KDPI
Clashes between protesters and security forces in Piranshahr leave casualties: Hundreds of protesters arrested, dozen injured

Several thousands of Kurdish population of the city of Piranshahr (Iranian Kurdistan) protested against the killing of Fayegh Rajabi a Kurdish toiler by security forces of Iran.

Thousands of Kurdish residents of the city of Piranshahr in West Azerbayjan province, Iranian Kurdistan, protested over the killing of a Kurdish toiler by security forces on Saturday, March 11, 2006.

Security forces opened fire to control the demonstration, which resulted in the injury of dozens of protesters. Reliable sources from the city stated that the conditions of some of those injured are critical, as they are in hiding fear of persecution by the security forces. Furthermore, over 200 people are arrested by the security forces. Angry protesters set fire to the authorities’ vehicles and stoned government buildings. The Gharz al Hasane bank of government was set on fire by the protesters.

Piranshahr has been under Marshal Law since Saturday.

Since July 2005, over 50 Kurds have been killed by the Special Forces of the Islamic Republic during numerous demonstrations in the Kurdish cities and towns. To date, approximately two thousand people have been arrested and over 500 people have been injured. In a single incident, the security forces killed at least 10 Kurdish demonstrators in the city of Maku on February 15th, 2006.

The ongoing human rights violation in Iranian Kurdistan is not isolated incidents. It is rather a result of persistence and systematic oppressive policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran against Kurdish people and the people of Iran in general.

PDKI urges the International community, in particular EU, United States and members of Security Council to take the human rights situation of the Kurdish people of Iranian Kurdistan very seriously. Condemning the human rights violation against Kurds by the Iranian regime is the minimum that the Kurdish people expect from the International community.

Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
Public relations
Paris, March 12, 2006

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's president on Tuesday struck a defiant tone on the threat of political sanctions against Tehran, quipping that a lack of "wise politicians" in the West makes travel there unattractive.

Iran has been reported to the U.N. Security Council for failing to convince the international community that its atomic scientists are working exclusively on power stations rather than branching into nuclear warheads.

Diplomats have said Iran is more likely to face political sanctions, such as travel bans on politicians, rather than economic embargoes.

But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a crowd in the northeastern city of Gorgan that he would welcome not having to travel abroad and meet Western leaders.

"They say 'We will not let Ahmadinejad travel to some Western countries if the Iranian people do not stop their path of seeking peaceful nuclear technology'," he said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

"But I tell them I do not even want to set eyes on their faces," he added.

"I used to believe there could be wise politicians in the West. But in the few months that I have been meeting them face-to-face, unfortunately I have seen the only things you would struggle to find in the West are wise politicians."