 RFE/RL Iran Report 3/25/2010 8:44:27 PM A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about Iran. For more stories on Iran, please visit and bookmark our Iran page . |
| Googoosh Draws Thousands Of Iranians In Dubai Famed Iranian pop star Googoosh drew a crowd of over 5,000, most of them Iranians, at a concert in Dubai on March 23, with attendees spending anywhere from $100 to $800 per ticket. (Full disclosure: the concert was sponsored in part by RFE/RL's Radio Farda.) More  Iran Considers Cutting Subsidies, But At What Cost? A recent pronouncement by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appears to have settled a long-standing row between President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's government and parliament on how to reduce and gradually eliminate government subsidies of basic goods and services. More  Controversy Continues Over Neda Fiance Israel Trip More  Iranian Filmmakers Demand Release Of Famed Colleague A group of Iranian film directors and artists has written an open letter to the government demanding the "unconditional release" of prize-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi. More NATO-member Turkey has rebuffed calls from ally the United States to support more sanctions against Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, saying diplomacy should be given more chance. More  LUKoil Withdraws From Iran Project Russia's LUKoil has announced its withdrawal from an oil project in Iran because of U.S. sanctions against Tehran, according to Interfax news agency. More  Trip To Israel By Neda's 'Fiance' Causes Controversy The visit by an Iranian, Caspian Makan, who claims to be the fiance of Neda Agha Soltan, to Israel has been condemned by some Iranian bloggers and opposition members who believe the trip could damage the opposition movement. More  New U.S. Warning On Travel To Iran The Obama administration has warned U.S. citizens about traveling to Iran, saying they could face hostility, harassment, or arrest by Iranian authorities. More  Russia, China 'Push Iran' On Nuke Stance Russia and China are reported to have made clear to the Iranian government that they want Tehran to change its approach to the nuclear issue. More  France Has 'No Choice' On Iran Sanctions French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has warned there is "no other choice" but to impose fresh sanctions on Iran. More  Rafsanjani Grandson Out On Bail Iran has released a grandson of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani after he expressed "regret" for taking part in postelection protests, according to a semiofficial news agency. More  Iran Detainees' Families 'Kept Away' The mother of a jailed Iranian activist says families were banned from celebrating the Persian New Year outside the notorious Tehran prison where their relatives are being held. More  EU Appeals For End To Iran Jamming EU foreign ministers have called on Iran to end its jamming of outside media and other censorship, but failed to agree on concrete measures. More  Outcry In Kabul Over Afghans On Death Row In Iran Afghan lawmakers claim that some 3,000 Afghans await execution in neighboring Iran. The issue has led legislators to push for fair treatment of Afghan refugees convicted of crimes, while some authorities are calling for their timely return. More  China Imports Less Iranian Oil Customs data released today by Beijing shows China's imports of Iranian crude oil shrank by nearly 40 percent during January and February compared to the same months a year earlier. More  Iran Supreme Leader Responds To Obama Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has responded dismissively to U.S. President Barack Obama's Persian New Year (Norouz) message. More  Fundamentalist Calls To Ignore Norouz Go Unheard In Iran, Afghanistan This year's Norouz strangely united fundamentalist Iranian Shi'a and Afghan Sunnis in rejecting century-old national traditions. More  Iran MPs 'May Accede' On Subsidies Iran's parliament could finally accede to President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's demands for radical subsidy cuts after blocking the plan for months, a senior lawmaker has said. More  Iran President Urges Subsidies Referendum Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has suggested holding a referendum to approve subsidy cuts that the Islamic Republic's parliament has repeatedly blocked, a news agency said. More This video shows the mother of Neda Agha Soltan crying at her daughter's grave on March 18. More  Obama: U.S. Open To Iran Diplomacy U.S. President Barack Obama has renewed his administration's offer of dialogue and diplomacy with Tehran. More  Clinton: U.S., Russia Closer On Iran, Arms U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton concluded her two-day visit to Moscow today with the two countries evidently inching closer to a united front on Iran's nuclear program. More  'A Government That's Afraid Of Gravestones' Iranians traditionally remember their dead on the last Thursday of the Iranian year. On March 18, the last Thursday of the current year, the families of those killed in the postelection crackdown went to Tehran's Behesht Zahra cemetery to remember their loved ones. More  Iran Jails Former Reformist VP An Iranian appeals court has reportedly confirmed a one-year prison sentence for a former vice president for spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic during the postelection turmoil. More  Iran Activist 'Transferred To AIDS Ward' The mother of jailed Iranian labor activist Mansour Osanlou has told RFE/RL's Radio Farda he has been transferred to a prison ward for drug addicts and prisoners suffering from Hepatitis and AIDS. More  Answers Wanted On Iran Journalist Death The Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, has asked for a full investigation into the case of Omidreza Mirsayafi, an Iranian journalist and blogger who died in prison one year ago. More  Putin: Bushehr To Start Up In Mid-2010 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said that Iran's first nuclear power plant is due to come online this summer. More  Call To Release Iran's 'Blogfather' For Norouz The mother of a controversial, well-known blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, who is often described as Iran's "blogfather" because he helped popularize blogging in Iran, has called on the head of Iran's judiciary to release her son for the Iranian New Year, or Norouz, marked on March 21. More  A Turkish Role Model For Iran? As Ankara has worked to improve relations with Iran, person-to-person bilateral contacts have blossomed in recent years. The experience, Abbas Djavadi writes, has been good for both sides. More  Iran Reformist Among Those Out On Bail Iranian authorities have reportedly released on bail a top reformist who has been jailed since last June, along with a filmmaker and a reformist journalist. More |
