Iran Focus: Tehran, Mar. 07 The ending ceremony of the sixth national student newspaper festival turned into a demonstration yesterday as over 1,000 students from universities across the city of Mashad (northeast Iran) heckled the regime’s Minister of Health, forcing him to flee the event. Students took the podium and jeered the government minister, shouting slogans and demanding the release of political prisoners and an end to the crackdown on students in Iran’s universities. Festival in Iran turns into protest
Iran Focus: Tehran, Mar. 07 The ending ceremony of the sixth national student newspaper festival turned into a demonstration yesterday as over 1,000 students from universities across the city of Mashad (northeast Iran) heckled the regime’s Minister of Health, forcing him to flee the event. Students took the podium and jeered the government minister, shouting slogans and demanding the release of political prisoners and an end to the crackdown on students in Iran’s universities. Enough evidence for concern over Iran’s nuclear ambitions: Rice
AFP: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday there was plenty of reason to be concerned over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, downplaying press reports that US intelligence on Iran was inadequate. “I believe that there is enough evidence that there are problems with Iran’s civilian nuclear power ambitions,” Rice said in an interview with Univision television, the largest Spanish-language network in the United States. EU and Iran flatly disagree as they meet on Iranian nuclear program
AFP: Negotiators from Iran and the European Union met Wednesday in Geneva on Tehran’s nuclear program, with Iran flatly refusing to accede to the Europeans’ key demand that it abandon uranium enrichment, a fuel process which can also make atom bombs. Briton accused of illegal transfer of technology to Iran detained
AFP: Polish police have detained a British citizen of Iranian origin wanted on an international arrest warrant on suspicion of trying to bring an experimental US plane to Iran, authorities said here Wednesday. Ali Asghar Manzarpour “is accused of trying to export to Iran in 2004 an experimental Berkut 360 plane bought in the United States,” Maciej Kujawski, spokesman at the Warsaw prosecutor’s office, told AFP.
U.S. Scholar, Barred by Iran, Suspends Amity Bid
New York Times: An American scholar who was instrumental in getting the head of the Library of Congress invited to Iran for an official conference in November has suspended his own five-year effort to build bridges between the two countries after he and a colleague were turned away at the Tehran airport in separate incidents last month. Feds investigate claim that Iranian detainee was beaten
AP: Federal authorities have launched an investigation into allegations that a guard beat one of four Iranian brothers who have been detained for more than three years at an immigration detention center, authorities said.
US seeks action against Iran after nuclear talks impasse
AFP: The United States called on the international community Tuesday to consider possible actions against Iran following its reluctance in talks with the European Union to drop its sensitive nuclear activities. The State Department said the only way for Iran to address concerns over its nuclear program was to agree to a permanent halt in uranium enrichment — a fuel process which can assist in the operation of nuclear power stations but also produces material for nuclear weapons. Imprisoned Iranian Pastor may Face Death Penalty
Christian Today: A military court in Iran has sentenced Christian pastor Hamid Pourmand to jail for three years and has ordered his immediate transfer to a group prison cell in Tehrans notorious Evin Prison a move denounced by international Christian human rights groups. According to Compass Direct, the former army colonel and Assemblies of God lay pastor, who was arrested last September and detained in unknown location, was charged with deceiving the Iranian armed forces about his religion.
Iran Tells EU to Back Down as Nuclear Talks Resume
Reuters: Iranian officials Tuesday threatened to break off negotiations with France, Britain and Germany if the three European Union heavyweights continue to insist that Tehran abandon all sensitive atomic activities. European officials began a new round of talks with Iranian negotiators in Geneva aimed at working out a permanent resolution to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, which Washington says is a front to build atomic weapons. Iran and EU resume crucial nuclear talks
AFP: Negotiators from Iran and the European Union resumed key technical talks Tuesday in the Swiss city of Geneva on Iran’s controversial nuclear policy, a source close to the talks said. The confidential talks, involving diplomats and experts from Britain, France and Germany, as well as Iran, are due to last three days, the diplomat added. 