Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 15 A radical Islamist cleric based in the holy city of Qom is holding unusual sway over Irans new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the direction of the hard-line government that is about to be installed, according to informed sources in the Iranian capital. Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah Yazdi is an extremist Shiite cleric who is seen as Ahmadinejads ideological mentor. After his victory in the presidential elections, Ahmadinejad travelled to Qom to personally thank the ayatollah for his support.
Irans extremist Shiite cleric finds new clout
U.S. investigates abduction of Iranian dissidents in Iraq
Iran Focus and agencies: London, Aug. 15 – The US military says it is investigating the apparent kidnapping of two Iranian opposition members who disappeared earlier this month in Baghdad and it is demanding their release, the Associated Press reported from Baghdad.
U.S. investigates abduction of Iranian dissidents in Iraq
Iran Focus and agencies: London, Aug. 15 – The US military says it is investigating the apparent kidnapping of two Iranian opposition members who disappeared earlier this month in Baghdad and it is demanding their release, the Associated Press reported from Baghdad.
Iran Says It Won’t Stop Uranium Conversion
AP: Iran will never again suspend conversion of uranium ore, but it is willing to pursue talks with the European Union about
its uranium enrichment program, Tehran officials said Sunday. A spokesman also notched up the rhetorical battle with Washington, declaring that Iranians have the means to defend themselves should President Bush act on his warning that military force could be a final option if Iran doesn’t halt its nuclear program.
Man hanged in central Iran
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 14 An Iranian man was hanged on Sunday morning in front of a crowd at a public square in the city of Arak, central Iran. The man, identified by his first name Mehdi, was 21 years old at the time of his arrest on homicide charges. Another prisoner, identified by his first name Yaghoub, will be hanged in public in Arak in the coming days, according to the government-owned news agency Fars.
Man hanged in central Iran
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 14 An Iranian man was hanged on Sunday morning in front of a crowd at a public square in the city of Arak, central Iran. The man, identified by his first name Mehdi, was 21 years old at the time of his arrest on homicide charges. Another prisoner, identified by his first name Yaghoub, will be hanged in public in Arak in the coming days, according to the government-owned news agency Fars.
Influx of Iranians, weapons, undermining democracy in Iraq: US ambassador
AFP: An influx of Iranians and Iranian weapons is hampering efforts to bring peace and democracy to violence-wracked Iraq, Washington’s ambassador to the country said Sunday. “Weapons and people coming across the border to undermine Iraq must be stopped, and we’re working with the Iraqis, including the prime minister, to make this message clear to the Iranians,” Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told CNN television.
Ahmadinejad Fills Cabinet With Hard-Liners
AP: Iran’s new president named a government Sunday replete with hard-liners in key ministries, nominations seen as likely to insure more confrontation with the West over the country’s nuclear program. None of the 21 ministers in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s proposed Cabinet are known to back democratic reforms. They are seen as followers of Iran’s conservative supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters.
Irans defence chief tied to Beirut bombing of U.S. Marines
Iran Focus: London, Aug. 14 – The nomination of a veteran commander of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as the new defence minister has been greeted with calls for an investigation into his possible ties to the suicide bombing of the U.S. Marines compound in Beirut airport in October 1983, which killed 241 Americans. Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar, a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guards, was in command of the IRGC expeditionary force in Lebanon when on October 23, 1983,
at 6:22 a.m., a suicide bomber drove a large water delivery truck …
Irans new defence minister tied to bombing that killed 241 U.S. Marines
Iran Focus: London, Aug. 14 – The nomination of a veteran commander of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as the new defence minister has been greeted with calls for an investigation into his possible ties to the suicide bombing of the U.S. Marines compound in Beirut airport in October 1983, which killed 241 Americans. Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar, a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guards, was in command of the IRGC expeditionary force in Lebanon when on October 23, 1983,
at 6:22 a.m., a suicide bomber drove a large water delivery truck …
