The Washington Post published on Saturday an article headlined “In setback, Iran to unload fuel from nuclear plant.” It says that in a major setback to Iran's nuclear program, technicians will have to unload fuel from the country's first atomic power plant because of an unspecified safety concern. Iran's envoy to the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency in Vienna said that Russia, which provided the fuel and helped construct the Bushehr plant, had demanded the fuel be taken out. In a report released Friday about Iran's nuclear program, the IAEA said that Tehran informed the agency on Wednesday that it would have to unload the fuel rods. The agency said it and Tehran have agreed on the "necessary safeguards measures."
Today the Washington Post reported that Iran's state prosecutor said Monday authorities have cut all outside contact with the country's two senior opposition leaders as part of a campaign to silence dissent. The development is a sharp escalation following warnings by an international human rights group, which said Sunday the two leaders and their wives were in grave danger after security forces apparently took them from their homes, where they had been under house arrest.
On Saturday The Los Angeles Times published an article “IRAN: Opposition websites call for fresh protests in Tehran.” It says that the websites of Iranian opposition leaders Mir- Houssein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have posted statements calling for fresh demonstrations in the Iranian capital next week to protest against the reported house arrest of the two reformist figures. The call was issued by the Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope -- a group backing Mousavi and Karroubi -- and urged "everyone to join a rally from Imam Hossein Square to Azadi Square [in Tehran] on Tuesday March 1 in order to protest the continuation of the illegal house arrest of the Green Movement leaders."
The Guardian reported today that Iran has threatened to boycott the London Olympics unless the organisers replace the official logo, which Tehran claims spells out the word "Zion".The logo, a jagged representation of the year 2012, has been said by its critics to resemble many things, from a swastika to a sexual act, but the Iranian government argues it represents a veiled pro-Israeli conspiracy.
“Free press in Turkey on EU's agenda” is an article published by the Turkish information agency today. It says that the European Parliament in a draft resolution has called on the Turkish government “to uphold the principles of press freedom” and condemned the violent police crackdown on student demonstrations at Ankara University in December.The text also expresses the Parliament’s concerns about the ongoing trials of 151 Kurdish political activists, including eight serving elected local mayors, in Diyarbakır, which it said represents interference in legal political activities.
The Iranian information agency Press TV published an article headlined “'Iran unaffected by enemy's threats'.” It is an interview with Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, who has brushed off threats posed by enemies against the country, saying the Islamic Revolution will strongly continue its path. He made the remarks after two Iranian ships, Khark and Alvand, docked at a Syria port following their passage through the Suez Canal, a strategic international shipping route in Egypt, for the first time since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979.
