Reuters: France’s interior minister will sign an expulsion order on Monday for an Iranian national who is serving a life sentence in France for the 1991 murder of Iran’s last prime minister under the Shah, a government source said.Iranian killer to be expelled from France -source
Reuters: France’s interior minister will sign an expulsion order on Monday for an Iranian national who is serving a life sentence in France for the 1991 murder of Iran’s last prime minister under the Shah, a government source said.Officials in Iran, fearing protests, plan state memorial
Iran Focus: Sebzevar, Iran, May 17 – From the Grapevine… The authorities in Iran have established an ad-hoc group called “Headquarters on the Passing of the Imam [Khomeini],” in various provinces in Iran.
Confronting Iran’s executioners
Iran Focus: For the past 30 years, executions have defined the state’s systematic reaction to political dissent in Iran. But, after a series of nationwide protests following last year’s presidential elections, the use of hangings has taken on a vital significance for the regime. Opponents are not merely executed for physical annihilation but also to spread fear among the rest of the population.Calls for June protests in Iran continue
Iran Focus: Tehran, May 17 – From the Grapevine… Political activists on Sunday wrote graffiti on walls in the eastern district of Tehran, Farrah-Abbad, urging residents to participate in demonstrations marking the anniversary of last June’s uprising.Iran shells Kurdish rebels in Iraq: Iraqi Kurd official
AFP: Iranian artillery bombarded parts of northern Iraq’s Kurdish region where Kurdish rebels opposed to Tehran are said to be holed up, an Iraqi Kurdish official said on Sunday.Iraq recount fails to overturn Allawi election win
Reuters: A cross-sectarian coalition led by secularist former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi held its two-seat win in Iraq’s March 7 election after a recount of votes cast in Baghdad, elections officials said Sunday.French researcher home after Iran trial ordeal
AFP: Young French academic Clotilde Reiss flew home from Iran on Sunday, 10 months after she was arrested and accused of spying, as France denied striking a secret deal with Tehran.Essex home raided over Iran dirty bomb threat
The Sunday Times: A British chemicals firm is involved in a secret MI5 inquiry into the illegal export to Iran of material that could make a radioactive “dirty bomb”.
The sleaze factor in Ahmadinejad’s private budget
Iran Focus: Tehran, May 16 – It is an open secret that huge sums of money go missing from the Iranian budget each year, much of it lining the pockets of senior officials and top institutes that back hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, enormous funding has also officially been allocated in the budget to Ahmadinejad’s personal office. The official budget has allocated funds for the following entities and individuals:
Iranian cleric wants creation of ‘Greater Iran’
AP: A radical cleric called Saturday for the creation of a “Greater Iran” that would rule over the entire Middle East and Central Asia, in an event that he said would herald the coming of Islam’s expected messiah.