(New York, January 8, 2002) -- Human Rights Watch today condemned the Iranian government's prosecution of fifteen members of the National Religious Alliance (Melli Mazhabi) before a Revolutionary Court as a violation of their basic rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association. Human Rights Watch also charged that they have been held in an unregulated detention center and denied basic due process rights. ... more

Trouble broke out today in the Majlis when a deputy of Iran's Islamic dominated parliament used the words "civil disobedience". Following the comments made by Mohammad Mehdi Shahrokhi, the deputy from Tabriz, the deputy from Pol Dokhtar, an arch supporter of Seyyed Ali Khamenei, ... more

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran contains many important safeguards of rights and freedoms that are guaranteed in the international instruments to which Iran is a state party (see box), including those relating to freedom of expression and fair trial. These seek to ensure that all individuals enjoy the same rights under law, and the human dignity that follows from this. ... more

IRAN'S attempts to block the appointment of David Reddaway as the British Ambassador to Tehran were strongly resisted yesterday as the Foreign Office insisted that he was still the only candidate for the job. ... more

A diplomatic storm is brewing between Britain and Iran, over Tehran's refusal to accept the appointment of David Reddaway as the new British ambassador to Iran. According to the daily Jomhuri Islami, Iran has stated that Reddaway, who is the director of public services in the British Foreign Office, "is a Jew, who is an MI6 agent." ... more

The Turkish concern is led by the military, which has been alarmed by the prospect of a conciliation between Washington and Teheran. Military commanders said a U.S.-led attack on Iraq would further increase Iran's regional influence. ... more

TEHRAN, Jan 08 (PNS): Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of Education and Research Affairs, Sadiq Kharrazi, here announced Tehran's political readiness to help settle the existing Indo-Pakistan dispute. ... more

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Iran the ''center of world terror'' and said yesterday a recently captured arms shipment showed that Iran and the Palestinians were collaborating to strike at Israel. ... more

JERUSALEM, Jan. 8 -- The captain of the rusting old freighter, asleep in his cabin before dawn last Thursday, was awakened by the sound of feet stomping on deck. When he went to investigate, he found his crew handcuffed and his ship, the Karine A, swarming with Israeli commandos. ... more

The Palestinian Authority launched a probe into a ship laden with weapons seized by Israel, as the United States remained cautious on the affair which has sent Palestinian ties with Israel back into the freezer after a slight thaw. ... more

Khaled Pashtun, spokesman for Haji Gul Agha, who is governor of southern Kandahar province and also in charge of the neighbouring provinces of Helmand, Zabol and Uruzgan, said "senior Iranian officials" were interfering in the two provinces. ... more

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Long the regional heavyweight, Pakistan now finds its role in Afghanistan has all but vanished, dealing a blow to the nation's influence in southwestern Asia and leaving an opening for rivals like Iran, diplomats and officials say. ... more

At a time when according to some officials of the Islamic republic 40 percent of the Iranian population are living under the poverty line and the number of unemployed has reached 4 million, Habibollah Asghar Olladi Mosalman, ... more

A senior official responsible for combatting Iran's drugs problem has warned of the spreading dangers of AIDS and Hepatitis in connection with the abuse of drugs, calling it a "national catastrophe." Bijan Heydar Arabi, the Planning Director of the Bureau of Combatting Drugs, expressed today his serious concerns about the spread of diseases and infections caused by injecting and abusing drugs. ... more

An Iranian consultant based in France who was invited to Iran for an economic conference told reporters in Tehran: "If the current state of Iran's agriculture continues the way it is now there will certainly be hunger and food shortages in Iran." Hossein Ali Roubani, an agriculture consultant added: ... more

TEHRAN, Jan 9 Asia Pulse - Secretary of the Iranian Association of software Exporters Mohammad-Reza Hosseini said during a computer exhibition here Monday that Iranians are planning to export software after achieving the required international standards. ... more

SEOUL, Jan 9 Asia Pulse - Hyundai Hysco said Wednesday it will ship 37,000 tons of steel pipes worth US$15 million to Syria and Iran by Friday. A total of 27,000 tons and 10,000 tons of X-60 class pipes will be sent to Syria and Iran respectively for use in gas and oil pipelines. ... more