Iran Focus: Thousands of Iranians will be heading to Brussels from across Europe on Monday, September 13, to take part in a huge rally outside the offices of the European Union as EU foreign ministers meet inside, Iranian exiles said.
The rally is being organized by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a coalition of democratic opposition groups seeking to topple the theocratic regime in
Iran and establish a democratically-elected government in its place.
Thousands of Iranians to Rally in Brussels to Demand Removal of Terror Tag
Iranian influence in Iraq essential – Khamenei
Iran Focus: In a meeting with university lecturers and students, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged young people in Iraq to continue their struggle against U.S. forces in Najaf.
He said that Iran is a “source of hope for the world due to its confrontational position” towards the United States. Khamenei urged Iraqis to follow Irans example of achieving an Islamic Republic.
Iran lambasts Canada’s “crocodile tears” for dead photographer
AFP: Iran again hit out at Canada for complaining about the murder in custody here of Canadian-Iranian photographer Zahra Kazemi, saying Ottawa was only crying “crocodile tears”.
“We are confounded by him and his statements,” foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said of Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew.
In recent weeks Pettigrew has upped his tone against Iran.
Armed men beat Iran TV crew in Iraq, take cameras
Reuters – Armed men beat up an Iranian state television camera crew in Iraq and took their equipment, Iranian state radio reported on Sunday, as relations sour between the neighbours who fought a bitter 1980-88 war.
It was unclear whether the assailants belonged to a particular faction, but Iranian state radio reported their equipment had been “confiscated” rather than stolen.
Iraq rejects Iranian assistance
UPI: Iraqi government officials said Sunday they have rejected an Iranian offer to rebuild destroyed sections of Shiite shrines in Najaf and Karbala.
Shiite Property Department Spokesman Salah Abdul Razzaq said the government refused the offer to protest Iran’s role in recent clashes in Najaf.
Iraqis hope to break backbone of insurgency in restive province
AFP: BAQUBA, Iraq, Sept 5 – Iraqi and US officials say they are close to defeating the deadly foreign fighter networks, Iranian spies and Iraqi resistance that make up the backbone of the insurgency in the eastern province of Diyala.
Iran court sentences 16-year-old boy to death
Iran Focus: Karaj, Aug 31 A court here has sentenced a 16-year-old boy to death on charges of drug trafficking.
Feiz Mohammad, who is from neighboring Afghanistan, was tried and sentenced to death by a judge in Branch 122 of the Special Juvenile Court of Karaj, 40 kilometers west of the capital, Tehran.
Mohammad was accused of stealing seven kilograms of pure morphine from his employer, a ranch owner, and giving it to a group of Afghan immigrants distributing drugs. He faced no other charges.
Violence, poverty and abuse led girl, 16, to gallows
Iran Focus: Neka (northern Iran), Aug 31 The orphaned 16-year-old girl hanged in front of residents in this town close to the Caspian Sea on August 15 suffered years of brutal violence, exploitation and torture in the hands of relatives, local officials and plain strangers, and in a country where girls are the most vulnerable members of society, she had no one to go to for help.
The tragic picture emerges from dozens of interviews conducted by an Iran Focus correspondent with Atefeh Rajabis classmates, friends, relatives and neighbors in this humid, overcrowded industrial town that sits on a busy highway linking Tehran with the north of the country.
Iran arrests dozens for espionage, nuke leaks
Iran Focus: Iran has arrested dozens of spies including several who leaked the Islamic Republics nuclear secrets, Minister of Intelligence and Security Ali Younessi said on Tuesday.
“The Information Ministry has arrested several spies who were carrying Irans nuclear information [out of the country”>,” he told reporters during a news conference in the Iranian capital.
China admits to nuclear cooperation with Iran
Iran Focus: China today for the first time admitted to having cooperated with the Tehran regime on its nuclear program.
Zhang Huazhu, the Chinese deputy minister in charge of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, acknowledged that in the period between the late 1980s and early 1990s China cooperated with Iran in developing nuclear technology.
