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We are delighted to present you with the current issue of Iran Update, a publication of International Solidarity for Democratic Change in Iran (ISDCI). |
Iran's Karroubi attacked, son says
The Wall Street Journal
FARNAZ FASSIHI
3 September 2010
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. ... Read More | |
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. ... Read More | |
Oppression continues in Iran
Newsweek
Ravi Somaiya
2 September 2010
Reports suggest that the hardline government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be engaging in a more subtle crackdown on opposition leaders.
The world's attention may have wandered from Iran, but recent reports from the country reveal a government that is as willing as ever to suppress dissent and a judiciary that still plans to execute a woman saved from a stoning sentence last month. As The New Yorker reported in August, government oppression of opposition reformers, who are known as the Green Movement, has taken a more tacit and sinister turn. Instead of allowing rallies in the streets and cracking down on them with armed Revolutionary Guards, as happened last year, writes Jon Lee Anderson, potential troublemakers are watched by plainclothes paramilitaries called Basijis. "They sniff out everything," one alleged reformer told Anderson, "not only in public but in private life, too." ... Read More | |
France warns Iran over Bruni prostitute label
PARIS, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- France has issued a warning to Iran after a state-run newspaper called French first lady Carla Bruni a prostitute for her criticism of the Iranian plan to stone a woman to death.
The French Foreign Ministry denounced the insults by Iranian newspaper Kayhan, which also called for Bruni's death, in a statement released Tuesday.
"We are letting the Iranian authorities know that the insults put out by the daily newspaper Kayhan and taken up by Iranian Web sites regarding several French personalities, including Mrs. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, were unacceptable," the statement said.
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Tony Blair: West should use force if Iran 'continues to develop nuclear weapons'
Guardian
Mark Tran
1 September 2010
The west should use force against Iran if it "continues to develop nuclear weapons", Tony Blair said today, aligning himself with US hawks who have called for strikes against Iranian nuclear sites. The former prime minister made his comments in a BBC interview to publicise his memoirs, A Journey, which are published today. Blair said it was "wholly unacceptable" for Tehran to seek a nuclear weapons capability and insisted there could be "no alternative" to military force "if they continue to develop nuclear weapons". Speaking to Andrew Marr in a BBC interview to be broadcast tonight, Blair says: "I am saying that I think it is wholly unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapons capability and I think we have got to be prepared to confront them, if necessary militarily. I think there is no alternative to that if they continue to develop nuclear weapons. They need to get that message loud and clear." ... Read More | |
Interview with a veteran official of the Iranian Mojahedin
London, Aug. 31 - Mr. Mehdi Baraie is a senior official of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. According to the New York Times, he signed a ceasefire and mutual understanding agreement with United States forces on 15 April 2003. Mr. Baraie was a political prisoner under the Shah's regime for six years. Iran Focus conducted an interview with him by email on the latest developments related to Camp Ashraf. ... Read More | |
US must protect Iran opposition
Belfast Telegraph
Philip Brown
30 August 2010
As Robert Fisk rightly says, the Americans have handed Iran a victory they could not achieve in battle through their influence over the Iraqi government.
And it has also helped them attack their main opposition, the People's Mujahedin of Iran, 3,400 of whom are in Camp Ashraf, 60km from Baghdad.
At the behest of Iran, the Iraqi government is guarding the camp, allowing in only limited essential supplies, effectively turning it into a prison to try to force its closure, the residents being threatened with expulsion to Iran.
The withdrawal of the nearby US forces and UN observers makes Camp Ashraf even more vulnerable. The UN granted PMOI refugee status, but this status is largely ignored. ... Read More | |
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