A senior Iranian hard-line cleric says high-speed mobile Internet and third generation mobile services are “un-Islamic” and violate “human and moral norms”. Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi said Iranian authorities should introduce measures that would prevent access to the “negative features” of high-speed mobile Internet and 3G services before making them widely available. Makarem […]
Category: Sufi news
Extremist Iranian group can’t patrol without permits
Iran’s interior minister says that Hezbollah motorcycle patrols must attain legal permits before they can carry out any patrolling duties. Khabaronline reports that Minister Rahmani Fazli told a press conference on Tuesday August 26 that the activities of Ansar-e Hezbollah, including their motorcycle patrols, cannot be allowed with the appropriate legal permits. […]
Amnesty International: prisoner of conscience faces death threats
Prisoner of conscience Mohammad Ali Taheri, who has spent over three years in solitary confinement in Section 2A of Evin Prison in Iran’s capital, Tehran, has been threatened with death by interrogators. He is serving a five-year prison sentence on a charge of “insulting Islamic sanctities”, in relation to his spiritual beliefs and […]
Another rare deer killed under protection
An unknown assailant has shot and killed a rare yellow deer being kept in the Khoramabad Zoo. The head of Iran’s Environment and Wildlife Watch reported on August 24 that the deer died from a shot to its shoulder despite efforts by zoo officials to save it. The Mehr News Agency reports that Keyvan […]
Tehran mayor distances himself from segregation plan
Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has stirred controversy with his plan to segregate male and female public servants, declared on Tuesday that he is in essence against gender segregation. The Fars News Agency reports that Qalibaf was speaking at a meeting in Mashhad when he said: “Some have said that after the election, […]
Students must repay illegally granted bursaries
Iran’s Minister of Justice has announced that students who received bursaries illegally will have to pay for the costs of their studies. IRNA reports that Mostafa PourMohammadi was addressing the controversial issue of bursaries that were illegally granted to ineligible students under the former administration when he said: “A committee has been established to […]
The Families of Jailed Gonabadi Dervishes Are not still Informed of Their Whereabouts
After six days of transfer of two imprisoned Gonabadi Dervishes from hospital to prison, their families are not still informed of their whereabouts.According to Majzooban Noor, after six days of transfer of Messrs. Hamid-Reza Moradi Sarvestani and Mostafa Daneshjou from Shohada e Tajrish hospital to Evin prison, still their families are unaware of their […]
Jailed student activist gets brief respite
Iranian student activist Majid Tavakoli, who was arrested in the 2009 election protests, was released on Saturday August 23 for a four-day leave. The Etemad Newspaper reports that Tavakoli was released from Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj. Tavakoli, a former member of the Amir Kabir Islamic Student Association, was last arrested after giving a […]
Impeachment won’t impede bursaries investigation
The probe into irregularities in the granting of bursaries continues to trigger controversy despite the removal of the science minister, and now Vice-President Eshagh Jahangiri says even the removal of 10 science ministers would not halt the investigation into the former administration’s mishandling of bursary funds. In a ceremony of appreciation for Reza Farajidana, […]
Behnam Ibrahizadeh is on his 16th day of hunger strike
Behnam Ibrahimzadeh, labor activist, who has recently been transferred from Evin to Rajaei Shahr prison, is on his 16th days of hunger strike. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Behnam Ibrahimzadeh who was transferred from ward 209 of Evin prison to Rajaei Shahr prison on August 12 is on […]