Amnesty International on Thursday condemned the execution of two men in Iran tried in connection with the unrest that followed the disputed presidential election in June. Mohammadreza Ali-Zamani and Arash Rahmani-Pour were hanged this morning, in what is said to be the first executions related to the post-election unrest. “These shocking executions show that the [...]

Russia’s state-run arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, said on Thursday that there were no international agreements barring it from selling weapons to Iran. Anatoly Isaikin, the head of Rosoboronexport, told reporters in Moscow that Russia still considers Iran a valuable customer for its weapons. “Nothing prevents the continuation of military cooperation” between the two countries, he was [...]

Iran said yesterday that it had executed two men for plotting to overthrow the regime. They are the first to be put to death after more than 100 dissidents went on trial following President Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election last June. The hangings of Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour marked an escalation in the regime’s [...]

Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced 11 people to death after convicting them of participating in post-election riots — especially during the recent Ashura holy day, state media reported Thursday. Two of the sentences have been carried out; the rest are under appeal, the Iranian Students News Agency said, quoting a court official. The court said the [...]

Iran executed two people on Thursday who were sentenced to death in trials that followed the disputed presidential election last year which caused bloody opposition protests, Iranian media said. It was the first report of executions of detainees put in the dock in connection with the vote unrest and may further increase tension in Iran [...]

Europe’s largest engineering conglomerate has announced an end to business with Iran. High-tech exports from European firms have worried Western governments in light of Tehran’s apparent ambition to build a nuclear bomb. Now German Chancellor Angela Merkel sees a way forward for tighter UN sanctions. The head of Siemens said Tuesday his company had quit [...]

by Fereshteh Ghazi The events following the June 12 election have brought about unemployment, threats, prison sentences and harsh prison terms, lashes, exile and suspension from political and social rights for many journalists.  But what is happening on the other side of the camp, to journalists who work for the government, in the so-called national [...]

By Reza Akhlaghi Disappointment over the Islamic Republic’s intransigence in its nuclear policy has given further credence to Western suspicions that Iran may be buying time to develop a nuclear military capability to blackmail regional states of the Persian Gulf and/or Israel. But at present, Iran’s deeply paranoid and insecure leadership is contemplating its other nuclear [...]

Iranian opposition websites and blogs are reporting that a second Iranian diplomat has resigned to protest the postelection crackdown. The diplomat, whose name is said to be Abolfazl Eslami, is reportedly the former counselor of Iran’s embassy in Tokyo. Iranian opposition websites have reported that Eslami has said in a letter that “he’s disgusted by [...]

The U.S. State Department has expressed concern about the welfare of three U.S. hikers who have been imprisoned in Iran since July, saying they may be held in “deplorable conditions.” Spokesman Philip Crowley says Iran’s refusal to allow Swiss diplomats to visit the hikers in Tehran’s Evin Prison since the end of October is “outrageous” [...]