To Be or Not to Be...? Someone’s grief, and someone’s drinking party

Traditions of the Kyrgyz people were being formed with the help of economic, trade, domestic and other relations with kindred and other tribes that were closely related to the geography of their ha...

Iran of the 60s: unsuccessful attempt to reform

After the coup of 19 March 1953 in the socio-political history of Iran there were fundamental changes: the powers of parliament were limited and the absolute power of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was...

Topic: Regional rivalry in the Middle East.

In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran are two countries that claim to leadership in the region. With a powerful resources and political potential these countries are the...

Law & Legal Issues, Iran

Iran reveals details regarding capture of spies prior to presidential elections
03.06.2013
Law & Legal Issues|Iran|Middle East

New details regarding the capturing of people who allegedly wanted to cause turmoil during the upcoming presidential elections in Iran, Fars news agency reported.

Iran's Intelligence ministry said 12 members of a spy team have been arrested. These people were involved in spying and terrorist activities earlier, according to Fars.

Some of the people in the group were also connected with the the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO).

Bosnia expelled two Iranian diplomats suspected of spying
17.05.2013
Law & Legal Issues|Iran|Middle East

Bosnia has expelled two Iranian diplomats suspected of spying, including contacting a radical Muslim leader, a security ministry source said on Thursday, AFP reported.

The security ministry said that Iranian diplomats Hamzeh Doolab Ahmad and Jadidi Sohrab were declared "persona non grata" and "have left" Bosnian territory.

"As members of diplomatic personnel ... they have used their diplomatic status for activities incompatible with their diplomatic functions and the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations," the ministry said in a statement.

Iranian presidential candidate accuses Hashemi Rafsanjani of committing blunders during his time in office
17.05.2013
Law & Legal Issues|Iran|Middle East

A principlist candidate Alireza Zakani has accused former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani of committing blunders during his time in office, Fars news agency reported.

He also predicted Rafsanjani's defeat in the upcoming presidential election.

"Rafsanjani registered for the elections under the influence of his friends and family. If he becomes president, he will regret his choice," Zakani said, adding that Rafsanjani would be making the same mistakes as he did during his years as president.

Another member of Ahmadinejad’s team withdraws his candidacy
13.05.2013
Law & Legal Issues|Iran|Middle East

Press adviser to the Iranian President Ali Akbar Javanfekr withdrew his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election two days after registration, the Iranian news agency Mehr reported on Monday.

Following this announcement, Javanfekr called on his supporters to support the candidacy of Isfendiyar Rahim Mashaei, who is backed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iranian MP sentenced to 1,5 years in prison, barred from press activities
22.04.2013
Law & Legal Issues|Iran|Middle East

Iranian MP, Hojatoleslam Hamid Rezaei has been sentenced to 1,5 years in prison and also prohibited from participating in press activites, Fars news agency reported.

Rezaei, who is also the chief editor of Iranian "9 Days" weekly newspaper, was first sued by reformist politician Ghodratollah Alikhani, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's advisor Ali Akbar Javanfekr, former education minister Mozaffar Hussain, also by the press supervisory board of Iran's ministry of culture.

The complaints were made because of a number of articles published in Rezaei's weekly newspaper.

Seven armed robbers and rapists hanged in Iran
16.04.2013
Law & Legal Issues|Iran|Middle East

Seven persons, who had committed armed robbery and forced rape, were hanged in Iran's southern city of Shiraz, the Mehr News Agency reported.

Four of the convicts were executed in public. They had been convicted of five bank robberies and four car robberies. The three others had robbed a jewelry shop in Shiraz and injured owner of the shop and his son.

According to the Amnesty International's report released on April 13, Iran ranks second after China in terms of number of executions in the world.

Dealers confronted at border as Iranian police discovers two tons of drugs
01.04.2013
Law & Legal Issues|Iran|Middle East

Iranian border police discovered two tons of drugs this morning while several people tried to cross the Afghanistan-Iran border in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province, Mehr news agency reported.

According to the report, Iranian police confronted the drug dealers and following a shootout, the dealers were forced to flee to Afghanistan.

Deputy Head of Iran's border police, General Ahmad Garavand said the amount of seized drugs in the last two weeks is four times more than was seized during the same period in the last solar year.

Iran’s Bank Mellat challenges UK sanctions in Britain's Supreme Court
20.03.2013
Law & Legal Issues|Iran|Middle East

An Iranian bank is challenging UK sanctions against it in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Press TV reported.

On Tuesday, Bank Mellat appealed to the court against the sanctions imposed over its alleged links to Iran's nuclear energy program.

The British government imposed the sanctions in 2009, but it has failed to provide evidence that the bank indirectly facilitated Iran's nuclear energy program.

Embassy denies information about 17 Azerbaijani citizens detained in Iran
18.03.2013
Law & Legal Issues|Iran|Middle East

The information about the detention of 17 Azerbaijani citizens is wrong, the Iranian embassy in Azerbaijan told Trend today.

Iran's police in the city of Maku, West Azerbaijan helped 17 foreign citizens looking to go to Turkey that got lost in the cold and snowy weather. They were not detained, the embassy said.

There were two Azerbaijani women and the rest were citizens of Pakistan and Afghanistan. After assistance was rendered to them, they left Iran.

Over 1,000 prisoners pardoned in Iran
18.03.2013
Law & Legal Issues|Iran|Middle East

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei signed a decree pardoning 1,059 political, military and civilian prisoners for Novruz holiday and the Day of the Islamic Republic, ISNA agency said today.

The head of Iran's judiciary Sadeq Amoli Larijani appealed to Khamenei with a request to pardon 1,059 prisoners for Novruz holiday and the Day of the Islamic Republic.

Around 98.2 percent of Iranians voted to change the political system in the country during a nationwide referendum held on March 30-31, 1979.