Saudi Arabia‘s Shoura Council has discussed a national plan to deal with potential radioactive contamination in the Kingdom following warnings of possible attacks on Iran‘s nuclear reactors. “The plan to check radiation hazards was discussed by Shoura members, but it… Read moreSaudi Arabia prepares for nuclear contamination
The United Arab Emirates announced that it is ending its military training program in Somalia, as the governments of Abu Dhabi and Mogadishu trade charges back and forth. Tensions between the two governments have been on the rise over Emirati plans to build a military base in Somaliland, the self-declared republic that is effectively independent from Mogadishu. The UAE has trained hundreds of troops since 2014 for the weak and fractious Mogadishu government. But Mogadishu sees establishment of a foreign base at Somaliland’s port of Berbera as a move toward recognition of the breakaway republic, calling it a “clear violation of international law.” (Map: Somalia Country Profile)
Abdul-Al Duraqi, a poet and activist from the Ahwazi Arab minority in Iran, arrested during the most recent protests in the city of Ahwaz (Khuzestan province), has been hospitalized after torture sessions at the hands of his interrogators. Family members told the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO) that Duraqi was transferred to hospital due to deterioration in his physical condition after severe torture. Duraqi is revered in his community for keeping alive an Ahwazi literary tradition in the Arabic language. Nearly 400 have been arrested in protests in Ahwaz over the past month. AHRO charges that the detained are being denied their due process rights. (Photo via UNPO)
Hundreds of angry youth clashed with anti-riot forces in Tehran Feb. 23 after trying to liberate a young girl who had been arrested by the Islamic Guidance police. The confrontation began in a main square of Tehran after the morality… Read moreIran: uprising against morality police
More than 120 international academics and human rights activists have signed a statement protesting the banning of Zanan Magazine—meaning “women’s magazine”—by the Iranian government this month, after 16 years in print. Iranian authorities have canceled the licenses of many publications… Read moreIran: protest banning of women’s magazine
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon in the Tajik capital Dushanbe Feb. 13, where the leaders of the two Persian-speaking countries issued a joint statement saying they stand for a world without nuclear arms and support… Read moreIran to join Central Asia nuclear-free zone?
From Amnesty International, Jan. 15: Iran: Death by stoning, a grotesque and unacceptable penalty As nine women and two men in Iran wait to be stoned to death, Amnesty International today called on the Iranian authorities to abolish death by… Read moreAmnesty International protests stoning in Iran
Iran is contesting Washington’s version of the Jan. 5 incident in the Strait of Hormuz. From the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 11: Iran releases its own tape on Hormuz ship incident BEIRUT — Iran released a videotape Thursday to support… Read moreStrait of Hormuz new Gulf of Tonkin?
From the Polytechnic Free Campaign, support group for dissident students at Amir Kabir University of Technology (formerly Tehran Polytechnic), Dec. 6: On Tuesday the 4th of December, security police and masked intelligence agents arrested 28 students during a demonstration against… Read moreIran: dissident students arrested
The Iranian town of Boroujerd, Luristan province, is tense and divided following the Nov. 10 destruction of a hosseinieh or monastery belonging to the Gonabadi Sufi order by the police and Basij paramilitary forces. According to Mohsen Yahyavi, the conservative… Read moreIran: paramilitaries destroy Sufi monastery after clash
Iran’s hardline daily newspaper Jamhouri Eslami made a rare attack on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for making espionage accusations against a former nuclear negotiator, Hossein Mousavian, and saying that influential politicians were using their power to have him cleared. Mousavian was… Read moreIran: Ahmadinejad dissed, Revolutionary Guards threaten “tsunami”
A statement by the Organization for Women’s Liberation—Iran, Nov 8: We condemn the war against people in Iran! The risk of a military attack against people in Iran is imminent. The US administration is adamant about an attack against Iran…. Read moreIranian dissidents oppose US aggression —again
