The founder of the whistle-blowing WikiLeaks website yesterday accused the Pentagon of “dirty tricks” after false rape allegations were made against him, revealing that he has been warned before he could be the target of a “‘honey trap”. Australian Julian Assange (pictured above)dismissed the rape and other sex abuse accusations, saying he had never had sex which was not consensual. The secretive campaigner spoke out in Sweden after authorities there revoked a short-lived warrant against him on a rape claim, saying the accusation against him had no substance. The WikiLeaks website caused a storm last month when it posted 77,000 Afghan war documents online, many highly critical of Allied forces, particularly American forces. US authorities claim that...

President's remarks appear designed to deflect international pressure over country's nuclear programmeIran would stop enriching uranium to a high grade if it was assured of the supplies it needed for a research reactor, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on the eve of the inauguration of the country's first nuclear power plant.His remarks came as the US reportedly told Israel it believes Iran is still a year away from being able to build a nuclear weapon – probably lessening the chances of a pre-emptive military strike that could ignite war across the Middle East.Ahmadinejad's comments to a Japanese newspaper appeared designed to deflect international pressure over Iran's nuclear programme. "We promise to stop enriching uranium to 20% purity if we are ensured fuel supply," he was quoted...

I’ve seen George Galloway argue with heavyweight Christopher Hitchens for two hours on whether it is right to invade Iraq, I’ve seen him wax lyrical over the injustices sanctioned by the Israeli government, I’ve seen him talk at length on the miscarriages of justice felt by Muslims in this country, I’ve even seen Galloway talk about why Jade Goody was not being racist as such in the Big Brother house, but rather, reacting to a series of overlooked class prejudices bestowed upon her by Shilpa Shetty. Each time I’ve ever seen Galloway speak, despite not being his biggest fan, I’ve always been quietly impressed, and moved in some respects to the anger and fire that he has in his voice. Which is why I am very surprised that during his light touch interview...

Exclusive: Former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi tells Guardian US and British policy is a gift to Ahmadinejad regimeProfile: Mehdi KarroubiPunitive international sanctions imposed on Iran have strengthened the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and assisted its post-election crackdown on the opposition Green movement, the leading reformist politician and former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi has told the Guardian.In his first interview with a British newspaper since widespread unrest erupted after Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election as president last June, Karroubi blamed the US and Britain for adopting counterproductive policies to combat Iran's suspect nuclear programme, describing sanctions as a gift to the Iranian regime."These sanctions have given an excuse to the...

Iranian website says president was on his way to address crowd when he escaped unhurt from bomb blast that targeted convoyThe Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad survived an assassination attempt today when a homemade grenade exploded near his convoy, it was reported.The Iranian website, khabaronline.ir, said the incident happened in Hamedan in western Iran as Ahmadinejad was on his way to address a crowd. It said he was unhurt and went on to give his speech as planned, which was broadcast live on state television.The report said the president's car was about 100 metres away from the site of the blast. The website said one person has been arrested but there was no news on whether anyone was injured.There were mixed messages coming out of the president's office about whether an attack...

In the UK more than 120 people, some genuine family and others mock “mourners”, gathered yesterday for the funeral (above) of Raoul Moat, the former nightclub doorman who last month shot his ex-girlfriend and murdered her new partner before going on to shoot and blind a police officer for life. Family, neighbours and a number of people who had never met him, filed into the service at a crematorium in Newcastle to the sound of Behind Blue Eyes by The Who, which opens with the lines: “No one knows what it’s like to be the bad man”. Moat, who took his own life on 10 July following a 6-hour standoff with police, was cremated because his family wants to avoid members of the public paying homage at a grave, but incredibly mourners included a mother of 8 who...

In the UK the “cut and slash” austerity budget introduced last week by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (pictured above) is reportedly expected to cause the loss of over 1.3 million jobs across the British economy over the next 5 years, according to a leaked private Treasury assessment of the planned spending cuts. Unpublished estimates of the impact of the biggest squeeze on public spending in 65 years show that the government is expecting between 500,000 and 600,000 jobs go in the public sector and between 600,000 and 700,000 to disappear in the private sector by 2015. To compensate, the Treasury is assuming that growth in the private sector will create 2.5 million jobs in the next 5 years. Now this blog has since its inception tried to highlight the strange...

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad puts negotiations on hold until late August, saying move is 'to teach west a lesson'Iran is to postpone nuclear talks with the west as a "punishment" for the imposition of new UN sanctions that are designed to it stop enriching uranium, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today.Negotiations would be put off until after Ramadan in late August, he said, though no talks have in fact been scheduled. "It's a punishment to teach them a lesson to know how to have a dialogue with nations," he told reporters in Tehran. Ahmadinejad also repeated that Iran would retaliate if attempts were made to inspect its ships, as sanctions permit.Earlier, the Iranian leader had complained of a hidden agenda. "The western and US sanctions and threats are not only aimed at putting the...

Schoolgirl Sarah Payne’s murderer Roy Whiting (pictured above) had his 50-year minimum jail term reduced by 10 years by a High Court judge yesterday. Paedophile Whiting was not present to hear Mr Justice Simon, sitting in London, announce his decision on the number of years he must spend behind bars before he can apply for parole. The judge said he had concluded that the “appropriate” minimum term was a period of 40 years. Remembering the way Whiting arrogantly kept saying “no comment, no comment” during his police interviews, may I suggest to the learned judge that it would have been more “appropriate” if this smug, sneering perverted bastard had been hanged as soon as he was found guilty. - The rapidly ageing and increasingly irrelevant...

Iran's Green movement has suffered brutal repression as authorities try to stop a repeat of 2009's June demonstrationThe contrast could not be more striking. A year ago they rallied in their millions, a display of people power draped in green that stunned the world, rattled Iran's theocratic leadership and promised to jolt the entire region.But this Saturday, on the first anniversary of the disputed elections that gave rise to the biggest challenge to the Islamic republic's authority in its 30-year history, a repeat of such tumult is hard to imagine. Months of brutal repression that included mass round-ups, a succession of show trials, lengthy prison sentences and grisly executions has emasculated the Green movement. Its leaders, defeated presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and...

As UN security council prepares to vote on further sanctions, president says fuel swap deal offers 'opportunity that will not be repeated' for US and alliesThe Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, today said his country would not give any more ground on its nuclear programme as the UN security council prepared to vote on more sanctions against Tehran.Ahmadinejad said a fuel swap deal, negotiated with Turkey and Brazil, was an opportunity for the US and its allies to break the deadlock that would "not be repeated".The deal resurrected elements of a UN-backed offer for Tehran to part with 1,200kg of low enriched uranium – potential nuclear weapons material – in return for special fuel rods to make medical isotopes.US officials have criticised the deal as too little, too late –...

Moscow issues rebuke after Ahmadinejad also tells Russia not to back UN sanctions over nuclear programmeIran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, today urged Barack Obama to accept an offer to export the country's uranium to Turkey as a "last opportunity" to resolve the crisis with Tehran. He also warned Russia not to support new UN sanctions, triggering a furious rebuke from Moscow."There are people in the world who want to pit Mr Obama against the Iranian nation and bring him to the point of no return, where the path to his friendship with Iran will be blocked forever," he told a rally in the south-east city of Kerman."Mr Obama must know that this proposal is a historic opportunity. [Obama should] know that if this opportunity is lost, I doubt the Iranian nation will give a new chance...

It would be sign of US failure to engage with Tehran diplomatically, says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after addressing world disarmament conference in New YorkPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday brushed off the threat of a new round of UN sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme.The Iranian leader said fresh sanctions would mean that Barack Obama had given up on his campaign to engage Iran diplomatically. "While we do not welcome sanctions, we do not fear them either," Ahmadinejad told reporters in New York. "We feel that the US government will be damaged more than us by those sanctions."His show of defiance came as the US and its allies are negotiating on further sanctions against Tehran. The Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said he was "reasonably optimistic" that...

Visit of Iranian leader 'sends wrong message about company we keep', argues Morgan Tsvangirai, leading MDC boycottFor some the scene would have called to mind Henry Kissinger's remark about the Iran-Iraq war: too bad both can't lose.Two arch-nemeses of the west, Robert Mugabe and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, came face to face in Harare today despite criticism of Zimbabwe's president for inviting his Iranian counterpart.The state visit has driven a wedge between Mugabe and the prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, whose party condemned it as "a colossal political scandal" and "an insult to the peace-loving people of Zimbabwe and Iran".Mugabe greeted Ahmadinejad at Harare airport thisafternoon and was due to host a state dinner for him . Tsvangirai and leading ministers from his Movement for...

Women behaving promiscuously are causing the earth to shake, according to cleric, as Ahmadinejad predicts Tehran quakeA senior Iranian cleric says women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes.Iran is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and the cleric's unusual explanation for why the earth shakes follows a prediction by the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that a quake is certain to hit Tehran and that many of its 12 million inhabitants should relocate."Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes," Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media. Women in the Islamic Republic are required by law to cover from head...

The Iranian opposition is planning to take to the streets again tonight as part of a traditional fire festival in defiance of the authorities. Follow live updates4.18pm: There are numerous reports of firecrackers going off and even of clashes on the streets of Tehran from usually reliable sources on Twitter. Video footage has been released but there are doubts about its veracity, some claim it shows last year's fire festival.4.14pm: Police are banning petrol stations from filling up containers, according to CNN's Reza Sayah.4.08pm: Tehran police chief General Hossein Sajedinia told the ISNA news agency his forces were deployed to prevent "any event in the city".The police have also announced that riding motorbikes will be banned tonight.Opposition website, Norooznews, reported that...

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...