Esfana Tokir was charged with anti-regime propaganda. Vahid Habib Shshama and Mohammad Askandrezadeh were charged with anti-regime propaganda and participation in an illegal assembly, while Vahid Rastago was also charged with insulting the Supreme Leader. According to the report, the four were arrested as part of their work for the journal Susma and blog they set up.
Source: Iran Daily Brief
Elmira Farah Vazehan, who is imprisoned in the women’s division of Evin Prison, launched a hunger strike last Friday to protest the lack of medical treatment. Elmira, who lived abroad for several years, returned to Iran to visit her cancer-stricken son in the middle of the elections. Upon her return to Iran, Elmira was arrested along with her husband and two children, sentenced to death for involvement in terrorist activities and protest action, but her sentence as reduced to 17 years in prison.
Source: Iran Daily Brief
Adel was arrested over seventy days ago along with his wife and transferred to solitary confinement in Evin Prison. Adel’s son was also arrested several days later. Adel’s son and wife were released after several days, but Adel, who needs dialysis, is still imprisoned in solitary confinement and in life-threatening condition. Adel’s younger brother, Afif Naimi,was sentenced to twenty years at Rajai Shahr Prison.
Source: Iran Daily Brief
Well-informed Yemeni sources have confirmed that Yemeni authorities halted and seized a cargo ship travelling from Iran carrying suspected military equipment at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Saturday. The source revealed that the Iranian military hardware on this cargo ship included equipment to manufacture missiles and ammunition, and that ultimately the objective was to transport and reassemble this equipment to establish a secret arms factory in the mountainous Saada border province of Yemen, which is controlled by the Shiite Huthi rebels.
Asharq Al-Awsat spoke to Yemeni political and security sources, who confirmed that the Iranian ship had been halted in the port of Hodeidah earlier this week. The Yemeni sources, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, revealed that “the ship was headed to the port of Hodeidah in north-west Yemen, however it was stopped and boarded and the military equipment was discovered.”
As for where this equipment was headed, the Yemeni military source revealed that “the objective of this military equipment, which was seized last Saturday in Hodeidah, was for this to be transferred to establish a factory to manufacture short-range missiles and deploy these in mountainous regions of the Saada governorate that are controlled by the Huthi rebels, which is close to the port of Hodeidah.”
The source confirmed that “the Huthis are manufacturing short-range missiles to increase their [military] capabilities, with the help of Hezbollah experts and technicians.”
The Yemeni political and military sources also confirmed that “over the past period, Hezbollah experts have aided the Huthi rebels to manufacture and assemble some missiles in assembly workshops in the mountainous regions” adding “these experts have trained some Yemenis on how to assemble [missiles].”
As for the objective of deploying short-range missiles in northern Yemen, the sources said “it is likely that Tehran believes that there is an impending Israeli or American military strike [on Iran], and it wants to store these missiles close to the Yemeni shoreline to use them to attack international power lines in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea”
Yemeni security sources previously revealed that Tehran has been attempting to utilize Yemeni territory as a “way-station” to manufacture and store missiles and arms. This was revealed following investigations into “espionage rings” working for Tehran uncovered by the Yemeni security authorities.
A high-ranking Yemeni security source, speaking to CNN, revealed that Tehran had planned to establish a secret weapons factory in Yemen. The source added that he had personally seen equipment that could be used to manufacture and assemble missiles and ammunition.
For his part, during his recent visit to Washington, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi announced that Tehran was providing support to some political and armed movements in Yemen, as well as recruiting clandestine espionage rings.
The Yemeni Ministry of Defense revealed that Yemeni authorities had recently uncovered and dismantled a spy ring, including Iranian citizens who had entered the country posing as investors looking to set up a factory. Reports claimed that Iranian, Syrian and Yemeni nationals had been arrested. Sources also revealed that Iranian citizens had begun importing illegal “military” equipment through the port of Aden that could be used to make missiles and other weapons.
Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Hadi has accused Tehran of “supporting some armed and political movements in Yemen”, adding that “five spy networks working for Iran have been discovered and referred to justice, whilst a sixth network was recently dismantled.”
The Yemeni President also accused Tehran of attempting to “derail the political process in Yemen”, and even backing factions of Yemen’s separatist Southern Movement which is seeking to secede from Yemen by force of arms.
For its part, Iran strenuously denied the accusations, summoning the Yemeni ambassador to Tehran and handing him an official letter of protest, describing the Yemeni president’s accusations as “baseless.”
Source: Inside of Iran
Brigadier General Khosrow Khosravi, Commander of the 65th special airborne brigade of the Ground Forces of the Army, said that “Until now, Iranian experts have succeeded in designing and producing two kinds of parachutes for freefall jumping.” Khosravi hailed the brigade’s capabilities, saying they are capable of freeing hostages, conducting swift operations, attacking planes and trains, as well as engaging in “sabotage.”
Source: Iran Daily Brief
Azerbaijan on Tuesday jailed 22 alleged Islamic radicals for plotting attacks on the U.S. and Israeli embassies in the ex-Soviet state in collaboration with neighboring Iran, a court in Baku said.
The men, all Azerbaijani citizens, were given sentences ranging from 10 to 15 years in prison after being accused of planning attacks in cooperation with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Some of those jailed were residents of the village of Nardaran, a stronghold of Muslim activism near the Azerbaijani capital.
When the men were arrested in May, Azerbaijan’s security services said they seized weapons, explosives and espionage equipment.
The national security ministry said that the alleged plotters had received weapons and spy training at military camps in Iran after being recruited from 1999 onwards.
The ministry said the suspects had spied on diplomatic missions and foreign companies including British oil company BP-Azerbaijan’s office.
Tensions between Iran and mainly Muslim but officially secular Azerbaijan have risen over the past year, with a series of arrests in Baku of attack plot suspects with alleged links to Tehran.
Iran has also been angered by Azerbaijan’s friendly ties to Israel and the United States.
The uneasy relations between the neighbors are complicated by the presence of a huge ethnic Azeri minority in Iran, which far outnumbers Azerbaijan’s own population of 9.2 million.
Source: Alarabiya
Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to make an atom bomb within two to four months and then would need an additional eight to 10 months to build the device, experts said on Monday.
The authors of a new report on Iran’s nuclear programme say Tehran has made progress in its uranium enrichment effort but that the United States and UN weapons inspectors would be able to detect any attempt at a “breakout” – at least for the moment.
The report, released by the Institute for Science and International Security, offers estimates on uranium stockpiles and enrichment rates based on figures from inspections of Iran’s programme by the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
To amass the 25 kilograms of highly-enriched uranium needed for one nuclear weapon, Iran “would require at least 2-4 months,” the report said.
To reach that goal, Iran would have to draw on its uranium enriched to 3.5 per cent as well as stocks of 20 per cent enriched uranium, it said.
The report appears roughly in line with the US government’s view that once Iran made a decision to make a bomb, Tehran could be months away from generating sufficient amounts of weapons-grade material and then additional months would be required to construct a device.
Amir Musa Kazemi, Editor-in-Chief, has said that he is still unaware of the charges against Managing Editor Mohammad Mehdi Emami-Naseri, who was arrested on October 1 and has been incarcerated in Evin prison. Since that time, “Three other employees of the newspaper, the Finance Manager, Public Relations Manager and the Managing Director’s deputy have been arrested along with Mr. Naseri-Emami, and we have no information about the charges against them either.”
Source: Iran Daily Brief
Saam Mahmoudi Sarabi, an Iranian journalist, has been sentenced to eight years in jail and a 10-year ban from media activities in Iran.
Nedaye Sabz Azadi’s website reports that the sentenced journalist’s lawyer has reported that his client was charged with “assembly and collusion against national security, propaganda against the regime, publishing falsehood and insulting the leader.”
Mahmoudi Sarabi’s sentence has been approved by the appellate court and forwarded to Evin Prison.
Mahmoudi Sarabi was arrested in March of 2011 and released after more than eight months in jail. The authorities previously had held him in jail for 44 days for writing a poem about the alleged confessions of political prisoners following the 2009 elections protests and for writing an open letter to MirHosein Mousavi, one of the leaders of the opposition.
After the controversial election of 2009, the crackdown on Iranian journalists and reporters has been ratcheted up by the Islamic Republic, and opposition groups report that in the past two years 108 reporters have been arrested, and while some have been released, many still remain behind bars.
Source: Radiozamaneh
The Committee of Human Rights Reporters has expressed concern that there has been no news about detained student activists Mehdi Fakhrzadeh, Saeed Aghapour and Mehdi Tavakoli.
Source: Iran Daily Brief
