For me the values and acceptance of "democracy" starts with an open mind, with the desire to learn what true democracy means. The word "democracy" and "secular democracy" has become the focal point and criteria amongst Iranians when discussing and debating the future of our country. ... more

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières - RSF) said today it was "very concerned" about suspected ill-treatment of an elderly Iranian journalist, 71-year-old Siamak Pourzand, who is currently on trial in Teheran for a range of alleged offences, including subversion. ... more

The last we heard from our intrepid investigative journalists, "millions" of rabidly anti-American Persians had filled the streets of Iran's major cities to denounce the Great American Satan and rally round their beloved mullahs. ... more

A top advisor to President Bush who recently returned from Afghanistan delivered a blistering condemnation of the Iranian regime in a speech Wednesday night to a pro-Tehran lobbying group in Washington, DC that clearly had been hoping to hear a different message. ... more

ATHENS (Reuters) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has blasted the United States for trying to use the post-September 11 climate to its advantage and said America would one day include Europe in its "axis of evil." ... more

ATHENS (Reuters) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami criticized the United States for a second time in three days during a visit to Greece, for reportedly envisaging the use of nuclear weapons against several countries, including Iran. ... more

Iranian President Mohammed Khatami yesterday visited the Acropolis and its museum. He later laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma Square and met with Parliament Speaker Apostolos Kaklamanis. ... more

Iranian Vice-President Mohammed Abtahi is to visit Beirut, where he will meet with the country's top leaders. Abtahi, who is expected to arrive on Tuesday, will be carrying "a message" to President Emile Lahoud from Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, a high-level diplomat said on Friday. ... more

PARIS (Reuters) - The United States has no plans to attack either Iraq or Iran, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) reiterated in a French television interview to be broadcast Friday. Speculation of an attack on Iraq rose again this week after President Bush (news - web sites) said the United States would "deal with" Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), whom it accuses of developing weapons of mass destruction. But Powell told France 3 television there were no attack plans either for Iraq or Iran, two of the three states alongside North Korea (news - web sites) named by Bush as part of an "axis of evil." "We have no attack plan on the desk of the President of the United States," he said of Iraq, according to the text of an interview to be broadcast by France 3 in the evening. ... more

Iran continued their winning streak in the seventh Rashid International Volleyball tournament yesterday. Iran carved out their third successive triumph when they blanked Austria 23-25, 25-23, 25-19 and 25-15. The Iranians topped Group A with six points and will meet Tunisia in the first semifinals match tomorrow. ... more

WASHINGTON, DC, Mar. 15 -- US oil companies hoping to invest in Iran continue to receive mixed signals from the White House and congressional officials. A White House official who spoke to the American Iranian Council Mar. 13 stressed the White House wants to see an improved relationship with Iran, according to industry officials. ... more

New sources: As oil supplies grow, United States is less reliant On the Middle East _ Persian Gulf is still critical, but more fuel flows from Venezuela, Russia _ Sept. 11 and disruption fears. In Venezuela, American energy companies have invested billions of dollars to pull up once-worthless, nearly solid crude oil and turn it into gasoline and jet fuel. ... more

U.S. officials say there are no plans to send forces to the Caspian Sea, following a stern statement about Iranian border incidents with Azerbaijan. Despite efforts to ease tensions, the problem of a disputed oil field remains unresolved since an Iranian gunboat threatened an Azerbaijani survey ship in July. ... more

The United Nations has started moving tens of thousands of tents and blankets to western Iran in readiness for a huge wave of Iraqi refugees who are expected to escape across the border if the US and Britain launch military action to topple the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. ... more

KARACHI - With US President George W Bush proceeding in his designs to curtail what he terms an axis of evil, Iraq, Iran and North Korea, events are developing that will help him achieve his targets, especially with regard to Iraq. ... more

The Iranian parliament referred the budget bill for the Iranian year 1381 (beginning 21 March 2002) to the Expediency Council (EC) on Wednesday [13 March]. The bill failed to gain the approval of the supervising Guardian Council which ruled that it contravened Shari'ah laws. ... more

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi has said that Iran benefits from security and stability in Afghanistan. In an interview with the Paris-based Le Figaro newspaper, Asefi said that Iran will do its best to assure lasting security and peace in Afghanistan and keep assisting Hamed Karzai's interim government and the next permanent government there. ... more

Sehmiranant, Tehran Province suburb, 15 March: Emergency Police 110 Chief General Mohammad-Mehdi Saduqi told IRNA Friday [15 March] that two Tehrani citizens were murdered on Thursday at their own residence, in Shemiran, a northern Tehran rich suburb. ... more

Tehran, March 15, IRNA -- The interim Friday Prayer leader of Tehran took a sharp snipe at the US administration for accusing Iran of terrorist activities. ... more

The United States military has carried out a successful test of its new missile defence system. A dummy warhead was launched over the Pacific Ocean at 2111EST (0211GMT Saturday), and was hit by a ground-launched missile 20 minutes later. ... more

OTTAWA –– Air Canada has banned author Salman Rushdie from its flights because the extra security required for him to fly could mean long delays for other passengers, airline officials said Friday. Rushdie, whose book "The Satanic Verses" was considered blasphemous by some Muslims, was threatened with death by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in a 1989 edict. While the Iranian government has since said the edict had ended, hard-line groups have renewed calls for Rushdie to be killed. ... more

New Delhi, March 16, IRNA -- Iranian chess player Ehsan Qaem Maqami finished runner up to Indian grandmaster K. Sasikaran (8.5 points) who emerged clear champion in the world chess tournament in Raipur in the central Indian state of Chattisgarh. In Friday's 11th and final round, Qaem Maqami (eight points) beat Sandipan Chanda (Ind, 7 points) and shared the runner up slot with Russian Andrey Shariyanzdanov (eight points). ... more

An evening of Sufi music laced with the poetry of Hazrat Amir Khusrau. A pleasant Sunday evening saw Arab Ki Sarai at Humayun's Tomb come alive with Jahan-e-Khusrau, a programme which was jointly presented by the Government of Delhi and Archaeological Survey of India. ... more

The Egyptair jet that plunged into the Atlantic killing 217 people in 1999 was brought down in an act of sabotage by the co-pilot who was seeking revenge against his boss, investigators have been told. ... more

TONY BLAIR embarked yesterday on a diplomatic offensive to overcome growing European reluctance to back possible American-led military action against Iraq. His insistence that European Union leaders must face up to preventing Saddam Hussein acquiring weapons of mass destruction came after Chancellor Gerhard Schröder abandoned his policy of "unlimited solidarity" with Washington. ... more