A group of hard-line female protesters rallied in front of the British embassy in Tehran to demand the extradition of an Iranian doctor who said he tried to save martyred student Neda Agha-Soltan as she bled to death on a street in Tehran during last June's anti-government protests.
Iran's state-run media say the country's parliament has approved the remaining three Cabinet nominees proposed by Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iranian lawmakers voted Sunday to accept current parliament member Hamid Reza Hajibabai as the new education minister. They also accepted former Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli as the new minister of welfare, and former Deputy Energy Minister Majid Namjou as the new energy minister.
Parliament approved 18 of Mr. Ahmadinejad's Cabinet choices in September but voted down his original choices for these three posts.
Mr. Ahmadinejad's re-election in June triggered protests, with opposition candidates and their supporters claiming the vote had been rigged.
Some Iranians continued their protests earlier this month.
Iranian security forces arrested 109 people during anti-government protests that coincided with rallies marking the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran 30 years ago.
The head of Tehran police, Azizollah Rajabzadeh, told the state-run IRNA news agency that authorities charged 62 people detained during the November 4 rallies with disturbing public order. He said authorities released the other 47.
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran says security forces and militia used "brutal force" to disperse the thousands of Iranians who joined the anti-government protests across the country.
The rallies were some of the largest demonstrations reported since the massive street protests against President Ahmadinejad's re-election.
Iran's parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, has criticized U.S. President Barack Obama, arguing that his promise to change U.S. policy toward Tehran amounts to nothing.
Speaker Larijani said after a year of U.S. President Barack Obama's speeches and slogans, it is a "disgrace" the U.S. president's actions are the same as his predecessor.
Larijani argued two actions last week showed that little had changed in U.S. policy since the presidency of George W. Bush. The Iranian lawmaker decried the extension of U.S. sanctions against Iran for another year.
Last Thursday, Mr. Obama renewed the long-standing injunctions imposed in the early days of the Islamic Revolution against financial dealings with Iran.
The same day, U.S. prosecutors moved to seize property belonging to companies accused of transferring money illegally to the Islamic Republic.
Among the assets eyed by the prosecutors are several American mosques and a New York skyscraper owned by the Alavi Foundation and the Assa Corporation. They are accused of sending money to the Iran's state-owned Bank Melli.
The U.S. Treasury says Bank Melli helps pay for weapons proliferation, and forbids U.S. citizens from dealing with it.
The Alavi foundation disputes the allegations, but says it is cooperating with investigators.
Larijani also rejected the latest Western proposal to resolve questions about Iran's nuclear program, dismissing it as "unimportant" and "irrational." The plan calls for Iran to send uranium abroad for enrichment, but Tehran countered with conditions to what was presented as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition.
After a forum in Singapore, President Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said time was running out for Iran to accept the plan.
Washington and others are concerned Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, while Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Federal prosecutors continued legal action on Friday to seize properties, including several mosques, owned by a non-profit Muslim organization with alleged ties to the Iranian government.
Federal Marshals delivered notices initiating possible seizure proceedings against the Islamic Education Center in Potomac, Maryland just outside Washington.
Authorities are moving against properties linked to the New York based Alavi Foundation.
Prosecutors accuse the foundation of funneling millions of dollars to Iran's state-owned Bank Melli through a front company called the Assa Corporation.
The U.S. Treasury accuses the bank of supporting Iran's nuclear program and has banned U.S. citizens from doing business with the financial institution.
A Muslin rights group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, criticized the move to seize the mosques.
The group's communications director is Ibrahim Hooper.
"What we are really concerned about is the U.S. government seizing houses of worship," said Ibrahim Hooper. "Whether it is a mosque, a synagogue, a church, I think it sends a very chilling message in terms of freedom of religion to people of all faiths and it is something that all Americans should be concerned about."
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York made it clear there are no allegations of wrongdoing and no action taken against tenants or occupants of the properties.
In addition to the mosque in Maryland, court documents say the Alavi Foundation also owns mosques in Queens, New York, Carmichael, California and the Islamic Education Center of Greater Houston in Texas.
Faheem Kazimi is chairman of the board of the Houston organization.
"I want to make it very clear to people that the Islamic Education Center of Houston is a non-profit organization," said Faheem Kazimi. "It is an independent organization not affiliated with any of these other organizations."
A New York skyscraper involved in the case is known as the Piaget building. A report by the Associated Press says the structure is worth more than $500 million.
An attorney for Alavi says the foundation has been cooperating with the U.S. government and is disappointed with the lawsuit.
He says the foundation will dispute the government's claims in court.
On Thursday U.S. President Barack Obama renewed long-standing sanctions against Iran for another year, saying relations with Tehran have not yet returned to normal.
The United States and Iran have had no diplomatic ties since the hostage crisis that followed the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
Image by PanARMENIAN_Photo via Flickr, protesters at the Iranian Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia
A top Iranian police official says that a new police unit has been set up to combat what he calls "Internet crime". Analysts, however, are interpreting the move as another step by the government to crack down on the opposition, which uses the Internet heavily to communicate and spread its message.
Iran's top police chief, Brigadier General Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam says that his organization is setting up a "cyber police division" to combat what he terms "Internet crime."
Fars News Agency reported that Ahmadi-Moqaddam complained that "Internet crime" was on the rise and that the Iranian police must "increase its capabilities to counter such violations."
Iranian law mixes activities such as theft, fraud and forgery, with more subtle and often political activities lumped together under the categories "defamation and mischief." The latter two categories have analysts worried.
Police Colonel Mehrdad Omidi, who runs the Internet crime division, stated in the Iranian press, Saturday, that what he calls "insults and spreading of lies," would be fought vigorously.
He also noted that a 12-member commission would now be involved in policing "political matters on the internet." He said , given the spread of Internet use, police must confront crimes taking police in the Web atmosphere.
Most Iranian opposition Web sites, including those of top leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Ayatollah Mehdi Karrubi are considered illegal and are now blocked inside Iran.
Reza Moini of Paris-based NGO Reporters Without Borders says that Iran's Revolutionary Guards are increasingly taking over internet surveillance from other government agencies:
He says that there are several points to stress: notably that when the Iranian parliament ratified the Internet law there were several institutions put in charge of surveillance, but now, with the opposition movement continuing unabated, the regime is concerned that the Internet is playing a key role in informing people and spreading information. This, he says, is where the police are becoming involved, and he says, by police, what is meant is the "Guardians of the Revolution," who are increasingly trying to seize the lead.
The Intelligence Ministry has clamped down on both the Internet and on mobile phone communications during opposition demonstrations to disrupt communications. Opposition activists complain that internet speeds were brought to dismally slow levels and that they were forced to use proxies to prevent their IP addresses from being detected.
Still, many popular opposition sites, like Mir Hossein Mousavi's Facebook Web page, get thousands of visitors daily and put out up-to-the-minute bulletins of opposition activities.
One well-known young opposition activist, Mohammed Reza Jalaiepour, who was later arrested by the government, placed this emotional confession about why he joined the opposition on Mousavi's Facebook Web site.
Reza Moini says that there are a handful of Internet activists and website creators who have been arrested by the government and are now languishing in prison.
Police Colonel Omidi insists that Iranian government authorities will intervene in political matters on the Internet if there has been an illegal act.
Iranian intellectuals and opposition activists remain in contact with each other and with the outside world by posting comments and information about their activities on Web sites both inside and outside Iran. Many complain that they live in fear of being detected by the government and arrested.
A newspaper report says Chinese state companies are supplying gasoline to Iran, a development that could undermine U.S. efforts to pressure Tehran to give up its nuclear program.
London's Financial Times reports Wednesday the companies are selling the petrol through intermediaries, and provide up to a third of Tehran's gasoline imports.
The report is based on unnamed oil traders and bankers.
The sales would complicate U.S.-led efforts to isolate the Iranian government with tough economic sanctions.
Fuel sales to Iran currently are legal. U.S. officials have suggested imposing international sanctions on the trade to force Iran to stop its nuclear activities.
Western countries accuse Iran of secretly trying to build a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies.
"The meeting between President Barak Obama and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak this week was the latest in a series of meetings aimed at exploring new avenues for peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, especially the Palestinians. It comes amid a chorus of proposals from independent groups suggesting ways the U.S. can help resolve the bloody, decades-old conflict. Recently, four prominent American statesmen, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, joined that chorus. They present their recommendations in a privately-produced 20-minute film titled New Hope for Peace: What America Must Do to End the Israel-Palestine Conflict.
In addition to President Carter, the four men in the film are former Secretary of State James Baker, and two former national security advisors, General Brent Scowcroft and Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski. They are among the most well-known and experienced proponents of the idea that a U.S.-brokered peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is key to a wider peace among Israel and its Arab neighbors."
With an official kidney referral agency as the backdrop, IRANIAN KIDNEY BARGAIN SALE follows young Iranians through the organ trade process: from their first encounter to surgery and kidney removal. A co-production of Hysteria Film AB and the ITVS International Media Development Fund
Iran, its domestic politics and foreign policy
Karim Sadjadpour, Associate, Carneigie Endowment For International Peace, discusses Iran, its domestic politics and foreign policy. Questions addressed include: What are the dynamics of internal politics? What is the role of the Revolutionary Guard? What are Iran's regional goals? What are its goals in Iraq? Can its quest for nuclear weapons be halted? and how should the United States deal with this formidable power in the vital Middle East? From the series, "Conversations with History", University of California, Berkeley
New York Timescolumnist Roger Cohen discusses his recent reporting trip to Iran.
A profile of Mir Hossein Mousavi
The Full Story of Iran's Nuclear Program
Middle East journalist Robert Fisk argues that the U.S. media delivers a "false narrative" about Iran's nuclear ambitions, as they rarely discuss that the West originally supported an Iranian nuclear program. Robert Fisk is Middle East correspondent for the London Independent (independent.co.uk). He has been based in Beirut for more than thirty years and has covered every major war in the Middle East over that period.
Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmed Khatami wants to punish demonstration leaders firmly and without mercy.
Iran Crackdown Secures Streets But Internal Splits Remain
The large numbers of demonstrators first seen on the streets of Tehran to protest the outcome of the presidential election have dwindled in the face of a massive security crackdown as the government maintains its hardline stance against the opposition. But, analysts say the protests have opened fissures in the ranks of Iran's ruling elite. After Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner over reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi in the June 12 elections, the government deployed massive security to put down any protests. Small bands of determined demonstrators upset over alleged electoral fraud still take to the streets, but they are quickly suppressed. On its face, the protests appear to have lost steam. Analyst Karim Sadjapour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says a combination of government intimidation and Tehran's sprawling geography has stymied protesters. "I don't see that it's subsided," said Karim Sadjapour. "In fact, it's probably even increased. But because the regime has prevented people logistically from congregating in large areas en masse, we're seeing pockets of protest in the city of Tehran. And this is much easier for the Basij militia to handle." Abbas Milani, Director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University, says the protests have just hit a temporary lull. "I don't think that we've seen the end of this," said Abbas Milani. "I think the ebb and flow of demonstrations at this stage is as much a tactical move as a reflection of peoples' tiredness. So how the battle will play out, I think we need to wait for the next few days and the next few weeks." But Reva Bhalla of the private intelligence firm Stratfor says opposition protests have also withered because they failed to draw sufficient numbers of people from outside the young, educated urban elite. "What you didn't see was the addition of social groups," said Reva Bhalla. "Where are the bazaari merchants? Where are the labor unions? Where are the more religiously conservative classes - you know, huge segments of the society? And you have to also remember that Ahmadinejad does have very legitimate support amongst many of these social groups. And to say that this is representative of the entire Iranian nation and that this is a mass revolution taking root simply isn't accurate." There have been reports that Mr. Mousavi called for a general strike. But no strike has yet materialized, and it is unclear whether Mr. Mousavi called for one. Analysts say that such a strike would show opposition strength among the merchant class and rattle the government. But they add that it might be a risky strategy, if it fails. Meanwhile, Abbas Milani says Supreme Leader Khamenei has been politically wounded by taking a partisan role. "I think that Khamenei's speech last Friday is the biggest error of his political career," he said. "It might well be the end of his political career. I think for all practical purposes, it is the end of his spiritual leadership role. He might stay in power, but you cannot be a spiritual leader and have your words and commands constantly challenged." Karim Sadjapour says Khamenei is in no mood to compromise for fear that it would be perceived as weakness. "That is Khamenei's long belief, that you never compromise when you're under siege, never compromise when you're being pressured because that's not going to allay the pressure," he said. "That's going to project weakness and invite even more pressure." Analysts say that there is intense political infighting behind the scenes in Tehran, led in large part by President Ahmadinejad's chief rival, former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Abbas Milani says that works to the opposition's advantage - if not today, then in the future. "One of the most necessary preconditions for transition to democracy is a split within the bad guys," said Milani. "That split can be used by the good guys to make this transition possible. Never before has there been such a breach within the pillars of the establishment." Some analysts, particularly in the West, have likened the current demonstrations to the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi. Author and journalist Hooman Majd says many people outside of Iran have misread the protests, seeing them through a Western perspective. "So we like to put that face on what is happening in Iran," said Hooman Majd. "People are standing up to the regime, they're standing up to Ahmadinejad and his rhetoric about Israel, or standing up about his rhetoric about the United States. I don't think that it's that yet. I'm not saying that in the future it cannot become that. But right now, it hasn't been that." Other analysts say that even if there are fissures in Iran's leadership, there is no outward sign that the government is ready to crack.
Fishy vote count + Guile + Tactics: Why Ahmadinejad won
Iran in 1953
A look at the history, culture, and industry of Iran in 1953 following the installment of Shah Reza Pahlavi. A film from the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Understanding Iran's family values
Travel writer Rick Steves claims the perceived notion of anti-American sentiment in Iran is derived from conservative Iranians' attempt to protect their families from Western encroachment. Steves finds says it's ironic that "fear and love" seem to motivate both conservative, small town Iranians and Americans alike. Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/01/26/Rick_Steves...
'Syriana spy' Robert Baer suggets new U.S. approach to Iran
'The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower', by Robert Baer
Caspian Makan, the fiance of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young Iranian woman shot dead last week, tells Al Jazeera of her last moments. "Neda", which is the Farsi word for voice, was allegedly shot dead by a Basij soldier in Tehran last week.
Chaos on Tehran streets as protesters attack and beat Basij
Staff of Tehran's Rasul Akram Hospital protest violence against demonstrators
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