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Tehran, 19 Dec. (AKI) - A top Muslim cleric in Iran, Hojatolislam Gholam Reza Hassani said on Wednesday that women in Iran who do not wear the hijab or Muslim headscarf, should die. "Women who do not respect the hijab and their husbands deserve to die," said Hassani, who leads Friday prayers in the city of Urumieh, in Iranian Azerbaijan. "I do not understand how these women who do not respect the hijab, 28 years after the birth of the Islamic Republic, are still alive," he said. "These women and their husbands and their fathers must die," said Hassani, who is the representative of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in eastern Azerbaijan. Hassani's statements came after two Kurdish feminists in Iran were accused of being members of an armed rebel group and of carrying out subversive activities threatening the security of the state. It is believed that his statements and the arrests could spark a fresh crackdown on women who do not repect the Islamic dress code in Iran. Thousands of women in Iran have already been warned this year for their "un-Islamic dress" such as wearing tight, short coats and skimpy headscarves.
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President-elect of Iranian Resistance explained advances of “Third Option” in European Parliament HQ
The President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, in her trip to Belgium participated in a session in the main headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels, with the participation of a number of representatives of this parliament. In this session, she delivered her speech concerning recent developments in Iran, the situation of the Iranian resistance and the advances of the “third option”.In this parliamentarian session chaired by Paulo Casaca, Portuguese member of the European Parliament and Co-Chair of Friends of a Free Iran, Lord Slynn of Hadley, the former Judge of the European Court of Justice, Professor Erik David, the professor of international law in Brussels University, Vitatas Landez, former president of Lithuania, Jean Schpats, former parliament speaker of Luxemburg, Brian Binley, member of British House of Commons, Struan Stevenson Vice President of the EPP-ED Group, and a number of MPs of the European Parliament were present and delivered their speeches. Mrs. Rajavi in her speech referred to the British Court’s Judgment regarding the annulment of the terrorist label against the PMOI and said, “ Due to its political and juridical importance, this judgment has shocked many people. The supporters of this Resistance in Iran, Iraq and all over the world are deeply happy, and the Iranian regime and its allies are very upset. The POAC court, rejecting British government’s applying for appeal, called the request of British Home Secretary a chicanery and reiterated that the Secretary “ has no chance for success in the appeal” . Mrs. Rajavi added: “ Today, the judiciary, parliamentarians and the people of Europe are standing with the Iranian people and Resistance. Therefore, we should ask the EU Council of Ministers and the British government “Why are you still standing with the religious fascism? “

EU President Condemned Extended Violation of Human Rights in Iran
In a statement issued by the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, president of the European Parliament condemned violation of human rights in Iran including extensive arrests of students the gruesome hanging of Makwan Mouloudzadeh for an alleged crime committed when he was 13. This statement, referring to arrest of 28 students for their participation in the student day on Dec. 8, 2007, reads: the European Parliament strongly supports the call for the immediate release of students and 'urges the Iranian authorities to swiftly provide adequate information to their families and lawyers about their case.The statement from Hans-Gert Poettering also condemned the gruesome hanging of Makwan Mouloudzadeh for an alleged crime committed when he was 13. This hanging was forbidden by the mullahs’ standards which consider males under 15 as minors and therefore not punishable by law. This is also against the international Civil and Political rights and the Convention of Children’s rights which Iran is a member of. This is also against all the commitments and guarantees that the Iranian authorities have given in recent months to the European Union’s institutions.

4 people hanged in Iranian cities of Isfahan and Zahedan
The anti-human mullahs’ regime hanged four people in Isfahan and Zahedan prisons, and sentenced a young man to death in Tehran. The two persons who were hanged in Isfahan were brothers. The Iranian regime also hanged 4 prisoners including a woman at Evin Prison. These four prisoners were named Ali Akbar, Alireza, Qassem and the woman’s name was Zahra.




Hundreds of University Students in Tehran Demonstrated against Suppression
Hundreds of students of Rajaii University in Tehran demonstrated against suppression at Universities and the wave of arrests, chanting the slogans 'death to dictator' and 'Ahmadinejad Pinochet, Iran won’t become Chile', 'jailed student must be released', 'Students die but will not be humiliated' and' free thinking is our certain right' continued their demonstration. According to reports by students, the demonstration was held at a condition that the night before a number of students were called to the Security Guard Center and were threatened if they held demonstration they would have been dealt fiercely.

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London, Dec. 19 - The United Nations General Assembly accused Iran on Tuesday of continuing the practice of torture and punishments such as flogging, stoning and amputation of limbs.The UNGA adopted a Canadian-sponsored resolution by a vote of 73 in favour to 53 opposed, with 55 abstentions. The 192-member world body expressed "deep concern" at "ongoing systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms" of the people of Iran.It sought the "elimination of amputations, flogging and other forms of torture and inhuman punishment" as well as an abolition of public executions.It called on Tehran to halt "stoning as a method of execution" and end "executions of persons who at the time of their offence were under the age of 18".The resolution also pointed out that there was "discrimination and violence against women and girls" in Iran. The UNGA called on Iran to put an end to the "harassment, intimidation and persecution of political opponents” and end “impunity for human rights violations”.
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TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian court has jailed nine teachers for 91 days on charges of disturbing public opinion by encouraging colleagues to stage illegal protests, an Iranian daily reported on Monday.Seda-ye Edalat (The Voice of Justice) said the sentences were handed down in the western city of Hamedan. The teachers were arrested during the Iranian month starting in late March, when the newspaper said they spent nine days in solitary confinement.Some teachers have staged protests in Tehran and elsewhere over the past year demanding better pay and conditions. Many of them make the equivalent of a few hundred U.S. dollars per month and have seen their real wages eroded by double-digit inflation.
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TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian police have closed down 24 Internet cafes and other coffee shops in as many hours, detaining 23 people, as part of a broad crackdown on immoral behaviour in the Islamic state, official media said on Sunday. The action in Tehran province was the latest move in a campaign against fashion and other practices deemed incompatible with Islamic values, including women flouting strict dress codes and barber shops offering men Western hair styles. "Using immoral computer games, storing obscene photos ... and the presence of women wearing improper hijab were among the reasons why they have been closed down," Colonel Nader Sarkari, a provincial police commander, said. Since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the presidency in 2005, promising a return to the values of the 1979 Islamic revolution, hardliners have pressed for tighter controls on "immoral behaviour".Sarkari told the official IRNA news agency that police had inspected 435 coffee shops in the past 24 hours, and 170 had been warned. The report did not make clear whether they were all Internet cafes, which have mushroomed in Iran over the past few years and are popular especially among young people. Police were not immediately available for comment. "Twenty-three people were detained," Sarkari said, adding 11 of them were women.Many young Iranians are avid users of the Internet, some using chat rooms to socialise with the opposite sex. Mingling between sexes outside marriage is banned and many Web sites considered unIslamic are blocked by the authorities. The cafe crackdown coincides with a winter campaign against women wearing tight trousers tucked into long boots and other "improper dress" such as short overcoats and hats instead of scarves.Enforcement of Islamic dress codes that require women to cover their hair and disguise the shape of their bodies has become stricter since 2005, following eight years of reformist rule.Police regularly clamp down on skimpier clothing and looser headscarves in the summer, but usually for only a few weeks. This year the campaign has run into the winter.Women found dressing inappropriately may be warned and repeat offenders can be taken to a police station and fined. "Our people want their women to be able to go in the streets with respect and want their dignity to be protected," senior Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami told worshippers in Tehran on Friday. "Our people want the society to be morally clean." In a separate campaign, IRNA said police had inspected 275 restaurants in the capital to check compliance with a new ban on smoking in public places. The ban includes water pipes, known in Iran as qalyan, offered in some outlets. Of those, 138 received a warning and 17 were shut down, police official Mohammad Reza Alipour said.

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London, Dec. 22 – A prominent international human rights organisation called for the immediate release of an Iranian trade union leader who was rushed to hospital after collapsing in prison.Amnesty International said that it had received reliable reports that Mahmoud Salehi, a spokesperson for the Organisational Committee to Establish Trade Unions, was taken unconscious to Tohid hospital in Sanandaj on 11 December, after repeatedly collapsing in prison between 4-10 December as a result of his health problems. “Salehi has a long-term history of kidney and heart complaints. In May 2007, his doctor made a request asking for Salehi to receive specialist treatment. That request continues to be ignored” Amnesty International said in a statement on Friday. “Amnesty International regards Salehi as a prisoner of conscience and has ongoing concerns for his well-being”, it said. “The case is the latest example of the Iranian authorities continual disregard for the health of prisoners”. “Mahmoud Salehi's life is at risk. He urgently needs proper and sustained treatment outside prison. The Iranian government must release him now”, said Shane Enright, Amnesty International UK's Trade Union Campaigns Manager. Salehi was arrested after a demonstration to celebrate May Day 2004.

Amnesty International Asked For Immediate Release of Detained Students
Amnesty International (AI), in a statement, asked for immediate release of detained students in Iran. The statement of this organization has expressed concern about the situation of the detained student. AI statement reads: between 20 to 30 students have been detained following demonstrations and gatherings on the occasion of Dec. 7, the Iranian Students Day, without explaining the charge, in Tehran and other cities. Most of the detainees are kept in Tehran, in Evin Prison’s wards 209 and 240, and some others are kept in a governmental intelligence unit named 'bureau of follow up'In its statement, Amnesty International has referred to the protesting gatherings by the detained students’ families in front of Evin Prison and in front of the Iranian regime’s Parliament on December12.

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TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian police have closed down 24 Internet cafes and other coffee shops in as many hours, detaining 23 people, as part of a broad crackdown on immoral behaviour in the Islamic state, official media said on Sunday. The action in Tehran province was the latest move in a campaign against fashion and other practices deemed incompatible with Islamic values, including women flouting strict dress codes and barber shops offering men Western hair styles. "Using immoral computer games, storing obscene photos ... and the presence of women wearing improper hijab were among the reasons why they have been closed down," Colonel Nader Sarkari, a provincial police commander, said. Since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the presidency in 2005, promising a return to the values of the 1979 Islamic revolution, hardliners have pressed for tighter controls on "immoral behaviour". Sarkari told the official IRNA news agency that police had inspected 435 coffee shops in the past 24 hours, and 170 had been warned.The report did not make clear whether they were all Internet cafes, which have mushroomed in Iran over the past few years and are popular especially among young people. Police were not immediately available for comment."Twenty-three people were detained," Sarkari said, adding 11 of them were women.Many young Iranians are avid users of the Internet, some using chat rooms to socialise with the opposite sex. Mingling between sexes outside marriage is banned and many Web sites considered unIslamic are blocked by the authorities.The cafe crackdown coincides with a winter campaign against women wearing tight trousers tucked into long boots and other "improper dress" such as short overcoats and hats instead of scarves.Enforcement of Islamic dress codes that require women to cover their hair and disguise the shape of their bodies has become stricter since 2005, following eight years of reformist rule.Police regularly clamp down on skimpier clothing and looser headscarves in the summer, but usually for only a few weeks. This year the campaign has run into the winter. Women found dressing inappropriately may be warned and repeat offenders can be taken to a police station and fined."Our people want their women to be able to go in the streets with respect and want their dignity to be protected," senior Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami told worshippers in Tehran on Friday. "Our people want the society to be morally clean." In a separate campaign, IRNA said police had inspected 275 restaurants in the capital to check compliance with a new ban on smoking in public places. The ban includes water pipes, known in Iran as qalyan, offered in some outlets. Of those, 138 received a warning and 17 were shut down, police official Mohammad Reza Alipour said.