 RFE/RL Iran Report 9/4/2009 5:57:32 PM A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about Iran.For more stories on Iran, please visit and bookmark our Iran page . |
 'For My Soon-To-Be-Born Daughter...' Iranian blogger and reformist journalist Hanif Mazrouei has been in hiding since after the disputed June presidential election. Mazrouei is a member of the Mosharekat party, which has come under fire by authorities who have arrested and put on trial a number of its senior members. More  Iranian Universities Question Students About Protests Independent student websites in Iran report that disciplinary committees in major universities are calling students suspected of participating in postelection protests to appear before them. More  Iran’s State Telecom To Sell 51 Percent Of Stock The state-owned Telecommunication Company of Iran will offer 51 percent of its stock for sale in Tehran’s stock market next week. More Iranian lawmakers were in a joking mood as they convened this week to vote on President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's cabinet appointments, and recordings of some of the remarks that came before state television cut them off have been posted on websites. More  Fears Of A New Cultural Revolution In Iran As university students prepare to return to classes in Iran, recent statements by the country's supreme leader are increasing concerns that a new cultural revolution could be in the offing. Some recognize echoes of the mass purges and curriculum revisions that took place just after the founding of the Islamic Republic 30 years ago. More  Iran's Parliament Approves Most Cabinet Picks Iran's parliament has approved 18 out of 21 nominees in Mahmud Ahmadinejad's proposed cabinet. The vote is seen as a boost to the embattled president, who said his cabinet would deliver a "punch" to Iran's enemies. For the first time in the Islamic republic’s history, a woman was approved as a minister. More  What I Went Through In Those Interrogation Rooms Reformist blogger and journalist Somayeh Tohidlou was released recently after being arrested in the postelection crackdown. In this blog entry, she writes about her time in prison, including her interrogation by a university professor. More  Western Powers Push For Fresh Iran Sanctions Senior diplomats from the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany are meeting in Frankfurt to discuss their options if Iran continues enriching uranium without addressing international concerns that it may be building nuclear weapons. More  Being Unemployed While Others Thrive A blogger known as "Occupation; reporter," who has lost her job following the closure of a reformist daily, asks which people in Iran do have job security? More  Hard-Line Prosecutor Transferred, But Little Changes Iran's judiciary chief has named hard-line Tehran prosecutor Said Mortazavi deputy prosecutor-general, though it's not clear whether his powers will increase in his new post. Mortazavi, who has played a key role in the ongoing mass trail of reformists, has been behind the closures of many pro-reform publications as well as the arrests of activists and intellectuals. More  Turkey’s Energy Hub: Ignore At Your Peril It behooves Western decision makers to fully appreciate Turkey's energy big picture or risk upcoming surprises such as Armenian electricity exports to Turkey and a Russia-dominated Turkish nuclear sector. More  Prosecutor In 1994 Argentina Bombing Implicates Iran RFE/RL's Radio Farda correspondent Mohammad Reza Kazemi interviewed Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor handling the case of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina. The prosecution asserts that the attack, which killed 85 people and wounded 300, can be traced to Hizbullah and Iran. Ahmed Vahidi, recently named to be Iranian defense minister, is alleged to have been involved in planning the attack. More  Secret Overnight Burials? I badgered my mother enough that I made her give in. She made me swear upon my dead father's soul that I would not repeat to anyone what she was about to tell me. She brought in a Koran and asked me to swear upon it. She told me that it was for my own safety that no one should find out. More  Iran's Vice President Blogs From Prison Iran’s former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who was arrested in the postelection crackdown, has updated his blog from prison. More  Iran: Desperately Unwired For such a notoriously wired country (as least among urban youth), Iran certainly has slow download speeds. According to an international Internet speed test website, Iran ranks number 189 among countries in terms of download speed. More  Camping With The Basij Goldokhtar, a member of the Basij force and blogger, writes about her experience attending a Basij camp in the city of Mashhad: More Just a little plug for one of our new blogs at RFE/RL. Persian Letters offers a window onto Iranian life by translating and showcasing the works of Persian-language bloggers. More  Karrubi's Son Talks About Court Appearance The son of reformist cleric and presidential candidate Mehdi Karrubi tells RFE/RL's Radio Farda that he was summoned to court on security charges and for giving interviews to Persian-language media based outside Iran. He also says his father talked to parliament about his allegations that opposition protesters have been raped in detention. More  The Fears Of An Iranian Bank Clerk The taxi that takes me to work every morning was late. Trying to avoid the darting beams of the morning sun, I snuggled under a sycamore tree. It reminded me of a European friend of mine who visited Iran in August 2000 and who insisted on walking in the sun and avoiding the shade. More  Ahmadinejad Calls Outgoing Minister A Peach Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has compared his outgoing health minister, Kamran Lankarani, to a peach you want to eat, a description usually used for a good-looking woman. More A reformist website “Norooznews” has reported that on July 12 and 15, 44 unidentified people who lost their lives in the post-=election violence were buried in unidentified graves at the Behesht Zahra cemetery. More  'I Was Shocked To My Very Insides' It was half an hour later when the patient came out. He told me that he doesn't remember anything at all about what happened, saying it was the effect of rohypnol (commonly called the date-rape drug). I was so shocked that I lost it for a moment and the nurse had to bring me some water. I couldn't believe that such things were happening under this Islamic government. More  Why Aren't They Afraid? Blogger Rezasayyedi wonders why the demonstrators in Iran aren't afraid to keep protesting, despite the harsh reaction they've faced. More  'I Could Die For You, Tupolev!' Blogger Bolfozol writes an ironic ode to the Tupolev airliner, which has featured in a number of recent crashes in Iran. More |
