Iran News Round Up (Oct. 19)

Ahmadinejad postpones trip to Pakistan as Clinton visits Islamabad; Iran says suspect in Saudi plot case belongs to MKO opposition group; Ahmadinejad accuses U.S. of ties with all terrorist movements around globe; Iran cautions Saudi Arabia not to “fall into trap of Americans”; Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi says development of South Pars needs $50 billion investments

Diplomacy Ahmadinejad delays his visit to Pakistan as Hillary Clinton visits Islamabad. Hojjat al-Eslam Ahmad-Hossein Sharifi, Imam Khomeini Research Institute deputy: „Germany will become a Muslim country in 2045, the Netherlands in 2025, and the United States in 2070.“ [E] Iran’s Embassy in Kabul lashed out at “biased” media reports on an“unintended” border incident, and stressed that the two sides‘ border guards have resolved the misunderstanding immediately after it happened.

Im Fokus – Schurkenstaat Iran? – PHOENIX Runde 18.10.2011

 

Pinar Atalay diskutiert u. a. mit:
Guido Steinberg (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik)
Melinda Crane (US-Journalistin)
Saba Farzan (deutsch-iranische Soziologin)
Rolf Mützenich (SPD, außenpolitischer Sprecher Bundestagsfraktion)

Eye on Iran: Iran’s Nuclear Facility Losing Power, Experts Say

Top Stories

Fox News: „Washington diplomats and American nuclear experts suspect Iran’s illicit quest for a nuclear weapon, still suffering from a cyberattack of unknown origins last year, has hit a new set of production and engineering troubles. At Iran’s main nuclear facility in Natanz, home to cascading centrifuges required to make the enriched uranium needed for nuclear weapons, output has slowed dramatically, according to two new reports from the Institute for Science and International Security, or ISIS. For the first time, Iran’s centrifuges have seen their average output decrease. David Albright, former United Nations weapons inspector at ISIS, said it’s a sign that not only was Iran hurt by the computer virus known as Stuxnet, but that aggressive United Nations sanctions to block the flow of vital weapons-making material into Iran are starting to have a real impact.“http://t.uani.com/n5RQgG 

Bahá’í educators sentenced

NEW YORK — Seven Baha’i educators in Iran have each received four- or five-year prison sentences, according to reports received by the Baha’i International Community.

Verdicts against the seven were reportedly handed down by a judge at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

The educators have been detained for almost five months in connection with their involvement in an informal community initiative – known as the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) – in which Baha’i professors, debarred by the Iranian government from practicing their professions, offer their services to teach young community members who are banned from university.

Two of the individuals, Vahid Mahmoudi and Kamran Mortezaie, were each sentenced to five years imprisonment.

Four year jail terms were given to BIHE lecturers Ramin Zibaie, Mahmoud Badavam and Farhad Sedghi, consultant Riaz Sobhani, and helper Nooshin Khadem.

The seven Baha’i educators sentenced to prison are (top row, left to right): Mahmoud Badavam, Ramin Zibaie, Riaz Sobhani, Farhad Sedghi;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           (bottom row, left to right) Noushin Khadem, Kamran Mortezaie, and Vahid Mahmoudi.

Iran trying to break sanctions through Turkey

Author: AYDIN ALBAYRAK, ANKARA (Todays Zaman)

Turkey has three border gates with its eastern neighbor, Iran. In this file photo, trucks are seen waiting to enter Iran via the Gürbulak gate in Ağrı province. (Photo: Cihan)

Iran, suffering from a series of sanctions imposed on it by the UN, is trying to use Turkey to procure materials and goods it urgently needs in its domestic industry, pushing illegal trade with Turkey to $4 billion.

Amnesty International: Iran must acknowledge abuses before UN Committee

Christian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani could face the death penalty for ‚apostasy‘.

The Iranian authorities will make a farce of a UN Committee hearing into Iran’s human rights record unless they acknowledge current and past abuses, Amnesty International warned today.

The UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors how states comply with their obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, begins meeting today to consider Iran. The Iranian authorities’ report to the Committee, the first submitted since 1993, is more than a decade late. 

Report on Four Iranian Asylum Seekers in Sweden: Mitra Kahrom, Ali Mansouri, Fouad Velzi and Namjo Tahmi

Last week was a relatively successful week for Iranian asylum-seekers who were under threat of deportation in Sweden.

It was said that Fouad Velzi would be deported on Friday 7 October 2011. Based on this information, many people began to undertake extraordinary activities on his behalf.