Canadian Press: The federal government has pulled out of a coming conference called “Doing Business with Iran” amid Ottawa’s stepped-up calls for justice in the brutal death of Zahra Kazemi. The Iranian-born Canadian citizen died in July 2003, several days after being arrested for taking photos of a demonstration outside a Tehran prison.
Federal government pulls out of Doing Business with Iran conference
Iran’s Khamenei calls for resistance to US plan on Middle East
Xinhua: Iranian Supreme Leader Seyed Ali Khamenei here Wednesday criticized the Greater Middle East plan proposed by the United States, calling on all Muslims to resist it. Khamenei made the call in a meeting with representatives of central banks of the Islamic states, reported the official IRNA news agency.
Iran journalist leader barred from travelling to international conference
AFP: Iran’s hardline judiciary has barred the head of the journalist’s association from travelling to an international conference in the Netherlands, the student news agency ISNA reported Wednesday. Rajab-Ali Mazroui, who is also a reformist former MP, had his passport confiscated, the news agency said.
Probe blames Iran police for Japan game crush deaths
AFP: Iranian security forces have been blamed for the deaths
of seven people in a post-match crush following last month’s World Cup qualifier with Japan, the judiciary was reported as saying Wednesday. “The lack of unified management in the security forces, positioning a (helicopter) in front of the main
60-metre (yard) wide gate… and diverting the spectators to a secondary seven-metre wide gate… are the main reasons for the incident,” Tehran newspapers quoted spokesman Jamal Karimi Rad as saying.
Iranian AG Pastor to Appear Before Sharia Court
Christian Post: An Assemblies of God lay pastor arrested seven months ago with more than 80 other Christian leaders must appear before the Islamic court of Iran within nine days, agencies reported Tuesday.
Iranian Christian Hamid Pourmand, who was arrested last Sept. 9, will be brought up before the Islamic court between Apr. 11 and 14.
Missiles sold to China and Iran
The Washington Times: Members of Ukraine’s intelligence service and two Russians took part in an elaborate plan to sell 20 long-range cruise missiles to China and Iran, according to
a Ukrainian government official. Details of the transfer are outlined in a letter from Hrihory Omelchenko, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian parliamentary committee on organized crime and corruption, to the country’s new president, Viktor Yushchenko.
Defeating misogyny in Iran
American Thinker: Last month, an anti-government riot erupted in Tehran following a soccer match between Iran and Japan. Eye-witnesses reported that the regime used special anti-riot units to crackdown on the 100,000-strong crowd. Young people set tires alight in nearby squares after the match.
Ottawa demands Kazemi investigation
The Globe and Mail: Stung by opposition charges that it has been too soft on Iran, the Martin government launched an aggressive diplomatic push yesterday for a new investigation into the torture, rape and murder of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi by Iranian security forces in 2003.
Rice: Keep eye on Iran, N. Korea
AP: The world might never know precise details about nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea but must not “under-react” because of incomplete intelligence, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview yesterday. Speaking about last week’s scathing report by a presidential commission studying U.S. spy agencies, Rice said she could not guarantee that U.S. intelligence was on the mark now, as the Bush …
Tehran-Paris ties widening?
Reuters: Iran and EU powers have made progress in talks on ensuring Tehran’s nuclear program cannot be used for weapons, Iran’s president said Tuesday, singling out France for special praise.
“I am sure that today we are closer to a settlement, to a solution, than a while ago,” President Mohammad Khatami said after 90 minutes of talks with French President Jacques Chirac.
