Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jul. 17 – Iran’s security forces have arrested dozens of Kurds in the town of Bukan, northwest Iran, in clashes that have been going on for three days, residents said. Two of those arrested are believed to be Hassan Amanollah and Kamal Parvizian, according to residents who were reached by telephone.

Iran Focus: Paris, Jul. 17 – Iran paraded its senior officials over the weekend to hammer a tough message to the European Union ahead of the next round of nuclear talks expected to take place in August. Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told the official Iranian news agency in Tehran on Sunday that his government would reject any proposal by the European Union’s trio – Britain, Germany and France – that does not “enshrine uranium enrichment”.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jul. 17 – An Iranian man arrested for taking part in an anti-government demonstration in Tehran on Tuesday died as he was trying to escape from his torturers at a police station, a government source in the Iranian capital told Iran Focus. Ehsan Karavi was arrested during a protest by thousands of people in support of political prisoners outside Tehran University on Tuesday.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jul. 16 – Iran’s new police chief today called on the forces under his command to deal “decisively with criminals” and use live bullets if necessary. “When a policeman is sent on a mission, his mind must be focused entirely on getting the job done”, Brigadier General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said in the first flag-raising ceremony he attended after moving to his new command last week.