 RFE/RL Iran Report 19.05.2009 A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about Iran.For more stories on Iran, please visit and bookmark our Iran page . |
 Ahmadinejad Accused Of Trying To Buy Votes Again Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has been accused of handing out cash in order to buy votes ahead of the June 12 presidential election. More  Iran's Vetters Prepare To Lower The Boom What do a truck driver, a dentist, an unemployed woman, and a 12-year-old schoolboy have in common? They're all among the 475 people who want to compete in Iran's upcoming presidential election. They're also all equally doomed to failure. More Inspired by The Atlantic's mock "World Leaders" Facebook group, RFE/RL presents a Facebook-style summary of last week's events. More  Iranian Reformist Paper Shut Down After One Day Six years after it was shut down, Iran’s reformist “Yas No” newspaper reappeared on newsstands. Its writers and editors hoped the opposition publication would give a boost to reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Musavi in the upcoming election. Few expected that it would survive just one day before being banned again. More  Foreign-Born Stars Force Native Acts Offstage This year's Eurovision contest saw a number of nations turning away from homegrown artists in favor of foreign-born stars with broader appeal. More  IAEA Chief Warns Of Possible New Proliferation Wave The head of the UN nuclear watchdog has warned that 10-20 countries could soon develop the capacity to build nuclear weapons. Muhammad el-Baradei said the only way to prevent the number of nuclear-capable states from doubling or even tripling is for established nuclear powers to disarm as quickly as possible and pass internationally agreed bans on nuclear tests and the production of weapons-grade fissile material. More  Film Co-Scripted By Saberi Screened In Cannes A film co-scripted by Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi and directed by her fiance, Iranian-Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi, was screened in the "Un Certain Regard" section of the Cannes Film Festival today. More  Arrests Over The Oranges In Iran Iran’s Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei has said that the people responsible for importing oranges with Israeli stickers have been detained. More Advocates of hymenoplasty (hymen repair), which is said to be widespread in Iran, receive backing from a grand ayatollah in Qom. More  Musavi Wins Iran's Presidential Election...In A University Mir Hossein Musavi, Iran's former prime minister who is close to the reformist camp, has gained the majority of votes in a symbolic election that was held earlier this week at Tehran University. More  'Enemy Agent' Satirizes Iran From Exile Ebrahim Nabavi says that while he wasn't planning on becoming a satirist -- or "enemy agent," as he is inclined to quip -- it was an inevitable path for him. He's set his sights squarely on Iran's presidential elections. More  Global Vigils Held For AIDS Doctors Imprisoned In Iran On May 12, a global vigil was held for Arash and Kamiar Alaei, two internationally known AIDS prevention experts who have been imprisoned in Iran since June 2008. More  12-Year-Old Runs For Iranian Presidency A 12-year-old boy is running for Iran's presidency, and despite his age he has already honed his anti-Israel platform. More  Lessons To Take From Saberi's Release With Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi released yesterday from an Iranian prison, Huffington Post blogger Sam Sedaei lists the lessons the United States should take from the whole affair: More Roxana Saberi And International Politics Iran's reduction of Roxana Saberi's sentence and her release from Evin prison have been widely welcomed, but questions remain over how her detention on a petty charge evolved into a spying charge and an eight-year sentence. We look at the case and the role international politics may have played. More  EU Agrees Deal On Southern Energy Links The European Union has agreed on joint goals with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and Egypt as it seeks to develop routes for gas supplies bypassing Russia, which currently supplies a quarter of all the natural gas and oil burned in the bloc. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, however, did not sign the summit's final declaration. More |
