Tehran // Current

Iranian blogger arrested as Israeli spy

Reports suggest that Iranian Blogger has been arrested in Tehran, charged with Spying for Israel. Hossein Derakhshan has visited... more

GeoffNI
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Time Magazine features America's Secret War

Swampland, Time magazine's political blog, featured ASW. Off The Trail: A Proxy War With Iran?

dmfoster
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Pictures of Iran may surprise you

These are all pictures of Tehran, the capital of Iran, a huge city with a metro population of 14 million. Here you can see the... more

jperson
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Iran Holding US College Student in Prison

An American university student in Iran to visit family and research women's rights has been arrested and held in prison for... more

Apocalipstick
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Iran: Preparing the Battlefield

The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran. by Seymour M. Hersh

dmfoster
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World's Largest Sandwich??

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran failed Friday to register what it said would be the world's largest sandwich in the Guinness... more

bigloutech
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America's Secret War

Is the US already at war with Iran? In "America's Secret War", Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels... more

MarianaVanZeller
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Russia, Iran, Qatar discuss OPEC-style gas cartel

TEHRAN, Iran – Russia, Iran and Qatar took their first serious steps toward forming an OPEC-style cartel for natural gas on Tuesday, a prospect that has unnerved energy-importing nations in Europe and the United States.

The three countries together account for 60 percent of the world's gas reserves, and Russia and Iran have both been accused of using their hold on energy supplies to bully neighboring countries. The European Union, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas, criticized the proposal, saying "energy supplies have to be sold in a free market."

Russia, which most recently came into confrontation with the West over its five-day war with Georgia in August, has been accused of using its hold on energy supplies to exert influence on neighboring nations, particularly Ukraine. Its energy grip adds to its leverage in disputes over other issues, too, such as the United States' missile defense plans.
For its part, Iran, in its standoff with world powers over its nuclear program, has threatened to choke off oil shipments through the Persian Gulf if it is attacked.

A gas cartel to determine supply and influence prices could extend both countries' reach in energy and politics, particularly if oil prices bounce back to the highs seen earlier this year — prompting politicians, businesses and consumers to look toward cleaner burning natural gas and other alternative fuels.

The gathering in Tehran, which included the chief excutive of Russia's state-controlled energy company Gazprom and the oil ministers of the other two nations, appeared to be the most significant step toward the formation of such a group since Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, first raised the idea in January 2007.

"Big decisions were made," said Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari. The three countries will "seriously pursue the formation of an organization of gas-exporting countries," he added.

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*Photo (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi): Iranian Oil Minister, Gholam Hossein Nozari, center, speaks with media during a joint press conference with chief of Russia's state gas monopoly OAO Gazprom, Alexei Miller, right, and Qatar's Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry, Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiya, at the conclusion of their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008.*
TEHRAN, Iran – Russia, Iran and Qatar took their first serious steps toward forming an OPEC-style cartel for natural gas on... more

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28 days ago

A View from Iran

When America invaded Iraq in 2003, residents of border countries like Iran wondered what would happen to them if the US ever... more

Kouross
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15 responses

1 month ago

World record sandwich? Iranians eat evidence

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran failed Friday to register what it said would be the world's largest sandwich in the Guinness... more

GETTINGOUTOURDREAMS
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1 month ago

Western Aircraft Forced to Land in Iran

Iranian news reports say Iran forced a Western aircraft that accidentally entered its airspace to land, then allowed the plane to... more

ebindelglass
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1 month ago

Israel asked US for a green light to bomb Iran's nuclear sites

Luckily for humanity, Bush said No. This apparently happened back in May, as Israel was becoming increasingly concerned about... more

abbym0308
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49 responses

1 month ago

EU warns Iran is close to making nukes

According to text of an EU report on Iran's nuclear program released to reporters ahead of it's official delivery to the... more

abbym0308
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17 responses

1 month ago

Seattle-Tehran Poster Show Remix thru 10/15

Curators Daniel R. Smith and Iman Raad have produced the Seattle-Tehran Poster Show, an exhibition of poster illustration and... more

kinolina
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2 months ago

Anti-terrorism officials fear Hezbollah in Venezuela

Western officials fear that potential terrorists are organizing in Venezuela. Many of the fears stem from Venezuela's... more

joshuaheller
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4 responses

3 months ago

Highest number of monthly executions in several years in Iran

According to the analysis by "Iran Human Rights" month of July 2008 had among the highest number of monthly executions... more

maniology
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2 responses

3 months ago

A man has been sentenced to 30 lashes and 6 months in prison for stealing a pair of shoes in Tehran

A man has been sentenced to 6 months in prison and 30 lashes for stealing a pair of shoes from the keeper of a mosque in Raah Ahan... more

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3 months ago

Iran Launches Rocket Capable of Putting Iranian-made Satillite into Space

Iran says it has successfully launched a rocket capable of carrying its first domestically built satellite. Officials said only... more

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3 months ago

The price of speaking out

Mahboubeh Karami has been languishing in Evin prison since 13 June. Amnesty's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui explains how the journalist and activist ended up in Tehran's notorious jail

Mahboubeh Karami, 40, is a freelance journalist. She is also active in the Campaign for Equality, a women's rights movement in Iran which calls for reform of laws that discriminate against women and which launched the "One million signatures" campaign in support of this demand. She has been detained in Tehran's Evin Prison since 13 June.

On that morning, she called her mother briefly from her mobile, after boarding a bus in north Tehran. All was well but about 20 minutes later she called again. The bus had been forced to halt near Mellat Park because of a demonstration by people against the arrest on 11 June of Abbas Palizdar, who had accused several senior Iranian officials of financial corruption.

The protest was peaceful but police and other security forces reportedly used tear gas and batons to disperse the demonstrators. They also set up checkpoints. While drivers were told to keep moving, they stopped a number of buses, including the one on which Mahboubeh was travelling, so that plain-clothed officers could check the passengers.

When Mahboubeh called her mother that second time it was to tell her that her coat had been pulled from her and she was being manhandled from the bus by the security police. She was able to speak only briefly before her phone was disconnected.

On the day she was detained, her family and friends could find out nothing about where she was being held. The next information they had came from one of the other bus passengers who had found Mahboubeh's bag - dropped when she was seized. He took it to her family and told them that Mahboubeh and all other female passengers had been taken off the bus, although they had not taken any part in the demonstration.

On 14 June, the day after the protest, the Head of Tehran's Judiciary told the press that 200 people had been arrested and that those who were innocent or were suspected of committing only minor offences would learn about the status of their cases within a week. In the weeks that followed others who took part in the demonstration, or who were arrested at the same time as Mahboubeh, were released, although in some cases they first had to pay considerable sums of bail.

Mahboubeh Karami’s mother, Sedigheh Mosa’ebi, has said that her daughter called her from Evin Prison on 25 June saying that about 90 women were arrested on 13 June. Most of whom, like her, had nothing to do with the demonstration in Mellat Park. She told her mother that “The police stopped the bus in front of the Park. Then they began hitting the windows with their batons and forced the driver to open the doors. They attacked a man in the bus. I could not keep silent and when I protested, they took me in too.”

Mahboubeh Karami and nine other women, then being detained with her, went on hunger strike on 6 July to protest about their incarceration and conditions – they had been moved to a section of Evin Prison where detainees are not permitted visits. The protest ended after the other nine women were all released by 25 July. Although not freed, Mahboubeh Karami was moved to a ‘general’ section of Evin Prison, and has since been allowed weekly visits from her family.Mahboubeh Karami has been languishing in Evin prison since 13 June. Amnesty's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui explains how the... more