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Abdollah Momeni (left) and Majid Tavakoli are both reportedly on hunger strike in Tehran's Evin prison. July 30, 2010

Postelection Prisoners On Hunger Strike

A number of political prisoners incarcerated at Tehran’s Evin prison have reportedly gone on hunger strike to protest their treatment, including their transfer to solitary confinement and cancellation of family visits. The "Kalame" website, which close to opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi, has published the names of 16 prisoners jailed in last year's postelection crackdown whom it says are currently on hunger strike. They include prominent human rights defender and former student leader Abdollah Momeni; journalist Bahman Amouee; the chief editor of the “Nameh” monthly, Keyvan Samimi; and well-known student activists Ali Malihi and Majid Tavakoli.

According to the website, some of them have been on hunger strike for some four days now, while others joined the protest on July 29.

Amouee's wife, journalist Zheela Baniyaghoub (who was also jailed in the postelection crackdown), confirmed in a July 28 interview with RFE/RL's Radio Farda that her husband is on a hunger strike and that prison authorities refused to let her visit him on July 26. They did not explain why.

She expressed concern over his health and the health of the other prisoners. She said some of the prisoners are refusing to eat food while others are on a “dry hunger strike,” meaning they’re refusing both food and water.

More than 2,000 journalists, activists, students, and others were jailed in the crackdown that followed the June 2009 disputed reelection of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Many were subsequently released, while dozens were sentenced to prison terms.

-- Golnaz Esfandiari

The letter, addressed to Tehran General-Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, was published on July 28

Journalists Voice Concern For Imprisoned Colleague

More than 90 journalists have written an open letter to Tehran's chief prosecutor expressing concern over the imprisonment of their colleague Abdolreza Tajik and demanding his release, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. The letter, addressed to Tehran General-Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, was published on July 28. Tajik's family also recently wrote a letter to Iran's judiciary. That letter described a conversation between Tajik and his sister, Parvin, during a prison visit when he reportedly told her he had been "dishonored" on the first night of his arrest last month in the presence of a deputy prosecutor. Tajik's lawyer, Mohammad Sharif, told Radio Farda that in Iranian judicial parlance, "being dishonored" is usually interpreted as "being sexually or physically assaulted."

In their letter, the journalists write, "It was not just Abdolreza Tajik who was dishonored. It is justice, law, and human rights that are being dishonored [because of his arrest and treatment]."

Tajik, a journalist and human rights activist, was arrested on June 12 for the third time since the disputed June 2009 presidential election. The charges against him are not known.

Temporary manual workers await work in the Iranian capital, Tehran

Regime's Wishful Thinking As Sanctions Take Hold

By Reza Taghizadeh - Citing the latest figures released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Iran has claimed sixth place in the world based on inward foreign-direct-investment (FDI) performance for the year 2009. Iran's real position, in terms of inward FDI in 2009, stands somewhere between 71st according to the "CIA World Factbook" and 101st, according to UNCTAD's own "World Investment Report." The latter puts Iran just behind Georgia and just ahead of Bolivia. Although the latest UNCTAD figures refer only to Iran's "relative performance" in 2009 in comparison with 2008 rather than the country's actual world ranking based on total inward FDI, the data it contains are based on self-reporting by member countries and are therefore difficult to verify. Iran's critics could easily be silenced by the release of the names of foreign investors in Iran and the amounts of their investments in 2009. But it is unlikely Tehran would ever be reckless enough to adopt such transparency.

How could a country with 10 percent of the world's known oil reserves (No. 3 after Saudi Arabia and Canada) and 15 percent of natural-gas reserves (No. 2 after Russia) rank 101st in terms of foreign direct investment?

Falling Behind

Since the Islamic regime took power in Iran 30 years ago, the country has never been a desirable destination for FDI. It certainly never stood a chance of placing inside the top 10 in the world, despite its world-class energy resources. Iran is unattractive primarily because of its constitutional structure and the unfavorable investment climate that has resulted from the government's ever-increasing control over the national economy. Article 81 of Iran's constitution forbids multinational corporations from taking over certain businesses and bans "concessions to foreigners or the formation of companies."

In addition, the government relies on energy exports as the main source of foreign-currency revenues and ... Read More

The hard-line Rajanews website has posted photos of Iranian cyclists popping champagne corks and spraying champagne at the crowd after winning a competition in China and accused riders of "irrational and anti-Islamic" behavior

Iranian Cyclists In Hot Water Over Victory Champagne In China

The hard-line Rajanews website has posted photos of Iranian cyclists popping champagne corks and spraying champagne at the crowd after winning a competition in China and accused riders of "irrational and anti-Islamic" behavior. Rajanews says none of the officials from the Iranian Cycling Federation has been able to explain satisfactorily the cyclists' actions. "Only after many complaints were all of the members of the cycling team summoned [to the disciplinary committee] so that [officials] could use it as an excuse and escape from answering to public opinion," the website says. Rajanews suggests that there should be tougher action against what we'll call the "cycling cru." If officials decide not to deal more harshly with them, it warns, then "the death of moral and religious principles in the country's sports should be declared."

The head of the federation, Ali Zangi, was quoted as saying in an earlier report that two members of the cycling team had been summoned over their "unprofessional" conduct.

He said all Iranian athletes and sportsmen are required to respect Islamic principles, while adding that "unfortunately" that wasn't the case in China. He said the Cycling Federation will investigate the issue.

Rajanews claims it tried to contact Zangi to ask what kind of action would be taken against the cyclists but that Zangi did not answer his cell phone.

Alcohol is banned in Iran, but different of types of alcoholic drinks and also homemade wine and vodka are available on the black market.

-- Golnaz Esfandiari

Jafar Kazemi's case has been forwarded to the Implementations Unit, and legally, there are no further steps possible for saving his life,

Post-Election Protester's Death Sentence Upheld; Re-Trial Denied By Supreme Court

A post-election protester's death sentence has been upheld in an appeals court in Tehran, according to his lawyer. Jafar Kazemi's lawyer, Nasim Ghanavi told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that her client's sentence has been upheld and that Branch 31 of the Supreme Court has also turned down a re-trial request. Branch 36 of the Tehran Province Appeals Courts, presided by Judge Zargar, issued the ruling. Jafar Kazemi, 46, a lithographer of textbooks at Amir Kabir University Press, was arrested on September 18, 2009 in Tehran. He was transferred to a solitary cell inside Ward 209 of Evin prison where he remained for 74 days before being transferred to Ward 350 of Evin prison. Jafar Kazemi is accused of moharebeh, enmity with God, through his alleged support for the Mojahedin-E Khalgh Organization (MEK), even though he has not accepted these charges during any of his interrogation sessions, said Ghanavi about her client's charges. The charge of moharebeh, enmity with God, is one of those charges which must only be levied against a suspect with full consideration for conditions defined in Islamic jurisprudence for it, including the requirement of armed action. Many Shiite scholars believe that a mohareb is an individual who takes up arms. This was not the case for my client. He merely participated in the post-election gatherings. He may have chanted some slogans, but as his lawyer, I am convinced that the charge of moharebeh does not apply to him at all, she added.

Ms. Ghanavi stated that her client has spent a long time in solitary confinement, but that she is not aware of other types of pressure he or his family may have faced.

Previously, Jafar Kazemi had served time in prison from 1981 to 1989.

Jafar Kazemi's wife, Roudabeh Akbari, wrote a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations, asking for his assistance to stop her husband's death sentence. Kazemi was initially tried at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary ... Read More

The event is going to kick off a weekend of action. We have events in cities, from India to Spain, and all throughout the U.S. It's really a global issue," Alex Fattal, older brother of Josh Fattal, told CNN. "We want to send Iran a message

Protests over Iran's holding of US hikers begin Friday

United Nations (CNN) - A protest Friday afternoon outside Iran's U.N. mission in New York kicks off a weekend of events demanding the country release three American hikers it has held for one year. "Free the Hikers," an organization formed by their families, will stage a protest at the Iranian mission to the United Nations on Friday afternoon. More protests are planned through the weekend in cities around the world, according to the group.

"The event is going to kick off a weekend of action. We have events in cities, from India to Spain, and all throughout the U.S. It's really a global issue," Alex Fattal, older brother of Josh Fattal, told CNN. "We want to send Iran a message."

The hikers -- Josh Fattal, Sarah Shourd, and Shane Bauer -- are still being held in Tehran, a year after their July 31, 2009, arrests.

The three Americans were detained after they allegedly strayed across an unmarked border into Iran while hiking in Iraq's Kurdistan region. However, The Nation magazine reported last month that two witnesses have said they saw members of Iran's national police force cross into Iraq to apprehend the three.

Tehran has claimed the three hikers are spies. Iran's intelligence minister has hinted the country may consider releasing them in exchange for the release of Iranian prisoners, according to state media.

Family members, who say the three were enjoying a recreational hike when they were detained, say they still have not been informed of the reasons behind their imprisonment.

"Iranian law says that if you've spent the minimum time in jail without seeing a judge you must be released. So we hope Iran will honor its own laws," Alex Fattal said.

The mothers of the three hikers met with their loved ones in May in Iran in emotional sessions. Iran later cut short the visas issued to the parents.

"For 23 hours a day, Sarah sits in a cell by herself, for absolutely no reason," Alex Fattal said. "Sarah has a ... Read More

"There is a flower with five petals in the middle of the [monument]. But the flower is surrounded by triangles that are laid next to each other and they've created hundreds of Stars of David that have covered the [monument] at Revolution Square!"

Tehran's Revolution Square "Conquered By Zionist Regime"!

The Iranian hard-line website "Seratnews" says that Tehran's Revolution Square is nowadays covered with hundreds of Stars of David and that the central square has been "conquered by the Zionist regime." The website claims that the "stars" are part of a newly built monument at the square. "Seratnews" has posted visual aids and photographs of the monument on which it has superimposed a blue outline of one of the "stars" to back its claim.

The website says that the "flashing" of the Star of David on the monument became clear to people as the monument was being completed.

"There is a flower with five petals in the middle of the [monument]. But the flower is surrounded by triangles that are laid next to each other and they've created hundreds of Stars of David that have covered the [monument] at Revolution Square!"

The website says it is unclear whether the transgression should be attributed to "ignorance" or "carelessness" on the part of the artist who designed the monument and of officials in charge -- or whether it was done "intentionally."

"Seratnews" adds that as a result a "sinister symbol" is standing in the "strategic heart" of the Iranian capital.

That would be a real embarrassment for a regime that doesn't recognize Israel and whose leaders -- particularly its president -- use every opportunity to launch verbal attacks against the Jewish state.

Yet it's clear that the hard-liners angered by the monument are taking their own artistic license.

We asked a woman in Tehran who had driven around the square recently about the monument. She said she had noticed simply "another ugly work" and hadn't paid attention to the details. It would be "funny" to have a Star of David in the middle of Tehran, she added.

The "Seratnews" report bears striking resemblance to a report posted on July 25 on a hard-line blog called "Antimosalasizm" that also quoted Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as saying: " Wherever in the world the ... Read More

Charges against him include "visiting political prisoners' families and providing them with financial and legal help" as well as "having relations with human rights organizations abroad."

Iranian Journalist, Rights Activist Given Prison Term

Iranian journalist and human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi has been sentenced to one year in jail and banned from political activity for five years, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. The opposition website "Jaras" reports that Baghi was sentenced in Tehran on July 25. The founder of the Tehran-based Society to Defend Prisoners' Rights, Baghi had been charged with "acting against [Iran's] national security through the spreading of propaganda against the regime" and "disclosing classified documents about [Iran's] prisons." Other charges against him include "visiting political prisoners' families and providing them with financial and legal help" as well as "having relations with human rights organizations abroad."

Prosecutors had also accused Baghi of "publishing the names of prisoners," who they refer to as "counterrevolutionaries and spies."

Baghi was temporarily released after posting a heavy bail in June following six months in jail. He had spent five of those months in solitary confinement.

Baghi has spent 4 1/2 years in prison in recent years.

He was awarded the Geneva-based Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2009.

On July 20, Kaboudvand wrote an open letter to the public prosecutor's office saying that he experienced "brain and neurological problems... that caused loss of consciousness

Release and Provide Urgent Medical Care to Jailed Activist

The Iranian Judiciary should provide urgent medical care to Mohammad Sadigh Kaboudvand and free him from his unfair detention, Human Rights Watch said today. Kaboudvand, a leading advocate of Kurdish rights in Iran, is serving an 11-year sentence on politically motivated charges. He suffered what may have been a stroke on July 15, 2010, and his family says he is not getting the medical attention he needs. On July 20, Kaboudvand wrote an open letter to the public prosecutor's office saying that he experienced "brain and neurological problems... that caused loss of consciousness during the afternoon of July 15." Prison authorities transferred him to the Evin prison clinic, which diagnosed a sharp rise in his blood pressure, but failed to treat him. In his letter, Kaboudvand wrote that since he lost consciousness he has been experiencing "intense light-headedness and neurological issues associated with sensory, motion and sight difficulties." His lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, told Human Rights Watch that on July 15 she appealed to judiciary officials to allow Kaboudvand access to the medical treatment he needs, but that her request has gone unanswered.

"Kaboudvand needs an immediate and thorough assessment of his worsening condition. Denying a prisoner necessary medical care is both cruel and unlawful," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Iranian authorities are responsible for his well-being and should immediately ensure he can get the medical attention he needs."

Kaboudvand has suffered two heart attacks since his arrest and detention in July 2007. Information about Kaboudvand's condition comes on the heels of reports by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and Amnesty International indicating that prison authorities are systematically denying needed medical care to political prisoners.

International and Iranian law requires prison authorities to provide detainees with adequate medical care. Iran's State ... Read More

Alireza Meibodi talks about 5th of Mordad

Alireza Meibodi talks about 5th of Mordad

Click here to listen

The name is a reference to "followers of the velayat," or Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and it's part of an attempt by Iranian officials to get in on the social-networking craze

Iranian Social Networking, Hard-Line Style

By Golnaz Esfandiari - "The website of the followers of Khamenei has been created. Please enter with your hijab and after completing your ablution." With that Facebook post, 29-year-old Iranian Ahmad heralded the arrival of a new social networking site, called Velayatmadaran, launched by the Iranian establishment. The name is a reference to "followers of the velayat," or Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and it's part of an attempt by Iranian officials to get in on the social-networking craze. Like other sites that have proved to be crucial tools for communication, discussion, and the exchange of news and information among members of the opposition -- including Facebook -- Velayatmadaran allows users to network and post pictures, videos, and articles. Predictably, given his support for Iran's political opposition, Ahmad's status update, the messages that go out to Facebook "friends," became an immediate hit. There was an explosion of sarcastic comments from his friends. One wrote that he would join the website on condition that his friends promise not to tag him in pictures of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and hard-line cleric Ahmad Khatami. Another mocked that "the networking site is a dream come true."

Iranian officials have smeared such social networkers as lackeys of Iran's enemies and victims of a "soft war" being waged against Tehran.

For his part, Ahmad thinks Velayatmadaran holds little attraction for young Iranians: "[The hard-liners] are losing their supporters from top to bottom. It's clear just from the name of the site that it is designed for their own supporters."

If You Can't Beat 'Em...

According to the "About Us" section, the site was launched to create an online platform for the religious hard-liners of Iran's Hezbollah to exchange ideas and fight "evil." Issues like "the rule of the supreme jurist" and "women and family" are up for discussion.

So far, the site has attracted some 3,000 members and ... Read More

Bahareh Hedayat was arrested on 31 December 2009. Earlier this week, an Appeals Court upheld her nine year prison sentence.

"Bahareh Hedayat's Defense Went Unnoticed "She Received Maximum Sentence", says Lawyer

The nine year prison sentence of student activist Bahareh Hedayat was recently upheld by an appeals court in Tehran. Bahareh Hedayat is a member of the Central Council of Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat student organization. She is also the spokesperson for the organization. In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, her lawyer, Mehdi Hojjati shared some information about her sentence.
Bahareh Hedayat was arrested on 31 December 2009. Earlier this week, an Appeals Court upheld her nine year prison sentence. The sentence breakdown was two years for insulting the Supreme Leader, six months for insulting the President, and for actions against national security, propagation of falsehoods, and colluding for assembly she received a total of five years. She also had a previous two-year suspended prison sentence for participating in a 2006 gathering to protest discriminatory laws which was activated by the court. Therefore, the student activist was sentenced to a total of nine years and six months in prison.
Regarding the lower court sentence which was issued by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Courts, Mehdi Hojjati told the Campaign: We went to the court in person and learned about the ruling. The court did not give us a copy of the ruling. We prepared an extensive defense bill after that, objecting to the heavy sentence. We particularly objected to the fact that the lower court was unqualified to review the charge of insulting the President. The presiding judge, however, believed that because he simultaneously headed Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Courts and served as a judge in the General Courts, he was qualified to review the charge. Anyway, they did not take note of this objection. I brought up the same issue in the appeals proceeding. The case was forwarded to Branch 24 of Appeals Court. The law does not obligate the Appeals Court to invite the suspect or the lawyers. They reviewed the case in the absence of plaintiff and defendant, ... Read More

Remarks from Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi at the 30th Anniversary Memorial of the late Shahanshah of Iran

Remarks from Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi at the 30th Anniversary Memorial of the late Shahanshah of Iran

Click here to read in Persian

Click here to listen

After a crackdown by regime security forces failed to bring Tehran's bazaaris back in line, Mr. Ahmadinejad abruptly announced two days of national holidays, ostensibly because of the oppressive summer heat

Bazaar Events

By Ilan Berman - Long-time observers of American politics know that in order to truly put your finger on the pulse of the nation, you have to watch Wall Street. Savvy Iran-watchers will tell you that to do the same in the Islamic republic, you need to keep your eye on the bazaar. Iran's sprawling marketplaces are more than simply centers of commerce. They are home to a powerful class of merchants who historically have served as key power brokers in the country's labyrinthine political system. Indeed, as the renowned historian Walter Laqueur astutely pointed out in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the shah's loss of support among the country's shopkeepers and merchants was an important part of why Ruhollah Khomeini's clerical takeover ultimately succeeded. Simply put, Iran's businessmen no longer felt invested in the old, secular status quo. The rest, as they say, is history.
More recently, the same metric has been applied to the Green Movement that erupted following last summer's fraudulent re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Iranian presidency. While many waxed optimistic in the weeks after the June 12 vote that democratic change in Iran was inevitable, those who closely watched Iran's economy gradually came to the conclusion that the protests were less than met the eye. "We knew that the Green Movement wouldn't get the job done," one specialist with extensive governmental connections commented to me this spring, "when the shops stayed open."
That's why the recent news of turmoil in Iran's bazaars is so noteworthy. Since the beginning of July, the sprawling bazaar in Tehran - the country's best-known and most influential trading center - has been largely shuttered, the result of widespread discontent among merchants over a planned, massive governmental increase in income taxes on merchants. Nor is the Tehran bazaar unique; interruptions in traditional commerce have been reported in other Iranian cities, including Esfahan, Tabriz, Mashhad and ... Read More

We no longer knew where we could be accepted after that. I should mention that His Majesty had kept himself [despite] all the lies and conspiracies and his only worry was the Iranians and their nation.

Her Majesty Farah Pahlavi Recalls 30 Years In Exile

July 27 is the 30th anniversary of the death of Iran's last imperial ruler, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Shah left Iran in December 1978 after 37 years in power. After living in Morocco, the United States, Mexico, and Panama, he went to Egypt where he died in a Cairo hospital on July 27, 1981. His body was laid to rest in the Al-Refai Mosque in Cairo. His wife, Farah Pahlavi, spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Farda about the incidents of those times. RFE/RL: I would like to ask you whether it's true that the shah was unaware of the illness he suffered from and that he was kept in the dark regarding his illness?

Farah Pahlavi: His illness, as I have mentioned in my book, was immune-system cancer. It is true that he was not told the word "cancer" on some occasions, but he was fully aware of his illness. His Majesty had discussed it with his doctor, asking whether he had about two years' time in order that his son could reach a certain age [before his death] and in order that he would be able to complete the work he had started. This clearly shows that he was aware of his illness.

I remember discussing it myself with his doctors, asking them not to keep him in the dark, as he was the ruler of a country and he had some decisions to make.

RFE/RL: When exactly did His Majesty find out about the cancer?

Pahlavi: He found out when the French doctor was summoned. I myself was unaware of it until I found out in 1977. When the doctors arrived -- the specialist for blood cancer and one of the most renowned French [professors], Jan Barnard -- His Majesty knew exactly what he suffered from when they checked his blood hemoglobin level. I believe that was the time when he found out.

RFE/RL: Let's now discuss another period of your life next to the ruler of Iran: your exit from Iran. Numerous countries whose leaders called themselves allies of the Iranian ruler created barriers to the entry and residence of you and His Majesty. What was the shah's reaction to ... Read More

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hugs Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.

Leaked War Files Detail Iranian Ties to Terror

WASHINGTON -- Cooperation among Iran, Al Qaeda and other Sunni extremist groups is more extensive than previously known to the public, according to details buried in the tens of thousands of military intelligence documents released by an independent group Sunday. U.S. officials and Middle East analysts said some of the most explosive information contained in the WikiLeaks documents detail Iran's alleged ties to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and the facilitating role Tehran may have played in providing arms from sources as varied as North Korea and Algeria. The officials have for years received reports of Iran smuggling arms to the Taliban. The WikiLeaks documents, however, appear to give new evidence of direct contacts between Iranian officials and the Taliban's and Al Qaeda's senior leadership. It also outlines Iran's alleged role in brokering arms deals between North Korea and Pakistan-based militants, particularly militant leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Al Qaeda. The apparent links are striking because Iran has historically been a foe of the Taliban, who generally view the followers of Shiite Islam — Iran's predominant faith as heretics. One of the more remarkable reports describes a November 2005 trip that departed from Iran in which Hekmatyar, the militant leader, and Usama bin Laden's financial adviser traveled to North Korea to close a deal with the North Korean government to obtain remote-controlled rockets to use against coalition aircraft in Afghanistan.

July 26: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange holds up a copy of Britain's Guardian newspaper during a press conference in London.

Several reports describe Iran as a hub of planning activity for attacks on the Afghan government. A May 2006 report describes an Al Qaeda–Hekmatyar plot to equip suicide bombers and car bombs to attack Afghan government and international targets—using cars and equipment obtained in Iran and Pakistan.

By April 2007, the reports show what appears to be even ... Read More

Missing: Mohammed Mostafaei (left) disappeared after a night of interrogration by Iranian authorities over his defence of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani (right), who was initially sentenced to death by stoning

lawyer missing after interrogation over his support for adulterer who faced stoning

The lawyer responsible for representing an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery has gone missing and his wife and brother-in-law have been arrested, after he launched an international campaign to publicise her plight. Mohammad Mostafaei had taken on the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was convicted of having an illicit affair with two men. He forced the Iranian Government to back down from stoning her to death, but it is believed she still faces death by other means. He won support from celebrities and governmnts around the world, including the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He has described the43-year-old mother-of-two's 'absolutely illegal bogus conviction' in interviews around the world.
Missing: Mohammed Mostafaei (left) disappeared after a night of interrogration by Iranian authorities over his defence of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani
Officers ransacked his Tehran office and interrogated him for four hours in the infamous Evin prison before releasing him on Saturday. He was then re-detained and released once more, before a warrant was issued for his arrest.

But when authorities were unable to find him, his wife Fereshteh Halimi and her brother Farhad Halimi were locked up instead.

Amnesty Internation has supported Mr Mostafaei's human rights campaigning. Its UK campaigns director Tim Hancock said: 'Mohammed Mostafaei is a lawyer doing his job, trying to defend his client. he should be left alone to practise the law, not subjected to harrassment and intimidation.'

'It is ridiculous that they [officials] have taken Mostafaei's family as ransom, they have somehow taken them hostage. This confirms what Sakineh's son wrote in his public letter, that there's no justice in Iran,"human rights activist Mina Ahadi told The Guardian.

'Mohammadi Ashtiani's sentence is not Mostafaei's first stoning case, he has defended many others against execution by stoning but it was Sakineh's story which took world ... Read More

A multi-ethnic, stable Afghanistan serves Iran's economic and security interests. While Tehran does not want to see a Taliban comeback in Kabul, it is wary of the presence of so many US troops on its frontiers

The Dangerous Science of Intelligence Analysis

WikiLeaks' release of 92,000 military intelligence documents, now being parsed by media outlets across the globe, has sparked a groundbreaking experiment in open-source intelligence analysis. For the first time, journalists and amateurs can access and draw conclusions from the intelligence typically restricted to professional government analysts. But we in the public may be about to learn the same lesson that the Bush administration learned the hard way in the months and years following September 11: Analyzing intelligence is a science. It has specialized practices and methods. Done wrong, it can be dangerous. As Jane Mayer documents in The Dark Side, one of President Bush's first and most serious mistakes after 9/11 was cutting out the intelligence analysts. Mayer writes: In the days immediately after the attack, he and Cheney demanded to see all available raw intelligence reports concerning additional possible threats to America on a daily basis. Cheney had long been a skeptic about the CIA's skills, and was particularly insistent on reviewing the data himself. "The mistake," [high-ranking National Security Council official Roger] Cressey concluded later, "was not to have proper analysis of the intelligence before giving it to the President. There was no filter. Most of it was garbage. None of it had been corroborated or screened. But it went directly to the President and his advisers, who are not intelligence experts. That's when mistakes got made."


In reviewing raw intelligence without the standard rigors of the analysis process, the Bush White House was led to policies of historic significance. The two most famous were their conclusions, based on highly fragmentary intelligence, that Saddam Hussein was actively seeking weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq had ties to al-Qaeda. The mistakes were so serious that eventually the Bush administration not only reinstated the role of analysts but actually increased their prominence in the ... Read More

Mehdi Saharkhiz said that "these three men" were in power during his father's arrest and sentencing. "Though they did not issue the orders [in his father's case], they remained silent, which makes them an equal partner in crime."

Jailed Journalist Files Complaint Against Iran's Leaders

A jailed Iranian journalist has warned that if his complaint against Iran's supreme leader, president, and chief prosecutor is not pursued he will appeal to international bodies, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. Isa Saharkhiz said in an open letter on July 25 that if the head of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, did not take action on his grievance in the coming month he would take his case to international courts and other bodies. Saharkhiz has been in jail since he was detained in mass arrests following the disputed presidential election in June 2009. Before his imprisonment, Saharkhiz had written an outspokenly critical letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Despite spending nearly a year in prison, there has been no verdict in Saharkhiz's case.

After a July 18 court session, Saharkhiz lodged his complaint against Khamenei, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, and chief prosecutor Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei.

U.S.-based Mehdi Saharkhiz, Saharkhiz's son, told Radio Farda that his father wanted the open letter to draw attention to the three men's conduct, even if the Iranian judiciary did not investigate the matter.

Mehdi Saharkhiz said that "these three men" were in power during his father's arrest and sentencing. "Though they did not issue the orders [in his father's case], they remained silent, which makes them an equal partner in crime."

He added that the family has had limited contact with Isa Saharkhiz during his imprisonment. "My father is in good health psychologically," Mehdi said. "It is his physical health that has worried us."

Mehdi Saharkhiz said his father's rib was broken during his arrest. He also said his 57-year-old father had been tortured in prison, calling his treatment "inhuman."

Since Isa Saharkhiz's jailing, little has been known about his condition in prison.