Human Rights Watch: The confinement of political prisoners in Iran together with violent criminals endangers their lives, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called for the immediate release of all prisoners held for the peaceful expression of political opinions. Six prisoners in Rajaii Shahr prison near Karaj, a suburb of Tehran, launched a hunger strike on January 25 to protest their confinement with dangerous and belligerent criminals who have assaulted and intimidated them. Iran: Political Prisoners Held with Violent Criminals
Human Rights Watch: The confinement of political prisoners in Iran together with violent criminals endangers their lives, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called for the immediate release of all prisoners held for the peaceful expression of political opinions. Six prisoners in Rajaii Shahr prison near Karaj, a suburb of Tehran, launched a hunger strike on January 25 to protest their confinement with dangerous and belligerent criminals who have assaulted and intimidated them. Rice: Iran Cannot Set Its Own Nuclear Terms
Reuters: Iran cannot be permitted to set its own conditions for carrying out a pledge not to develop nuclear weapons, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Tuesday. “We should not let the Iranians continue to create new conditions that have to be fulfilled somehow before they are prepared to live up to their international obligations,” she said after talks with French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier.
Europeans warn Iranians over nuclear fuel cycle work
AFP: Officials from European heavyweights Britain, France and Germany were warning Iran about activities that verge on breaches of a deal to freeze nuclear fuel cycle work in talks that opened Tuesday in Geneva, diplomats said. Britain, France and Germany were “to read the riot act to the Iranians,” a diplomat close to the talks, which is aimed at getting Iran to guarantee that it is not developing nuclear weapons, told AFP. Bush seeks regime change in Iran, but his route is unclear, experts say
AFP: US President George W. Bush has been actively behind “regime change” for Iran, but the route to that end has yet to be defined and the perils are great, US experts said. Bush and his top aides have turned up the volume in their verbal attacks on the Islamic republic, calling it an “outpost of tyranny” and one of the principal backers of international terror, on its way to developing a nuclear weapon. EU, Iran Play Down Chances of Nuclear Breakthrough
Reuters: European and Iranian officials began fresh talks on Tuesday on Western demands Tehran abandon plans tomake nuclear fuel because of fears it could be used for weapons, but neither side expected a breakthrough. “This is a meeting of experts and it is an ongoing process. You should not expect too much,” said one diplomat from a European country involved in the negotiations.
Blair brands Iran a sponsor of terrorism
AFP: British Prime Minister Tony Blair called Iran a state sponsor of terrorism on Tuesday, and urged the Islamic republic to meet EU demands to renounce its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons. “It certainly does sponsor terrorism. There’s no doubt about that at all,” Blair told a parliamentary committee, agreeing with US President George W. Bush’s view of Iran as a leading backer of terrorists. Blair: Iran sponsors terrorism
CNN: British Prime Minister Tony Blair has called Iran a state sponsor of terrorism, and urged the Islamic republic to bow to EU demands to renounce its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons. He also called on Tehran not to hamper peace efforts in the Middle East. Giving evidence to a UK parliamentary committee, Blair was asked if he shared U.S. President George W. Bush’s assessment of Tehran as the “world’s primary state sponsor of terror.” Iran and EU in flat disagreement on nuclear issue ahead of Geneva talks
AFP: Iran and the EU go into talks on Iran’s nuclear program in Geneva Tuesday in flat disagreement over the most crucial point — Tehran’s abandoning uranium enrichment in order to guarantee it is not trying to make atomic weapons. And time is pressing. A European diplomat told AFP that both sides are “complaining about a lack of speed” in reaching an accord. Iran is waiting for incentive rewards, such as entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Iranian mole in Baghdad souq exposed
Iran Focus: Baghdad, Feb. 7 Iran’s notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security has been using a spy ring in Baghdad’s main souq (bazaar) to carry out a range of covert activities, informed sources in the Iraqi capital told Iran Focus. The ring was led by a senior agent code-named Hamdi, an Iraqi of Iranian extraction who owned a shop in Baghdad’s Shurja souq, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Iranian mole in Baghdad souq exposed
Iran Focus: Baghdad, Feb. 7 Iran’s notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security has been using a spy ring in Baghdad’s main souq (bazaar) to carry out a range of covert activities, informed sources in the Iraqi capital told Iran Focus. The ring was led by a senior agent code-named Hamdi, an Iraqi of Iranian extraction who owned a shop in Baghdad’s Shurja souq, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. 