Graphic - Iran Tehran June 2009 New Footage of Neda Soltan's Death

The protest gathering of hundreds of teachers in Kurdistan, Iran

500 teachers of Mariwan, Kurdistan province converged along with teachers of other cities in front of the Education and Culture Office in the city of Marivan on Jan. 20th, and 21st.   
The teachers from 17 cities went on strike and protested against poor living conditions and existing security atmosphere in schools and refrained to go back to classrooms.

Tehran: people support a vendor after he clashes with police

A Basij militia attempted to prevent a vendor selling movie video CDs from doing his business. The vendor resisted the intrusion by the Basiji man which led to a clash between the two. This happened in Joumhuri Street district and nearby 30th Tir Ave on Jan. 18th. Soon other police agents and Basij and security arrived at the scene trying to arrest the vendor. The Basij agent asked police to confiscate the vendors’ property and arrest him. But a group of people at the scene and also other shop owners in this region came to the aid of the young vendor making the arrest so much more difficult. 
Eventually, the vendor collected his items and moved to another location. 

Three myths on Iran sanctions

Three 'myths' surrounding the sanctions on Iran being debated by the US Congress have been debunked by Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran,

Mr. Jafarzadeh said Congress is determined not to strike a bad deal with Iran in talks over the regime's nuclear program - but risks ignoring historical lessons about dealing with Tehran's mullahs.

The first myth is that more sanctions on Iran will prompt the regime to walk away from the talks, Mr Jafarzadeh said.

But he added: "Iran cannot afford to walk away because it is desperate and vulnerable. It has a genuine interest to secure the lifting of existing sanctions, which provided the initial impetus for the regime to talk. Then, too, cynics argued that sanctions would prompt Tehran to accelerate its nuclear activities.

"The regime is playing a game of attrition, aiming to weaken US resolve, win more concessions, and maintain its nuclear infrastructure. The bipartisan sanctions bill will force Tehran to consider speedy compliance."

Hassan Rouhani, president of the clerical regime’s, admitted recently that the regime's devastated economy could not endure further sanctions, especially after the recent decline in oil prices, he said.

He wrote on the Foxnews website: "The mullahs are paranoid of a disenchanted population already on edge. With rampant unemployment, inflation, and loss of oil revenues, walking away from the talks is not an option, especially if a sanctions-in-waiting bill is hovering over their head."

The second myth was that more sanctions would provoke Tehran into blaming Washington for sabotaging diplomacy and starting on a path towards war.

He added: "Even with slumping oil revenues - slashed by at least 45% - the official defense budget has jumped 30%, mostly allocated to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

"And, more money is being funnelled into Syria and Iraq to execute Tehran's designs - a budget that is twice that of all the country's publicly funded universities combined.

"If sanctions fail to force Tehran to abandon key parts of its nuclear program after over a year of negotiations, then continued talks with no additional leverage will fail as well.

"Senior US officials have repeatedly stated that even without additional sanctions the chances for reaching an agreement with Iran is less that 50 percent. So, as Iran tries to wear out western negotiators, clearly, additional leverage from Congress is necessary, not counterproductive."

The third myth was that new sanctions would strengthen hard-liners in Iran who want to sabotage a prospective deal.

He added: "This is perhaps the most enduring myth in Washington that has dangerously infected Iran policy. The idea that there are moderate elements in Iran's body politic, and the US needs to reach out to them by making more concessions is ludicrous.

"The oft-cited dichotomy between 'hard-liners' and 'moderates' in Iran badly misrepresents a system whose elements are united in their strategic objectives.

"Rouhani, himself a long-time confidant of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was instructed by the latter to sign onto the Joint Plan of Action in November 2013. Foreign Minister Zarif told the Iranian Parliament earlier this month that he has the full trust of Khamenei to continue the negotiations.

"Experience has shown that diplomacy without leverage has never worked with dictators, especially in Tehran.

"This puts Congress on the right path. The sanctions bill can be a game-changer. It will strengthen Washington's hand while helping to peacefully arrest Tehran's advance towards the bomb. One thing is for certain: Tehran's nuclear objective is anything but a myth."

UN cannot conclude Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful: IAEA Chief

United Nations nuclear watchdog is cannot “provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities,” the chief of the international nuclear watchdog says.

Speaking in University of Indonesia, Mr. Yukiya Amano, the director of Intrantional Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday: “Two of the main nuclear verification issues on the Agency’s agenda in recent years have been North Korea and Iran.”

“These are very different cases. What they have in common is the fact that these countries have failed to fully implement their safeguards agreements with the IAEA and other relevant obligations. This makes it very difficult for us to do our job effectively.”

On the case of the Iranian regime’s nuclear activities he said: “we are not in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities.”

Speaking on the IAEA in the 21st century, the director of the agency said: “2015 will be a significant year for the Iran nuclear issue. The future will depend very much on the outcome of the negotiations between the so-called E3+3 countries - China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and the United States - and Iran.”

Amano emphasized: “In addressing the Iran nuclear issue, two things are important. First, with the cooperation of Iran, the Agency needs to clarify issues with possible military dimensions to the satisfaction of Member States. Also, Iran needs to implement the additional protocol so that the Agency can provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran.”

Police Chief Found Guilty of Massacre at Spanish Embassy in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY – A Guatemalan court on Monday found former police chief Pedro Garcia Arredondo guilty of murdering 37 people who burned to death on Jan. 31, 1980, at the Spanish Embassy in the country’s capital.The accused “used the means to ensure the deaths of those who were inside the embassy,” said the court during the reading of the conviction Monday afternoon.

Garcia Arredondo headed a command within the now defunct National Police and, according to the court ruling, he was the officer who gave the order to set fire to the diplomatic mission.

Argentina’s Fernandez Denounces Anti-Government Operation Behind Nisman’s Death

BUENOS AIRES – Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has claimed that an operation against the government was responsible for the death of public prosecutor Alberto Nisman, an accusation strongly criticized by the opposition, who called for removal of security chiefs.

In a letter titled, “The spies who were not spies. The questions that turned into certainties. The suicide that I am now convinced was not a suicide,” Fernandez said Thursday that Nisman was given false evidence to accuse the government of allegedly protecting Iranians suspected of the bombing of the AMIA Jewish center which killed 85 people in 1994.

“They used him while he was alive and then they needed him dead. This was sad and terrible,” Fernandez said, referring to Nisman.

“I don’t have proof, but I neither have doubts,” she added after underlining that it was a real political and judicial scandal.

According to the president, Nisman was brave to return from his vacations midway and make his accusations about the alleged cover-up “in order to make best use of the international turmoil generated by the terrorist attacks in France.”

“What he could not imagine was that time was not just running out for the ‘exposé of the century,’ but also for his own life,” she added.

Just days before, she had posted another note on social networking sites where she questioned the motives that led to a person to make the terrible decision of taking his own life.

Fernandez’s theory was backed Thursday by other members of the government, who in a public ceremony criticized a global attack by intelligence agents, judges, economic groups and opposition-backed media to tarnish the government.

“We strongly support our government,” said a statement written by Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich, Defense Minister Agustin Rossi, Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli and other high officials.

“If the president thinks that Nisman was murdered, she needs to remove Security (Ministry) chiefs,” said legislator Ernesto Sanz of the opposition.

“This is very serious. She moves from supporting a suicide hypothesis to (one implying) murder. This must have consequences,” he told reporters.

Francisco de Narvaez of the Frente Renovador party said that with this tragedy, the president did not have the right to intervene in the independence of the judiciary.

The change in the official version of the events adds up to multiple security lapses detected during the investigations after the special prosecutor in the AMIA bombings was found dead, with a bullet in his head, in his apartment in Buenos Aires last weekend.

Though Nisman had received threats and was provided with 10 policemen for his security, no one was guarding the front portion of his apartment, but were around the apartment building and neither of them were on duty 24 hours a day.

Additionally, apart from the main entrance and the service entrance to his apartment, a third entrance was also found through a narrow corridor housing air conditioning equipment.

Reports of Nisman’s death emerged Monday, hours before he was scheduled to appear before Congress to present his charges against Fernandez, based on telephone conversations between Argentine spies, for covering-up Iranian links to the AMIA bombing.