Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 07 Irans State Security Forces and agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security have been on heightened alert on Sunday in the Kurdish town of Bukan, northwest Iran, following a general strike in the central bazaar and in many shops, residents reported. The general strike was in protest to authorities violent crackdown on the restive Kurdish population in western Iran. Over the past month, there have been continuous anti-government protests in Irans Kurdish region.
Security tight at Kurdish town on strike in Iran
Iran unconcerned about Security Council referral
Reuters: Iran on Sunday reiterated plans to resume uranium conversion this week and said it was unconcerned about referral of its nuclear case to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. “Although we think referral of Iran’s case
to the Security Council would be unlawful and politically motivated, if one day they refer Iran’s case…we won’t be
worried in the least,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi.
EU won’t intimidate us over uranium, says Iranian leader
Sunday Telegraph: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed that Iran would not be intimidated by the West over its nuclear
ambitions as he was formally sworn in as the country’s president yesterday. Hopes of finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis were dashed when Iran rejected a European Union package of incentives in return for scrapping its uranium enrichment programme.
France urges Iran to study EU proposals carefully
Reuters: French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy urged Iran on Saturday to study carefully the European Union’s offer
of incentives in return for a suspension of its nuclear fuel work, after Tehran rejected the offer. “Faced with the first, negative reactions from Iran, I urge its leaders to give themselves the time to examine these proposals with care,” Douste-Blazy told Le Journal du Dimanche in an early release of an interview to run on Sunday.
Iraqi Kurds rally to support Iranian brethren
AFP: More than 400 Iraqi Kurds gathered Saturday to protest recent clashes in neighbouring Iran’s northwest Kurdish region as police opened fire to disperse the crowd, an AFP correspondent reported. Carrying anti-Iran banners and shouting slogans condemning the Islamic republic, the demonstrators gathered in the centre of the northern Kurdish town of Suleimaniyah, 330 kilometers (205 miles) north of Baghdad.
Paramilitary vigilantes given police role in Iran
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 06 The head of police in the province of Isfahan, central Iran, said in a gathering on
Saturday that members of the Bassij, paramilitary vigilantes loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were authorised to assist the police in cracking down on dissent.
Paramilitary vigilantes given police role in Iran
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 06 The head of police in the province of Isfahan, central Iran, said in a gathering on
Saturday that members of the Bassij, paramilitary vigilantes loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were authorised to assist the police in cracking down on dissent.
New president warns Iran will not submit to other nations
AFP: New President Mahmood Ahmadinejad said Iran
would respect international regulations but would not accept “submission” to any other nation, as he took the oath of office
before parliament Saturday.
“We will not accept anything that violates our nation’s rights, it’s
an inviolable principle of our policies,” said the hardliner who takes over as head of state amid an intensifying stand-off with the international community over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iran Rejects EU’s Civil Nuclear Proposal
AP: Iran on Saturday rejected Europe’s proposal for ending the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program, calling it “unacceptable” and not up to Tehran’s “minimum expectations.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said the government would send its official rejection to the Europeans within days.
Iran swears in hardline president
BBC: Iran’s new ultra-conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been sworn in at a ceremony in parliament in Tehran. The ex-Tehran mayor succeeds the pro-reform Mohammad Khatami, who held office for eight years. Correspondents say that with the new president in office, hardliners now control all institutions of power and the reform period is over.
