CIA Suspects Iranian Nuclear Defector Who Returned to Tehran Was a Double Agent
THE TELEGRAPH: The CIA is investigating whether Shahram Amiri, the Iranian nuclear scientist who defected to the US but last week flew back to Tehran, was a double agent.

The strange case of Shahram Amiri has puzzled US intelligence chiefs who approved a $5 million payment to him for information about Iran's illicit nuclear programme.

Former US intelligence agents have predicted that Mr Amiri will disappear into prison or even face death, despite the hero's welcome he was accorded as he was met by his wife and hugged his seven-year-old son.

But his decision to fly back voluntarily, claiming outlandishly that he was kidnapped by CIA and Saudi agents during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia last June and then tortured in the US, has prompted suspicions that he was a double agent working for Iran all along, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

There are also questions about why the Iranian authorities allowed him to travel alone to Saudi Arabia, despite his sensitive work, and why he left his family behind if he was intending to leave Iran permanently. >>> Philip Sherwell in New York and William Lowther in Washington | Saturday, July 17, 2010

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French Teacher Accused of Spying Did Work for French MI6
THE TELEGRAPH: A young French teacher released on Sunday by Iran after being held on espionage charges was actually working with the French MI6, a former senior French spy claimed yesterday.

Clotilde Reiss, 24, who was held for ten months in Iran on spying charges, had worked "very well" for France, according to Pierre Siramy, a former high-ranking member of France's external intelligence service, the DGSE.

The claims sparked instant consternation and denials from the French intelligence community, as the official foreign ministry line has always been that she was an innocent academic with no links to spying.

Mr Siramy said she was not a spy "in the classic sense of the word", but worked "à l'anglaise"(in the English style). In other words she "bravely" handed over information on an "amicable" basis for the good of the country.

"She was our representative's contact," said Mr Siramy.

In this capacity she provided reports on domestic politics in the run up to last July's presidential elections and on a nuclear site under construction next to the central town of Isfahan where she was an assistant university teacher, said Mr Siramy.

"She deserves to be recognised as someone who worked very well (for France)," he said. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, May 17, 2010

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UK Could Be Target For Tehran Missiles ‘In Four Years’
TIMES ONLINE: Iran is focused on improving a growing arsenal of ballistic missiles but needs at least four more years to be able to target London and more than a decade to threaten the East Coast of the United States, a leading think-tank said yesterday.

The analysis by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) came after Tehran said that it had test-fired for the first time a series of short-range Fajr (Dawn) missiles in the Gulf.

“The missiles were fired from surface to sea and hit the target with great precision,” Kiomars Haydari, deputy chief of the army ground forces, was quoted by a local news agency as saying. >>> Deborah Haynes, Defence Editor | Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Iran: We'll 'Cut Off Israel's Feet' If It Attacks Syria
HAARETZ: Iranian Vice President Mohammad Rida Rahimi warned on Friday that Iran would "cut off Israel's feet" if it attacked Syria, French news agency AFP reported.

"We will stand alongside Syria against any [Israeli] threat," Rahimi told reporters during a news conference with Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri in Damascus, adding that "If those who have violated Palestinian land want to try anything we will cut off their feet."

According to AFP, the Iranian vice president said that "[Syria is a] strong country that is ready to confront any threat," adding that Tehran "will back Syria with all its means and strength."

On Thursday, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referred to the recent torrent of allegations that Syria had transferred Scud missiles to the Hezbollah in Lebanon, and said that the Syrian President Bashar Assad was pursuing dangerous policies that could unleash war on the Middle East. >>> Haaretz Service and Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent | Friday, April 30, 2010

It May Be Too Late to Stop Iran Getting Nuclear Bomb, Says Former US Defence Official
TIMES ONLINE: It may be too late to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon, a former senior US defence official has warned.

The official, who has long experience with several US administrations, said President Obama had waited too long to take tough action against Tehran.

“Fifteen months into his administration, Iran has faced no significant consequences for continuing with its uranium-enrichment programme, despite two deadlines set by Obama, which came and went without anything happening,” the former official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times. “Now it may be too late to stop Iran from becoming nuclear-capable.”

He said that the wrong signals had been sent to Tehran. “First, there was talk of crippling sanctions, then they would be biting, and now we don’t know how tough they’re going to be. It depends on the level of support given by Russia and China — but neither is expected to back measures against Iran’s energy sector.”

He outlined one nightmare scenario, in which Iran developed a nuclear weapon and passed it on to Hezbollah, which it sponsors — and which has an artillery and missile inventory larger than many countries in the region.

Underlining the gloomy prognosis of Iran’s progress towards becoming a nuclear-weapon state, Tehran announced yesterday that work would begin on a new enrichment plant — part of a significant expansion of the programme. President Ahmadinejad had approved the “designated location of a new nuclear site”, an Iranian official said. >>> Michael Evans, Pentagon Correspondent, Washington | Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Pentagon Chief Raises Threat of Attack as Iran Taunts US with Missile Display
President Ahmadinejad, second left, confers with his Defence Minister, Ahmad Vahidi, during yesterday's parade. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: The Pentagon was ratcheting up pressure for military action against Iran last night as America’s top uniformed official said for the first time that a strike on nuclear targets would “go a long way” towards delaying Tehran’s uranium enrichment programme.

The remarks by Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were his strongest yet in support of a strategy that both the Pentagon and the Obama Administration still regard as a last resort and possibly a recipe for a regional war.

They came as President Ahmadinejad taunted the US with a potent display of missile technology, while a leaked top-secret memo by Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, forced the White House to insist that it was preparing for all contingencies.

Mr Ahmadinejad used Iran’s annual army day parade to show off missiles capable of hitting US and Israeli targets throughout the Middle East and to demand a US military withdrawal from the region. As he did so, two senior White House officials issued strong responses to the disclosure that Mr Gates had written a classified assessment of weaknesses in the Administration’s plans for what to do if Iran failed to halt its nuclear weapons programme.

The war of words in Washington may reflect a power struggle between an Administration still committed to a diplomatic approach to Iran and an increasingly impatient Pentagon.

Speaking at Columbia University, Admiral Mullen said last night of the Iranian nuclear programme: “Military options would go a long way to delaying it. That’s not my call. That’s going to be the President’s call. But from my perspective . . . the last option is to strike right now.”

According to one report the Pentagon is moving hundreds of bunker-buster bombs to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The latest version of the weapon, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, is said to weigh 15 tonnes and be capable of burrowing through 200ft of reinforced concrete before exploding.

In a warning to anyone planning a strike on Iranian nuclear targets, Mr Ahmadinejad told Iranians in a televised speech that their country was so strong “that no enemy will harbour evil thoughts about laying its hands on Iranian territory”. He said of US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf: “They have to leave our region. This is not a request. It is an order from the nations of the region.” Read on and comment >>> Giles Whittell, Washington | Monday, April 19, 2010

Five Million Should Flee Tehran Over Earthquake Fears: Ahmadinejad
THE TELEGRAPH: At least five million Tehran residents should flee Iran's capital because it sits on several fault lines and is threatened by earthquakes, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday.

A crowded market in Tehran. Photo: The Telegraph
"We cannot order people to evacuate the city... but provisions have to be made. At least five million should leave Tehran so it is less crowded and more manageable in case of an incident," Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.

Mr Ahmadinejad said the government could offer "land, loans at four per cent interest and substantial subsidies" in the provinces to encourage Tehran residents to leave the sprawling capital.

Tehran province has nearly 14 million inhabitants, eight million of whom live in the city, which straddles several fault lines. Experts have warned that a strong quake in Tehran could kill hundreds of thousands of people. >>> | Sunday, April 11, 2010

Iranische Doppelmoral : Sexkomplex im Gottesstaat
20MINUTEN.ch: Im Iran verbirgt sich hinter der Fassade streng islamischer Sittengesetze eine hochgradig sexualisierte Gesellschaft. Immer wieder entlädt sich dieser Widerspruch in bizarren Skandalen – etwa um ein Zeitungslogo.

Eine Frau wird 2007 in Teheran von der Polizei angehalten, weil «unsittlich» gekleidet ist, sprich zu viel Haar zeigt. Bild: 20Minutes.ch
Eine Realsatire der besonderen Art ereignete sich neulich in der iranischen Medienlandschaft. Wie das Nachrichtenportal «Mianeh» berichtete, hat das iranische Kulturministerium die Tageszeitung «Tehran Emruz» angewiesen, ihr Logo zu ändern, weil es Ähnlichkeit mit einer nackten Ballerina habe. Das Logo besteht aus zwei Schriftzügen in persischer Kalligraphie, wobei die Behörden im Wort «emruz» (heute) den anstössigen Akt entdeckten.

Der Chefredaktor der regimekritischen Zeitung hat inzwischen reagiert und das Logo geringfügig abgeändert. Doch auf der Website verwendet er trotzig die ursprüngliche Version – pikanterweise direkt neben der «entschärften» auf der eingebetteten Druckausgabe, als wolle er seine Leser mit der absurden Verfügung des Kulturministeriums belustigen. Die skurrile, aber eigentlich harmlose Anekdote verweist auf ein ernsthaftes Problem: Den Konflikt zwischen dem prüden, repressiven Establishment und der liberaleren, nach sozialer und sexueller Freiheit dürstenden Jugend. Masturbieren schädigt die Nieren >>> Von Omid Marivani | Dienstag, 09. März 2010

Protesters Attack Italy's Embassy in Iran
THE JERUSALEM POST: Teheran summons Italian envoy; protests also held outside French, Dutch embassies.

About 100 Iranians protested Tuesday in front of the Italian embassy in Teheran, shouting "Death to Italy, Death to Berlusconi, " Italy's foreign minister said. Protests were also held outside the French and Dutch embassies.

The protests came a week after Premier Silvio Berlusconi announced — in Israel — that Italy was scaling back its economic dealings with Iran and wanted tighter sanctions against the Teheran leadership. Italy has long been Teheran's biggest trading partner in the EU.

Television footage of the protests shown on Sky TG 24 showed protesters throwing stones and eggs at the Italian embassy. Foreign Ministry officials said none of the protesters managed to get inside and that police intervened.

Frattini told the Senate that the protest was "hostile" and that the group tried to assault the building. >>> Associated Press | Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Manifestation d'Iraniens devant l'ambassade d'Italie à Téhéran
LA PRESSE CANADIENNE: ROME/TEHERAN — Aux cris de "Mort à l'Italie, mort à Berlusconi", une centaine d'Iraniens ont manifesté mardi devant l'ambassade d'Italie à Téhéran, selon le ministre italien des Affaires étrangères. Des actions de protestation ont également eu lieu devant les missions diplomatiques de France et des Pays-Bas.

Les rassemblements ont été organisés une semaine après l'annonce par le président du Conseil Silvio Berlusconi d'une révision à la baisse des relations commerciales entre son pays et l'Iran.

A l'occasion d'un déplacement en Israël, le chef du gouvernement italien a également souhaité un durcissement des sanctions contre le régime de Téhéran. L'Italie est depuis longtemps le plus important partenaire commercial de l'Iran au sein de l'Union européenne.

La chaîne Sky TV 24 a diffusé des images montrant des protestataires qui jetaient des pierres et des oeufs sur l'ambassade d'Italie. Des responsables du ministère des Affaires étrangères ont déclaré qu'aucun des manifestants n'avait réussi à s'introduire dans le bâtiment et que la police était intervenue.

Le chef de la diplomatie italienne Franco Frattini a déclaré au Sénat que cette manifestation était "hostile" et que le groupe avait tenté d'attaquer le bâtiment. >>> | Mardi 09 Février 2010

Iraner greifen italienische Botschaft an
DIE PRESSE: Hunderte Mitglieder der regierungsnahen Bassiji-Miliz haben vor der italienische Botschaft in Teheran protestiert. Sie riefen "Tod Italien" und "Tod Berlusconi".

In Teheran haben am Dienstag vor den Botschaften Italiens, Deutschlands, Frankreichs und der Niederlande Dmonstrationen stattgefunden. Dutzende Milizionäre versuchten, die italienische Botschaft des Landes anzugreifen. Rund Hundert Mitglieder der regierungsnahen Bassiji hätten das Gebäude mit Steinen beworfen sowie "Tod Italien" und "Tod Berlusconi" gerufen, sagte Italiens Außenminister Franco Frattini. Die iranische Polizei sei eingeschritten, um Schlimmeres zu verhindern.

Italien ist traditionell einer der wichtigsten europäischen Handelspartner der Islamischen Republik. Doch die engen Beziehungen Ministerpräsident Silvio Berlusconis zu Israel und der wachsende Druck im Atomstreit haben zu einem Einbruch der italienischen Investitionen im Iran geführt. Vergangene Woche hatte Berlusconi bei einem Besuch in Jerusalem die Unterstützung für Israel betont und "wirksame Sanktionen" gegen den Iran wegen dessen Atomprogramm verlangt. Zudem kündigte er an, die Wirtschaftsbeziehungen mit dem Iran einzuschränken. >>> Ag. | Dienstag, 09. Februar 2010

Iran to Produce Drones: Nuke Expansion Planned
SAUDI GAZETTE: TEHRAN - Iran said it will start making higher-grade reactor fuel on Tuesday and will add 10 uranium enrichment plants over the next year in a nuclear expansion sure to stoke tensions with the West.

Iranian defense minister also announced launch of two production lines to build unmanned aircraft with surveillance and attack capabilities.

It was also announced that Tehran would soon deploy a missile air defense system more powerful than the advanced Russian S-300 system it has ordered from Moscow in 2007 but has yet to receive. The state television quoted Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi as saying the unmanned aircraft would be able to carry out surveillance as well as offensive tasks with high precision and a long range.

The two types of aircraft, or drones, are named Ra’d (thunder) and Nazir (herald), with the former possessing offensive capabilities. >>> Agencies | Tuesday, February 09, 2010

The Iranian Revolution Grinds to a Halt on the Eve of Its Anniversary
THE GUARDIAN: Thirty-one years ago this week, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran after 15 years in exile. The anniversary is usually marked by triumphant rallies. Not this time: protesters are planning mass demonstrations against a regime they say has betrayed Islamic ideals.

For three decades, the image of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini arriving on Iranian soil to a tumultuous homecoming after 15 years in exile has been a centrepiece of Iran's revolutionary iconography.

It is an event best captured in a famous picture of the late spiritual leader being gently led down the steps of an Air France jet by a man dressed as a pilot or an air steward. The picture embodies the heady mixture of pride, compassion and religious hero-worship the revolution is supposed to evoke among Iranians.

Khomeini was returning to be hailed as a saviour by his fellow countrymen after a wave of popular uprisings that had toppled the regime of the western-backed shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. His guide was playing a mere walk-on part in the historic drama that engulfed Iran that day in February 1979.

But last week, at the start of the annual Fajr festivities marking the revolution's anniversary, that image was the subject of a strange story that seemed symptomatic of the increasing uncertainty surrounding the country's revolutionary legacy, amid the continuing turmoil over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.

The Islamic Revolution Documentation Centre, a state body linked to a pro-government MP, claimed on its website to have traced Khomeini's chaperone as one Gerard Jean Fabian-Bataouche, who it said was living almost destitute in Tehran. The report, based on an interview with Fabian-Bataouche, described him as a former French policeman of Algerian origin who had been Khomeini's personal bodyguard while he was living in the village of Neauphle-le-Château, outside Paris, waiting for the shah to fall in the months before the revolution.

Having taken a liking to the man after learning that he had an Iranian wife and spoke Farsi, Khomeini had invited him to be on board his triumphant flight to Tehran. Fabian-Bataouche had remained in Iran afterwards but had fallen on hard times. He was said to be homeless and forced to flit from one friend to another in an endless quest for a place to sleep.

It seemed an improbably shabby postscript to an association with the ­revolution's founding father. Predictably, the story was immediately denounced as a hoax and within a day, the Islamic Revolution Documentation Centre removed it, citing "serious doubts" about Fabian-Bataouche's authenticity.

True or false, the fact such a tale even saw the light of day betrayed an uncharacteristic lack of official sure-footedness as the revolution approaches its 31st anniversary. The prospect of revolutionary festivities is usually a cause for triumphalism among the Islamic republic's establishment. Instead, with the storm over Ahmadinejad's hotly disputed poll victory last June refusing to abate, it appears to be making them jumpy. >>> Robert Tait and Noushin Hoseiny | Sunday, February 07, 2010

Shirin Ebadi, Iranian Nobel Prize Winner, Backs Fresh Street Protests in Iran
THE TELEGRAPH: Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has called on her fellow Iranians to defy the security forces and take to the streets this week on the anniversary of the revolution.

Iranian Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi. Photo: The Telegraph
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mrs Ebadi described her despair at the regime's brutality but urged Iranians to show peaceful defiance.

"I believe people should take part in the demonstration," she said. "They should ask for their rights, but they should do it peacefully. Obviously the regime wants people to be violent because it gives them an excuse to crack down. People must not give them that excuse."

Mrs Ebadi, 62, a revered human rights lawyer who was awarded the peace prize in 2003, fled Iran during the turmoil after last June's disputed election. She was speaking from London where she is in exile, ahead of planned opposition protests this week.

Democracy campaigners are preparing to hijack state-organised rallies on Thursday, traditionally a day for Iran's leaders to show their strength. Rattled hardliners within the regime are attempting to intimidate protesters to stay at home: 10 days ago they hanged two men for their supposed role in the post-election unrest, and another nine have been sentenced to die.

Mrs Ebadi also spoke of her frustration at the regime's brutal treatment of Iranian protesters and described its chilling threats against her. Her family have remained in Tehran and both her husband and sister have been arrested and briefly jailed.

She told The Sunday Telegraph that threats have been made against her by her enemies within the regime through her friends who are still in the country. >>> Angus McDowall | Saturday, February 06, 2010

Shirin Ebadi's Interview with The Sunday Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: Shirin Ebadi, 62, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her long career as a human rights lawyer in Iran. She spoke to The Sunday Telegraph during a stay in London.

Sunday Telegraph: "Have you spent much time in London since fleeing Iran last summer?"

Shirin Ebadi: "Since the election I've almost been living at airports. Not because of my safety, but so I can travel to talk about Iran.

"I stay in hotels wherever I go because the people who invite me always put me in hotels. I have been living in hotels since I left Iran in June. Obviously I'm tired, but I don't let it affect my work."

ST: "Are you in any danger from the regime?"

SE: "I've never been contacted by the regime directly. But they contacted my family and friends and said 'wherever she is, we can get rid of her'.

"I don't take the threat seriously. If people want to do something they don't talk about it beforehand. Their main aim is to scare me off doing my work properly.

"Obviously, I don't want to make my enemies happy, so I continue with my work inside the law.

"They threatened my husband and my sister that if I continue with my work they will arrest both of them. My sister was detained for three weeks. They were not tortured physically, but to arrest people because of something someone else has done is a form of emotional torture." >>> Angus McDowall | Saturday, February 06, 2010

Iran : Rassemblements massifs en faveur du régime islamique
Crédits photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: Des centaines de milliers de manifestants pro-gouvernementaux se sont rassemblés mercredi dans plusieurs villes d’Iran, à l’appel des autorités. Ils ont clamé leur fidélité au régime clérical et accusé les dirigeants d’opposition de semer le chaos dans la République islamique

Des dizaines de manifestations en province ont rassemblé des foules importantes, selon les médias officiels. Les manifestants dénonçaient «les hypocrites séditieux» et réclamaient parfois leur «pendaison», selon des images de la télévision iranienne.

A Téhéran, des centaines de milliers de personnes ont participé à plusieurs cortèges pour dénoncer le «complot» visant a «renverser le régime islamique», selon les termes d’un communiqué officiel. Des drapeaux américains et britanniques ont été brûlés.

Ces rassemblements ont été organisés à l’appel des autorités. Mais les administrations ont également appelé à descendre dans la rue, tout comme des corps officiels comme les Gardiens de la révolution, des écoles théologiques, des associations locales, certains bazars comme celui de Qom, qui a fermé, et certaines entreprises d’Etat.

Les médias étrangers, soumis à des restrictions, ne pouvaient pas couvrir les éventuels rassemblements d’opposition. «Mort à Moussavi» >>> ATS | Mercredi 30 Décembre 2009

NZZ ONLINE: Demonstranten in Teheran fordern Moussavis Tod:Oppositionsführer laut Staatsagentur aus Teheran geflüchtet – oder weggebracht >>> sda/dpa/afp/Reuters | Mittwoch, 30. Dezember 2009

Iran Oppostion Leader Mir Hossein Mousavi 'Flees Tehran'
TIMES ONLINE: The leader of Iran's opposition was to have fled Tehran, state media reported tonight.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, defeated in hotly disputed elections in June, was said to have left the Iranian capital on a day marked by pro-government rallies at which crowds chanted "Death to Mousavi". Another of the leaders, Mahdi Karroubi, was also said to have fled.

The news comes three days after Mr Mousavi's nephew, Ali, was killed during a protest against the regime in which at least eight lost their lives.

He was said to have been shot in the chest. Opposition figures have claimed he was deliberately targeted and had received a number of death threats. >>> Times Online | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

MAIL ONLINE: Iran's opposition leader flees as tens of thousands of government supporters swarm Tehran chanting 'death to Mousavi': Iran's police chief threatened to show 'no mercy' in crushing any new protests by the country's opposition supporters today.

Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam warned protesters to stay off the streets or face harsh consequences. >>> Mail Foreign Service | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

MAIL ONLINE: >>> Mail Foreign Service | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Warning! Graphic Content Two Convicted Bank Robbers Cut Loose from Gallows

Battered Not Beaten: Iranian Opposition Plays the Long Game
TIMES ONLINE: The Iranian opposition is brave and inspiring. Its members repeatedly risk their limbs, lives and liberty by taking to the streets in defiance of the regime and its ruthless security forces. They do so despite six months of arrests, beatings, torture and show trials that have resulted in death penalties and years of incarceration. But are they achieving anything?

The demonstrations are smaller than they were. The grip of the security forces has never looked seriously threatened. Western governments, preoccupied with the nuclear issue, appear to have accepted President Ahmadinejad’s re-election and written off the "green" movement.

Opposition activists are not discouraged, however. They insist they are playing a long game the goal of which is gradually to win over the provinces, the small towns, members of the basij volunteer militia; to eat away at whatever support the regime still has until eventually it topples.

They scribble anti-government slogans on banknotes, daub graffiti on walls, disseminate information on e-mail trees to counter the propadanga of the state-controlled media. Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mr Ahmadinejad’s election rival, has likened the regime’s attempts at censorship to stopping a flood with barbed wire. >>> Martin Fletcher | Monday, December 07, 2009

Tehran Univeristy Demonstration for Students Day


Manifestation sous haute tension à Téhéran
Les manifestants de l'opposition ont une nouvelle fois défilé lundi à Téhéran pour contester la réélection en juin dernier du président Ahmadinejad. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Des milliers de manifestants de l'opposition ont défilé lundi dans la capitale iranienne pour protester une nouvelle fois contre la réélection du président Ahmadinejad. Des mouvements rapidement réprimés par les forces de l'ordre.

Nouvelle poussée de violences dans les rues de Téhéran. La police, déployée en force lundi dans la capitale iranienne, a utilisé des gaz lacrymogènes pour disperser les milliers de manifestants de l'opposition venus protester contre le président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, en marge de la «journée de l'étudiant». Cette dernière commémore chaque année la mort de trois étudiants lors d'une manifestation anti-américaine en décembre 1953. Et donne lieu, depuis les années 1990, à des rassemblements en faveur des réformes. Les étudiants, fer de lance de l'actuel mouvement d'opposition né au lendemain de la réélection contestée d'Ahmadinejad en juin dernier, ont ainsi profité de cette journée pour manifester.

Selon un témoin, les affrontements entre les forces de l'ordre et les manifestants ont eu lieu sur l'avenue Enghelab, qui longe l'université de Téhéran, elle-même encerclée par des policiers anti-émeute et des gardes révolutionnaires. >>> Le Figaro.fr (avec agences) | Lundi 07 Décembre 2009

Proteste in Iran: Polizei knüppelt in Teheran
ZEIT ONLINE: In Iran demonstrieren Regimegegner, Sicherheitskräfte setzen Schlagstöcke und Tränengas ein, die Universität ist umstellt. Anlass der Unruhe ist der sogenannte Studententag.

Im Zentrum Teherans ist die Polizei mit Gewalt gegen Demonstranten der Opposition vorgegangen. "Die Polizei setzt Schlagstöcke ein, um die Demonstranten zu zerstreuen", sagte ein Augenzeuge der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters. Auch Tränengas kam zum Einsatz. "Die Leute skandieren Parolen gegen die Regierung." Die Zusammenstöße ereigneten sich demnach auf dem Platz Ferdowsi. Zuvor hatte die Polizei die Universität von Teheran umstellt, um Proteste der Opposition zu verhindern. >>> Zeit Online, Reuters, dpa | Montag, 07. Dezember 2009

Iranian Police Shoot at Unarmed Protesters During Tehran Demonstrations
THE TELEGRAPH: Iranian police fired tear gas and live bullets as they fought back thousands of unarmed protesters on the streets of Tehran.

There were bloody clashes as young people launched a fresh wave of anti-government protests on the country's official Students Day.

Police used warning shots, baton charges and gas but failed to stop rallies, sit-ins and campus marches across the capital.

Universities in several cities, including Tehran's top seats of learning, were sealed off as guards checked identity cards of people trying to join the student demonstrations.

Earlier in the day, the authorities detained 23 members of a protest group of grieving mothers. They included the mother of Neda Agha-Soltan, known as the "Angel of Freedom", who was shot by pro-government militia at the height of demonstrations against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election in June.

Hajar Rostami-Motlaq has enraged the authorities by condemning pro-government students who accused British agents of killing Miss Soltan.

She was later released but friends expressed concern for other members of the protest group, Mourning Mothers of Iran, who were rounded up at a weekly protest in Tehran's Laleh Park.

Supporters of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi chanted "Death to the dictator" and "Do not be scared. We are all together", according to witnesses at the rallies on university campuses. >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Monday, December 07, 2009

Stand By Our Courageous Students for 16 Azar or Dec 7

Turkey's Moves towards Iran Concerning United States
THE TELEGRAPH: Turkey's attempts to develop a strategic partnership with Iran are causing concern in America and are likely to dominate talks between its leader and President Barack Obama during a US visit that starts today.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is likely to discuss his country's strategic partnership with Iran during his US visit . Photograph: The Telegraph
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, has introduced a "good neighbours" foreign policy that has tilted the axis of Ankara's diplomacy in the direction of Iran, Russia and bordering states.

Turkish frustration with a series of setbacks for its bid to join the European Union triggered a search for a foreign policy that reflect its historical interests in the Middle East, Caucasus and Islamic world.

Foreign intelligence officials sounded an alarm over Turkish manoeuvring closer to Iran, which has undermined the international campaign to isolate the Islamic regime. In particular it has allowed key members of the Islamic regime to move large sums of money – up to $10 million per day – into the global financial system.

Turkey has become a prized outlet for Iranian transactions since a tight regime of sanctions cut off Iranian banks from international finance.

Turkey was one of a handful of countries that refused to support a reprimand imposed on Iran over its failure to declare secret nuclear facility last month. Iranian activists have complained that the regime's agents can operate with impunity in a country that was once a safe haven for those fleeing persecution. >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Monday, December 07, 2009

Iranian artist Shirin Neshat, third from right, leads actors in expressing support for Iran's opposition movement at the Venice film festival in September. Photograph: The Wall Street Journal
Iranian Crackdown Goes Global
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: NEW YORK -- His first impulse was to dismiss the ominous email as a prank, says a young Iranian-American named Koosha. It warned the 29-year-old engineering student that his relatives in Tehran would be harmed if he didn't stop criticizing Iran on Facebook.

Two days later, his mom called. Security agents had arrested his father in his home in Tehran and threatened him by saying his son could no longer safely return to Iran.

"When they arrested my father, I realized the email was no joke," said Koosha, who asked that his full name not be used.

Tehran's leadership faces its biggest crisis since it first came to power in 1979, as Iranians at home and abroad attack its legitimacy in the wake of June's allegedly rigged presidential vote. An opposition effort, the "Green Movement," is gaining a global following of regular Iranians who say they never previously considered themselves activists.

The regime has been cracking down hard at home. And now, a Wall Street Journal investigation shows, it is extending that crackdown to Iranians abroad as well.

In recent months, Iran has been conducting a campaign of harassing and intimidating members of its diaspora world-wide -- not just prominent dissidents -- who criticize the regime, according to former Iranian lawmakers and former members of Iran's elite security force, the Revolutionary Guard, with knowledge of the program.

Part of the effort involves tracking the Facebook, Twitter and YouTube activity of Iranians around the world, and identifying them at opposition protests abroad, these people say.

Interviews with roughly 90 ordinary Iranians abroad -- college students, housewives, doctors, lawyers, businesspeople -- in New York, London, Dubai, Sweden, Los Angeles and other places indicate that people who criticize Iran's regime online or in public demonstrations are facing threats intended to silence them. >>> Farnaz Fassihi | Friday, December 04, 2009

Mode in Iran

Iran Sentences Former Vice-president to Six Years as Trails of Dissidents Reach a Peak
THE TELEGRAPH: A former Iranian vice-president was sentenced to six years in prison as reprisals meted out to leaders of street protests against the disputed presidential elections claimed their highest profile victim.

Former Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Ali Abtahi. Photo: The Telegraph
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who was vice-president and a key aide to the leading reformist Mohammad Khatami from 1997-2005, was found guilty of conspiring against Iran's national security, state newsagencies reported yesterday.

He was arrested shortly after the presidential election in June as hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Tehran claiming the results, which gave an overwhelming victory to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, were rigged.

State news agencies said he appeared before a court in Tehran on Saturday and was found guilty of charges including "gathering and plotting against the country's security", insulting the president, taking part in illegal demonstrations and issuing propaganda against the regime.

"Abtahi was sentenced to six years in prison for acting against national security and propaganda activity," a court spokesman said. >>> Richard Spencer in Dubai | Sunday, November 22, 2009