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Last Update: 19/12/2004 21:25 Report: Iran says it has uncovered spy ring for Israel
By Haaretz Service Iran said Sunday its intelligence services have uncovered a spy ring that collected intelligence information for Israel, according to a report by Israel Radio's Persian language program.
Israel Radio said that eight Iranian citizens have been arrested on suspicion of connection with the alleged spy ring.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the affair was serious, but did not disclose whether or not those arrested are Jewish.
Former Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian is slated to release more details at a later date.
In 1999, Iran indicted 13 of its citizens, most of them Jewish, on charges they were part of an Israeli spy ring. They were tried in a closed Islamic court in 2000, and 10 were handed prison terms.
The last of the ten were released before the completion of their prison terms, following intense pressure and widespread condemnation from human rights groups and Western governments.
Iraq detains 45 illegal visitors from Iran
Associated Press
Baghdad, December 19Iraqi police detained 45 people claiming to be Iranian, Afghani and Bangladeshi after illegally crossing from neighbouring Iran, while American troops said on Sunday they captured eight Iraqis fleeing the scene of a roadside bomb blast.
The 45 detainees were captured at Mandali, on the Iranian border 97 kilometres east of Baghdad, on Saturday, Iraqi Police said.
The detainees, all men ranging in age from early 20s to 60s, claimed to be Muslim pilgrims and entered Iraq from Iran without any identity documents.
US soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division detained eight males fleeing the scene of a roadside bomb explosion near Beiji, 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, late on Saturday.
Military spokesman Master Sergeant Robert Powell said the soldiers captured the men after witnessing the explosion, but said it was unclear if the patrol was the target of the blast. No US casualties were sustained.
At least two other unexploded homemade bombs were found in the area, the military said.
Iran-EU nuke deal moving forward
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONALTehran, Iran, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Iran said Sunday that a European delegation was to visit the country after the New Year holidays to discuss construction of a "research" nuclear reactor in the Islamic republic.
"A European delegation will come to Iran after the January holidays to discuss details of this issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters during a weekly news briefing.
The visit follows Iran`s agreement with the Europeans in Paris last month to suspend uranium enrichment activities in return for a package of trade, technology and security incentives, including the EU`s assistance in the construction of a light-water power reactor in Iran.
Iran is already building a heavy-water reactor at the central city of Arak. The plant could produce more fissionable material such as weapons-grade plutonium, giving rise to international concerns that the project could be used to develop nuclear weapons.
Simultaneously, the country's first nuclear power plant is under construction in the southern port city of Bushehr with Russian assistance under an $800 million deal. The controversial project is planned to come on stream in early 2006 at the latest, according to comments by Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev on Friday.
Moscow has, so far, resisted U.S. pressure to abandon the project, saying it has the right to push ahead with the completion of the plant, but demanding at the same time that Iran return all spent fuel to Russia. However, no formal agreement on the issue has yet been reached between the two countries.
In a meeting in Moscow on Thursday with Iran's Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Safdar Husseini, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country was ready to build new nuclear power plants for Iran, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
Referring to recent talks between Iran and the E3 -- Britain, France and Germany -- in Brussels, Asefi said Iran and the Europeans held their first nuclear committee session on Friday and discussed their "peaceful nuclear cooperation" as well as "tangible guarantees" on the implementation of their agreements.
"Preliminary discussions were held concerning the equipment used in the Bushehr power plant and other nuclear facilities, and it was agreed that such negotiations would continue," he said.
"Talks were also held on tangible guarantees which (are reflected in) the principles of the safeguards and non-proliferation treaties. It was agreed that we reach an understanding on these two subjects so that both we receive our due rights and the Europeans' concerns are removed," he added.
The two sides, however, will hold their "political and security" session Tuesday, Asefi said.
Iranian officials have, at times, warned against the prolongation of talks, with Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi saying earlier last week that his country had "no interest in wasting time" and was trying to "assess the talks trend after three months to see if negotiations could guarantee Iran's right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes."
Iran has also been invited for the first time to a session of the 25-member club of the countries mastering the nuclear-fuel cycle, according to a quote from Asefi by the news agency IRNA.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is solely aimed at power generation, strongly rejecting U.S. claims that the program is a front to build atomic bombs.
Uranium enrichment is allowed under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Iran is a signatory, and the country wants it as part of its efforts to master a nuclear fuel cycle.
The EU incentives reportedly include a guaranteed supply of reactor fuel and a resumption of stalled trade talks.
Several rounds of talks on a mutual trade and cooperation agreement had been held between the two sides before Iran`s nuclear issue was catapulted into the center of their talks.
The EU-Iran talks began after the reformist President Mohammad Khatami came to power in May 1997, with the EU taking up a policy of "comprehensive dialogue" with the Islamic republic in the form of biannual Troika meetings on political and economic issues.
The political part of the dialogue covers issues regarding conflicts, including in the Middle East, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, human rights and terrorism.
On the economic front, the European Union is exploring possibilities for cooperation with Iran in energy, trade and investment as well as refugees and drugs control.
The EU is Iran`s biggest trading partner, with oil accounting for over 80 percent of Tehran`s exports to the Union. Iran also sells agricultural products -- mainly pistachios -- as well as textiles and carpets to the EU.
45 arrested in Iraq while crossing from Iran
12/19/2004 11:30:00 AM GMT
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=6192
Iraqi police arrested 45 men for illegally trying to enter the country through its border with Iran.
Meanwhile, U.S. forces said they captured eight Iraqis fleeing the scene of a roadside bomb.
The police said that the 45 men were arrested late Saturday at Mandali, on the Iranian border 60 miles east of the Iraqi capital. The detainees had no identity documents but said they were Muslim pilgrims coming from Iran, Afghanistan or Bangladesh. Their age ranged from early 20s to 60s.
Also U.S. soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division captured eight men fleeing a roadside bombing late Saturday near Beiji, about 150 miles north of Baghdad.
Master Sgt. Robert Powell said the soldiers arrested the eight men after they saw the blast, however he said that it wasn’t clear if the patrol was the target. There was no word of casualties among the Americans.
Also the U.S. military said it found two unexploded homemade bombs in same area.
Anti-occupation rebels have launched several roadside attacks targeting U.S.-led forces to force them leave the country.
During the late night raid, U.S. occupation forces also seized thousands of dollars, 15 personal computers and a range of communications equipment.
10 U.S. firm's workers kidnapped in Iraq
Meanwhile 10 employees for Sandi Group were kidnapped in Iraq, a security source in Baghdad confirmed on Sunday .
The Associated Press Television News aired a videotape showing four masked militants holding 10 Iraqi hostages from the company.
The Associated Press reported that the armed men who appeared in the video, said they would kill the 10 hostages if their employer doesn't leave Iraq. They also threatened to launch more attacks on its Iraqi operations.
In the video, nine blindfolded men appeared lined up against a stone wall and another one lying down; apparently wounded, together with a group of armed men covering their faces with Arab head scarves, and holding machine guns.
The Sandi Group -- which is headquartered in the U.S. -- employs 7,000 in Iraq and provides security, transportation, lodging and translation services in the country.
Chad Knauss, an American and deputy chief operations officer of Sandi Group in Iraq, refused to comment on the report.
Wow...could it be that those in charge of US intelligence and Homeland Security are morons??
December 20, 2004
Iran-EU Nuke Deal Moving Forward
UPI
Modher Amin
TEHRAN -- Iran said Sunday that a European delegation was to visit the country after the New Year holidays to discuss construction of a "research" nuclear reactor in the Islamic republic.
"A European delegation will come to Iran after the January holidays to discuss details of this issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters during a weekly news briefing.
The visit follows Iran`s agreement with the Europeans in Paris last month to suspend uranium enrichment activities in return for a package of trade, technology and security incentives, including the EU`s assistance in the construction of a light-water power reactor in Iran.
Iran is already building a heavy-water reactor at the central city of Arak. The plant could produce more fissionable material such as weapons-grade plutonium, giving rise to international concerns that the project could be used to develop nuclear weapons.
Simultaneously, the country's first nuclear power plant is under construction in the southern port city of Bushehr with Russian assistance under an $800 million deal. The controversial project is planned to come on stream in early 2006 at the latest, according to comments by Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev on Friday.
Moscow has, so far, resisted U.S. pressure to abandon the project, saying it has the right to push ahead with the completion of the plant, but demanding at the same time that Iran return all spent fuel to Russia. However, no formal agreement on the issue has yet been reached between the two countries.
In a meeting in Moscow on Thursday with Iran's Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Safdar Husseini, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country was ready to build new nuclear power plants for Iran, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
Referring to recent talks between Iran and the E3 -- Britain, France and Germany -- in Brussels, Asefi said Iran and the Europeans held their first nuclear committee session on Friday and discussed their "peaceful nuclear cooperation" as well as "tangible guarantees" on the implementation of their agreements.
"Preliminary discussions were held concerning the equipment used in the Bushehr power plant and other nuclear facilities, and it was agreed that such negotiations would continue," he said.
"Talks were also held on tangible guarantees which (are reflected in) the principles of the safeguards and non-proliferation treaties. It was agreed that we reach an understanding on these two subjects so that both we receive our due rights and the Europeans' concerns are removed," he added.
The two sides, however, will hold their "political and security" session Tuesday, Asefi said.
Iranian officials have, at times, warned against the prolongation of talks, with Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi saying earlier last week that his country had "no interest in wasting time" and was trying to "assess the talks trend after three months to see if negotiations could guarantee Iran's right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes."
Iran has also been invited for the first time to a session of the 25-member club of the countries mastering the nuclear-fuel cycle, according to a quote from Asefi by the news agency IRNA.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is solely aimed at power generation, strongly rejecting U.S. claims that the program is a front to build atomic bombs.
Uranium enrichment is allowed under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Iran is a signatory, and the country wants it as part of its efforts to master a nuclear fuel cycle.
The EU incentives reportedly include a guaranteed supply of reactor fuel and a resumption of stalled trade talks.
Several rounds of talks on a mutual trade and cooperation agreement had been held between the two sides before Iran`s nuclear issue was catapulted into the center of their talks.
The EU-Iran talks began after the reformist President Mohammad Khatami came to power in May 1997, with the EU taking up a policy of "comprehensive dialogue" with the Islamic republic in the form of biannual Troika meetings on political and economic issues.
The political part of the dialogue covers issues regarding conflicts, including in the Middle East, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, human rights and terrorism.
On the economic front, the European Union is exploring possibilities for cooperation with Iran in energy, trade and investment as well as refugees and drugs control.
The EU is Iran`s biggest trading partner, with oil accounting for over 80 percent of Tehran`s exports to the Union. Iran also sells agricultural products -- mainly pistachios -- as well as textiles and carpets to the EU.
Iranian daily asks government to freeze nuclear talks with EU
TEHRAN, Dec 20 (KUNA) -- A conservative Iranian daily on Monday called on the government to pull out from negotiations with the European Union over nuclear issues unless the Europeans relinquished "policies of demands and new terms."
Jomhouri Islami newspaper said in it editorial today that the European side have broken promises made to Tehran to abide by the Paris Accord.
It called on Britain a leading member of the European Troika, to refrain from meeting US demands and impose what the American administration wants.
The paper lashed out at Britain as the part that wanted to gradually embarrass Tehran, noting that Iran always faces new demands and terms.
The paper criticized Iran's agreement to negotiate with the European Union instead of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a "political mistake," a move that allowed other countries, like the United States, to intervene through its links with the Europeans.
Freedom in Farsi blogs
Tens of thousands of Iranians have embraced weblogs as a way to access the forbidden and challenge the sanctioned, writes N Alavi
Monday December 20, 2004
An image by Iranian photographer Shadi Yousefian vividly portrays the dual identity experienced by young people in Iran
In September 2001, a young Iranian journalist, Hossein Derakhshan, devised and set up one of the first weblogs in his native language of Farsi. In response to a request from a reader, he created a simple how-to-blog guide in Farsi, thereby setting in motion a community's surreal flight into free speech; online commentaries that the leading Iranian author and blogger, Abbas Maroufi, calls our "messages in bottles, cast to the winds".With an estimated 75,000 blogs, Farsi is now the fourth most popular language for keeping online journals. A phenomenal figure given that in neighbouring countries such as Iraq there are less than 50 known bloggers.
The internet has opened a new virtual space for free speech in a country dubbed the "the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East", by Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF). Through the anonymity and freedom that weblogs can provide, those who once lacked voices are at last speaking up and discussing issues that have never been aired in any other media in the Islamic world. Where else in Iran could someone dare write, as the blogger Faryadehmah did, "when these mullahs are dethroned ... it will be like the Berlin wall coming down ..."?
In the last five years up to 100 media publications, including 41 daily newspapers, have been closed by Iran's hardline judiciary. Yet today, with tens of thousands of Iranian weblogs there is an alternative media that for the moment defies control and supervision of speech by authoritarian rule. Even though the subject matter of many weblogs may seem tame by universal standards, most surpass the limitations imposed by state censorship. There is an endless variety of bloggers who are fans of everything from Harry Potter to Marilyn Manson.
Yet to find these digital depictions of youth culture superficial would be to forget that self-expression is a rare privilege in Iran. These commentaries vividly bear witness to a reality that Iranian youth are almost fixated with the culture they are being deprived of. They offer a glimpse of a society where, for some, David Beckham, lipstick and St Valentine's Day celebrations have become cherished symbols of freedom.
Like an invisible conveyor belt running through the rejections of the ministry of culture, banned material eventually ends up on the internet. In Iranian blogsphere you can even download hand-typed abstracts from the Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, who was the subject of a fatwa, or death order, issued by the late Ayatollah Khomeini.
While for some blogging allows them to revel in the forbidden, for others it's a way of organising action and spreading the word. As RSF's 2004 Internet Under Surveillance report states: "Weblogs are much used at times of crisis, such as during the June 2003 student demonstrations, when they were the main source of news about the protests and helped the students to rally and organise".
In the aftermath of last year's earthquake in Bam, with well over 20,000 deaths, the Iranian weblog community was totally immersed in the currents of a national disaster. Bloggers were busy through a variety of non-government organisations sorting out their own collections points and the transportation of aid; notifying their virtual community of the whereabouts of survivors relocated to hospitals in urban centres; organising hospital visits, charity sales and recruiting volunteers.
In April 2003, when Sina Motallebi, a web-journalist, was imprisoned, Iran became the first government to take direct action against bloggers. Sina's arrest was only the beginning and many more bloggers and online journalists have been arrested since. As RSF puts it: "In a country where the independent press has to fight for its survival on a daily basis, online publications and weblogs are the last media to fall into the authorities' clutches ... through arrests and intimidation, the Iranian authorities are now trying to spread terror among online journalists".
Recent reports have also suggested that the authorities are seeking to implement a national intranet, which would separate Iran from the world wide web. But technological trends may be working in favour of free speech, as even China has not been able to fully contain the free flow of information.
Paradoxes seem central to Iran, where a political ethos of education for the masses has forbidden all forms of free expression. It remains to be seen for how long a small group of ageing clerics can impose their designs of a radical state on a predominantly educated society where 70% of the population under 30 has no memory of the revolution.
Iranian weblogs allow us to eavesdrop on the personal conversations of a closed society, providing a unique momentary glimpse into the inner struggles that a burgeoning young population face, the steady shift of an ideological state, and a revolution within the revolution. As the political satirist and star of Iranian blogsphere, Ebrahim Nabavi, puts it: "After 25 years fortunately we have exported our revolutionary ideas to the whole world ... Europe, America and Asia ... but we have exported all of it ... so there is none left at home ... but the leaders of our country cannot be bothered to announce this to the world".
· N Alavi author of IranBlog was born in Iran. After attending university in the UK and working in the city of London and academia she returned to her birthplace working for an NGO for a number of years. Today she lives in the UK.
Two face death after Iran morality trial
Human rights groups urge Britons to help save abused women from execution by hanging and stoning
David Smith
Sunday December 19, 2004
The Observer
Two women convicted of crimes against morality in Iran are facing imminent execution, one by being buried up to her chest and stoned, Amnesty International said last night.One of the women, a 19-year-old with a mental age of eight who was forced into prostitution by her mother, is to be flogged and executed. An official said yesterday he was waiting for orders on whether to stone or hang her. The other woman was convicted of adultery and is due to be stoned to death this month in accordance with Iran's severe penal code.
Amnesty issued an urgent warning that time was running out for both women and urged the international community to tackle Iran over its executions of women and child offenders. In August another mentally ill girl, 16-year-old Atefeh Rajabi, was hanged in a street for having sex before marriage.
The 19-year-old, known as 'Leyla M', was a prostitute by the age of eight and was raped repeatedly, according to a Tehran newspaper report. She gave birth when aged nine and was sentenced to 100 lashes for prostitution at about the same time. When she was 12 her family sold her to an Afghan to be his 'temporary wife', while her mother became her new pimp, 'selling her body without her consent', the report said.
At 14 she became pregnant again, receiving a further 100 lashes before giving birth to twins. When her temporary marriage ended, her family sold her again, to a 55-year-old man who was married with two children and did not object to Leyla's clients coming to his house.
Last month, Leyla, appearing at a court in the central Iranian city of Arak, was sentenced to death on charges of 'acts contrary to chastity' by controlling a brothel, having intercourse with blood relatives and giving birth to an illegitimate child. The sentence has now been passed to the supreme court for confirmation. She apparently 'confessed' and faces being flogged before being executed.
Iran has executed at least three child offenders in 2004 and 11 others are believed to have been sentenced to death, according to Amnesty. Under the penal code, girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15 can be executed.
Interviewed by an Iranian journalist in her cell, Leyla was asked if she understood she was to be put to death. 'Yes, that's what they are saying,' she replied. 'But people in prison say this is a lie. They want to frighten you a bit.
'I haven't done anything. My mother told me to go to a man's house and I did. If she said don't, I wouldn't have. I was frightened. If I didn't listen to her, she would have harmed me. She beats me - my father, too.'
Asked when she was first forced to have sex, Leyla said: 'I was eight, the first time my mother took me to a man's house. It was a horrible night. I cried that night. Cried a lot. The day after she [my mother] came after me and took me home and bought chocolate and crisps for me.'
Leyla has been robbed of the consolation of spending time with her children. 'We used to play together before I went to prison. For some time they were with my mother and then they went to my father. I don't know where they are at the moment.'
She said of her father: 'He is a very bad-tempered man. He frightens me. But I liked him when he bought me goodies.'
Asked if her mother had visited her on death row, Leyla said: 'No, she hasn't. If you see my mother, tell her that she promised to bring me crisps and chocolate. Also tell her not to forget my red dress.'
Campaigners in Iran are compiling a petition against the execution, which they will present to the United Nations. Another group, the International Committee Against Stoning, is to meet officials of the European Union tomorrow in an attempt to build diplomatic pressure on Iran over the imminent execution of Hajieh Esmailvand, whose sentence for adultery was upheld by the supreme court and changed from death by hanging to death by stoning, before Tuesday. The man with whom Hajieh had the affair, who was 17 at the time, has been sentenced to death by hanging.
Mike Blakemore, of Amnesty International UK, said: 'Time is running out for Hajieh and Leyla, but it's still not too late. People in the UK can help stop these executions by writing to the Iranian authorities, letting them know that people around the world will not sit idly by and let this happen.
'But these horrific cases are just the tip of the iceberg. Every day women are subjected to terrifying violence, repression and abuse. Violence against women is a human rights atrocity and one we must tackle urgently.'
Under Iran's 'divinely ordained justice', girls as young as nine are charged with 'moral crimes'. The best that they can hope for is to die by hanging
(Filed: 19/12/2004)As one young woman awaits sentence and another faces death this week, Alasdair Palmer reveals the Iranian legal system's shocking barbarity towards children
"My mother doesn't visit me in prison. If you see her, tell her she promised to bring me cheese curls and chocolate. And she shouldn't forget to bring my red dress."
A protest against the regime in Iran Those pathetic words may be among the last utterances of a 19-year-old girl, identified only as Leila M, who has been condemned to death in Iran for "acts incompatible with chastity".
According to Amnesty International, Leila has a mental age of eight. What evidence there is of her life so far records an existence of unrelieved misery and brutality.
She was sold into prostitution at the age of eight by her parents. She recalls the experience of when her mother "first took me to a man's house" as "a horrible night. I cried a lot … but then my mum came the next day and took me home. She brought me chocolate and cheese curls."
Forced by beatings and threats to continue "visiting men" from that night onwards, she became pregnant and had twins when she was 14. She was punished with 100 lashes by the Iranian courts for giving birth to illegitimate children.
Leila was bullied back into her degrading and demeaning work. Earlier this year, she confessed to the authorities that she had been working as a prostitute since she was a child – perhaps because she thought that they might help her escape her miserable existence.
The courts did respond by pulling Leila out of prostitution, but they also imprisoned her and used her confession to convict her of "moral crimes", for which the judges have decided the appropriate penalty is death.
They dismissed evidence from doctors and social workers that she has a severe mental handicap. This week, Iran's Supreme Court, which by law must confirm every death sentence imposed by the lower courts, will rule on whether to uphold her execution.
There is every indication that the Supreme Court will decide that Leila must die. Earlier this year, they upheld a sentence of death on 16-year-old Atefeh Rajabi. Atefeh had also been convicted of "acts incompatible with chastity".
In her defence, she said she had been sexually assaulted by an older man. The judges did not care. So, on August 16, at 6am, Atefeh was taken from her cell and hanged from a crane in the main square of the town of Neka.
Witnesses report that she begged for her life as she was dragged kicking and screaming to the makeshift gallows. She shouted "repentance" over and over again – a gesture which, according to Islamic law, is supposed to grant the accused the right to an immediate stay of execution while an appeal is heard.
Atefeh's cries were in vain. Haji Rezaie, the judge who presided over her trial, put the noose around her neck himself. He said he was pleased to do it. "Society has to be kept safe from acts against public morality," he insisted.
He ordered that her body be left hanging from the crane for several hours so people could see what happened to teenagers who "committed acts incompatible with chastity".
In the case of Hajieh Esmailvand, a young woman found guilty of adultery with an unnamed 17-year-old boy, the Supreme Court has not only confirmed the death sentence imposed by the lower court, but changed the means of death from hanging to execution by stoning.
Hajieh's original sentence had been for five years' imprisonment followed by death by hanging. A month ago, the Supreme Court annulled her jail sentence – but only so that Hajieh could be stoned before December 21, and with the recommendation that she should be.
In the next two days, it seems likely that Hajieh will die from wounds caused by stones thrown by "executioners". The Iranian Penal Code states that women should be buried up to their breasts before being stoned. Article 104 is specific about the type of stones that should be used when a woman is to be punished for adultery. They "should not be large enough to kill the woman by one or two strikes, nor should they be so small that they could not be defined as stones". Hajieh will die slowly, in agony, buried in sand, as officials lob correctly sized stones at her head.
It is a fate that also awaits Zhila Izadyar, a 13-year-old girl from the northern province of Mazandaran. She has been sentenced to be stoned to death after her parents reported that she had had an incestuous relationship with her 15-year-old brother and had become pregnant by him.
Zhila has already received a "preliminary punishment" of 53 lashes. A representative from Iran's Society for the Protection of Children's Rights has managed to visit Zhila in prison. She found the 13-year-old in a desperate state, in solitary confinement and unable to keep down food. She has not been allowed to see her child.
"I am scared. I want to go home," said Zhila. "I want to go back to school like the other children." But if Iran's judges have their way, Zhila will see neither her school nor her home again. She will be buried up to her neck and the last thing she will see will be stones hurtling towards her head.
The barbarity towards children of the Iranian legal system is all the more surprising in that it contradicts the international legal obligations on the treatment of children, which the Iranian government has adopted. Iran is a signatory both to the International Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which explicitly forbid the execution of minors - let alone their killing by stoning.
Even Iran's chief justice has seemed to recognise that, although stoning is prescribed by Sharia law as the punishment for women who have sexual relations with men to whom they are not married, pelting a woman to death with rocks counts as excessively cruel.
Two years ago, he ruled that, while stonings should still be the nominal punishment for adultery and pre-marital sex, that sentence should be routinely commuted to execution by hanging.
It appears from the fate in store for Zhila Izadyar, however, that his commitment to the de facto abolition of stoning was about as sincere as the Iranian government's commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. There are no plans to change any of the provisions of the Penal Code that relate to children, and which state that girls as young as nine can be executed (boys have to reach the age of 14 before they can be killed).
Many Iranians are revolted by the brutality and injustice of their judges' attitude to children. Shadi Sadr, an extremely brave lawyer who represents Atefeh Rajabi's family, has filed a suit against the judiciary for wrongful execution, and is preparing a murder charge against the judge who hanged her.
While fundamentalist mullahs still hold on to power in Iran, her suit is unlikely to succeed. Indeed, those who are disgusted by judicial decisions cannot even safely express their condemnation of a system that not only hangs children, but beats them to death in public: Kaveh Habibi-Nejad, a 14-year-old boy, suffered this fate on November 12 for eating on the streets during Ramadan. A witnesses said that they thought he died because "the metal cable being used to flog him hit his head".
Mahbobeh Abbasgholizadeh, an Iranian academic, was arrested on November 1 after having queried some aspects of Iranian justice in a speech she made at a conference. She was held for a month before being released and charged with "acting against the security of the country". If she is convicted, it could mean an indefinite prison sentence.
The European Union has said that it is ready to "intensify" political and economic ties with Iran if the Iranian government takes steps to allay international concerns over its involvement in terrorism and the abuse of human rights. But the Islamic administration seems to care more about protecting what many of the religious hierarchy regard as "divinely ordained justice" than achieving fresh political and economic concessions from the EU.
Britain, France and Germany, acting on behalf of the EU, have already agreed to further trade links with Iran, after Tehran agreed to suspend its uranium-enrichment process, which could yield material suitable for nuclear bombs.
For Hajieh Esmailvand and Zhila Izadyar, the prospects are bleak. The best they can hope for is to die by hanging rather than being stoned. As for the mentally retarded Leila M - she seems likely to hang in public before Christmas.
bttt
Iran: Israel, U.S. Rigging Iraq ElectionMon Dec 20, 2004 09:24 AM ETTEHRAN (Reuters) - Israeli and U.S. agents were behind bombings in Iraq's Shi'ite holy cities of Kerbala and Najaf, Iran's Supreme Leader said Monday, accusing Tehran's arch-foes of trying to rig Iraq's elections for their own ends.
Shi'ite Muslim Iran was quick to condemn Sunday's car bombings in Najaf and Kerbala, which killed 66 people.
"I am sure Israeli and American spy services were behind these events. This is a plot which aims at keeping the Iraqis so busy that they will miss the exceptional chance to participate in the January 30 elections," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, speaking to Mecca pilgrimage organizers on state TV.
"The British and Americans want to hold elections on the surface but in reality they want to bring their own agents to power by holding superficial elections," added the Supreme Leader, who has the last word on all state matters.
Officials from oil-rich Iran have called for fully democratic elections next year in Iraq, where the majority of people are their Shi'ite coreligionists.
President Bush and Iraq's interim Defense Minister Hazim al-Shalaan have accused Iran of aiding al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and former agents of Saddam Hussein in inflaming pre-election violence.
Many analysts believe that the simmering violence in Iraq distracts Washington's gaze from Tehran.
Ayad Allawi: Iraq Defense Min's Iran , Syria Comments Not Govt View
[Excerpt]
December 20, 2004
Dow Jones Newswires
AP
BAGHDAD -- Iraq's interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi distanced himself Monday from his defense minister's comments in which he accused Iran and Syria of supporting insurgents in Iraq, saying this did not represent the government's position.
Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said Wednesday Iranian and Syrian intelligence agents, together with former operatives from Saddam Hussein's security forces, were cooperating with the al-Qaida group in Iraq led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Both Iran and Syria have denied the accusations saying they want to see a stable Iraq.
Asked to comment about Shaalan's statement, Allawi told reporters: "I have no comments. The minister of defense was talking from his own perspective, it's not represent the government attitude."
He declined to elaborate.
In July, Shaalan said Iran is Iraq's "first enemy" for allegedly supporting the insurgency against the U.S.-installed government. ...
12/19/04 - IRAN AND SYRIA MEDDLE IN IRAQ
The following is an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government:
Officials of Iraqi's interim government say Iran and Syria are supporting terrorists in Iraq and trying to sway the national assembly elections set for January 30th. Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalann said that Iranian and Syrian intelligence agents, along with former operatives from Saddam Hussein's security forces, are cooperating with the al-Qaida in Iraq group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.President George W. Bush says that Iraqis should be allowed to determine their own future, without interference from either Iran or Syria:
"We have made it very clear to the countries in the neighborhood... that we expect there to be help in establishing a society in which people are able to elect their leaders; and that we expect people to work with the Iraqi interim government to enforce borders, to stop the flow of people and money that aim to help these terrorists. We've made that very clear. . . . And we will continue to make it clear to both Syria and Iran that...meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq is not in their interest."
U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says the United States has expressed its concerns directly to the governments of Iran and Syria:
"We are indeed seeing a variety of efforts by Iran to support groups or otherwise get involved in the internal affairs of Iraq. . . . Iran made a commitment to combat the flow of terrorists and support for terrorists across the Iranian border and to avoid any kind of interference in Iraq's internal affairs. . . .We think it's in the interests of all, including Iraq's neighbors, for people to respect the political transition and stabilization process and to help us succeed in Iraq, and we will continue to state very clearly our view that Iran needs to live up to those standards. . . . We've called on Syria to prevent its territory from being used by Baathists or former people associated with the regime to support the insurgency and we've called on them to return money and other assets that belong to the Iraqi people."
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the U.S. will do "whatever is appropriate" to keep this kind of interference from affecting the course of events in Iraq.
MORE WOMEN ON DEATH ROW IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Posted Sunday, December 19, 2004
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TEHRAN, 19 Dec. (IPS) The Islamic Republic is increasing brutal treatment of women in Iran despite calls from the European Union and international human rights organisations to pay more attention to the appalling human rights situation.
The Islam-based Judiciary, a power that like all other important organs of the regime is directly controlled by the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, has ordered the death of at least four women in the last six months, all of them on charges of prostitution or “attitude contrary to the “Charia’a”, or Islamic laws.
Hajjiyeh Esma’ilvand, a thirty years-old woman from the northern city of Jolfa, on the borders with neighbouring Azerbaijan, is the latest victim of Islamic laws, was sentenced to death on accusation of having a sexual relationship with an Azeri man.
Hajjiyeh Esma’ilvand, a thirty years-old woman is the latest victim of Islamic laws, being sentenced to stoning.
"Her (death) sentence is approved by the Supreme Court, but there are no orders to carry out the sentence. We do not yet know if it is by stoning or hanging", the British news agency Reuters quoted an official as having confirmed.
According to reports, Ms. Esma’ilvand was sentenced to five years imprisonment, to be followed by execution by stoning, for adultery with an unnamed man who at the time was a 17 year old minor. Although the exact date of her arrest and trial are not known, it is reported that she has been imprisoned in the town of Jolfa, in the north west of Iran, since January 2000, the London-based Amnesty International reported on the case.
The Iranian Penal Code is very specific about the manner of execution and types of stones which should be used. Article 102 states that men will be buried up to their waists and women up to their breasts for the purpose of execution by stoning. Article 104 states, with reference to the penalty for adultery, that the stones used should “not be large enough to kill the person by one or two strikes, nor should they be so small that they could not be defined as stones”.
All death sentences in Iran must be upheld by the Supreme Court before they can be carried out. In November 2004, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence against Hajieh but changed the lower court's verdict from “death by hanging” to “death by stoning”. Reports suggest that the Supreme Court has ordered that the remainder of Hajieh’s five year prison sentence be annulled so that the stoning sentence can be carried out before 21 December.
The news follows reports of a 18-year old girl, "Leyla M", who has a mental age of eight, reportedly facing imminent execution for "morality-related" offences in Iran after being forced into prostitution by her mother as a child.
Leyla was reportedly sentenced to death on charges of "acts contrary to chastity" by controlling a brothel, having intercourse with blood relatives and giving birth to an illegitimate child. She is to be flogged before she is executed. She had apparently “confessed” to the charges.
Leyla was forced into prostitution by her mother when she was eight years old, according to the 28 November report, and was raped repeatedly thereafter. She gave birth to her first child when she was nine, and was sentenced to 100 lashes for prostitution at around the same time. At the age of 12, her family sold her to an Afghan man to become his “temporary wife”.
His mother became her new pimp, “selling her body without her consent”. At the age of 14 she became pregnant again, and received a further 100 lashes, after which she was moved to a maternity ward to give birth to twins. After this "temporary marriage", her family sold her again, to a 55-year-old man, married with two children, who had Leyla’s customers come to his house.
Amnesty International UK Media Director Mike Blakemore said:
"This is an urgent case. Hejieh could be killed in the next five days if we do not act quickly. Our members here in the UK are writing to the Iranian authorities, imploring them to stop this brutal execution. Campaigners in Iran are also taking action. But we need more people to stand up and be counted, to tell the Iranian authorities that this is not acceptable.
A month earlier, Zhila Iazadi, 13, was sentenced to death by stoning on decision from a court in the Kurdish city of Marivan, after being found by her devout parents that she was pregnant from her 15 years-old brother.
However, the Supreme Court changed the original sentence into imprisonment after Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian lawyer who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize alerted the international community while on a tour of Scandinavian nations.
Prior to this case, Atefeh Rajabi was hanged in August in the Caspian Sea port of Neka for sex before marriage.
The Iranian Penal Code is very specific about the manner of execution and types of stones which should be used.
The judge, a cleric, who hanged Atefeh himself in the city’s main square insisted she was 20, but lawyers and diplomats who saw her death certificate confirmed that she was only 16.
Amnesty International is aware of at least one case in which a sentence of execution by stoning has reportedly been issued this year. According to a report on 8 January 2004 in the Iran newspaper, a criminal court in the city of Qazvin sentenced an unnamed man to 80 lashes and 10 years'’ imprisonment to be followed by execution by stoning. It is not known whether this sentence has been carried out.
Amnesty International believes that the death penalty is the most extreme form of torture. It is a cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and a violation of the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
“It is clear that the punishment of stoning is designed to cause the victim grievous pain before leading to death. Such methods of execution specifically designed to increase the suffering of victims are of particular concern to Amnesty International, as the most extreme and cruel form of torture”, the human rights organisation said.
“One in three women around the world suffers serious violence in their lifetime, at home, in the community or in war, just because they are women”, Amnesty International said, adding that the Organisation is running a global campaign to “Stop Violence Against Women”.
The human rights organisation is calling on governments to repeal laws that permit and encourage violence against women, and on communities to challenge attitudes that allow violence to continue. ENDS IRAN EXECUTIONS 191204
Editor’s note: For details of how to help stop the executions of Hajieh and Leyla M, please go to: www.amnesty.org.uk/action/
It would appear that Iran hasn't learned.
A terrorist network based in Afghanistan launched the deadliest terror attack ever on America. 3 months later, Afghanistan's regime was removed from power.
Iran: You want to attack America? Go right ahead. Bring it on. Either you'll fail, or you'll be successful. 'Success' means your regime will be facing imminent destruction. In diplomat-speak, it is not in your interests to attempt an attack.
Another thing. I read that the terrorists, and former Saddam loyalists, and the usual suspects (Iran, Syria, etc.) are doing everything that they can to stop the election in Iraq. Meaning that for them, it is all or nothing. Which really isn't surprising. But I think it is plausible that Iran might have an incremental plan, such as:
1) Import terror to Iraq.
Option number 1 is having an effect, as President Bush admitted today. But not as much as the Iranians would like, I suspect.
2) Have one of their friends launch a massive terror attack.
Option number 2 is basically the Iraqi equivalent of 9/11 in terms of scale. Pull all their efforts together and try for one or two spectacular attacks. But, failing that, or if the elections are still on track (somehow, but if they pulled off such an attack, it might be quiet difficult to keep the elections on track)....
3) Have the Iranian military launch a full-scale invasion of Iraq. Iran would be giving up and taking care of business the old-fashioned way. Their troops would also be slaughtered by the Americans.
or..
4) Iranian launches missles on multiple Iraqi cities, with conventional payloads. Iraq would be total chaos, and if the Americans were slow to launch a counter-strike (as I suspectthey would be), Iran would claim a propaganda victory. They might also claim possession of nuclear warheads for good measure.
or, the nightmare scenario...
5) Iran detonates a nuclear device in Baghdad. I recall a report that Iran's rulers want a device ready by January '05. The possibility that the report is valid is chilling, but then again it could be the Chalibi Syndrome. SO I don't know. But it is possible. But I would tend to rate it as "unlikely."
But, then again, the enemies of democracy and freedom are viciously desperate. January 30, 2005 is doomsday for them.
John Loftus tonight presented an intruiging scenario for taking down Iran (ultimately) in the 2005 timeframe, assuming the elections are successful.
1) Iraq goes to the UN (ignore that detail if you want, it's just a waste of time anyway), demands war against Syria for formenting the 'insurgency'. Let's assume that the UNSC says 'No way!' (the worst part of it is, Syria itself is on the Security Council! What madness...). Iraq invades Syria with 'assistance' from the US military. The US recovers Saddam's WMD's, thus restoring worldwide legitimacy to the war in Iraq. Since they are in Syria already, they take down the puppet Lebanon, and get the rest of the chem and bio WMD's. The coalition shuts the nuclear services Syria is providing for Iran, and retrieves the paperwork Syria doesn't destroy in time before the Marines knock on the door.
So, then, Iran is severed from its Islamic puppets/partners (they still have China, Russia, North Korea, etc.), and we have the incriminating evidence against Iran in full force. Which hopefully Annan and Co. can't ignore any longer. Loftus says that the White House told Israel, essentially, "Don't bother dealing with Assad anymore. His government won't be around much longer."
It's basically the backdoor strategy into Iran, in my mind. Hey, if it works, and soon enough, it's good enough for me. Just hope it is soon enough. If the whole thing works, there will be peace in Israel, at least for a time. Wow. Iraq isn't a clean affair. But, hey, neither was World War II.
I just hope that the elections go off smoothly. 40 days away now. Afghanistan couldn't have gone smoother. NO matter what happens in the next six weeks, we gotta have the elections. Won't be perfect. But the Democrats and the OCSE weren't satisfied with the election process of 2004.
What an insult. Europeans monitoring our election. The world would be a dark place without America.
The president says this will be liberty's century. Hey, he's doing his part. I just hope he won't be too late to avert a disaster.
Faster please.
But do it right!
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