The Guardian published an article headlined "Iranian sentenced to lose eye and ear over acid attack." It tells the story of a man, convicted after mistaking victim for former classmate who had bullied him at school. In a literal application of the law of an eye for an eye, an Iranian man convicted of blinding another man in an acid attack has been sentenced to lose an eye and an ear. Recently Iran has come under fire for sentencing Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, to be stoned to death for adultery. She has so far escaped the sentence because of an international outcry. Iran has executed at least 200 people in the past 10 months.
The information agency Hurriyet reports that Iranian authorities have arrested seven al-Qaeda militants in the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan. The group was arrested in the city of Sardasht in West Azerbaijan, the website of Iran's English-language television network reported, citing an informed but unnamed source. It is rare that Iran declares arrests of members belonging to al-Qaeda.
As for Azerbaijan itself, Hurriyet published an article "Opposition journalist to remain in Azerbaijani jail." The Supreme Court in Azerbaijan on Tuesday rejected an appeal for the release of an opposition journalist whose jailing has caused widespread concerns about free speech in the ex-Soviet republic. Libel and terrorism charges against newspaper editor Eynulla Fatullayev were lifted last month. Fatullayev's supporters believe that the authorities are determined to silence the journalist, who was the chief editor of two newspapers that were critical of the government in the oil-rich state. The Azerbaijani authorities have consistently rejected accusations by international rights groups that free speech in the country is seriously limited by restrictive legislation and punitive prosecutions of journalists.
Press TV reports about Iran's power export. It says that its electricity exports to neighboring states have climbed by more than 6 percent while its power imports have soared by over 40 percent. The Islamic Republic currently transfers electricity to and from Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, the Republic of Nakhjavan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. Earlier in December, the Iranian Energy Ministry said Jordan, India, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Syria, and the UAE are the new countries that have expressed interest in acquiring electricity from the Islamic Republic. Iran seeks to become a major regional exporter of electricity and has reportedly attracted more than USD 1.1 billion in investments to build three new power plants.
The same Iranian agency published an article "Iran protests German ministry remarks." It says that ran has lodged a protest with the German Foreign Ministry for the way in which it presented to the media the account of a meeting between its deputy foreign minister and the Iranian ambassador to Berlin. A German Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that the meeting between Iranian envoy to Berlin Alireza Sheikh Attar and German deputy Foreign Minister Wolf-Ruthart Born took place after the former was summoned to the ministry over issues pertaining to two German nationals held in Iranian custody. The Iranian embassy said it expected the German Foreign Ministry to rectify the misinformation.
