PAYVAND_AD

Payvand Iran News Archive

Home News News Archive Sports News Interesting Sites Directory Persian Calendar Bookstore Archive	September 2004 Jewish exile describes life in Iran "Why is Iran unique?" Hakakian, critically-acclaimed book, "Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran," asked in introduction. After giving a brief description of Iran's history and the role it has played in the Middle East, she answered her own question: "It is one of the few places there that serves as a reminder of what the United States has done wrong in the last 50 years," she said. -Tufts Daily - 9/30/04 Is Iran Next? This spy scandal raises two concerns for U.S. diplomats and foreign policy experts from across the political spectrum. One, that U.S. Middle East policy is being directed by neoconservative ideologues variously employed, coordinated or sanctioned by Feith’s Pentagon office. And two, that U.S. Middle East policy is too closely aligned with that of Israeli hardliners close to U.S. neoconservatives. -Axis of Logic - 9/30/04 "Turtles Can Fly" to represent Iranian cinema at 2005 Oscar The Iranian movie 'Turtles can Fly' which was admired recently in a film festival in Madrid is to represent Iranian cinema in the Oscar Academy Award competition. - 9/30/04 The October Surprise? Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would be seriously tempted to launch a "preemptive" strike against Iranian nuclear facilities if he could get a green light from the U.S., as it would eliminate a potential threat to Israel's nuclear weapons monopoly in the region and also boost his popularity in a difficult period at home -Embassy, Canada - 9/30/04 Oil Prices: the Fundamental and Temporary Reasons The oil prices have increased almost 60% percent since the middle of the 2003. A part of this increase was foreseeable since a while ago. -Bahman Aghai Diba - 9/30/04 Jaleh Shaditalab on how to effect public policy on women's issues Jaleh Shaditalab director of Center for Women's Studies, University of Tehran, said her presentation was how in Iran "we have tried to bring policy makers to the table with scientists." She said she concentrated in particular on what " We have established in our center -- for women's studies -- university of Tehran." -ArabNews.com - 9/30/04 Iranian Officials Mock Self-Styled Exile Savior Iranian officials have poured scorn on a self-styled "savior" who says he will return from exile on Friday to witness the collapse of the Islamic state's clerical leadership. -Reuters - 9/30/04 Iranian carpet-makers display breathtaking designs SALALAH, Oman: Visitors at the Crowne Plaza Resort Salalah were in for a surprise at the end of last month when a selection of fine Persian carpets was on show in the hotel. For these were not your typical Persian rugs - they were carpets depicting breathtaking portraits of Iranian monuments in intricate detail. -Daily Star - 9/30/04 US Sanctions 14 Foreign Firms, Individuals for Selling Weapons Technology to Iran The United States Wednesday imposed sanctions against 14 foreign firms and individuals, seven of them Chinese, for selling missile or weapons of mass destruction technology and equipment to Iran. - 9/30/04 Suit against Treasury Department aims to protect First Amendment The group, which includes the American Institute of Physics, is opposing the attempts of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to control publishing activities involving information and literature from countries under trade embargo such as Iran, Cuba, and the Sudan. -AIP - 9/30/04 Identical Car Registrations Spark Spat An Iranian who saw a woman driving what he swore was his own car accused her of stealing it, only to find two identical vehicles had accidentally been issued with the same registration plate. -Reuters - 9/30/04 Armenia: The Dream of Complementarity and the Reality of Dependency The stepchild of the Transcaucasus, Armenia occupies the weakest geostrategic position in the region. -PINR - 9/30/04 Quake jolts Evaz in Iran's southern Fars province An earthquake measuring 3.7 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale shook the town of Evaz in the southern province of Fars early Thursday. - 9/30/04 Iran Interested in Venezuela Exploration Iran is interested in crude and natural gas exploration in Venezuela, the vice president of Venezuela's state oil company said Wednesday. -AP - 9/30/04 Arsenic 'could treat leukaemia' A poisonous substance used as weed killer and notorious as a weapon for murder mystery writers may be used to treat leukaemia, Iranian researchers believe. -BBC - 9/30/04 Senior Democratic Senator Says War Makes U.S. More Vulnerable To Attack Veteran U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said the United States not only faces an increased threat of a terrorist attack, but that it risks a nuclear attack. -RFE - 9/30/04 ASEAN nations back Thai Foreign Minister as Next UN Secretary-General Iran earlier put forward the name of President Mohammad Khatami. U.N. Undersecretary General for Public Information Shashi Tharoor, an Indian, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate. -VOA - 9/30/04 Washington's Iran Strategy: Ostracizing Tehran from the International Community By achieving a nuclear weapons capability, Iran would be better insulated from foreign threats and would help to stabilize its regional power. While a nuclear-armed Iran would assist in securing Iranian interests, it would be a dangerous development for the interests of the United States and Israel. -PINR - 9/30/04 Over 3.5 million pilgrims arrive in Karbala, Iraq for Imam Mahdi's birthday celebrations Head of the information committee of Imam Hossein's holy shrine, Afdhal ash-Shami says, "It is impossible to present an accurate figure about the number of pilgrims that keep pouring in, but they are roughly over three and a half million, many of them on foot, from near and far places inside and outside Iraq." - 9/30/04 Afghan voter preparation proceeding well With just 10 days to go to polling, preparations to give hundreds of thousands of refugees living in Iran the chance to vote in Afghanistan's presidential elections next month are proceeding well. -IRIN - 9/30/04 An Iran-Isreali War? To many nations, especially Israel, it seems only a matter of time before Iran breaks out as a nuclear power, ratcheting up tension across the Middle East. An Israel-Iran showdown over Tehran's outlaw nuclear-weapons program now seems increasingly imminent. -Heritage Foundation - 9/30/04 Five hundred strong Turkish trade delegation heads for Tehran A 500 strong Turkish trade delegation, led by Turkish Foreign Trade and Customs Secretary Kurshad Tuzman left Ankara for Tehran on Wednesday night to attend the opening ceremony of International Tehran Trade Fair, and to hold dialogue with Iranian officials and trade partners. - 9/30/04 Turmoil in Iraq against Iran's interest: Iranian FM Addressing members of Asia Society in New York late Tuesday, Kharrazi alluded to the regional development and foreign policy of Islamic Republic, and said continued instability in Iraq had raised serious questions about the real goals behind the invasion of that country. - 9/30/04 Playing Politics with Nukes: Is the US on a Collision Course with Iran? The reckless brandishing of regime change, which has become the cliché of the neo-con politics, does not ease tensions over the Iranian nuclear technology. The policy of regime change negates constructive engagement­­the two cannot coexist. A negotiated settlement with the Iranian government over its nuclear technology cannot emerge from undermining the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic. -Behrooz Ghamari, CounterPunch - 9/30/04 I Am Back! Many of you may have wondered what has happened to me. Although I had a few pieces published that I wrote before I left Tehran in July, to be quite honest I have not been able to write anything for nearly three months. -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 9/29/04 Democracy in Retrograde - The Iraq War has Slowed Calls for Reform in Iran The Bush administration hoped that regime change in Iraq would stimulate democratic change throughout the Middle East but, in fact, the opposite is taking place. -Hadi Semati, LA Times - 9/29/04 Iran increases industrial exports to Afghanistan Iran plans to increase the total value of its industrial exports to Afghanistan this year by 300 million dollars - 9/29/04 Clashes as Iran Islamic fund fails One person was killed and 18 injured in clashes in Iran linked to the collapse of an Islamic loan fund in Nourabad, Iranian state television has reported. -BBC - 9/29/04 Iran's Parliament Speaker writes to Khatami on TAV, Irancell Majlis Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel wrote a letter to President Mohammad Khatami on Wednesday in which he announced parliament's readiness to carry out expert investigations on TAV and Irancell (Turkcell) contracts. - 9/29/04 US to keep pushing for Security Council debate on Iran: Bolton The United States will keep pushing the UN Security Council to consider whether Iran's nuclear ambitions are out of bounds, John Bolton, US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said. -AFP - 9/29/04 Released Iranian diplomat arrives in Tehran The Iranian diplomat Fereydoun Jahani, who was kidnapped in Iraq in August and released on Monday, arrived in Tehran's Mehrabad airport on Wednesday. - 9/29/04 Russia against UN Security Council taking up Iran's nuclear issue Russia is against bringing up Iran's nuclear program at the UN Security Council and thinks the issue should be handled by the body's nuclear watchdog. -AFP - 9/29/04 Israel Takes Issue With Iran Weapons Israel will consider "all options" to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said in an interview published Wednesday, marking the latest in a series of Israeli threats against Iran's nuclear program. -AP - 9/29/04 In pictures: Iran's gourmet restaurant Iranian Saman Jilanchi and Canadian chef Larry Greenwood have introduced haute cuisine and first class service to Iran. -BBC - 9/29/04 Toxic alcohol gang jailed in Iran An Iranian man has been jailed for three years for organising the distribution of toxic alcohol that led to the deaths of more than 20 people. -BBC - 9/29/04 Iran's Mahi wins world veteran weightlifting silver Abolqassem Mahi handed Iran a silver medal at the 20th World Veteran Weightlifting Championships in Baden, Austria, Tuesday. - 9/29/04 US slaps sanctions on 14 firms, people for arms and missile sales to Iran The United States slapped sanctions on seven Chinese firms, two Indian men, and companies from Belarus, North Korea , Russia, Spain and Ukraine for selling weapons or cruise and ballistic missile technology and equipment to Iran. -AFP - 9/29/04 Poll Finds A Nation Chastened by War Three years of the Bush administration's ''war on terrorism'' appears to have reduced the appetite of the U.S. public and its leaders for unilateral military engagements, according to a major survey released Tuesday by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (CCFR). -IPS - 9/29/04 UN Peacekeeping Chief Outlines Security Plan For Afghan Polls The top peacekeeping official at the United Nations says security for Afghanistan's presidential elections will be provided by a combination of international and national forces and tribal leaders. -RFE - 9/29/04 Reformist journalist arrested in Iran Rozbeh Mir-Ebrahimi, who has worked for Etemad and Jomhuriat newspapers, "was arrested by people who said they were from the police" on Monday morning, Sulmaz Sharifi said. -AFP - 9/29/04 Iranian Mujahedin Face Uncertain Future The MKO transitioned from being a "mass movement" in 1981 to having "all the main attributes of a cult" by mid-1987, Ervand Abrahamian wrote in his "Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin" (1989). It referred to its head, Masud Rajavi, as the rahbar (leader) and imam-i hal (present imam), had a rigid hierarchy, created a vocabulary, and had its own calendar. -RFE - 9/29/04 IMF Concludes 2004 Article IV Consultation with Iran On September 10, 2004, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with the Islamic Republic of Iran. - 9/28/04 Analysts: Rare Demonstration in Iran Hints at Momentum for Change A rare pro-democracy demonstration took place in Tehran on Sunday, sparked by foreign TV channels and the promise of a Zoroastrian mystic to return to Iran on October 1st and solve the country's problems. -VOA - 9/28/04 Bosnia denies Iran fifth Paralympics volleyball title Bosnia and Herzegovina dashed the four-time champion Iran's hopes in the sitting volleyball final of the 12th Paralympic Games in Athens on Monday. - 9/28/04 First-ever private Iranian satellite station goes on air in Germany The first-ever commercial Iranian satellite television network outside Iran, named Mohajer International TV, went on the air in Germany - 9/28/04 150 MPs to question Iran's auto industry: paper A bill on questioning the Iranian auto industry is likely to be approved in the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis) as some 150 members of the Iranian parliament have agreed with it after several months of delay - 9/28/04 Why Mr Bush makes nice with Musharraf Since throwing his weight behind the Bush administration after September 11 2001, Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, has successfully portrayed himself as an indispensable ally in the US-led "war on terror". -Guardian - 9/28/04 Europe to Bush: Go Away "Why Bush must be beaten," screamed the headline of Le Nouvel Observateur, a left-leaning French newsweekly. Smaller type above the U.S. president's half profile provided the answer: "His re-election will be a catastrophe for the world and for America." -SF Chronicle - 9/28/04 Crude Oil Prices Top $50 Per Barrel Crude oil topped the psychological milestone of $50 per barrel Tuesday for the first time, and a Saudi Arabian oil official said the world's largest petroleum exporter would raise its production capacity by nearly 5 percent in a bid to calm prices. -AP - 9/28/04 IMF Concludes 2004 Article IV Consultation with Iran On September 10, 2004, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with the Islamic Republic of Iran. - 9/28/04 Record-breaking lifters Rajabi, Moussavi fetch Iran two golds Kazem Rajabi and Habibollah Moussavi from Iran stood on the highest podiums in the weightlifting competitions of the 12th Paralympic Games in Athens on Monday. - 9/28/04 Israel May Not Be Able to Destroy Nukes Israel would not be able to destroy Iran's nuclear installations with a single air strike as it did in Iraq in 1981 because they are scattered or hidden and intelligence is weak, Israeli and foreign analysts say. -AP - 9/28/04 Quake joltsZarrindasht in Iran's southern Fars province An earthquake measuring 3.8 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale shook the town of Zarrindasht in the southern province of Fars on Monday night. - 9/28/04 700,000 Afghan refugees in Iran eligible to vote in upcoming presidential elections Quoting statistics taken in 2001, the official said Afghan refugees residing in Iran numbered 2.35 million but that since the beginning of the voluntary repatriation program about 1.35 million have already returned to Afghanistan. - 9/28/04 No sign of nuke work at suspect Iran site-diplomats The analysis of soil samples taken by U.N. inspectors at Lavizan, a site in Tehran that U.S. officials suspect may be linked to an atomic weapons programme, shows no sign of nuclear activity, Western diplomats said. -Reuters - 9/28/04 Iranian-American Candidates For Public Office As part of its Iranian-American Elections 2004 Project, NIAC has listed below all Iranian-American candidates for public office. While NIAC does not endorse any candidates, we strongly welcome the increased Iranian-American participation in the US political system. - 9/28/04 Bush says Iran will not get nuclear weapon US President George W. Bush says "all options are on the table" for making sure Iran dismantles its nuclear program, and that Washington will never let Tehran acquire atomic weapons. -AFP - 9/27/04 Iran police break up pro-democracy demonstration at Tehran university Iranian police broke up a demonstration for increased freedoms outside Tehran university apparently inspired by calls from a US-based opposition television, the student agency ISNA and witnesses reported. -AFP - 9/27/04 A Choice Without an Alternative By now you must know that the Republican Party has been taken over by the neo-crazies, hell-bent on establishing American Hegemony in the Middle East on behalf of our "allies." But maybe you didn't realize that the Democratic Party was taken over by the neo-crazies long ago. -Antiwar.com - 9/27/04 Suit pits free speech vs. 'trading with enemy' Publishers face fines, jail time for doing business with embargoed nations like Cuba, Iran -Star-Ledger, NJ - 9/27/04 Paralympic Games: Khodayari is first Iranian woman to win medal in global meet Twenty-four-year-old Ajam Khodayari made history Saturday by becoming the first Iranian woman to win a medal at a global competition in Paralympic Games in Athens. - 9/27/04 Pro-Democracy Protest in Iran Gains Momentum A rare pro-democracy protest in Tehran gained momentum late on Sunday with hundreds of cars pouring onto the streets, blaring horns and provoking an appearance from hardline vigilantes, witnesses said. -Reuters - 9/27/04 Iranian delegation due in Switzerland to attend Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union, based in Geneva, is an important non-governmental organization which was established in 1889. - 9/27/04 World Bank To Grant Iran 60 Million Dollars In Loan For Road Safety By granting the loan, the bank intends to encourage the Iranian government to improve safety conditions in roads. However, before the contract between the bank and Iranian officials is finalized, the target indexes for reducing road accidents in the country should be materialized. - 9/27/04 UK companies look forward to Iran visit A delegation from the Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MYCCI) arrived in Tehran on September 24 on a week-long visit as part of the Gateway Middle East initiative. - 9/27/04 Television says kidnapped Iranian diplomat in Iraq freed Jahani was abducted by a group calling itself Islamic Army in Iraq on August 4 on the way to Karbala from Baghdad, where he was to assume his consular post. - 9/27/04 Iran Offers Mesozoic Cave to Bidders In a bid to attract tourists to a 70-million-year-old cave in the central province of Markazi, Iran plans to hold a tender to have domestic and foreign contractors bid to operate it as a tourist attraction -CHN - 9/27/04 Iran defeats Egypt at Paralympics volleyball semi The four-time Paralympics champion Iran humbled Egypt 3-0 in the sitting volleyball semifinal in Athens on Sunday. The final match between Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina is held on Monday. - 9/27/04 History of children's literature in Iran, volume 6, is published The Institute for Research on the History of Children’s Literature in Iran (IRHCLI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to researching the history of children’s literature in Iran. It was established in 2000 by researchers who had begun working on the subject in 1997. - 9/27/04 Iran: Parliament approves to vet Turkish deals The decision prompted the Government to postpone President Mohammad Khatami's planned visit to Turkey as long as the fate of a contract for airport construction and operation and a deal with a Turkish telecommunications company have not been decided. - 9/26/04 Meehan and Weldon take a stand for Saddam’s Iranian victims Only hours after Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Ilyad Allawi addressed a joint session of the US Congress, House Representatives Marty Meehan (D-MA) and Curt Weldon (R-PA) introduced a House Resolution calling for justice for Saddam Hussein’s Iranian victims. -NIAC - 9/26/04 Masuleh to Act as Model for Development of Iranian Mountainous Eco-tourism, UNESCO Aid UNESCO Counselor Ms Wendy Brewer Lama said the northern Iranian mountainside city of Masuleh, located in Gilan province, could serve as a model for development of mountainous eco-tourism in Iran -CHN - 9/26/04 Iran calls for nuclear talks but shows no sign of halting work Iran appealed for a negotiated settlement to its standoff with the UN atomic energy watchdog but showed no inclination to abide by a resolution calling for an immediate halt to its sensitive nuclear activities. -AFP - 9/26/04 Top US Officials Clash Over Need to Limit Iraq Poll Senior officials in the Bush administration clashed yesterday over Iraq's transition to democracy after the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, suggested that the elections in January might be limited because of the chaos in parts of the country. -Guardian - 9/26/04 Phases 4 and 5 of Iran's South Pars start gas export South Pars' 4th and 5th phases started their first liquid gas exports on Thursday, Sept. 22. - 9/26/04 Doctor relaxes as music professional Dr. Darius Saghafi is a Renaissance man, inhabiting diverse worlds...But when he leaves his medical practice for the day, he morphs into Darius Saghafi, master musician of the Persian santur. -Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - 9/26/04 7000-year-old relics discovered at Narges Tappeh in Gorgan province of Iran Some traces of ancient architecture, pottery and a dozen other monuments and relics have been discovered by Iranian archaeologists at the ancient site of Narges Tappeh near an airport currently under construction in Gorgan, capital of Golestan province. - 9/26/04 Iran says still committed to suspension of uranium enrichment Iran stressed Sunday its commitment to voluntary suspension of uranium enrichment, but warned against hauling Tehran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. - 9/26/04 Revisiting Aeschylus to put a human face on war The terrible human cost of war takes on visceral immediacy in "The Persians" at the Aurora Theatre in Berkelery. -San Francisco Chronicle - 9/26/04 International oil majors bidding for development of oil field in Iran Leading international oil firms such as Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Statoil, North Hydro and Repsol have applied for development of Iran's Yadavaran oil field. - 9/26/04 What Can and Can't Be Done About North Korea and Iran For weeks now, while American television screens have been tuned to bombings and beheadings in Iraq, an alternate set of high-definition images from spy satellites have been popping up on the monitors at the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. -New York Times - 9/26/04 Iran approves 'strategic missile' Iran has confirmed that it successfully test-fired what it calls a "strategic missile" during recent military exercises. -BBC - 9/26/04 Iranian President receives Iraqi KDP leader President Mohammad Khatami on Saturday held talks with leader of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Masoud Barzani on Tehran-Baghdad relations. - 9/26/04 First-ever Persian department launched After five years of students pushing for a branch of study in Persian culture, University of Maryland created the first-ever Center for Persian Studies, a department in the arts and humanities college. -Diamondback - 9/26/04 Iranian Director's Film Wins Spanish Festival Top Prize The film Turtles Can Fly directed by Iranian Bahman Ghobadi, portraying Iraqi villagers facing the approach of war, has won the top prize at Spain's prestigious San Sebastian International Film Festival. - 9/26/04 Tehran hosts Europe-Iran Children's Literary Festival The Europe-Iran Children's Literary Festival (September 22-October 8) is currently being held at the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (CIDCYA) in Tehran. - 9/26/04 Shell & Repsol Sign 4 Billion Dollar Natural Gas Deal With Iran Iran signs a dlrs four billion contract with Spanish-Argentine oil giant Repsol YPF and Anglo-Dutch Shell for production of natural gas in the Persian Gulf. - 9/24/04 Survival remains the bottom line for Iran’s Islamic regime In the past two months Iran has come under immense external pressure. The administration of George W Bush seems more confident than ever of having won the diplomatic support of the European Union and the Non-Aligned Movement against Iran’s nuclear program. -Amir Ali Nourbakhsh, Iran Focus - 9/24/04 Urge Congress to Hold Saddam Accountable for Crimes Against Iranians Responding to the concerns of the Iranian-American community, Congressmen Marty Meehan (D-MA) and Curt Weldon (R-PA) introduced yesterday afternoon – only hours after Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Ilyad Allawi addressed the US Congress – a resolution calling for the Iraqi Interim Government to hold Saddam Hussein accountable for his use of chemical weapons on Iranians during the Iran-Iraq war. -NIAC - 9/24/04 Event celebrates work of Ithaca's second City of Asylum resident In 2001 Cornell's Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (CRESP) joined the International Parliament of Writers and the Ithaca City of Asylum Project to support the arrival in Ithaca of Yi Ping, exiled Chinese poet, essayist and playwright. Earlier this year, Reza Daneshvar, an Iranian-born writer, became the Ithaca City of Asylum's second resident writer. - 9/24/04 Iran wins crown of Asian Jr basketball championships Iran defeated South Korea 89-86 in the finals of the 18th Asian Junior Basketball Championships at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka on Thursday evening. - 9/24/04 Memo to Rick Santorum Re: Iran Dear Senator Santorum, I see that you are sponsoring legislation supporting "regime change" in Iran, which suggests you have had the neocons whispering in your ears again about the "axis of evil." -Antiwar.com - 9/24/04 IAPAC to Hold One-Year Anniversary Celebration in Northern California The Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC) will be holding its One-Year Anniversary Fundraising Event, celebrating Iranian American participation in the American electoral process. - 9/24/04 ICOMOS Rep to Inspect Sultanyeh Dome A representative of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is going to inspect the Sultanyeh Dome in Zanjan province next week before its application to be listed as a world heritage site is submitted. -CHN - 9/24/04 Foreign policy, US-Iran relations and Nuclear Aspirations of the Islamic Republic of Iran In order to provide a forum for a dialogue between thinkers, scholars, and intellectuals who are interested and involved with Iranian discourse within the country and abroad Ettehad Jomhourikhahan-e Iran(EJI) proudly presents its first public international seminar. - 9/24/04 Quake hits cities of Damavand and Firouzkouh in Iran An earthquake measuring 4.1 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale shook the cities of Damavand and Firouzkouh in Tehran province on Friday. - 9/24/04 Crude Awakening for Residents of Iran Desert City Crude oil stirred by geological rumblings has bubbled up into homes and alleyways in the southwest Iranian city of Masjed Soleiman, said state television and officials on Monday. -CHN - 9/24/04 Iran must comply with UN demands on nuclear programme: Putin Iran must comply with demands from UN nuclear inspectors seeking to verify that the country is not attempting to produce nuclear weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. -AFP - 9/24/04 Three Years and Counting? How Time Flies This simple fact is more important than whether or not the US is winning its nebulous war on it abstract enemy, 'terror'. No amount of pith-helmet frothing about the 'criminals' or 'murderers' responsible for 9-11 can obscure the political nova they created. -CounterPunch - 9/24/04 Afghanistan: Frustrated US Forces Fail to Win Hearts and Minds Rooting out the remnants of the Taliban has proved a maddening task for US forces in Afghanistan. Scattered and weakened the militia remain a slippery foe, hidden in the crevices of the mountains. But with landmark elections just weeks away, the hunt has gained fresh urgency. -Guardian - 9/24/04 Turkcell Provides Update On The Progress Of Its Investment In Iran The GSM license agreement has been signed between Irancell, the company that will carry out the GSM operations in Iran, and the Iranian government. However, Irancell will not become a licensed GSM operator until the license fee of €300 million is paid. - 9/24/04 Rare Rug Theft Kicks off Huge Hunt A precious and rare carpet has been stolen from the Iranian Carpet Museum in Tehran, kicking off a massive hunt -CHN - 9/24/04 Son of slain photojournalist gets suspended sentence for setting fire Stephan Hachemi, son of slain Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, was given a suspended sentence Thursday for setting a fire in his apartment and causing $200,000 damage. -Canadian Press - 9/24/04 Official warns spiraling gasoline consumption in Iran Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Derivatives Distribution Company Hossein Kashefi said on Thursday that gasoline consumption in Iran rose by 10 percent in the first half of the year - 9/24/04 Paralympic Games: First victory for Iran's soccer team, 7-2 over Ireland Iran celebrated their first win in Athens 2004 Paralympic Games by beating Ireland 7-2 on the third day of Group A for the 7-a-side Football Tournament at the Helliniko Sports Complex. Ireland suffered their third loss in the Tournament, having conceded 18 goals after three matches. - 9/24/04 Israel's Nukes Serve to Justify Iran's The more nuclear arms are lying around, the more the chances of them being used. So to persuade Iran to forgo nuclear weapons is a laudable objective. But for the United States, Britain and France to insist on it is hypocritical. -IHT - 9/24/04 Under the Ayatollah's eye GIRLS in bright headscarves fill the sculpture courtyard. The atrium is thick with mid-level diplomats and members of the Islamic Guidance Ministry. There are professors with lined and soulful faces, a cameraman or two, and the anxious, elegantly dressed artists. Downstairs, in the galleries, the musical improvisations have just begun. -The Australian - 9/24/04 How Britain tried to use a Persian antiquity for political gain The Art Newspaper can reveal that the British Museum (BM) is lending one of its famous antiquities to Iran. The Cyrus Cylinder, an inscribed clay drum, has been described as the “first charter of human rights”. Dating from 539 BC, it records Cyrus the Great’s order for the humane treatment of the Babylonians after their conquest by the Persians. - 9/24/04 Is U.S. Rhetoric Fuelling Iran's Nuclear Program? As Iran announces it is resuming its nuclear program, we speak with Iranian-born author and former diplomat Mansour Farhang about the increasing tensions in the United States towards Tehran. -Democracy Now - 9/23/04 Turkcell signs Iran mobile deal Turkey's biggest private mobile phone operator has signed a controversial contract to build a network in Iran. The deal, which Turkcell announced on Thursday, could be worth as much as $3bn. -BBC - 9/23/04 It's Iran More Than Iraq Two years from now, during either a Kerry or Bush presidency, Iran will probably be much more of a security issue for the United States than Iraq. -CSM - 9/23/04 FM terms peaceful nuclear technology as Iran's absolute right In a meeting with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa on the fringes of 59th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Kharrazi said Tehran always supports a Middle East region free from nuclear armaments and weapons of mass destruction. - 9/23/04 Iran warns Israel against strike Iran has warned Israel it will react "most severely" if Israel uses force to try to destroy its nuclear facilities. -BBC - 9/23/04 Iran defeats Lebanon and reaches Jr Asian Basketball championships finals Iran defeated Lebanon 78-37 to make the final of the 18th Asian Junior basketball championship for men at the Sree Kanteerava indoor stadium in the southern Indian state of Karnataka Wednesday evening. - 9/23/04 Iranian lawyers reiterate Iran's sovereignty over 3 islands A group of Iranian lawyers on Wednesday objected to the Persian Gulf Arab states' rejection of Iran's sovereignty over her three Persian Gulf islands. - 9/23/04 Kerry campaign blasts Bush on Iran Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry 's campaign blasted the Bush administration for "another national security failure" on Iran's nuclear program and urged that Tehran be threatened with tougher sanctions. -AFP - 9/23/04 Iran: 42 Million Shares Ceded to Private Sector State Privatization Organization has transferred 42.2 million shares of state companies to private ownership in the first six months of the current year, commenced in March, Pars Investment reported from Tehran. - 9/23/04 Tehran Metals Exchange completes one year of operation Tehran Metals Exchange set a record of 4,882,660 tons of metals deals at more than Rls 20,144 billion (US$ 2,342.33 million) on the first anniversary of its inauguration, Pars Investment reported. - 9/23/04 Millions Blocked from Voting in U.S. Election Millions of U.S. citizens, including a disproportionate number of black voters, will be blocked from voting in the Nov. 2 presidential election because of legal barriers, faulty procedures or dirty tricks, according to civil rights and legal experts. -Reuters - 9/23/04 Cat Stevens 'victimised' over US deportation "I'm totally shocked," Mr Islam told reporters at Heathrow. "Everybody knows who I am. I am no secret figure. Everybody knows my campaigning for charity, for peace. There's got to be a whole lot of explanation." -Guardian - 9/23/04 Iranian FM appeals for more dialogue in nuclear standoff "If people want to resolve this problem, the solution is a dialogue that recognises our right and that removes worries," said Kharazi, who met his British, French and Spanish counterparts. -AFP - 9/23/04 Secretary General Khatami? This Islamic Republic of Iran never seizes to amaze. Secretary General Khatami! It does have a nice ring to it I suppose, and Khatami would be a perfect fit- he's already accustomed to being in positions where he really doesn't have any power. -Mohammad Kazerouni - 9/23/04 Four Iranian detainees released in Baghdad Head of Iran's Chamber of Cooperatives in Baghdad Mohammad Mehdi Teimouri on Wednesday referred to his detention in Baghdad along with three of his colleagues and said that they were badly beaten and found themselves in the lowest possible spirit. - 9/23/04 EU-Iran trade exchanges stands at 8.8 billion euro for first six months of 2004 Trade exchanges between Iran and the 25 European Union (EU) member states in the first six months (January - June 2004) totaled 8.8 billion euro. - 9/23/04 New Academic Year Begins In Iran Some 16.198 million students are enrolled at schools all over the country in the current academic year. - 9/22/04 US should offer Iran carrots as well as sticks - former Clinton official The United States would have an easier time dealing with Iran if it were as willing to reward Tehran for cooperation in coming clean on an alleged nuclear weapons program as it is to punish the Islamic republic for not cooperating, a former senior US official said. -AFP - 9/22/04 Iranian President criticizes new Majlis ratification on foreign investment Noting that the bill was against the national interests, president Khatami stressed that approval of such a bill would lead to reluctance of foreign companies to make investment in Iran. - 9/22/04 Iranian Bloggers Protest Government Crackdown on Reformist News Sites The hardline Iranian judiciary arrests three online journalists and bloggers and tries to block reformist sites. But the vibrant Persian blogosphere fights back, with dozens of bloggers posting "banned" news stories on their own sites. -Online Journalism Review - 9/22/04 Iran denies resuming uranium enrichment process Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh told a press conference here in Vienna on Wednesday that Iran is capable of producing all centrifuge components and necessary conditions for injection of gas is prepared but it has not been carried out yet. - 9/22/04 Iran bags five more medals in Paralympic Games Javelin thrower Ali Naderi won the gold in F55-56 class with a 35.3m throw, improving the Paralympics record by 2.64m. - 9/22/04 Khatami: Referral of Iran's case to UN indicative of IAEA's failure President Mohammad Khatami said in Tehran on Wednesday that any possible referral of Iran's nuclear case to the Security Council of the United Nations was an indication of the UN nuclear watchdog's failure and its impotence to solve a problem by its own. - 9/22/04 Defiant Bush defends war in speech to UN President George Bush yesterday delivered an unrepentant speech to the United Nations defending the war in Iraq and calling on the world to help rebuild the country. -Guardian - 9/22/04 Iranian woman wants only to be beaten once a week "Just tell him to beat me once a week ... Beating is part of his nature and he cannot stop it," Maryam told the court. The Tehran court found the man guilty and banned him from beating the wife, the paper said. -Reuters - 9/22/04 Cat Stevens refused entry to US A passenger plane carrying singer Cat Stevens to Washington was diverted to another city 600 miles away yesterday so the musician could be escorted off the flight by FBI agents and sent back to Britain -Guardian - 9/22/04 Powell, Shalom meet after rare Bush rebuke of Israel at UN US Secretary of State Colin Powell and his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom discussed concerns posed by Iran's nuclear programs and questions about Israel's commitment to the so-called "roadmap" for Middle East peace. -AFP - 9/22/04 Iranian MPs back investment veto Conservative MPs in Iran have backed a bill which would give them a veto over foreign investment. -BBC - 9/22/04 Here He Comes Again....Colin Powell and the WMD No-one who has followed the events leading up to the war in Iraq will ever forget the presentation that US Secretary of State Colin Powell made to the Security Council of the United Nations. -Axis of Logic - 9/22/04 Iranian architecture caught amid a crisis of concrete and kitsch Think of Persia and one of the first images that may spring to mind is of its architecture: magnificent domes, minarets and arches, lavish calligraphy on turquoise ceramics, or lush gardens in desert oases. -AFP - 9/22/04 Secret Beneath the Veil Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated with the mystique of Persia. I had no idea when I first set foot in Iran, that a paradise, profoundly rich and satisfying, was waiting for me. -Laurie Blum, NY ARTS - 9/22/04 Iran's oil production to hit 3,960,000 bpd: OPEC official Given Iran's 14.6 percent production quota in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the country will increase its production by 146,000 barrels per day (bpd) as of the beginning of November, 2004, said Iran's representative to the Organization of Petroleum Explorting Countries (OPEC) on Tuesday - 9/22/04 Iranian President rings in new academic year, stresses continued democracy process The move has been turned into a current that will be continued despite all problems and obstacles, the president said in an address to hundreds of students in a ceremony marking the beginning of the new Iranian academic year held at a girls high school in southeast of Tehran. - 9/22/04 Bush Aides Divided on Confronting Iran Over A-Bomb At a time when the violent insurgency in Iraq is vexing the Bush administration and stirring worries among Americans, events may be propelling the United States into yet another confrontation, this time with Iran. -New York Times - 9/21/04 Iran to launch test satellite with missile Iran will use a modified version of its Shahab-3 missile, which defence experts say can reach Israel or U.S. bases in the Gulf, to launch a test satellite before March 2005, a defence industry source says. -Reuters - 9/21/04 Iranian President instructs Interior Minister to follow up Pakdasht serial killers case closely President Mohammad Khatami ordered Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari on Monday evening to follow up, on his behalf, the case involving two serial killers who savagely abused and then killed nearly 30 people, mostly children, in southeastern Tehran. - 9/21/04 Eyeing Iran Reactors, Israel Seeks U.S. Bunker Bombs The United States plans to sell Israel $319 million worth of air-launched bombs, including 500 "bunker busters" able to penetrate Iran's underground nuclear facilities, Israeli security sources said on Tuesday. -Reuters - 9/21/04 Kerry Blasts Bush for 'Colossal Failures' in Iraq Democrat John Kerry turned up his criticism of President Bush's leadership in Iraq on Monday, accusing him of "colossal failures of judgment" that have turned the country into a haven for terrorists and made America more vulnerable. -Reuters - 9/21/04 Iranian Immigrant Sues WSSC A Muslim man who was born in Iran is suing the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, contending that he's the victim of racial and religious harassment on the job. -WJLA, DC - 9/21/04 Iran begins uranium conversion Iran today defied international calls for it to end fuel manufacture, announcing that it had begun preparing uranium ore for enrichment -Guardian - 9/21/04 Iran wins three more Paralympics medals, loses one Iran snatched two gold and one bronze medals but missed a gold of the 12th Paralympic Games in the Greek capital, Athens, Monday. - 9/21/04 Iran will never move towards getting access to nuclear weapons: Khatami Iraniain President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday said, "Whether under supervision or not, Iran will never move towards getting access to nuclear weapons" - 9/21/04 Official says Iran rejects interference in its peaceful nuclear activities Iran's Vice-President and Chairman of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh made the remarks in the 48th meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog's general conference. - 9/21/04 IRAN: IOM to open academy for migration and refugee studies The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) will launch a project to establish an academy for migration and refugee studies in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Tuesday. -IRIN - 9/21/04 Iran Says Resolution Undermines Credibility of IAEA The European Union and Russia joined the United States Monday in urging Iran to comply with a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. But Iran insists on its right to uranium enrichment. -VOA - 9/21/04 'Mossadegh Reflex' in Iranian Nuclear Policy The regular sessions of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) Board of Directors have become such ritual confrontations with the Iranian government, over the issue of its nuclear energy program, that one must ask: What is it really all about? -Executive Intelligence Review - 9/21/04 UN nuclear watchdog calls on Iran to suspend all uranium-enrichment activities In a message to the IAEA's 48th General Conference which opened in Vienna today, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Iran "to further cooperate with the Agency in fully resolving outstanding issues regarding its nuclear programme." - 9/21/04 Iran Moves to Roll Back Rights Won by Women The hard-liners who won Iran's parliamentary elections last February have focused on women's rights in their efforts to reverse some of the reforms carried out under the moderate president, Mohammad Khatami. -New York Times - 9/21/04 US Says 'Clock is Ticking' for Iran A senior U.S. official says Iran should comply with a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency and freeze all uranium-enrichment activities. -VOA - 9/20/04 Cyrus Cylinder won’t Re-visit Iran by 2007 The so-called Cyrus Cylinder, widely-believed to be the first manifest of human rights written over 2,000 years ago, by the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty, is unlikely to be lent by the British Museum to Iran by 2007, a source told CHN. - 9/20/04 The Iranian-American Community's Night with Ross Mirkarimi The Iranian-American Community Cordially invites you To an evening reception with Ross Mirkarimi, Candidate for San Francisco District 5 Supervisor and the first Iranian-American to run for elected Office in City & County of San Francisco. - 9/20/04 Hercules’ Head Awaits Planned Museum Perching for ages on a wind-swept mountain top in Behistun near the bas-relief of Dariush I, a stone statue named Hercules’s Head is restored and would be kept in warehouses until a planned museum is built in Kermanshah, west of Iran. -CHN - 9/20/04 Number of operating mobiles in Iran to reach 40 million by 2010 Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Seyed Ahmad Motamedi said in Tehran on Monday that the number of mobiles and fixed telephone lines are predicted to grow from the current 3.5 million and 16 million to 40 million and 33 million by the end of fourth development plan (2005-2010). - 9/20/04 Classic guerrilla war forming in Iraq War is never by the books. Adversaries learn and adapt. The political climate shifts on both sides. Loyalties and alliances couple and decouple. The civilian populace - caught in the crossfire - often remains passive just to survive. -CSM - 9/20/04 Iran to Sign Bilateral Extradition Pacts for Artifacts In a bid to facilitate the handover process of smuggled artifacts and to have a more strict control on sales, Iran plans to hammer extradition agreements with several countries -CHN - 9/20/04 Quake jolts Fariman in Iran's Razavi Khorassan province An earthquake measuring 4.3 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale jolted the city of Fariman in the Razavi Khorassan province in northeast of the country Monday morning. - 9/20/04 Iran's nuclear bluff Iran's angry reaction to calls for a sweeping halt to all its enrichment activities may be born partially of a sense of injustice. -BBC - 9/20/04 Iran sets clocks back one hour at midnight Monday Iran pulls its clocks back nearly at the beginning of autumn and sets them forward by an hour on the first day of spring. - 9/20/04 Iranian Libraries Rebuild after Massive Quake The reconstruction process of Bam public libraries is going ahead rather slowly after a ferocious quake razed the southern city last December. -CHN - 9/20/04 Judoka Asakereh hands Iran first Paralympic medal Hani Asakereh, Iran's 73 kg judoka, bagged bronze in the 12th Paralympic Games in the Greek capital, Athens, Sunday. - 9/20/04 Iran to vote on investment veto Iran's conservative parliament has fast-tracked a bill which would give it a veto over foreign investment. The government of President Mohammad Khatami, which backs increased foreign investment, said it could do little to block the move. -BBC - 9/20/04 Iran's Nour-Afshan wins Paralympic discus gold Mokhtar Nour-Afshan of Iran took the coveted gold in the discus of the 12th Paralympic Games in Athens, capital of Greece, Sunday. - 9/20/04 Windows may be free in Iran, but security fears spark Linux drive Iran has become the latest country to edge towards ditching the ubiquitous Microsoft computer operating system in favour of the open-source Linux solution, even if its refusal to abide by copyright laws means that the Islamic republic does not pay a penny to Bill Gates. -AFP - 9/20/04 Iranian Journalists Urge President To Probe Case Of Arrested Reporters A number of Iranian journalists in a letter to President Mohammad Khatami on Monday called for probe into the case of arrested reporters. The letter addressing the president has been signed by 212 correspondents and photojournalists. - 9/20/04 10th Tehran International puppet Festival Ends The week-long 10th Tehran International Puppet Festival ended at Vahdat Hall on Sunday night. - 9/20/04 Iran Threatens to Limit Cooperation with IAEA Iran says it has a legal right to uranium enrichment and it will limit cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if the nuclear watchdog refers its nuclear dossier to the United Nations Security Council. Iran's top nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani, dismissed as illegal demands from the IAEA to halt its uranium enrichment program. -VOA - 9/19/04 Defiant Iran rejects UN nuclear calls, threatens to block checks A defiant Iran rejected a resolution by the UN atomic watchdog calling for a halt to sensitive nuclear work and threatened to block tough inspections if the issue was referred to the Security Council. -AFP - 9/19/04 Britain to cut troop levels in Iraq The British Army is to start pulling troops out of Iraq next month despite the deteriorating security situation in much of the country, The Observer has learnt. -Guardian - 9/19/04 Kerry Says President Plans Huge Call-Up Senator John F. Kerry accused the Bush administration yesterday of secretly planning to call up a substantial number of military reservists and National Guard units after Election Day to go to Iraq, opening a new front in the Democrat's ongoing attack that the president is concealing postwar instability in Iraq from American voters. -Boston Globe - 9/19/04 Mortgage markets will strengthen Arab middle classes Political theorists don't agree on much, but they tend toward a healthy majority on one issue: large, vibrant middle classes spur demands for greater democracy and help sustain democratic institutions. -Afshin Molavi, Daily Star - 9/19/04 200 Iranian MPs Reject IAEA resolution More than 200 lawmakers in a statement on Sunday rejected a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors regarding Iran's nuclear issue. - 9/19/04 Rowhani: Iran-IAEA row may be resolved through diplomatic means Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Hassan Rowhani said on Sunday that there is possibility to resolve the dispute with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) through diplomatic means. - 9/19/04 Iranian team maintain winning spree at Asian Basketball championships Iranian junior men's basketball team maintained the winning spree and beat South Korea 84-68, in the first match of second round grouping of the 18th Asian junior basketball championships to top Group B - 9/19/04 Iranian Parties Hint At Presidential Candidates Though Iran's next presidential election is still nine months away, there is a great deal of speculation about the likely candidates. -RFE - 9/19/04 Iranian official says door still open to nuclear talks with US Speaking to reporters a day after the world nuclear watchdog set a deadline for Tehran to freeze its activities related to the uranium enrichment, the official clarified that Washington has yet to show its good will first and drop its 'bullying' tactics. - 9/19/04 "Iran Bushehr" cargo ship joins Iran's maritime fleet The oceangoing container vessel, Iran Bushehr, at a special ceremony formally joined the country's maritime fleet in Bandar Abbas on Sunday. - 9/19/04 International Atomic Energy Agency adopts new resolution on Iran Full text of the resolution adopted by the board of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 18 September 2004 - 9/19/04 Intellectuals being pushed to quit Iran, warns Khatami President Mohammad Khatami has condemned the arrest of the organizers of a film festival which enraged hardliners, warning that such pressures would push intellectuals to flee Iran, newspapers reported. -AFP - 9/19/04 Iran to test fire 'strategic missile' Iran's revolutionary guards were to test fire a 'strategic missile' Saturday following the launch of new surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles Friday, a senior IRGC commander said. - 9/18/04 Europe's resolution politically motivated: Iranian Official Iran regards the draft resolution proposed three European states of Germany, Britain and France on the country's nuclear programs as politically motivated - 9/18/04 Israeli Nuclear Whistleblower Vanunu on Mideast Nukes The U.S. government has been making demands regarding Iran's nuclear program. On Thursday afternoon State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher was asked about "Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli whistleblower" and his proposal that "there be a trade-off between the Iranian nuclear program and the ending of the Israeli one." Boucher declined to comment on the proposal. -IPA - 9/18/04 Iran offer over nuclear programme A leading Iranian official has told the BBC that Tehran is prepared to give further assurances that its uranium enrichment programme will be peaceful. -BBC - 9/18/04 Iraq's first ambassador to Iran since 1980 takes office Iraq's first ambassador since 1980 when the two countries went into a destructive war for eight years assumed office in Tehran on Saturday by submitting his credentials. - 9/18/04 Tehran province accounts for 26 pc of Iran's GDP Iran's Statistics Center announced in Tehran on Saturday that Tehran province with a revenue of 193,000 billion rials accounts for 26 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). - 9/18/04 Iranian Hercules Rezazadeh due in Athens to raise spirits Hossein Rezazadeh, world's strongest man, plans to go to the Greek capital, Athens, to lift the Iranian weightlifters' spirits in the 12th Paralympic Games. - 9/18/04 UN agency resumes voluntary repatriation scheme for Iraqi refugees in Iran The United Nations refugee agency has resumed its voluntary repatriation service for Iraqis returning from Iran, helping more than 500 people head home this week, a month after operations were suspended because of security concerns. - 9/18/04 N.Korea Vows Will Never Dismantle Nuclear Arms North Korea will never dismantle its nuclear arsenal and will not resume talks on its atomic programs unless the United States drops its "hostile" policy, the North's official KCNA news agency said on Saturday. -Reuters - 9/18/04 Experts Say World Oil Market in Hard to Predict Transitional Period A Washington-based think tank sympathetic to Arab causes, the Middle East Policy Council, held a seminar Friday on Capitol Hill examining the current state of the oil market and likely future developments. - 9/18/04 Iran postpones trial of dissident Iran's hardline judiciary has postponed the trial of prominent dissident Ebrahim Yazdi, who is facing charges of attempting to overthrow the regime, according to one of his lawyers. -AFP - 9/18/04 Iranian students rank 6th in world Computer Olympiad Iranian students ranked sixth in the 16th International Computer Olympiad held in Greece. - 9/18/04 UN urges cautious Iran approach The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog has called for restraint and caution in dealing with Iran's nuclear programme. -BBC - 9/18/04 Visiting the Bakhtiarias nomads in Iran As the sun lightened up the snow capped mountains in the late morning, I was walking up a hillside to visit a group from a Bakhtiari nomad tribe in Iran. -Travel Explorations - 9/17/04 Iranian Official: Qeshm Island's economy to be promoted by turning it into a free trade zone Speaking at the second conference on development of Qeshm Free Zone (QFZ), he added that the relevant draft has already been approved by the cabinet and hoped that it will be ratified by the Majlis. - 9/17/04 U.S. Officials Differ on Strength of Iran Nuke Claim A senior U.S. official said on Thursday that satellite images of a suspected nuclear site in Iran demonstrated its intention to develop atomic weapons, but other U.S. officials questioned the strength of the claim. -Reuters - 9/17/04 Iran Accuses US of 'Lying' on Nukes An Iranian envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency says that satellite images supposedly showing military nuclear sites in Iran are "American lies." The IAEA board of governors is still considering what to do about Iran's nuclear program. -VOA - 9/17/04 Iranian President considered for UN Secretary General post Iran plans to propose President Mohammad Khatami to become the next United Nations Secretary General, it was reported in Tehran on Friday. - 9/17/04 At Five in the Afternoon The third film from Iranian prodigy Samira Makhmalbaf is also the first film set in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, and its setting, the ruined city of Kabul, gives it an unsettling quality all its own. -Guardian - 9/17/04 US, Allies Agree on Draft Resolution on Iranian Nuclear Program U.S. officials say the United States has reached agreement with key allies on a draft resolution on Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program, to be presented at this week's meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.-VOA - 9/17/04 European states and US agree text on Iran nuclear program The United States bowed to pressure from Europe by dropping an ultimatum over Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program, opening the way to set a deadline for a UN review of Tehran's atomic ambitions, diplomats said. -AFP - 9/17/04 Earthquake shakes northeastern Iran An earthquake measuring 4.1 degrees on the Richter scale shook Jajarm in northeastern Iran on Thursday evening. - 9/17/04 Beware the Likud doctrine Sharon says terrorism is an epidemic that "has no borders, no fences", but this is not the case. Terrorism thrives within the illegitimate borders of occupation and dictatorship; it festers behind security walls put up by imperial powers -Guardian - 9/17/04 Annan Calls U.S.-Led Invasion Of Iraq Violation Of UN Charter UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was illegal because it violated the UN Charter. The remarks revive one of the most heated debates surrounding last year's war. -RFE - 9/17/04 'Fahrenheit 9/11' sparks mixed reactions in Iran Cinemagoers in the Iranian capital were given their first glimpse of 'Fahrenheit 9/11' this week, but appeared to enjoy more the rare chance to watch an American movie rather than its assault on their regime's arch foe George W. Bush. -MEO - 9/17/04 Iran to continue cooperation with IAEA till remaining issues are resolved: Iranian pokesman The spokesman of the Iranian delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors in Vienna, Hossein Moussavian, on Friday stressed that the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue its cooperation with the IAEA until all remaining issues are resolved by November. - 9/17/04 CIA Analysis Holds Bleak Vision for Iraq's Future A classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President Bush in late July spells out a dark assessment of prospects for Iraq, government officials said yesterday. -Common Dreams - 9/17/04 Naturalists Struggle to Save Iran Cheetahs Only 60 cheetahs are believed to remain in Iran, their numbers bludgeoned by hunting, road-building and drought, say environmentalists battling to save them from extinction. -Reuters - 9/17/04 Misplaced Sentiments Referring to 10,000 years old pottery as “Iranian” art makes as much technical sense as calling Abu Ali Sina an “Arab” scientist and philosopher. -Kam Zarrabi - 9/17/04 Amnesty International: Child executions on the way out Since 2003, six people were executed in China, Iran and the USA, for crimes committed when they were children. Other convicted child offenders remain under sentence of death in Pakistan, the Philippines and Sudan. - 9/17/04 Rafsanjani: Iran will reject any resolution calling for suspension of uranium enrichment Rafsanjani, speaking at the weekly Tehran Friday Prayer gathering, said the US seeks to spread its hegemony around the globe which is in contradiction to the teachings of Islam. - 9/17/04 Tehran's puppet opera theater to open Sunday Behrouz Gharibpour's 'Rostam and Sohrab' puppet opera will be staged during the inaugural opening of the center. - 9/17/04 Iran's Theological Community Contends With Changing World The 1979 Islamic revolution struck Iran's religious community as the dawn of a new and promising era for the country and its faithful. A quarter of a century later things don't look so rosy for the clerics -- many Iranians view them with disdain, and Al-Najaf, the center of Shi'a learning in Iraq, seems set to eclipse the Iranian theocratic center of Qom. -RFE - 9/17/04 A Child of the Iranian Revolution Gets Graphic With Bush With her two-part graphic novel memoir—Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (2003) and Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return —Satrapi says she hopes to reach those Westerners who are unwilling to protest. -Village Voice - 9/16/04 Edwards Says Kerry Plans to Confront Iran on Weapons A John F. Kerry administration would propose to Iran that the Islamic state be allowed to keep its nuclear power plants in exchange for giving up the right to retain the nuclear fuel that could be used for bomb-making, Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards said in an interview yesterday. -Washington Post - 9/16/04 Consultant: US pressure disrupts development of Iran's South Azadegan field Under pressure from the US government, Tomen Corp., "now controlled by Toyota [Motor Corp.]," already has pulled out of the Japanese consortium that was awarded the development of Iran's supergiant South Azadegan field, and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (Japex) "is thinking of pulling out, too," said officials at Fesharaki Associates Consulting & Technical Services Inc. (FACTS Inc.), Honolulu, in a recent report. -Oil & Gas Journal - 9/16/04 US Concerned About Religious Freedom in Saudi Arabia Along with North Korea, the report also kept Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, and Sudan on the list of countries of concern. Added to the list, along with Saudi Arabia, were Eritrea and Vietnam. -VOA - 9/16/04 In nobody's interests to have showdown with Iran, warns UK The British government has rejected reports that the US and Israel are pushing for a showdown with Iran by pressing for a deadline of October 31 over the country's claimed non-compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). - 9/16/04 Nothing new in the world Remembering is a political act, wrote Boston Globe columnist James Carroll. "Forgetfulness is the handmaiden of tyranny." In 1953, the US engineered a coup in Iran that ousted the government of prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh - an Iranian colossus who happened to live in a frail old man's body. -ZNET - 9/16/04 Iran: Rafsanjani refuses to rule out standing for presidency Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani upped the ante Thursday by not ruling out standing for presidency in Iran's elections next year. - 9/16/04 Some 1,200 Iraqi nationals arrive in Iran per day via Mehran border Mehran has been one of the most important border points during the past 18 months used by many Iranian and Iraqi nationals to visit the holy cities of each country. Some 3.5 million of Iranian and Iraqi nationals have passed the Iran-Iraq border via Mehran in the said period, the governor concluded. - 9/16/04 NAM discusses "red lines" on Iran's nuclear program The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) began its discussions on setting "red lines" for its negotiations with Europeans and Americans on Iran's nuclear programs in Vienna on Thursday. - 9/16/04 Consultant: Iran's refinery megaproject may face more delays Iran's plans to implement a major refining project in a bid to cope with surprisingly strong gasoline demand growth may face further delays. -Oil & Gas Journal - 9/16/04 Oil majors await mega-projects for spending growth As surging oil prices pour cash into oil company coffers, energy supermajors are waiting for big new provinces to open up in Russia and the Middle East before they raise spending on new oil projects, analysts say. -Reuters - 9/16/04 Iran: U.S., Europe Clash On Nuclear Issue, But Options Appear Limited The problem of how to deal with Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program is continuing to cause difficulties for the IAEA board of governors. -RFE - 9/16/04 Progress but still no accord in US-EU rift over Iran The US-EU rift over a resolution on Iran's alleged nuclear weapons ambitions that has paralyzed this week's UN atomic agency meeting narrowed and talks will continue until the weekend, diplomats on both sides told AFP. - 9/16/04 IAEA Wednesday Meeting To Discuss Iran Case Put On Hold Iran’s nuclear program was expected to be discussed at the Wednesday and Thursday sessions of the IAEA meeting. But the Wednesday official sessions are now suspended, apparently over disagreements on the three European’s draft resolution about Iran. -Radio Farda - 9/16/04 New satellite images show Iran's Parchin military complex, southeast of Tehran, may be a site for research, testing and production of nuclear weapons, a nuclear expert said on Wednesday. A senior U.S. official said on Thursday that satellite photographs of a suspected nuclear industrial site in Iran demonstrated its intention to develop atomic weapons, an allegation Tehran dismissed as "a new lie." -Reuters - 9/16/04 Iraq rebuilding efforts 'pitiful' A cross-party committee of the US Congress has criticised the Bush administration for the slow progress of reconstruction in Iraq. -BBC - 9/16/04 What's next in Iranian nuclear saga? Divided US and European officials stalled a meeting of the UN's atomic watchdog agency under way in Vienna Wednesday, as they weighed Iran's suspect nuclear file. -CSM - 9/16/04 Israel, not Iran, is wild card in explosive Middle East pack When George Bush first identified the two Middle East members of his "axis of evil", Iran clearly ranked as a far more formidable adversary than Saddam Hussein's Iraq. But President Bush went after the easier target instead. So "did we invade the wrong country?" asks a leading commentator, Charles Krauthammer, speaking for many neo-conservative hawks as the US refocuses on Iran. -Guardian - 9/16/04 US debates military strikes on 'nuclear Iran' The Bush administration's warnings that it will not "tolerate" a nuclear-armed Iran have opened up a lively policy debate in Washington over the merits of military strikes against the Islamic republic's nuclear programme. -Financial Times - 9/16/04 Threat and Humiliation: Racial Profiling, National Security, and Human Rights in the United States Racial profiling is a serious human rights problem affecting millions of people in the United States in even the most routine aspects of their daily lives. A year-long study conducted by the Domestic Human Rights Program of Amnesty International USA found that the unlawful use of race in police, immigration, and airport security procedures has expanded since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. - 9/15/04 Festival of European, Iranian children's literature to be held The Festival of European and Iranian Children's Literature will be held from September 25 to October 8 at the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) in Tehran. - 9/15/04 Analysis: Iraqis Look At Their Eastern Neighbor Iran Interim Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, during a visit to Tehran, said on 31 August that Iran and Iraq agree that the two countries' political decision to have good relations should be "converted into a working plan" -RFE - 9/15/04 Mehregan, Persian Harvest Festival: Orange County Fair October 2-3, 2004 The 9th annual event celebrates Persian culture with music, dance, artwork, crafts, traditional Persian cuisine, Traditional Tea House, and costumes. The front gate at the festival, designed to evoke Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Empire will greet the expected crowd of over 20,000. - 9/15/04 Iranian Oldest Pottery Dates Back to 10,000 Years Iran’s most ancient piece of pottery is over 10,000 years old, though human being used pottery vessels some 2,000 years earlier, an archeologist said -CHN - 9/15/04 Sharon plays down prospect of strike on Iran nuclear facilities Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Iran and its nuclear ambitions represent "a very great danger" to the Jewish state but played down the prospect of a pre-emptive strike on its atomic facilities. -AFP - 9/15/04 Iran's Rafsanjani vows resistance to EU, US nuclear pressure Iran's powerful former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, vowed the Islamic republic would resist international efforts to prevent it from mastering advanced nuclear technology. -AFP - 9/15/04 Afghanistan: Asian ECO Leaders Create Reconstruction Fund The creation of a fund to finance reconstruction projects in Afghanistan is one of the key developments emerging from today's ECO summit. -RFE - 9/15/04 'Gates of Hell' are Open in Iraq, Warns Arab League Chief Relations with Iraq's US-backed interim government have been divisive issue in the Arab world, with some capitals leaning towards the Iranian position of disparaging the unelected administration as a creature of the United States. -AFP - 9/15/04 Persian and Islamic Art at Sotheby’s An exceptional private collection of Persian and Islamic art, estimated to fetch in excess of £3 million, will be offered for sale in Sotheby’s Islamic week, on Tuesday, October 12, 2004. -CHN - 9/15/04 U.N. Nukes Panel Stalls Over Iran Issue A key meeting of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency stalled Wednesday, reflecting disagreements between the United States and Europe over how firmly to deal with Iran and its suspect nuclear program. -AP - 9/15/04 IAEA Diplomats Consult on Iran Resolution Diplomats on the 35-nation board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency are working behind closed doors to find agreement on a tough resolution, in an attempt to solve the Iran nuclear issue. -VOA - 9/15/04 New cracks in nuclear containment As North Korea, South Korea, and Iran test limits and raise risks of an arms race, the global challenge to nonproliferation grows. -CSM - 9/15/04 Iranian national held in Guantanamo prison repatriated An Iranian national, Bakhtiar Bameri, who had been captured in Afghanistan by US forces and sent to the Guantanamo detention center in Cuba in 2002, was repatriated on Tuesday afternoon. - 9/15/04 Nader's Top Endorsers From 2000 Urge "Swing States" Support For Kerry As Ralph Nader campaigns in swing state after swing state, a large group of prominent endorsers from Nader 2000 is calling for support for Kerry in those states in order to oust Bush. -Common Dreams - 9/15/04 Fuelling uncertainty The unpredictability of oil prices has analysts and decision-makers worried as Opec gathers in Vienna -Guardian - 9/15/04 Iran Reaps Dividends from Iraqi Conflict As instability and violence continue to plague Iraq, Iran has undertaken an increasingly ambitious campaign to defend its own interests in the oil-rich state. The operation, one of the most extensive undertaken by the country’s ruling clerics, relies primarily on the strong religious ties that bind Tehran’s Shi’a government with Iraq’s majority Shi’a population. -Eurasianet - 9/15/04 Jiroft a Key Business Hub 5,000 Years Ago New archeological and art studies on insignias unearthed in the Iranian ancient site of Jiroft clearly shows that the southern area used to be the most important business nucleus of Persia and its residents had bustling trade ties with people living in other parts of the country. -CHN - 9/15/04 Iran, Kyrgyzsta stress expansion of political, economic ties President Mohammad Khatami met with Kyrgyzstan President Asghar Akayev on the sidelines of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) meeting in Dushanbe Tuesday. - 9/15/04 Transcript: Interview with Hossein Mousavian The following is an edited transcript of an interview with Hossein Mousavian, secretary of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Supreme Council for National Security in Iran, conducted in the SCNS offices in Tehran on 11 September 2004. -Financial Times - 9/14/04 FM spokesman stresses Iran's ownership of three Persian Gulf islands Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamidreza Asefi on Tuesday stressed that the three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa as well as the Lesser and Greater Tunbs are integral parts of Iranian territory. - 9/14/04 IAEA spokesman stresses steady progress on Iran's nuclear coop Spokesman of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mark Gwozdecky said in Vienna on Tuesday that the agency had a steady progress on Iran's nuclear cooperation over the past couple of months. - 9/14/04 Iran Defiant on Uranium Enrichment Suspension The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has appealed to Iran to suspend the enrichment of nuclear material, at least for the time being. But an Iranian envoy told reporters in Vienna that his country has a legal right to enrich uranium. -VOA - 9/14/04 UN atomic watchdog urges Iran’s accelerated cooperation on nuclear programme The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog agency charged with preventing the spread of nuclear weapons today called on Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment activities “in light of serious international concerns” about the nature of its nuclear programme. - 9/14/04 Britain Raises Alarm over Iran's Nuclear Program Britain says Iranian threats to resume uranium enrichment undermine earlier assurances that Iran would curb its nuclear program. -VOA - 9/14/04 Straw says MKO will remain on EU terrorist list About 3,000 MKO supporters demonstrated in Brussels ahead of an EU Foreign Ministers' meeting Monday to call for the removal of its name from the terror list. - 9/14/04 Death by fire: the agonising way out for trapped Afghan women Self-immolation is the terrible choice of hundreds of Afghan women every year. Trapped in unhappy marriages or hemmed in by a conservative Islamic society, they take an appalling escape route: dousing themselves in household fuel, closing their eyes, and striking a match. -Guardian - 9/14/04 Iranian misses Israel match Iranian striker Vahid Hashemian will not travel to Israel for Bayern Munich's Champions League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Wednesday. -BBC - 9/14/04 Turkey warns US on northern Iraq Turkey says it will end co-operation with the US in Iraq if the Americans continue with their offensive in the northern Iraqi town of Talafar. -BBC - 9/14/04 US appears headed for showdown with Iran over nuclear issue The United States appeared headed for a showdown with Iran over the Islamic republic's alleged nuclear weapons program, with both sides taking hardline positions at the UN atomic agency. -AFP - 9/14/04 Iran seeing opportunities to capitalize on turmoil in Iraq "The real long-term geopolitical winner of the 'War on Terror' could be Iran," concludes a new report by the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Britain's most respected foreign-policy research organization. -USA Today - 9/14/04 AFGHANISTAN: Living with the drought in Ghazni Baz Mohammad is looking for work, even though he is only 10. He was forced to leave the village school just outside the provincial town of Ghazni after his father died - a victim of the drought that is devastating this part of south-central Afghanistan. -IRIN - 9/14/04 AFGHANISTAN: Interview with female opium farmer Many destitute women in Afghanistan rely on opium farming to feed themselves and their families -IRIN - 9/14/04 Former Director General of the Ministry of Economy in Iran: A Paradigm Shift In The Middle East During the last 25 years, Kam Zarrabi has done research in philosophy, cultural anthropology, archeology, comparative religion, cross-cultural studies and foreign policy issues. He was President of the North county Chapter of the San Diego WAC, 1988-91. - 9/14/04 Afghanistan: Violence May Signal Final Phase In Effort Against Ismail Khan Experts on Afghanistan see yesterday's violence in the western city of Herat as the final phase of a long struggle between the central government and deposed Herat Province Governor Mohammad Ismail Khan. -RFE - 9/14/04 EU hardens position towards Iran The EU Foreign Ministers' Council has called on Iran to suspend all nuclear enrichment activities and also decided to support a Canadian resolution in the UN on human rights in Iran. - 9/14/04 Iranian President Hoping Tajik Visit Will Lead To Better Ties Iran was the first country to recognize Tajikistan's independence in the early 1990s. Since then, expectations were that the two countries -- which share a common language -- would develop close ties. That has not happened -- and Iranian President Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami is now visiting Tajikistan to try to change the situation. -RFE - 9/14/04 Senior Iranian Official: Iran Offers a 10-Point Package to IAEA Following the rejection of the EU’s November deadline by Iran on Sunday, Iran is now trying to achieve its goals by offering a proposal for a broader deal with the west. This seems to be what analysts call the “Grand Bargain” with Iran. -Radio Farda - 9/14/04 Iran Earns Over 1.6 Billion Dollars From Exports Of Industrial Goods Iran exported 5,800,000 tons of industrial goods worth 1.616 billion dollars over the first five months of the Iranian calendar year (started March 20). - 9/13/04 Official: Suspension of uranium enrichment a voluntary decision by Iran Spokesman of the Iranian delegation to the sixth session of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Hossein Moussavian, said in Vienna on Monday that since the beginning, suspension has been a voluntary decision of the part of Iran in a bid to build confidence. - 9/13/04 Iran plans to resume nuclear enrichment Iran says it is losing patience with U.N. inspections of its nuclear programme and has announced that its agreement with the Europeans to halt uranium enrichment will soon come to an end. -Reuters - 9/13/04 Russia opposed to reference of Iran's dossier to UN Security Council Russian Deputy foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said in Moscow on Monday that Russian Federation is opposed to reference of Iran's case to the UN Security Council. - 9/13/04 Straw raps Iran over nuclear stance Straw, speaking before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, said Tehran had promised France, Germany and Britain it would suspend all uranium enrichment and related activity. -Reuters - 9/13/04 IAEA mulls Iran atomic resolution The UN's nuclear watchdog is to decide on a draft resolution offering Iran a deadline to show it does not have a nuclear weapons programme. -BBC - 9/13/04 UN pulls staff out of Afghan city About 50 UN staff and aid workers have been evacuated from the western Afghan city of Herat following clashes between troops and angry demonstrators. -BBC - 9/13/04 Israel tries to add to international pressure over Iran's nuclear program Israel sought to ratchet up the pressure on Iran by claiming its arch enemy could be in a position next year to develop nuclear weapons without outside help, as a UN watchdog scrutinized Tehran's atomic program. -AFP - 9/13/04 Bush team 'knew of abuse' at Guantánamo Evidence of prisoner abuse and possible war crimes at Guantánamo Bay reached the highest levels of the Bush administration as early as autumn 2002, but Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, chose to do nothing about it, according to a new investigation published exclusively in the Guardian today. -Guardian - 9/13/04 Hashemian facing Champions dilemma Bayern Munich are expecting Iranian striker Vahid Hashemian to travel to Israel for this week's Champions League match, an act which could put him in trouble in Teheran. -CNN - 9/13/04 6,000-Year-Old Ziggurat Found Near Chogha Zanbil In Iran Following some geophysical studies, Iranian archeologists have managed to discover the remains of an age-old ziggurat, possibly dating back to 6,00 years, near the 3,000-year-old famed Chogha Zanbil Ziggurat -CHN - 9/13/04 Newly-Found Tunnel Could Lead to 7,000-Year-Old Lost City In Iran Iranian archeologists hope a newly-discovered tunnel in Bonab, northwest of Iran, is likely to lead them to the legendary city of Shiz, dating back to 7,000 years -CHN - 9/13/04 Intellectual Eunuch Every human being becomes something like a eunuch with the surgery knife of Nature after a certain age! Yes, I know we never had female eunuchs and this is most probably the only case in the history of ‘man’-kind that females were more fortunate than men! -Roya Monajem, Tehran - 9/13/04 Iranian Archeologists Find 5 More Bodies Beneath Bam Walls Iranian archeologists have found 5 more bodies beneath the fortifications of the Bam Citadel, south of Iran, raising the number of remains so far unearthed to 10. -CHN - 9/13/04 An Iranian-American Visits Cuba I spent the month of July in Cuba through UC Berkeley’s abroad program and returned in early August... thought, maybe I should write about my experience in Cuba since so many people have inquired about it. -Pouya Alimagham - 9/13/04 No deadline for completion of Iran nuclear probe: UN UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei said that there was no deadline for ending an investigation into Iran's nuclear programme, even though Iran said it expects the probe to wrap up in November. -AFP - 9/13/04 Iranian Journalist Left Iran for Medical Treatment, Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Talking to Foreign Media An appeal court in Tehran passed a one year prison sentence for Mohssen Sazgara, a reformist journalist, for endangering the Islamic Republic’s National Security and disturbing the public’s mind. He has rejected the courts judgment and declared it invalid. -Radio Farda - 9/13/04 US: Iranian Nuclear Program May Come Before UN Security Council Secretary of State Colin Powell says the United Nations Security Council may ultimately have to deal with questions surrounding Iran's nuclear program. Mr. Powell spoke after Iran once again rejected international demands to abandon its uranium enrichment program. -VOA - 9/13/04 The Pride of a Nation Iran's Paralympic volleyball team seeks another gold, but without its secret weapon—war veterans -TIME - 9/13/04 US Envoy: President Bush Determined to End Iranian Nuclear Dispute When asked whether Washington would consider military action if diplomacy fails, Undersecretary of State John Bolton said, quote, "we are determined that they are not going to achieve nuclear weapons capability." -VOA - 9/12/04 Afghan refugees leave Iran with heavy hearts "Any kilometer you are coming into you think that you are going 10 years backward. I could not even imagine," said Jawad, who has spent 22 of his 23 years in the Iranian capital. -AFP - 9/12/04 Supporters Of Former Afghan Governor Sack UN Offices Troops from the Afghan National Army were deployed across much of Herat on Sunday in an attempt to quell tensions over the sacking of provincial Governor Ismail Khan. -RFE - 9/12/04 Russian, British FMs discuss Iran nuclear program, IAEA session Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his British counterpart Jack Straw held telephone talks on the upcoming discussion of Iran's nuclear program in Vienna Monday, Russia's foreign ministry said. -AFP - 9/12/04 Iran 'serial child killers' held Police in Iran have arrested two men suspected of murdering and burying several children in the desert south of the capital Tehran. -BBC - 9/12/04 Iran rejects EU deadline for Iran Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi on Sunday rejected setting any deadline by the European Union for Iran's peaceful nuclear activities, stressing there exists no secret issue in this respect. - 9/12/04 IAEA Considers Action on Iran and South Korea for Failure to Report Nuclear Activities The International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors meets behind closed doors Monday to discuss whether failures by Iran and South Korea to fully declare nuclear experiments should go to the United Nations Security Council. -VOA - 9/12/04 US and Europe draw closer on setting a deadline of Iran nuclear program The United States and Europe appeared closer to agreement ahead of a meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog over setting a deadline for Iran to allay suspicions it is secretly making atomic weapons, but Tehran insisted on its right to develop peaceful nuclear technology. -AFP - 9/12/04 Turkey Reacts with Fury to Massive US Assault on Northern Iraqi City The US military assault on Tal Afar, an ethnically Turkmen city in northern Iraq, has provoked a furious reaction from the Turkish government which is demanding the US call off the attack. -Independent - 9/12/04 Quake rattles Khoy in northwestern Iran An earthquake measuring 3.4 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale shook the city of Khoy in northwestern province of West Azarbaijan on Sunday. - 9/12/04 Colin Powell in four-letter neo-con 'crazies' row A furious row has broken out over claims in a new book by BBC broadcaster James Naughtie that US Secretary of State Colin Powell described neo-conservatives in the Bush administration as 'fucking crazies' during the build-up to war in Iraq. -Guardian - 9/12/04 US Neo-Cons: Kremlin is ‘Morally’ to Blame for the School Massacre WHY would a group of leading American neo-conservatives, dedicated to fighting Islamic terror, have climbed into bed with Chechen rebels linked to al-Qaeda? The American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC), which includes Pentagon supremo Richard Perle, says the conflict between Russia and Chechnya is about Chechen nationalism, not terrorism. -Sunday Herald - 9/12/04 Iranian and Tajik Presidents call for solidarity among Islamic countries Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and visiting Iranian President Seyed Mohammad Khatami Sunday underlined the need for solidarity among Islamic countries to confront the threats. - 9/12/04 Iranian President underlines significance of Persian language Speaking at a gathering of Tajik men of pen, scholars and intellectual elite, he added that the Tajik nation is known for its glorious Persian culture and civilization incomparable to any other world nation. - 9/12/04 US Demands Iran Open Nuclear Facilities to International Inspection A Top U.S. official says his country will demand that Iran come before the U.N. Security Council if it does not agree to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency or IAEA to inspect its nuclear facilities. -VOA - 9/11/04 UN atomic agency seeks to visit key Iranian defense site: diplomats The UN atomic agency has asked to visit one of Iran's main military sites, Parchin near Tehran, but the Iranians have not agreed to the visit, diplomats said, as an Iranian resistance group said Tehran planned to build a nuclear bomb by next year. -AFP - 9/11/04 Beckenbauer to attend Germany-Iran friendly match in Tehran German football icon Franz Beckenbauer will attend the upcoming friendly football game between Germany and Iran scheduled to take place at Tehran's Azadi Stadium on October 9, sources close to the German public television network ZDF told IRNA in Berlin on Saturday. - 9/11/04 25 killed, 18 injured in road accident in west Iran Some 25 people were killed and 18 others injured on Saturday morning as a bus skipped off the road and overturned in Iran's western province of Zanjan. - 9/11/04 EU: Union Struggles To Contain Turkey Accession Debate The European Commission's carefully choreographed strategy to keep internal debate over Turkish accession silent until 6 October, when an initial decision must be made, is coming unraveled -RFE - 9/11/04 Afghan President Removes 2 Key Governors Ahead of October Elections Afghanistan's interim President Hamid Karzai has removed two provincial governors - including a powerful regional warlord - in a bid to consolidate the central government's authority. The move comes less than a month before landmark presidential elections on October 9. -VOA - 9/11/04 Britain Plans to Return Jiroft’s Artifacts Britain has agreed to hand over to Iran some ancient relics seized in London over a month ago, announced Dr. Taha Hashemi, legal and international deputy of Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (CHTO) - 9/11/04 Iranian Presidential Museum Reopens in Late September Iranian presidential museum, formerly known as the Palace of Shahnaz, was built 67 years ago to accommodate Iran’s former shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and his first wife Fuzieh. -CHN - 9/11/04 The view from Tehran In the spring of 2003, shortly after US-led forces captured Baghdad with surprising speed, more than a few western analysts began to foretell winds of change blowing toward Tehran. Reconsider the possibilities: Iraq's burgeoning (secular) democracy would serve as a model for Iran, or perhaps inspire envious Iranians to rise up against their anti-democratic mullahs;... -Karim Sadjadpour, bitterlemons-international - 9/11/04 US gives up on getting Iran to UN Security Council in September: US official The United States now realizes that it does not have the majority it needs at the UN nuclear watchdog to bring Iran before the UN Security Council over Tehran's alleged atomic weapons program, a US official told AFP. - 9/11/04 Parliament's National Security Commission examines Iran's nuclear issue Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Rapporteur Kazem Jalali here Saturday said that Majlis will oversee the talks on Iran's nuclear issue adding that Majlis National Security Commission will hold a session next week to discuss Iran's upcoming talks with EU and UN nuclear watchdog. - 9/11/04 Three Years On, War on Terrorism Looks Like a Loser Three years after al Qaeda-commandeered planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York and the Pentagon, the leaked ruminations of U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld seem more pertinent than ever. -IPS - 9/11/04 Iranian President: Occupiers are the true "axis of evil" Iranian President Mohammad Khatami who was in Belarus on an official visit, said on Friday afternoon that countries that prevent others from living in peace in their homelands and which flagrantly support or commit terrorist acts are the real "axis of evil" - 9/11/04 Grand Ayatollah Montazeri Condemns al-Sadr’s Actions in VOA Interview In a faxed response to VOA’s Persian Service, the Grand Ayatollah from the city of Qom charged that al-Sadr "wants to be the Khomeini of Iraq." He disparaged al-Sadr’s religious authority and said that he believes al-Sadr "apparently has had some help from Iran" which hoped to have a "hand" in Iraq through al-Sadr. - 9/11/04 Tehran Launches Exhibit on Iranian Gems Iranian precious and semi-precious stones including agate, sapphire and rubi are put on a display on Saturday in the museum-palace complex of Sa’dabad, north of the capital city of Tehran - 9/11/04 Iran stands second at Asian youth volleyball meet Iran finished runner-up in the 12th Asian Youth Volleyball Championship in Doha, capital of Qatar, Friday night - 9/11/04 Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Winner Says Human Rights Ignored by Tehran Human rights activist, Shirin Ebadi, says Iran has signed international treaties protecting young people from execution, but constantly ignores the agreements. Ms. Ebadi spke at a news conference in Vienna. -VOA - 9/11/04 Will Tehran Overplay Its Hand? Whether the U.S. or Iraq will be substantially better off in the end from the invasion of Iraq won't be known for some time. But Operation Iraqi Freedom already has one clear, short-term winner: Iran. -Business Week - 9/10/04 More Than 10,000 Iraqis Die Violently in Baghdad Region Alone While America mourns the deaths of more than 1,000 of its sons and daughters in the Iraq campaign, far more Iraqis have died since the United States invaded in March 2003. No official, reliable figures exist, but private estimates range from 10,000 to 30,000 killed across the nation. -AP - 9/10/04 Iran still buying centrifuge parts abroad: intelligence officials Iran is continuing to buy parts for centrifuges abroad, often skirting sanctions and export controls, as it seeks to supply a program which the United States charges is secretly developing nuclear weapons, Western intelligence officials said. -AFP - 9/10/04 Analysts Concerned Venezuelan Turmoil Affecting Oil Prices Oil prices on the world market remain high compared to a year ago and some analysts believe they could move higher in the months ahead. Among the reasons for the price rise is the political turmoil in Venezuela, which has vast quantities of oil and gas yet to be exploited. -VOA - 9/10/04 Bush War on Terror Deemed ''Major Failure of Leadership" by Critics The Bush administration's three-year "war on terrorism" has amounted to a "major failure of leadership and makes Americans more vulnerable rather than more secure," according to a new report by Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF), a network of mainly progressive policy and security analysts. -Common Dreams - 9/10/04 Shell Bids for New Oil Field Development Contracts in Iran Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Europe's second-largest oil company by market value, bid last month to develop new oil fields in Iran as its existing development contracts run out, a Shell spokesman said. -Bloomberg - 9/10/04 IAEA Is Not Going to Refer Iran to the Security Council, Dr. Gary Samore of the IISS in London Tells Radio Farda Dr Gary Samore in an Interview with Radio Farda said in his view, it would be counter productive to refer Iran to the UN’s Security Council at this stage. - 9/10/04 Belgian, Iranian entrepreneurs discuss ways to boost trade Representatives of the Tehran-based "Iran ands Belgium Chamber of Commerce and Industries" (IBCCI) held five days of meetings with Belgian businessmen in Brussels this week to promote trade and commercial cooperation between Belgium and Iran. - 9/10/04 South Korea to provide Iran with 100,000 broadband Internet lines Iran and South Korea have signed a 40 million dollar deal for the provision of 100,000 broadband Internet lines to the Islamic republic. -AFP - 9/10/04 Berlin urges "constructive" IAEA talks to reach consensus on Iran The German government urged "constructive" talks at the upcoming Board of Governors meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), hoping to reach a comprehensive agreement on Iran's nuclear program. - 9/10/04 Bay Area Panel Discusses Us-Iran Relations Under The Bush Administration BAIAD (Bay Area Iranian-American Democrats) held their second open discussion forum titled “Is Iran America’s New Whipping Boy?” - 9/10/04 Congressman Marty T. Meehan Hosts Forum on Immigration Issues Facing the Iranian Community At Suffolk University Law School, Congressman Marty T. Meehan (D-MA) hosted a public forum on immigration issues facing the Iranian American community with the assistance of the Iranian Association of Boston (IAB) and the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC). - 9/10/04 Belarus, Iran sign cooperation documents The Republic of Belarus and the Islamic Republic of Iran on Friday signed six cooperation documents in Minsk in the presence of the two countries' presidents. - 9/10/04 Wrong Strategy On Iran The United States, by relaxing its economic sanctions and granting Iran a voice in the postwar Persian Gulf deliberations, could disarm clerical hard-liners who require American belligerence for perpetuation of the nuclear program. In exchange, Iran would have to accept verifiable restraints on its nuclear activities. -Ray Takeyh, Washington Post - 9/10/04 Three Iranian journalists arrested in continued crackdown against Internet Reporters Without Borders said it was outraged at the latest escalation in a crackdown against news on the Internet as three journalists contributing or having contributed to a reformist site were arrested on 7-8 August. - 9/10/04 Takeyh: Managing U.S.-Iran Relations Takeyh, a senior fellow in Middle Eastern studies at the Council, says "there will always be tensions in [the U.S.-Iranian] relationship. Iran is not a riddle to be solved; it is a problem to be managed." He suggests following the example of U.S.-Sino relations. "Ultimately, you are not going to have a sort of alliance or partnership with Iran, but maybe you can have selective cooperation on an evolving chain of issues and continued disagreement on a range of other issues." -CFR - 9/10/04 Quake hits southwest Iran An earthquake measuring 4.3 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale hit Lordegan and its vicinity in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari early Thursday morning. - 9/9/04 Iran faces 'nuclear ultimatum' Iran is likely to be given an ultimatum that it must suspend all uranium enrichment activities or face being reported to the United Nations Security Council, according to senior British officials. -BBC - 9/9/04 Iran Rewards Judo Champion for Refusing to Fight Israeli Iran has given world judo champion Arash Miresmaeili a $125,000 reward, saying he sacrificed a gold medal at the Athens Olympics by refusing to fight an Israeli. -VOA - 9/9/04 Iran: OPEC United on Raising Price Target OPEC is united on the need to raise its oil price target to an average $30 a barrel, but the cartel has yet to agree on when to implement the higher level, a top Iranian oil official said on Thursday. -Reuters - 9/9/04 Tensions Build Between Syria, Israel As U.S. Pressures Damascus The latest diplomatic shots between the historic Middle East foes were fired yesterday when Israel rejected a reported offer from Damascus to restart peace talks. -RFE - 9/9/04 Iran to screen 'Fahrenheit 9/11' on ... 9/11 Iranian authorities have decided to start screening "Fahrenheit 9/11", Michael Moore's scathing attack on the administration of US President George W. Bush , to coincide with the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks, an official said Wednesday. -AFP - 9/9/04 Iran offers university places to headscarfed French students Iran has responded to restrictions in France, Germany and Turkey on the wearing of Muslim headscarves by offering university places here to women who want to wear the veil, state television reported Wednesday. -AFP - 9/9/04 War, the CIA and Narco-Trafficking: Afghanistan, American Drug Colony The US doesn't control a scrap of ground in Afghanistan outside the capital. Now, with the up tick in violence and bombings in Kabul, even that is in doubt. -Counterpunch - 9/9/04 The Chechens' American Friends The Washington neocons' commitment to the war on terror evaporates in Chechnya, whose cause they have made their own -Guardian - 9/9/04 US and Euro 3 differ over deadline on Iran's nuclear program The United States and three major European countries differ over setting a deadline for Iran to fully suspend uranium enrichment activities ahead of a meeting next week of the UN atomic agency, diplomats said. -AFP - 9/9/04 Censors nudge acclaimed Iranian director out of cinema Iranian director Jafar Panahi may be celebrated abroad as one of Iran's greatest film directors, but the artist has complained that restrictions at home may force him to drop movie making altogether. -AFP - 9/9/04 Naturalists struggle to save Iran cheetahs Only 60 cheetahs are believed to remain in Iran, their numbers bludgeoned by hunting, road-building and drought, say environmentalists battling to save them from extinction. -Reuters - 9/9/04 US Persian-Language TV Becomes Vehicle to Reach Voters The U.S. political parties are reaching out to voters, including immigrants, in this election year. Iranian-Americans are an important part of the electorate in Southern California, and Persian-language television has become a means of reaching them. -VOA - 9/9/04 Germany to deliver 2 submarines to Israel capable of carrying nuke warheads German Defense Minister Peter Struck has finally given green light for the delivery of two submarines to Israel which are also capable of carrying nuclear warheads. - 9/9/04 President Khatami calls for expansion of Iran-Armenia ties Khatami stressed close links in the destinies of the Iranian and Armenian nations, saying he was fully confident there are abundant capacities in both countries and they can tread the path to progress more speedily by helping each other. - 9/9/04 UK sets Iran deadline to end nuclear bomb work The British government yesterday set a November ultimatum for Iran to suspend all activities linked to production of a nuclear bomb - a deadline that effectively marks the failure of more than a year of negotiations between Tehran and the European troika of Britain, France and Germany. -Guardian - 9/9/04 Persian Culture & Role Models for the Next Generation The Iranian diaspora finds itself in the cultural no-man’s land, somewhere between the glorious nostalgic past and uncertain elements of the Western world. While first and second generation immigrants strive to safeguard the best in traditional norms and values, the inevitable clash of cultures leads to questions of self-identity. -Behshad Hastibakhsh, Vancouver - 9/9/04 Facilitating the Iranian Voice As long as we are to distinguish ourselves as Iranians-Americans, the stigma associated with Iranians in US foreign policy, including general social stereotypes, will inhibit our abilities to be a factor in policy making. Unless we can humanize the “Iranian” voice, the “Iranian-American” has little chance of effectuating political or social change. -Nema Milaninia - 9/9/04 Iran defeats Jordan in thriller World Cup soccer qualifier Iran survived the Jordanian hell with two late goals in the second-leg 2006 World Cup Asian zone Group One qualifying match in Amman Wednesday night. - 9/9/04 US Wants Security Council to Take Up Issue of Iran's Nuclear Program Secretary of State Colin Powell Tuesday reaffirmed the United States' intention to try to get the issue of Iran's nuclear program referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency begins a critical meeting on the matter next week in Vienna. -VOA - 9/8/04 EU against putting Iran under pressure: Rowhani Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Hassan Rowhani said in Tehran on Wednesday that the head of the European Union is against putting Iran under pressures and threats and opposes the country's isolation. - 9/8/04 Iran warns EU of "response" if nuclear pressure too high Iran confirmed it was in talks with the European Union on offering new concessions over its nuclear programme, but warned the bloc of a "response" if the Europeans and the UN's atomic watchdog again took a tough line against the Islamic republic. -AFP - 9/8/04 Iran, Qatar, China, Korea advance in Asian junior football meet Iran, Qatar, China, and South Korea stormed into the second round of the 11th Asian Junior Football Championship in Japan on Tuesday. - 9/8/04 Colin Powel Impatient With Islamic Republic’s “Delay Tactics” Regarding Nuclear Program the US Secretary of State asked for the case to be referred to the UN’s Security Council. So far Iran has not done enough to prove it is not intending to develop nuclear weapons, he said. -Radio Farda - 9/8/04 Iran waltzes into Asian youth volleyball semis Iran cruised into the semifinals of the Asian Youth Volleyball Championship in Doha, capital of Qatar, on Wednesday. - 9/8/04 Israel Says World Must Do More to Stop Iran's Nuclear Ambitions Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the international community has not done enough to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and warns that Israel will take its own measures to defend itself. - 9/8/04 Rumsfeld says Iran fueling Iraqi insurgency with people and money US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in an interview Iran was fueling the insurgency in Iraq with people and money, but that international will was lacking to press Tehran to stop its meddling. -AFP - 9/8/04 Cheney: Kerry Victory Will Lead to Another Terrorist Attack on US Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday warned Americans about voting for Democratic Sen. John Kerry, saying that if the nation makes the wrong choice on Election Day it faces the threat of another terrorist attack. -AP - 9/8/04 Iran to sign up human shields for nuclear reactor Thousands of Iranians are expected to volunteer to act as human shields in case of a military attack on one of the country's key nuclear facilities, the group organising the effort said on Wednesday. -Reuters - 9/8/04 Analysts See Signs of Hope in India-Pakistan Dialogue Many analysts remain optimistic about the peace process between India and Pakistan, although the latest round of talks made little substantial progress in resolving their disputes. -VOA - 9/8/04 US death toll in Iraq tops 1,000 The American military death toll has hit 1,000 since US-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, the Pentagon said. -BBC - 9/8/04 IAEA Probes Nuclear Black Market The International Atomic Energy Agency says it is making progress tracking down a global black market in nuclear technology that was run by a top Pakistani scientist. -VOA - 9/8/04 Warning by Legal Experts in Iran about imminent execution of three children Following the execution of Atefeh, a 16 year old girl in the northern city of Neka in Iran, who was accused of having had an extramarital sexual affair, the legal experts are now worried about the faith of three young people who are condemned to death by the Islamic courts. -Radio Farda - 9/8/04 Iran: Failure to confront Afghan heroin leads to growing domestic drug problem Iran is the westernmost point of what is fast becoming the new golden triangle, with Afghanistan and Pakistan pumping the world's heroin through its highways towards the west. Most heroin sold in Europe comes from poppies in Afghanistan, and the shortest route is through Iran. -IRIN - 9/8/04 Iranian, Armenian presidents discuss mutual cooperation President Mohammad Khatami who is in Yerevan at the head of a high ranking delegation conferred on Wednesday with his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian on expansion of mutual relations. - 9/8/04 Iranian Film Ventures Into Adultery, Lesbianism All Iranian filmmakers working in their homeland have to face the trials of the censor, but if the subject matter includes abortion, adultery and lesbian love, the chances of gaining official approval in the Islamic republic are all but zero. -Reuters - 9/7/04 AFGHANISTAN: Addiction: Drug abuse in Kabul city and beyond Afghanistan is trying to pick up the pieces after more than two decades of violent and socially destabilising civil war. Already one of the poorest countries in the world, the years of war have compounded the challenges facing modernisation of a primarily agrarian society with feudalistic and traditionalist social relations. -IRIN - 9/7/04 Power Show of Shiite Leaders in Najaf The return of Ayatollah Sistani to Iraq and announcement of a country-wide demonstration with the purpose of appeasement of the agitated air dominating Najaf, is to make use of a technique that the great Shiite leaders have been long utilizing to mark their stamps on the political trends -Masoud Behnoud - 9/7/04 Parsi population in India declines The census reveals that there is a clear, visible but extremely unfortunate decline of a rich civilization of Zoroastrians and its people. - 9/7/04 Iran steps up cull of pistachios with cancer-linked mold Iran has begun to separate and give special treatment to pistachio nuts destined for export to the European Union in a bid to cut levels of a cancer-linked mold and avoid an EU ban, an official said. -AFP - 9/7/04 White House Blocked Probe of Sept. 11-Saudi Link: Top US Senator The White House blocked a congressional investigation into alleged links between the Saudi government and two September 11, 2001, hijackers, a top US senator wrote in a book. -AFP - 9/7/04 Iran Nuke Fuel Program Starts at Mine Iran's campaign to develop nuclear fuel starts deep under this barren patch of desert, in a mine that engineers expect to start yielding uranium ore in less than two years. -AP - 9/7/04 Persepolis Bas-relief among Police Haul in Isfahan After a police sweep on artifact smugglers two weeks ago in the historical Iranian city of Isfahan, experts have recognized a bas-relief belonging to the famed palaces of Persepolis, 3 ancient earthenware vessels and a stone statue of a lion’s head - 9/7/04 Iraq: Chalabi Says U.S. Organization May Be Behind Attacks Now, in an interview in Baghdad with RFE/RL, Chalabi says he is investigating reports that the U.S. National Security Council may have instigated the recent political attacks against him. - 9/7/04 Iran topped US team at Olympics, official claims A number-crunching Iranian sports official claimed Iran did in fact beat its arch-enemy the United States at the Athens Olympics, even if the Americans won 103 medals compared to the Islamic republic's six. -AFP - 9/7/04 Iran Nears Deal on Renewed Nuclear Freeze Iran has agreed in principle to renew a freeze of some sensitive nuclear activities in a move apparently aimed at easing pressure ahead of a U.N. nuclear watchdog meeting next week, diplomats said Tuesday. -Reuters - 9/7/04 Iran hangs three 'international' drug smugglers Three key elements of 'an international drug smuggling network known as Nicosia' were hanged at dawn Tuesday, Tehran revolutionary court said. - 9/7/04 Kerry on Iraq: 'Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time' Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry on Monday called the invasion of Iraq "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time" and said his goal was to withdraw U.S. troops in a first White House term. -Reuters - 9/7/04 Official: Government guarantees foreign investment in Iran Head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines Seyed Ali Naqi Khamoushi announced that foreign investors can launch economic activities in Iran with confidence and gain the due turnover, given the government's guarantee that no threat will face their capitals. - 9/7/04 Body of American Hiker to be Sent Home from Iran on Monday The embalmed body of Kathleen Namphy, an American hiker who lost her life while descending Iran’s tallest mountain, today would be sent to her homeland, a source told Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency on Monday. - 9/7/04 EU accounts for 30% of Iran's foreign trade A senior Foreign Ministry official said in Tehran on Monday that some 30 percent of Iran's international trading activities are conducted with member states of the European Union, stressing that the Islamic states have developed favorable relations with the 25-nation bloc. - 9/7/04 Turning the heat on Tehran With Iraq's government overthrown, Washington now sounds increasingly bellicose about Iran. -BBC - 9/7/04 Iranian and Japanese Experts Study Ancient Lifestyle in Gilan Iranian archeologists and their Japanese counterparts have launched their fourth season of joint excavations in Jalileh Mound, the biggest residential hill in the northern province of Gilan, to further their anthropological, ecological and archeological studies -CHN - 9/7/04 Missile Defense to Tie US to Iraq, Afghanistan, Caspian, Experts Warn A key component of national missile defense, whose development is receiving priority this year, is likely to strategically tie the United States to Iraq , Afghanistan and some of the authoritarian former Soviet republics, requiring permanent US military bases there, according to officials and scientists involved in the project. -AFP - 9/7/04 Defense Minister: Iran ready to test Shahab-3 missile again Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani stressed that Iran's recent test of Shahab-3 missile was successful, saying his ministry is ready to test it again 'in the presence of observers'. - 9/7/04 Bush Wins, We Invade Iran If not getting nuked in your jammies is high on your priority list, then maybe your best bet is to vote for John Kerry. -Antiwar.com - 9/6/04 Iran's Parliament panel opposes fingerprinting of American nationals The Persian-language 'Mardomsalari' reported that the plan to fingerprint Americans entering Iran was first brought up by the 6th Majlis but was not acted upon pending the results of an expert study on the subject by the Majlis Research Center. - 9/6/04 Iran's Nukes: Not If, but When If you want an object lesson in why Sen. Kerry’s assertion that simply by working with our allies to solve threats to our nation and elsewhere around the world is wrong, wrong, wrong, I direct your attention to the nation of Iran. -ChronWatch - 9/6/04 Iran's hardliners roll back Khatami's reforms, but how far? Iran's dominant conservatives have been rolling back the tentative liberalisation of reformist President Mohammad Khatami since winning control of parliament in disputed polls earlier this year, but it remains unclear how far to the right they will take the Islamic republic. -AFP - 9/6/04 Iran's Bid for Regional Power: Assets and Liabilities Tensions between Iran and the United States have recently heated up to the point that some analysts, particularly in the Arab world, surmise that the struggle between the Iraqi transitional government and the Shi'a resistance led by Moqtada al-Sadr is essentially a proxy war between the two countries. -PINR - 9/6/04 Caspian caviar quotas fall 95 pct in 19 yrs-expert Caspian Sea caviar quotas have plunged 95 percent in 19 years, an Iranian sturgeon expert said on Monday -- a reflection of how poaching and pollution have ravaged stocks of the long-snouted boneless fish. -Reuters - 9/6/04 Iran earns over 70 million dollars from exports of sweets, chocolate About 600,000 tons of sweets and chocolates are annually produced in Iran, about 40,000 to 50,000 tons of which are exported. - 9/6/04 Israeli spy satellite crashes in sea A rocket carrying an Israeli spy satellite intended to boost the Jewish state's surveillance over arch-enemy Iran has crashed into the sea shortly after lift-off, officials and defence sources say. -Reuters - 9/6/04 Shiraz to host 3rd Middle East Tourism Exhibition The Third Middle East Tourism Exhibition is to open in this central province's permanent fairgrounds for international exhibitions on September 12. - 9/6/04 The man who lost his past Merhan Karimi Nasseri has spent 16 years living in Charles de Gaulle airport. Now Steven Spielberg's Terminal has catapulted him to international stardom - but casts little light on who he really is. And Sir Alfred, as he calls himself, isn't too sure either. Paul Berczeller, who spent a year with Nasseri, set out to unravel the mystery -Guardian - 9/6/04 Syria feels squeeze over Lebanon Israel has threatened it with a military strike, and the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning Syria's continued interference in neighbouring Lebanon. -BBC - 9/6/04 The Olympic gold equation: do the wealthiest nations always win? In crude terms, it was the United States that came out top, with its 35 golds, followed by China and Russia. Obviously, countries with large populations will tend to do well because sheer weight of numbers will throw up more of the freaks of nature able to run faster or jump higher than the competition. -Guardian - 9/6/04 New Iraqi PM a Trusted Source for CIA, MI6 Iraq 's tough-talking new prime minister was one of U.S. and British intelligence agencies' most trusted sources for information about Saddam Hussein 's government, former officials say. -AP - 9/6/04 Oil bonanza boosts Saudi finances Soaring world oil prices have provided Saudi Arabia with a budget surplus, the country's crown prince has said. -BBC - 9/6/04 A Web Of Intrigue So far, no one, including Franklin, is known to have been charged in either case. In the meantime, AIPAC and its allies have launched a P.R. blitz, urging backers to bolster the group by contacting members of Congress with expressions of support. -Time - 9/6/04 Memories of a slaughter in Iran A survivor tells of 1988 massacre in Islamic Republic Thousands of men, women, children secretly executed -Toronto Star - 9/6/04 Al-Sadr's Ex-Mentor Distances Himself An Iranian-based cleric who had been the former spiritual guide of radical anti-U.S. Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr has distanced himself from his former pupil's actions, his Web site said Sunday. -AP - 9/6/04 Iran Air transports 763,000 passengers in one month The Islamic Republic of Iran's Airlines, Iran Air, transported 763,000 passengers in a month to August 1, showing a 13.6 percent increase compared to the figure for the previous month and nearly nine percent compared to that for the same period last year. - 9/6/04 Afghan Immigrants in Iran Forced to Leave Yazd’s Historical Fabric Following some urban problems such as deteriorating health of residents and insecurity, Afghan immigrants in the Iranian central city of Yazd have received a one-month deadline to quit its historical fabric -CHN - 9/6/04 Bodies of Six Ancient Infants Discovered in Iran's Ruined Bam Citadel While profiling and documenting the western wall of the quake-stricken Bam Citadel, Iranian archeologists stumbled upon six bodies of one-year-old children, 5 of them shrouded -CHN - 9/6/04 Quake rattles northwestern Iran An earthquake measuring 4 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale shook Sharafkhaneh port in Iran's northwestern province of East Azarbaijan on Sunday night. - 9/6/04 Iran's unemployment rate to hit 50% for 15-29 age group in two years A report commissioned by the Management and Planing Organization (MPO) and Iran Youth Organization (IYO) released on Sunday predicted that if the annual unemployment rate of 13.2 percent holds up then the jobless rate among 15-29 age group will reach 52 percent within two years. - 9/5/04 Official: Foreign ministry continuing its efforts to obtain release Iranian diplomat abducted in Iraq Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi here Sunday said that the ministry is continuing its efforts to locate and obtain the release of an Iranian diplomat abducted in Iraq. - 9/5/04 Mashhad Court Sentences Two Sisters to Lashes and Fines for “Improper Dress” A court in Mashhad on Thursday sentenced two young sisters to lashes, suspended jail terms and fine for not adhering to proper Islamic dress code. -Radio Farda - 9/5/04 Israel Has Long Spied on US, Say Officials Despite its fervent denials, Israel secretly maintains a large and active intelligence-gathering operation in the United States that has long attempted to recruit U.S. officials as spies and to procure classified documents, U.S. government officials said. -Los Angeles Times - 9/5/04 Iran to send nuclear negotiator to Europe on diplomatic offensive Iran said it was sending its top national security official to Europe to forestall US efforts to haul the Islamic republic before the UN Security Council over its nuclear programme. -AFP - 9/5/04 Iran lambasts "crocodile tears" for dead photographer Iran again hit out at Canada for complaining about the murder in custody here of Canadian-Iranian photographer Zahra Kazemi, saying Ottawa was only crying "crocodile tears". -AFP - 9/5/04 Some 150 workers stage protest over social security row About 150 workers of Kashan Textile Factory gathered in front of the provincial department of Social Security Organization to protest against not being included in the category of the 'arduous labor'. - 9/5/04 Serving Two Flags: The Bush Neo-Cons and Israel Since 9-11, a small group of "neo-conservatives" in the Administration have effectively gutted--they would say reformed--traditional American foreign and security policy. Notable features of the new Bush doctrine include the pre-emptive use of unilateral force, and the undermining of the United Nations and the principle instruments and institutions of international law -Counterpunch - 9/5/04 Iran Denies It Harbored Qaeda Agent After Sept. 11 A suspected al Qaeda explosives expert detained in Pakistan was in Iran before Sept. 11, 2001, but Iran on Sunday denied Pakistani assertions he fled to Iran after the suicide attacks in the United States. -Reuters - 9/5/04 Iran slaps Belgian royals over choice of "incompetent" godfather Iran's Islamic regime hit out at the Belgian royal family for choosing the son of its ousted shah to be a godfather of one of its latest additions. -AFP - 9/5/04 The Holy Empire: Who We Are and What We Do It is now nearly three years since nineteen young men from Saudi Arabia and Egypt opened the Pandora's Box by attacking the World Trade Center and Pentagon with hijacked planes. But the answer to "why did they do it?" still remains unsettled. -Sasan Fayazmaneshm, Counterpunch - 9/5/04 Iran's car import tariff to remain at 130 percent: Car import tariff would stay at 130 percent up to the end of the current Iranian calendar year (20 March, 2005) to prevent importers' bewilderment, reported an English-language daily in Tehran. - 9/5/04 Iran's capital market increasing: Hosseini Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Safdar Hosseini said in Kerman on Sunday that Iran's capital market is increasing and moving forward in the right direction. - 9/5/04 Iran's Ebadi to defend dissident journalist Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has decided to take up the case of prominent dissident journalist Akbar Ganji. -AFP - 9/5/04 Iran's FM spokesman says Iran in "very sensitive" negotiations with Europe Asefi stressed that "very serious and subtle negotiations" are currently being conducted between Tehran and European countries and that the Europeans should be very careful with their position. - 9/5/04 FM spokesman: Iran continuing suspension of uranium enrichment Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi stressed that Iran was still going on with its commitment to suspend uranium enrichment. Making the remarks in his weekly press briefing Sunday, he said secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Hassan Rowhani will leave Tehran for the Netherlands on Monday. - 9/5/04 Iran: Implementation of Khuzestan steel project in full swing The production capacity of Khuzestan Steel Company is expected to reach 2.4 million tons by the end of the Third Five-Year Economic Development Plan (March, 2005) after one of two phases of a large-scale development plan becomes operational. - 9/4/04 Iran manufactures 320,000 vehicles in five months Ministry of Industry and Mines' Office for Automobile Production and Engines said in Tehran on Saturday that over 320,000 vehicles were manufactured in the first five month of the current Iranian year (started March 21). - 9/4/04 Iran and Libya figure high on agenda of upcoming UN atomic agency meeting The United Nations nuclear watchdog agency will have a full agenda when its Board of Governors begins a three-day meeting in Vienna on 13 September with issues ranging from forestalling nuclear terrorism to the latest status of the verification of atomic programmes in Iran and Libya. - 9/4/04 In Nuclear Shadow, EU Reviews Iran Ties The European Union said Friday that Iran's nuclear program has cast a shadow over its relations with Europe, which has been at pains to forge closer trade and other ties in recent years. -AP - 9/4/04 Jeers For UN Amid National Security Talk By Republicans At Convention Prominent Republicans speaking at this week's party convention have generated some of their biggest reactions at the expense of the United Nations. Their comments are rooted in Republican anger at resistance in the UN Security Council to the war on Iraq 18 months ago. -RFE - 9/4/04 Nader Garschi Signs North Bay Area Development Deal With Taco Del Mar Former Taco Bell Market Coach Joins Taco Del Mar as Fifth Bay Area Master Developer, Locking in the Northern California Market -PRNewswire - 9/4/04 Day of reckoning for the emir of Herat Next month's elections will decide fate of one of Afghanistan's most powerful warlords -Guardian - 9/4/04 Dubai's women lift veil on business In a region where restrictive and conservative attitudes towards a woman's role in society often prevail, the Gulf state is an example of how women are now matching men in business. -BBC - 9/4/04 Seoul: Revelation of Uranium Program Should Not Hurt Nuclear Talks with N. Korea The South Korean government says its scientists were not trying to build a nuclear bomb when they enriched a small amount of uranium four years ago. But news of the experiment is prompting nervous reaction from Japan. And there are concerns it could complicate efforts to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. -VOA - 9/4/04 Third Parties and Iranian-American Issues Because third parties traditionally embrace issues that reside outside of the realm of the American two-party system, they offer voters political choices outside the Democratic and Republican platforms. If Iranian-American voters are not satisfied with the Democratic or Republican stance on the issues they care about, they have the choice to turn to third parties, which often embrace more extreme policy positions. -NIAC - 9/4/04 Phases 4 and 5 of Iran's South Pars gas project to go on stream by March next year Phases 4 and 5 of the giant South Pars (SP) Development Project is over 85 percent complete and is slated to go on stream before the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2005), the Public Relations Department of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) announced Friday. - 9/4/04 Iran, Turkey to resume talks on gas exports Iran and Turkey will resume bilateral talks on various issues of natural gas export including gas prices as well as export of Iran's gas to Europe via Turkey in Ankara next week. - 9/4/04 Dapper rapper's social criticism plays big in Iran Far from its roots in disfranchised U.S. ghettoes, rap music is proving a big hit as a platform for social criticism in the Islamic Republic. But Shahkar Binesh-Pajouh, Iran's bow-tie wearing dapper rapper would look somewhat out of the place in the Bronx. -Reuters - 9/3/04 Iran will start piping natural gas to Azerbaijan in Sept 2005 Head of the Azeri Gas Company said in Baku on Thursday that natural gas exchange between Iran and Azerbaijan will start in September 2005. - 9/3/04 Argentine Court Acquits 5 Charged in Connection With Bombing of Buenos Aires Jewish Center The three-year trial was the longest and most expensive in Argentine history and with Thursday's acquittal, Argentine investigators are back at square one, no one has ever been convicted for the crime, one of the deadliest acts of anti-Semitism since World War II. -VOA - 9/3/04 Iran hardliners demand clampdown on women's dress About 500 hardline vigilantes have taken to the streets of Tehran, demanding authorities crack down on women who wear colourful headscarves and figure-hugging coats which they denounce as "prostitution". -Reuters - 9/3/04 South Korea Denies Nuclear Weapons Plans South Korea denied harboring any nuclear weapons ambitions Friday, saying a one-time uranium enrichment test by its scientists shouldn't derail U.S.-led efforts to dismantle rival North Korea's nuclear programs. -AP - 9/3/04 Don't Send More Kids to Die It has been a pretty thrilling week so far, my favorite moment by far being the rebellious Bush twins who, in just a few short minutes, delivered on their promise to issue "payback" to their parents and all authority in general. -Michael Moore, USA Today - 9/3/04 UN backs Lebanon sovereignty call The UN Security Council has narrowly adopted a resolution demanding that foreign troops leave Lebanon and that Lebanese sovereignty be respected. -BBC - 9/3/04 Iranian archeologists Discover Achaemenid Settlement near Bam Iranian archeologists have managed to discover some signs of Achaemenid settlements near the ancient southern city of Bam, almost completely ruined in a horrendous earthquake last December - 9/3/04 Iranian Experts to Study Lifestyle in Burnt City Iranian archeologists plan to launch a new stage of studies aimed at finding out the dominant lifestyle of people who used to live during the 3rd millennium BC in the Iranian famed Burnt City, southeastern of the country - 9/3/04 Iran Sees Nuclear Lesson in Iraq, N.Korea -Experts The Bush administration may think tough talk will discourage Iran's nuclear ambitions, but U.S. policy on Iraq and North Korea has left the Islamic state believing that only nuclear weapons can deter the possibility of U.S. invasion, experts said on Thursday. -Reuters - 9/3/04 IAEA Report Reignites Concern Over Iran's Nuclear Ambitions The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a report yesterday saying Iran plans to resume large-scale production of material to enrich uranium, a process that can help the development of nuclear weapons. -RFE - 9/3/04 Iran: Bushehr nuclear power plant spent fuel agreement to be signed soon Iran's Ambassador to Russia said in Moscow on Thursday that the agreement for transfer of spent fuel of Bushehr Nuclear power plants will be singed between Tehran and Moscow in the near future. - 9/3/04 Fanning the Hysteria About Iran: NPR Leads the Charge to War Listeners to National Public Radio are increasingly apt to criticize the "rightward shift" in the station's news coverage. The August 30 "Morning Edition" program, however, reached a new low for slanted journalism and for making the Bush Administration's case for war with Iran. -Counterpunch - 9/3/04 Straw says EU upset with Iran on nukes European Union foreign ministers, including Jack Straw, have voiced disenchantment at Iran's failure to cooperate more fully with U.N. efforts to ensure its nuclear programme is not a front for developing atomic weapons. -Reuters - 9/3/04 EU's Patten Says Iran Entails One Of His 'Biggest Regrets' Patten used one of his last major public appearances to sharply criticize Iran for worsening relations with the West. -RFE - 9/3/04 Iran’s Paleontologist Center to Sue U.S. Natural History Museum in Hague As the Natural History Museum of America has doggedly refused to return back some 2,500 fossils it had borrowed from Iran in late 1970s, a paleontologist center in northwest of Iran has formed a coalition to sue the American museum in the Hague - 9/3/04 Iran humbles Ukraine, Brazil batters u-21 futsal side Playing its second game in the four-sided tournament, Peace and Friendship Cup, the Iranian seniors' side handed Ukraine a 4-2 defeat in the 12,000-seater hall of Azadi Sports Complex, west of Tehran. Later, the three-time world champion, Brazil, thrashed Iran's under-21 team 6-2. - 9/3/04 Kerry Criticizes Bush Handling of Iraq The Democratic candidate, in his speech to America's largest veterans group, asserted that Mr. Bush's policies have allowed terrorists to secure new havens in Iraq, violence to spread, extremism to gain momentum in the country, and the radical government in Iran to gain influence. - 9/2/04 IAEA Has Questions about Iran's Nuclear Program The International Atomic Energy Agency says there are many open questions on the nature and aims of Iran's nuclear program, which could soon include uranium conversion suitable for the building of atomic bombs. -VOA - 9/2/04 Iran: IAEA's latest report clearly reflects Iran's stands Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi said in Tehran on Wednesday, "The International Atomic Energy Agency's latest report clearly reflects our stands and approves that our predictions were in the right direction." - 9/2/04 Iran uranium plans provoke U.S. fury The United States has condemned Iran as a threat to global peace with its plans to process 37 tonnes of raw uranium, which one nuclear expert says could eventually yield material for five atomic bombs. -Reuters - 9/2/04 Quake jolts Damghan in Iran's Semnan province An earthquake measuring 4.2 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale jolted the city of Damghan and its vicinity in Semnan province northeast of Tehran early Thursday. - 9/2/04 Iran's blocked websites resurface Three Iranian reformist websites blocked more than a week ago have re-emerged at different internet addresses. - BBC - 9/2/04 Iranian journalist in Iraqi police custody released Iraqi police on Thursday released an Iranian journalist Hassan Qaedi who was arrested five days ago. - 9/2/04 Powell on Iran U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has spoken out on the need for democratic change in Iran. Asked in a television interview about the possibility that the Iranian people could replace their government, Mr. Powell said, “I see this speculation and...we just have to leave it up to the Iranian people to decide how they wish to be governed.” -VOA - 9/2/04 Iran says meddling in Iraq would be a "great insult" Iranian President Mohammad Khatami declared himself to be against any interference by his country in Iraqi affairs, labelling any meddling as an "insult" to the Iraqi people. -AFP - 9/2/04 Spy Probe Scans Neo-Con Israel Ties The burgeoning scandal over claims that a Pentagon official passed highly classified secrets to a Zionist lobby group appears to be part of a much broader set of FBI and Pentagon investigations of close collaboration between prominent U.S. neo-conservatives and Israel dating back some 30 years. -IPS - 9/2/04 Iran decides Cat Stevens good, Michael Jackson bad Iran's Islamic Propagation Organisation has decided the music of Cat Stevens, the British singer who converted to Islam and changed his name to Yusuf Islam, has been given regime approval and will soon go on sale in the Islamic republic. -AFP - 9/2/04 US faces uphill battle to win UN sanctions on Iran for nuclear program The United States faces an uphill battle in getting the UN nuclear watchdog to push for sanctions against Iran since diplomats at the IAEA believe there is not enough proof the Islamic nation poses an nuclear threat. -AFP - 9/2/04 George W Bush's missing year 'Who was this guy who came in late and left early?' After thirty years of silence, Mary Jacoby finds out what the future President really did in 1972 -Guardian - 9/2/04 Iran Plans to Launch Satellite by May 2005 Iran said Thursday it would launch its first satellite into space by May 2005, state television reported. -Reuters - 9/2/04 Iran 'plans to convert uranium' The United Nations nuclear agency says Iran is planning to test a facility that could convert raw uranium into weapons-grade material. -BBC - 9/2/04 Quake jolts Jahrom in Iran's Fars province An earthquake measuring 3.6 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale jolted the city of Jahrom in the southern province of Fars Wednesday night. - 9/2/04 Bay Area panel discusses US-Iran relations under the Bush administration Panelists at a Bay area event entitled “Is Iran America’s New Whipping Boy?” predicted that Iran will remain high on the US agenda as neo-conservatives work to retain what the panel described as US and Israeli supremacy in the region. -NIAC - 9/2/04 US Concerned About New Report on Iranian Nuclear Activity A senior State Department official said Wednesday there is a compelling need to take the issue of Iran's nuclear program to the U.N. Security Council. The comments followed release of a new report on the issue by U.N. inspectors. -VOA - 9/2/04 Interview with UNHCR head to mark the return of one million Afghans refugees from Iran One million Afghan refugees have officially returned home from Iran since the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) started its voluntary repatriation programme in April 2002. This means that the Afghan refugee population in Iran has been halved, with a million Afghans remaining in Iran. -IRIN - 9/2/04 Indo-Iranian gas pipeline to further promote relationship: Expert The Indo-Iranian gas pipeline would be an extended promotion of relationship between the countries of the region, says the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India on Wednesday. - 9/1/04 Graphic novelist from Iran continues her personal story Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis was the improbability of its existence. An autobiography written as a graphic novel? Written in French by an Iranian woman? Where did this come from? -Philadelphia Inquirer - 9/1/04 India to construct 5 IT parks in Iran Iranian ambassador to New Delhi said on Tuesday that India is to construct five Information Technology (IT) parks in Iran following the signing of an agreement between the sides in IT sector. - 9/1/04 Iran-Bushehr oceanliner joins Iran's shipping fleet The Iran-Bushehr oceanliner, a joint production of Iran and Germany, officially joined the Islamic Republic of Iran's shipping fleet last week - 9/1/04 Athens 2004 Olympics – Some Observations The 28th Olympic Games took place in Athens from August 11 through August 29, 2004. These games returned to their ancient city and brought all nationalities and races together. -Mohammad Ala - 9/1/04 NASA Satellites Allow USDA To See World's Lakes Rise And Fall relative lake height variations computed from TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) and Jason-1 altimetry with respect to a 10 year mean level derived from T/P altimeter observations. -GSFC - 9/1/04 The Pentagon and Israel For some, the exposure of an FBI investigation into the operations of a supposed Israeli mole in the Pentagon was proof that Jews can never risk trusting a Republican administration—even in these times when Christian fundamentalists, so important to Bush's base, are solidly lined up behind Israel. -Village Voice - 9/1/04 Iran, Azerbaijan seem destined for more tension The visit of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan in early August raised hopes both in Tehran and Baku for an improvement in relations between the two countries. -Daily Star - 9/1/04 Sovereign Iraq Just as Deadly to U.S. Forces Two months after the U.S. handed sovereignty back to Iraq amid hopes of reduced violence, more than 110 U.S. troops have been killed and much of the country remains hostile territory. The toll of U.S. dead since the war began last year is fast approaching 1,000. -Los Angeles Times - 9/1/04 Iran becomes US election issue While the Bush administration wants the UN Security Council to punish Iran for alleged deceit over its nuclear programme, President Bush's Democrat rival, John Kerry, is ready to offer Iran a deal. -BBC - 9/1/04 Iran Poses Vexing Problems for U.S. Iran, a country that has bedeviled the United States for decades, could prove to be the biggest foreign policy challenge facing whoever is the next president. -AP - 9/1/04 Hometown hit for Montreal filmmaker Iranian-American filmmaker Maryam Keshavarz has premiered her first documentary here, Rangeh Eshgh (The Colour of Love). The 29-year-old New York-based filmmaker says she was inspired to make the film about everyday life in Iran after the bombs started dropping in Iraq. -Globe and Mail - 9/1/04 Putin, Chirac, And Schroeder Hold Wide-Ranging Talks In Sochi The leaders discussed the situation in Iraq and neighboring Iran, as well as energy cooperation and other issues. But as RFE/RL reports, the specter of terrorism dominated the talks. - 9/1/04 Furniture design: a sign of change in Iran? Popularity of non-licensed ikea stores is booming - Intellectual property rights are now an integral part of the debate in Tehran -Daily Star - 9/1/04 Lake Urmia Height Variations Relative lake height variations computed from TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) and Jason-1 altimetry with respect to a 10 year mean level derived from T/P altimeter observations. - 9/1/04 Iran's Parliament revises 4th Development Plan to meet GC requirements In today's session, the lawmakers deleted a note under Article 17 of the bill which was to authorize foreign insurance companies to open branches in Iran. - 9/1/04 U.N.: No Clear Arms Evidence on Iran Nuclear Program United Nations inspectors have found no clear evidence of a nuclear arms program in Iran, according to an upcoming report by the International Atomic Energy Agency cited on Wednesday in The Washington Post. -Reuters - 9/1/04 The next session of IAEA and the case of Iran According to numerous sources the next session of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be very important for the nuclear case of Iran. Many sources claim that due to the following reasons the session will adopt very important decisions against Iran: -Bahman Aghai Diba - 9/1/04 Leading Iranian Dissident Demands Trial by Jury Ebrahim Yazdi, head of the Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI) which advocates the separation of religion and state, is due in court this month where he must answer several other charges including insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. -Reuters - 9/1/04 © Copyright 2009 NetNative (All Rights Reserved)