AFP: Fierce clashes broke out Sunday between Shiite militants and Iraqi police in the restive province of Diyala in which at least seven people were killed, a local police officer said.
Seven killed as Shiite militants clash with Iraqi police
Iran high on Cheney’s Mideast agenda
AP: High gasoline prices and prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal headline Vice President Dick Cheney’s trip to the Mideast, but fears about Iran’s rising influence will be a key topic of his private talks at each stop.
Iran shuts down 9 magazines
AP: Iran’s Culture Ministry on Sunday announced the closure of nine cinema and lifestyle magazines for publishing pictures and stories about the life of “corrupt” foreign film stars and promoting “superstitions.”
Hardline critics scoop up votes as rivals are barred
The Observer: Religious conservatives in Iran – who had been guaranteed a strong showing in the country’s new parliament following the barring of many Reformist candidates from standing in Friday’s elections – appeared last night to have secured up to 70 per cent of seats.
Iran’s young women find private path to freedom
The Observer: A headscarf pushed back to show off a new haircut, a tight jacket worn over traditional dress, expensive make-up … the challenge to the hardline clerics is taking place in bars and cafes, not in the polling booth, as the youth of Tehran push the boundaries of self-expression.
Iran celebrates election by ending nuclear talks
Sunday Telegraph: Hardliners in the Iranian regime celebrated victory in parliamentary elections by toughening their stance against the West, firmly rejecting any possibility of talks over the countrys controversial nuclear programme.
Brothel shame of moral enforcer
Sunday Times: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads moral enforcer, who led a crackdown on women failing to adhere to Irans strict Islamic dress codes, has been arrested in a Tehran brothel, it was reported last week.
Irans hardliners surge ahead in poll
Sunday Times: The hardline supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the firebrand Iranian president, appeared to be heading for victory in parliamentary elections last night, despite earlier predictions that more pragmatic conservatives who favour a less confrontational approach to the West might triumph.
Scotland would be far better friend to us than England, says Rasoul Movahedian
The Times: A suggestion by the Iranian Ambassador to Britain that his country should foster closer links with Scotland than with England was treated with a mixture of bemusement and horror by Scottish politicians yesterday.
Desire for change unlikely to show
The Times: In an almost deserted polling station in north Tehran yesterday The Times asked the woman in charge how many people had voted. She passed the question to another official. One hundred and thirty-five, he replied in Farsi. The woman turned back to us. More than 300, she said in English.
