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TEHERAN - Iranian authorities announced Saturday that the Mayor of Teheran, Gholamhossein Karbashi, would face a public trial on charges of embezzlement...
The date for the trial for Karbashi, who was arrested a week ago, has not been set, the official in charge of his case, Hojatoleslam Mohseni Ejei, said on Iran television. There is no chance he will be released on bail "as long as the inquiry is in progress," Ejei said.
Ejei is in charge of all cases connected with a corruption scandal in the city government for which a dozen of Karbashi's aides have already been convicted and jailed...
Cleric Fears "A Painful Disaster in the Future", Reuter, April 10
TEHRAN - A senior Iranian cleric warned on Friday that a top-level row over the arrest of Tehran's mayor would only benefit Iran's enemies.
"Political tension in the country is detrimental to the Iranian nation and all those interested in the revolution... The only one who benefits from these tensions is the enemy," Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani said in a sermon carried on Tehran radio.
He was referring to a brewing crisis pitting President Mohammad Khatami's government against the conservative-led judiciary over the arrest on graft charges of Gholamhossein Karbaschi, a senior ally of Khatami.
"Tension and disorder is like a barrel of gas oil we have given to the enemy so that he could set a match to it," said Emami Kashani, spokesman of the powerful Guardian Council.
Emami Kashani's remarks followed a warning this week by Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, one of Iran's highest ranked Shi'ite Moslem clerics, who was quoted by newspapers as saying he feared "a painful disaster in the future" if the factional row was not curbed.
Court Jails Former MP for Dissident Links,
Reuter, April 10
TEHRAN - A court in Iran has jailed a former parliamentarian for 30 months for ties with prominent dissident Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a newspaper said on Thursday.
The daily Jameah said the court passed the sentence earlier this week against Gholamhossein Nadi, a Shi'ite Moslem clergyman, for unspecified activities linked to Montazeri.
Montazeri has been put under virtual house arrest in the holy city of Qom since he questioned the authority of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a speech in November, a son of the senior cleric has said.
Shopkeepers in Najafabad held a strike a few days ago to protest against the restrictions imposed by authorities on Montazeri.
Montazeri's November speech, a rare public challenge to Khamenei's paramount power, prompted violent demonstrations by hardliners.
100 MP’s Express Concern at Compromise In U.N.,
Iran Zamin News Agency, April 9
100 parliamentarians from UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and 20 non-governmental organizations called for the adoption of a firm resolution against the violations of human rights and export of terrorism by the mullahs' dictatorship in the current session of the UN Human rights Commission in Geneva.
In letters to their Foreign Ministries, the parliamentarians expressed concern at the possibility of a compromise with the mullahs' regime to prevent the adoption of a strong resolution against the regime in exchange for receiving economic concessions.
At the same time, 20 NGOs issued a declaration saying "pinning any hope on reform by this regime" is but "a mirage." They added that placating policies "only embolden the mullahs in continuing suppression and terrorism." The NGOs’ said in their statement: "Khatami’s ascension to power has made no difference in the daily plight of Iranian women."
Making Nice with Iranians,
The New York Times, April 12
... Saudi Arabia, America's closest ally in the Persian Gulf, and Iran, one of Washington's most bitter foes, have been busy trying to charm each other. Nobody in Washington thinks the basic relationships among the three countries have shifted.
But U.S. officials are taking notice, aware that even subtle atmospheric changes can have far-reaching psychological effects in the Middle East....
One thought remains profoundly comforting to the policy planners in Washington. Whatever else is going on between Saudi Arabia and Iran, trust is not part of the equation.
Crown Prince Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain, one of Saudi Arabia's close neighbors, shared a joke recently with a senior U.S. official visiting the sheikdom. In Iran, he said, "You have three people in charge: You have Khamenei, and he is in charge of religion and terrorism," referring to Iran's ruling spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "You have Rafsanjani, and he is in charge of business and terrorism. And you have Khatami, and he is in charge of internal politics, moderation and terrorism."