Iran Human Rights: The news of sudden and unexpected political prisoner Abdolreza Rajabi has raised new concern about situation of the political prisoners in Iran.

Mr. Rajabi was associated to the Mojahedin-e-Khalgh oraganization, and was sentenced to life in prison 8 years ago. According to several reports his family were informed about his death on October 29. They were not given any explaination about the reason of his sudden death.

Iran Human Rights is investigating further on this matter.

Several political prisoners have been in the recent months placed among dangerous prisoners with criminal charges. There are also reports indicating that political prisoners are often held in solitary confinements, exposed to ill treatment and denied medical aid for longer periods of time.

Iranian authorities have also started transferring political prisoners and prisoners of belief to prisons in remote places. This has been looked upon as an act of incresing pressure on the prisoners since it leads to further isolation and makes it more difficult for the prisoners families to visit them.

Several of the followers of the ayatollah Boroujerdi who were in the prisons of the capital Tehran, have been transferred to prisons in more remote places. Majid Alasti, one of ayatollah Boroujerdi’s followers was transferred to a prison in Zanjan.

According to the sources Iran Human Rights has been in contact with, Iranian authorities have threatened to transfer ayatollah Boroujerdi, who is being held at Tehran’s Evin prison, to a remote prison.

Amnesty International
Reported plans by the governor of the southern Turkish province of Adana to cut health care from demonstrators and their families violate international standards, Amnesty International said today.

Demonstrations against the alleged ill-treatment of imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan have taken place across the southern and eastern provinces of Turkey since 17 October. There are continuing reports that the law enforcement response to the demonstrations, which were at times violent, has included excessive use of force and other forms of ill-treatment

“The authorities’ response to the demonstrations must be consistent with their human rights obligations and not involve collective punishment,” said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International’s expert on Turkey.

Amnesty International has learnt that the Adana provincial authorities have started legal proceedings to withdraw so-called “green cards” from families of children who participated in these demonstrations.

“Green cards” allow the poorest families access health care and treatment. Reports also indicate that the authorities are taking steps to prevent the families of such children to receive assistance from the Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundation. This body provides coal to help poor families heat their homes in winter, among other forms of assistance.

“The steps to deprive children suspected of involvement in the demonstrations and their families of health care and other benefits are a form of collective punishment and violate the right of all persons to health and to an adequate standard of living, without discrimination,” Andrew Gardner said.

“Rather than violating human rights, the Turkish authorities should ensure that their responses to the demonstrations are consistent with their obligations to respect and protect the human rights of all persons within their territories.”

Such a response could include ensuring that the policing of the demonstrations is carried out in a manner that is consistent with international standards, including the use of force and firearms. Any cases against individuals alleged to have been involved in criminal conduct should be pursued through the criminal justice system in proceedings that meet international standards of fairness, particularly those set out in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

A Tehran appeal court has upheld the 11-year prison sentence that was imposed on journalist Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand for creating a human rights organisation in Iran’s Kurdish northwest. Under Iranian law, sentences of more than 10 years in prison cannot be the subject of appeals to the supreme court.

His lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, told Reporters Without Borders he would refer the case to the head of the judicial system, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, after which there would be no further legal recourse.

“The national security charges brought against Kabovand are baseless,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It is absurd to regard the defence of human rights as an attack on national security. This is just a clumsy pretext for silencing a journalist who had for long time been writing about discrimination against minorities in Iran.”

The press freedom organisation added: “This journalist’s most basic rights have been flouted, beginning with his right to appropriate medical treatment. The Iranian authorities are responsible for the health of their detainees. Kabovand urgently needs to be allowed out of prison for a medical examination.”

Kabovand, who has been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since July 2007, is suffering from prostate pains and has not yet been granted permission to receive treatment outside the prison. His wife, Parinaz Hassani, told Reporters Without Borders that she has not been allowed to visit him since 24 September.

In its ruling, issued on 23 October, the appeal court upheld Kabovand’s conviction on a charge of “activity against national security” but dismissed a second charge of “publicity against the government.” It did not however reduce the sentence he received in June.

In an unrelated case, 10 journalists who were about to leave for the United States to cover the 4 November presidential election were detained on 25 October at Tehran international airport. Their passports were confiscated and they were ordered to report to the ministry of intelligence.

www.rsf.org

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has begun building a line of naval bases along its southern coast and up to the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the strategic Gulf oil waterway, the Tehran Times quoted an Iranian commander as saying.

Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the bases were being built on the Sea of Oman coast from Pasa Bandar, near the Pakistan border, to Bandar Abbas, Iran's major port on the Strait of Hormuz, the English-language newspaper reported on Thursday.

He did not say when work would be completed.

Sayyari this week opened a naval port at Jask, which is also along the Sea of Oman, Iranian media reported.

"The new mission of the navy is to build an impenetrable line of defence at the entrance to the Sea of Oman," Sayyari said in Hormuzgan province in south Iran, the Tehran Times reported.

"If the enemy goes insane, we will drown them at the bottom of the Indian Ocean and the Sea of Oman before they reach the Strait of Hormuz and the entrance to the Persian Gulf," he said.

Iran has threatened to close the strait, the sea route through which two-fifths of the world's globally traded oil passes, if the United States attacked. Iranian officials have often said Washington would be foolish to contemplate an attack.

Washington is embroiled in a row over Tehran's nuclear work, which the West says is aimed at making an atomic bomb, a charge Iran denies. The U.S. administration has said it wants diplomacy to resolve the row but has not ruled out military action.

Military experts say Iran's armed forces cannot match U.S. military technology but could still cause havoc on shipping routes, particularly using small craft for hit-and-run attacks.

(Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Iran Human Rights, October 30: Human rights defenders and organizations are concerned about the increasing pressure on women’s rights activists in Iran. Iranian authorities have stepped up pressure on women’s rights defenders in the recent weeks.

Esha Momeni, a student and women’s rights defender, was arrested by Iranian security officials on 15 October, and transferred to the section 209 of Evin prison, which is run by the Ministry of Intelligence. Esha Momeni is a graduate student at California State University, Northridge, in the USA. She is also a member of a branch of the Campaign for Equality in California. She had been in Iran for two months to visit her family and to conduct research for her Master’s degree thesis on the Iranian women’s movement.

She has not been charged with any offence, and is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Amnesty Inernational and several International organizations have expessed concern about her well being.

According to the site "Change for Equality", another member of the Campaign for Equality, Parastoo Alahyaari’s home was searched the security officers on Saturday October 18, 2008, and her laptop, CDs, books, picture albums and Campaign materials in her possession were seized. She was also presented with a summons to appear in court immediately. The security officials escorted Parastoo Alahyaari to the Revolutionary Courts, where she was interrogated by Mr. Sobhani the investigative judge in charge of her case.

The same site reported about Sussan Tahmasebi, another women’s rights defender and member of the campaign, whose passport was seized at the airport, on October 18, while she was about to leave Iran.

Upon her return to her home, she was met with 5 security agents at her door, who presented her with a court order to search her home. The security officials, while filming the home, seized a number of CDs, books, writings, texts addressing peacebuilding, cassette tapes and a Laptop. The security officials also presented a summons to Tahmasebi, which requires that she present herself to Security Branch of the Revolutionary Courts.

She told in an interview with the site "Change for Equality": “This is the fourth time that security officials have prevented me from traveling under different pretenses. Despite my repeated inquiries I was provided with no information on the reason for their action and the case on which I am being called to the Revolutionary Courts.”

She was interrogated for several hours yesterday.

It is believed that these actions are parts of the Iranian authority’s campaign to shut down the civil rights movments in Iran.

Several women’r rights defenders and members of the "Campaign for Equality" have been arrested in the past years.

Two women, Ronak Safarzadeh and Hana Abdi, remain detained in the city of Sanandaj, Kurdestan province , while a third woman, Zeynab Beyezidi is imprisoned in Mahabad in connection with their activities on behalf of the Campaign for Equality.

NCRI – An unknown number of Tehran's Bazaar merchants ended up in Tehran's notorious Evin prison following an all out shutdown of the markets throughout the country last month.

Government imposed added value tax sparked a nationwide strike by merchants which lasted over a week and temporally ended with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcement that the implementation of the law would be postponed for a year.

At the same time with the mullahs' regime official back down, a widespread crackdown against the merchants began in the cities which their bazaaris were involved in the strikes.
 
It is widely believed that among the detainees are merchants arrested in other cities and then transferred to Tehran.

On October 15, a large number of Isfahan bazaar merchants and youths arrested following the value-added tax law ended up in ward "D" of the city's prison.

The bazaaris have occupied all solitary confinement cells in block D in the central city of Isfahan maximum security prison. Ward "D" is the equivalent of the dreaded ward 209 of the notorious Tehran's Evin prison which is run by the agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
 
The new prisoners have not been able to establish minimum contact with their families.

Isfahan bazaar was the first in the country to go on strike over the new regulation. The bazaars in other major Iranian cities followed suite.

Feminist School: In recent days, suppression on the Iranian women activities has been intesified

Sussan Tahmasebi has been prevented to travel and has been summoned to court

Security forces confiscated Sussan Tahmasebi’s( one of campaign for one million signatures) passport at the airport and preventing her from travel. Then the security forces searched her house and afterwards she was given a summons to report to the revolutionary court by end of October. This is the fourth time that the security forces are stopping Sussan Tahmasebi from traveling

The court hearing delayed for the 4 members of the campaign

Today 27th of October- Nahid Keshavarz, Mahboubeh Hosein Zadeh, Saaideh Amin and Sarah Aminian were summoned to court for the case which has been suspended since last year and accompanied by Nasrin Sotoudeh the groups lawyer. Because the judge was not present the hearing the hearing has been delayed to January 2009. Nasrin Sotoudeh stated: I am hopeful, as collecting signatures is not a crime according to the law my clients will be acquitted.

On the January of 2007 Nahid Keshavarz, Mahboubeh Hosein Zadeh, Saaideh Amin and Sarah Aminian were arrested whilst collecting signatures in the Laleh park, Saaideh Amin and Sarah Aminian were released the next day but Nahid Keshavarz, Mahboubeh Hosein Zadeh were jailed in Evin prison for 14 days. Prior to this incident Nahid Keshavarz had been charged with acting against the national security by propagating against the regime in Zanestan web site and Change for Equality and had six month suspended sentence.

Collection of the petition for the release of Esha Momenie continues

Esha Momeni one of the members of the campaign for one million signatures in California, was arrested on october 15 in Tehran and is held in Evin prison.Housein Ghashghavi the spokes person for Iranian foreign office On Monday in a press conference in Tehran spoke about the arrest of Esha Momenie"The relevant departments are looking in to her arrest, but the foreign office has received no information yet". This is the first time since Esha’s arrest that the authorities have confirmed. Since her arrest camping for her release has been none stop and a special web log has been set up by her comrades in California, which carries a petition for her release is also going round the country and the world. We ask and advise our readers to sign the petition for her release immediately:

http://www.petitiononline.com/EshaM/petition.html

The latest news from Negin Shekholeslami, Kurdish women activist

20 days from Negin’s arrest has passed an independent journalist and the founding member and general secretary of Women Association Azar Mehr of Kurdistan. Negin is being held in solitary confinement in Evin prison and is under immense pressure and as a result is in a bad way mentally. Negin’s mother stated by phone: "I only speak to Negin by phone and all we can say is hello and goodbye" and added about Negins mental health and the heart operation Negin had a month before her arrest and she went on to say " on behalf of our family we have requested that Negin should be released to continue with her treatment or be allowed to be visited by her own doctor, but they have not responded at all"

NCRI – Eighty boutiques dealing with Tanakora outfits, a martial arts style outfit popular among youths in Iran, were shutdown by the State Security Forces (SSF) – mullahs' suppressive police – in the western city of Hamedan on Monday.

Most of these shops were owned by elderly citizens and their only source of income was their businesses.

The mullahs' local officials used Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Special Units to seal off the small merchants' shops.

Some of the shop owners resisting the suppressive measures by the SSF were arrested and transferred to prison.

On February 7, Brig. Gen. Reza Zarei then Chief of the State Security Forces (SSF) in Tehran province announced new measures to ban deliberately torn and cut blue jeans as well as worn-out outfits. 

"Unfortunately, there is bad news reaching SSF switchboard about selling of such outwears to public," said Zarei in a press conference on Wednesday.

"SSF agents are strictly ordered to stop sell of such items throughout the greater metropolitan Tehran," added Zarei.

"The police have already confiscated 92,000 pieces of such outfits since it was first detected in boutiques," he said.

Since last April and the start of a plan called "boosting public security" hundreds of thousands of citizens have been the subject of street arrests, jail terms and other forms of public insults in Iran.

NCRI – The mullahs' inhuman regime hanged two prisoners identified only by their initials as A.M. and Kh.N. in the southeastern city of Zahedan, reported the state-run news agency Fars on Monday.

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern over the rights of women and minorities in Iran, as well as over the death penalty, including juvenile executions and stoning, in a new report to the General Assembly on the country’s human rights situation on October 22.

The report said there has been a sudden surge of executions in recent months, and the UN Human Rights Committee has sounded the alarm over the “extremely high number of death sentences, many resulting from trials in which the guarantees of due process of law had not been properly applied.”

"Despite a circular issued by the head of the judiciary in January 2002 prohibiting stoning as punishment, the practice has been reported to continue," the report added.
 
In another non-binding circular, the judiciary has placed a moratorium on juvenile executions, but the sentences are still being applied, Mr. Ban said.
 
Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which obligate States parties to not impose the death penalty on those who commit crimes under the age of 18.
 
“The age for criminal responsibility under Iranian law is set at 14 years and 7 months for boys and 8 years and 9 months for girls, which is not only discriminatory but also low by international standards,” the report said.

Iran Human Rights: One man was hanged in Mashad, capital of the Khorasan province in the northeast of Iran, early Monday morning October 27, reported the Iranian daily Quds.

He, who wasn’t identified by name, was convicted of murdering his father.

He was hanged in the central prison of Mashad.

Iran Human Rights: Two people were hanged in the southeastern city of Zahedan today, reported the state run Iranian news agnecy Fars.

They were convicted of drug trafficking and were just identified as "A.M." and "Kh. N." said the report.

The were hanged in the prison of the city of Zahedan, teh capital of the Iranian Baluchestan province.

ANKARA (AFP) – Turkish warplanes bombed Tuesday Kurdish rebel positions in neighbouring northern Iraq, the army said.

The jets, backed by artillery fire, pounded "effectively" Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hideouts in the regions of Hakurk and Avashin-Basyan as well as Zap, a major rebel stronghold, the statement said.

"The targets were hit successfully," it said, without mentioning any casualties among PKK ranks.

The army has stepped up operations against the PKK -- both inside Turkey and in northern Iraq -- since October 3 when militants crossing from camps across the frontier attacked a Turkish border outpost, killing 17 soldiers.

The previous cross-border air strike targeting PKK hideouts in the Qandil mountains was on October 17, in which at least 25 militants were killed, according to the army.

Earlier this month, Turkey's parliament extended by one year the government's mandate to order cross-border military action against the PKK in northern Iraq, which has been in effect since October 17, 2007.

The United States has helped its NATO ally by providing intelligence on PKK movements inside Iraq.

Turkish officials estimate about 2,000 PKK rebels are holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq, where they allegedly enjoy free movement and obtain weapons and explosives for attacks in Turkey.

Ankara has often accused the Iraqi Kurds, who run an autonomous administration in the region, of tolerating and even aiding the PKK, but has said it will still pursue dialogue with them to resolve the problem.

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said last week that Ankara was considering a proposal by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani for three-way talks with Baghdad and Washington to outline fresh measures to purge the PKK bases in northern Iraq.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 44,000 lives.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday he was healthy, countering reports suggesting he was ill and that his political future could be threatened.

Ahmadinejad, who was elected president in 2005, has not said whether he will seek a second term in the June 2009 presidential race but is widely expected to run.

Asked on state television about his health, he said: "We are human like all others and catch colds. No, I am not ill."

A member of parliament, Mohammad Ismail Kowsari, told the official news agency IRNA on Saturday that some websites had spread rumors about Ahmadinejad's health and had suggested it could harm his chances of running for president again.

"Any human might come down with weakness as a result of workload and pressure. This is something natural," Kowsari said, adding that those who used such a "psychological ploy" of spreading rumours would fail.

The president has been criticized for surging inflation which has hit 29 percent and now faces the added challenge of tumbling oil prices, which are cutting into Iran's main source of revenue.

(Reporting by Hossein Jaseb, writing by Edmund Blair; editing by Elizabeth Piper)

Iranian Political Prisoners Association

Jamal Rahmani of the industry faculty and Rashed Abdollahi of the political science faculty of Isfahan University were arrested on 12 June 2008 by the security guards in Isfahan. They were first taken to Kermanshah security centre and later transferred to Sanandaj prison centre (Situated in the western Kurdish region of Iran).

They have been put on trial by Judge "Tiary" and charged for having contacts with Kurdish opposition groups.

Kamal Rahmani has been sentenced to 6 years conditional imprisonment and exile to Izeh prison in a small village.

Mr.Abdollahi has also been sentenced to exile, but in a separate district of Masjid Soleiman, along with 3 years conditional imprisonment.

Relatives to the two students have reported that both have been subjected to torture and psychological pressure while under interrogation.

TEHRAN (AFP) — The influential former president of OPEC's second largest oil producer Iran on Friday called the world financial crisis a tsunami which has dragged down oil prices and caused a huge loss of revenue.

"This is the first wave of the tsunami to reach us. The oil price has fallen from 147 dollars a barrel to around 64 dollars. This is a huge loss" for Iran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in a Friday prayer sermon on state radio.

"Our economists and government and parliament officials should cooperate and be prepared. The first wave has arrived and it was dangerous for oil-producing nations," added Rafsanjani.

He heads the Expediency Council, Iran's top arbitration panel, and also the Assembly of Experts which supervises the work of the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"We have to be able to control future such waves or they will inflict serious harm on our society, especially the poor," Rafsanjani said.

Oil prices hit record highs in July of above 147 dollars a barrel, but plunged to their lowest for 17 months on Friday, despite news that OPEC will cut output by 1.5 million barrels per day.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, tumbled to 62.85 dollars a barrel -- a price last seen in May 2007.

Ahead of Friday's OPEC meeting in Vienna, Iran urged a cut in the cartel's output to combat the sharp dive in oil prices as the world battles a financial crisis experts say it is the worst since last century's Great Depression.

Feministschool: Six women rights activists are still in prison, Esha Momenie was arrested on October 15 2008 and held in Evin Prison section no. 209. Five other activists in Kurdistan ,Zeynab Bayazidi ,Hana Abdi , Ronak Safarzadeh , Negin Sheykholeslami, Fatemeh Goftari have been held in prison for months .repression on women activists still continue .

Esha Momeni in prison

Mohamadali Dadkhah ,Esha Momeni’s lawyer said :Esha’s family told him that she was arrested because of her filming for her thesis .but according to the code 23 of constitutional low Esha didn’t do any thing illegally specially she filmed private dewllings with permission. For the release of the women prisoners: Two new weblogs have been set up to report on the latest news of the arrested women . ’Free Azarmehr’s women ’ is the web log for release of Kurdish activists and ’For release of Esha’ is release of Esha momeni’s arrest.

Hana Abdi was transferred to Razan prison in Hamedan

Hana Abdi who was arrested last year in Sanandaj was transferred to Razan prison in Hamedan last Thursday her family was unaware of her transfer to another prison and she has not had any contact with her family since then.

Razan prison is located in Hamedan-Razan road the prison has a very bad sanitary condition and security.

Parastoo Allahyari’s home was searched

Parastoo Allahyari’s home, one of members of one million signatures campaign, was searched by security forces and confiscated materials related to campaign for one million signatures such as the booklets of effect of laws in women’s life and her lap top ,some of her CDs ,books and personal albums. she was arrested at her home and interrogated in the revolutionary court then released . As she had to leave the city for work she was allowed to leave and come back.

The initial arrest took place as Parastoo and her friends from the campaign were in the Laleh park discussing issues, they were forced to leave the park and as Parastoo asked for the reason, the security forces asked for her ID card which resulted in house search and arrest.

Continued objections to the suspicious death of Zahra Bani Yaghoub:

More than One year has passed from the death of Zahra Bani Yaghoub the doctor who was volunteered to go to one of the villages in Hamadan region to complete her doctorate. When she went to one of the parks in the region to meet with her fiancé, she was arrested and after a few days it was announced that she had committed suicide whilst in custody, a news that in no way could satisfy her family as they believe she was arrested illegally and was murdered in custody.

on Tuesday 22 ,2008 some students of pharmacology of Tehran university with some members of mother committee of one million signatures campaign and representatives of Iranian women focus web site handed over an objection letter addressed to Hashemie Shahroudie the head of judiciary. The letter contained objection to the prolonged process of investigation of Zahra Bani Yagoub’s death. More than 1000 students had signed the letter .

Condemnation to the cancellation of speech by Shirin Ebadi

The network of human rights NGOs in Asia condemned action of Tehran and Coala Lumpur to withdraw Ms Ebadi’s invitation Ms Ebadi had been due to deliver the speech entitled Islam and Cultural Diversity on 3 November. But an official stated: the foreign ministry had sent a letter "strongly advising" the organisers not to go ahead with the speech.

"We were told there would be big implications for bilateral relations," the unnamed official added: the Iranian diplomats were "pushing for Malaysia to call it off". International Human rights campaign in Iran immediately responded by issuing statement and calling the"The joint actions by the governments of Iran and Malaysia as irrational".

Mehrangiz Dolatshahi, who struggled for the ratification of the "Family Support Law" in 1967

Mehrangiz Dolatshahi at the age of 91 died in Paris. The tragic news of the death of Mehrangiz Dolatshahi coincides with the increased actives on the issue of "Family protection Bill" in the Islamic parliament. Mehrangiz Dolatshahi’s name is connected with ratification of the "Family Support Law" in 1967 and 1974 an evident activities of the women’s movement. As for many of the activists of the women’s movement in their struggle against the "Family protection Bill" is a reminder of the "Family support Law" of 1967 a Law which was immediately overturned after the revolution and after 40 years the women activists are going through all the pains of achieving what was achieved then. hence the "Family Support Law" in 1967 and it is also a reminder of the women’s movement then, with names such as Mehrangiz Dolatshahi who struggled for the ratification of the Bill. No doubt that Mehrangiz Dolatshahi was one of the activists who struggled to introduce the Bill and struggled for its ratification in the national parliament and its amendments in 1974. With the proposed amendments in 1353 polygamy had many constraints and conditions.

Mehrangiz Dolatshahi was born 1917 in Esfehan, she graduated in Germany and went on to receive her PHD in Social Science, she also was elected as an MP in 3 consecutive rounds in Kermanshah. She became the head of the International Council of Women and was also the first woman ambassador in Denmark and continued to represent Iran until the revolution.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, has met a senior military official in Turkey to discuss Kurdish rebels launching attacks into Turkey from northern Iraq, the U.S. military said.

The meeting Friday with General Hasan Igsiz, deputy chief of the Turkish General Staff, "centered on U.S. forces' ongoing assistance to Turkey in its effort to defeat the Kurdish rebel group known as the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK," the military said in a statement.

Turkey has launched air strikes and shelled rebel areas in recent weeks in the most recent twist of its long campaign to crush the PKK rebels, who have carried out cross-border attacks from camps in mountain areas of Iraq near the Turkish border.

Turkey has stepped up its military response since an attack from the PKK which killed 17 Turkish soldiers this month.

The United States and European Union consider the PKK a terrorist organization and Turkey blames it for the death of more than 40,000 people in its decades-long bid for an ethnic Kurdish homeland.

Odierno promised to share intelligence in support of efforts against the PKK.

"There are things we can do now, in the short-term, to help protect the lives of innocent people, and we're committed to supporting our Turkish and Iraqi partners in this effort," Odierno said.

PKK attacks have been a strain to Iraqi-Turkish ties, but the two countries appear to be making a renewed diplomatic push to find a coordinated response to the conflict.

Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call that the two countries, along with the United States, should work together to "end the danger" posed by the PKK.

The Wall Street Journal

Bloc Told to Remove Opposition Group From Blacklist

By MARC CHAMPION

Europe's second-highest court ruled the European Union wrongly blacklisted an Iranian opposition group, adding fuel to accusations that the bloc has used its terrorist list to appease the Iranian government.

The ruling was the second issued by the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg since 2006 ordering the EU to unfreeze the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran's assets and remove it from the EU list of terrorist groups. The U.S. also designates the PMOI as a terrorist organization.

The PMOI's court victories and the EU's avoidance of those rulings have put the bloc on the defensive. A group of prominent European lawyers attacked the EU over the issue last month, accusing it of abusing the law for political ends.

"If the [European Union] continue to defy this verdict, it will clearly show that from the very first this listing was the result of a deal with the mullahs' regime, and not based on fact," said Maryam Rajavi, who heads the Paris-based National Council for Resistance in Iran, the PMOI's political wing.

EU spokesmen have said repeatedly that they have sufficient evidence to justify the listing and deny abusing due process. The EU's next review of its terrorist list is due by the end of the year.

The PMOI is a group with Marxist roots formed in 1965 to depose the Shah of Iran. After the 1979 Iranian revolution, the group turned against the clerical regime, carrying out numerous terrorist attacks. The PMOI renounced violence in 2001, and no attack has been tied to it since. The EU added the group to its terrorist blacklist in 2002.

Iran has made the PMOI's international terrorist designation a diplomatic priority. Europe has been leading negotiations with Iran to persuade it to give up its nuclear-fuel program since 2003. Delisting the PMOI could make Iran still more intransigent in those talks, analysts say.

In Thursday's ruling, the court found the EU was wrong to keep the PMOI listed as a terrorist organization in December based on evidence provided by the U.K. because a top English court had ruled the British listing of PMOI was "perverse."

Since December, the U.K. lost a final appeal and was forced to take the group off its terrorist list. It also withdrew its sponsorship of the EU listing. France took the U.K.'s place in July, claiming new evidence, allowing the EU to keep the group on the list with a fresh decision. The PMOI has filed a new case in the Court of First Instance, which is still pending, to challenge that July decision.

Amnesty International

The recent death of a protester in Turkey, and the allegations of excessive use of force by police and other ill-treatment of demonstrators must be investigated, Amnesty International said today as protests continue in the southern city of Adana and the eastern city of Doðubeyazýt.

Reports that imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan had been ill-treated by prison guards sparked demonstrations in provinces across southern and eastern Turkey and in Istanbul, starting on 17 October. In some instances the protests became violent after police used force to prevent demonstrations taking place -- stones and Molotov cocktails were thrown at police and property was damaged.

Police used plastic bullets and live ammunition to disperse demonstrators. One protestor, named as Ahmet Özhan, was killed in the town of Doðubeyazýt, eastern Turkey, and many others, including some who are critically wounded, remain in hospital with gunshot wounds and other injuries. Many of the injured are children. It was reported that of 62 people who have been hospitalized, seven were police officers.

According to the Turkish Human Rights Association, more than 200 people are currently being detained in relation to the demonstrations. At least one child is being held in an adult detention facility.

Amnesty International acknowledges the difficulties faced by law enforcement officers when policing violent demonstrations and also that the Turkish authorities have an obligation under international law to provide for the safety and security of people and property. However, the Turkish authorities must carry out these obligations in accordance with international standards, particularly the principle that force may only be used by law enforcement officers when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the lawful performance of their duty.

“The Turkish authorities must ensure that police do not use excessive force against demonstrators. They must also investigate promptly, thoroughly and impartially the death of Ahmet Özhan and the allegations of ill-treatment against other protestors” said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International's researcher on Turkey.

International standards require that law enforcement officials must, as far as possible, apply non-violent means before resorting to proportionate use of force and firearms, which should be used only if other means remain ineffective. Law enforcement officers may use firearms only when less dangerous means are not effective and only to the minimal extent necessary, in order to protect themselves or others against an imminent threat of death or serious injury.

Amnesty International also calls on the authorities to ensure that law enforcement officials and detaining authorities respect the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment.

The Press Association

Europe's governments were ordered by a court to follow the UK's lead and take Iran's main opposition group off a blacklist of suspected terror organisations.

The European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg upheld a legal claim by the exiled People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) that there is no justification for including the group and freezing its funds.

The ruling is the latest in a series of verdicts supporting the PMOI's demands to be removed from the list - but the battle is not over.

The case was an appeal against a decision by the EU's Council of Ministers last December to keep the PMOI on its terror list.

That decision came just weeks after the UK's own independent judicial authority, the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC) ordered the PMOI's removal from the UK list. But the PMOI stayed on the UK list until June this year - and still remains on the EU list after a review in July.

The European judges said last December's EU decision should be annulled because there was no justification for including the PMOI.

There was no evidence, added the judges, that the EU ministers had fulfilled their requirement to take account of the POAC ruling on the PMOI case, which had been the first by a "competent judicial authority" in the UK.

The PMOI was originally included on the EU list at UK insistence in 2002, after then Home Secretary Jack Straw put the PMOI on the Government's own list.

Years of PMOI objections resulted in a European Court ruling in December 2006 that PMOI inclusion was "unlawful". The Court said the group was seeking regime change in Teheran by political, non-violent means. But EU governments - including the UK - took no action, claiming the ruling was based on a technicality.

Then last November came the POAC's damning verdict. POAC chairman Sir Harry Ognall, a former judge, said the Government's decision to blacklist the PMOI was "perverse" and "unreasonable", because it had not been involved in any military activity since August 2001, and had disarmed in 2003.

BRUSSELS (AFP) — A European court on Thursday annulled an EU decision to freeze the assets of the main Iranian opposition in exile, dealing a fresh blow to the bloc's attempts to keep the group on its terror blacklist.

The Court of First Instance ruled that the EU had failed to give sufficient reasons to keep the People's Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI) on the list, following a British court decision to remove them from the national list.

It was the second such ruling by the court, which is Europe's second-highest tribunal.

The EU's decision was based on measures implemented to respect a UN Security Council resolution drawn up in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks which required countries to crack down on terror funding.

Since the EU terror list is updated every six months, and the court ruling refers to an EU decision in December 2007 and not the current list, the group remains on the EU terror blacklist for the time being.

But given the same court handed down a similar ruling on the group in December 2006, this latest verdict increases the pressure on the European Union to heed the court and keep the PMOI name off future lists.

Founded in 1965 with the aim of replacing first the Shah and then the clerical regime in Iran, PMOI has in the past operated an army inside Iran.

It was the armed wing of the France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) but it renounced violence in June 2001.

Exiled Iran opposition leader Maryam Rajavi -- who has residency in France, regularly visits Brussels and despite the ban has been tolerated by the European authorities -- welcomed the court's decision.

Since January 2008 at least 530 people have been the victim of gross human rights violations by the Islamic regime in Kurdistan.

Since January 2008 at least 229 Kurdish NGO and political activist have been detained by the government of the Islamic republic of Iran. Over 58 people have been killed by security forces of Iran and at least 36 have injured. During the last ten months at least 16 people have been killed or injured by land mine, that are being planted by the security forces of regime.

During the last ten months at least 102 people have sentenced to between 4 months to life imprisonment. 9 people have been condemned to death and 16 people are executed in Kurdistan jails. So far in 2008 in Iran, 237 people are executed by Islamic republic of Iran with 18 of them have been juveniles.

The security forces of Islamic republic have forced people out of 8 Kurdish villages. They have been forced out of their homes due to bombarding of their villages. There has been extensive material damage to the property and possessions of many citizens including industrial equipments and livestock; furthermore, over 200 shops have been closed down and thousands of satellite dishes have been confiscated.

Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan calls upon all the human rights organizations, International Community and democratic governments to take an urgent action against ongoing human rights violation in Iranian Kurdistan. Regrettably, Iran's defiance to the international community especially in regards to its nuclear program has shifted the attention of the world community from the increasing violation of human and national rights of Kurdish people in Iran and other parts of Iran. We call upon the international community to use their political and diplomatic leverage to prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from continuing human rights violations against the Kurdish people in Iran.

Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan - Bureau of International Relations

Iran Human Rights: A minor offender Reza Alinejad is few steps away from execution, reported the Iranian daily newspapers Etemaad and Kargozaaran today.

Reza is convicted of murdering Esmaeil in the city of Fasa in the southern part of Iran in 2003. At that time Reza was 17 years old. In the court Reza explained that he used a knife in self defence. But the judge sentenced him to death. However the verdict was thrown by the supreme court and the case sent to another court. The other court sentenced him to death and this time the verdic was approved by the supreme court.

Reza’s only hope was that the verdict could be stopped by the head of the judiciary Shahroudi.

According to the reports, Shahroudi, head of the Iranian judiciary has now approved the death sentence and sent the execution order to the prison where Reza is being held.

The minor offender Reza Alinejad could be executed very soon.

So far 6 minors have been executed in 2008 in Iran. Despite these facts, the Iranian authorities deny that minors are sentenced to death in Iran.

Kurdistan region president Masoud Barzani arrived at Tehran airport on Wednesday in a formal visit to discuss with the Iranian leaders a range of issues related to the two neighboring nations.
The visit, which will take three days, comes as a response to a formal invitation from the Iranian officials.
Upon his arrival to Mihrabad airport, president Barzani was received a warm welcome from Iranian foreign minister Manuchaher Mottki, Iraqi ambassador to Tehran and other Iranian officials.
President Barzani is expected to meet Iranian president Mahmud Ahmedinejad, parliament speaker Ali Larijani and head of Iranian national security corpse Saed Jalili.
Boosting bilateral relations and the long term security pact between Iraq and Washington are expected to top the meetings’ agenda.
Accompanied by a number of Kurdish high profile officials, President Barzani is also expected to visit other countries following the Iran’s diplomatic tour.

NCRI – A young man identified as Qanbar Kelari was hanged in public outside Nashtaroud prison in the northern province of Gilan.

The 34-year-old Kelari cried, I was innocent but that did not save him from facing the gallows minutes later.
 

The crowd watching the hanging turned against the security forces and local judiciary officials carrying out the sentence.

The clashes between Nashtaroud residents and State Security Forces lasted for hours stopping transfer of the prisoner's corpse from the scene.

On January 31, the mullahs' judiciary chief, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, ordered death penalty should be carried out behind close doors. This is a new tactic by the Iranian regime to carryout other heinous crimes such as amputating limbs and gouging eyes behind closed doors.
"We have repeatedly seen that people expressed sympathy with the person who was going to be hanged in public. People even expressed their abhorrence at the execution of the sentence," said the assistant prosecutor for sentences in Tehran's criminal prosecution office, the state-run daily Javan reported on January 31.

"With far less expenditure, executions could be carried out in prison," he added.
The state-run websites also admitted to the adverse effects of public hangings and noted that the victims' gestures before being hanged deeply affected the young people and left heroes image in their minds. These websites regretted that in addition to generating hatred among people, public hangings have also damaged the status of the regime in the world.  

The Wall Street Journal

So much for Obama's diplomacy.

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

Barack Obama's declaration that, if elected, he would be willing to sit down and talk to Iran "without preconditions" has been widely discussed in this country. It's a key policy difference between him and John McCain, who rejects unconditional talks with Tehran.

So what does the Islamic Republic think? The enterprising reporters at the state news agency recently asked a high-ranking official for his opinion on talks with the U.S. As it turns out, Iran has its own "preconditions" and they don't suggest a diplomatic breakthrough, or even a summit, anytime soon.

Mehdi Kalhor, Vice President for Media Affairs, said the U.S. must do two things before summit talks can take place. First, American military forces must leave the Middle East -- presumably including such countries as Iraq, Qatar, Turkey and anywhere else American soldiers are deployed in the region. Second, the U.S. must cease its support of Israel. Until Washington does both, talks are "off the agenda," the Islamic Republic News Agency reports. It quotes Mr. Kalhor as saying, "If they [the U.S.] take our advice, grounds for such talks would be well prepared.

Iran is one of the toughest and most urgent foreign policy problems the new U.S. Administration will face. If Mr. Obama ends up in the Oval Office on January 20, he may find that solving it will take more than walking into a room and talking to Iranians "without preconditions."

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) -- Finnish police say there was an arson attack on the Turkish Embassy in Helsinki.

Officers say the front door of the embassy in the Finnish capital was burned in the attack. The fire spread indoors before it was extinguished by fire fighters.

An embassy worker was treated for inhaling smoke.

The early morning attack on Tuesday came hours after a peaceful anti-Turkey protest outside the embassy by a few dozen Kurdish demonstrators.

Police spokesman Jussi Huhtela says officers have detained four men on suspicion of the attack. Huhtela says the attack could have been politically motivated and that some of the men had a Turkish-Kurdish background. He gave no more details.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey: A protester was killed in eastern Turkey on Monday as police clashed with Kurdish demonstrators decrying alleged abuses against jailed rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, officials and media reports said. Unrest also greeted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Diyarbakir, the largest city of the predominantly Kurdish southeast, where he arrived later for a one-day visit.

"One person is dead," a police officer told AFP by telephone from the town of Dogubayazit, without providing any other details.

The clashes erupted when the protesters, shouting slogans in favor of Ocalan and his separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), attempted to hold a march, disobeying police orders to disperse, the official Anatolia news agency reported. The demonstrators threw stones at police officers who fired shots in the air and used tear gas and water cannons, the agency said.

It was not immediately clear how the victim, a man, died, but unconfirmed reports said he was shot. A police officer was also injured in the fighting while many demonstrators were taken into custody, Anatolia said.

Kurds demonstrated across Turkey over the weekend after Ocalan's lawyers reported he had been assaulted by a guard and threatened with death in his cell on the prison island of Imrali, in the northwest, where he is the sole inmate.

Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin denied the allegations of mistreatment on Sunday.

The unrest spread Monday to Diyarbakir as Erdogan arrived in the city to attend the opening of the academic year at the local university and inaugurate a medical center. At least 20 people were detained as hundreds of Kurdish protesters gathered in the streets.

The police, reinforced by special riot units from neighboring provinces also used armored vehicles to control the streets and helicopters flew over the city.

Most shops in the city remained closed - a traditional Kurdish protest method against the Turkish government - as public bus services in downtown areas were cut and the municipality, held by the Kurdish Democratic Society Party, did not collect the garbage.

Similar reports about Ocalan's prison conditions have stirred anger in the past among Turkey's Kurds, many of whom view the rebel chieftain as a hero.

Abducted by Turkish special forces in Kenya in February 1999, Ocalan, 60, was originally condemned to death but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2002 after Ankara abolished the death penalty.

The PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States as well as by Turkey, picked up arms for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish east and southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 44,000 lives.
AFP

NCRI – Nine youths received 74 lashes in public each for what the mullahs' judiciary called participating in "public disturbances" in the holy city of Qom, reported the semiofficial news agency Fars on Saturday.

On June 26, mullahs' highest judicial authority, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, says public flogging is an effective criminal deterrent, while imprisonment is a useless punishment.

In an interview broadcast on state TV on June 25 in the evening program, the head of the Iranian regime's Judicial Authority complained that "many Iranian judges, influenced by western propaganda and fearing they will be accused of failing to respect human rights, are not sentencing offenders to effective penalties like public flogging".

"Public flogging is one of most just sentences that can be inflicted on someone who has committed a crime," said Shahroudi.

"The publication of photos and news of public floggings is the best deterrent, while three or four months in prison has no effect," he said.

"We must reduce prison sentences and make use of public flogging more to punish offenders."
In May, the rights group Amnesty International urged Iranian courts to suspend flogging sentences.
"Flogging is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, which amounts to torture," the organization said.

Amnesty said it was outlawed under Article 7 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Amnesty International also said sentences of flogging and amputation continued to be implemented in Iran, and torture and ill-treatment were widespread in prisons and detention centers.

Education Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government Dr. Dilshad Abdul Rahman received in Hawler Dr. Christophe Weill German Ambassador to Iraq and the delegation accompanying him.

During a meeting, Dr. Weill reiterated support for the expansion of German language teaching in schools of Kurdistan Region after it achieved great success at the first stage.

Now German language is taught in 10 schools of Kurdistan region.

German ambassador appraised modern educational changes in the region, expressing his support to develop this important aspect of the Iraqi society.

For his part, KRG Education Minister Dr. Dilshad Abdul Rahman expressed confidence in the success of this important educational project, which mainly serves the cognitive development of students in Kurdistan region, saying that German language is one of the living languages of the world and many philosophers and geniuses wrote or published in their works in German.

“The process of teaching German language proved successful during a short period of time,” he added.

Minister of Education reiterated support for any educational project to develop education and serve Iraqi people in all aspects.

Iraqi president Jalal Talabani on Friday evening chaired a meeting of political council for national security to discuss the security pact between Iraq and Washington due to be signed in a near future.
Held at Salam palace in Baghdad, Kurdistan region president Masoud Barzani, the two Iraqi vice presidents Tariq al Hashimi and Adel Abdul Mahd, Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and his two deputies, as well as deputies of national assembly and a number of legislators were present at the broad meeting.

The meeting was specified for discussing the long term strategic agreement between Baghdad and Washington due to be signed in a near future.
Iraq and Washington are negotiating a strategic agreement that would organize the future mission and legalize their presence in Iraq beyond 2008 when the U.N Security Council mandate expires.
Iraqi leaders are now close to present the pact to the national assembly for debate and approval, therefore; they are holding series of meetings to highlight the shortcomings before it is signed.
Nasir al Ani, Iraqi presidency chief of staff said following the meeting that the Iraqi leaders had scrutinized the latest version of the pact and studied the articles in detail.
“There were precise and important notices and comments on the pact; the Iraqi national political parties still in the stage of evaluating the agreement and no moves towards refuse or accept the deal yet” said al Ani.
He also said there would be a formal invitation to the Iraqi political leaders, heads of the parliamentary blocs and the ministers of defence, interior and finance to attend another broad meeting in the coming days to further detail the pact to reach a national consensus about it.
Separately, leaders of the fourfold agreement, the two major Kurdish parties and Supreme Islamic council and Daua party resumed talks over the suspended problems between Baghdad and Kurdistan region in Baghdad.
Sources said the meeting discussed the overall problematic issues between the two sides and progresses have been made, without elaborating it.
Kurdistan region president Masoud Barzani, his vice Kosrat Rasul and a number of Kurdish officials are visiting Baghdad to hold decisive talks over the problems that has raised tensions, including resolving the fate of the disputed territories according to article 140, determining the budget of Kurdistan region and the Peshmarga forces.

The New York Times
 
By NEIL MACFARQUHAR and GRAHAM BOWLEY
Published: October 18, 2008

UNITED NATIONS — Turkey, Austria and Japan won nonpermanent seats on the United Nations Security Council on Friday, defeating Iceland and Iran in elections in the General Assembly.

Turkey and Austria pushed out Iceland for the two rotating seats that are reserved for the mostly European bloc. Iceland had lobbied hard, although its financial crisis had raised questions about its candidacy. Turkey won 151 votes and Austria 133, surpassing in the first round of voting the 128 votes required for the two-thirds majority out of 192 votes cast.

In the race for the single available Asian rotating seat, Japan easily defeated Iran by 158 votes to 32.

They join Uganda, for Africa, and Mexico in taking up the five rotating seats on the 15-seat Security Council for the 2009 and 2010 sessions.

The Security Council vote is hotly contested. Even as members grumble about the diminished relevancy of a Security Council designed circa World War II, more and more nations seek to wield the influence gained by winning a seat at the Council’s iconic horseshoe-shaped table.

The day of voting is one of the few days in the organization’s calendar when the atmosphere in the United Nations becomes electric, and everyone shows up. Candidates must achieve a two-thirds majority among voting nations to win a seat.

It is a time of intense lobbying by candidates, and the results are not always predictable. Most ambassadors overestimate the number of votes they will receive because everyone promises to vote for them.

Regions try to create consensus around one candidate to avoid a bruising vote. Uganda has been anointed for the Africa seat this year, and Mexico for Latin America. Most diplomats had expected Japan to win the contest for the Asian seat easily.

But Iran argued that it deserved the spot, having not been on the Council since 1956, while Japan has served nine times, the last ending in 2006.

Diplomats said that Iran was a long shot, noting the country’s standoff with the Security Council over the nuclear issue, with three rounds of sanctions against it. Nobody wanted to repeat the experience with Rwanda in the early 1990s, when it used its seat to hinder resolutions aimed at the violence there.

Iran ran a low-key campaign. Despite the likelihood of a humiliating loss, it refused to withdraw from the ballot on the insistence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, diplomats said.

The intention to win a seat is often announced a decade in advance. It is a bit like applying for a prestigious college: You have to prove you are well rounded. At the United Nations, that means first showing active interest in peace and security issues. (Turkey contributes personnel for peacekeeping operations in four countries.).

Second, you must show you are working to improve the environment and alleviate poverty. (Iceland’s literature highlighted pictures of third world students attending its geothermal training program.)

Events can create turbulence around the most carefully choreographed campaigns, however. Witness Iceland and its financial crisis. It joined the United Nations in 1946, but decided only in 1998 to join the rotation of the other Nordic states on the Security Council.

The other candidates had issues, too. Austria’s anti-immigrant, far-right parties won almost a third of the vote in September parliamentary elections. Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter has tried to counter any doubts by noting that Austria has a historical commitment to the United Nations, hosting important organizations like the International Atomic Energy Agency and serving as a bridge between combative nations since the cold war.

Turkey last held a Security Council seat in 1961. Ambassador Baki Ilkin argued that Turkey’s time was due and that its geographic position at the crossroads between the turbulent Middle East, the turbulent Caucasus and the turbulent Balkans made it ideal to lend regional sensitivities to important Council deliberations.

Every country has an equal vote, so none were considered too small to lobby. Nauru and Tuvalu and Palau pulled the same weight as the five permanent members of the Security Council — the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France — that never have to run.

Graham Bowley reported from New York.

PJAK militants have killed three members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in the northwestern Iranian province of Zanjan, PressTV reported. 

"Mohsen Moslemi was killed in a clash with PJAK militants in the northwestern area of Chaldoran," ISNA quoted IRGC officer Ahmad Fathi as saying on Friday.

This comes just one week after two other Iranian security forces, Rahmatollah Rahmani and Mohammad Taghi Ahamdlou, were slain by the militants.

Iran has instructed all courts to stop issuing death sentences against juvenile offenders.

According to a statement by Hossein Zabhi, Assistant Attorney General for Judicial Affairs, a recently-issued directive instructs all judicial officials, when passing sentence, to apply the regulations of the Amnesty and Clemency Commission, which would allow the commutation of death sentences of juvenile offenders firstly to life imprisonment, and then in a second stage to 15 years.

In his interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency, Hossein Zabhi referred to all types of crime currently punishable by execution.

However, it is not clear if the directive includes those convicted of murder, for which the sentence is qesas (retribution in kind). The Iranian authorities have always contended that there is a distinction between cases of qesas and other crimes for which the death penalty is applied.

Most recently, the Head of the Supreme Court reaffirmed this claim on 13 October. This contention is not recognized under international law, which explicitly prohibits any juvenile offender from being put to death by the state.

Iran is currently the only country in the world known to have executed a juvenile offender in 2008. Juvenile offenders are usually not executed until they reach the age of 18 but Amnesty International is aware of some cases where children as young as 16 have been executed. According to information available to the organization, at least six juvenile offenders have already been hanged this year.

Amnesty International says that the Iranian authorities should release the text of the directive and make clear that they intend to uphold their international human rights obligations by including cases of those convicted of murder in this ban. In addition, Iran's parliament should ensure that the directive is incorporated quickly into legislation currently under review, and for the higher legislative body, the Council of Guardians, to support this initiative.

The organization hopes this will pave the way to a complete abolition of the death penalty in Iran. It also calls for the legislation and implementation to adhere to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a state party.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani stressed the need to strengthen relations between Iraq and Spain in all areas. This came when His Excellency received the credentials of new Ambassador of the Spain to Iraq at the Peace Palace in Baghdad on Thursday.
During the handover ceremony, attended by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, President Talabani emphasized the development of bilateral relations between the two countries, praising the role of Spain in supporting the Iraqi people during the liberation, in imposing security, and stability and in the reconstruction process.

Iraqi president expressed readiness to support the efforts of the new Ambassador to deepen relations between the two sides.

For his part, Spain’s new ambassador to Iraq expressed his country's desire to strengthen relationship and cooperation between Iraq and Spain, and reiterated his country's support for the political process and democracy in Iraq, wishing the Iraqi people greater security, progress and stability.
On the same day, Iraqi President received the credentials of new Ambassadors of Bahrain, Syria and Jordan to Iraq.
President Talabani hailed the initiative of Bahrain as it is the first Arab country to send a new ambassador to Iraq.
Iraqi president thanked Bahrain, Syria and Jordan for helping Iraq and its people during the critical times, stressing the necessity to develop bilateral relations between Iraq and the Arab countries because Arab support is very important to new Iraq.

The new ambassadors thanked President Talabani for his hospitality and confirmed their countries support to new Iraq in all aspects.

KurdSat

The mullahs' judiciary chief, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi upheld death sentences for eight prisoners to be carried out this morning in the notorious Tehran Evin prison, reported the Jam-e-Jam state television website today. 

It has not been officially confirmed yet that the eight men have been executed. But it has been common to use such ambiguous tactics by the mullahs' regime not to report the executions and leave the door open for a later possible refusal depending on public reactions.

Another prisoners identified only by his initials M.Gh. was hanged today in the western city of Dorood in Lorestan province, reported the official daily Kayhan on Thursday.

Kurdish PKK rebels said on Thursday they had killed four Turkish soldiers and shot down a Turkish helicopter in clashes in eastern Turkey.

The clashes took place on the Turkish side of the border with Iraq after Turkish forces started a military operation early on Thursday, PKK spokesman Ahmed Danees told Reuters by telephone.

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran and Russia joined China and nine other states as direct weapons suppliers for Sudan after a U.N. embargo was imposed in 2004, a human rights group said in a report published on Tuesday.

China's position as Khartoum's top arms supplier is well known and has long been criticized by human rights activists and Western governments. Other suspected weapons suppliers, such as Iran, are rarely mentioned.

In a report dismissed by Sudan, the New York- and Washington-based activist group Human Rights First said it used public databases to compile data on weapons transfers to Sudan.

That country was hit with a U.N. arms embargo to keep weapons out of its western Darfur region, where Khartoum has been accused of genocide by the United States and the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court.

Sudan rejects the allegations of genocide and has said it would never hand over either of the two men indicted by The Hague-based ICC for war crimes in Darfur. The ICC prosecutor in July asked the court's judges to indict Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir as well.

Human Rights First said China had probably provided tens of millions of dollars of arms to Sudan since 2004, despite its declared weapon sales value of less than $1 million.

There are other suppliers, the group alleges.

"Iran reports total arms sales of over $12 million to Sudan, including almost $8 million worth of tanks," it said.

That is consistent with information from Western diplomats, who have told Reuters that Tehran was selling Sudan arms in an attempt to cement ties and deepen military cooperation.

Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem, told Reuters that groups like Human Rights First were "just branches of Western intelligence in the garb of human rights."

"We dismiss them," he said, adding that the timing of the report showed it was an attempt by Western powers to link Iran's and Sudan's cases and increase pressure on Khartoum.

He did not deny that Sudan bought weapons from abroad. "We have the right to import arms from anywhere we wish," he said.

The spokesman for Iran's U.N. mission could not be reached for comment.

Western diplomats say cooperation between Iran and Sudan makes sense given that both countries feel harassed by the West and are on the agenda of the U.N. Security Council, Sudan for Darfur and Iran because of its nuclear program.

INDIA, RUSSIA ALSO SUPPLIERS

India is another arms supplier to Sudan, the report said. It said India claimed to have supplied only $200,000 worth of arms, but an Indian defense firm entered into contracts worth over $17 million in 2005 "to provide battlefield surveillance radar, communication equipment and night vision equipment."

Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has sold Sudan "33 new military aircraft since 2004, and has reportedly provided training, advisers and pilots for Russian aircraft in the Sudanese air force," the report said.

"Some Russian pilots have reportedly flown missions over Darfur," the group added.

Other direct arms suppliers are Belarus, Cyprus, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey, it said.

There are other countries listed as indirect suppliers -- states whose arms have ended up in Sudan but not necessarily due to direct sales. Those countries include the United States, the Czech Republic, France, Germany and Britain.

NCRI – The mullahs' inhuman regime hanged four prisoners in Zahedan and Isfahan.

The men sent to the gallows on Monday were identified as Shahram Eyvani, Ramezan Rafei and Sasan Dogoshkani in the southeastern city of Zahedan, reported the official daily Kayhan on Wednesday.

nother man named Omid Kh. was hanged in the central city of Isfahan reported the semi-official news agency Fars on Tuesday. 

New executions come amid widespread unrest in most of Iranian cities across the country over new added-value taxes regulations.

Kurdistan region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzanion on Tuesday evening welcomed the meeting between Kurdistan region president and a Turkish delegation in Baghdad and stressed the problem of PKK could be solved through political means.
Premier Barzani made the remark during a meeting with British state minister for foreign affairs, who is visiting Kurdistan region.
KRG prime Minister discussed with Bill Ramil, British state minister for foreign affairs, the strategic agreement between Iraq and Washington, the Iraqi Hydrocarbon bill and the bilateral relations between Erbil and London.
Following the meeting, KRG premier welcomed in a joint press conference the meeting between Kurdistan region president Masoud Barzani and a Turkish delegation to discuss the problems of PKK.
He also refused allegations that Turkish side had set preconditions for holding the meeting.
“We do welcome the meeting and reaffirm that negotiation and dialogue is a sole option to solve the problem of PKK”
Of the details meeting with the British official, Barzani said: “Baghdad- Washington, London strategic agreements and the suspended issues between Kurdistan region and Baghdad were the key talking points”

The Turkish special representative in Baghdad expressed optimism over yesterday’s meeting with Kurdistan region president Masoud Barzani and in Baghdad and described it as positive.
Murat Ozcelik, special representative of the Turkish government to Baghdad said the meeting went on in friendly atmosphere and the results were positive, without elaborating the details.
Early on Tuesday, Kurdistan region president Masoud Barzani met with a high level Turkish delegation and discussed strengthening bilateral relations, the problem of PKK and the security of the borders.
Ozcelik also declared he would make a visit to Erbil in the coming days for further talks with the Kurdish officials, the first formal visit of a Turkish official to Kurdistan region for nearly 4 years.
He made the announcement after a meeting with Iraqi president Jalal Talabani in Baghdad.
Erdogan faces opposition criticisms
The opposition sharpened its criticism against the government's anti-terrorism policy after Foreign Ministry officials met with president Massoud Barzani in Baghdad, calling it breaking a foreign policy taboo.
"The government fell into a new trap of Barzani, who wants the Turkish government to endorse his presence in northern Iraq," said Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), at a parliamentary group meeting of his party yesterday. the MHP leader said, accusing the ruling party of "being on the same page as the PKK and Barzani."
Bahçeli's remarks were one of the sharpest against the government, which says it seeks diplomatic, social and economic solutions to deal with PKK problem. Bahçeli called Barzani a "tribal leader" and said the government's decision to initiate dialogue with him showed the prime minister was lost in his anti-terror strategy, first opposing talks with the Iraqi Kurds and then giving the go-ahead for such meetings.
Erdoğan defended his government's policies, saying the refusal to talk to the Iraqi Kurds on joint steps against the PKK was a mistake. "We are working together with the United States and the local administration of northern Iraq. If these steps were not taken in the past, it was a mistake," he said. "Countries do not act irrationally in critical matters like this. Turkey will pursue its diplomatic quest to the end and ask the other actors to keep their promises. This is a source of strength, not weakness."
According to Bahçeli, this refers to a hypothetical map which he said is often used by anti-Turkey circles to show Turkey's eastern part included in a Kurdish state. "The AK Party is once again on the same page as the PKK and Barzani and used the Parliament rostrum to declare this," an angry Bahçeli said, showing his deputies a copy of the map.

Kurdish lawmakers in the Turkish parliament confirm that a prosperous peaceful and progressive Turkey related to recognizing the identity of Kurdish nation within that country.

In order for deep brotherly relations to be established between the Kurdish and Turkish peoples, the state first has to recognize and acknowledge Kurdish identity and culture, Democratic Society Party (DTP) Chairman Ahmet Türk said yesterday.

Speaking at his party’s parliamentary group meeting yesterday, Türk said Kurds have been treated for years as if they do not exist because of Turkey’s militaristic structure. He also said that those politicians who had backed this militaristic mentality in the past and bowed to the generals were no longer part of Parliament. He said the Kurdish question could never be solved as long as the Kurdish people were being ignored.

He said the Kurdish problem is Turkey’s most important problem, adding that before the brotherhood of the two nations can be established, bloodshed in the country should be stopped first. “As the DTP, we listen to the voice of the people. We are ready to give our full support to satisfying the peaceful demands of the people. We can do a lot if there is support from other parties for the DTP in carrying out its role,” he said

NCRI – A group of protesting peddlers gathered outside mayor's office in the southwestern city of Dezful.

The State Security Forces (SSF) – mullahs' suppressive police – seized their merchandise in a raid on the peddlers a day before.

"We want to earn a decent living. The government pushes us in a different direction. We want to feed our families but no one is there to help us," said a crying peddler.

By midday, an employee from the mayor's office paid no attention to their cries and instead fined the participants. Something they had to pay in cash.

More than eighty percent of the Iranian people live under poverty line.

In the past few months, the Iranian regime has increased public suppression especially against the most vulnerable sectors of the society.

Workers and fixed income families are hardest hit by the measures. The majority of the Iranian workforce was struggling much of last year to get its unpaid salaries. Workers in factories and workshops at times have worked for their mostly government owned companies without any pay. 

A British army interpreter working for the commander of international forces in Afghanistan betrayed his country by spying for Iran, prosecutors said, AFP reported.
 
Daniel James, who was born in Tehran, was a "Walter Mitty" style fantasist who was embittered because he thought he should have been promoted and that he was a victim of racism, they said.

"I am at your service," the 45-year-old allegedly said in a code message to an Iranian military attache in Kabul, according to prosecutor Mark Dennis, who said James was in a "unique position" to divulge sensitive information.

"During the latter part of 2006, the defendant's loyalty to this country wavered and his loyalties turned to Iran, the country of his birth," said Dennis on day one of the trial at the Central Criminal Court, or Old Bailey, in London.

"He turned his back on those with whom he was serving in Afghanistan and sought to become an agent for a foreign power."

James denies charges under the Official Secrets Act of communicating information useful to an enemy and collecting such information on a computer memory stick.

But the prosecutor said that, after being sent to Afghanistan in March 2006, he became "aggrieved and somewhat bitter at his lack of promotion, particularly given his work in Afghanistan," Dennis said.

"He began to complain to others about what he perceived as discrimination against him in the army -- linking racist attitudes to his lack of promotion," said Dennis.

Specifically he was allegedly in contact with Mohammad Hossein Heydari, an Iranian military assistant based at Tehran's embassy in Kabul. The two men exchanged emails and "many telephone conversations," he said.

When he was arrested in December 2006, he was found with a computer flash drive containing two confidential NATO files.

"The value of these documents to anyone trying to sell himself as an agent to a foreign power, or to continue promoting himself as such, trying to show how close he was to sensitive information, is all too clear," Dennis said.

In a police interview, James complained that he had not been promoted and of being treated "like a fucking foreigner," the prosecutor said.

The interpreter, who worked for General David Richards, commander of international forces in Afghanistan, denies breaching the Official Secrets Act and also denies wilLful misconduct in public office.

The trial is expected to last three or four weeks.

NCRI – Brig. Gen. Azizollah Rajabzadeh, the new chief of the State Security Forces (SSF) – mullahs' suppressive police – in greater Tehran promised strict measures in combating what he called "enforcing the so-called 'boosting public security plan'," reported the state-run website Tabnak close to former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brig. Gen. Mohsen Rezai.
He is replacing the former chief Brig. Gen. Ahmadreza Radan himself the newly appointed deputy chief of the country's SSF. Under Radan command a widespread suppressive campaign went into effect in greater Tehran.

Before taking over from Radan, Rajabzadeh was the SSF chief of Preventions Division in Iran.

The new chief also said that he would follow closely Radan's plans for "upgrading the police force."

Rajabzadeh called for the students' cooperation in "securing the universities." He did not explain what specifically expected the university students to do in Tehran.  

Rajabzadeh is known among his peers as ruthless in enforcing the mullahs' strict control in the society.

It does not appear that he would deviate from Radan's suppressive measures imposed during his tenure as chief of Tehran police.

After Turkish media reported that the Turkish Government is willing to discuss with the Kurdistan Regional Government the issue of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Kurdistan Region Presidency (KRP) on Sunday welcomed this decision of the Turkish government.

Dr. Fouad Hussein, Chief of Staff for Kurdish President, in a press release said, “We welcome the decision of the Government of Turkey for talks on the PKK issue."

Dr. Hussein expressed KRG’s readiness to consult with Turkey to address this issue.

On the Turkish air and artillery bombardment of the villages on the Kurdistan region border, Chief of Staff pointed out that “dialogue is the best way to address the problems. Military operations and attacking on the Iraqi land is the question of Iraq’s sovereignty. Resorting to military option will never end the crisis”.

NCRI – Shopkeepers ignored Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's promise to postpone the imposed value added tax and kept their business closed on Sunday. Tehran bazaar is a major economic barometer of the regime's worsening crisis.

The State Security Forces (SSF) – mullahs' suppressive police—and the plain-cloths agents of the notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) presence was clear in trying to force the shops to stay open.
 
One of the shopkeepers told AFP,"Because of this tax (VAT), there is an increase of 10 to 15 percent in prices, so we want the government to annul the law."
 
"By closing our shops we are losing money for a few days but if we do not succeed we will lose money for ever," another bazaari said.

"I hope the bazaaris win and not the government, since I would be purchasing things more expensively because of the new tax," said a dissatisfied consumer.

A state-run morning daily Hamshahri further infuriated the bazaaris calling them "thugs and hooligans."
"They are a punch of 'thugs' and not bazaaris. They are some middle men working in bazaar who sparked the unrest," Hamshahri wrote on Sunday.

Merchants went on strike over value added tax (VAT) regulations imposed by the mullahs' regime in Tehran, central city of Isfahan, southern city of Shiraz, holy city of Mashhad and Qazvin, some 170 km northwest of the capital.
 
On Tuesday, the fourth day of the strikes, more than 3,000 protesting shopkeepers closed down their businesses and marched to the governor's office in Isfahan.
 
The merchants demonstrated in Enqelab Square, Char-Baqe Abassi, Isfahan's main bazaar as well as Bahonar, Hendiha, Alameh, Masjed-Jame, Sabzeh-Meidan, Sepah and Qeysarieh bazaars as well as home appliances of Moshir Square, reported the state-run media.
 
Merchants of major cities such as Mashhad, Shiraz, Qazvin, Tehran and the northern city of Tabriz protested to the rule and the law barring them from "blocking the walkways outside shops."
 
The State Security Forces – suppressive mullahs' police -- attacked the shopkeepers attempting to break up their strike in Qazvin.

TEHRAN, (Reuters) - A week-long strike against a new value added tax (VAT) appeared to be spreading in Tehran's bazaar on Sunday, even though the Iranian government suspended the measure for two months, witnesses said on Sunday.

One merchant said all shops in his section of the capital's vast main bazaar were shut. "All the shops near us are closed," he said by telephone, declining to be named. A Reuters witness said only a few shops seemed open for business.

Police who asked traders to re-open "faced protests by the bazaaris," Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency said.

Such work stoppages among bazaar merchants, an historically powerful business group, are rare in the world's fourth-largest oil producer and represent a new economic challenge for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ahead of next year's presidential election.

"This is the first time the bazaar is doing this, protesting against a government law, after the victory of the Islamic revolution (in 1979)," one Iranian analyst said.

Ahmadinejad, who came to power in 2005 on a pledge to share out Iran's oil wealth more fairly, is already under fire from political rivals, media and the public over his failure to rein in rising inflation now running at an annual 29 percent.

He ordered a two-month suspension on Friday of the scheme to introduce a three percent VAT rate, following days of protests by shop-owners in bazaars in Tehran and other Iranian cities. The tax forms part of wider reforms planned by the government.

But Iranian newspapers said merchants, fearing the new tax would increase prices and lower demand for their goods, wanted it to be abolished altogether and had continued their action.

"NO CHOICE"

Traders in textiles and gold jewellery were among groups who were closed on Saturday in Tehran, business daily Sarmayeh said.

The Reuters witness said other parts of the bazaar were shut on Sunday. "It is hurting our business to close but we have no other choice," said a 35-year-old merchant.

The government has rejected the criticism and argued the overall tax burden would not increase.

"Lifting the VAT law is not possible but it should be better explained," Commerce Minister Massoud Mirkazemi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

The analyst, who declined to be named, said Ahmadinejad faced a difficult situation: he may be accused of siding with wealthy merchants if he agreed to scrap the VAT law but risked a worsening situation in the bazaar if he did not.

Leading Iranian reformist Mehdi Karoubi on Sunday became the first major figure to announce he would run in the June election, when Ahmadinejad is widely expected to stand for a new term.

His government also wants to reform Iran's extensive subsidy system to target payments more directly to those in need, but critics say it could further stoke inflation.

Iran has reaped windfall oil revenue gains in recent years, but the price of crude has plunged more than 45 percent from a July peak of $147. Analysts also say its nuclear dispute with the West is making foreign firms more wary of investing in Iran. (Writing by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Peter Millership)

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Thirty-seven people have been infected by anthrax in northern Iraq in the country's first outbreak of the disease since the 1980s, the health minister in the Kurdish autonomous region said Sunday.

Health Minister Ziryan Othman said the disease appeared to have been passed on from livestock. The first human case of the outbreak was discovered in remote Dahuk province last month.

None of the reported cases had yet proven fatal, he told Reuters. The 37 cases in humans have all affected the patients' skin, rather than their lungs or internal organs, as occurs in more serious anthrax cases.

Othman said the authorities have ordered that infected animals be slaughtered and buried, while animals not yet infected should be vaccinated.

"The health and agriculture ministries are trying to contain this disease, because if it is spread among animals and then is transferred to humans it will have a negative effect on the economy," he said.

Anthrax, which can be deadly in humans in some forms, is an endemic disease in cattle. Anthrax spores can be used as a biological weapon, but there has been no suggestion that this has been the case in the outbreak in Iraq.

(Reporting by Sherko Raouf; writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Matthew Jones)

Kurdistan region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani is expected to make a visit to Turkey to hold talks with the Turkish officials about the recent tensions between Turkey and PKK.
Kurdistani Nwe daily newspaper on Sunday reported from a senior PUK member that Premier Nechirvan Barzani would arrive at Ankara in the coming two days and hold direct talks with the Turkish officials.
PUK representative to Turkey told the paper that Barzani would visit Turkey upon a formal invitation from the Turkish side.
Another source revealed that Turkish president Abdullah Gul had offered Barzani to visit Turkey.
Earlier before, KRG premier had said in an interview with Anatolia news agency that Kurdistan region was as upset from the PKK as Turkish government, but everyone should know that problem could not be solved only through military means.
Barzani also was quoted by the agency as saying that Turkish government wanted collaboration from Kurdistan region in that respect but refused to hold direct talks with the region.
Turkish media sources analyzed the speech as a push from the Kurdish side to hold direct talks for solving the problems.
Also in Saturday, CNNturk news channel reported that Turkish president had said Kurdistan region is recognized by the Iraqi constitution and protected, therefore; it was okay for Turkey to hold direct talk with them.

SANAA (AFP) — The trial began on Saturday of three Yemenis who are alleged to have spied for Iran.

Abdul Karim Lalji, 33, Hani Deen Mohammad, 31, and Iskandar Abdo, 57, were arrested in the southern city of Aden for "illegal contact," the prosecutor told the court.

The men handed over "information, documents and photos relating to military secrets and the country's political, security and economic situation, to the detriment of Yemen," according to the charge sheet.

The court, which specialises in handling terrorism cases, set the next hearing for October 18.

In February, the same court sentenced to death a Saudi who had been stripped of his citizenship and a Yemeni army officer, on charges of spying for Egypt.

Hamad al-Dhahouk, a former Saudi soldier of Yemeni origin, and Abdul Aziz al-Hatbani, were accused of falsely informing the Egyptian embassy in Sanaa that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, with the knowledge of the Yemeni government, were financing a terror cell in Yemen for attacks on tourists in Egypt.

PUK politburo late on Friday held an important meeting in Sulaimani and discussed many issues on the Kurdistan ground and the domestic developments of the party.
Chaired by President Jalal Talabani, PUK Secretary General, the party discussed the arrangements for the third conference of PUK, and the mission of the committees was recommended to extend till the end of the year.
About the Kurdish Peshmarga forces as the region’s guard forces and part of the Iraqi forces, PUK decided to organize the work of the forces and add them with the necessary equipments to make them an affective power in accomplishing the missions.
The meeting also decided to dismiss a group of PUK member, who have recently announced forming a front in the party and call for the resignation of PUK leading members.
Condemnation
Iraqi president Jalal Talabani denounced the assassination of the Iraqi law maker Salih al Ageli from the Sadr bloc and described the assassinators as enemies of the Iraqi people.
“With a deepest feeling of sadness and sorrow we heard the death of Salih al Ageli legislator from Sadr bloc. We strongly condemn that crime and call the relevant parties to find the murderers and set them on trial” said president Talabani in a statement issued from his office on Friday.
President Talabani described those who were behind the assassination as enemies of Iraqi people, who had elected Ageli to be their representative in the national assembly.
Early on Thursday, a roadside bomb hit the car of the Shiite law maker and seriously injured him.
He was rushed to the hospital to undergo medical surgery, but he died few hours after the attack due to his critical condition.
President Talabani also called all the Iraqi parties to unite and face the terrorists and those who saw differences among the Iraqis.
kurdsat

 In a statement issued by the PUK leadership in their meeting on Friday, the four founding members of the Movement For Democratic Change or RAG were sacked from the PUK and deprived from their membership for life.

The four founding members of the Movement For Democratic Change or RAG were sacked by the PUK leadership, after their declaration as a reformist movement within the PUK on the 7th October 2008. The statement issued after the PUK leadership met, on Friday, to discuss the issue of the RAG in their meeting in the city of Sulemani.

Immediately after the declaration, Faud Masum, the member of the PUK politburo, attempted to dismiss the RAG’s move by stating, to the media outlets, that the four founders of the RAG are in London and have no effect in Kurdistan. However, after the news sank down and the PUK leadership realised the seriousness of the challenge that they face from RAG, the politburo issued a decree sacking all four founding members from the organisation, Shorish Haji, Mala Khidir Mamend, Haval Kustani and Hishyar Abid.

KurdishMedia.com discussed the issue with Kurdish political circle and the majority of the views is that this shows the weakness of the PUK leadership. It is widely believed that the RAG (Kurdish for root), as the name implies, is deeply rooted in the PUK organisation and sacking the four founding members can only be a symbolic move, which serves no purpose except further isolation of the PUK leadership; the RAG described as corrupt and demands their resignation.

KurdishMedia.com was told by a pro-reformist, on condition of anonymity, in the city of Sulemani via telephone, “The PUK leadership statement is in a very poor status and offers nothing new. The language is very primitive and outdated and it is inaccurate. For example, the PUK claims that the RAG are organising a coupe de ta, and establish a wing to work against the PUK. The RAG’s declaration does not state that they are organising a coupe de ta and they do not regard themselves as a wing within the PUK.”

The RAG made it clear in their declaration and in their London launch meeting, which KurdishMedia.com was present, that they are a socio-political movement working to reform the PUK. In a reply to KurdishMedia.com, the founding members stated that they are neither another PUK; nor another wing within the PUK.

KurdishMedia.com discussed the PUK statement with one of the founding members of RAG Shorish Haji, who stated that they shall response to the PUK leadership’s statement after consulting their supporters and partner organisations.

The battle of reformist vs corruption no doubt will go on.
kurdmedia

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's oil minister said on Saturday the main problem facing the oil market was related to demand and called for stability, speaking a day after crude prices dropped more than 10 percent.

"Studies indicate that the current critical problem has to do with demand in the market," Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari told reporters in Tehran.

"We should be after market stability, meaning that the stability of the market is important both for the producer and the consumer," Nozari said.

ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey's military says its warplanes and artillery units have bombed and killed a large group of Kurdish rebels as they tried to infiltrate Turkey from northern Iraq.

Military spokesman Gen. Metin Gurak says the attack took place late Thursday. He did not give any specific location or an estimate of how many rebels had been killed.

The offensive, announced Friday, was the latest in a series of Turkish attacks against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq after the killing of 17 soldiers in a rebel raid a week ago.

Gurak says the group was detected through surveillance and most of its members have been killed in the attack along the rugged Iraqi border.

AP

there were several earthquakes in southern Iran. In one instance, the earthquake shook the entire Hourmozegan province so much that residents of Bandar Abbas, Kasham, Minab, and other cities in the area left their houses and fled for their lives.

These were relatively weak earthquakes, but Iran is known to be located in one of the most earthquake prone areas on earth, and the Bushehr area, where the reactor has been built, is considered a particularly problematic seismological area. Another earthquake, after the reactor is commissioned, could lead to disaster of international proportions. The Bushehr nuclear reactor is only 12 kilometers from the city of Bushehr and its 180,000 residents. Given this fact, and others that will be presented below, we would like to bring to the attention of the citizens the multiple dangers related to commissioning the reactor.

Characteristics of the Bushehr Reactors

The reactors being built in Bushehr have a high energy output. They work at extremely high temperature and pressure which accelerates material corrosion. A known weak point is a failure in the steam generators, which can lead to radioactive leakage out of the system containment shell and in worse cases, to even more serious accidents. Cracks frequently form in the reactor tank cover, and since the system also produces hydrogen, this can lead to an explosion.

This type of reactor depends more heavily on safety systems, which rely on a constant electricity supply. Emergency systems, especially backup electricity supply, must be absolutely reliable (and this is not always the case) especially relating to their ability to withstand natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, and storms.

Potential Dangers
Accident

Although the IAEA has determined standards for safe transfer of nuclear materials, in practice these standards are simply not relevant to the conditions in case of an accident. For example, spent fuel tanks are supposed to be able to resist a fall of only 9 meters, and withstand temperatures of 800 degrees for up to 30 minutes. Research shows that in case of an accident, fires last far longer than 30 minutes and temperatures rise well beyond 800 degrees. Any plane crash will undoubtedly involve a fall of more than 9 meters.

Waste Storage

Waste storage will continue to pose great dangers, since the plant produces large amounts of waste. The chemical/toxic threat of uranium distribution into the atmosphere is a real one. As in the case of Esfahan, an explosion resulting in scattering of uranium stored at the site will be highly toxic to the population surrounding the plant, will cause damage to internal organs (especially the kidneys), and will increase the risk of cancer.

Earthquakes

As is known, the reactor base was designed in the 1970’s. Even if the design was reasonable for its time, international standards for constructing reactors in problematic seismologic areas have since become far more stringent. In addition, the reactor was actually built with Russian technology by Russia, which is known not to place a very high premium on safety issues.

Source of Radioactive Material

Until the reactor’s activation, the 80 tons of uranium fuel that were supplied to the site will pose a serious chemical and radiological threat. As soon as the reactor begins working, Bushehr will become a huge source of radioactive emissions in the whole area. This danger will reach a maximum after three years of activity.

Military Attack

Given the concern of the free world over Iran’s nuclear program, there is a very real danger of military attack.

In Summary

After the site becomes active, Bushehr will be the single greatest source emitting radioactivity in the area, with the potential to release a similar or even higher level than was released in a serious accident, such as Chernobyl. This danger will be relevant starting from the third year of site activity.

In the event of serious damage to the reactor and its containment shell, people will have to sit in shelters, and perhaps even be evacuated downwind to a distance of about 150 kilometers, depending on atmospheric conditions.

If there is a large scale incident, nearby countries, such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE, will have to take steps to protect their populations from radiation exposure.

anucleardisaster

48th day of hunger strike for Kurdish prisoners in Iran

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian shopkeepers, known as bazaaris, in the provincial capitals of Isfahan, Mashhad and Tabriz have staged strikes to protest against the introduction of value added tax (VAT), newspapers reported on Wednesday.

Shops in the bazaar of the central city of Isfahan, Iran's third largest city, have been shut for several days to protest against the 3.0 percent VAT tax implemented by the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the moderate Etemad said.

Kargozaran, also a moderate newspaper, said around 3,000 merchants gathered on Monday outside the Isfahan governor general's office to protest against the new tax, introduced on September 22.

Major traders at the bazaar have withdrawn their money from banks in the city to protest against the measure, saying it will cause price increases which they will have to pass on to consumers, Kargozaran said.

According to traders quoted to newspapers, the effective VAT rate will be more than 3.0 percent because instead of being applied once the tax will be levied at every stage of the chain, from producer to consumer, through all intermediaries.

Rises in consumer prices have accelerated since Ahmadinejad's government took power in 2005.

In September, the cost of a basket of 45 staple food items soared a mighty 50 percent from a year earlier, according to reports.

The official inflation figure stood at 27.6 percent year on year in late August.

Bazaars in Iran play not only an important role in the economy, but also the nation's politics. Bazaaris contributed to the collapse of the regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi during the 1979 Islamic revolution, when they went on long strikes.

BBC News

A US plane has been forced to land in Iran after violating Iranian territory, the Iranian semi-official Fars news agency has reported.

The report said the Falcon aircraft entered Iranian airspace from Turkey, flying at low altitude to avoid radar.

The agency said all those on board were released, without saying when the incident happened.

The Pentagon denied the report, saying all its aircraft were accounted for and none had landed in Iran.

More details to follow.

 
The mullahs' inhuman regime hanged a man indentified as Taher H. in the prison in the western city of Hamadan, reported the state-run daily Etemaad on Tuesday.

This is the second prisoner hanged in last than a week in Hamadan. Earlier, a man named Nosrat was executed. 

The mullahs' regime executed more people than any other country in the world per capita so far this year.

The European Parliament (EP) expressed deep concern over human right violations in Iran especially execution of juveniles on September 4.

"Having regard to the Declaration of 29 July, 2008, by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the execution of 29 people in Evin prison in Iran,
Having regard to Council declaration of 25 August 2008 on the execution by hanging of Reza Hejazi,
 
Having regard to the statement of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on the imminent execution of Behnood Shojaee and of Bahman Soleimanian on 19 and 28 August 2008," the final statement said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States will not permit Israel to attack Iran's nuclear programme as long as American troops are stationed in Iraq, an Israeli television report quoting unnamed diplomatic sources said on Monday.

An Israeli official accompanying Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on a visit to Moscow declined to comment on the report. Olmert flew to Moscow to press Russia not to sell advanced missiles and weapons technology to Iran and Syria.

The report on Channel 10 said any strike against Iran would leave U.S. forces based in Iraq vulnerable to retaliation. Depending on who becomes the next U.S. president, troops could remain in Iraq from under two years to indefinitely.

If elected, Barack Obama wants to remove U.S. combat troops within 16 months of taking office in January 2009. John McCain, a staunch supporter of the Iraq war, has refused to provide a timetable and says troops could remain there indefinitely.

Channel 10 added that because Israel was starting to realise that international efforts and United Nations sanctions aimed at halting the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme would fail, Israel understood it would one day have to face a nuclear Iran.

The West accuses Iran of covertly developing nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian programme. Tehran says says it seeks nuclear technology solely for power generation.

The report said that officials at Tzipi Livni's foreign ministry were working on policy papers to prepare for a nuclear Iran.

Livni has been nominated to form a new coalition government and if successful she will take over as prime minister from Olmert who resigned last month in a corruption scandal. Olmert remains caretaker premier until a new government is formed.

Though apparently inconclusive on other matters, Olmert's talks in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov found some common ground on the issue of halting Iran's uraniam enrichment programme, an Israeli official told reporters.

Tehran last month rejected a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding it halt its enrichment work.

Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear power, sees Iran's nuclear programme as a security threat, citing remarks by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for the Jewish state's demise.

(Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Moscow)

Kurdish feminist and journalist, Neghin Sheikholeslami, has been arrested and detained in the capital Tehran's notorious Evin prison (photo).

Sheikholeslami is the fourth Kurdish female activist to be imprisoned in Iran. No charges have yet been made against her.

She is one of the founders of the Azar Mehr feminist association, which is especially active in Iranian Kurdistan in northwest Iran.

In a separate development, police on Monday arrested 44 people at a private party in Mashad, in eastern Iran. Women police officers for the first time took part in the operation.

The 27 female and 17 male partygoers are accused of 'promiscuity', 'consumption of alcohol' and listening to 'obscene music'.
AKI

Turkey's military said on Monday it had carried out an air strike inside northern Iraq overnight against Kurdish separatist rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK.

Turkey vowed all-out retaliation after the PKK rebel raid on a military unit at Aktutun in southeastern Turkey, about six miles north of the Iraqi border last Friday.

Italy's Foreign Ministry in a statement on Monday strongly condemned the attack, describing it as "vile".

Kurdish rebels say they are holding two Turkish soldiers following the attack. It was not clear if the soldiers were dead or alive. "We will announce this soon," said an unnamed PKK spokesman.

Tens of thousands of people on Sunday attended the funerals of 15 soldiers killed in last Friday's attack.

Turkish military said they fought back against the attack, killing 23 rebels.

The PKK has disputed the figures.

Protesters on Sunday gathered outside Turkey's parliament denouncing the PKK. The foreign ministry called on Iraq to capture the Kurdish fighters.

Also on Sunday, the military accused Iraq's Kurdish leaders of failing to go after Kurdish rebels who use Iraq as a base to attack Turkish soldiers.

PKK rebels have been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey for more than two decades. At least 37,000 people have died in the violence.

The PKK is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, European Union and the United States.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, in an interview published Monday, said his country did not believed Israel or the United States would launch a military strike against Iran over its nuclear program.

Asked in an interview with Newsweek magazine and The Washington Post if he believed there would an Israeli or US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, Mottaki answered flatly: "No."

He did not elaborate.

At the same time, he welcomed the US decision last July to send one of the top State Department officials, William Burns, to attend negotiations with Iran in Europe, interpreting the move as a realistic step.

"We welcomed the participation by Mr. Burns in the Geneva talks," Mottaki said. "We feel that if this is the real approach taken by the US right now vis-a-vis the nuclear issue, they must continue with such efforts."

The foreign minister said that previously, the administration of President George W. Bush attached conditions to its participation in the talks with Iran.

Burns's presence in Geneva, argued Mottaki, "meant that those were no longer in play."

NCRI – Seven hundred thousands have died in traffic accidents in the country over last three decades, reported the state-run news agency ISNA on Saturday.

The official figure shows that over 400,000 traffic accidents take place every year in Iran. This alone put Iran on the top of the list of countries with the highest traffic related risks.
 

Seventy people die everyday on the roads. That amounts to an appalling 26,000 deaths in a year. The casualty figures which leave the victims with permanent physical disabilities reach 200,000 per year.

Considering the magnitude of a natural disaster such as Bam earthquake three years ago in south-central Iran which left behind hundred of thousands of casualties, traffic accidents have a much higher toll every

NCRI – Female students were threatened with disciplinary actions should they not comply with the imposed dress code at the registration in Shiraz University, southern Iran, on Saturday.

"Here is a university, you should be extremely careful with what you wear to school," said a woman faculty member in charge of registration in Shiraz University.  

She added, "Try not to get into trouble with the school's security office by obeying the rules."

Not long ago, in a meeting between students and Dean of Student's Affairs and head of the university's disciplinary committee which was convened to investigate the problems female students were facing at the school he said, "Do not forget that I am the head of students' disciplinary committee too."

He threatened the students with action if they do not strictly abide by the dress code.

Harassment of university students has been a common practice by the mullahs' regime in Iran.
 
In April 2007, thousands of students at Shiraz University began their protest over mandatory dress codes set by the school administrators. They widely posted warnings on bulletin boards warning students to strictly obey the dress codes.

Some huge bulletin boards were erected at the school's male dormitories with a statement ordering male students not to wear "shorts and tank tops in the dormitory's halls or where they sleep."
The students also prepared an eleven point resolution which contained their demands and on the top of the list was their request for the university president to resign.

NCRI – Sunday, a group of students gathered outside mullahs' regime Majlis (parliament) protesting to their expulsion and other restrictions from the universities, reported the state-run news agency Fars.

The students also known as "marked students" -- a term used by the Ministry of Higher Education to describe students with no security clearance from the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) following their anti-government activities during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's tenure -- have great difficulties with their schools.

The State Security Forces (SSF) -- mullahs' suppressive police -- cordoned the protesters and did not allow them access to Majlis deputies.

The Ministry of Education has refused to issue 17 of the graduated students their degrees. It has informed the students that since they have no security clearance from the MOIS are not eligible to receive a diploma.

The "marked students" were arrested and transferred to the police precinct in Enqelab Square, according to their relatives. 

Many students of Polytechnic University in Tehran became "marked students" when they participated in a gathering protesting to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech in their school in fall of 2006.
 
In the gathering, Ahmadinejad's pictures were burned before his eyes which sparked much anger from the Iranian regime's officials toward the Polytechnic students.    

Iran Human Rights, October 5: The minor offender Mohammad Reza Haddadi is scheduled to be hanged on October 9, according to his lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei.

Mohammad Reza Haddadi is convicted of a murder he has allegedly committed in 2003 when he was 15 years old.

According to his lawyer Mr. Mostafaei, Mohammad haddadi didn’t committ the murder, but he just took the responsibility and confessed to the murder due to poverty and low age. In february 2008, Mr. Mostafaei wrote a letter to Shahroudi (head of the Iranian judiciary) with the request of reconsidering the case.

However, the minor offender Mohammad reza Haddadi (20) is scheduled to be hanged on October 9. in Adelabad prison of Shiraz (Fars province, south of Iran).

The news of Mohammadreza Haddadi’s scheduled execution is also reported by the Iranian daily Kargozaaran.

Iran has ratified UN’s convention of child’s rights which bans death penalty to offences committed as a minor.

So far in 2008, six minor offenders have been executed in Iran. Iran is the country with highest number of minor executions. According to report by Human Rights Watch, Iranian authorities are responsible for 26 of the 32 minor executions worldwide since 2005.

More than 150 minors offenders are on the death row in Iran.

www.iranhr.net

The Sunday Times

Paul Henderson and Robert Watts

Two Iranian-born British men are accused of being part of a network supplying components for the roadside bombs which are killing coalition soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The network, uncovered by American investigators, is alleged to have illegally shipped more than 30,000 electronic components from the United States to Iran via other countries.

The components are said to be identical to those used in some of the hidden bombs which have killed 2,000 coalition soldiers, including more than 200 British servicemen.

One of the accused is Farshid Gillardian, a 39-year-old whose family was given refuge in Britain after the 1979 Iranian revolution. He was arrested in his mother’s north London home two weeks ago.

His fellow accused, Ali Akbar Yahya, a 48-year-old businessman, disappeared from his flat in Dubai last month and neighbours say they know nothing of his whereabouts.

Both men are named in a 45-page United States grand jury indictment which draws on a three-year investigation into the smuggling of dual-use components.

It is understood the inquiries were prompted by the discovery of American-made electronics in an unexploded roadside bomb in Iraq.

The US authorities allege the British nationals are part of a network which breached export rules and embargoes to supply this type of equipment to Iran. Officials say the Iranians have supplied the components for many of the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) used against coalition troops.

Mario Mancuso, the US undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, described the network as a “lethal international ring seeking to harm American and allied forces . . . by acquiring sensitive US technology capable of producing IEDs similar to those being used in Iraq and Afghanistan”.

This weekend Gillardian’s friends and family described the allegations as “preposterous”. Karen Todner, his lawyer, said: “This man is no terrorist. As a devout Jew he is horrified he has been linked with Islamic terror in Iraq or Afghanistan. He categorically denies these charges.”

The Sunday Times has obtained a copy of the indictment filed to the Florida southern district court in Miami earlier this month.

It claims that eight men and eight related companies were part of a conspiracy to “illegally enrich” themselves by “unlawfully exporting electronic components and other commodities from the United States to Iran”.

The network included people in Iran, Dubai, Malaysia and Germany, as well as Britain. They bought the components from America because US electronics are considered more reliable, quicker to obtain and cheaper than those produced in Iran.

It is alleged that Yahya is a central figure in the network. He is a British citizen who ran or operated four of the companies from Dubai: Mayrow General Trading, Atlinx Electronics, Madjico Micro Electronics and Micatic General Trading.

Suspicion first fell on his Mayrow company in 2005 when an unexploded bomb in Iraq was found to have contained an American-made computer circuit. It is understood that the serial numbers and sales records showed that the circuit had been bought from a California company and had made its way through to Mayrow.

According to the indictment, further investigations have linked Yahya and his companies to the shipping of thousands of components from the United States to Iran, via Dubai.

The goods included 89 computer chips, 200 Ericsson DC/DC converters and 3,400 low-pass filters. All these goods have peaceful uses, but their export is strictly controlled because they can also be essential components of bombs.

Major Chris Hunter, a senior Ministry of Defence bomb analyst until last year, said: “This reads like a checklist of what you need to produce a radio-controlled IED, especially those armed with an EFP [explosively formed penetrator] - definitely the most lethal weapon the British Army has ever faced.”

Additional reporting: Abul Taher

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has urged Israel not to launch a military strike against Iran's nuclear program, an Israeli newspaper reported on Sunday

Kouchner, in the region for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, urged the Jewish state to continue to support Western-backed sanctions and dialogue to press Iran to halt its atomic project, the Haaretz daily said.

"I know that in Israel, and the Israeli army, there are those who are preparing for a military solution or an attack" aimed at halting the Iranian program, Kouchner told the paper in an interview.

"In my opinion that's not the solution," he said, adding that the possibility of Iran achieving a nuclear weapon was also "absolutely unacceptable."

Kouchner called the risk of an Israeli strike on Iran a "danger." He said Tehran was aware Israel had said it would not wait until Iran could produce a nuclear bomb.

He said the West should pursue "talk, talk and more talk," including further sanctions to persuade Iran to stop its nuclear program. Tehran denies seeking to build an atomic bomb, saying it only wants to generate electricity.

"I don't think the alternative is to bomb first," Kouchner said.

Kouchner said France believed Iran may be able to produce one atomic weapon within two to four years.

Tehran last month rejected a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding it halt its nuclear enrichment work.

Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear power, sees Iran's nuclear program as a security threat, citing remarks by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for the Jewish state's demise.

By Ibon Villelabeitia

ANKARA (Reuters) - Fifteen Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdish separatist PKK rebels in southeast Turkey on Friday, Turkey's General Staff said, in one of the deadliest attacks on the military this year.

At least 23 members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were killed after rebels armed with "heavy weapons" attacked a military outpost in the Semdinli region bordering Iraq and Iran, the military said.

The attack is likely to put pressure on Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to strike back at the PKK.

Turkey has attacked PKK bases in mountainous northern Iraq several times over the past 12 months, but has confined itself to shelling and air strikes since a brief land offensive in February.

The General Staff said two Turkish soldiers were missing and that an operation was under way to rescue them.

Parliament is this month likely to approve a government request to extend a mandate to launch military operations against the PKK in Iraq as needed. The current mandate expires on October 17.

Turkey blames the PKK, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, for the deaths of more than 40,000 people since it launched its campaign for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

Washington is sharing intelligence with Turkey on PKK movements in Iraq. The United States and the European Union have expressed concerns that prolonged Turkish military operations inside Iraq could further destabilize Iraq and the wider region.

Friday's attack is the first serious challenge for Turkey's new military chief, General Ilker Basbug, who took over NATO's second-largest army in August.

Basbug has said that, while military operations against the PKK will continue, social-economic measures are needed to bring peace to the impoverished southeast.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)
___________________ 

62 SOLDIERS AND 9  PKK KILLED

NCRI – More 600 Pars paper mill factory workers gathered outside the governor's office in the southwestern city of Shoosh on Monday. The protesters demanded their unpaid salaries for the past six months.

They chanted anti-government slogans, "God is great, we are hungry" and "Is there anyone to help us?"

"What the government did with the workers in sugar packing factory in Shoosh is repeating with us," said a woman protester.

"Since September 25, the factory has been shutdown. They [management] have cut off the water supplies to the factory. The top manager has told us that the factory will not be reopened," said another worker at the gathering.

On September 26, nearly 800 workers blocked the Ahwaz-Andimeshk highway which is the jugular vein of Iran's oil rich province in the south.

At the same time 300 other of their fellow workers blocked another road which the supplies for two other big factories in the region, Haft-Tapeh Sugar Cane factory and Harir Paper factory passed through it.
It has been months since the workers in the southern Khuzestan region are on strike over pay disputes with mostly government appointed managements. Thousands of workers in Haft-Tapeh, Pars, Ahwaz Rolling and Pipes and many more have been on strike.

Workers as the most vulnerable part of the Iranian labor force have faced great difficulties receiving their salaries. Managements in most of the factories which were owned previously by the government have been turned over to the relatives and friends of the ruling mullahs with a fraction of their actual values. The managers with no real experience in running industrial units and keen in pocketing what revenues the factories may have, are turning the screws on the workers not paying the salaries for months and cutting their benefits in particular health insurance.

NEW YORK (AFP) — Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Thursday ruled out any improvement in his country's ties with the United States unless Washington alters its foreign policy following the election of a new president next month.

"Whatever candidate becomes the next president of the US, he will have no other option than to bring about new developments in American foreign policy," he told a symposium sponsored by the Asia Society here.

Speaking through an interpreter, he added that the next US president would have to try to "reach out to other countries around the world, including the countries in the Middle East."

"If such developments happen in the White House, in words and in deeds," Mottaki said Tehran would consider them.

"So like everybody else we have to wait and see what the new US policies (will be after next month's presidential election)," he added.

He also squarely blamed Washington for the dismal state of bilateral relations.

"The behavior shown by US officials in the past decades has not been encouraging, has not encouraged Iranian officials to work to improve relations," he noted.

"If serious changes come about with regard to such a behavior, we will certainly study the possibility," Mottaki said.

And he restated Tehran's view that the Iranian nuclear program is peaceful and not geared toward the production of nuclear weapons, pointing out that possession of weapons of mass destruction violates Islamic teachings.

US-Iranian ties were broken off in 1980 after Islamist students took US diplomats hostage at the embassy in Tehran.

Over the past years, Washington has taken a tougher line toward the Islamic Republic, accusing it of backing armed groups in Iraq, thwarting any Middle East settlement with its support for the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement and Lebanon's Shiite militia Hezbollah, and using its nuclear program as a cover to acquire nuclear arms.

Iran- A Sunni clergy, Abu-Baker Qaderiani was guned down by two unknown gunmen outside his house in the northwestern city of Piranshahr.

In similar attempt, Abu-Baker Tina another Sunni clergy was also killed in the northwestern city of Mahabad last week.

Salam a Sunni clergy was questioned by the members of the notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) for declaring Tuesday as Eid ul-Fitr in the Kurdish city of Sardasht.

Eid ul-Fitr or Id-ul-Fitr, often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fiṭr means "to break the fast" (and can also mean "nature", from the word "fitrah"); and so the holiday symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period. It is celebrated starting on the first day of the Islamic month of Shawwal.

Often the followers of other faiths are the subject of much persecution by the ruling mullahs in Iran.
Last month an entire theology school belonging to Sunni denomination was completely leveled by the State Security Forces (SSF) – mullahs' suppressive police in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
 
The mullahs' inhuman regime leveled Abu Hanifa Sunni School of Theology on August 27, using bulldozers and other heavy building machinery in Azimabad, a suburb of the city of Zabol.
The school belonged to Sunni Muslims who are brutally suppressed by the Iranian regime since the early days of the clerical rule.
 
The SSF demolition units arrived at the school in the early morning hours and leveled all the buildings including a few mobile homes used by the summer students as sleeping quarters.

The SSF units also brought down a few donated houses by local residents providing much needed class rooms. 

Despite the mullahs hypocritical claim that they respect the Sunni followers of Islam when it comes to suppressing popular protests they are no different from the rest of the Iranian people.

NCRI

Gunmen assassinated a Sunni Muslim cleric leader in the northwestern city of Mahabad; he was assassinated by two unknown gunmen on Sunday. He was attacked by those unknown gunmen while returning home after morning prayers; he couldn't make it and he passed away before getting to the hospital.

In the past few days security forces have warned many Sunni clerics of various Kurdish cities to avoid any prayer celebrations and rituals before the official announcement from the central government for the exact beginning date of the Fetr holidays. A Sunni clerical school was destroyed on the verge of current year's celebrations in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan and Molavi Ahmed Naroyi who is one of the Sunni clerics and cultural activists of the province was arrested.

Meanwhile, two other suspicious assassinations have occurred in Kurdistan; Diako Salehi, one of the Kurdish political activists, was assassinated with a knife by attack of unknown offenders. Additionally, Ashraf Hossein Panahi, the brother of Anwar Hossein Panahi (a convicted Kurdish teacher) was hit by an unidentified car; right now he is in a coma, suffering brain death.

NCRI – The mullahs' inhuman regime arrested a Christian clergy and seized all his belongings including CDs of biblical scriptures on September 26.

Four agents from local office of the notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) in the morning of Monday September 26 raided a house belonging to pastor Shrewder Yadgar a member of the Evangelical Church in the northwestern city of Orumieh.

The MOIS agents had no search warrants for entering pastor Yadgar's home. They searched the entire premises and seized items such as CDs and books of Christian teachings.

Yadgar and another companion were arrested and taken away to an unknown location.

On July 31, anther incident of the kind happened when MOIS agents raided a house-church in the central city of Isfahan.

It was led by a Christian believer named Mr. (A) and Ms (R) in the “Malak Shahr Isfahan”, it was reported that during the baptizing of new believers and praying for a few sick people, the MOIS agents raided the house beating the worshipers and arresting eight men, 6 women and two children. The victims were transferred to an unknown location.

There were also two elderly worshipers believed to be in their 60s were present at the ceremony. The suppressive security forces paid no heed to the couple's age and subjected them to severe harassment. Later these two senior citizens were taken to the Shariati Hospital in Isfahan where they were hospitalized in ICU.

The MOIS agents thoroughly searched the house for forbidden Christian books and literatures.
According to reports from Isfahan, the MOIS official at the scene were outraged when they found that Mr. A, the owner and host of the ceremony, was a pilgrim to Mecca and was named hajji and participated in the eight year Iran-Iraq war.
Suppressing followers of other faiths has been an inhuman practice by the mullahs' regime in the past three decades.

On October 1, 2006, the mullahs' security forces arrested the late Rev. Mahdi Dibaj's daughter and her husband for following Christ's teachings in a house-church in the holy city of Mashhad. The Rev. Dibaj was murdered on July 5, 1994 by the agents of the MOIS in a Tehran park. His conversion to Christianity caused mullahs' rage which led to his murder.

NCRI – An undeclared martial law is imposed in the streets of the southern city of Shiraz.

The mullahs' regime has imposed an unannounced curfew in the Satarkhan and Chamran streets which are two of the busiest places in the tourist attraction city.

There have been road blocks and check points set up to control citizens especially at nights by the State Security Forces (SSF) – mullahs' suppressive police.

Four or five well armed agents ride on SSF vehicles patrolling the area. Citizens are stopped at the check points and asked all sorts of questions. The most ordinary is the relationship between passengers in the cars. Agents are suspicious of young males and females riding together and want to find out their marital status.

Along Satarkhan and Chamran in between the official check points there are white vans belonging to the Chastity Units of the SSF for imposing their regulations mostly on women and what they have on.

The last part of a journey passing through all checks come the unofficial check points set up on the side streets by the paramilitary Bassij forces consisted of fervent young men with newly grown beard and an AK-47 machinegun loosely hanging from their shoulders just to make sure those stopped take them serious.

NCRI – Chief of the State Security Forces (SSF) – mullahs' suppressive police – Preparedness Unit in greater Tehran announced that from the early hours of next Friday its forces will be monitoring every suspicious move on the part of the soccer fans, reported the official news agency IRNA on Wednesday.

The soccer game between two prestigious capital clubs is on in Azadi Stadium on Friday afternoon.

Traditionally, the game between the two draws the most fans. It has also been the scene of the demonstrators using the opportunity to express their hatred for the mullahs' ruling Iran.

Colonel Khancharli, the senior Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Special Units said in an interview that unlike previous matches, "SSF and men from his units will be monitoring the fans during the play and will not tolerate any form of civil disturbance."

"Along the route to Azadi, there will be temporary police stations set up to control the 'so-called' spectators. The SSF agents will not hesitate to refer the violators to judicial authorities," Khancharli added.

He said that in addition to other security measures on each public transportation bus there will be an agent of the SSF monitoring the passengers' conducts.

"We will deal swiftly with those violating the law on Friday," Khancharili said.

Tehran prosecutor's office has announced its readiness to press charges against those breaking the law during and after the play, the colonel told the press.