Iran news in brief, 3 March 2015

IRAN (Graphic Photos): Man hanged in public in Darab

NCRI – The Iranian regime’s henchmen in the city of Darab (southern Iran) hanged a man in public on Wednesday.

The public hanging takes place a day after the United Secretary General has described the high rate of executions in Iran as ‘deeply troubling.’

The report from the office of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the U.N. Human Rights Council cataloged U.N. concerns about rights violations in Iran.

The reports said: “The Secretary-General remains deeply troubled by the continuing large number of executions, including of political prisoners and juveniles”.

Also on Wednesday the clerical regime hanged six Sunni political prisoners in Gohardasht Prison in the city of Karaj.

The report by the Secretary General repeated a U.N. call for a death penalty moratorium and a ban on executing youths.

Chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Advises Military Aid to Ukraine

WASHINGTON – Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has said that the U.S. should consider providing arms to help Ukraine in its fight against pro-Russian separatists.

“I think we should absolutely consider providing lethal aid in a NATO context,” said Dempsey at a meeting of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services Tuesday.

Dempsey joins many other voices in the American defense community who have counselled providing military support to the Ukrainian Government.

Other advocates include Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Dempsey argued that such action would be justified because the ultimate goal of Russian President Vladimir Putin is to break the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.

U.S. President Barack Obama is examining the possibility of extending aid to Ukraine to include weapons, something that some European partners fear would escalate military tensions.

Obama joined a videoconference Tuesday with British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Holland, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian President Mateo Renzi, and President of the European Council Donald Tusk.

The leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine and the possibility of providing weapons to the Ukrainian army, which has been overrun in the country’s east by separatists armed with Russian weapons including artillery and tanks.

The European leaders and Obama urged the conflicting parties to respect the ceasefire agreed on Feb. 12 in Minsk, Belarus.

They also warned the separatists, who have Russia’s backing, of escalating consequences should they breach the ceasefire.

Leftist Politician’s Body Found in Western Mexico

MEXICO CITY – The body of a leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, councilman who disappeared last month in the western Mexican state of Michoacan was found at a trash dump, state prosecutors said.

Ruben Magaña’s body was discovered near the municipal dump in Penjamillo on Sunday afternoon, the Michoacan Attorney General’s Office said.

The 67-year-old politician’s body did not have any visible “signs of violence,” the AG’s office said in a statement.

Magaña Reyes, who was a city councilman in Penjamillo, disappeared on Feb. 19 and his SUV was found close to the cemetery in the neighboring city of Numaran.

PRD chairman Carlos Navarrete expressed his regret over the councilman’s death and called for a thorough investigation in a Twitter post

Venezuela Issues ‘Reciprocal’ Measures against U.S. Officials in Caracas

These include a requirement that Americans wishing to enter Venezuela have visa approval prior to their arrival in the country, and that the U.S. reduce its diplomatic delegation in Caracas to 17 officials

CARACAS – The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry has issued on Monday the U.S. Embassy in Caracas with a series of “reciprocal” measures, according to what President Nicolas Maduro announced last weekend.

These include a requirement that Americans wishing to enter Venezuela have visa approval prior to their arrival in the country, and that the U.S. reduce its diplomatic delegation in Caracas to 17 officials.

The measures deliver another blow to already fragile relations between the two states.

The two have been without high level diplomatic representation since 2010, and developments of the last few days suggest a situation far from settled.

The new measures were announced last weekend by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who also ordered that any meetings that American diplomats intend to conduct in Venezuela will require the Government’s prior consent, and would have to comply with the Vienna Convention governing diplomatic relations.

Maduro’s decision follows an accusation that the United States masterminded both an alleged coup attempt in cahoots with the Venezuelan opposition, and an alleged attempt on his life.

Washington described the allegations as “false.”

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez informed the Chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Lee Clenny, that he had 15 days to present the credentials of the officials who will remain in the country.

Maduro said that current U.S. diplomatic representation in Venezuela numbers over a 100, but that number will be reduced to 17 to match the number of Venezuelan diplomats in Washington.

Rodriguez, who described the meeting with Clenny as cordial and agreeable, argued that the measures are consistent with actions “framed in public international law, the purposes and principles of the United Nations and in principle concerning the governing reciprocity between sovereign states.”

Relations between Venezuela and the United States continue to deteriorate, with neither country having ambassadorial representation since 2010 when the Government of then President Hugo Chavez rejected the appointment of Larry Palmer as head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Caracas over a statement he made in the U.S. Senate about Venezuela.

In response, Washington revoked the visa of Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez.

A constant stream of accusations and cross-accusations have followed, with the Venezuelan Government expelling U.S. officials alleging their interference in and destabilization of the country, and Washington responding with its own expulsions.

Relations again worsened after Washington issued a series of sanctions against Venezuelan officials, most recently in early February.

Washington accused the officials of violating human rights during protests in Venezuela in early 2014.

The sanctions include bans on travel to the United States and the freezing of any assets held under U.S. jurisdiction.

Iran news in brief, 2 March 2015

Ukraine's Luhansk republic completes heavy weapons withdrawal from contact line — militias

LUHANSK, March 2. /TASS/. The militia of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) in the south-east of Ukraine has completed the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line, deputy chief of staff of the LPR people’s militia corps Igor Yashchenko said on Monday.

According to him, "As of March 1, all units of LPR people’s militia have completed the withdrawal of heavy weapons and equipment in accordance with the Minsk agreement."

"All heavy weapons have been withdrawal from the line specified in the Minsk agreements." The withdrawal was monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) representatives and media, he said.