AFP: Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of Iran’s ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was freed on Sunday after being arrested briefly in Tehran as police deployed to prevent protests, Fars news agency reported.
Iran ex-president’s daughter freed after brief arrest
US must be removed from Islamic world: Khamenei
AFP: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday called on Muslims to “remove” the United States from the Islamic world.
Ex-US officials call for lifting of terror label
AP: Former top-ranking U.S. officials are urging the Obama administration to take an Iranian dissident group off its list of terrorist organizations, saying the move would raise pressure on Tehran at a time when authoritarian regimes are tottering across the Middle East.
Hundreds of thousands protest in Iran cities despite heavy crackdown
Iran Focus: Tehran, Feb. 20 – Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protestors rallied on Sunday in various parts of Tehran and other major Iranian cities, despite the deployment of thousands of security forces, plainclothes officers and members of the paramilitary Bassij militia throughout the country.
Iran naval ships to cross Suez Canal on Monday
Reuters: Two Iranian naval ships will sail through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean on Monday, a Suez Canal official said, in what will be the first passage of Iranian naval ships through the canal since 1979.
Freed German reporters preparing to leave Iran
AFP: Two German reporters arrested for interviewing the son and lawyer of a woman sentenced to death by stoning were preparing on Saturday to return home after being freed with a $50,000 fine, state media announced.
Iran revokes prison sentences against German journalists
CNN: Two German journalists have been released from prison after being charged with espionage in Iran for interviewing the son and lawyer of a woman condemned to die by stoning, a spokesman for Germany’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Saturday.
Egypt allows Iran warships to transit Suez: Mena
AFP: Egypt gave permission on Friday for Iranian warships to transit the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, state media reported, after Israel described the move as a “provocation.”
Iran seeks to upgrade nuclear technology
Wall Street Journal: Iran is redoubling its efforts to enrich uranium by upgrading the equipment at its nuclear facilities, after its enrichment program was severely disrupted by a computer virus, according to diplomats familiar with a new assessment by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Sanctions hit Iran’s NITC ship insurance cover
Reuters: Iran’s biggest crude oil tanker operator NITC said on Friday its ship insurers had declined to renew policy cover for the coming year due to the impact of tightening sanctions in the European Union.
