 RFE/RL Iran Report 6/24/2010 6:00:57 PM A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about Iran. For more stories on Iran, please visit and bookmark our Iran page . |
 Kurdish Affairs Expert Offers Regional Perspective On Growing Violence In Turkey With violence linked to Kurdish militants increasing in Turkey in recent weeks, the likelihood appears to be growing for a cross-border ground assault into northern Iraq by Turkish military forces. RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz spoke with Michael Gunter -- an authority on Kurdish affairs in Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria, and Iran -- for a regional perspective on what is happening. More  Iran Warns On U.S. Role In Karabakh An Iranian diplomat says Tehran is strongly opposed to U.S. involvement in a multinational peacekeeping force that would be deployed around the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in the event of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace accord. More An Iranian doctoral student at Oxford who campaigned in Iran last year for opposition leader Mir Hussein Musavi is being held in solitary confinement by Iranian authorities, according to his wife. More  Trial Of Iran’s 'Blogfather’ Begins, 20 Months After His Arrest Iran’s hard-line Fars news agency reports that the trial of controversial blogger Hossein Derakhshan, known as Iran’s “Blogfather" for helping to popularize blogging in the Islamic republic, began in Tehran on June 23. More  Top Human Rights Defender Released On Bail One of Iran's top human rights advocates, the writer and investigative journalist Emad Baghi, has been temporarily released from jail on bail of about $200,000. More  UN Faults Afghan Neighbors' Opium Use The UN's "2010 World Drug Report" shows that while Afghanistan remains the world's largest opium producer, it is neighboring countries like Iran, Pakistan, and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia where a majority of the world's opium is consumed. More  Afghan, Iranian Films At HRW Festival Explore Human Interactions In Trying Times Among the offerings at the 2010 Human Rights Watch Film Festival taking place in New York through June 24 are "Iran: Voices of the Unheard" directed by Davoud Geramifard, and "Camp Victory, Afghanistan," directed by Carol Dysinger. More  Does Iraq Have Secret Deals With Its Neighbors On Kurdish Rebels? The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has been carrying out a threat to launch attacks within Turkish cities following the deployment of Turkish forces along the border with Iraq -- where PKK militants have established hideouts. More  U.S. Lawmakers On New Iran Sanctions U.S. lawmakers say they have agreed on a proposal for a series of new U.S. sanctions against Iran aimed at pressuring Tehran to curb its nuclear program. More  Iran Parliament Rejects University Bill Iran's parliament has rejected a university reform bill backed by President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. More  Iran and Turkey: Friends Today, Rivals Tomorrow? It is the Middle East's most intriguing and -- to Western policy makers -- most worrying new friendship. Just as Turkey's once-close ties with Israel have rapidly deteriorated, its formerly uneasy relationship with Iran has flourished into an increasingly warm alliance. But some observers believe ties between the two neighbors may not be as harmonious as they appear. More  Iranian Cartoonist Flees 'Unimaginable' Conditions, Reflects On Life In Exile Iranian cartoonist Kianoush Ramezani is among some 150 Iranian intellectuals, media workers, journalists, and bloggers who were forced to leave Iran following the postelection crackdown last year. He spoke to RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari about why he fled his homeland and what it means to live in exile. More  Iran Bars Two UN Nuclear Inspectors A senior Iranian official says Iran will not allow two UN nuclear inspectors to enter the country over what he described as an "untruthful" report by the UN's atomic watchdog. More  Gates: Iran Sanctions Could Work U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today that targeted economic sanctions on Iran have "real potential" to pressure Tehran to halt its nuclear program. More  In New Film, Basij Member Accused Of Killing Neda Says He's Innocent Abbas Javid Kargar, a member of Iran's Basij force accused of having shot dead Neda Agha Soltan at a peaceful protest in Tehran on June 20 of last year, claims he wasn't armed on that day and that he played no role in her death. More  Iran: Jundallah Insurgent Leader Hanged Iran has announced that it has hanged the leader of the Sunni Muslim insurgent group Jundallah. More  Son Of Deceased Ayatollah Writes Protest Letter To Clerics The son of deceased Iranian Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri has written a letter to Shi'ite clerics criticizing the recent "sealing" of his father's office. More  Iranian Woman Faces Death By Stoning A lawyer and activist close to the case of an Iranian woman convicted of adultery say she may soon be stoned to death. More  Cartoon Mocking Musavi Pulled From Reformist Website A cartoon by Iranian exiled cartoonist Nikahang Kowsar that pokes fun at Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi has been removed from the popular Farsi reformist news website Rooz, which is based outside the country. More  EU Summit Approves Iran Sanctions, Debates Debt Crisis An EU summit in Brussels is seeking to further extend the bloc's existing sanctions against Iran to force the country to engage in talks over its nuclear program. EU leaders also tried to calm the international lending markets by committing their countries to more stringent fiscal supervision in the future. More  Iran Warns Tashkent Over Rail Woes Iran's state rail company has warned Uzbekistan that it will halt the movement of all Uzbek trains across Iran unless Uzbekistan permits the unrestricted transit of freight bound for Tajikistan. More  Iran: U.K. Backs Group Planning Attacks Iran accused Britain and other Western nations, including France and Sweden, of supporting an exiled group that the Islamic state says planned terrorist acts in the country, official media reported. More |
