Friday , 29 March 2024

Monthly Archives: May 2017

In Second Iranian Presidential Debate, Conservatives Accuse Rohani Of Failing To Cash In On Nuclear Deal

RFL/RE – The six approved candidates in Iran’s presidential election came together in Tehran on May 5 for the second of three live debates on state TV. Source: Shakheh Sabz daily Iranian President Hassan Rohani came under criticism from his main conservative rivals during a live televised presidential election debate on May 5 — a debate focusing on politics and culture. Rohani’s …

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Iran’s President Rouhani Government Touts Amendment Blocking Police From Unilaterally Stopping Music Concerts

CHRI – Effectiveness of Legal Measure Remains Unclear cartoon by Mohsen Zarifian, Ghanoon daily The government of President Hassan Rouhani has announced the passage of a new amendment intended to block police from preventing sanctioned music concerts without a court order. The Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry announced on May 3, 2017 that based on the now revised Public Areas Administrative Regulations, a prosecutor’s order is required …

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Prominent Iranian Political Activist Faezeh Hashemi Barred From Speaking at Rouhani Campaign Event

CHRI – Speeches by reformist politicians and supporters of incumbent president Hassan Rouhani have been cancelled ahead of the May 19, 2017 presidential election, including two by former member of Parliament Faezeh Hashemi. Faezeh Hashemi Hashemi, an outspoken political activist and the daughter of the late former President Akbar Hashemi Rafasanjani, was prevented from speaking at the opening of Rouhani’s campaign office in Arak, …

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British grandfather begins seventh year in notorious Iran jail

telegraph -A British-Iranian grandfather will be entering his seventh year in prison for alleged espionage charges in Iran, his family said. Kamal Foroughi, a 77-year-old oil and gas company consultant, was detained in 2011 before being convicted of espionage and possessing alcohol two years later. Friday marks six years since the detention of Mr Foroughi, who strenuously maintains his innocence. The …

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Russia Says Syria Safe Zones To Be Closed To U.S. Aircraft

RFL/RE – A Russian diplomat has emphasized that safe zones that would be established in Syria under a deal reached by Russia, Turkey, and Iran would be closed to warplanes of the U.S.-led coalition. Russia’s chef representative at peace talks in Kazakhstan sponsored by those countries, Aleksandr Lavrentyev, spoke in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on May 5, a day after …

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Court Orders Iran’s Press TV To Pay $435,000 In Libel Damages To British MP

RFL/RE – A London court has ordered Iran’s state-run Press TV to pay 338,000 pounds ($435,000) in libel damages to a member of the British Parliament. The court ruled the Iran TV channel had falsely accused Conservative lawmaker Nadhim Zahawi in a July 2015 report of facilitating oil trades for the Islamic State (IS) militant group with Israel and European …

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Iran Reformists to Back Rouhani Re-election; Some Voters Grow Cool

VOA — Iran’s main pro-reform opposition leaders plan to speak out from their confinement under house arrest this month to publicly back President Hassan Rouhani for re-election, aides say, helping win over voters disillusioned with the slow pace of change. Rouhani was elected in a landslide in 2013 on promises to ease Iran’s international isolation and open up society. He …

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An Interview with Scholar and Historian Ervand Abrahamian on the Islamic Republic’s “Greatest Crime”

CHRI – Presidential Hopeful Ebrahim Raisi Served on Committee That Ordered Executions of Thousands The executions of thousands of political prisoners in Iran in 1988 has received renewed attention due to the presidential election coming up on May 19, in which one of the candidates—Ebrahim Raisi—was a member of the committee that ordered the killings. The “Death Committee,” as it …

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Former Tehran mayor under fire for criticism of Syria war

Al-monitor – Former Tehran Mayor and head of the Reformist Executives of Construction Party Gholam Hossein Karbaschi is under fire for doing what few of Iran’s active or former politicians or even journalists do: criticize Iran’s approach to the seven-year Syrian civil war. During an April 29 speech in Esfahan province in support of President Hassan Rouhani’s re-election campaign, Karbaschi said, “We too want peace …

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‘National dialogue’ initiative indicates shifting political sands in Iran

Al-monitor  — Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and prominent Reformist lawmaker Mohammad Reza Aref have reached a consensus on setting up a committee to do preparatory work for what has been dubbed the National Dialogue Plan. The initiative has been discussed in recent months by members of the Hope (Omid) faction, a Reformist parliamentary bloc led by Aref. AUTHOR Ehsan Bodaghi As its running theme, …

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