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

Berlin — Europe in general and Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in particular have traditionally pursued a dual strategy of „critical dialogue“ and „change through trade“ in their efforts to influence the Iranian regime. The ongoing German hostage crisis is yet another example of what a flop this cognitive-behavioral therapy for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and company has been. 
German journalists Marcus Hellwig and Jens Koch, who were arrested in mid-October for interviewing family members of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani — a woman sentenced to death by stoning for alleged adultery — have spent 86 days incarcerated in a prison located in the city of Tabriz. 
This comes after Iran, perhaps sensing President Obama’s extended hand as sign of feebleness, created in July 2009 a second American hostage crisis (replicating the 1979 model), seizing two United States citizens, Shane M. Bauer and Joshua F. Fattal, for simply hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan, situated near Iran’s border. America’s reliance on Swiss diplomacy — their foreign ministry represents U.S. interests in Iran — has produced lackluster results. The Swiss are considered to be the most pro-Iranian European country, largely because of their massive economic interests in Iran 

HA’ARETZ – Iran detains U.S. woman suspected of hiding spy device in her teeth
Woman reportedly entered the country from Armenia and was arrested by customs guards in northwestern Iran, according to a local newspaper.

1. STANDARD – Teheran dementiert Spionagevorwurf gegen US-Amerikanerin
   Frau an illegaler Einreise gehindert

VIRTUAL JERUSALEM – Iran: Harry Potter is Zionist Plot for Devil Worship
If you thought the Harry Potter series was an innocent children’s fantasy story, you’re wrong, an Iranian movie producer says: In reality, the Harry Potter books and movies are part of a „Zionist plot“ to „spread their poison.“ With its emphasis on witches, warlocks, and wonders, he says, the Harry Potter series „serves to spread the dark and evil essence of Zionism and its goals.“
In a series of accusations that sound ridiculous to those raised in the West, Iran’s Irinn TV channel produced a documentary that purports to show how the various elements of the Potter story – the use of magic, the struggle against the Dark Lord, and other themes – essentially reflect the tenets and goals of Zionism (read: Judaism), and encourage innocent people around the world to support those goals.
„Propaganda for purity of blood and race, one of the principles of global Zionism, is openly portrayed and emphasized in the second Harry Potter film,“ the film’s narrator says, referring to the obsession of the film’s villain, Voldemort, with pure bloodlines – symbolic of the Jews‘ parochial attitude to non-Jewish nations. „If we add this [film] to the other pieces of the puzzle – the beliefs depicted in the other propaganda and political products of the Ziono-Hollywoodists, the Satanic features of this inhumane movement will become more evident.“
In addition to the blood theme, the series alludes to the Jewish desire to rule the world, says a prominent Iranian film critic quoted in the movie. „[The Zionists] support Harry Potter because he is the promised Messiah,“ Sa’id Mostaghasi says. „As you can see, he has the same traits and wants to defeat a dark force, which in this film is depicted as Voldemort. In the sixth episode, there is even mention of the War of Armageddon.“

FAZ – Amerikanerin in Iran festgenommen
In Iran ist eine Amerikanerin unter Spionageverdacht festgenommen worden. Bei der Festnahme sei entdeckt worden, dass sie Spionagegeräte mit sich trug, berichtete die staatliche Zeitung „Iran“.
Iran hat an der Grenze zu Armenien eigenen Angaben zufolge eine amerikanische Staatsbürgerin unter Spionageverdacht festgenommen. Sie habe ohne Visum aus Armenien einreisen wollen, berichteten am Donnerstag staatliche iranische Medien. Zollbeamten der Stadt Nordouz hätten an ihrem Körper Spionagegeräte gefunden, ferner habe sie in ihrem Gebiss ein Mikrofon versteckt, hieß es weiter.
Die persischsprachige Ausgabe der Zeitung „Iran“ gab ihren Namen mit Hall Talayan an und ihr Alter mit 55 Jahren. Nordouz ist eine kleine Siedlung und der einzige Übergang entlang der 40 Kilometer langen Grenze zwischen Armenien und Iran. In diesem Teil der iranischen Provinz Ostaserbaidschan befinden sich keine touristischen Sehenswürdigkeiten. Allerdings ist die alpine und dünn besiedelte Landschaft unter Wanderern bekannt. Im schneereichen Winter lädt sie nicht zum Wandern ein.

1. REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND – Agentur: Iran nimmt US-Bürgerin unter Spionageverdacht fest
   Die Agentur berief sich auf informierte Kreise und bestätigte damit einen Bericht der Tageszeitung „Iran“.

2. SPIEGEL – US-Amerikanerin soll in Iran verhaftet worden sein‎ 

3. WELT – Amerikanerin «mit Mikrofon in den Zähnen» im Iran verhaftet‎

4. RPO– Verdacht der Spionage: Amerikanerin im Iran festgenommen‎ 

STERN – EU fordert Zugang von IAEA-Inspekteuren zu iranischen Atomanlagen‎ 
Der Besuch der iranischen Atomanlagen muss aus Sicht der EU von der Internationalen Atomenergiebehörde (IAEA) vorgenommen werden. „Es gibt einen laufenden Prozess, ein Besuch ist Sache der IAEA“, sagte der Sprecher von EU-Außenministerin Catherine Ashton, Michael Mann, am Mittwoch in Brüssel zur Einladung Teherans an verschiedene Länder zur Besichtigung seiner Nuklearanlagen. Aus der sogenannten 5+1-Gruppe, die im Atomstreit mit Teheran verhandelt, hat der Iran lediglich China und Russland eingeladen. Das einzige westliche Land, das eine Einladung erhalten hat, ist Ungarn, das seit Jahresbeginn die EU-Ratspräsidentschaft innehat.

1. HAMBURGER ABENDBLATT – EU will Prüfung von Atomanlagen IAEA überlassen

2. DEUTSCHE WELLE – EU fordert Zugang von IAEA-Inspektoren zu iranischen Atomanlagen‎

3. DIEPRESSE– Iran: EU lehnt Atomanlagen-Besichtigung ab‎ 

[Der]… Artikel ist vielleicht von besonderem Interesse. Darin wird nicht nur beschrieben, wie gerade in letzter Zeit Antisemitismus durch Verdrehung historischer (bzw. religiöser) Geschichten betrieben wird, so sollen die persischen Juden nicht etwa von König Xerxes gerettet worden sein, sondern selbst einen „Holocaust“ an Iranern angerichtet haben. Es wird auch beschrieben, wie solche Geschichten auf Nazi-Propaganda der 30er Jahre zurückverfolgt werden können. [J.W.]
GUARDIAN – Iranian government stirs up antisemitism with invented massacre
The threatened desecration of the graves of two Jewish saints is just one result of the spreading of fabricated storiesOn 10 December, 250 Basij students from Abu Ali Sina University in the Iranian city of Hamedan gathered in front of the mausoleum of two Jewish saints and threatened to tear it down, in revenge for what the students claimed were Israeli threats to infringe on the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
The graves are those of Esther and Mordechai. Esther was the second wife of Xerxes I (the Great) (486-465BCE, also known as Khashayarsha in Persian), the fourth Zoroastrian king of the Achamenid Empire. Esther was a Jew who moved to Persia after the Babylonian captivity of the Israelites (6th century BCE). King Xerxes also appointed Mordechai, who was Esther’s cousin and had raised her, as a royal court adviser. The king’s vizier, Haman, plotted to kill Mordechai, who refused to bow down to Haman, and all the Jews of Persia. That plan was foiled and King Xerxes, who wanted to protect his country’s Jews, hanged Haman and his 10 sons instead.
Since then, every year on the 14th day in the Hebrew calendar month of Adar, Jews everywhere celebrate the deliverance of Persia’s Jews from death. Children and adults go to synagogues and read the Book of Esther all over the world, including in Iran.
The hostile act of tearing down part of the tomb is unprecedented in the modern history of Iran, as graves of Jewish saints in Iran (which also include Daniel) have always been considered holy and respected by Jews and Muslims alike. In fact, many Muslim families go to such graves to pray for the health of their loved ones, alongside their Jewish compatriots.
Even more worrying is the revisionism of Jewish history flourishing in Iran under the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The narrative being promoted by this regime is that it was Mordechai who was a murderer because he ordered the massacre of more than 70,000 Iranians. This is being called an „Iranian holocaust“.
The eminent Oxford University Professor Homa Katouzian, in his book Sadeq Hedayat: His Work and His Wondrous World, traces this fabrication back to an article published in Iran-e Bastan in 1934. According to Professor Katouzian, this publication, „imitating German antisemitism, fabricated sensational reports of Jewish plots“. Not only did this publication reverse the facts in the story of Esther and Mordechai but it also, among other things, distributed reports that Jews were „selling fatal medicine to Muslims“. One of the goals of such articles was to emphasise and promote what it saw as the Aryan roots and historical commonality between Iran and Nazi Germany. Such false reports provided the foundation for anti-Jewish Islamist campaigns in the 1940s.
For years afterwards, no one took notice of such antisemitic material, let alone promoted it. This has all changed since Ahmadinejad took power in 2005. These days one can hear about the fabricated and highly anti-Jewish „Iranian holocaust“ from Iranian politicians.