HARTZ IV: WIDERSPRUCH BEI MIETKAUTION-ANRECHNUNG

Musterwiderspruch an das Jobcenter und Musterantrag an das Sozialgericht gegen die Aufrechnung von Mietkautionszahlungen im laufenden Hartz IV Bezug

27.04.2012

Das Sozialgericht Berlin hat in einem Beschluss zum Antrag einer einstweiligen Anordnung entschieden, dass eine 10 Prozent Kürzung der Hartz IV Regelleistungen über einen längeren Zeitraum (hier 23 Monate) zur Tilgung eines Darlehens für die Mietkaution rechtlich unzulässig ist. Die evangelische Obdachlosen e.V. hat vor diesem Hintergrund einen Musterwiderspruch an das Jobcenter und einen Musterantrag an das Sozialgericht erstellt.

Ohne die Zahlung einer Mietkaution oder der Bereitstellung einer Bürgschaft können Bürger keine Wohnung mieten. Hartz IV oder Sozialhilfebezieher (SGB II oder SGB XII) können einen Antrag beim zuständigen Jobcenter auf Übernahme der Kaution stellen (§ 22 Abs. 6 SGB II, § 35 Abs. 2 Satz 4 SGB XII). Im Normalfall wird diese als Darlehen gewährt. Bislang wurde das Darlehen für die Mietkaution durch eine Aufrechnung eines Anteils der ALG II Regelleistung durch die Behörden nicht vorgenommen. Seit den Neuregelungen in § 42a Abs. 2 Satz 1 SGB II seit ersten April 2011 können Behörden eine sofortige anteilige Tilgung in Höhe von zehn Prozent verlangen. Das Sozialgericht Berlin hat in einem Urteil (Az: S 37 AS 24431/11 ER) jedoch festgestellt, dass Hartz IV Bezieher die Kaution als Darlehen ohne Einbehaltung von Raten zur Tilgung erhalten sollen.

URGENT ACTION – DROHENDE HINRICHTUNG: HAMID GHASSEMI-SHALL, iranisch-kanadischer Staatsbürger

• Iran

UA-113/2012

Index:

MDE 13/023/2012

26. April 2012

HAMID GHASSEMI-SHALL, iranisch-kanadischer Staatsbürger

Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, der die iranische und kanadische Staatsangehörigkeit besitzt, droht offenbar im Iran unmittelbar die Hinrichtung. Am 15. April erfuhr seine Familie, dass sein Todesurteil an die Justizbehörde zur Vollstreckung von Todesurteilen weitergeleitet worden ist.

Hamid Ghassemi-Shall wurde am 24. Mai 2008 festgenommen, als er gerade seine Mutter im Iran besuchte. Sein älterer Bruder Alborz Ghassemi-Shall war etwa zwei Wochen zuvor festgenommen worden. Beide Brüder wurden 18 Monate lang im Teheraner Evin-Gefängnis in Einzelhaft und ohne Zugang zu rechtlicher Vertretung festgehalten. Im November 2009 wurden Hamid und Alborz Ghassemi-Shall schließlich aus der Einzelhaft in einen Trakt mit anderen Häftlingen verlegt.

In einem unfairen Gerichtsverfahren wurden beide Männer am 29. Dezember 2008 vor dem Revolutionsgericht zum Tode verurteilt. Das Gericht befand sie wegen Spionage und Verbindungen zur verbotenen Oppositionsgruppe der Volksmudschaheddin (People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – PMOI) der “Feindschaft zu Gott” (moharebeh) für schuldig. Amnesty International vorliegenden Informationen zufolge bestanden die Beweise gegen die beiden Brüder aus einem “Geständnis” und einer E-Mail, die Hamid Ghassemi-Shall an Alborz Ghassemi-Shall, der in der Vergangenheit als Maschinenbauingenieur für die iranische Armee gearbeitet hatte, gesendet haben soll. Hamid Ghassemi-Shall bestreitet das Versenden der E-Mail. Das Urteil gegen die beiden Männer wurde am 7. November 2009 vom iranischen Obersten Gerichtshof aufrechterhalten. Im Januar 2010 starb Alborz Ghassemi-Shall, der an Magenkrebs litt, im Gefängnis.

Angaben von Hamid Ghassemi-Shall zufolge stand er im Evin-Gefängnis, bevor ihm Zugang zu rechtlicher Vertretung gewährt wurde, unter “sehr großem Druck”, ein “Geständnis” abzulegen. Unter Folter erzwungene “Geständnisse” werden in iranischen Gerichten regelmäßig als Beweismittel herangezogen. Dies verstößt gegen das Recht des Angeklagten auf ein faires Gerichtsverfahren. Die iranischen Behörden haben in der Vergangenheit auch damit gedroht, die mittlerweile verstorbene Schwester von Hamid und Alborz Ghassemi-Shall, Mahin Ghassemi�Shall, festzunehmen, weil sie sich öffentlich für ihre Brüder eingesetzt hatte.

teheranbureau: Cuisine | Too Much Is Never Enough: Making Ghelye Mahi

by TORI EGHERMAN

Redefining “leftovers,” “hot,” and “cold,” and more lessons from the Iranian kitchen.

Every time we had people over for dinner, my husband would say to me, “Tori, we didn’t make enough food.”"How can that be?” I’d ask. “There are leftovers.” It wasn’t until we moved to Iran in 2003 for a four-year stay that I understood what he meant. A chicken leg or two is not leftovers. It’s ta’rof – good manners. It’s what the guests leave behind so you won’t think you served them insufficiently. “Enough food” means that another party can be fed with what is left over at the end of the evening.

The first time we were invited out in Iran, we were served omelets, fish, whole roasted chicken, yogurt and cucumbers, yogurt and spinach, tomato, cucumber, and onion salad, salad with iceberg lettuce and Thousand Island dressing, spring chicken kebabs, and chopped lamb kebabs. All of this was brought to the table just before midnight. Kamran whispered, “Do they think we’re cows?”

I tell you this so you won’t balk at the amount of food my friend Zohreh Sanaseri (pictured) prepared for our dinner of ghelye (ghalieh) mahi – a stew of fish, herbs, and tamarind paste. She invited three others to share the stew with us, but made enough for at least ten people.

In four years of living in Iran, I never once encountered ghelye mahi. In fact, it wasn’t until a night out at a Persian restaurant in Amsterdam that I ate it for the first time. The flavor was surprising: sharp, sour, sweet, and fishy all at once. It was made with many of the ingredients found in other stews I’d eaten in Iran, but tasted nothing like them. I searched for recipes and tried making it a few times before giving up. None was as good as my first time…

And then I ate ghelye mahi at the home of my friend Zohreh, who hails from the city of Abadan in southwestern Iran. “It was the Paris of Iran,” the eldest of her two daughters, who were born in the Netherlands, tells me. “Was,” Zohreh emphasizes. “Before the war.”

It was the war with Iraq that drove Zohreh and her family out of Iran. She settled in the Netherlands with her husband when she was just 25. “I had never cooked before in my life,” she says. “I learned everything here.”

theranbureau: Behind the Curtain | Afghans To Be Expelled from Iranian Tourism Province

by ARASH KARAMI and NEGAR MORTAZAVI

26 Apr 2012 22:235 Comments

Afghan family being deported (ISNA/Amir Pourmand).

Arash Karami is a frequent Tehran Bureau contributor. Negar Mortazavi is an Iranian journalist based in Washington, D.C.

Afghan nationals will be expelled from the northern Iranian province of Mazandaran in the coming months. According to government officials all Afghans, with or without legal status, have been given a deadline to leave the province; those who fail to depart by the deadline will be arrested and expelled. Mazandaran, on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, is a major tourist destination. Many upper-class Tehran families own resorts and villas in the province. Mazandaran officials have expressed their concern for the safety of tourists as the tourism season starts and have stated their belief that this legislation will ensure public safety. According to government statistics, over 3,000 Afghan nationals in Mazandaran were arrested and deported last year.Mazandaran is not the first province to announce such legislation directed at Afghan immigrants. Gilan, Lorestan, Hamedan, and Kermanshah have also banned or put restrictions on Afghan nationals. Last month, police officials in Isfahan announced that Afghan citizens would be barred from entering city parks during the Nowruz holidays. However, the move sparked such intense criticism that police officials were forced to back down from confronting park attendees.

According to official statistics, Iran is home to over a million Afghan refugees. The Iranian government has been struggling to absorb the influx of immigrants who have been coming in waves from Afghanistan since the Soviet invasion in the 1980s. Many have taken on jobs in construction or other forms of manual labor. Crimes committed by Afghans nationals are heavily publicized, generating anti-Afghan sentiment across Iranian society. On the other hand, discriminatory government policies, such as the law that bans Afghan children, even those born in Iran, from attending school, have been widely condemned.

Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have recently reached an agreement on Afghan refugees that allows Afghan nationals to remain in Iran and Pakistan until 2017. According to Fars News, “voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees from Iran has slowed in recent years in the face of poor security and economic conditions in Afghanistan, which Tehran blames on the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2001.”

Source:  Arash Karami and Negar Mortazavi

 

teheranbureau: US Can Accept Iran’s Low-Level Uranium Enrichment

Press Roundup provides a selected summary of news from the Farsi and Arabic press and excerpts where the source is in English. Tehran Bureau has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Any views expressed are the authors’ own. Please refer to the Media Guide to help put the stories in perspective. You can follow breaking news stories on our Twitter feed.

11:55 p.m. IRDT, 8 Ordibihesht/April 27 In the runup to the next round of talks concerning Iran’s nuclear program between representatives of the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 — the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany — unnamed U.S. government officials have told the Los Angeles Times that the Obama administration is prepared to accept ongoing Iranian uranium enrichment in what the paper characterizes as a “major concession.” According to the Times, the officials said

they might agree to let Tehran continue enriching uranium up to concentrations of 5% if the Iranian government agreed to unrestricted inspections, and strict oversight and safeguards that the United Nations long has demanded.Iran has begun enriching small amounts of uranium to 20% purity in February 2010 for what it contends are peaceful purposes, although most of its stockpile is purified at lower levels. Uranium can be used as bomb fuel at about 90% enrichment.

The question of whether to approve even low-level enrichment is highly controversial within the U.S. government and among its allies because of the risk that Iranian scientists still might be able to gain the knowledge and experience to someday build a bomb.

But a consensus has gradually emerged among U.S. and foreign officials that the Iranians are unlikely to accede to a complete halt to enrichment, and that pushing this demand could make it impossible to reach a negotiated deal to stop Iran’s program short of a military attack.

After talks that took place in Istanbul two weeks ago, which participants on both sides described as much more positive in tone than previous negotiations, another round of talks was scheduled for May 23 in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The uranium enriched to what the Times describes as 20 percent — the actual level is 19.75 percent — has evidently been used as fuel for the specialized Tehran Research Reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.

The position described in today’s report is likely to come under fire from presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney who, addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference last month, advocated subjecting Iran to a “diplomatic isolation program” such as the one imposed on South Africa during the latter years of the apartheid era. Romney also mocked the Obama administration’s approach — “Hope is not a foreign policy” — and made the surprising assertion, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency, that the West “may not know when Iran will secure sufficient fissile material to threaten the entire world, but the IAEA warns that that hour is fast approaching.” Fissile material, in this context, is generally understood to mean the sort of 90-percent-enriched weapons-grade uranium mentioned in the Los Angeles Times story. The IAEA has never suggested that Iran possesses any fissile material at all nor that it is on the verge of initiating production of it.

Source:  Tehran Bureau

 

FTD: Teheran – Dicke Luft im Kessel

© Bild: 2012 Getty Images/Kaveh Kazemi

Smogalarm und Verkehrsinfarkt prägen das Leben in der iranischen Hauptstadt. Zu lange hat Teheran nur auf den Autoverkehr gesetzt und achtspurige Stadtautobahnen gebaut. Jetzt träumen Städteplaner von einer Straßenbahn und Dezentralisierung. vonSilke Mertins Berlin

Die deutsche Botschaft in Teheran hat eine Lösung für die Verkehrsprobleme gefunden: Die Mitarbeiter treten ihren Dienst schon um sieben Uhr morgens an, wenn die meisten anderen Bewohner der iranischen Hauptstadt noch unter der Dusche stehen. Zu so früher Stunde lässt sich noch vermeiden, dass man ein bis zwei Stunden im Stau steht, um aus den Wohnquartieren des gutbürgerlichen Nordens der iranischen Hauptstadt ins Zentrum zu gelangen, wo die deutsche Vertretung ihren Sitz hat.

Doch auch bei fließendem Verkehr lässt sich einem Übel nicht entkommen: Die Augen brennen, es legt sich ein metallischer Geschmack auf die Zunge, das Atmen fällt schwer. Teheran leidet unter seiner Dreckluft. Der “Economist” kürte die Stadt 2010 sogar zur “versmogtesten aller Hauptstädte”. Statt blauem Himmel sieht man meist nur Dunst. Auch das Elburs-Gebirge mit seinen schneebedeckten Gipfeln verschwindet oft hinter einer Nebelwand aus Abgasen.

Die Kessellage Teherans mit dem Halbrund der schönen Berge im Norden ist der Hauptgrund für die dicke Luft. Dennoch hat die Stadtverwaltung jahrzehntelang nur auf Autos gesetzt. Von den Ölmilliarden haben die Mullahs in ihrer Hauptstadt zahllose sechs- bis achtspurige Straßen gebaut. Die Stadtautobahndichte in Teheran ist heute höher als in Berlin. Genützt hat es wenig. Selbst auf achtspurigen Einbahnstraßen stauen sich die Fahrzeuge. “Noch mehr Straßen werden die Probleme nicht lösen, sondern nur zu mehr Verkehr führen”, sagt der Ingenieur Wulf-Holger Arndt von der TU Berlin, der in dem Projekt “Young Cities” mit iranischen Kollegen vor Ort zu Megacitys forscht.

Der Smog richtet enormen gesundheitlichen Schaden an. 2010 sickerte aus dem Gesundheitsministerium durch, dass allein in den ersten zehn Monaten 3600 Menschen an seinen Folgen gestorben sind. Auch der wirtschaftliche Schaden ist enorm: 130 Mio. Dollar für jeden Tag, an dem Schulen, Behörden und staatliche Betriebe geschlossen werden müssen.

Die vielen Autos konsumieren darüber hinaus Unmengen an subventioniertem Treibstoff. “Einen so starken Anstieg des heimischen Verbrauchs im Iran hat niemand erwartet. So kann es nicht weitergehen”, mahnte der Ölexperte Hamid Saheri von Crescent Petroleum schon 2006.

Vollständiger Artikel

Clinton on New Iran Diplomacy

On April 26, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented on the new diplomatic effort with Iran. She made her remarks at an event hosted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The following is an excerpt:

By next January, when I will have traveled, I guess, a million miles or more, I will look back on this period as one that has been a great privilege and honor to serve. But I will also know that we have a lot of work to do. And when I came into this office, I knew that we were going to have to confront a lot of difficult problems. I’ll just quickly mention a few.

One, Iran’s nuclear activities. How were we going to confront what was a clear threat? How could we unify the international community so they were not either on the sidelines or actively trying to undermine our diplomatic efforts?

So what we did was to first decide we had to give diplomacy a real chance. And President Obama extended an open hand to the Iranian people. In our public diplomacy, we used every channel, from satellite TV and Twitter, to old-fashioned snail mail. We cemented our partnership with European allies. We reengaged with institutions like the International Atomic Energy Agency. We convinced the entire Security Council, including Russia and China, to enact the most onerous sanctions that ever had been and to keep up the pressure.

And then we added to that through our unilateral sanctions and the EU sanctions. We worked directly with banks and insurance companies to make sure those sanctions were implemented. Iran’s tankers now sit idle; its oil goes unsold; its currency has collapsed. The window for engagement is still open, and we are actively pursuing a diplomatic solution. But we know that we have to continue to demonstrate that we’re making progress diplomatically. It’s too soon to know how this story will end, but the fact that we’ve returned to the negotiating table makes clear the choice for Iran’s leaders.

We’re also looking for how to operate multidimensional diplomacy at all times. Building and holding a coalition to pressure and isolate Iran is one example, but there are others as well. Our willingness to engage showed good faith. Our willingness to listen showed humility. Our willingness to hammer out the kinds of solutions that would be acceptable beyond the usual suspects who always are with us is paying off.

Source: UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE

Can Iran Replicate U.S. Drones?

Ted Wynne

Iran claims it is reproducing U.S. stealth technology less than five months after capturing an RQ-170 Sentinel drone, the most advanced unmanned surveillance aircraft.  On April 22, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh told Iranian state television, “Our experts are fully dominant over sections and programs of this plane.”

Hajizadeh also offered details of the drone’s past activities “to let the Americans know how deep we could penetrate into [the technology of] this drone,” Iran’s Fars news agency reported. He even claimed the decoded data proved that this particular drone had been used to help track movements inside Osama bin Laden’s secret compound in Pakistan. “Had we not accessed the plane’s softwares and hard disks, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve these facts,” said Hajizadeh, who is commander of the Revolutionary GuardsAir Force.

The RQ-170 is an unmanned aircraft with a 65-foot wingspan, stealth technology and a single jet engine.  Iran captured the drone on Dec. 2, 2011, although the United States has never confirmed whether the unmanned aircraft malfunctioned or Iran penetrated its technology and brought it down. U.S. officials did confirm that the drone operated out of neighboring Afghanistan, but did not comment publicly on widespread speculation that it was used to spy on Iran’s controversial nuclear program.

Two U.S. defense experts—Michael Elleman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies based in Bahrain and John Pike of globalsecurity.org based in Washington DC—assessed different aspects of Iran’s claims.

Michael Elleman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies

How difficult would it be for Iran to replicate the RQ-170 drone?

It would be taking a piece of cake and replicating the recipe or being able to determine what the recipe was.

What are the most sensitive technologies?

There are several elements to a stealth drone or aircraft. One issue is the geometry or shape of the object—trying to create an object that has no reflecting surfaces. The Iranians could copy the geometry or shape of the object.

The other issue is the material that coats the stealth aircraft or drone. Those materials are very complex electromagnetic properties. When they receive electromagnetic energy from radar, they absorb the energy received instead of reflecting it. Because of that, the materials that they use to coat it are very unique. They try to reduce the signature to nothing.

The Iranians may be able to tell what the constituent ingredients or ferro-magnetic materials are. But they won’t be able to determine the process by which they were made, which is as important as the materials themselves.  It has to with the way everything is aligned structurally.

What aspects concern the United States the most?

The military and the intelligence agencies would be concerned that the Iranians can start testing the materials to see how they reflect radar energies.  They can do experiments on the drone and may be able to update their radars to better detect future stealth drones. It gives them a leg up to better understand what they’re up against.

The other issue of concern is that the Iranians get to see what the sensors are – the cameras, the data links, how they communicate back to a satellite, whether the sensors are regular cameras or infrared. The sensors may have a sampling capability; they could sample the air to test what the Iranians are doing.

The Iranians now might have an ability to better screen or camouflage whatever facilities they are trying to hide. That’s the intelligence loss. Now they have a better idea of what we’re looking for and how we’re looking.

John Pike of Globalsecurity.org  

Iran claims to have replicated the technology from the RQ-170 Sentinel Drone.  How credible is this given the short 4-month timeframe from when Iran came to possess it?

The Iranians are notorious braggarts.  It is plausible that they could have replicated the general structure of the airframe [or structure].  It is much less plausible that they could have gotten much beyond that.

The drone’s primary mission is to conduct surveillance.  How will its loss impact the U.S. ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear program?

 It will have no impact, since the program of which it was a part surely continues.

 How long would it take Iran realistically to reproduce a drone?

To reproduce the airframe would only take months.  To replicate the whole thing [stealth, sensors, computers, etc], they would probably still be working on it when the Hidden Imam returns from Occultation.

 What new military capabilities does this drone provide to Iran?

Without a better understanding of the range and endurance of the RQ-170, it would be hard to say. But it was built to support a US persistent surveillance requirement that has no immediate Iranian counterpart. The RQ-170 develops target signature intelligence to support counter-personnel attacks, to include attacks from other UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicle]. The United States conducts such operations. Iran does not.

  How does this event affect Iranian capability to impact U.S. interests?

It doesn’t.

 

Russia and China have both expressed interest in the drone’s technology.  What is the likelihood they may have assisted Iran in its technological exploitation? 

One assumes that both countries wanted to get a look-see, and that Iran obliged once the price was right.  I don’t think this will change the larger scheme of things.

Ted Wynne works for the Center for Conflict Management at the U. S. Institute of Peace.

Source: UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE

Israeli Leaders Diverge on Iran

Ted Wynne

Over the past month, different branches of the Israeli government have taken widely diverse positions on Iran, its leadership and the state of its threat to Israel. Differences between senior political and military officials—present and past—are particularly striking. The following are recent quotes.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, April 19 speech

“Today, the regime in Iran openly calls and determinedly works for our destruction.  And it is feverishly working to develop atomic weapons to achieve that goal…Those who dismiss Iran’s threats as exaggerated or as mere idle posturing have learned nothing from the Holocaust.”

Former Mossad intelligence chief Meir Dagan, March 11 on CBS 60 Minutes

“The regime in Iran is a very rational regime… No doubt that the Iranian regime is maybe not exactly rational based on what I call Western thinking, but no doubt they are considering all the implications of their actions.”

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, April 27 speech

“The truth must be told. The chance that, at this level of pressure, Iran will meet the international demand to stop the program irrevocably – that chance appears to be low.”

Military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, April 25 to Haaretz

“The program is too vulnerable, in Iran’s view. If the supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wants, he will advance it to the acquisition of a nuclear bomb, but the decision must first be taken. It will happen if Khamenei judges that he is invulnerable to a response. I believe he would be making an enormous mistake, and I don’t think he will want to go the extra mile. I think the Iranian leadership is composed of very rational people. But I agree that such a capability, in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists who at particular moments could make different calculations, is dangerous.”

Former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin, April 27 speech

The Israeli leadership “presents a false view to the public on the Iranian bomb, as though acting against Iran would prevent a nuclear bomb. But attacking Iran will encourage them to develop a bomb all the faster.”

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, March 18 to Yedioth Ahronoth

“If, God forbid, a war with Iran breaks out, it will be a nightmare. And we will all be in it, including the Persian Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. No one will remain unscathed. We have to do everything we can to urge the international community to assume responsibility and take action to stop the Iranians.”

Ted Wynne works for the Center for Conflict Management at the U. S. Institute of Peace.

Source: UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE

Iran Snap Analysis: A Nuclear Breakthrough? “US Could Allow Limited Enrichment”

If this leak is supported by senior figures in Washington, this is a significant move from the US Government in the nuclear negotiations:

 

In a major concession, Obama administration officials say they could support allowing Iran to continue a crucial element of its disputed nuclear program if the government in Tehran took other major steps to curb its ability to develop a nuclear bomb. 

The officials told the Los Angeles Times they might agree to let Tehran continue enriching uranium up to concentrations of 5% if the Iranian government agreed to unrestricted inspections, and strict oversight and safeguards that the United Nations long has demanded.

Iran has begun enriching small amounts of uranium to 20% purity in February 2010 for what it contends are peaceful purposes, although most of its stockpile is purified at lower levels. Uranium can be used as bomb fuel at about 90% enrichment.

 

This is the first time that Washington has not only acknowledged the principle of Iran enriching uranium on its territory but also put a number on the level. And, coincidentally or otherwise, that 5% figure matches what EA was told this week by a knowledgeable British source.

Still, this is a long way from a deal. The Los Angeles Times, beneficiary of the leak, only sees part of the story: “The proposed shift in the U.S. position is likely to prompt strong objections from some officials in Israel, from presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and from some members of Congress who have staked out more aggressive positions than the Obama administration.”

Just as significant is this question: will Iran, with its new-found capability to enrich to 20%, be willing to pull back to 5%? And if so, what will it seek in return from the US and European powers?

The Latest from Iran (28 April): Nuclear Step Forward, Nuclear Step Back

0627 GMT: Cartoon of the Day. For the second time in the last week, Fars, linked to the Revolutionary Guards, has used a cartoon to express worries over the economy — the question is posed, over price tags, “Are these fruits for sale or just to look at?”

0620 GMT: Threat of the Day. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Aerospace Force of the Revolutionary Guards, has said Turkey should expect “deformed children and incurable diseases”as the result of NATO’s missile shield to be placed in the country.

Hajizadeh had warned last year that his country could target the relevant installations in Turkey if faced with a military attack, “We have prepared ourselves if any threat is staged against Iran. We will target NATO’s missile shield in Turkey and will then attack other targets.”

At that time, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi dismissed the threats and reassured Turkey that they are not Iran’s official policy, according to reports in Turkish media.

Christian convert released after 180 days in Evin prison

This Christian convert who had been arrested by plain clothes security authorities in his house was released after 6 months in custody under certain conditions. During this time he was subjected to interrogation and accused of evangelism.

According to reporters of Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, Fariborz Arazm, a Christian convert, was conditionally released after six months imprisonment in notorious Evin prison.

After his arrest, Mr. Arazm was held in Rajaei-Shahr prison of Karaj but after some time officials transferred him to Evin prison for further interrogation.

 

(Robat-Karim is located 25 kilometers southwest of Tehran)

News sources told Mohabat News that a court announced he was charged with being in contact with missionaries and also of promoting the Christian faith among Iranian Muslims.

 

Eventually, Mr. Arazm was conditionally released on April 11 after six months of uncertainty in Evin prison.

Three other Christian converts were also named in Mr. Arazm’s case and their arrests had been planned as well. However, they left Iran before security authorities could arrest them.

Mr. Arazm spent 21 days in solitary confinement in the general ward of Rajaei-Shahr prison of Karaj. He was then transferred to ward 350 of Evin prison in Tehran for further interrogation. He was held there until his release.

It should be remembered that Mr. Fariborz Arazm, a 44 year old married Christian convert from Robat-Karim county, was arrested by four plain clothes security authorities in his own residence.

The security authorities arrested Mr. Arazm, thoroughly searched his home making a mess of it and in the end took some of his personal belongings with them including the Hard-drive of his computer, CDs, photos and a number of Bibles.

that same day, security authorities also arrested a young man called Mohammad in Shahriar county and transferred him to the Intelligence Office located in the same county. There, they interrogated him and accused him of having a Christian faith. However, in response he said that he is still studying about Christianity and has not accepted it as his religion yet. He was released the same day after signing a disclaimer and being threatened.

It is noteworthy that harassment and discrimination against religious minorities has been a major Human Rights violation issue by the Islamic regime of Iran, during the last 30 years.

Iran News Round Up (April 27)

Iranian cleric warns Azerbaijan over Israel ties; Iran claims decoding software of captured U.S. drone; Tehran’s Friday prayer leader urges world powers to lift sanctions to show good faith; news reports warn of rising inflation, unemployment in Iran

Politics Mojtaba Tavangar, Unified Principled Front public relations director, says the Islamic Steadfastness Front is using the archives of the Islamic Revolution Documents Center to fight against political opponents. Tavangar says he will soon publish a two-hundred-page report documenting the Steadfastness Front’s disinformation campaign. Islamic Steadfastness Front distributes leaflets at the Friday prayer criticizing its opponents. Diplomacy Hojjat al-Eslam Kazem Sediqi, temporary Tehran Friday prayer leader: “Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs recently traveled to Azerbaijan. One expects from the government of Azerbaijan not to get close to Israel. All our neighboring countries should know that Israel is their foremost enemy. The schemes of the Westerners are incompatible with the spirit of Muslims and we want that the governments of the regional states, alongside their nations, do not show shortcomings in resisting Israel…”

Iran- UPDATE: Human rights defender Ms Narges Muhammadi begins six year prison sentence

Ms Narges Muhammadi with her family

On 22 April 2012, prominent Iranian human rights defender Ms Narges Muhammadi was summoned by the Ministry of the Intelligence to begin a six year prison sentence handed down by the Iranian Court of Appeal.

Narges Muhammadie has reportedly been taken to Evin Prison in Tehran. Narges Muhammadi is the deputy director of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) and founder and director of the National Peace Council. She won the Alexander Kanger award in 2009 and the Swedish Human Rights award in 2012 for her human rights activities.

Eye on Iran: Iran ‘Mobilizing’ for Cyberwar with West: Experts

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AFP: ”Iran is busy acquiring the technical know-how to launch a potentially crippling cyber-attack on the United States and its allies, experts told a congressional hearing on Thursday, urging the US to step up its defensive measures. ‘Over the past three years, the Iranian regime has invested heavily in both defensive and offensive capabilities in cyberspace,’ said Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council. ‘Equally significant, its leaders now increasingly appear to view cyber-warfare as a potential avenue of action against the United States,’ he told a House Homeland Security subcommittee. Patrick Meehan, Republican chairman of the committee, also sounded an alarm over the cyber-security threat posed by Iran to western nations. ‘As Iran’s illicit nuclear program continues to inflame tensions between Tehran and the West, I am struck by the emergence of another possible avenue of attack emanating from Iran — the possibility that Iran could conduct a cyber attack against the US homeland,’ he said.”http://t.uani.com/Jr5Lip

Callous Border Security Guns Down 70 Couriers in Iran

Government Should End Pattern of Illegal Use of Lethal Force in Northwest Border Provinces

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Bardehnaz Piranshahr border. Photo by Shirkoo Jahani for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

(27 April 2012) The Iranian government should immediately investigate the numerous cases of border security forces killing couriers in the northwestern provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah, and hold accountable those responsible for such calloususe of unlawful force, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. The government should also review its border security measures and the growing pattern of excessive use of lethal force, and should adopt clear polices to stop unlawful and unnecessary killing, the Campaign added.

“The ongoing cold-blooded killing of cross-border couriers (often called kulbar) by security officials is unacceptable, and the Iranian government must put an end to it,” Campaign spokesperson Hadi Ghaemi said. “The use of lethal force against these people, who are unarmed and are simply avoiding authorities, is unjustifiable, violates international law, and must be investigated.”