NEWS))))))

Fifth day of Geneva sit-in for guarantee of Ashraf protection
Today on the fifth day of the Iranian Resistance supporters and families of Ashraf residents’ sit-in in Geneva, Antonio Hodgers, member of Swiss Federal Parliament and head of the Greens Party of Geneva’s Canton, delivered speech and expressed his support for the sit-in participants. He said: On behalf of me and the Green Party, I express our full support for your struggle to obtain the guarantee of Ashraf’s protection and recognition of exiled Iranians’ political rights. The other speakers were Dr. Manouchehr Hezarkhani, chairman of NCRI’s Commission of culture and art, Mr. Aziz Paknejad, and Ms. Sedigheh Shahrokhi, members of the NCRI, Mr. Abdol-Ali Maasoumi, historian and member of NCRI who all emphasized on guaranteeing of Ashraf protection to prevent a human catastrophe. Also Mr. Kazemi, father of two martyred PMOI member, and one of whose offspring resides in Ashraf, on behalf of participant parents in the sit-in asserted on the firm determination of the participants for continuation of the sit-in until implementation of their demand in guaranteeing of Ashraf’s protection.
Also on Wed. the Iranian in Ottawa gathered in front of the Canadian Red Cross on Metcalf st. for Ashraf’s protection.


Undeclared martial law to stop the memorial services in Tehran A number of the percipients were arrested in the ceremony
The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement on Aug 29th 2008: On Friday, the mullahs’ regime dispatched thousands of the State Security Forces (SSF)-mullahs’ suppressive police -- to stop the memorial service held by the families of the victims of the 1988 massacre in Khavaran cemetery in suburban Tehran. A number of the participants were arrested.Friends and families of the slain prisoners affiliated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) and other political groups held a memorial service for their loved ones. The mourners walked toward the cemetery in groups of 100 to 150 people. However, they were confronted with thousands of the ruling clerical regime’s repressive forces such as the SSF, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the paramilitary Bassij force as well as other security agents. Tow days prior to the ceremony, the Khavaran district, in south eastern Tehran was cordoned off by the security agents for a two kilometer radius. They prevented the participants from entering the roads leading to Khavaran. In addition to such suppressive measures, the agents arrested a number of participants and seized driving licenses of people trying to enter the roads leading to cemetery and were ordered to collect their permits at the police precinct in Sepah Square.Khavaran is the site where a part of some 30,000 members and supporters of the PMOI and other groups are buried in mass graves. They were savagely massacred during the summer of 1988. Despite repressive measures, the friends and families of the slain prisoners mark the event every year. The Iranian Resistance once again calls on all international human rights organizations and international tribunals to follow the leaders of the Iranain regime for the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners and bring them to justice.

4,000 centrifuges in Iran nuclear program
The Associated Press quoted Iran’s official IRNA news agency as saying: “the government now has nearly 4,000 centrifuges operating in its uranium enrichment plant.”IRNA also quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Reza Sheikh Attar as saying Iran is installing 3,000 more centrifuges at the plant in Natanz.Iran says it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that will ultimately involve 54,000 centrifuges.

2nd nuclear power plant in design stage
The Associated Press, 25 August 2008 that Iran’s official news agency says the country has begun designing its second light-water nuclear power plant, a 360-megawatt facility in the southwest. Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, says experts have chosen the site where the light-water nuclear reactor will be built using local technology. Iran is still finishing building its first nuclear power plant, a 1,000-megawatt reactor in the southern city of Bushehr being constructed with Russian help. It is to begin operations early next year.

Five hangings on Wednesday
The Iranian regime hanged five prisoners, a woman and four men. They were Shabnam, Amin, Vahid, Majid and Najaf, the state-run daily Iran reported on Thursday. The Iranian regime indifferent to international calls to stay execution in the country, stepped up executions in summer especially that of the young prisoners who had allegedly committed a crime when under 18. According to rights groups there are at least 132 juveniles on death row in Iran. In past few months six of them were hanged in different jails nationwide. A day after the EU presidency issued a statement condemning the execution of Reza Hejazi, a young man allegedly committing a crime when he was only 15, another minor Behnam Zare was executed on Wednesday in Adel Abad prison in the southern city of Shiraz. His attorney and family were bewildered by Behnam’s sudden hanging since they were not informed.

Jailed Kurds Begin Hunger Strike
Adnkronos International ­reported on Aug. 25th that Kurdish prisoners, all jailed for political motives in Iran, on Monday began an indefinite hunger strike to promote human rights. The news, released by the Kurdish agency, Mokrian, was confirmed by the sister of Adnan Hassanpour, the award-winning journalist who has been condemned to death.Hassanpour was awarded a media award in Italy by the Information, Safety & Freedom Association. The prisoners’ hunger strike is to 'sensitise Iranian and international public opinion' to 'protest against the death sentences given to Kurdish representatives' and to 'denounce continuing human rights violations in prison and outside prison'. Eight Kurdish intellectuals and activists have been condemned to death in Iran, while another six have been sentenced to penalties of up to 11 years for their alleged political and militant activities.


Anti-regime workers protest across Iran
The sufferer workers staged demonstrations, strikes and gathering protests against the clerical regime in the cities of Shiraz, Sanandaj, Ahwaz, Arak, and Zanjan.In Ahwaz over 500 workers of Rolling and Pipes Mill Corporation (ARPCO) walked out for the second time this summer over their unpaid salaries in the southwestern city of Ahwaz, the state-run Kargozaran daily reported on Sunday. The striking workers were cordoned by the State Security Forces - mullahs’ suppressive police - preventing the demonstration from spreading to other parts of the city. They have not been paid for the past four months. The protesting workers continued their gathering in another point of Ahwaz. In Shiraz, the workers of Fars Chemical Industry staged gathering in front of Labor office of Fars province to protest the firing of workers and not paying their delayed salaries. In Sanandaj, Western Iranian city, the textile factory workers, staged a protesting gathering. The workers whose number was 170 protested against unpaid salaries. In Zanjan, northwestern Iranian city, the drivers of Bus Transport Company staged strike to protest the unpaid salaries of 2005 and 2006. This strike caused disorder in traffic of the city.