"Iranian opposition leader under house arrest." The Washington Post reports that the authorities placed one of Iran's opposition leaders under house arrest щт Thursday, posting security officers at his door and detaining one of his aides, in response to his calls for a rally in support of anti-government demonstrations in Egypt. White House national security spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement Thursday the arrest underscored the hypocrisy of Iran's leadership. Hundreds of thousands peacefully took to the streets in support of Mousavi, and some powerful clerics sided with the opposition.
The New York Times elaborates upon the theme. It published an article headlined "Iran Presses Opposition to Refrain From Rally." It says that in an interview with an Arabic-language news Web site, Al Arabiya, Hossein Karroubi, who is politically active, said that the security forces told him that other family members, except his mother, were also barred from seeing his father. The last opposition protests against the elections were held more than a year ago and were halted after the government crackdown killed scores and left many government critics imprisoned.
The Los Angeles Times published information about Iranian director Jafar Panahi. He was in the spotlight at the opening of the Berlin film festival on Thursday, with an empty chair at the jury press conference a reminder of the risks sometimes involved in making movies. Panahi had been invited to sit on the seven-member jury which decides on the prize-winners when the 10-day cinema showcase ends on Feb. 19. But in December he was sentenced to six years in prison and banned from making films or travelling abroad for 20 years.
"US intel chief: Iran keeping nuclear arms option open." The information agency Reuters reports that the United States believes Iran is keeping the option to build nuclear weapons but Washington does not know if Tehran will choose to develop an atomic bomb, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a congressional hearing on Thursday. Iran was keeping its nuclear arms options open "by developing various nuclear capabilities that better position it to produce such weapons, should it choose to do so. We do not know, however, if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons," Clapper said in prepared remarks to the House of Representatives intelligence committee.
The Iranian information agency Press TV published an article "Iran holds 'Hi-Tech Expo' in Syria." It says that On the eve of the 32nd anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, some 147 companies and 313 Iranian experts in nanotechnology, plane manufacturing, advanced geometrical and medical industries, oil, gas, IT, communications, renewed and alternative energy technology and environmental technology attended the Hi-Tech exhibition held on February 7-10. On the sidelines of the event, five cooperation agreements were inked between Syrian Arab Airlines and Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, aimed at providing crew training, aircraft maintenance, air-freight and construction of modern hangars. Meanwhile, Iranian president's chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, said in a speech in Damascus that the exhibition is an opportunity to open new prospects for cooperation between Syria and Iran.
