Back to Brief on Iran
TEHRAN - Iran's judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi called Friday for stricter controls on the press and literary works in the Islamic republic, saying they must abide by "moral values."
"The media must provide correct information and must not lie, especially dailies, because people are exposed to them everyday. But above all, they must be strictly controlled," Yazdi said.
"The system's duty is to raise people's awareness on Islamic teachings, we must not allow anyone to bring down that level," he said.
"Novels which teach the game of love
to young people ... are misleading. The young Iranian who does not have
the material means to get married and cannot ask his parent's for help
will be misled by these novels."
Demonstrators Clash Over Jailing of Cleric, Agence France Presse, May 8
TEHRAN - Iranian fundamentalists disrupted a demonstration by students on Sunday over the jailing of a cleric accused of spreading propaganda hostile to the Islamic regime.
Around 700 students gathered at Tehran university to call for the release of Mohsen Kadivar, a leading light of the reform movement in Iran who began an 18-month jail term last month.
But scuffles broke out when around 40 militant fundamentalists turned up, shouting "death to Kadivar" and "Kadivar must be executed."
Police were not allowed to enter the
university grounds but arrested several people from both groups as they
left the campus.
Ecevit Accuses Iran of Supporting Extremists in Turkey, Reuters, May 9
ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Sunday accused neighboring Iran of trying to promote radical Islam inside Turkey.
"Although we do not interfere in Iran's
internal affairs, unfortunately Iran's efforts to export its own ideology
to Turkey continue," Anatolian news agency quoted Ecevit as saying.
Khatami to Meet Anti-Peace Palestinian Leaders In Damascus, Reuters, May 9
DAMASCUS - Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and Mohammad Khatami will renew support for Lebanon's resistance against Israel during talks in Damascus on Thursday, Iran's ambassador to Syria said.
Hussein Sheikhul-Islam said Khatami will also meet in Damascus Palestinian leaders opposed to the Israeli-Palestinian peace deals.
"We should not ignore this Syrian-Iranian backing which is allowing the resistance to continue with strength and force to achieve its objectives in the future...," he said. Iran supports Lebanon's Shi'ite Hizbollah (Party of God) militia.
The Iranian ambassador said Tehran's ties with the Palestinian opposition factions were strong and that relations with any Palestinian side depended on its rejection of the Israeli-style peace.
"There will be a meeting in Damascus
between Khatami and the Palestinian opposition leaders... Iran's support
for these groups did not and will not cease," he said.
Khatami's Government Wants Increased Nuclear Ties With Russia, Associated Press, May 8
MOSCOW - Iran has proposed boosting nuclear cooperation with Russia and wants to enlarge a nuclear power plant being built with Moscow's help, Russia's atomic energy minister said Saturday.
Yevgeny Adamov told the Interfax news agency that Iran's vice president had written him to propose adding a second reactor to the power plant currently under construction in Bushehr in southern Iran.
Adamov said Russia still hadn't decided
whether to accept the contract, but that it was under serious consideration.
Earthquakes in South Iran Kills 26, Associated Press, May 7
DUBAI - A powerful earthquake followed by about 50 aftershocks demolished village after village in southern Iran on Friday, killing at least 26 people and injuring 100, Iranian media reported.
Most of the dead were children buried under the rubble of their homes, the head of the Natural Disasters Headquarters, Hasan Momtahen, was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
The news agency, monitored in Dubai, said two quakes of magnitude 6.8 and 5.7 struck near the cities of Shiraz and Kazerun in Fars province. Most of the damage appeared to have been in the villages surrounding Shiraz.