Iran Press Service - Articles 2008

Iran Is Going Mad

Safa Haeri — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:51:26 UT

If you have been strong enough as not go mad from stories we have been subjected in the last months of the presidency of George W. Bush about the maddening international financial and economic crisis, it is not late, just look at what happened in the Islamic Republic of Iran in the past few days:

Tehran Intends To Outlaw Cooperation With The BBC Persian Service TV

Yasamin Manteqi — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:18:46 UT

As the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) started running experimental programmes of its latest child, a television channel in Persian language covering Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance last week issued a ‎statement outlawing “any form of cooperation between Iranian public ‎or journalists with the BBC Persian television network”.

A Challenge That Is Not Economic ‎

Azadeh Kian — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:42:12 UT

As the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad finally decided to give up introducing Value Added Tax (VAT), a decision that triggered the unprecedented strike of the Bazaar in several major cities, including Tehran, pundits and economists continue to analyse the reasons behind such a defeat.

If Khatami Runs In Next Presidential Elections, He Would Dig His Political Grave

Safa Haeri — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:39:45 UT

With the date of presidential elections in Iran approaching, the big question of the day is to know if former moderate president Hojjat-ol-eslam Mohammad Khatami will enter the arena or not.

Israel Gets Real on Iran

Trita Parsi — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:33:16 UT

On the eve of his departure from political life, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert delivered a stinging parting shot – putting under question not only the wisdom of holding on to Palestinian land, but also the feasibility of an Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Who Is Behind The Bazaar Strike?

Safa Haeri — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:23:14 UT

In a recent article, we said since the creation of the Islamic Republic in Iran, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad is the “strongest president the co0untry never had, much stronger than his predecessor, the moderate Mohammad Khatami or even Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, considered as the most powerful man of the regime after the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i”.

Deciding The Fate Of The Mojahedin Khalq Organisation

Trita Parsi — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:41:52 UT

The Bush administration inherited many of Iraq's problems when it invaded that country, including an Iranian terrorist organization funded and armed by Saddam Hussein, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MKO).

Will There Be A Second Cold War?

Jalal Alavi — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:13:31 UT

In his September 4 commentary titled Who Wants Cold War II? [1], Shlomo Ben-Ami, a former Israeli foreign minister, proposes a new world order in which the United States and Russia can be strategic partners.

Will Mr. Kordan resign, or be dismissed?

Safa Haeri — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:28:39 UT

Will Mr. Ali Kordan, the Iranian Interior Minister resign, or be removed and tried, now that he has admitted that his “honorary doctorate” he had claimed was obtained from Oxford University was a fake?

Ahmadi Nezhad’s Speech At The UN Criticised Inside and Outside Iran

Safa Haeri — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:05:45 UT

Once again, the Iranian fanatic President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad participated at the United Nations General Assembly and once again, not only his performance was an exercise in futility, not only he made himself the fool of the international community, but also the subject of shame for the Iranians.

Germany’s Biggest Mosque To Be Built In Koln

Parviz Mardani — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:40:14 UT

Some 1.000 extremists who had planned a two day meeting in Koln to stop the project for building a masque in this city were finally defeated by a counter meeting by 40.000 people, most of them Turks and other Muslims, but also lawmakers from left an right, members of the Koln city council.

Ahmadi Nezhad: The Most Powerful of All Iranian Presidents

Safa Haeri — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:12:50 UT

Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad is a fanatic, he is not coherent, he is encircled by a bunch of people who do not grasp the responsibilities they are in charge, he is rude, often impolite with his subordinates, vulgar, excessive in language, an economic catastrophe and bad manager. Some describes him as “stubborn”, “unpredictable”, “instable” etc..

Russia raided Georgian Airfields To Be Used By Israel Against Iran

DEBKA file — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:28:38 UT

As Tehran continue to deploy an oversize and much disputed diplomatic activity concerning the Caucasian crisis, placing itself on the side of Moscow and criticizing the ”unwise” decision of the pro-American Georgian President to handle the situation, an Israeli intelligence news service says that the overwhelming Russian response to the Georgian provocation was to destroy facilities that Israel could use to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.

Is An Israeli Strike On Iran Imminent? No

Jalal Alavi — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:12:03 UT

Is an Israeli attack on Iran imminent? The answer to this question would very much depend on what sorts of issues and constraints are taken into consideration.

Ahmadinejad's New Enemy: Women

Amir Taheri — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:32:56 UT

In one of his last sermons before his death, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini warned of "three threats" to his vision of Islam: the US, the Jews and women. Two decades later, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad thinks he has the United States and the Jews in hand - and is moving on the third "enemy."

Ahmadinejad's New Enemy: Women

Amir Taheri — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:49:57 UT

They Are Laying the Groundwork For My Assassination

Safa Haeri — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:48:33 UT

After the official Iranian news agency IRNA two weeks ago officially accused the daughter of Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, the winner of the 2003 Nobel to have converted to Bahaism, voices have raised to express “serious concerns” for the life of the Iranian lawyer and human rights campaigner.

We Are Witnessing The Return of Cold War Clichés

Elaheh Koula'i — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:10:46 UT

“If the Georgian leadership had paid due attention to Russia’s behavior in Chechnya, it could predict Russia’s behavior and the heavy tolls would have been avoided”, says Mrs. Elaheh Koua’i.

Let’s Talk To Iran

Nachik Navoth — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:19:24 UT

As election time in the US and Israel draws nearer, the public discourse regarding the "Iranian nuclear threat" has intensified. Both candidates for the US presidency, and a few of those who would like to win become the next Prime Minister of Israel, reach higher peaks with every declaration, presenting Iran as a live bomb and an immediate threat to world peace. Indeed, Iran is not a paragon of virtue. Its aspirations exceed by far these that were described in the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which turned around a previous assessment from 2005.

Travel Ban On Actress Golshifteh Farahani Dismayed Iranians

Safa Haeri — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:02:44 UT

Once again the Iranian clerical-led authorities shot themselves on their foot by preventing a popular actress from leaving the country for Hollywood where she was due to negotiate new movie contracts, after she performed in the Ridley Scott’s “Body of Lies”.

Attacking Iran via South Ossetia

Stephen Kinzer — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:37:20 UT

An editor I once worked for told me that when his parents and grandparents discussed the day's news over dinner, they would inevitably finish by asking each other: "Is it good for the Jews?"

So Far, Ahmadinejad Resists In The Storm Against Rahim Masha’i

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:58:15 UT

As days passes, pressures increases on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to kick out Mr. Esfandiar Rahim Masha’i, his deputy in charge of tourism and cultural heritage for having dared to say “Iran is not enemy of the Israel people”.

Did The New Interior Minister Lied About His “Honorary Doctorate”?

Safa Haeri — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:59:26 UT

Is Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about stab Mr. Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Majles, regarded as the main rival at fanatic President in the next presidential elections at the hands of one of the Speaker’s closest ally in Mr. Ali Kordan, the new Interior Minister?

By Attacking Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, The Islamic Republic Revives Stalinian Methods

Safa Haeri — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:53:34 UT

In a revival of the worse Stalinian methods of suppressing dissidents, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran IRNA claimed that the daughter of Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, the outspoken Iranian lawyer, human rights campaigner and winner of the prestigious Nobel Peace in 2003 has converted to Baha’ism, a fate outlawed in Iran and considered as a “seditious sect”.

Iran Is Seeking To Gain Time While Waiting For Mahdi To Come

Safa Haeri — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:55:21 UT

Iran’s international situation is so disastrous, the officials so discredited, the moral so low, the despair and discontent so deep, the corruption so generalized and so obvious, the regime so hated that in order to divert the attention of the public to other issues and mobilize them behind a fear factor, the decision-makers are genuinely looking to a show-down with the United States or Israel, or the two, informed sources in Tehran told Iran Press Service.

Drawing A Red Line With Iran

Anatol Lieven and Trita Parsi * — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:45:26 UT

The Bush administration's decision to open direct contacts with Iran is to be welcomed, but precisely because it marks such a break with previous U.S. policy, it also carries a great danger. This is that hard-liners in the American and Israeli governments will treat this Western proposal as a last chance for the Iranians, to be followed by an attack if Tehran fails to accept it.

Mullahs’ Oil

Jahanshah Rashidian — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:10:05 UT

Since 1979, the United States has maintained a trade restriction on the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). Since the revelation of IRI’s nuclear ambitions in 2002, at the initiation of the group of six, the United Nations Security Council imposed three rounds of economic sanctions on Iran. None of these measures convinced the regime to turn its back to its nuclear ambitions.

We Are No One’s Enemy, Including Israeli-Palestinians

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:20:48 UT

“Sorry, when I said Iranians are friendly with the Israeli people, actually I wanted to say Palestinian people”, Mr. Esfandiar Rahim Mosha’i, the Iranian vice-President in charge of Tourism and Cultural Heritage Organisation corrected on 21 July 2008 his earlier statement in which he had said that “Iranians are friendly with the American and Israeli peoples. Actually, we think the American people are one of the best in the world”.

Cyrus, A Great Despot King, Like The Last Shah

Safa Haeri — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:15:02 UT

In an article carried recently by the online site of the influential German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, entitled “UN Treasure Honors Persian Despot”, Herr Mahias Schultz argues that like the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlvai, Emperor Cyrus the Great was “also a despot” and therefore, the United Nations must throw out the document referring to Cyrus the paternalism of human rights!

Mass Executions of 88 in Iran

Jahanshah Rashidian — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:48:37 UT

The arrest of Mrs. Bahareh Hedayat and Mohammad Hashemi, two student activists and the escalation of crackdowns on the civil society by the ruling ayatollahs in Iran is a follow up to the mass executions of 1988, says an Iranian political analyst in Germany.