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Iran Amputates Thief's Fingers

October 25, 2003
The Associated Press
The Jerusalem Post

A convicted armed robber has been punished by having four fingers on his right hand amputated, a local judiciary official said Saturday.

Mohammad Hossein Masoudinejad said Saddam Askareh's fingers were amputated in public following Friday prayers in the Khuzestan provincial capital of Ahvaz, 880 kilometers (545 miles) southwest of Tehran.

"Amputation is carried out to frighten robbers and maintain order," Masoudinejad told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Askareh was convicted of stealing 40 million rials (US$5,000) from a shop in Mahshar, a Gulf port city in February.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency said Friday the punishment was carried out after the Supreme Court upheld the sentence.

While Iran's hard-line controlled judiciary follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law, enforcement of punishments, like amputation, are rare.

Masoudinejad said the dramatic increase in armed robberies in Khuzestan had forced judiciary officials to start issuing harsh rulings.

Ahvaz newspapers have blamed the increase on the instability in neighboring Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime six months ago.

Hard-line Iranian authorities issue harsh rulings occasionally intending to stem the spread of corruption and disorder.

Reformists, however, say amputations, public executions or floggings hurt Iran's international image and reflect badly on Islam.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1067093931479&p=1008596981749

Iranian politician warns US trying to come between Iran and Europe

EU business
25 october 2003

Washington was trying to obstruct relations between his country and the European Union and was looking for excuses to make trouble for Iran, a senior Iranian politician warned in an interview to be published on Monday.

"We have a lot of respect for Europe and we have a regular exchange of visits and views," Mehdi Karoubi, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, told the German magazine Der Spiegel.

"But the United States is trying to interpose itself between us and Europe. Therefore the Europeans most act very intelligently," he said.

"We fear the Americans are looking for new excuses, for political reasons, to cause problems for us. But, thank God, the Europeans behave differently."

Iran pledged on Tuesday to show "full transparency" to the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reiterated its commitment to the international nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and stressed atomic weapons had "no place" in its defence doctrine.

"The Iranian goverment has decided to engage in full cooperation with the IAEA ... and clarify and correct any possible failures," its declaration said.

It also said it had "decided to sign the additional protocol" to the NPT. This would allow the IAEA to carry out surprise visits to suspect nuclear facilities.

Iran also "decided voluntarily to suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities", bowing to another key IAEA demand.

If the good relationship between Tehran and Europe did not change, Karoubi said he was sure Iran's members of parliament would soon vote to sign the additional NPT protocol on surprise and random visits to nuclear sites.

But if the agreement with the IAEA was "interpreted politically in an improper way, with a view to intefering in our internal affairs, we shall review our position", he warned.

http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/031025185521.trf4ll9s