Iran Focus: Berlin, Jul. 20 – A diplomatic spat between Tehran and Berlin over the new ultra-conservative President-elect’s alleged involvement in terrorism became more acrimonious
on Wednesday, as Berlin responded to the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s charges that it was playing a role “in a Zionist conspiracy against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran – Jul. 20 – The appointment of Ali Larijani as the new secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the country’s top decision-making body on security-related issues, has been confirmed by the cabinet selection committee, an influential daily reported on Wednesday.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jul. 20 – Members of Iran’s parliament from the north-eastern city of Mashad, where a minor and an 18-year-old man were publicly hanged yesterday, vented their anger on Wednesday on foreign and domestic news outlets for reporting the ages of hanged prisoners. Ultra-conservative deputy Ali Asgari said that the two deserved to be hanged in public, adding, “Whatever sentence is decreed by an Islamic penal system must be approved, unless proven otherwise”.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jul. 20 – A Tehran district mayor’s decision to destroy makeshift accommodation in a shanty
town on the outskirts of the capital led to pitch battles between government agents and residents on Tuesday. Armed troops
of the State Security Forces and agents of the local city council moved into the impoverished district of Qiyam-Dasht in the suburbs of Tehran to arrest construction workers putting up buildings for homeless residents.

Iran Focus: Paris, Jul. 20 – A state-owned newspaper accused Iran’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and the wife of jailed journalist Akbar Ganji of being part of a foreign-backed conspiracy to compel him to starve himself to death in a bid to embarrass the clerical regime. The daily Kayhan also pointed the finger at President George W. Bush and the U.S. administration for being involved in the “plot”.