -Reuters - 11/10/04 UN refugee agency voices extreme concern for Iraqis fleeing Fallujah assault The United Nations refugee agency today voiced extreme concern over the fate of tens of thousands of Iraqis who have fled the city of Fallujah to escape the fierce fighting in an assault launched on rebels there by United States and Government forces. - 11/10/04 AFGHANISTAN: Food insecurity growing in northeast Sitting outside their house in the isolated Charshanbe Afghania village, Ajab Gul’s children had to wait until late in the day before the nine-member family had their only meal. -IRIN - 11/10/04 Iran's Ebadi denied permit for rally against execution of minors Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi said she has been denied permission to stage a rally to protest against the execution of under-18's in the Islamic republic. -AFP - 11/10/04 Plundered Treasures of Iran End up on London Market NINETY per cent of the major archaeological sites in Pakistan and Iran have been looted and the spoils are flooding into London, a leading British archaeologist said yesterday. -CHN - 11/10/04 Iran bars showing of 'insulting' photos in Paris Iran has blocked four local photographers from exhibiting some of their work in Paris after certain pictures were deemed to be "against Islamic values and mocking the image of Iranian women." -AFP - 11/10/04 Studies to Determine Tafresh Antiquity Historical and cultural studies on historic monuments in Tafresh, Markazi province, will begin soon -CHN - 11/10/04 Report: Iran admits to supplying Hezbollah with drones A senior Iranian official has admitted that Tehran supplied Hezbollah with the drone that spent several minutes in Israeli skies in the north of the country on Sunday, an Arab-language newspaper reported Wednesday. -Ha'aretz, Israel - 11/10/04 War Not an Option Against Iran - Germany's Fischer War is not an option against Iran and no one expects the standoff over Iran's nuclear program to lead to an "Iraq -like confrontation," German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer was quoted as saying on Wednesday. -Reuters - 11/10/04 Tehran mayor: Railways in southern Tehran to be relocated underground The railways in southern Tehran will be moved underground in order to prevent current environmental and civilian problems in southern suburbs of the Iranian capital, Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad said on Wednesday. - 11/10/04 Isfahan and Saint Petersburg become sister cities governor of Russia's second biggest city, Saint Petersburg, Valentina Matviyenko and Isfahan Mayor Morteza Saqqaian-nejad on Wednesday signed an eight-article agreement, according to which Isfahan and Saint Petersburg have been declared sister cities. - 11/10/04 Relentless Struggle to Save Izeh Relics to Go Iranian archeologists’ upheaval struggle to safeguard age-old relics and monuments from being submerged will continue around the clock after inauguration of a colossal dam in southwestern Iran, pledged officials in Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (CHTO). - 11/10/04 Former Hostage: 25 Years After Embassy Crisis, U.S. and Iran Need to Talk Laingen, president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, said the United States shares mutual interests with Iran and the two countries need an open dialogue about Iran's nuclear weapons program. -Kansas City infoZine - 11/10/04 Iranian FM meets Iraqi envoy, expresses deep concern over crisis in Falluja Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi expressed deep concern over the intensification of crisis in the Iraqi city of Falluja in a meeting with the visiting special envoy of the Iraqi prime minister in Tehran on Tuesday. - 11/10/04 Iranian, North Korean Nuclear Programs Major Challenges for Bush Administration The Bush administration is facing major challenges in the foreign policy arena, as the president prepares to begin his second term in office. In this report from Washington, Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera looks at the issue of nuclear non-proliferation. -VOA - 11/10/04 Web Writers Purge Underway in Iran: Arrests Designed to Silence NGO Activists The Iranian government is moving to silence Internet and Web-log communications, the last remaining outlet for freedom of expression in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. - 11/9/04 Iranian Internet Journalists Face Trial Next Week A group of journalists working with pro-reform online media will go on trial in Iran next week accused of spreading propaganda against the Islamic state, a judiciary official was quoted as saying on Tuesday. -Reuters - 11/9/04 Behzad Ranjbaran’s Persian Trilogy This new release on Delos International introduces important music new to most American classical music lovers. Behzad Ranjbaran, the composer, was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1955. Well-educated musically during his childhood, he came to the United States in 1974 and completed his studies at Indiana University and the Juilliard School in New York where he is now on the faculty. - 11/9/04 Tehran tells Afghans to go home Senior officials in Tehran have publicly called on Afghan refugees to return to their country. -BBC - 11/9/04 No Carrots, All Stick Blinkered Bush Set to Blunder Again in Iraq -- and Iran -Common Dreams - 11/9/04 US sceptical about Iran-EU nuclear deal: arms control assistant secretary The United States is skeptical about the EU's efforts to cut a deal with Iran to get it to give up uranium enrichment that could be used to make nuclear weapons, a senior US official said. -AFP - 11/9/04 China stresses settlement of Iran's nuclear case at IAEA The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Beijing on Tuesday that Beijing believes Iran's nuclear case should be settled at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) although certain countries seek to send it to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). - 11/9/04 Quakes jolt Iranian cities An earthquake measuring 4.4 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale jolted the city of Avaj in Qazvin province Monday night. - 11/9/04 Iran nuclear 'agreement' welcomed Reports of a preliminary deal between Iran, the UK, France and Germany over Iran's nuclear programme have been given a cautious welcome. -BBC - 11/9/04 Foreign Ministry advises Iranian pilgrims not to travel to Iraq Foreign Ministry announced in Tehran on Tuesday that Iranian pilgrims who wish to travel to Iraq should postpone their trips under present emergency situation of that country. - 11/9/04 EU, US Pressure on Iran Could Backfire Diplomats might be optimistic about a breakthrough with Tehran over its nuclear program after weekend talks between Tehran and three European Union heavyweights, but realities are more complicated, since many Iranians say their country has a legitimate right to have full access to nuclear technology. -Antiwar - 11/9/04 Young man finds his appendix removed instead of needle in his wrist after operation A young man in the provincial capital of Arak in Central Iran found his healthy appendix removed after waking up from a supposed wrist surgery, reported a Persian-language daily here Tuesday. - 11/9/04 The contemporary political landscape of Iran: the eclectics of post-revolutionary politics If we would measure the success of Iran’s reformists by their own standards, we would need to accept the dismal prospect that the country’s reforms are dead. There are many signs that point in that direction -Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, - 11/9/04 Iranian mathematician takes 7th place in world contest Iranian mathematician Ali Bayat Movahed ranked seventh in the world subjective calculations contest in Germany. - 11/9/04 Iran Says Can Mass Produce Medium-Range Missiles Iran said on Tuesday it was now able to make large numbers of its medium-range Shahab-3 ballistic missile, which defense experts say is capable of hitting Israel or U.S. bases in Persian Gulf. -Reuters - 11/9/04 Iran's oil revenues to hit $35B by year-end Iran's oil revenues will reach over 35 billion dollars by the end of the current Iranian calendar year of 1383 (March 20, 2005) due to the upward trend of oil prices during the past 18 months. - 11/9/04 Islamic Iran Participation Front calls on government to protect fledgling democracy in Iran The political party said in a statement that violation of law and order has escalated in recent weeks in relation with political activists and urged the government to put into force a mechanism to support principles of the fledgling democracy in Iran. - 11/9/04 Will dark clouds have silver lining this time? Many observers here were surprised by some Iranian officials who, just before the presidential elections, indicated support for President Bush over the Democratic challenger, John Kerry. At a deeper level, however, their rationale for supporting George W. Bush’s reelection did actually make a lot of sense. -Kam Zarrabi - 11/8/04 Iran Jails More Journalists and Blocks Web Sites Iran has continued its crackdown on journalists, with two arrests in the past week, and has moved against pro-democracy Web sites, blocking hundreds of sites in recent months and making several arrests. -NY Times - 11/8/04 The New Republican Reality: No Policy is Too Right-Wing Where should the United States invade next? Iran, Syria, or Cuba? Will George Bush merely slash taxes on the rich even further in his second term, or will he have the courage to abolish income tax altogether? Will gay marriage simply be outlawed state by state, or will a much-threatened constitutional amendment come into being? -Independent - 11/8/04 UK considering provisional agreement on Iran's nuclear program The British government Monday confirmed that it was considering the provisional agreement reached with Germany and France in talks with Iran on its nuclear program. - 11/8/04 The lesser evil A few weeks ago in a San Francisco taxicab, I began chatting with the driver, a middle-aged man with a foreign accent. Like an ambitious Henry Higgins, I spotted his accent as Middle Eastern, probably Iranian, judging from his visible identification card atop the windshield. -Washington Times - 11/8/04 Solana: EU 'Pretty Close' to Nuclear Deal with Iran The European Union 's three big powers are "pretty close" to a deal with Iran that would freeze Tehran's nuclear fuel enrichment and reprocessing activities, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Monday. -Reuters - 11/8/04 Books - Glimpse into the Iranian closet Houston author, Morteza Baharloo, explores harsh life of Persian slave in homoerotic novel -Dallas Voice - 11/8/04 ElBaradei: Nuclear Security Is a 'Race Against Time' Mohammed ElBaradei says the world is engaged in a "race against time" to control the spread of nuclear material. At an international security meeting in Sydney, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that action was needed to prevent a nuclear or radioactive emergency. -VOA - 11/8/04 Librarian of Congress visits Iran Despite recent tensions over Iran's nuclear program, the United States and Iran quietly initiated a high-level cultural exchange this week with a visit to Tehran by the librarian of Congress, James Billington. -Boston Globe - 11/8/04 Largest ever military exercise to be held in western, southern Iran Speaking at a ceremony to introduce new commander of the 81st armoured division of Kermanshah province, he said that the military exercise has been designed as a deterrence to any threat across the provinces of Kermanshah, Ilam and Khuzestan. - 11/8/04 Iran Says Will Retaliate if Nuclear Plants Hit "If Israel or any other country attacks any site in Iran, we know no limits to threaten their interests," Deputy Revolutionary Guards Commander Mohammad-Baqer Zolqadr said. -Reuters - 11/8/04 Tehran University officials discuss legal, social issues with Judiciary Chief Tehran Universtiy officials held a meeting with Irainian Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi here Sunday to discuss various legal and social issues. - 11/8/04 Tehran agrees to nuclear freeze The European powers secured a pledge from Iran at the weekend that Tehran would halt its uranium enrichment programme within weeks, an agreement that may avert a showdown later this month between Iran and the west -Guardian - 11/8/04 Iran stands second at world youth Greco-Roman bouts Iran pulverized the French team 19-7 to finish runner-up in 2004 World Youth Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, Sunday night. - 11/8/04 Amir Kabir University students to protest beating of Elm-o San'at University chancellor Students of the Industrial University of Amir Kabir in Tehran announced in a statement that they were going to stage a sit-in Monday to protest the beating of the chancellor of Elm-o San'at University (Sciences and Technology University). - 11/8/04 Rouhollah Khaleghi Artistic Center established in Washington DC Golnoush Khaleghi, a Washington-based Persian musician and the daughter of the contemporary Persian (Iranian) composer and theoretician Rouhollah Khaleghi (1906-1965) has founded a musical center called RKAC to keep the name and the work of her father alive. -Pejman Akbarzadeh - 11/8/04 9.6 billion dollars withdrawn from Iran's foreign exchange reserve fund Since the beginning of the inception of the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund (FERF) as a source for accumulating surplus budget revenues, over dlrs 9.640 billion had been approved to be channelled into 1,217 projects by the end of the first half of the current Iranian year (started March 20). - 11/7/04 A look at the glorious past architecture of Tabriz Geographers and tourists have often made reference to the East Azarbaijan capital city of Tabriz as well as its glorious monuments and palaces constructed at the order of the monarchs, ministers and commanders. - 11/7/04 32 million jobs opportunities should be provided in the next 17 years in Iran In the first four years of the Third Five-Year Economic, Social, and Cultural Development Plan (2000-05), 2,280,000 jobs were created, which constituted 78.8 percent of the target set for the purpose. - 11/7/04 Bush Win Puts US on Collision Course with Iran Despite Europe's fears, Bush may be tempted into an assault on Iran -Sydney Morning Herald - 11/7/04 'Agreement' in Iran nuclear talks Iran says it has reached a preliminary agreement with Britain, France and Germany to address concerns about its nuclear programme. -BBC - 11/7/04 Tremors jolt Fars province of Iran, no injuries reported Tremors measuring 4.2 degrees on the richter scale jolted Zarrin-Dasht in Fars province Saturday night. - 11/7/04 Researcher: Iran's per capita chicken consumption nears Europe standards The head of the Institute of Research on Livestock Sciences Mohammad-Ali Kamali told IRNA that per capita chicken consumption in Iran stands at 15.2 kg compared to Europe's 17.8 kg and 11.2 kg globally. - 11/7/04 A disaster in the making for Europe As a senior Bush aide has proclaimed: 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality _ We're history's actors _ and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.' Yes, under George W Bush the US does not need to make disaster movies any more; they just create real disasters. -Guardian - 11/7/04 Iraq declares state of emergency Iraq's government has declared a 60-day state of emergency in response to the escalation of violence by militants. -BBC - 11/7/04 Along border, Kurds say, Iran gives boost to uprising For years, and with the blessing of Iranian officials, Islamist terrorist groups have smuggled weapons and money into Iraq on this road, many Kurdish intelligence and security officials said. -Boston Globe - 11/7/04 350 flights conducted from Qeshm overseas monthly About 350 flights are operated from Qeshm International Airport to Tehran, Shiraz, Dubai, Ras al-Kheimeh and vice versa every month. - 11/7/04 Iran wants China to replace Japan as top oil importer: report Iran wants China to replace Japan as its biggest importer of oil and gas, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was reported as saying here. -AFP - 11/7/04 Let's not Perpetuate the Habits that Divide Us The emergence of Iranian American civil right groups is encouraging, and I offer two additional points. -Rostam Pourza - 11/7/04 Neo-Con Agenda: Iran, China, Russia, Latin America... An influential foreign-policy neo-conservative with long-standing ties to top hawks in the administration of President George W Bush has laid out what he calls ''a checklist of the work the world will demand of this president and his subordinates in a second term.'' -IPS - 11/7/04 China lends weight to Iran over nuclear issue China's Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing announced in Tehran on Saturday China's opposition to hauling Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear program, saying this would make the standoff more complicated. - 11/6/04 Letters from Ahmadabad Namehayee Az Ahmad Abad, 1335-1345 (Letters from Ahmad Abad, 1956-1966, Press Xpress, Washington, DC, 2004) compiled and edited by Fariba Amini, is a collection of more than 100 letters written by the beloved Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh to Nosratollah Amini, former mayor of Tehran and Mossadegh's personal attorney. - 11/6/04 UK lawyer honored for bravery during Bam earthquake A British lawyer, who spent nine hours digging wounded victims out of the rubble of her hotel after the devastating earthquake in the Iranian historic town of Bam, has received a prestigious bravery award for saving seven lives. - 11/6/04 US and Europe at odds over strategy for dealing with Iran This weekend's talks in Paris between the EU3 - France, Germany and the UK - and Iran over Tehran's uranium enrichment programme are seen by some as the last chance to reach an agreement that would stop the issue from reaching the United Nations Security Council. -Financial Times - 11/6/04 Iran wins key backing from China in nuclear stand-off Iran was given crucial backing from China in its stand-off with the UN's nuclear watchdog, with Beijing saying it opposed US efforts to have the Islamic republic referred to the United Nations Security Council. -AFP - 11/6/04 Apply "Libya Model" to Iran and Syria The Bush administration does not appear to have learned any lessons from the Iraq imbroglio. The White House is now busy pursuing the same bellicose policies in Iran and Syria that led to the invasion of Iraq. -Foreign Policy In Focus - 11/6/04 300,000 tons of rice needed to be imported by Iran ,200,000 tons of rice will be produced in Iran this year and only 300,000 tons of imports would be enough to meet domestic demand, which would stand at 2.5 million tons in the year. - 11/6/04 Posh facades, empty streets in post-Soviet Azeri Jewish village The 17 children of Ruvin Avshalomov tell the story of this Azeri mountain village, where houses have grown more chic and life a lot more quiet in the years since the Soviet break-up. -AFP - 11/6/04 Iran to build new refinery in South Pars The National Iranian Oil Company, LG consortium, Oil Industries Engineering and Construction Company (OIEC) and Iranian Offshore Engineering Company (IOEC) are the project contractors. - 11/6/04 Iran lawmakers draft bill outlawing atomic arms Iranian lawmakers have drafted a bill outlawing the state from developing nuclear weapons in a bid to show the world that Tehran's atomic ambitions are entirely peaceful, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday. -Reuters - 11/6/04 Iran calls for 'change of behaviour' after Bush re-election Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi gave Iran's first formal reaction to George W. Bush's re-election, urging the US president to undergo a "change of behaviour" in his second term. -AFP - 11/6/04 Project for development of 16 oil fields start in central Iran Successful drilling of the first phase of a pair of wells in Sarkan oil field in central part of Iran marked the start of operations for development of 16 oil fields in the area. - 11/6/04 Expediency Council passes extra provisions for privatization drive in Iran The top decision making body passed two notes of a general plan to amend the constitutional articles which advocated state monopoly over national economy. - 11/6/04 Time for US to come to terms with 'humiliation' in Iran - Brzezinski Former National Security Adviser to the Carter Administration, Zbigniew Brzezinski, suggested Saturday that the US should finally comes to terms with the takeover of the American Embassy in Iran after 25 years. - 11/6/04 Human Rights Situation In IRAN: Canada Presents Resolution at UN General Assembly Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew today announced that Canada tabled a resolution at the 59th session of the UN General Assembly, on the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. - 11/6/04 Iran, EU inch closer to reach compromise: diplomats Representatives of Iran and the EU big trio, France, Germany and Britain, held their third round of talks in Paris on Friday on Iran's nuclear program to follow up ways to achieve an agreement between the two sides. - 11/6/04 For Iran, 'The Yellow Dog Is The Brother Of The Jackal' Before and after the U.S. presidential election Tehran indicated a surprising preference for the incumbent, President George W. Bush. In contrast, the Iranian media tended to say there is little difference between Bush and the challenger, Senator John Kerry, and their respective parties. -RFE - 11/6/04 Emaddedin Baqi: Iranian human rights defender at risk Amnesty International is concerned that shortcomings in the judicial system in Iran facilitates the targeting and harassment of human rights defenders, limiting their ability to carry out human rights work. - 11/6/04 Women's media, rights groups urged to take action after second woman arrested on Internet-related charges in Iran Reporters Without Borders today called on women's media and women's rights groups around the world to rally to the defence of two Iraqi women journalists who have been arrested in the past eight days in connection with their work for pro-reform websites. - 11/6/04 The Nuclear Case of Iran and the Survival of the Islamic Regime Many people have addressed the nuclear case of Iran from the wrong angle. This is the reason for failure in getting the reasonable conclusions and also the root for the repeated failure of the negotiations. The central point in the present nuclear case of Iran is the survival of the ruling regime. -Bahman Aghai Diba, Tharwa - 11/5/04 Victorious Bush has a rare chance to bring Tehran in from the cold Twenty-five years after its revolution of 1979, Iran has yet again become too big of a problem for Washington to play politics with. -Trita Parsi, Daily Star - 11/5/04 Inside Track / The fire next time Bush's re-election will spark American preparations for an operation, perhaps together with Israel, against Tehran's nuclear program. The IDF, however, is not prepared for an Iranian counter-move that would set the northern front ablaze. -Ha'aretz - 11/5/04 Quake hits northeastern Iranian city of Nahbandan An earthquake measuring 3.8 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale shook the city of Nahbandan in the Southern Khorassan province on Friday. - 11/5/04 The history of epicurean delights in Persian poetry The Persian poets Omar Khayyam and Shamseddine Mohammad Hafez are, alongside their predecessor Abu'l Qasim Firdausi, the most famous writers and philosophers to come out of Iran in medieval times. -Daily Star - 11/5/04 World Wants Changes from Bush to Open a New Era World leaders at odds with George W. Bush are hoping he will change his policies to rebuild global trust shattered by the Iraq war, but his strengthened mandate means they could be the ones left making the changes. -Reuters - 11/5/04 Iranian immigrant donates $6 million to B.C. hospital Vancouver real estate developer Djavad Mowafaghian's gift is the largest individual donation in the history of the B.C. Children's Hospital. The money will be used to expand the children's cancer clinic. -CBC News - 11/5/04 On foreign policy, how bold will Bush II be? White House goals may be chastened by Iraq, but new challenges also loom in Iran and North Korea. -CSM - 11/5/04 Student Claiming His Iranian Heritage Led To Suspension Sues Again A former Stetson University student who sued the school last year, alleging he was suspended because of his Iranian heritage, filed another suit to get back on campus. -AP - 11/5/04 Remembering the Iran hostage crisis Thursday marks the 25th anniversary of the US embassy hostage crisis in Iran. -BBC - 11/5/04 Chirac to skip EU meeting with Allawi Jacques Chirac, the French president, is to miss an EU summit meeting today with the interim Iraqi prime minister, Ayad Allawi. Aides to Mr Chirac, an opponent of the US-led war, denied the move was a snub but divisions over Iraq and the EU's troubled relations with the re-elected US president, George Bush, were still evident as national leaders met in Brussels. -Guardian - 11/5/04 Caspian sea negotiations paralysed Russia's newly named presidential envoy Igor Yusufov is refusing to comment on the most recent stalemate in negotiations over the division of seabed resource rights between the five Caspian littoral states -Russia Journal - 11/5/04 Bush Faces New Foreign Policy Challenges As the Bush administration prepares for its second four-year term in office, the main U.S. foreign policy challenges include bringing peace to the Middle East and ensuring democracy in Iraq. Other major issues include concerns over the development of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea. -VOA - 11/5/04 Chinese FM discusses North Korea, Iran with Powell Li Zhaoxing, who heads to Tehran Saturday, exchanged views with Powell on how to properly resolve the row over Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Xinhua news agency said. -AFP - 11/5/04 U.S. prefers diplomacy with Iran, but conflict possible Of all the foreign policy challenges facing President Bush in his second term, none - apart from Iraq - looms larger than Iran. -USA Today - 11/5/04 Central Asia: Expert Sees 'More of the Same' In U.S. Policy George W. Bush has won four more years in the White House, with Iraq and terrorism likely to remain his foreign policy priorities. But what changes, if any, can we expect in U.S. policy toward Central Asia? -RFE - 11/5/04 Iran does not accept "Indefinite" enrichment suspension "Islamic Republic rejects any suspension which obliges the country to terminate its peaceful nuclear programme," head of Supreme National Security Council's foreign policy committee Hossein Mousavian told IRNA on Thursday. - 11/5/04 Ross Mir-Karimi leads race for District 5 Supervisor in San Francisco Green candidate Ross Mir-Karimi is leading the race for District 5 Supervisor in the City San Francisco, outstripping 22 other candidates with 29 percent of the votes. -NIAC - 11/5/04 Iran, EU Nuke Talks Underway, No Breakthrough Seen Diplomats from France, Britain and Germany met their Iranian counterparts on Friday for a new round of talks to persuade Tehran to give up its uranium enrichment program, but diplomats said no breakthrough was likely. -Reuters - 11/5/04 Privatization of State-Owned Enterprises in Iran: Panacea or Prescription for Disaster Nearly a month has passed since Iran’s Expediency Council decided to rescind articles 43 and 44 of the Constitution. The decision enabled all major industries, manufacturing and service sectors, except for downstream oil and gas industries, to be ceded to the private sector. -Ali Mostashari, MIT - 11/5/04 Bush Allows Rare Visit to Iran Despite Nuke Crisis James Billington, the congressional librarian and a presidential appointee, arrived in Iran on the weekend hoping to expand the legislature's collection of Iranian publications on a trip that ends on Friday, his office said. -Reuters - 11/4/04 IRAN: Nuclear Negotiations Will there be a negotiated settlement to the Iran nuclear crisis? -Council of Foreign Relations - 11/4/04 Iran and EU hold last-chance meeting on Tehran's nuclear program Iran and the EU continue last-chance talks in Paris Friday with both sides seeking compromise over Europe's call for the Islamic republic to suspend uranium enrichment in order to allay US-led concerns it is secretly developing nuclear weapons. -AP - 11/4/04 Bush, Republican Right, Extend Mandate Despite starting a war with no discernible end and plunging the federal budget into record deficits, U.S. President George W Bush and right-wing Republicans have scored a significant, if narrow, electoral victory that consolidates their control over an increasingly polarized nation.-IPS - 11/4/04 Physician in Fostoria accused of aiding Iran A Fostoria physician was responsible for the illegal delivery of more than $1 million to Iran, of failing to report more than $750,000 in interest earned in hidden foreign bank accounts, and of filing false tax returns, a federal indictment filed yesterday alleges. -Toledo Blade - 11/4/04 China's FM due in Iran Saturday Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing is to pay a two-day visit to Iran on November 6, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Beijing on Thursday. - 11/4/04 Iran can make the bomb, but doesn't want to: Iranian official Iran has the capacity to produce nuclear weapons but does not intend doing so, a senior Iranian official said. "We do not intend making nuclear weapons," said Ali Akbar Soltan, deputy director-general of Iran's foreign ministry political department. -AP - 11/4/04 What Does Bush's Win Mean For Foreign Policy? U.S. President George W. Bush has won a second chance to tackle the major foreign-policy challenges that characterized his first four years in office. They include rebuilding strained U.S.-European relations, the crises over Iraq and Iran, and growing U.S. concerns about Syria. -RFE - 11/4/04 US attack on Iran 'inconceivable' UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said it is "inconceivable" that America would try to bomb Iran. -BBC - 11/4/04 South Asia hopes to gain from Bush win The re-election of George W Bush as US president is being welcomed in much of South Asia. Concerns, however, are being led by the region's Muslims. -BBC - 11/4/04 Any attack on Iran 'inconceivable,' says UK's Straw Foreign Secretary Jack Straw Thursday completely ruled out the possibility of any attack being launched against Iran by the US or by its proxy, Israel. - 11/4/04 Woke up this mornin', got the election blues We went to bed daring to hope and awoke to the crushing news. And ever since we've been swapping emails and texts about how miserable we feel. Emma Brockes on how George Bush's victory catapaulted liberal Britain into collective depression -Guardian - 11/4/04 MSF aid agency stops work in Iraq The aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says it is pulling out of Iraq because of the danger to its staff. -BBC - 11/4/04 World: Reactions To Bush Reelection -- Praise, Resignation, And Fear Voices from nearly every corner of the globe have reacted to yesterday's confirmation that George W. Bush will hold the U.S. presidency for a second four-year term. -RFE - 11/4/04 First national festival of potato to be held in Ardebil The first national festival and scientific seminar to study Iran's potato problems will be held in December in Ardebil. - 11/4/04 Masjed-Jamei outlines status of Iranian press Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed-Jamei outlined the status of Iranian press in Wednesday's cabinet session. - 11/4/04 ElBaradei's Iran report to be soft-tuned The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Chief Mohamed ElBaradei's report on Iran, due to be presented to the Agency's Board of Governors would be soft tuned. - 11/4/04 Diplomats: Nuke Report on Iran May Weaken U.S. Case A new report on U.N. nuclear inspections in Iran may be worded in a way that undermines the U.S. case for reporting Tehran to the Security Council this month, diplomats said Wednesday. -Reuters - 11/4/04 East Asia and Middle East have worst press freedom records Reporters Without Borders announces its third annual worldwide index of press freedom. Such freedom is threatened most in East Asia (with North Korea at the bottom of the entire list at 167th place, followed by Burma 165th, China 162nd, Vietnam 161st and Laos 153rd) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia 159th, Iran 158th, Syria 155th, Iraq 148th). - 11/4/04 Beaten Iranian university chancellor says his capture was pre-planned Chancellor of the University of Science and Technology Mohammad-Taqi Salehi said that he had been held hostage by a number of students according to a pre-planned plot. - 11/4/04 Iran ranks third in world youth kurash meet Iran stood third at the third World Youth Kurash Championships in Uzbekistan Tuesday. - 11/3/04 No More Execution or Flagging for Under 18 in Iran Iran’s judiciary spokesman reported on a new bill sent to Majles (Iran’s parliament) that once it becomes a law would make execution and flagging of under eighteen year olds illegal. - 11/3/04 Solana says higher-level EU-Iran contacts necessary to achieve breakthrough The European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana Tuesday voiced optimism over the course of current EU-Iran talks to find an amicable solution to Europe's concerns about Iran's peaceful nuclear program. - 11/3/04 EU Foreign Ministers To Discuss Iraq, Iran, Russia, Belarus EU officials say the bloc intends to signal clearly this week that "time is getting short" for Iran to comply with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requests. -RFE - 11/3/04 Dentist's campaign on track A campaign to raise £20,000 so an Iranian toddler can receive the first phase of specialist medical treatment has reached the halfway mark. -BBC - 11/3/04 Axis of failure The war in Iraq has realised Tony Blair's worst fear: the creation of another country where terrorists can easily find weapons of mass destruction -Guardian - 11/3/04 Iran holds siege anniversary demo Thousands of Iranians gathered outside the former US embassy in Tehran to mark 25 years since 52 Americans were held hostage in the Islamic Revolution. -BBC - 11/3/04 UAE mourns 'father' Sheikh Zayed Dignitaries are gathering in the United Arab Emirates for the funeral of its president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, who died on Tuesday aged 86. -BBC - 11/3/04 Oil Back Up to $50 as Bush Scents Victory Oil prices rose back to $50 on Wednesday as President Bush edged toward U.S. election victory, a result which traders said would bolster fuel demand and underpin anxiety over security of Middle East supply. -Reuters - 11/3/04 Paintball Makes a Splash in Iran A veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, Hamid Nikpour took a lot of convincing that paintball was an activity to be taken seriously. -CHN - 11/3/04 Quakes hit Iranian cities An earthquake measuring 3.5 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale shook parts of the northeastern Iranian province of Golestan Wednesday morning. - 11/3/04 Iran to fingerprint visitors from US US travelers visiting Iran will have to be fingerprinted on entering the country under a bill approved by a parliamentary committee -AFP - 11/3/04 India and Iran in gas partnership State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has teamed up with Iran's Petropars to put forward a $3bn (£1.63bn) joint project to develop a gas field in Iran. -BBC - 11/3/04 Iran to sign contracts for sale of gas to Europe, S. Korea The managing director of National Gas Export Company (NGEC), Roknoddin Javadi, announced that Iran has agreed to export LNG to Europe and South Korea. - 11/3/04 Louvre Tries to Deepen Ties with Iran: Loyrette France's Louvre Museum is scheduled to hold two exhibits on two Iranian historical periods, namely Achaemenid and Safavid, in the fall of 2007 in Paris, its director Henri Loyrette told Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency. - 11/3/04 Iranians know their future hinges on U.S. voters Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, secular Iranian liberals like interior designer Hengameh Behbahani welcomed President Bush's war on terror as an antidote to the extremist Islam taking hold in the Middle East. -Star Ledger, NJ - 11/3/04 Iranian Government Spokesman urges prosecuting university hostage-takers A group of students in objection to the speech of Ibrahim Yazdi and Mostafa Tajzadeh at the University of Science and Technology beat the chancellor and took him hostage for three hours. - 11/3/04 In major compromise EU softens demand on Iran for uranium enrichment suspension The European Union is no longer explicitly calling for an indefinite suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment, diplomats said, outlining a compromise proposal ahead of a crucial meeting with the Iranians on their nuclear programme. -AFP - 11/3/04 Khatami sees no bright outlook for Iran-US relations Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said in Tehran on Tuesday there is no bright perspective for Iran-US relations and expressed the hope that great changes will be made in the US policies and principles. - 11/2/04 Khatami Expresses Optimism For Solution To Nuclear Concerns Iranian President Mohammad Khatami says he is optimistic that negotiations with European Union officials concerning his country's nuclear program will result in a solution. -VOA - 11/2/04 Iran's judiciary orders conservative-run news website to close Iran's hardline judiciary ordered the conservative-run news website Baztab to close after receiving complaints that the site was "publishing false news," contrary to Iran's security guidelines, student news agency ISNA reported. -AFP - 11/2/04 Khatami rejects full halt to nuclear work but upbeat on Iran-EU talks Iran's President Mohammad Khatami ruled out a definitive halt to uranium enrichment as demanded by European states to end a nuclear standoff but played up the prospects of a negotiated solution. -AFP - 11/2/04 Iran students in nuclear protest Hundreds of university students have demonstrated in Tehran in favour of its nuclear technology programmes. -BBC - 11/2/04 Quake hits northeastern Iranian city of Gonbad An earthquake measuring 4.3 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale shook the city of Gonbad in the northeastern province of Golestan Monday. - 11/2/04 Record turnout expected in US vote US voters are expected to turn out in record numbers today, eager to deliver their verdict in a deeply polarised race for the White House. -Guardian - 11/2/04 The Whole World is Watching: The Test for the West It is the future unity of the ''West'' that, more than any other basic factor in contemporary global affairs, is most at stake in Tuesday's presidential elections -IPPS - 11/2/04 Iran Risks `Serious' Showdown on Nuclear Plans, Fischer Says Iran may face a ``very serious'' showdown with the United Nations should the Islamic country fail to dispel suspicions that it is building a nuclear-weapons program, said German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. -Bloomberg - 11/2/04 Chief of UN atomic watchdog reiterates call for Iran's nuclear compliance In his annual report to the UN General Assembly, Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he had urged Iran to pursue a policy of "maximum transparency" so that the outstanding issues could be resolved. - 11/2/04 Iran exports 3.781 million dollars worth of non-oil goods Iran exported 3.781 million dollars worth of non-oil goods during the first seven months of the current Iranian year 1383 (started March 20, 2004). - 11/2/04 MKO terrorists given varied status in Iraq The British government has revealed for the first time that members of Mojahedin-e Khalq terrorist group held by at their Camp Ashraf military base in Iraq by the US include some subject to extradition claims. - 11/2/04 Iranians banned from smoking in public places Iran's parliament passed a bill prohibiting smoking in public places in the hope of stemming the popularity of one of the country's favourite habits. -AFP - 11/2/04 Afghan repatriation from Iran slows as temperatures cool Over one million Afghans have voluntarily returned to their homeland from Iran since the UN refugee agency initiated the programme in April 2002. To date, over half the original Afghan caseload has returned, leaving an estimated 950,000 officially registered Afghan refugees inside the country. -IRIN - 11/2/04 Majlis terms Iran-Europe talks as positive Majlis Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel on Tuesday stressed that Majlis believes negotiations with the Europe on Iran's nuclear programs are useful but added that no agreement has been made yet on the European proposal. - 11/2/04 Iran's Afghan refugees feel pressure to leave Step by step Afghan refugees in Iran are being denied basic services - they're not allowed to buy medical insurance any more, to rent a house without government permission or open a bank account. -BBC - 11/2/04 IAEA Chief Presses North Korea, Iran on Nuclear Threat The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency has described North Korea as a serious challenge to nuclear non-proliferation efforts. In a speech to the General Assembly, agency chief Mohammed ElBaradei also urged Iran to suspend nuclear enrichment activities. -VOA - 11/2/04 Iranian philanthropist contributes $180M for school construction Head of the Iranian Philanthropists for School Construction (IPSC) Mohammad-Reza Hafezi announced on Monday that an Iranian philanthropist has recently contributed 1,500 billion rials ($180 million) for the purpose. - 11/2/04 Iranian-American Women Poets Zara Houshmand, Persis Karim and Katayoon Zandvaliki at San Jose's MLK Library Zara Houshmand was born in the United States to an American mother and an Iranian father. Persis Karim, the sixth child of an Iranian father and a French mother, was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Katayoon Zandvakili was born in Tehran, Iran and raised in the United States. - 11/2/04 Analysis: Iranian Military Rhetoric Reflects Outside Pressures The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corp (IRGC), Brigadier General Yahya Rahim Safavi, said on 8 October that U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are merely the foundations of an expansionist U.S. military strategy to subdue the entire Middle East, the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported. Safavi added: "If this strategy fails heavily in Iraq, it will, undoubtedly, stop. Otherwise it may extend to neighboring countries." -RFE - 11/1/04 Iran: Inflation rises further to 13.9 percent Inflation in Iran continued its upward trend year on year, going up to 13.9 percent in a year to Shahrivar, the sixth month on the Iranian year (started March) with foodstuff, wheat, fresh fruits, hand-woven carpets, soft drinks, auto engines, spare parts and stationaries becoming costlier. - 11/1/04 Iran upbeat about outcome of nuclear talks with EU trio Iran said Monday it had ruminated over all the consequences if its nuclear talks with EU officials fail, but stressed that Tehran considered failure a remote probability. - 11/1/04 US offered uranium enrichment, reprocessing to Iran: documents The United States offered uranium enrichment and reprocessing plant facilities to Iran in the mid-1970s if it bought nuclear power plants from US companies, invested in an enrichment plant in United States and shared plutonium reprocessing plant with Pakistan, recently declassified US documents reveal. - 11/1/04 491,000 vehicles produced in Iran since March: report Saipa's Pride models ranked first in number of cars produced with a total number of 131,488 followed by 'Paykan' with 84,715, and 'Peugeot 405' with 49,590. - 11/1/04 IOC clinches $3-bn deal to develop South Pars field in Iran In its biggest ever investment abroad, state-run Indian Oil Corporation has clinched a three billion dollar deal to develop a gas block in the gigantic South Pars gas field of Iran and sell LNG from it. -Outlook India - 11/1/04 Iran's car exports up 2.6 fold Car exports increased 2.6-fold in terms of value during the first six months of the current Iranian year 1383 (started March 20, 2004) to reach 35.6 million dollars, the English-language 'Iran Daily' wrote on Monday. - 11/1/04 China to develop Iran oil field China has signed an agreement to buy oil and gas from Iran and to develop Iran's Yadavaran oil field, according to state media from both countries. -BBC - 11/1/04 Failed liberator casts light on Iranian regime's stability A few months ago an Iranian expatriate appeared on a US-based satellite channel promising to arrive in Tehran on 1 October celebrating the fall of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Pirouz Khaleghi Yazdi became a joke to many Iranians and a hope to optimistic opponents of the Islamic state. He ambiguously withdrew or postponed his plan only a couple of days before the deadline, proving to his amused detractors that his promises were empty. -Amir Ali Nourbakhsh, Iran Focus - 11/1/04 Stephen Hawking to Lead Anti-War Protest on Election Day Stephen Hawking, Britain's most eminent scientist, has become the latest prominent opponent of the Iraq war by agreeing to take the lead role in a ceremonial protest to coincide with the United States presidential election. -Independent - 11/1/04 Iraqi president opposes Fallujah assault, accuses Iran Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar accused Iran of orchestrating attacks in his country and declared his opposition to a threatened assault on the rebel hotbed of Fallujah. -AFP - 11/1/04 Ameri campaign 2nd most expensive in the country Oregon's congressional races are shaping up as among the most expensive in the country, according to a new analysis by the Federal Election Commission. Ameri's candidacy has raised objections from Iranian Americans in Oregon because many disagree with her support of President Bush and the war in Iraq. -AP - 11/1/04 Bush Reflections 2004! Reflecting on the first four years of George W. Bush’s Presidency… Nation Building: Sending in the demolition crews! -Ali Moayedian - 11/1/04 Iran Would Freeze Enrichment for 6 Months at Most Iran could agree to freeze uranium enrichment for six months at most and only provided the European Union abandons its demand that Tehran scrap enrichment for good, a senior Iranian security official said on Monday. -Reuters - 11/1/04 Virtues of Womanhood in Patriarchal Societies And what is the fundamental message in the modern feminine intellectual way of appearance (which is basically appearing like men)? “I am not a masculine vestige; a rib. I am not a sex object. I have an identity of my own. I am not merely the wife or the mother of some men.” -Roya Monajem, Tehran - 11/1/04 Sixth online Iranian journalist thrown in prison as authorities reportedly prepare "adultery" charges Reporters Without Borders today deplored the arrest of Iranian journalist Fershteh Ghazi, of the daily Etemad ("Confidence"), for working with reformist Internet news websites and expressed alarm at reports that the intelligence services were preparing to accuse her and five other imprisoned journalists of "adultery" in a bid to hide the political nature of their detention. - 11/1/04 Gardens of Iran: Ancient Wisdom, New Vision: A New Exhibition at TMCA Regular readers of Payvand know that my little pieces are a very personal account of what I do, see, observe and experience mainly in Tehran where I live. In the recent weeks, so many people have asked me if I had seen the Persian Gardens exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art that I felt it was indeed a real must, so I went to see this exhibition last week -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 11/1/04 © Copyright 2009 NetNative (All Rights Reserved)