Iranian pastor accused of apostasy is released
Yousef Nadarkhani, the Iranian Christian pastor who was sentenced to death after being found guilty of apostasy, has been released from prison after tireless work by his lawyers and an international outcry regarding his situation. Early in his life, Nadarkhani abandoned his Islamic faith and by age 19 officially converted to Christianity and shortly thereafter began […]
News Roundup 01/27
NYTimes: Israel doubtful that military strike would result in Iranian retaliation The New York times reports that Israeli academics and intelligence officials are skeptical of the ferocity of Iranian retaliation tactics in the case of an Israeli strike and believe that possible measures, such as shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, would cause Iran to […]
Iran News Roundup 01/24
Australia imposes sanctions on Iranian oil Following yesterday’s announcement of EU imposed sanctions, Australian Foreign Secretary Kevin Rudd stated that Australia would also stop importing Iranian oil. Rudd acknowledged Australia’s imports of Iranian oil are already “negligible.” (CNN 01/24) Fitch: EU oil sanctions likely to increase prices Fitch ratings evaluates that it is very likely […]
The MEK’s Propaganda Machine in Three Easy Steps
“The Green Movement, I understand from the testimony in Congress in July, has accepted Madame Rajavi,” said Canadian MP Carolyn Bennett on a talk show hosted last week by Jim Brown of the CBC. Wait, WHAT? The Green Movement has “accepted” Rajavi? Nothing could be further from the truth. The Green Movement has made it abundantly clear […]
Stop talking war, start talking…
We’re slowly reaching a critical point in the nuclear impasse with Iran. If you listen to Iran hawks on the right, Iran is hell bent on getting a nuclear weapon. They just know that’s what Iran wants, despite, as Roger Cohen suggests, no evidence or logical basis supporting their conclusion. Unfortunately, there’s been little to […]
Bringing Iran sanctions home
As the summer travel season is right around the corner, recent sanctions on foreign energy companies dealing with Iran have raised the prospect of higher gas prices that could put those vacation plans on hold. But even as Venezuela is likely bluffing about curbing oil supplies to the U.S., and the Administration takes pains to ensure they […]
Dorothy Parvaz is released, but will Iran open up on human rights abuses?
In welcome news, Dorothy Parvaz–the Al Jazeera English correspondent who was detained in Syria two weeks ago and later deported to Iran–was released yesterday. She arrived in Doha, Qatar on a flight from Iran and detailed her ordeal in an interview with Al Jazeera here. But while it is an immense relief that Parvaz has […]
Nokia Feels the Heat
Nokia Siemens Networks has been under fire lately. Anyone who watched what happened in the aftermath of Iran’s 2009 election knows how hard it was for Iranians to get information out to the rest of the world without being caught by Iranian officials. And, as it was widely reported, Nokia’s technology played a major role […]
Military Attack on Iran: A Combination of Ignorance and Naivety
As always, those who talk about what US policy towards Iran should look like, are already prepared for failure of current US policy. Now Senator Joe Lieberman is preparing to “up the rhetorical ante” on Iran and endorse military actions if sanctions fail In an excerpt of what his staff has labeled a “major policy […]
A Half-Hearted Attempt at Accountability
A military court in Iran sentenced two men on Wednesday to death and nine others to jail for the torture of three protesters which resulted in their death last summer at the notorious Kahrizak detention center. According to the report on Jahan News, an additional 33 others were also accused of attacking a student dormitory […]
Oh, the Irony
When I first heard about France and Belgium’s proposed laws for banning the burqa, I was outraged. As an American, I thought it ridiculous, violating the fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and free exercise of religion. I could not believe that two modern, democratic nations would not allow someone to practice their religion […]
Regime doth protest too much
It seems that despite any claims to the contrary, the Islamic Republic is still at least a little bit fearful for its safety and survival with the upcoming anniversary of the June 2009 elections. This can be seen in the detaining of artists, hikers, Canadian journalists, and French academics (among many others). It can be […]