Prenuptial training for young people aims to tackle country's rising divorce ratesThere was a time when Iranian women seeking husbands prioritised job status and financial security – not to mention love – at the top of their list of needs.Now potential suitors face the prospect of having to fulfil a daunting new requirement before asking for a bride's hand – having the right government certificate.Acquiring the appropriate official qualifications before popping the question is part of a plan for prenuptial training courses approved by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with the aim of reversing declining Iranian marriage rates and rising divorce statistics.From next week, online courses will be offered to young people to prepare them for the pitfalls of married life. The...

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva tells Hillary Clinton he will not be pushed into western-led bid to punish Iran over nuclear issueBrazil last night rebuffed a US plea to back sanctions against Iran, setting the stage for a bruising diplomatic battle in the UN security council.President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, that he would not be bounced into a western-led effort to punish Tehran over its nuclear programme.Clinton, stopping in Brasilia during a Latin America tour, had hoped to build support for a UN resolution on sanctions against Iran. As a non-permanent member of the security council, Brazil does not have a veto, but its support is needed for a united front. Russia has signalled its support, but not China.Lula signalled the rebuff...

Ahmadinejad and Assad accuse the Americans of trying to dominate Middle EastIran and Syria put on a show of defiant unity today, scorning US efforts to break up their alliance and warning Israel not to risk attacking either of them.Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, flew to Damascus for talks with Bashar al-Assad days after the US appointed an ambassador to Syria after a five-year gap – a move seen by some as the start of a diplomatic thaw."The Americans want to dominate the region but they feel Iran and Syria are preventing that," Ahmadinejad said during a press conference with Assad."We tell them that instead of interfering in the region's affairs to pack their things and leave. If the Zionist entity wants to repeats its past errors, its death will be inevitable."Assad made...

Fatemeh Karroubi writes open letter to Ayatollah Ali claiming militia beat up her son at demonstrationThe wife of one of Iran's opposition leaders today accused the nation's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of allowing violence and abuses to crush opposition supporters, including the alleged beating of her son during last week's protests.Fatemeh Karroubi claimed her son Ali was savagely attacked inside a mosque by hardline militiamen amid a large-scale security crackdown on Thursday during events marking the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution."They beat him up and insulted him along with other people arrested. This happened in a house of God," she wrote in an open letter to Khamenei appearing on prominent pro-reform websites Rahesabz and Sahamnews.The sites also posted...

Ahmadinejad, master of fear and paranoia, may have won the day. But it was a pyrrhic victoryRumours of the death of Iran's green movement have been largely ­exaggerated. Admittedly, the events of this week were badly mishandled by the ­protesters – as many have been quick to acknowledge. But the rigorously ­choreographed theatrics of the government can hardly be ­regarded as a ­triumph for the regime.Following the disturbances around the death of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri and the violence that continued through to Ashura in December 2009, the green movement determined that the next great show of force was to be yesterday's 31st anniversary of the Islamic ­Revolution. Yet while people might debate the size of the opposing crowds, one thing seems certain: this time the government...

On Monday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed to deliver a "punch in the mouth" to those who might exercise their right to peaceful dissent today during Iran’s national holiday. But a "punch" is a far cry from the two executions recently carried out for the same reasons. Don’t let Iran execute any more people for expressing their dissenting views!Today during Iran's Victory of the Revolution Day, when words like "revolution", "independence" and "freedom" are on everyone's lips, fears of torture, repression and death still remain.Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei The shock is still very much palpable over the two horrific hangings that took place in Iran just weeks ago. The two hanged men became the "fall guys" for the post-Presidential election violence that consumed the streets of Iran...

Calls for calm as streets will be filled for the anniversary of 1979 Islamic RevolutionIranian security forces were deploying in strength in Tehran tonight to head off what opposition supporters hope will be massive street protests to challenge the regime as its celebrates tomorrow's anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Mir Hossein Mousavi, leader of the green movement, has called on supporters to behave peacefully during state-sponsored events including a speech by the hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which is likely to be attended by tens of thousands of government loyalists. Green supporters are being asked to chant: "Death to no one, long live everyone" – a reference to the slogans of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" that are traditional staples of Iran's...

A woman tweeting from an English village is helping to moblise opposition protests across IranAs the resident of a quiet village in Oxfordshire with a plummy accent to match, she makes an unlikely revolutionary. But she has become a key player in the unrest that is shaking Iran and is such an irritant to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that she has been subjected to a propaganda campaign by the regime's henchmen.Known only by her Twitter name, Oxfordgirl has emerged as a crucial link between the protesters and the outside world. "Before they started blocking mobile phones I was almost co-ordinating people's individual movements – 'Go to such and such street,' or 'Don't go there, the Basij [militia] are waiting,' " she said. "It was very strange to be sitting in Oxford and co-ordinating...

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In the UK a senior Scotland Yard police officer has been found guilty of threatening and falsely arresting a man in a petty dispute over money. Commander Ali Dizaei (pictured above in smug mode prior to his conviction), a leading anti-racism activist and former president of the National Black Police Association, was convicted by a jury of misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice after less than 3 hours deliberation. The head of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which investigated the case against Dizaei, said he had “behaved like a bully” and was “a criminal in uniform”. Media reports suggest that the conviction will “almost certainly” end Dizaei’s 24-year career in the police. Damn right it should –...

Deal to reduce Iran's uranium stockpile in doubt as Tehran accused of stalling for timeWestern officials have disputed claims by Iran's foreign minister that his country is "approaching a final agreement" in its nuclear programme.Manouchehr Mottaki told a security conference in Munich yesterday that Iran was "serious" about making progress on a deal agreed in principle last October to swap most of its enriched uranium stockpile for fuel rods to use in nuclear power stations. Governments in Europe and the US fear the stockpile could be refined to make nuclear weapons.But despite Mottaki's assurances, US defence secretary Robert Gates said today he saw no sign that a deal was close, suggesting it was time to push forward with sanctions, according to the Reuters news agency."The reality is...

Khameini talks of treason as challenge to 'tyranny' goads Tehran hardliners in run-up to anniversary of 1979 revolutionIran's opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has attacked "dictatorship in the name of religion" at the start of anniversary celebrations of the 1979 revolution, boosting expectations of a new round of mass protests against the regime.Mousavi, who says he should have been declared winner of last June's presidential election, said today that modern Iran showed the "attitude of a historic tyrant regime everywhere" – a powerful challenge to the hardline leadership.His remarks, which came as officials warned that nine more opposition activists had been sentenced to death, were given extra force by the approaching 11 February anniversary of the founding of the Islamic...

Education International, a global trade union representing almost 30 million people working in education, claims that teacher and activist Farzad Kamangar is in danger of execution.Security and intelligence officials of Kurdistan province have repeatedly told Kamangar that he would be executed.Since June 2008, the trade union has questioned the fairness of Kamangar’s trial and appealed for his sentence to be reduced.His lawyer alleges that Kamangar has suffered repeated torture and ill treatment during his incarceration in Evin and other Iranian prisons. Amnesty International comments "Prior to his trial, Farzad Kamangar was held incommunicado, tortured and otherwise ill-treated, including by being beaten, flogged, and electrocuted. He is now said to suffer from spasms in his arms and...

Massoud Mohammadi, professor of nuclear physics, dies in remote-controlled blast outside home in Iran's capitalA Tehran university professor has died in a bomb attack, Iran's state-run Press TV reported today.The report said Massoud Mohammadi, a professor of nuclear physics, was killed by a remote-controlled bomb attached to a motorcycle parked outside his home in the north of the Iranian capital.Tehran university was one of several around the country at which students held anti-government protests last month.The Press TV report said Mohammadi was "a staunch supporter" of the 1979 revolution that brought Islamic clerics to power in Iran.The blast happened at a time of heightened tension in the Islamic republic, seven months after a disputed presidential election plunged it into turmoil....

Pro-government demonstrators attack vehicle carrying former presidential candidatePro-government demonstrators opened fire on the car of an Iranian opposition leader, shattering its windows, his website reported today.Sahamnews said the shooting happened yesterday as former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi was leaving a building in Qazvin, 90 miles west of Tehran.The report added that some 500 people had been demonstrating outside the building, where he had been staying since the day before. The website described the demonstrators as armed and said police were unable to disperse them.The shooting represents a rare armed attack on an opposition figure. In 1999, pro-reform politician Saeed Hajjarian was shot in the face, paralysing him.The attack is an indication of the political...

Trouble is expected as opposition supporters gather in Tehran, with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordering a crackdown on any challenges to his ruleIran today faces the prospect of a bloody Sunday after opposition supporters clashed violently with security forces yesterday at the start of a key religious ceremony that had been identified beforehand as a dangerous flashpoint.Amid ominous signs that political tensions were reaching breaking point, reformist websites reported that special forces fired teargas and attacked crowds gathered in some of Tehran's main thoroughfares to begin two days of commemorations for one of Shia Islam's holiest figures. The opposition website Rah-e Sabz reported confrontations in Enghelab, Haft-e Tir and Imam Hossein Squares. Unconfirmed accounts told...

• Services for dissident cleric banned amid growing unrest• Former government spokesman who joined opposition jailedThe Iranian authorities have clamped down on memorial services for a dissident cleric amid growing political unrest in the country.Pro-reform demonstrators mourning the death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri clashed with security forces yesterday and were planning to hold more ceremonies on Sunday to honour the seventh day of his passing, one of Shia Islam's ritual mourning milestones.But two opposition websites reported that authorities have banned all services except those in his birthplace and the holy city of Qom.In another sign that Tehran is trying to stamp out dissent, a former Iranian government spokesman who joined the opposition movement was sentenced...

Police fire teargas at people paying respects to dissident cleric and confront protesters in at least one other cityIran's smouldering political unrest reignited today when pro-reformist demonstrators mourning the death of a dissident cleric clashed with security forces in at least two cities.More than 50 people were arrested in a mosque in Isfahan, Iran's second biggest city, as police fired pepper spray and teargas at mourners paying their respects to Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who died on Sunday.In a related incident, security forces detained and surrounded the home of a local reformist cleric, Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, as he attempted to travel to the ceremony.The reports coincided with confrontations in the town of Najafabad, Montazeri's birthplace, as protests that...

• Huge crowds in Qom defy security clampdown• Mourners clash with pro-government forcesHundreds of thousands of opposition protesters openly challenged the authority of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, today by mourning the death of a dissident cleric who had questioned Khamenei's fitness to rule.The mass turnout in Qom for the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who died on Sunday, aged 87, came just a day after Khamenei had dismissed him as a figure who had failed "a big test" and ordered a security clampdown to deter mourners from paying their respects.Instead, the event turned into the opposition Green Movement's biggest show of strength in months. The sheer numbers – including many wearing the opposition's signature colour of green – seemed to...

• Activists accuse Tehran agents of harassment• Revolutionary guard chief warns dissidents abroadPolitical activists who escaped to Turkey after fleeing Iran's post-election unrest claim they are being subjected to a campaign of threats and intimidation by agents of the Islamic regime.Several have told the Guardian that they fear for their lives after being tracked down by Iranian security personnel in a country they previously regarded as safe. Some say they are desperate to leave for a more secure country after being accosted in the streets of the Turkish capital, Ankara, and threatened on the internet.Those claiming harassment are seeking political asylum in the west after alleging they were raped and tortured in the aftermath of the protests that followed President Mahmoud...

Britain has no interest in bullying Iran over nuclear proliferation. The very trap that led to Iraq and Afghanistan looms againWhat is the difference between Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran? The answer, future historians may relate, is none. At the dawn of the 21st century, all three states were ruled by nasty undemocratic regimes to which America and its allies took exception. Antagonism began with hectoring ostracism. This led to economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation and bloodcurdling threats of "other measures". Finally a pretext was drummed up for military intervention, for bombing, invasion, occupation and appalling destruction.Will Iran really be on this list? At present the west, covered in blood and expense, is trying to leave Iraq and Afghanistan, yet at the same time it stumbles...

Iran today sent a defiant signal to the international community by announcing plans to build 10 uranium enrichment plants days after it was condemned by the UN for concealing activities that are feared may be designed to produce an atomic bomb.Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government said the plants would be the same size as the main enrichment complex at Natanz, central Iran, and work would begin within two months."We have a friendly approach towards the world but at the same time we won't let anyone harm even one iota of the Iranian nation's rights," the president said. The aim was to produce 250-300 tonnes of nuclear fuel a year by using centrifuges with a higher speed.The announcement seems likely to strengthen the hands of those arguing for sanctions if negotiations do not resume soon. The...

Venezulan leader Hugo Chavez has been reported by the BBC as having defended Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ugandan dictator Idi Amin during a televised speech to various socialist politicians.Chavez certainly sounds a little confused about whether he wants to put Amin's poster above his bed or not, saying: "We thought he was a cannibal... I don't know, maybe he was a great nationalist, a patriot."Normally, only the most stupid of commentators on Indymedia* would defend Mugabe or Amin (although a number seem to defend Ahmadinejad).Hugo Chavez also defended Carlos the Jackal, whose real name is Ilich Sanchez Ramirez, saying "he is wrongly considered to be a bad guy and is to be praised as a key revolutionary fighter, instead" and described him as "one of the...

Neda was prepared 'to take a bullet in the heart' in fight against President AhmadinejadNeda Agha Soltan, the young Iranian woman whose face became the international symbol of protest against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told her fiancé she was prepared to "take a bullet in the heart" in the fight against the president's regime. The revelation comes as her boyfriend speaks out for the first time after being imprisoned following Neda's death last June, when she was shot by Iranian police at a demonstration in Tehran. Caspian Makan, a photographer, spent two months in prison for criticising the authorities after her death. In a moving interview, he told the Observer that far from being a bystander caught up in the demonstrations, she was committed to the overthrow of Ahmadinejad. As a result of...

Original Home Page All Contents of Site – Index Is ‘President Blair’ a shoo-in? Yes and No “Ban Blair-Baiting” petition - please sign Why Iraq is NO reason to reject President Blair Comment at end 11th November, 2009 Israeli deputy prime minister Silvan Shalom told Sky News he had mixed feelings about the possibility of Mr Blair leaving his job as envoy and going to Europe. “We don’t want to lose him here, but we need him there,” he said.  “I don’t want to intervene in European politics. I just would like to wish him all the best.” Read that again, please. The Israeli Deputy PM doesn’t want to lose Blair as Quartet envoy, BUT they feel they need him in Europe! A cry for international coordinated help? I think so, but then I have always...

Three American hikers who crossed the border from Iraq into Iran in July were today accused of spying by Tehran. The move could set up the Americans – who relatives say were hiking and strayed across the border – as potential bargaining chips in Iran's standoff with the west.The announcement came as Washington and Tehran were manoeuvring over a deadlock in negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme.Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, alleged that the three crossed the country's border illegally, and that this was something any state would punish."In all countries, crossing borders would have a very heavy sentence, according to the law," he told a news conference in Istanbul before the start of a summit of the 57-state Organisation of the Islamic Conference. "Hopefully, they will have...

Demonstrations will take place across the world on November 4th 2009 in support of those calling for democratic reform in Iran.In London, there will be a demonstration outside the Iranian Embassy, 16 Prince’s Gate London, SW7 1PT, from 6pm until 9pm. The nearest tube is South Kensington on the District, Piccadilly and Circle Lines.November 4th is when students gather outside the former U.S. embassy. Usually, according to Robin Wright of Time Magazine, they protest about American actions.This year, they are protesting against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei.The day is called 13 Aban on the Iranian calendar.Other cities where I am aware of demonstrations are Paris (5pm until 7pm at the Place Saint-Michel,75006 Paris.The nearest Metro is...

Iranian president tells rally Tehran is prepared to work with International Atomic Energy AgencyThe Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, today said the country was ready to co-operate internationally over its nuclear programme but insisted it had an "undeniable right" to carry out atomic work.Addressing a rally in the north-eastern city of Mashhad, Ahmadinejad said Iran was "ready to co-operate" on issues including the building of civil nuclear plants and fuel exchange, and was prepared to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog."As long as this government is in power, it will not retreat one iota on the undeniable rights of the Iranian nation," Reuters reported him as saying."Fortunately, conditions have been prepared for international...

You have come a long way in 53 years, Mr President. But your increasingly autocratic rule is driving Iran into the groundDear Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,I write this message on the anniversary of your birth, which took place 53 years ago today.You have come a long way since 1956 when your family moved from your birthplace, the sleepy village of Aradan, to Tehran. You were only one year old at that time. Your family, much like many others moving from small villages to the capital city in Iran, had dreams of success for their children. They sacrificed their familiar surroundings and proximity to relatives for a new yet strange place, so that their children could have better opportunities than they did. Your meteoric rise in politics over the last four years is undoubtedly a source of pride for...

I have many interests.I am interested in local news from Walthamstow, national and international news, Web 2.0, financial news and transport news. All these, as well as other topics, have featured on my blog during the two and a half years it has been running.One interest of mine is human and animal welfare. I have therefore decided to blog mainly on human rights, with the occasional animal-related post as well.All around the world, people are facing hardship. In Britain, we have just heard that the worst recession for generations is continuing to contract, destroying jobs, savings and often hope. Extremism is flourishing, and we are all being told that it is partly out fault by the elite for borrowing too much. I didn't, and neither did the majority.I hope that this blog will go some way...

To us here at News Hour, what was most surprising about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's interview on Larry King was that he was there at all. The President of Iran must be sorely on the back foot after the intelligence revelations about the second nuclear enrichment site - or perhaps he just likes the sound of his own voice? The conversation even strays onto discussion of violence during the election, which Ahmadinejad deflects in his customary manner. But the fact that it goes there at all implies that there was little that was off-limits. Whichever way you look at it, this was pure PR.Here is part of the interview, and a New York Times...

Tehran must let in UN inspectors, says US president, as pressure mounts for tough sanctionsLive blog: Follow reaction to Iran's revelationBarack Obama has issued a strongly worded ultimatum to Iran after it admitted having a secret uranium plant that was revealed earlier today by US officials.Obama demanded that the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) be allowed access to the secret site, which according to US officials is built inside a mountain near the ancient city of Qom, one of the holiest Shia cities in the Middle East."We expect the IAEA to immediately investigate this disturbing revelation," Obama said during a hastily arranged press conference at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh.Obama, flanked by Gordon Brown and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, spoke about a growing...

• Obama urges countries to work together to solve problems• UN bedevilled by divisions despite Obama's call for unityBarack Obama put the Bush era decisively behind him today in a speech to the United Nations in which he rejected unilateralism in favour of countries working together to tackle problems ranging from the Middle East to Iran and North Korea.In his first address to the UN general assembly, Obama said he would need the support of other countries in tackling what he described as the world's most intractable problems. "Make no mistake: this cannot solely be America's endeavour. Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone," he said.In contrast with Bush's speeches at the UN that...

More misery ahead for UK consumers of electricity and gas (above), who have been consistently over-charged and ripped off for years. Britain’s “big 6” energy companies have rebuffed calls to cut prices, despite a halving of the wholesale cost of energy over the past year. OFGEM, the industry regulator, has been pressing the companies to reduce prices after it was revealed that the companies will be earning £170 profit each dual fuel customer over the next year. Over the past 3 years they have earned an average of £110 per customer per year. Alistair Buchanan (pictured below), OFGEM’s chief executive, wrote to the companies last month telling them that “they owe it to their customers to better explain their pricing position to them”. But replies to Mr Buchanan’s letter...

Thousands of opposition supporters took part in protests in Tehran to coincide with the government-backed Quds Day rally...

• Leader consolidates power but three nominees rejected • Defence minister faces bomb charges in ArgentinaMahmoud Ahmadinejad took an important step today towards consolidating his power in the wake of disputed elections, winning parliamentary support for most of his new cabinet, including a defence minister wanted in connection with a terrorist attack in Argentina 15 years ago.Ahmadinejad presented the vote, which confirmed 18 of his ministerial nominees, as a "crushing response" to pressure from western powers, whom he has accused of backing post-election protests.Bolstered by the unexpectedly strong show of support in the parliament, or majlis, he shrugged off the threat of further sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme. "No one can impose sanctions against Iran any more. We...

As if President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran hasn't done enough to make most right-thinking people condemn his regime, the Guardian reports today that Ahmad Vahidi, wanted by Interpol for the bombing of the Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association building in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been made Iran's defence minister.There is an Interpol Red Notice issued for him, which is described as "for all practical purposes an international arrest warrant".Vahidi, who up till now has been deputy defence minister, is a former head of the Al-Quds Brigades, believed to be a covert operation branch of the Revolutionary Guards.Press adviser to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Ali Akbar Javanfekr told Al Jazeera the complaint was a "Zionist plot", which is a rather pathetic defence.The appointment of a man wanted for...

Politicians say president's backing for inexperienced politicians could lead to challenge from fellow conservativesThe Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has submitted his nominations for a new cabinet filled with loyalists and little-known figures.Many politicians warned that the move – which has purged the cabinet of critics – risked a challenge from his conservative allies in parliament.Ahmadinejad is forming his new government against a backdrop of reformist opposition allegations that his re-election as president in June was fraudulent.His nominations do not include four members of the outgoing government – the intelligence, culture, health and labour ministers – who criticised him over his attempt to name a close associate, Esfandiar Mashai, as his top vice...

Iranian president's move could result in country's first female ministers for more than 30 yearsThe Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, today said he would nominate three women to join his new cabinet.The nominations could lead to the appointment of the first female ministers in Iran for more than 30 years.They appear to be an attempt by Ahmadinejad to win the support of Iranian women as he fends off opposition claims that his re-election to the presidency in June was fraudulent.However, the appointments seem unlikely to appease reformists because two of the three women are fellow hardliners.Speaking on state television, Ahmadinejad said he would nominate Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi, a 50-year-old gynecologist, as the health minister and Fatemeh Ajorlu, a 43-year-old MP, as the minister...

• Hardline president to be sworn in tomorrow• Reformists and moderates boycott ceremonyIranian hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is on course for a new four-year presidential term after the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, today ignored bitter divisions at home and deep dismay abroad to publicly endorse him as a "brave, hard-working and wise man".Ahmadinejad will be formally sworn in outside the Iranian parliament in Tehran on Wednesday, but the depth of domestic opposition to him was plain when the country's leading reformists and moderates boycotted the official ceremony with Khamenei.Two former presidents, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, conspicuously failed to attend, underlining their disapproval of the controversial populist who claimed victory in...