AFP: At least 1,000 Iranians in the holy city of Qom protested Wednesday over desecration of the Koran at the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, even though a story alleging the abuse has been retracted. The demonstrators, mostly
students from Shiite Muslim seminaries, chanted “Death to America” and other anti-US slogans.
Anti-US rally in Iran over alleged Koran desecration
Iran facing real prospect of Security Council referral: diplomats
AFP: The chances of Iran being hauled before the UN Security Council over its suspect nuclear programme have never been stronger, diplomats said ahead of crucial talks in Europe next week. When the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany meet the Islamic republic’s top nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani, the “only thing we will agree upon is that we disagree”, a European diplomat told AFP.
Registering New Influence, Iran Sends a Top Aide to Iraq
New York Times: Wasting little time in registering its new influence in Iraq, Iran sent its foreign minister to Baghdad on Tuesday only 48 hours after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice became the first high-level visitor to hold talks with Iraq’s new Shiite-majority government. The arrival of the Iranian, Kamal Kharrazi, underscored changes in the political landscape that many Iraqis find dizzying: almost 25 years after Iraq and Iran started an eight-year war that left a million people dead, the government in Baghdad is now led by officials with close personal, religious and political ties to Iran’s ruling Shiite ayatollahs.
New bid to break Iran nuke impasse
CNN: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and his counterparts from France and Germany will meet an Iranian delegation next week to try to break the impasse over Tehran’s nuclear program, Straw said Tuesday. “I hope, but I can’t predict, that the negotiations at the beginning of next week will be fruitful,” Straw told reporters at a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Iran sees little hope for deal in nuclear meeting
AFP: Iran said Tuesday it had little hope of reaching an agreement in emergency nuclear talks with Britain, France and Germany, saying the Europeans were hostage to the hardline US position. “There is not a very big chance for an agreement,” nuclear negotiator Cyrus Nasseri told AFP.
Reporters Without Borders calls on the international community to support the Canadian government’s
Reporters Without Borders: Reporters Without Borders congratulates the Canadian government’s decision to limit its’ diplomatic relations with Iranian authorities to back demands for justice in the case of the murdered Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi. “We call upon the international community and especially the European Union, to support Canada’s actions” declared Reporters Without Borders.
Iran: Woman sentenced to stoning, man to execution
Iran Focus: Tehran, May 18 An Iranian woman was sentenced yesterday to death by stoning in Tehran, according to a state-run daily.
The young woman, only identified by her first name Fatemeh, 25 years old, was given two death sentences, for murder and having an affair.
Iran: Woman sentenced to stoning, man to execution
Iran Focus: Tehran, May 18 An Iranian woman was sentenced yesterday to death by stoning in Tehran, according to a state-run daily.
The young woman, only identified by her first name Fatemeh, 25 years old, was given two death sentences, for murder and having an affair.
Minister Pettigrew Announces New Restrictions on Canadas Engagement with Iran
Foreign Affairs Canada: Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew issued the following statement in response to yesterdays court proceedings in Iran: Yesterdays events illustrate once again that the Iranian justice system has neither the capacity nor the will to confront the perpetrators of the brutal murder of Zahra Kazemi. Canada will not accept justice being denied.
Zahra Kazemi supporters protest in Toronto
Canadian Press: About 60 Iranian-Canadians staged a raucous rally outside a downtown courthouse Monday to protest the Iranian government’s handling of the case of slain Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi. Waving Iranian flags and holding Kazemi’s cardboard portrait, the group gathered in front of Toronto’s Old City Hall to protest the Iranian government and its perceived role in the death of Kazemi, who died two years ago while in Iranian custody.
