Iran: Letter from Jailed Blogger Details “Blue Sky of Pain”
Region: IranWritten by Fred Petrossian Dr. Mehdi Khazali [1], a jailed Iranian blogger, publisher and government critic, wrote [2] a letter this month from prison describing a “blue sky of pain” of his first-hand experience with the injustice of jails in Iran where prisoners face torture and arbitrary death sentences. Khazali's daughter (see photo) and wife were briefly arrested too. Mehdi... more
Views: 981Iran: Jailed Islamic Cleric and Blogger on Hunger Strike
Region: Iran
Written by Fred Petrossian In the last 33 years since the Islamic Revolution, Iran has been a kind of paradise for Islamic clerics who gained power and rule over the country. But not for all of them. Mohammad Sadegh (Arash) Honarvar Shojayi, a cleric and a blogger is one who is currently sharing the pain of imprisonment for his ideas and writings along with many other prisoners. Has the Islamic Republic d... more
Views: 973Satanism Is Growing Among Iranian Youth
Region: Iran
Dan Wooding writing for ASSIST News Service www.assistnews.net reported that a recent survey reveals seventy factions of Satanism are active in Iran and these Satanist groups have attracted around two thousand members in some cities in the country. According to Wooding the survey was revealed in a story published by Mohabat News (http://mohabatnews.com), the Ir... more
Views: 2087In Iran, Summer Heat Gives Way to Crackdowns on “Improper” Clothing
Region: Iran
Written by Fred Petrossian A photo from the semi-official Iranian news agency FARS of a woman being reprimanded for her attire. In many places, summer means sun, sea and holidays. In Iran, summer means at least one more thing: crackdowns on improper or “un-Islamic” clothing. This year, traffic police in Iran have been helping to enforce the dress code, and the crackdown ... more
Views: 2370Iranian Politician Says “Escort” not Detention
Region: IranTEHRAN, IRAN--- In an interview with the Italian newspaper, il Manifesto,Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said that the opposition leaders Mousavi and Karroubi are not under house arrest. Boroujerdi maintained that the two are “under escort” because” they... have committed certain illegal acts such as organizing protests without a p... more
Views: 1832Iranian Diplomat Resigns—More Protests on the Way
Region: IranTEHRAN, IRAN—A group of Iranian expatriates have joined forces with the Green Movement in order to facilitate communication among the group’s members amid fierce government control of internet inside Iran. According to an opposition website, the group is contemplating their next move and are planning additional public protests against the cleric led government. Ardeshir Amir Arjemand, a spoksperso... more
Views: 2429Iranian Refinery Workers on Strike
Region: IranTEHRAN, IRAN—The workers at one Iran’s largest refineries have been on strike since last Monday when the opposition movement called for a nationwide day of protest to show solidarity with people in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East. Abadan's oil refinery is the largest refinery in Iran. The striking workers announced they have not been paid by the contractor engaged to by the government to com... more
Views: 2271Another Day of Unrest in Iran
Region: IranTEHRAN, IRAN— Today, a new round of public protests were held in several Iranian cities. The supporters of the opposition group, Green Movement, took to the streets in the capitol city of Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, and Rasht. In the Kurdish city of Mahabad, the opposition groups clashed with the security forces and scorched a truck belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. According to unconfirme... more
Views: 1822Eye Witness Account of Monday’s Rally in Iran
Region: IranTEHRAN, IRAN--- The website, Persian Letters, has published a letter that purports to be an on the scene account of Monday’s rally explained through the eyes of an observer. The entire letter is reproduced below: “We went to the Enghelab square at around 2. I was with two other friends. There were many people. More than we expected. We never thought so many people would come. It was as if with each... more
Views: 1456Iran’s Islamic Republic Demeaning to Women
Region: IranTEHRAN, IRAN--- Since the 1979 revolution in Iran, the status of women has been on a steady decline. In the cleric led Islamic Republic, women are not valued as equal to men. They earn less than men, have fewer rights under the Islamic law, and need permission from their husbands or fathers to leave the country or apply for a passport. Even in Islamic courts, the testimony of a woman is viewed as being less tha... more
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