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Axis of excess
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Iran Va Jahan
By Majid Tehranian
Are we at the edge of a global civil war among civilizations?
In 1993, Samuel Huntington predicted a “clash of civilizations.” In
2001, a year declared by the United Nations as “the Year of Dialogue of
Civilizations,” Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaida terrorist network led
a group of suicide bombers to attack the United States. In the same
year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated into dramatically new
levels of violence by the election of General Sharon to Israeli
leadership. By focusing on a military solution to the conflict,
Sharon and the extremists among the Israelis and Palestinians have been
engaged in terrorist attacks against civilians. They have demonstrated
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Focus on the Axis of Evil: Iran
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Foreign Affairs Magazine
To outsiders, contemporary Iran seems a Janus-faced country that confounds policymakers with its internal contradictions. Hard-liners in Washington emphasize Iran's lack of democracy and hostility: the Islamic Republic has been run since the 1979 revolution by anti-American, anti-Western Shiite Muslim clerics who favor a stern interpretation of Islamic law; the unelected Ayatollah (Supreme Leader) Ali Khamenei retains final say on all matters of state; the country's human rights record remains dismal; the regime has both chemical and biological weapons programs, ... more
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Iran’s judiciary files charges against the NIOC
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Iran Reporter
Iran’s judiciary has filed charges against the entire senior management of the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and other prominent officials accused of misconduct in assigning contracts for the giant South Pars oil and gas field.
Industry sources said the case, which follows months of investigations, has effectively paralysed the decision-making process at the highest level within the industry, delaying awards of major contracts to foreign oil companies.
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289 Iranian deputies stage protest
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Gulf-News
Some 289 Iranian Parliament members demonstrated in front of the Palestinian Embassy here yesterday to protest against the Zionist atrocities against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
They donated a day's salary to the Palestinians and urged the Muslim countries to rally their support for the Palestinians and boycott all the countries and parties aiding Israel in its atrocities.
Meisam Saidi, a well-known member of Parliament, told Gulf News," the logic that applied to Iraq must be
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Azeri NGO awards Iranian Azeri dissident
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BBC Monitoring Service
The chairman of the Society for Democratic Reforms (SDR) presented the doctor [Mahmudali Cohraqani] with the award at the headquarters of the People's Front of Azerbaijan Party (PFAP)
The SDR has presented to Dr Cohraqani the "Great Freedom Fighter" award.
Cohraqani said that he felt "the award was presented to the entire national movement in the south ... more
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Khamenei's response to Israeli-Palestinian fighting
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MEMRI
During Friday prayers held at the University of Tehran campus on April 5, 2002, which were attended by thousands, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah ‘Ali Khamenei called on Yasser Arafat to resist Zionist pressure to the death and attacked the U.S. stance on Israeli-Palestinian fighting, equating President George W. Bush with Hitler. Following are excerpts from the speech:
The Zionist Regime and the Palestine Issue
"The Zionist regime, as the symbol of bloodthirstiness, barbarianism, and indifference towards all rules ... more
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Tehran signals it has no intention to cut exports
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Financial Times
Politicians from both sides of Iran's political divide agreed yesterday that Iran should not follow Iraq's lead in halting oil exports, unless Islamic countries took collective economic action against Israel and its allies.
Statements by leading politicians indicated that Iran, the second-largest oil producer within Opec, had no wish to be seen forming a lonely, anti-western alliance with Iraq just when Baghdad was under threat of
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Militant Muslim groups say Arab regimes betrayed Palestinians
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Ananova
Leaders of militant Islamic groups across the Middle East have published a declaration accusing Arab governments of betraying the Palestinians.
They say jihad, or holy war, "has become a religious duty of every Muslim".
The declaration says that "despite the great sacrifices of the patient and steadfast (Palestinian) people, the regimes have let them down."
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Powell faces changed Arab world
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The Christian Science Monitor
The Chief Judge of the Airport Judicial Complex has announced that investigations into another financial corruption case related to the Atlas Aviation Company will soon begin.
He added that the trial will begin in two weeks and will be open to public.
After receiving information about irregularities, the Legal Department of the Oil Ministry filed a complaint against the aviation company.
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Bushehr reactor tops the agenda for Russia
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The Associated Press
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin and visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi last week underlined their commitment to continued bilateral cooperation, in a relationship that has vexed Washington and tarnished the recent U.S.-Russian honeymoon.
At their Kremlin meeting on Friday, Putin pointed to the "very important role" that Iran plays in the region of central Asia and the Middle East. Kharrazi responded that Iran "gives special importance" to closer cooperation with Russia "both in bilateral and international issues."
The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has warned that a $800-million deal to build a Russian nuclear reactor in the Iranian city of Bushehr could help Iran build nuclear weapons.
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Iranian dissident refuses to appear in court
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Prima News Agency
Los Angeles, USA -- Famous Iranian dissident and former political prisoner Heshmatollah Tabarzadi refused to appear in the Islamic Revolutionary Court Department 26 branch in Tehran, April 9. Another five activists of the oppositionist student movement, who had also been subpoenaed for the court, ignored the hearings either.
Tabarzadi is the head of the outlawed Iranian People and Democratic Front, established in May 2000. The organization’s objective is to create a secular state in Iran.
For the three recent years, Tabarzadi has been repeatedly arrested. On April 16 last year, the Ministry of Information (State Security) agents took him to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran) Prison. Six
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Commission on human rights continues debate on the violation of human rights around the world
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United Nations Press Release
The Commission on Human Rights this afternoon continued its debate on the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world by hearing statements from representatives of Governments and non-governmental organizations about alleged violations in specific countries and regions.
Many delegates defended their Governments' records of human rights promotion and respect and some highlighted the human rights violations committed in other countries. Some delegations also spoke against what they termed as selectivity and double standards used by some States in the Commission.
Violations were alleged in Iraq, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Colombia, China, Cuba, the Republic of Chechnya, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Pakistan, Israel, Indonesia, Burma, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, the occupied
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Kuwait aims to boost Iran ties
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Reuters
Amid escalating tension in the Middle East, Kuwait said it aims to develop into a major trading hub through rail links with Iran across the Gulf, but lack of ties with former occupier Iraq could be an obstacle.
Kuwait said on Sunday it was setting up the "committee for reviewing prospects of development cooperation between Kuwait and Iran", to oversee the ambitious plan.
A member of the new body, former oil minister Ali Al Baghli, said yesterday that the aim is "to link continents and revive the old silk route...railway links between the Gulf and Central Asia, linking East and West, is among the ideas..."
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Cheney demands Syria's Assad rein In Hizballah
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The Right Voice
Jerusalem - Hizballah fired mortar shells and anti-tank missiles against Israeli positions along the Lebanese border on Wednesday, one day after Vice President Dick Cheney demanded that Syrian President Bashar Assad rein in the militant Islamic group's cross-border attacks against Israel. Israeli jets, artillery and tanks returned fire, an army spokesperson said. Four Katyusha rockets slammed into the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shemona near the Lebanese border earlier on Wednesday. There were no casualties. Assad, whose country is the main powerbroker in Lebanon, reportedly said he has no control over Hizballah and no desire to see the situation escalate. Israel, which holds Syria and Lebanon responsible for Hizballah's actions, has said that it has no interest in opening up another front in the Middle East.
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Tehran radio reports indirect US contact with Iran
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BBC Monitoring Service
The American secretary of state has expressed anxiety about the attacks by Lebanon's Hezbollah on the positions of the Zionist regime in the north of occupied Palestinian and the possibility that they may escalate, and said: Washington has asked Syria and Iran to rein in Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Speaking to reporters in Madrid, Gen Powell added: America's request has been conveyed to Syria directly
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Powell's disastrous trip
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The Weekly Standard
SECRETARY OF STATE Colin Powell's trip to the Middle East is shaping up to be a disaster. Vice President Cheney's recent trip marked a detour from the Bush Doctrine; the president's recent statements pressuring Israel to stop its campaign against terrorism, a retreat; the secretary's trip so far risks turning a retreat into a rout.
President Bush's goal in sending the secretary to the Middle East was to arrange a cease-fire by insisting that Israel end its military operations on the West Bank, while in exchange insisting that the Arab states pressure Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to give up his campaign of terror against Israel.
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Executions doubled in '01, report finds
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Los Angeles Times
GENEVA -- The number of known executions around the world doubled last year, with China accounting for 80% of that total during its crackdown on crime, Amnesty International said Tuesday.
In its annual report on the death penalty, the human rights group said at least 3,048 people were executed in 31 countries last year.
That includes 2,468 executions in China. From April to July 2001, China executed at least 1,781 people during its national "strike hard" campaign against crime. Four countries--China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the ... more
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Hypocrisy: Iran daily believes oppressors, tyrants cannot last
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IRNA
Tehran -- `Kayhan International' on Wednesday warned
that arrogant countries, tyrants and those who trample on the rights
of others in the hope of intimidating the rest of the world into
submission are actually creating an "anti-thesis" within themselves
which, in all probability, could help eradicate oppression per se.
It said trants and world oppressors could actually be "paper
tigers," nefarious but excruciatingly vulnerable and incredibly
fragile.
It recalled the belligerent accusations of US President George W.
Bush naming countries such as Iran "an axis of evil," adding that
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Tensions reported rising near Iranian border
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Associated Press
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Rival Afghan factions are massing fighters in Nimroz province along Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s border with Iran, the Afghan Islamic Press reported Wednesday.
Forces opposed to Gov. Abdul Karim Brohi have seized Guldana and its nearby areas, the Pakistan-based agency reported. The governor have sent 500 fresh fighters to strengthen his position near the area, the agency said.
Guldana is important because it controls a key trade route and that whoever controls the area can collect ... more
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U.S. fears 2nd front in Mideast conflict
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The Washington Post
Israel, Hezbollah Clash on Northern Border
The Bush administration is increasingly concerned about a possible second front in the Middle East conflict opening along Israel's northern border with Lebanon. In the latest of a series of exchanges over the past two weeks, Israel launched airstrikes yesterday against a southern Lebanese village in response to rocket attacks on a disputed frontier area by the militant group Hezbollah.
In an unusually direct and high-level diplomatic warning, Vice President Cheney telephoned Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday to say that the border situation could spiral out of control in the region's current volatile atmosphere and undermine already-fragile U.S. peace efforts, an administration source said.
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Aridi meets Hamdan, reiterates right to free Shebaa farms
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The Daily Star
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said Monday that Lebanon adhered to its right to liberate the Shebaa Farms and to free Lebanese captives held in Israeli prisons, adding that the government continuously coordinated with the resistance.
However, Aridi said: “We do not approve any (military) action if it is not within the framework of the Lebanese resistance, because any uncalculated move would not yield the anticipated results or help Lebanon or the Palestinians.” Aridi, who made the comments after talks with Hamas’ Lebanon representative, Osama Hamdan, said he held Washington responsible for Israeli aggression and atrocities in the Palestinian territories.
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Police, protesters clash in Bahrain
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The New York Times
MANAMA, Bahrain -- Police clashed Wednesday with several hundred high school students trying to march to the U.S. Embassy in Bahrain. Many were treated for tear gas inhalation as protests that have swept the Arab world are turning increasingly violent.
Doctors at the nearby Salmaniya Medical Complex said they treated about 300 protesters. Some were hurt by rubber bullets fired by police, but most were suffering from tear gas. There were no serious injuries.
Some doctors staged their own small protest in support of the demonstrators, marching in the hospital compound chanting, ``Death to America!'' and ``Death to Israel!''
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Poppy harvest begins in Southern Afghanistan despite government eradication plan
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The Associated Press
ESSAZAI KILI, Afghanistan -- Some poppy farmers in Afghanistan's biggest opium-producing region have started harvesting this year's crop early in hopes of finishing before the government moves to destroy their narcotic-bearing plants.
"We're in a hurry. We're afraid the government will come and eradicate our fields," village chief Mohammed Agha said Tuesday. His workers were slitting the green poppy bulbs and collecting the milky opium resin 10 days ahead of harvest time.
The accelerated efforts of Agha and his laborers signal how difficult it will be for the weak Afghan ... more
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Saudi newspaper poll finds 60 percent of Saudis hate the United States
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Associated Press
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A Saudi newspaper published a poll Monday that found that 60 percent of Saudis hate the United States, the kingdom's close ally, mostly because of its policy toward the Palestinians.
The poll in the Al Watan daily, owned by the royal family, questioned 2,000 Saudi men and women from 15 Saudi cities a few days before Israel's incursion into the West Bank on March 29. The poll did not give a margin of error.
Responding to a question, "Do you hate the West in general?" 49 percent of Saudis said yes, 30 percent said no and 21 percent said they don't care.
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