The Washington Post published an article on the comments of Iran about Bauerand Fattal’s case. Iran says it is a “joke” to use the term hikers to describe the three Americans charged with espionage. An Iranian state TV report suggests Iran is not mitigating its charges, despite failing to hold a court session earlier this month for unexplained reasons. Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal have been held since being taken into custody along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009. A trial session was set for May 11, but Bauer and Fattal were not brought into court. The Americans deny the charges.
The same agency reported that a deadly blast, which occurred during the inauguration of a major oil refinery by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, killed at least four and injured 20. The authorities ruled out any form of sabotage and instead spoke of an industrial incident caused by a gas leak at the Abadan oil refinery, in one of the largest and oldest industrial complexes in Iran. A “testing machine” exploded almost immediately after it was placed in the area where Ahmadinejad was preparing to make a speech. Lawmakers have accused Ahmadinejad of ignoring “well-known technical problems” and rushing to open the refinery too soon.
The same topic was touched on by the Los Angeles Times. It reports that the incident did not disrupt Ahmadinejad's speech, which included fairly typical denunciations of U.S.relations with Middle East autocrats and the course of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Officials quickly insisted that the blast was the result of an industrial accident and not an act of sabotage. Iran's industrial sector has long been riddled with deadly accidents, from train and plane crashes to troubles at petrochemical facilities.
“Opposition inGeorgia cancels 'Day of Rage' protest” is an article published by the Turkish information agency Hurriyet. It says that opposition leaders in Georgia on Tuesday cancelled plans to hold an Arab-style Day of Rage, as protests against Western-backed President Mikhail Saakashvili entered their fourth day. Former Saakashvili ally and National Assembly opposition alliance leader Nino Burjanadze has promised a "revolution", but despite poor social conditions and the country's disastrous defeat in a war with arch-foe Russia in 2008, the protests have failed to attract mass support. The authorities, who sent in riot police to crush protests in 2007, say they will allow the demonstrations to continue as long as they remain peaceful.
The Iranian information agency Press TV published an article headlined “Iranian MP dismisses new EU sanctions.” A senior Iranian lawmaker has dismissed new EU sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, saying the approach of sanctions and resolutions has lost its effect. She described sanctions against Iran as psychological warfare aimed at deceiving the world's public opinion, adding that Western countries had resorted to sanctions because they had reached a deadlock in their foreign policy.
