Iran Focus: Tehran, Dec. 23 – A 15-year-old girl who ran away from home because of being forcefully married to a man twice her age was arrested and is currently in a juvenile correctional facility in Tehran. The girl, who is of Afghan origin, ran away from home after she was sold by her father to another 30-year-old Afghan man for 50 million rials (the equivalent of $5,000).
Runaway teenage girl sold to man twice her age serves prison time
British PM vows to be watchful of Iran
Reuters: British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Europe was “not naive” about Iran’s nuclear plans and would ensure Tehran fulfils an obligation to freeze work that could lead to making nuclear weapons. Blair spoke on Israeli television yesterday after a daylong visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories to help revive peace efforts after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s death Nov. 11.
Malteser help traumatised children
Malteser Germany: People in Bam are still suffering from the aftermath of the disastrous earthquake that struck the town one year ago. Peter Staudacher, Malteser programme coordinator in Bam states that children in particular remain traumatised. Many lost either one or both parents over night and, in addition, had to realise that their playmates and friends and are no longer alive.
Dam is threat to Iran’s heritage
The Guardian: More than 100 of Iran’s potentially most important but least examined archaeological sites, including fringes of Pasargadae, the city built by King Cyrus the Great, will be flooded in the next two years according to the UN, which appealed yesterday to international scientists to try to record what they can.
Tehran confirms woman’s death sentence
The Guardian: Iran yesterday confirmed that a court has sentenced a 21-year-old woman to death for prostitution, but denied reports that she had a mental age of eight. Leyla Mafi was sentenced to death more than a year ago for having illegal sex. The sentence is being reviewed by the supreme court. Hanging is the usual form of execution in Iran.
Slow rebuilding of earthquake hit Iranian city brings complaints, treasure
AFP: Reconstruction of Bam a year after the Iranian city was hit by a devastating earthquake is progressing slowly, with the historic citadel looking like it’s been hit by heavy artillery and thousands of people still living in makeshift housing.
Iran: Woman sentenced to be buried up to chest and stoned to death
Amnesty International: An Iranian woman facing execution by stoning for adultery is believed to still be alive, even though the sentence was reportedly due to have been carried out on Tuesday 21 December. Hajieh Esmailvands death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court last month. Her unnamed co-defendant is at risk of imminent execution by hanging.
Iran closes Iraq border for security
UPI: Iran closed its border with Iraq Wednesday and banned its citizens from traveling to the war-torn country where the Shiites’
holiest shrines are.
The Iranian News Agency, IRNA, quoted an official statement as saying the border closure and the travel ban were dictated by the deteriorating security situation in Iraq.
2 antique smugglers sentenced to death in Iran
Iran Focus: Tehran, Dec. 22 Two antique smugglers had
their death sentences upheld yesterday by an Islamic revolutionary court in the southern town of Jiroft.
The religious judge, Dadkhoda Sallari, also ordered the confiscation and sale of their personal property to cover the cost of trial.
Iran’s air force ready to defend nuclear sites: army chief
AFP: The Iranian military led by the air force has been ordered to stand ready to defend the country’s nuclear sites in case of attack, army chief General Mohammad Salimi said Wednesday. “The air force has been ordered to protect the nuclear sites, using all its power,” Salimi said, quoted by the government daily Iran.
