Saturday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 4.9.2005:

1,500 political protests in Iran last year

At least 1,500 anti-government protests, strikes, and clashes took place in Iran during the year that ended on March 20.

More than 450 strikes, demonstrations, and gatherings by white- and blue-collar workers, were reported in state-run and opposition media. Some strikes, such as the one by coal miners in Sangroud, lasted for more than 50 days. ...

The next major sector of society to have been involved in anti-government protests were student groups. Over 330 strikes... READ MORE

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• A prominent Iraqi daily accused Iran's leadership of dispatching mercenaries to one of Shiite Iraq's holiest cities.
• Mary Baldwin in The New Leader asks, "Searching for WMD? Look No Further than Iran."
• Islamic Republic News Agency writes that Iranian President Mohammad Khatami strongly denied Israeli media allegations that he had met with Israel's president Moshe Katzav during funeral procession for the World Catholic Church Leader Pope John Paul II. The NY Times weighs in.
• SMCCDI reports violent clashes continued, yesterday and this evening, in several western Iranian cities and then still more.
• And finally, the MEK are hosting a conference in Washington DC, next week.