The Guardian: Four western countries set the scene yesterday for a showdown with Iran by demanding that it freeze its uranium enrichment activities immediately.
The US, Britain, France and Germany agreed on a form of words at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, which threatened tough action in November if Iran remained defiant.
West sets deadline for Iran to freeze uranium enrichment
Nuclear Agency’s Action on Iran Falls Short of U.S. Goal
New York Times: The United States once again failed to persuade the International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday that it should
refer Iran’s suspect nuclear program to the United Nations
Security Council, accepting instead a repetition of calls for the country to stop uranium enrichment activities and clear up remaining questions about its nuclear ambitions.
A resolution making those calls is expected to be approved by
the agency’s 35-member board on Saturday …
Powell says Iran aids Iraqi rebels
New York Times: Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that Iran is “providing support” for the insurgency in Iraq but that the extent of its influence over insurgent forces is not clear.
Most of the insurgency, he said, was “self-generating” and drew support from indigenous sources in Iraq.
Allies at IAEA Meeting Reject U.S. Stand on Iran
Washington Post: The Bush administration failed on Friday to persuade its closest allies and other members of the International Atomic Energy Agency to increase diplomatic pressure on Iran, settling instead on another request that Tehran voluntarily drop its nuclear program.
A draft resolution, likely to be approved by the IAEA’s 35-member board on Saturday, calls on Iran to suspend suspect nuclear work before the board meets again in late November.
Top Iran cleric warns IAEA over setting deadline
Reuters: Iran will take the U.N. nuclear watchdog to the international court of justice if it sets a deadline for the Islamic state to commit to a new freeze on uranium enrichment activities, a top Iranian cleric said on Friday.
Influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani told worshippers at Friday prayers at Tehran University …
U.S. Says Iran Nuke Freeze Offer a Ploy
Reuters: Iran said on Friday it might extend its partial freeze of uranium enrichment in order to ease Western fears about its nuclear ambitions but a U.S. official dismissed this as a ploy to fend off tough U.N. action.
“I don’t reject the possibility … of continuing the suspension for an additional one or two months, but this will be decided by the policymakers,” Hossein Mousavian, Iran’s chief delegate to
the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told Reuters.
Mans fingers amputated: Iran Judiciary
Iran Focus: The head of the public relations office of prisons in Hamedan province (western Iran) announced today that the local Department of Justice had amputed the fingers of a burglar.
The man had alledgedly stolen from 15 different stores.
Mans fingers amputated: Iran Judiciary
Iran Focus: The head of the public relations office of prisons in Hamedan province (western Iran) announced today that the local Department of Justice had amputed the fingers of a burglar.
The man had alledgedly stolen from 15 different stores.
Atefeh Rajabi was 16 when hanged: legal expert
Iran Focus: The lawyer representing the relatives of Atefeh Rajabi, the 16-year-old girl who was hanged last month (Aug. 15th) in the town of Neka, northern Iran, has filed a lawsuit on their behalf. Mr. Shadi Sadr, who was retained to help prove Atefehs innocence, stated that after examining Atefehs documentation he was convinced that she was in fact 16 years old at the time her execution and not 22 as Iranian Judiciary spokespersons had claimed. Judiciary officials have admitted that Atefeh was executed but said she was 22 to justify her hanging.
Atefeh Rajabi was 16 when hanged: legal expert
Iran Focus: The lawyer representing the relatives of Atefeh Rajabi, the 16-year-old girl who was hanged last month (Aug. 15th) in the town of Neka, northern Iran, has filed a lawsuit on their behalf. Mr. Shadi Sadr, who was retained to help prove Atefehs innocence, stated that after examining Atefehs documentation he was convinced that she was in fact 16 years old at the time her execution and not 22 as Iranian Judiciary spokespersons had claimed. Judiciary officials have admitted that Atefeh was executed but said she was 22 to justify her hanging.
