AUSZUG AKTUELLER MELDUNGEN ZUM THEMA IRAN AUS UNSEREM TÄGLICHEN NAHOST-NEWSLETTER…

Zum Thema „Oppositionsbewegung und Protestler“ 

1. WSJ – Iran’s Karroubi Attacked, Son Says
   Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi was attacked on Thursday night when a group of militiamen broke into his residential building and fired on his bodyguards, according to a family member.
   Militia in plainclothes armed with guns and knives shattered windows, broke the front door and set the parking lot on fire by throwing tear gas and a hand grenade over the wall, Mr. Karroubi’s son, Mohamad Taghi Karroubi, said by telephone Thursday night. The militia stormed the hallway, shooting in the air as they ran upstairs to Mr. Karroubi’s front door, where they engaged in a 90-minute battle with his bodyguards, the younger Mr. Karroubi said.
   Mr. Karroubi and his family were holed up in a safe room, away from the windows and gunfire, his son said, but 11 people were injured in the violence, including Mr. Karroubi’s head of security, who was taken to the hospital and remains in critical condition. The shooting attack couldn’t be independently confirmed.
   Mr. Karroubi issued a statement asking supporters not to come to his house, but by late Thursday night, several hundred demonstrators from the opposition Green Movement had begun to gather in Mr. Karroubi’s neighborhood, according to eyewitnesses.
   „I am very angry. We will back Karroubi one hundred percent until Iran is free,“ said Mostafa. The young man, who didn’t give his last name, was on his way to Mr. Karroubi’s house with several friends.
   1. FTD –  Ayatollah urged to protect opposition leader’s family
      The wife of one of Iran’s opposition leaders pleaded with the country’s supreme leader on Wednesday to protect her family from the regime’s militias. 
      Fatemeh Karroubi, whose husband Mehdi Karroubi contested last year’s disputed presidential election, said members of the Basij militia and the Revolutionary Guard Corps had been outside the family home in Tehran for three days. The men had shouted abuse at Mr Karroubi, insulted his neighbours and vandalised property, she said. They chanted that the „illiterate Karroubi“ was an agent of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service. 
      
      
   2. STANDARD – Revolutionsgarden distanzieren sich von Blockade Karubis
      Umstellung des Hauses sei das Werk von „Schurken“ gewesen
       
      

       
      1. net-tribune.de – ‎Milizen attackieren Haus von iranischem Oppositionspolitiker mit Bomben
         Teheran – Regierungsnahe Milizen im Iran haben das Haus des Oppositionspolitikers Mahdi Karrubi mit selbst gebauten Bomben beworfen. …

      2. afp – Iran hardliners attack opposition leader’s home: website
         TEHRAN — Hardline „thugs“ surrounded the home of opposition Iranian leader Mehdi Karroubi, pelting the building with rocks to prevent the cleric from attending a rally, his website said.
         In the latest such incident, members of the Islamist Basij militia „violently attacked“ the building where the opposition cleric lives, the sahamnews.org website said.
         The militia, „in a coordinated and pre-planned action, gathered in front of the building which houses Mehdi Karroubi,“ the website said.
         „The Basij thugs… with the support of police… disrupted public order and peace. They threw stones, sprayed the building with paint and stole security cameras of the building“ in northern Tehran, the report said.
         It said the Basij had been gathering outside the building every night since Sunday, and that the harassment was meant to prevent the opposition leader from attending annual nationwide rallies marking Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day.
         They were „intimidating and terrorising public opinion, especially to prevent Karroubi from participating in the Quds Day rally,“ Sahamnews said. 
          
         
         1. STANDARD – Angriffe auf Haus von Oppositionspolitiker Karroubi – Zwischenfall mit regierungstreuer Bassij-Miliz – Brandsätze in Richtung des Hauses geworfen
         2. WELT – Iran: Oppositionsführer berichtet von Angriffen auf sein Haus
         3. afp – Angriffe auf Haus von iranischem Oppositionspolitiker Karubi
         4. Wiener Zeitung – Brandsätze gegen Kritiker im Iran
         5. Täglicher Anzeiger – Iranischer Oppositionspolitiker an Auftritt gehindert
            

1. AJC – AJC Welcomes Japan’s New Sanctions on Iran
   September 3, 2010 — New York — AJC praised Japan for announcing tougher sanctions against Iran, adding to the growing international effort to deter the Middle East nation from pursuing nuclear-weapons capability.
   

   „Japan’s action today is another clear message to Iran’s leaders that their country’s closest trading partners are tired of their constant deceit about Iran’s nuclear program,“ said AJC Executive Director David Harris. „There is widening recognition around the world that a nuclear Iran poses a profound danger to global security.“
   

   The new measures Tokyo announced today include suspension of new oil and gas investments in Iran, and freezing the assets of 88 companies and 24 individuals linked to Iran’s nuclear program. The Nippon Export and Investment Insurance Agency also will curb policies that protect Japanese exporters to Iran.
   

   Iran oil exports to Japan, however, will not be affected.
   

   Japan’s significant action comes after the United States, European Union, Canada and Australia strengthened sanctions against Iran, following the fourth UN Security Council resolution, adopted in June, imposing further economic and financial sanctions. 

2. afp – Japan slaps new financial sanctions on Iran
   TOKYO — Japan imposed new sanctions Friday against Iran, including an assets freeze on people and entities linked to its contentious nuclear programme and tighter restrictions on financial transactions.
   Japan also said it would suspend any new oil and gas investments in Iran, but there are no plans to restrict imports of crude oil from the Islamic republic, the fourth-biggest oil supplier to resource-poor Japan.
   The steps come a month after Tokyo approved punitive measures in line with a June UN Security Council resolution which slapped a fourth set of sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment work.
   Japan’s new sanctions include a freeze on the assets of 88 companies, banks, state agencies and other entities and 24 people linked to Iran’s nuclear programme, which many nations fear masks a drive for atomic weapons.
   
    
   1. REUTERS  AFRICA – Japan set to toughen sanctions on Iran – Nikkei
      TOKYO, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Japan is set to toughen sanctions against Iran as early as this week over its disputed nuclear programme, the Nikkei business daily said, following the United States and European Union’s leads in pressuring Tehran.
      The unilateral measures, which go beyond sanctions imposed by the United Nations, include banning new investments in energy-related industries and imposing a limit on trade insurance, the Nikkei reported on Wednesday.
      Japan’s additional sanctions are as tough as the European Union’s sanctions against Iran that were announced in July and are likely to hit Japanese firms that have transactions with Iran, the Nikkei reported.
      But Tokyo, which relies on oil imports from the Islamic Republic, will not impose any import restrictions on crude oil, the Nikkei said.
      Japan had approved sanctions against Iran in early August in line with a U.N. Security Council Resolution, but U.S. officials have urged Tokyo to follow the European Union in adopting tougher sanctions. Tokyo has said it will mull more steps by end-August.
      The fresh measures, which also include more than doubling the blacklist of targets for asset freezes to 88 companies and 24 individuals, is set to be decided by the cabinet on Friday, the Nikkei said.
      Iran is now Japan’s No.4 crude supplier after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. In 2009, Japan imported about 421,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Iran. (Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa and Yoko Kubota; Editing by Alex Richardson)
      • STERN – Japan verschärft Sanktionen gegen den Iran

3. REUTERS AFRICA – EU presses China on observing Iran sanctions
   BEIJING, Sept 2 (Reuters) – The European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Thursday she had pressed China to ensure that Chinese companies did not fill the void left by other firms leaving Iran due to U.N. sanctions.
   U.S. officials said in July that Chinese companies had been pursuing trade with Iran despite the threat of U.S. sanctions and a June United Nations Security Council resolution imposing more punitive measures on Tehran over its nuclear programme.
   Robert Einhorn, special adviser for non-proliferation and arms control at the U.S. State Department, said at the time that China should not „backfill“ by doing more deals with Iran while „responsible countries are distancing themselves from Iran“.
   Ashton, speaking to reporters at the end of an official visit to China, said she told Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi that observing sanctions placed on Iran was vital.
   „We expected that we would all work together in a way that would be effective but that we would stand together,“ she said. „My message was meant to be very clear — that we would expect that we wouldn’t see ‚backfill‘.“
   Ashton added it was „too early to tell“ if China was indeed „backfilling“.
   Western governments have pressed China to loosen its energy and economic ties with Iran, which they see as shielding Iran from international pressure.
   Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang told the visiting Iranian oil minister last month that Beijing would maintain cooperation with Tehran on existing projects.