Irish Times: When Iranian officials were drawing up plans for the country’s foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki to visit Ireland, they never expected that the trip would make headlines for very different reasons to what they had intended.
Iran security’s actions on visit spur concerns
Heavy police presence in central Tehran
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 12 – Units of the State Security Force (SSF) and anti-riot guards are being deployed in the capital’s central areas, including Vali Asr, Enqelab, Azadi, Haft-e Tir and Ferdowsi squares.
Iran to start building new nuclear site by March
AP: Iran’s nuclear chief says his country will begin construction of a new uranium enrichment plant by March of next year, a defiant announcement days after the U.N. approved tougher sanctions.
Neda’s parents had rebuffed Ahmadinejad bribe offer
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 12 – From the Grapevine… Reports from Tehran indicate that following the fortieth day of Neda Agha Soltan’s murder last year, hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent two emissaries to her parent’s home with flowers and pastries.
Germany probes Russian shipments to Iran
Wall Street Journal: German prosecutors are investigating whether Russia’s main nuclear exporter broke European rules by routing Iran-bound cargo through Europe—an incident that diplomats say turned into a major battleground as world powers hashed out international sanctions against Iran.
In brief: Protests across Iran
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 12 – A collection of reports from Tehran, Isfahan and Qazvin:
Across Iran, anger lies behind face of calm
New York Times: A young woman who worked for years as a volunteer helping disabled people said she now saw her volunteerism as a “tool of resistance” because it highlights a failure of the state to provide adequate care.
‘Death to the dictator’ chanted in central Iran city
Iran Focus: Isfahan, Jun. 11 – Residents of Isfahan chanted “death to the dictator” and “[Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei is a murder, his velayat (rule) is null and void” from their rooftops on Friday at 22:00 local time in Nazar Sharqi, Towhid and Shariati streets.
