(Thanks to Ali Alfoneh for his assistance in compiling)
Human Rights and Labor
- Court in Rasht, Gilan province sentences Iranian student weekly Hafteh-Nameh-ye Gilan-e Behtar’s Arash Bahmani to 16 months for “blasphemous remarks on Imam of Time and spreading lies;” Babak Mehdi-Zadeh and Seyed Kouhzad Esmaili receive four months for “spreading lies.”
- Azad University students protest against imprisonment of student activists.
- Mosharekat political reform movement protests against “sexual quotas” at universities which favor men.
- Women’s rights activist Maryam Hossein-Khah arrested at the Revolutionary Court and transferred to the Evin prison.
- 715 social, political and cultural activists protest against imprisonment of Sohrab Razzaghi at Evin prison. (Razzaghi was responsible for governmental supervision of NGO activities during the Khatami presidency).
Nuclear Issue
- Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not rule out Saudi proposal concerning enrichment of uranium outside Iran.
- Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, speaker of the Iranian parliament: “The just voice of Iran has isolated the United States in the nuclear issue.”
- Iranian media uses Powell speech to relieve pressure.
Economy and Trade
- 30 percent of the assets of the Dubai Stock Exchange owned by Iranian citizens.
- Ahmadinejad delivers 11 proposals to OPEC Summit.
- World Bank confirms payment of $550 million loan to Iran.
- Ministry of Economy warns of “severe inflation” due to infusion of petrodollars into Iranian economy.
- Canadian trade delegation in Isfahan.
Diplomacy
- Hugo Chavez arrives in Iran.
- Ahmadinejad: “Iran will never use the oil weapon… but Iran’s knows how to defend itself in case of U.S. attack.”
- Ahmadinejad: “After decades of supremacy, the United States finds itself in a state of utter wretchedness.”
- Warned finally of “great new developments to occur…Unity of Muslims has belittled arrogant USA.”
- Iran wants a permanent UN Security Council seat for an Islamic country.
- Ahmadinejad calls for justice in Palestine:
- “Today we can see that old wounds of the World War II have not yet healed. Zionist aggression against Palestinian people within Palestinian territories has been going on for more than 60 years. So, if justice is reestablished all displaced Palestinians will return to their motherland.”
Environment
- Tehran blanketed by smog. “I have not received any report on worsening of the conditions during the last couple of days. Conditions are indeed much better than some years ago,” says director of Tehran Pollution Bureau.
Culture
- Rush to publish Harold Pinter’s works into Persian.
- Persian translation of Columbian Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Memories of my Melancholy Whores banned despite having first obtained publication and distribution permit.
- Women’s Commission of the Iranian Parliament: Women have colorful roles in Iranian society.
- As to the concerns of U.S. feminists about women’s rights in Iran: “The U.S. is trying to impose Western cultural principles on other countries… World imperialism is trying to destroy the national and traditional values of other countries in order to empower their political and economic interests.”
- Ahmadinejad on the difference between Eastern and Western cultures:
- Relations among the eastern peoples usually are warmer and sincerer than those of the westerners. The reason lies in the fact that the eastern people are brought up in more integrated and abiding families. They all respect their parents. All of them show their compassion to their brothers, sisters and relatives. Family in Asia is a sacred and valuable unit.
Photo of the Day
- Arrests of “gangsters” in Karaj.
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