IRAN GROK Daily News – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]
Iran Holy City Ups Fine for Unveiled Women [May 24]
“Iran’s second biggest city has massively increased the amount it fines for women who fail to observe the Islamic dress code and don’t cover their hair properly, media reported. Morality police around Iran are beginning their annual spring crackdown on women wearing too much makeup, daring to show their hair or dressing in a way that shows their body contours too clearly. In the holy city of Masshad, the public prosecutor has increased the fine to 1.3 million tomans, roughly $1,300 – a hefty sum in a country where a teacher’s monthly salary is around $500. “In the past the penalty for not observing the Islamic dress code was 50,000 tomans along with two months’ imprisonment,” Mashhad’s public and revolutionary prosecutor Mahmoud Zoghi told the semi-official Fars news agency..” [Complete Report]
Iran Submits Nuclear Deal With Turkey to IAEA [May 24]
“Iran has formally submitted a plan to swap nuclear material in Turkey for reactor fuel to the UN atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. It has urged world leaders to agree to their deal. But the proposal, brokered by Brazil and Turkey a week ago, was followed by a US announcement of a “strong draft” emerging on new sanctions on Iran. So the plan appears unlikely to deter the US and its allies who believe Iran is trying to obtain a nuclear weapon. The deal, brokered by Brazil, would see Iran hand over 1,200 kg of low-enriched nuclear material in Turkey. They would then receive fuel rods for a research reactor in return..” [Complete Report]
Iranians Shout For Jobs During Ahmadinejad Speech [May 24]
“Hecklers at an outdoor speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday shouted their concerns about unemployment, in a rare display of dissent in front of the hardline leader. While Ahmadinejad addressed a crowd in the port city of Khorramshahr, in a speech marking the anniversary of a key battle in the Iran-Iraq war, several members of the crowd could be heard chanting: “Unemployment! Unemployment!” The president’s speeches are regularly carried live on Iranian TV where crowds more usually respond with slogans such as “God is Greatest” and “Death to America”. Ahmadinejad won a second term last June in an election the reformist opposition said was rigged — sparking the biggest anti-government protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The government denied any vote rigging and accused foreign powers of fomenting unrest. Opposition leaders have applied for permission to hold a rally on the first anniversary of the election, on June 12 where they plan to call for human rights and the release of political prisoners..” [Complete Report]
Iran Executes Brother of Sunni Rebel Leader Rigi [May 24]
“Iran on Monday executed a brother of the detained leader of a Sunni Muslim rebel group behind the deadliest bomb attack in the Islamic Republic in years, official media reported. Abdolhamid Rigi, a convicted member of Jundollah (God’s Soldiers), was hanged in a prison in the southeastern city of Zahedan, after his execution was postponed last July and again in December in order to get more information from him. Predominantly Shi’ite Muslim Iran seized his brother, Jundollah leader Abdolmalek Rigi, in February — four months after the group claimed a bombing which killed dozens of people, including senior officers of the elite Revolutionary Guards. Iranian officials say Jundollah has links to Sunni Islamist al Qaeda and support from Pakistan, Britain and the United States. London, Washington and Islamabad deny backing it..” [Complete Report]
Sri Lanka Says Iran May Lend $1.5 Billion to Expand Refinery [May 24]
“Sri Lanka, which imports all its oil, may get a $1.5 billion loan from Iran to fully fund a project to double capacity at the South Asian island’s only refinery, the petroleum minister said. “The earlier understanding was for us to come up with 30 percent, but Iran may come in to completely finance the expansion,” Susil Premajayantha said in an interview in the capital Colombo. Sri Lanka plans to start the two-year construction to increase state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp. refinery’s processing capacity to 100,000 barrels a day by early 2011, Premajayantha said May 21. China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Corp. has submitted a proposal to set up a refinery in Sri Lanka’s southern Hambantota district that would export products, he said. The end of Sri Lanka’s three-decade civil war last year is attracting overseas aid and investment, stoking an economic recovery..” [Complete Report]
Iran To Boost Non-Oil Exports To Iraq [May 24]
“Iran plans to increase its non-oil exports to Iraq to US$7.5 billion annually from the current US$4.8 billion, the secretary-general of Iran-Iraq economic development centre said here Sunday. “Iran mainly exports foodstuff and construction materials to Iraq,” Mehr News Agency (MNA) quoted Hassan Danaiifar as saying Sunday. “Currently, over 8,000 tonnes of cement is being exported to Iraq daily,” he added..” [Complete Report]
