Tuesday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 7.26.2005:

Iran press reports Kurdish riots

BBC News:

The Iranian media has reported more disturbances in Kurdish areas of the country after several days of riots.

Two people were wounded on Monday when "hooligans" caused disorder in the town of Oshnavieh, the hardline newspaper Jumhuri Islami said.

But Kurdish journalists report that three people were killed on Monday and seven died in previous days. READ MORE

The riots began after security forces tied a political activist, Shavaneh Qaderi, to their car and drug him through the streets of Mahabad. Photos of his dead body have enraged the citizens there. The following are the photos. They are disturbing and very graphic. Beware. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

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

• ReleaseGanji.net published a copy of the letter sent by Ganji's wife to the head of Iran's Judiciary.
• Payvand reported that the EU called for his permanent release of journalist Akbar Ganji as a prisoner of conscience.
• Islamic Republic News Agency reported the Majlis Research Center is to hold a nuclear conference in Iran August 1st aimed at studying the process of Iran's ongoing nuclear talks.
• Arizona Central asked, Where are the responsible Islamic leaders?
• Iranian blogger, Babak Mehdizadeh, Roozonline published an amazing interview with reformist President Khatami’s Chief of Staff who when asked why Khatami never pressured the regime for change said, Khatami is part of the establishment and never intended to fight the ruling powers. Some amazing admissions in the interview.
• Iranian blogger, Behrouz Sayyedi, Roozonline reported that two years have passed since the Writers Guild elected its board of directors, however, permission for it to convene and elect new officers has been denied.
• Iranian blogger, Hossein Bastani, Roozonline reported that despite Iran's Judiciary report outlining violations of the rights of the accused and imprisoned nothing will change.
• The Peninsula reported that Iranian authorities are trying to halt the downward plunge of Tehran's stock exchange.
• The UK Foreign Ministry released its Annual Human Rights Report 2005 arguing there has been no significant progress in Iran since their last Annual Report.
• Iranian blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, Editor: Myself published an unbelievable attack on U.S. support for Ganji arguing it will keep him alive. I responded.
• And finally, I published our new comments policy for this blog.