Here are some good news:
9 September Associated Press
Iranian Dissident Cleric to Teach Again
A leading Iranian dissident cleric will resume his religious teaching next week after spending five years under house arrest, his son said Tuesday.
Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, 81, will begin teaching advanced religious studies Sept. 17 at a mosque close to his hometown of Qom, Ahmad Montazeri told The Associated Press.
Government officials were not available for comment.
The senior Montazeri was placed under house arrest in 1997 after telling his students that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was incompetent to rule.
The Supreme National Security Council lifted the house arrest in late January as Montazeri's health deteriorated.
Montazeri is one of just a few grand ayatollahs, the most senior theologians of the Shiite Muslim faith, and has huge followings in the holy city of Qom and Isfahan, his birthplace.
Montazeri was once the hand-picked successor of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the U.S.-backed monarchy. But he fell out with Khomeini shortly before the leader's death in 1989.
Ruling clerics denounced Montazeri as a traitor in 1997 after he accused them of monopolizing power and ignoring the revolution's democratic ideals.
http://www.iranexpert.com/2003/dissidentclericiran9september.htmAnd here are some news that make you LOL:
8 September By Sally Jones and Hashem Kalantari Dow Jones
Iran Plans To Open Stock Exchange To Foreign Investors
Foreign investors will be able to invest directly on the Tehran Stock Exchange by the end of this year, the head of the exchange told Dow Jones Newswires.
But Hussein Abdoh Tabrizi, the exchange's secretary general, also said the rules drafted for the opening require foreign investors to keep their money in the market for three years and would prohibit them from holding more than 10% of the market's value.
The plan, which would open the Tehran market to foreigners for the first time since the 1979 revolution, will be presented to the Ministry of Economy and Financial Affairs in coming weeks, he said.
With the government and the Majlis, the country's legislature, in favor, approval is expected.
The plan could be a signal that Iran is adopting a more liberal, western- oriented market under President Mohammed Khatami. Although Tabrizi didn't give an exact date on when the opening would take place, he was confident it would be before the end of 2003.
"We are opening up gradually," he said, adding that the "gradualist approach" is meant to protect the exchange from price shocks like those seen in Asia in recent years.
The exchange already suffers sharp movements and froze prices for two weeks in early August in the wake of surging prices.
TSE's index had gained around 80% since the start of the Iranian fiscal year March 21.
Foreigners Locked Into 3 Yr Investment
Tabrizi said the three-year investment requirement reflects concern about the instability foreign money could bring.
"We are concerned that foreigners may want to take money out quickly," he said. "It would be a drain on our reserves."
Tabrizi said capping foreign ownership at 10% of the market's value is meant to give the Iranian government time to open up the state-controlled foreign exchange market, a move he said would attract foreign capital.
The Central Bank of Iran controls the hard currency injected into the foreign exchange market. Khatami's government has indicated that it is considering floating the rial.
Tabrizi said foreign investors are already eyeing investment on the exchange. He predicted the exchange's market capitalization would rise to $40 billion by the end of 2003 and to $100 billion by 2005 from $30 billion today.
One analyst said the forecast is far too optimistic.
"Investors are generally still cautious about investing in the TSE," the Tehran analyst said.
The TSE has established a $58 million foreign investment company in Bahrain to attract new investors into high growth stocks in the automotive, cement and pharmaceutical sectors.
U.S. investors will be free to invest along with all other international investors, said Shadi Sedghinejad, head of the exchange's International Affairs Department. But she added that U.S. sanctions may prevent such investments.
http://www.iranexpert.com/2003/tseforeigninvestors8september.htm comment: "require foreign investors to keep their money in the market for three years" It seems that they are adviced by optimists that do not understand that share prices can go down!
This is just an idea to sell the shares presently owned by Rafsanjani to ill informed foreigners.