The Washington Post reports that Iran has arrested about 70 Christians since Christmas in a crackdown that demonstrates the limits of religious tolerance by Islamic leaders who often boast they provide room for other faiths. The latest raids have targeted grass-roots Christian groups Iran describes as "hard-liners" who pose a threat to the Islamic state. Authorities increasingly view them with suspicions that range from trying to convert Muslims to being possible footholds for foreign influence. Christian activists claim their Iranian brethren are being persecuted simply for worshipping outside officially sanctioned mainstream churches.
The Los Angeles Times published an article on the same theme. It says that in past years, authorities have staged arrests on Christians and other religious minorities, but the latest sweeps appears to be among the biggest and most coordinated. Iran has claimed as a point of pride that it makes space for other religions. It reserves parliament seats for Jewish and Christian lawmakers and permits churches Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox and others as well as synagogues and Zoroastrian temples that are under sporadic watch by authorities. Religious celebrations are allowed, but no political messages or overtones are tolerated.
"Hillary and the progress on Iran" is an article published by the Guardian, which analyses the US foreign policy towards Iran. The author of the article believes that international diplomatic and economic pressure would simply not be enough to really impede Iranian program - especially if the threat of the use of force to punish Iran if it did not back down was not credible.
The Iranian agency Press TV published an article headlined "Slovenia urges enhanced ties with Iran." It says that in a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Ljubljana Mohammad Rahim Aqaeipour Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar has underlined the importance of enhancing ties with Iran in all fields, stressing that Tehran is viewed as a key partner by Ljubljana. The Iranian envoy pointed to the formerly meager ties between the two countries and emphasized that Iran and Slovenia have the potential to boost economic cooperation.
Hurriyet reports that organizers of a mass petition drive in Kazakhstan calling for the president to remain in power for at least another decade says they have gathered signatures from at least half the Central Asian nation's eligible voters. Efforts to scrap presidential elections scheduled for 2012 have caused consternation among critics, who describe the move as an attempt to undermine democracy. In a quirk typical of the Kazakh political system, Nazarbayev has already officially rejected the proposal. But parliament still has the power to override his veto and can now point to mass popular support for the idea. The petition, which was only launched on Dec. 23, has gathered an astonishing 4.3 million signatures in less than three weeks.
