The Khomeinist propaganda machine seeks to portray the women's movement as part of a plot by "Zionists and Crusaders" to undermine Islam. In recent days

Women, Ahmadinejad’s Enemy

IN one of his last sermons before his death, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini warned of "three threats" to his vision of Islam: the US, the Jews and women.

Two decades later, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad thinks he has the United States and the Jews in hand - and is moving on the third "enemy."

Women were the first to demonstrate against Khomeini's regime with a mass rally in Tehran on March 8, 1979 - less than a month after the mullahs had seized power. Over the next decade, the authorities imprisoned hundreds of thousands of women for varying lengths of time, and executed thousands.

But women continued to fight a regime that deemed them subhuman. Their resistance prevented the mullahs from abrogating pre-revolutionary laws limiting gender discrimination. Thus, women succeeded in keeping their right to vote and win public office.

They also retained a veto, granted by the shah, on their husbands' Islamic right to take up to four permanent wives and countless temporary concubines.

Last June, Ahmadinejad sought to remove that veto, launching a campaign with quotations from the Prophet and the 12 Imams of Shiite Islam to prove that men who took many wives would have a fast track to paradise.

To make polygamy practically impossible, a law predating the revolution required men seeking added wives to prove that they're financially capable of running more than one household. Since few can meet that condition, the number of Iranian men with more than one wife had fallen to a few hundred before the mullahs seized power.

And most of those polygamists were mullahs or wealthy bazaar merchants associated with them.

Last month, Ahmadinejad presented a draft bill designed to "re-Islamicize" the status of women. He claimed that the shah had used laws inspired by "Zionist-Crusaders" to deal with women's issues.

His new law would restore men's Islamic right to divorce their wives without even informing them. ... Read More

The Saudis, chasing a place at their fifth successive World Cup finals, had the best of the chances and went ahead in the 29th minute

Soccer-Nekounam's late header earns draw for Iran

RIYADH, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Javad Nekounam scored with a late header to earn Iran a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia in Asian World Cup qualifying on Saturday.

The Osasuna midfielder seized on a flicked header from Masoud Shojaei eight minutes from time, nodding home from close range to give Iran a share of second place in Group Two.

The Saudis, chasing a place at their fifth successive World Cup finals, had the best of the chances and went ahead in the 29th minute when Saad al-Harthi blasted a shot into the top left corner.

Three-times Asian champions Iran reached the 1998 and 2006 finals but failed to get past the first round.

North Korea lead the group after beating United Arab Emirates 2-1 in Abu Dhabi. (Writing by Martin Petty in Bangkok; Editing by Clare Fallon)
JEDDAH – Saudi Arabia and Iran shared the spoils in their opener of the final round of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers with a 1-1 draw at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on Saturday.
Saad Al-Harthi put the Saudis ahead in the first half before the Spanish Osasuna’s midfielder Javad Nekounam canceled the Saudi lead few minutes from close.
With this result, both sides shared the second spot in Group B behind North Korea which beat UAE 2-1 at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Both coaches missed some of their key players. Iranian midfielder Mehdi Mahdavikia was suspended from the squad by coach Ali Daei while Saudi Arabia national coach Nasser Al-Johar kept the 2007 AFC player of the Year Yasser Al-Qahtani on the bench until the last 20 minutes of the game.
Both teams shared the possession without any threat on their goals.
After 20 minutes, Iranian Javad Nekounam blasted a long free kick which was denied by Saudi goalkeeper Mansour Al-Najae.
In the 29th minute, Saad Al-Harthi put the Saudis ahead after he connected Abdullah Shuhail’s cross to the right side of Mehdi Rahmati.
After the goal, Saudi Arabia controlled the rest of the ... Read More

The administration used the outstanding claims as a diplomatic tool in its final talks with the Libyans leading up to Rice's visit, the first there by a U.S. secretary of state since 1953

Libya deal may be model for others

WASHINGTON—As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Libya on Friday, lawyers and diplomats in the U.S. were paying special attention to the claims settlement agreement that cleared the way for her trip and whether it could be a model for diplomatic leverage with other countries, such as Iran.

The agreement, approved by President George W. Bush last month, created a way to resolve all remaining claims by American victims of Libyan terror. Libya is soon expected to begin paying more than $1 billion into a fund that will eventually distribute payments to the families of American victims of the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing, the 1986 bombing of a disco in Berlin and several other attacks from the 1980s, as well as settle Libyan claims from U.S. airstrikes against Libya.

The administration used the outstanding claims as a diplomatic tool in its final talks with the Libyans leading up to Rice's visit, the first there by a U.S. secretary of state since 1953. It hopes that Iran and other countries that have similar issues with U.S. citizens will take notice of the settlements and see it as a way to improve relations with the U.S.

David Welch, an assistant secretary of state and the architect of the Libya agreement, said, "We would like to show that it is possible to fix these problems and to do so in a manner that is responsive to the interests of the American citizens, that is protective of our national security and that advances our other interests that are out there."Addressing Iran almost directly, he added, "There are some states out there that, notwithstanding the pressures being put upon them, the offer of a more reasonable path forward, are choosing to defy the interests of the international community on issues like terrorism and weapons of mass destruction . . . and it's very useful to be able to say, 'Look, if you made a different choice, there is a path forward here, you can get out of this box if you behave responsibly.' " ... Read More

I see the sentence as yet another expression of the deteriorated respect for human rights in Iran," Bildt said, adding that he was concerned over "an obvious negative development in recent months

Sweden blasts Iran for sending women rights activist to jail

STOCKHOLM (AFP) — Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on Friday criticised Iran for sentencing women's rights activist Parvin Ardalan to prison, saying it revealed Tehran's "deteriorated respect for human rights."

"The jail sentence on September 3 against Iranian human rights defender Parvin Ardalan gives rise to concern," Bildt said in a statement, adding that "the claim that Ardalan poses a threat to Iran's national security lacks credibility."

Ardalan, who won the 2007 Olof Palme Prize but was prevented by Tehran from attending the ceremony in Sweden last March, was sentenced to six months prison along with three other women's rights activists.

The 41-year-old campaigner was detained along with 70 other people for a June 2006 demonstration in Tehran square demanding equal rights for women on divorce, inheritance and child custody.

Ardalan and the three others sentenced this week are active members of an initiative that seeks to change Iran's Sharia-based laws for women by collecting one million signatures.

They were sentenced over articles on the "Change for Equality" and "Zanestan" websites, according to their lawyer, Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.

"I see the sentence as yet another expression of the deteriorated respect for human rights in Iran," Bildt said, adding that he was concerned over "an obvious negative development in recent months."

He pointed out that "the number of executions has dramatically increased and more have taken place in public."

"At least five people have since June been executed for crimes committed when they were minors (and) the list of people who risk suffering the same fate is long," he added.

The inflation and Ahmadinejad's failed promise of bringing oil revenues to every family are expected to tax his re-election bid next year

Iran inflation hits 27.6 percent in August

TEHRAN, Iran: Iran's Central Bank says the inflation rate hit 27.6 percent in August — a 1.8 percentage points jump from the previous month.

It's the highest figure ever released by Iranian authorities.

The figure was posted on the bank's Web site Thursday.

It reflects worsening economy under hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has come under criticism both from reformist opponents and conservatives who paved the way for his 2005 election victory.

The soaring rate is blamed mostly on a huge increase in liquidity caused by oil revenues' impact and Ahmadinejad's insistence on lowering bank interest rates.

Today in Business with ReutersU.S. unemployment rate rises to 6.1%European and U.S. stocks fall after slide in AsiaNokia shares slide after warning on market share The inflation and Ahmadinejad's failed promise of bringing oil revenues to every family are expected to tax his re-election bid next year.