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

STERN – Friedensnobelpreisträgerin Ebadi/ „Der Westen vergisst die Menschenrechte“

Der Iran wählt, doch kaum einer macht mit. Im Interview mit stern.de sagt die iranische Friedensnobelpreisträgerin Shirin Ebadi warum sie selber nicht wählt, wieso die Mullahs nicht an allem Schuld sind und wieso es den Frauen im Land immer besser geht.
Frau Ebadi, gehen Sie heute zur Wahl?
Nein. Ich bin seit der islamischen Revolution noch nie zur Wahl gegangen.
Warum nicht?
Bei uns müssen sich Kandidaten, die an einer Wahl teilnehmen wollen, erst eine Genehmigung vom Wächterrat besorgen. Solange das so bleibt, gehe ich nicht zur Wahl.

NCR-Iran.org – Iran: More restrictions for protesting students of Shiraz University
The timing for the decision has been selected by the school in a way not to leave the subjected students any room for protest to the ruling since the New …

MEMRI IRANIAN MEDIA BLOG – Friday Sermon: Iran Ready For Nuclear Talks – If U.S. And Its Allies Set No Preconditions And „Negotiate Honestly“; U.S. At „Dead End;“ IAEA Report „Not Sincere“

In his sermon today, Friday interim prayer leader for Tehran Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said that the only solution for Iran’s nuclear issue is negotiations in which the U.S. and its allies set no preconditions and negotiate honestly.
Rafsanjani, who is also Expediency Council chairman, said, „We believe the solution is for them to remove preconditions and negotiate honestly. If there is an ambiguity, Iran will settle it, and if there is not, they should let Iran exercise its inalienable right,“ Rafsanjani told worshippers in a sermon at Friday prayers.
He dismissed U.S. allegations that Iran had conducted a study into building atomic weapons as a pretext to impose tougher sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Rafsanjani advised the U.S. to adopt a logical approach towards Iran’s scientific developments, saying that a hostile policy on Iran „will hurt more the U.S. than us… The U.S. has admitted that it has reached a dead end in Iraq and Afghanistan.“
He asked what the Americans had gained from their adventurism in the world that they seek another adventure in Iran, and said, „No one is able to uproot the tree of knowledge that gets stronger with the passage of each new day.“
He also criticized International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohamed Elbaradei for presenting an ambiguous report on Iran’s nuclear activities: „Elbaradei was not sincere in his report and presented the issues in a way that others could misuse them.“
Sources: IRNA, Mehr, IRIBnews, Iran, March 14, 2008

MEMRI IRANIAN MEDIA BLOG – Ahmadinejad: Turkey, Iran Inseparable; U.S., Israel Plans Failed; Recognizing Israel Will Worsen Middle East Problems
In meetings on the sidelines of the 11th summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Dakar, Senegal, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met yesterday with Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa, with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and with Turkish President Abdullah Gul.
In his meeting with Bouteflika, Ahmadinejad said that „The only way for the regional states to get rid of the Israeli occupation is to resist expansionism and occupation… Any concession to enemies would end in further pressures and sufferings for regional states and would encourage their enemies.“ He added that the devaluation of the U.S. dollar on international markets was a sign of the collapse of U.S. power, as was the case with British colonialism.
In his meeting with Moussa, Ahmadinejad said, „Any measure [towards] recognizing the Zionist regime will lead to worsening problems in the Middle East region.“ He referred to the growing resistance of states in the region against occupation and hegemony in the Middle East as well as the changing situation in the region, saying that anyone who did not understand those changes would be seriously damaged.
He added, „The Zionist regime dreams of expanding its occupation from the Nile to the Euphrates, and the regional states must, by resisting the Zionist regime, make it regret its dream.“
In his meeting with Gul he stressed that Iran and Turkey are two brotherly countries which no one can separate. He added, „We consider Turkey’s development as our own development.“
Source: IRNA, Iran, March 14, 2008

MEMRI IRANIAN MEDIA BLOG – Iranian Artists Pressured To Stop Supporting Reformists
On the eve of Iran’s parliamentary elections, set for March 14, the reformist online daily Rooz reported on increasing pressure by supporters of Iranian President Ahmadinejad, among them Ahmad Tavakkoli, to make sure critics of the president are not part of the next parliament. The editor of the daily Kayhan, Hossein Shariatmadari, who is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, called to refrain from voting for „circles in which unanimity with America and her allies prevails.“ A day after 200 Iranian artists announced their support for the reformist list for parliament, some of them reported that they were being pressured by government circles to withdraw that support.

MEMRI IRANIAN MEDIA BLOG – Rafsanjani: Gaza Events Indicate Weakness Of Zionist Regime
In a March 11 meeting with Islamic Jihad secretary-general Ramadhan Abdullah Shelah, Iran Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said that the recent Gaza events were “ an indication of the weakness and vulnerability of the Zionist regime.“ He added, „Resistance is the only possible way to return the rights of the oppressed Palestinians,“ and added that „the attacks on Gaza were aimed at „making up for their previous failures in Lebanon.

MEMRI IRANIAN MEDIA BLOG – Advisor To Iranian FM: Europe Should Be Worried Because We Prefer To Trade With East, Asia
Mohammad Safari, European affairs advisor to the Iranian foreign minister, said that European countries should be concerned about their economic status in Iran, in light of Iran’s preference for trading mainly with the East and with the Asian countries. Safari made the comments at a meeting with the political affairs aide to the Netherlands foreign minister.

MEMRI IRANIAN MEDIA BLOG – Cartoon In ‚Kayhan‘: Time Running Out For U.S., Israel

Source: Kayhan, Iran, March 13, 2008

MEMRI IRANIAN MEDIA BLOG – Iran Energy Exhibition Anticipates Significant European, Asian Participation
The Tehran Times reports that some 450 companies from countries across Europe and Asia – including 75 from Germany and 25 from the U.K. – have promised to participate in the gas, oil, and petrochemical industry exhibition scheduled for mid-April in Tehran.

MEMRI IRANIAN MEDIA BLOG – Organization of Islamic Conference: Iran Greatest Model For Islamic Countries In Reducing Dependence On West
The 11th summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which opened today in Dakar, Senegal, has called on Islamic countries to define their socioeconomic and cultural boundaries with Western colonialist countries, use their own potential, end their economic and political dependence on the West, and create an Islamic bloc that will be sovereign in the areas of politics, economics, culture, and religion. The statement added that Iran was greatest model that Islamic countries could use for reducing their dependence on the West.The call came in the draft of the summit’s final statement. Also in the statement, the conference said that Islamic countries must begin playing a major role in international bodies such as the U.N. Security Council, the EU, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, in order to elevate the status of Muslims. This, it said, is because Muslims living in the U.S. and in European countries are treated like second-class citizens – even though non-Muslims living in Islamic countries have rights equal to those of Muslims, as based on Islamic teachings.

MEMRI IRANIAN MEDIA BLOG – Iranian Weekly: Our Determination In Nuclear Issue Weakening West’s Threats
The Iranian weekly Parto-e Sokhan, which is identified with Ayatollah Mesbah-e Yazdi, spiritual mentor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stated that the West’s threats against Iran were weakening due to Iran’s insistence on its right to nuclear technology. The weekly also pointed to increased foreign investment in Iran in the past year as proof of the sanctions‘ weakness. Referring to the assassination of senior Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniya, the paper said that Israel’s achievement would be erased by a new Hizbullah operation against it.

MEMRI IRANIAN MEDIA BLOG – Iranian Intelligence Minister: MP Interviewed On VOA Is A Traitor
Iranian Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hosssein Mohseni-Ezhei has said that reformist MP Dr. Dr. Noureddin Pir-Moazzen is a traitor because he gave an interview to the Voice of America in which he criticized the Iranian regime (see „A First: VOA Interviews Iranian MP; Interview Could Prevent MP From Returning To Iran“).
Knowledgeable Iranian sources said that Pir-Moazzen preferred to remain in the U.S. instead of returning to Iran.