Post by peterd on Jan 13, 2008 17:30:38 GMT -8
FROM THE MEMRI IRAN BLOG www.thememriblog.org/iran
*IRGC: U.S. Navy Video, Audio "Fabricated"; Iranian FM: Claims Of Iranian Speedboat Threats "Propaganda" Connected To Bush Middle East Visit
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said today that the U.S. video of the January 5 incident in the Strait of Hormuz involving Iranian patrol boats and U.S. warships was archive footage and that the audio was faked.
An IRGC navy commander told Press TV that in the matter of Washington's claims that IRGC speedboats had harassed three U.S. Navy warships, "the footage released by the U.S. navy are file pictures and the audio has been fabricated."
Meanwhile, Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar dismissed as propaganda the U.S. Navy claim that the Iranian craft had threatened to blow up the U.S. warships, saying that the Iranian navy's monitoring of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz is a routine task.
Najjar also called depicting this normal procedure as a provocation a "project" by the White House to portray Iran as a frightening country, and connected it to President Bush's visit to the region.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini also played down the incident, saying it was an issue of mistaken identity and comparing it to "previous ones" that had been resolved "once the two sides recognized each other," Hosseini explained.
Iranian Foreign Ministry director of American affairs Ahmad Sobhani said that the Iranian speed boats had carried out a normal and legal act.
On Tuesday, Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel had described U.S. reports about the incident as "part of a psychological and propaganda campaign against the Islamic Republic" (see Iranian Parliamentary Speaker: Persian Gulf Incident "U.S. Propaganda Against Iran").
Sources: Mehr, Iran, January 8, 2008; ISNA, IRNA, Mehr, Iran, January 9, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4498.htm
*Brother Of Woman Who Died Following Arrest For Islamic Dress Code Violations: I Will Never Accept Official Statement That She Committed Suicide
The brother of Zahra Bani Yaghoub, also mentioned in the media as Zahra Bani Ameri, an Iranian medical doctor who died on October 13, 2007 in a Hamdan prison after her arrest the previous day by Morals Police for Islamic dress code violations, told the reformist online daily Rooz in an interview that he "will never accept the official statement that [Zahra] committed suicide."
Rahim Bani Yaghoub said that he had spoken with his sister minutes before she died and she had been fine, that suicide was absolutely not compatible with her personality or with her mood at the time, and that she had been a top student, and had had a passion for serving people and "a wonderful spirit."?
(See also "Woman Arrested For Dress Code Violation In Iran Dies In Prison")
Source: Rooz, Iran, January 8, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4497.htm
*Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei: Iran's Situation "Sensitive"
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said January 6 in Yazd, Iran that the country has been in a sensitive situation since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, but that "this does not mean that the situation is critical and dangerous."
He said that one reason for the country's sensitive situation was that the revolution "freed the country from the historical disease of autocracy and submissiveness."
He cited as signs of the sensitive situation the 1980-1988 "imposed war against the Iranian nation" and "various conspiracies, such as a 10-year plan to undermine the Islamic establishment after Imam Khomeini’s departure."
He added, "Despite all the conspiracies, now, 28 years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the people’s feelings and attachment toward the Islamic system are very strong."
Source: Mehr, Iran, January 6, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4494.htm
*Iranian Activists Demand Release Of Imprisoned Students; Guardian Council Sec'y: Europe, America Don't Have Democracy Like Iran
A group of Iranian human rights activists have issued a communiqué expressing fear for the fate of over 30 students detained in Evin prison since December 7 who have not received legal aid or medical attention.
They also demanded the release of three Amir Kabir University students who are still detained even though bail was posted, the release of two women's movement activists arrested in the Kurdistan region, and the release of Iranian Prisoners' Rights Association chairman 'Amad Al-Din Baqi (see also "Unrest At Universities Across Iran", "Over 2,000 Students Demonstrate In Iran", and others)
In a speech in Tabriz, Iranian Guardian Council chairman Ahmad Jannati said that "no country in Europe or America has the democracy and freedom that Iran has."
Sources: ISNA, Iran, January 8, 2008; Rooz, Iran, January 9, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4475.htm
*Senior Iranian Officials Call For Increased Censorship
Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi has called on Iran's newspapers to use self-censorship and to support the government's activity.
On a visit to the offices of the official Iranian news agency IRNA, Iranian Assembly of Experts member Ahmad Khatami called to expand censorship in Iran, and asked media to refrain from criticizing the government and to keep "the secrets of the regime."
In an interview, presidential advisor on clerical affairs Hojatoleslam Naser Saqa-i Biria told the daily Resalat that in their reports on nuclear issues, some Iranian papers are joining forces with foreign elements opposed to the regime.
Meanwhile, the reformist online daily Rooz stressed that this criticism of the papers comes at a time when over 10 journalists are sitting in Iranian prisons.
Source: Resalat, Iran, January 7, 2008; Rooz, Iran, January 8, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4455.htm
*Reformists Under Attack In Iran
In its daily circular, the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) political bureau accused Saeed Hajrian, who is considered the theoretician of the reform movement in Iran, of planning an "orange revolution" against the regime.
The editor of the Iranian daily Kayhan, Hossein Shariatmadari, who is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, stated in an editorial that Iran's reformists are a fifth column serving the West.
At a conference of Basij activists, Ali Saeedi, Khamenei’s representative in the IRGC, said that the reformists are acting under Western protection and against the interests of the regime and of the Islamic revolution.
Source: Kayhan, Iran, January 5, 2008; Rooz, Iran, January 8, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4454.htm
*Iran MPs Request Higher Defense Budget
Iran's parliament is asking Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to increase the defense budget in the upcoming Iranian new year.
Parliamentary National Security Council chief 'Alaa Al-Din Boroujerdi said that taking into account Iran's large population, the country has the lowest defense budget of all the countries in the region.
He added that one possible way to eliminate the U.S. threats in the region is to allocate a larger budget to the defense department.
Referring to the claims that Russia is selling anti-missile shields to Iran, he noted Iran's missile power is by itself a deterrent factor against every threat.
Source: ISNA, Iran, January 6, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4449.htm
*Iranian Women's Rights Activist: Iranian Regime Permits Marriage Of Girls Age 10-13
Iranian women's rights activist Mahboubeh Hossein Zade has criticized the Iranian regime for permitting marriage for tens of thousands of underage girls, aged 10-13.
Source: Rooz, Iran, January 6, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4445.htm
*Five Sentenced To Arm and Leg Amputations In Southeast Iran
Following a verdict by a court in the Sistan-Baluchistan province in southeast Iran, the five people accused of armed struggle against the regime and disturbing the public order had their right arms and left legs amputated.
Source: Rooz, Iran, January 7, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4439.htm
*Policewomen Units To Handle Immorality At Beauty Salons
The Tehran Police commander has told the official Iranian news agency IRNA that under the new stage of the campaign to enforce public order, units of policewomen have been set up to handle "immorality in Tehran's beauty salons."
The commander added that these units are already on the job.
Source: IRNA, Rooz, Iran, January 6, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4438.htm
*Iran Begins Mass Production Of Multi-Purpose Military Vehicle
Iran's Defense Ministry has begun mass production of the Safir ("Ambassador") tactical vehicle, which can carry a wide variety of missiles such as TOW launchers, 107mm rockets, and a rocket launcher.
The vehicle, which was developed by Defense Ministry experts, can also be used as a command car, ambulance, or communications vehicle.
Source: Sobh-e Sadeq, Iran, December 31, 2007
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4437.htm
*Iranian Army Air Force Cmdr: We Are Producing Plane Undetectable By Radar
Iranian Army Air Force Commander Brig.-Gen. Ahmad Miqani has said that the Iranian army will soon manufacture a fourth and fifth generation of the Al-Sa'aqe fighter plane, and that these planes cannot be detected by radar.
He added that the third generation of the Al-Sa'aqe is expected to be put into service this year, and that "air force experts have succeeded in developing a radar system capable of tracking a number of fighter planes and all types of satellites."
Source: IRNA, Iran, January 5, 2008; Tehran Times, Iran, January 6, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4421.htm
*Larijani Meets With Amal, Hizbullah Reps In Damascus
Ali Larijani, the representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Iran's Supreme National Security Council, met today in Damascus with representatives of the Lebanese movements Amal and Hizbullah to discuss Lebanese issues.
The three sides discussed cooperation with the Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa within the framework of a recent statement from an extraordinary meeting of the Arab states in Cairo.
At the meeting, Hizbullah was represented by Haj Hossein Khalil, political affairs deputy to Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, and Amal was represented by Ali Khalil, deputy to Amal leader Nabih Berri.
Larijani, who is on an informal visit to Syria, also met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to discuss ways of helping the Lebanese groups achieve a durable deal and pave the way for national reconciliation.
Source: IRNA, Iran, January 6, 2008
*IRGC: U.S. Navy Video, Audio "Fabricated"; Iranian FM: Claims Of Iranian Speedboat Threats "Propaganda" Connected To Bush Middle East Visit
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said today that the U.S. video of the January 5 incident in the Strait of Hormuz involving Iranian patrol boats and U.S. warships was archive footage and that the audio was faked.
An IRGC navy commander told Press TV that in the matter of Washington's claims that IRGC speedboats had harassed three U.S. Navy warships, "the footage released by the U.S. navy are file pictures and the audio has been fabricated."
Meanwhile, Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar dismissed as propaganda the U.S. Navy claim that the Iranian craft had threatened to blow up the U.S. warships, saying that the Iranian navy's monitoring of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz is a routine task.
Najjar also called depicting this normal procedure as a provocation a "project" by the White House to portray Iran as a frightening country, and connected it to President Bush's visit to the region.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini also played down the incident, saying it was an issue of mistaken identity and comparing it to "previous ones" that had been resolved "once the two sides recognized each other," Hosseini explained.
Iranian Foreign Ministry director of American affairs Ahmad Sobhani said that the Iranian speed boats had carried out a normal and legal act.
On Tuesday, Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel had described U.S. reports about the incident as "part of a psychological and propaganda campaign against the Islamic Republic" (see Iranian Parliamentary Speaker: Persian Gulf Incident "U.S. Propaganda Against Iran").
Sources: Mehr, Iran, January 8, 2008; ISNA, IRNA, Mehr, Iran, January 9, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4498.htm
*Brother Of Woman Who Died Following Arrest For Islamic Dress Code Violations: I Will Never Accept Official Statement That She Committed Suicide
The brother of Zahra Bani Yaghoub, also mentioned in the media as Zahra Bani Ameri, an Iranian medical doctor who died on October 13, 2007 in a Hamdan prison after her arrest the previous day by Morals Police for Islamic dress code violations, told the reformist online daily Rooz in an interview that he "will never accept the official statement that [Zahra] committed suicide."
Rahim Bani Yaghoub said that he had spoken with his sister minutes before she died and she had been fine, that suicide was absolutely not compatible with her personality or with her mood at the time, and that she had been a top student, and had had a passion for serving people and "a wonderful spirit."?
(See also "Woman Arrested For Dress Code Violation In Iran Dies In Prison")
Source: Rooz, Iran, January 8, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4497.htm
*Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei: Iran's Situation "Sensitive"
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said January 6 in Yazd, Iran that the country has been in a sensitive situation since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, but that "this does not mean that the situation is critical and dangerous."
He said that one reason for the country's sensitive situation was that the revolution "freed the country from the historical disease of autocracy and submissiveness."
He cited as signs of the sensitive situation the 1980-1988 "imposed war against the Iranian nation" and "various conspiracies, such as a 10-year plan to undermine the Islamic establishment after Imam Khomeini’s departure."
He added, "Despite all the conspiracies, now, 28 years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the people’s feelings and attachment toward the Islamic system are very strong."
Source: Mehr, Iran, January 6, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4494.htm
*Iranian Activists Demand Release Of Imprisoned Students; Guardian Council Sec'y: Europe, America Don't Have Democracy Like Iran
A group of Iranian human rights activists have issued a communiqué expressing fear for the fate of over 30 students detained in Evin prison since December 7 who have not received legal aid or medical attention.
They also demanded the release of three Amir Kabir University students who are still detained even though bail was posted, the release of two women's movement activists arrested in the Kurdistan region, and the release of Iranian Prisoners' Rights Association chairman 'Amad Al-Din Baqi (see also "Unrest At Universities Across Iran", "Over 2,000 Students Demonstrate In Iran", and others)
In a speech in Tabriz, Iranian Guardian Council chairman Ahmad Jannati said that "no country in Europe or America has the democracy and freedom that Iran has."
Sources: ISNA, Iran, January 8, 2008; Rooz, Iran, January 9, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4475.htm
*Senior Iranian Officials Call For Increased Censorship
Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi has called on Iran's newspapers to use self-censorship and to support the government's activity.
On a visit to the offices of the official Iranian news agency IRNA, Iranian Assembly of Experts member Ahmad Khatami called to expand censorship in Iran, and asked media to refrain from criticizing the government and to keep "the secrets of the regime."
In an interview, presidential advisor on clerical affairs Hojatoleslam Naser Saqa-i Biria told the daily Resalat that in their reports on nuclear issues, some Iranian papers are joining forces with foreign elements opposed to the regime.
Meanwhile, the reformist online daily Rooz stressed that this criticism of the papers comes at a time when over 10 journalists are sitting in Iranian prisons.
Source: Resalat, Iran, January 7, 2008; Rooz, Iran, January 8, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4455.htm
*Reformists Under Attack In Iran
In its daily circular, the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) political bureau accused Saeed Hajrian, who is considered the theoretician of the reform movement in Iran, of planning an "orange revolution" against the regime.
The editor of the Iranian daily Kayhan, Hossein Shariatmadari, who is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, stated in an editorial that Iran's reformists are a fifth column serving the West.
At a conference of Basij activists, Ali Saeedi, Khamenei’s representative in the IRGC, said that the reformists are acting under Western protection and against the interests of the regime and of the Islamic revolution.
Source: Kayhan, Iran, January 5, 2008; Rooz, Iran, January 8, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4454.htm
*Iran MPs Request Higher Defense Budget
Iran's parliament is asking Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to increase the defense budget in the upcoming Iranian new year.
Parliamentary National Security Council chief 'Alaa Al-Din Boroujerdi said that taking into account Iran's large population, the country has the lowest defense budget of all the countries in the region.
He added that one possible way to eliminate the U.S. threats in the region is to allocate a larger budget to the defense department.
Referring to the claims that Russia is selling anti-missile shields to Iran, he noted Iran's missile power is by itself a deterrent factor against every threat.
Source: ISNA, Iran, January 6, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4449.htm
*Iranian Women's Rights Activist: Iranian Regime Permits Marriage Of Girls Age 10-13
Iranian women's rights activist Mahboubeh Hossein Zade has criticized the Iranian regime for permitting marriage for tens of thousands of underage girls, aged 10-13.
Source: Rooz, Iran, January 6, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4445.htm
*Five Sentenced To Arm and Leg Amputations In Southeast Iran
Following a verdict by a court in the Sistan-Baluchistan province in southeast Iran, the five people accused of armed struggle against the regime and disturbing the public order had their right arms and left legs amputated.
Source: Rooz, Iran, January 7, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4439.htm
*Policewomen Units To Handle Immorality At Beauty Salons
The Tehran Police commander has told the official Iranian news agency IRNA that under the new stage of the campaign to enforce public order, units of policewomen have been set up to handle "immorality in Tehran's beauty salons."
The commander added that these units are already on the job.
Source: IRNA, Rooz, Iran, January 6, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4438.htm
*Iran Begins Mass Production Of Multi-Purpose Military Vehicle
Iran's Defense Ministry has begun mass production of the Safir ("Ambassador") tactical vehicle, which can carry a wide variety of missiles such as TOW launchers, 107mm rockets, and a rocket launcher.
The vehicle, which was developed by Defense Ministry experts, can also be used as a command car, ambulance, or communications vehicle.
Source: Sobh-e Sadeq, Iran, December 31, 2007
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4437.htm
*Iranian Army Air Force Cmdr: We Are Producing Plane Undetectable By Radar
Iranian Army Air Force Commander Brig.-Gen. Ahmad Miqani has said that the Iranian army will soon manufacture a fourth and fifth generation of the Al-Sa'aqe fighter plane, and that these planes cannot be detected by radar.
He added that the third generation of the Al-Sa'aqe is expected to be put into service this year, and that "air force experts have succeeded in developing a radar system capable of tracking a number of fighter planes and all types of satellites."
Source: IRNA, Iran, January 5, 2008; Tehran Times, Iran, January 6, 2008
www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/4421.htm
*Larijani Meets With Amal, Hizbullah Reps In Damascus
Ali Larijani, the representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Iran's Supreme National Security Council, met today in Damascus with representatives of the Lebanese movements Amal and Hizbullah to discuss Lebanese issues.
The three sides discussed cooperation with the Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa within the framework of a recent statement from an extraordinary meeting of the Arab states in Cairo.
At the meeting, Hizbullah was represented by Haj Hossein Khalil, political affairs deputy to Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, and Amal was represented by Ali Khalil, deputy to Amal leader Nabih Berri.
Larijani, who is on an informal visit to Syria, also met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to discuss ways of helping the Lebanese groups achieve a durable deal and pave the way for national reconciliation.
Source: IRNA, Iran, January 6, 2008