Chronology of Events in , May 2003*

May 1 Workers protest ban on demonstrations. (Inter Press Service / IPS). Workers around Teheran who had planned to demonstrate on May Day against low minimum wages, now plan to protest because they were not allowed to demonstrate. Riot police turned up at Khane Karegar (House of Labor), which houses several union offices in Teheran to order union leaders to postpone their rallies to May 6. The police action drew instant protest. The unions had planned demonstrations to demand higher wages to keep up with the cost of living, and early retirement options for workers doing hazardous jobs. The rallies were cancelled apparently under pressure from the Interior Ministry. Deputy Interior Minister for Law and Security Ali Taali said earlier that many officials in Teheran were opposed to the May Day demonstrations due to "global and regional circumstances." It was reported that the pro-U.S. slogans raised in Behshahr, an industrial city close to Neka, worried officials. "Some of the workers were shouting slogans asking President George Bush to leave Iraq and come and save Iranians," it was reported. Arbitrary arrest of foreigners in Azerbaijan . (World Markets Research Centre / WMRC Daily Analysis). A lawyer campaigning for immigrants' rights in Azerbaijan said that the arbitrary practice of detaining foreigners from Muslims countries could worsen relations with Muslim countries in Azerbaijan's vicinity. Since May 2002, according to lawyer Alovsat Aliyev, 140 Afghans, 42 Iraqis and 17 Iranians have been arrested and several more expelled from the country. Some people have been arrested for months without charges, said Aliyev.

May 3 Iran rebels in Iraq take positions on Iranian border. (Reuters). Iranian rebels People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) based in Iraq have deployed heavy weaponry to try to prevent incursions by Iran-based Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim forces, their commanders said. The People's Mujahideen has moved tanks, rocket launchers and artillery as close as 15 kms to the Iranian border. "We are obviously in combat positions here, but we are not against the U.S. forces," Mitrah Bagherzadeh, a Mujahideen commander said, within sight of Iranian peaks. "We had

* Disclaimer: Reports contained in this document are selected from publicly available resources and edited by country experts. The information provided here is not, and does not purport to be, either exhaustive with regard to conditions in the country of origin surveyed, or conclusive as to the merits of any particular claim. Further information may be obtained from BO Ankara.

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to establish these bases near the border to defend ourselves against incursions and provide a shield against the Iranian regime," the 42-year-old woman fighter said. Mujahideen commanders said they have skirmished almost daily with members of Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq’s (SCIRI) Badr Brigade and Iranian troops in the area. The Mujahideen showed no evidence of the firefights they said had occurred as recently as the night of May 1. They said they had lost about 30 dead in the fighting since March. Scores of khaki-uniformed Mujahideen fighters with assault rifles were deployed in desert camps near the border village of Imam Veis.

May 4 Iranian dissident at risk of execution. (Student Movement Coordinating Committee for Democracy in Iran / SMCCDI).* Iranian dissidents from the armed Mahdaviat group are reportedly awaiting execution in Evin prison in Tehran. The Mahdaviat group was comprised of officers from Iranian power structures, all of whom were followers of the 8th century Imam, the Mahdi. In November 1999, all members of the group were arrested for an attempted coup d’etat. The group was led by Ayatollah Hasan Milani. The clerical government in Iran accused Milani of claims for maintaining special links to Imam Mahdi whom Shiites believe will reappear one day to usher in an era of justice. The group claimed responsibility for the January 1999 attempted assassination of the Islamic judiciary head, Ayatollah Ali-Razini. According to the SMCCDI, the Mahdaviat leader, Ayatolllah Hasan Milani, died two months ago in jail following torture, due to a heart failure. Another member of the group, Reza Ameli, is said to have sewed his lips in sign of protest against unfair trial. Teachers said to have held "quiet" protest rallies in various cities. (Iranian newspaper Aftab-e Yazd). According to local reports, educationalists have held rallies in protest over pay concurrent with Teacher's Week. A number of teachers congregated outside various districts' Education Departments calling for improved pay. The report states that no organized rally was held in Tehran and all classes in Tehran proceeded as normal. Another report states that protesters in various cities - carrying placards bearing messages such as "we have no speeches" and "anyone who breaks the silence is not one of us" - held quiet rallies in protest against Education Departments' disregard for their demands and poor pay. Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) report on the same news:* A female teacher is reportedly in critical condition following the attack against their peaceful protest gathering in Mashhad. This teacher has been hospitalized in the Mashad Hospital due to an internal hemorrhage.

* Editor’s note: This report has not been confirmed by major information sources. * Editor’s note: This report has not been confirmed by major information sources.

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May 6 Iran's judiciary begins probing Internet accesses and prosecuting "offenders". (Agence France-Presse / AFP). Iran's judiciary has set up a special department to investigate and prosecute Internet offences in line with the laws that cover the Islamic Republic's media. Ayatollah Abdol-Ali Namazi said that Iran-based writers of web content "should act within the framework of the constitution and press law, or otherwise face legal action." He said Iran's press law, which sets strict conditions on what can be published and leaves offenders subject to heavy jail terms, would also apply to Internet content produced by residents of the country. "As we still do not have a written law on Internet offences, the courts can issue verdicts using the press law," he said. In recent months, Iranian authorities have focussed increased attention on online activities. The Deputy Post and Telecommunications Minister, Masood Davari-Nejad, said the ministry had begun attempting to block access to "immoral sites as well as political sites which rudely make fun of religious and political figures in the country." AFP report of the same news on May 11: The Iranian authorities have banned several dozen websites for political and pornographic content, including those of US radio stations broadcasting in Farsi. An Internet service provider said that the Post and Telecommunications Ministry have drawn up a list of 15,000 banned websites. The ministry distributed the list to Internet service providers and told them to block these websites. Most of these websites post pornographic material but some are also politically-oriented. Among those banned are several websites with close links to reformists, such as the Emrouz and Womeniniran websites. Also banned are websites of US radio stations that broadcast in Farsi such as Voice of America and Iran-e Farda, which are considered by the Iranian authorities as voices of US propaganda. Iran extradites Ansar al-Islam member. (Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty RFE/RL Iran Report). The Iranian authorities recently arrested Nureddin Drissi (a.k.a. Abu Ali), a Tunisian citizen who allegedly left Italy with his family last December to wage a jihad with Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan, and extradited him to Italy, where he was arrested upon his arrival in Milan. Drissi reportedly fled to Iran after U.S. forces and their Kurdish allies defeated the pro-Al-Qaeda organization during the war in Iraq. Abu Ali was wanted in Italy in connection with a probe into links among Ansar al-Islam, Al-Qaeda collaborator and associate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and sympathizers in Europe. Al-Zarqawi reportedly transited Iran in early 2002 after fleeing Afghanistan, and U.S. Secretary of State Powell in his 5 February address to the UN Security Council accused Iraq of harboring al-Zarqawi's network. “Armed robber” loses right hand, left foot. (AFP). A man convicted of armed robbery has had his right hand and left foot amputated in Ahvaz. "Mohammad B. was found guilty of armed robbery," the report said, adding that the amputation sentence was upheld by the supreme court and carried out in the presence of a group of local officials. The local judiciary was also quoted as calling on "all thieves to seize the opportunity to repent ... because they must know that sooner or later they will be punished for their hideous acts."

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Prostitution gang sentenced to 281 years in prison. (Islamic Republic News Agency / IRNA). A court in Mashhad, Khorasan Province, sentenced 43 members of a gang, who married poor Iranian girls first and then forced them into prostitution in Pakistan, to a total of 281 years in prison and 222 lashes as well as cash fines. The convicts, mostly Afghans who lived as refugees in Iran, reportedly took their victims among destitute and addicted families by tying the knot with their young daughters and then transferring them to brothels in Pakistan. "They would take them to Zabol or Zahedan under the guise of visiting their relatives and out of the country to Pakistani cities for abuse," the public relations office of Khorasan Justice Department said. The court further sentenced the convicts to paying six million rials and banned them from visiting the Islamic Republic again once they serve out their prison terms.

May 8 Young unemployed stage rally in Sarakhs. (Iranian Baztab web site and Iranian newspaper Yas-e Now). Five hundred young boys and girls staged a peaceful rally in Sarakhs [town in northeastern region bordering Turkmenistan]. It was reported that the participants at the rally were unemployed and their peaceful rally was authorized by the governorate of Sarakhs.

May 9 Reform clashes in Iran. (British Broadcasting Corporation / BBC). More than a thousand people have clashed with riot police in Iran in the first major protest against the Islamic regime in more than six months. The demonstrations started after students from Tehran University staged a protest on their dormitory campus against privatisation plans. They were joined on the street by hundreds of people. Windows of nearby shops were broken and a few motorcycles were burnt. Witnesses said the protests began with just a few hundred students, but swelled to more than a thousand as people heard the noise or heeded calls to participate from US-based TV channels. For more than four hours the night was filled with bursts of noise as people set off firecrackers or sounded the horns from their cars. Many of those gathered shouted slogans against the regime, calling for political prisoners to be freed and for President Khatami to resign. Eyewitnesses say, the protest turned violent when riot police turned up. Armed with batons they tried to disburse the demonstration, beating those that stood in their way. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei asked young people to remain calm in the run up to July the 9th in order to prevent what he described was a devilish plot to destabilise the country.

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May 10 Activists of national-religious groups given jail terms. (IRNA). The revolutionary court handed down heavy jail terms to several members of the so- called "religious-nationalist" group for attempting to topple the Islamic establishment. Branch 26 of the court had sentenced 14 members of the group to jail terms ranging between four to 11 years. The convicted include Ezzatollah Sahabi, a leader of the banned (FMI), who received 11 years imprisonment. Sahabi did not show up at the court to receive the sentence for he is in Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage and his defence lawyer, Gholamali Riahi, was thus notified of the ruling. Taqi Rahmani also received 11 years while and Habibollah Peyman each received 10 and 9 years jail terms. Mohammad Maleki was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and Mohammad Bastengar, Mohammad Mohammadi- Ardehali, Sa'id Madani and Reza Alijani each received six years. Morteza Kazemian, Mohammad Omrani, Reza Ra'is-Tusi, Mas'ud Pedram, Mohammad Hoseyn Rafi'i and Ali Reza Raja'i each received four years in jail. Peyman, Saber, Bastenegar, Rahmani, Madani and Alijani each were stripped of all social rights for 10 years, while Ardehali, Kazemian, Omrani, Maleki, Ra'is-Tusi, Pedram, Rafi'i and Raja'i were banned from the rights for five years. Iranian Students News Agency / ISNA report of the same news: The lawyer defending Ezatollah Sahabi has reported that his client had been acquitted of the charge of attempting to overthrow the Islamic state. Gholamali Riahi stated: “Sahabi was prosecuted after six charges were brought against him, namely, attempting to overthrow the Islamic republican state; forming a group with a view to undermining the security of the country; disseminating falsehood for the purpose of agitating the people; launching a propaganda campaign against the Islamic republican state of Iran; deceiving and provoking the people in order to destabilize the country and insulting officials”. He said that the court found Sahabi not guilty on the main charges, namely, seeking to overthrow the Islamic state and disseminating falsehoods. However, it found him guilty of four other charges and convicted him. It did so by referring to articles 498, 500, 512 and 514 of Islamic penal law. The guilty verdict was as follows: He has been sentenced to six years of imprisonment because of forming a group called the national-religious coalition, as well as the Toilers Society. He was also given one year for conducting a propaganda campaign against the state. He was given two years for deceiving and provoking the people to undermine the security of the country. He was also given two years of imprisonment for insulting officials. Riahi emphasized that the verdict against his client was unacceptable, adding: “As we said during the course of the investigation, all the charges brought against Sahabi are either political or press-related. Thus, in accordance with Article 168 of the constitution, they must be investigated publicly and in public courts. However, the 26th branch of the Revolution Court held the trial in camera. The verdict is unacceptable because the court was not competent to deal with the matter.” Mujahideen Khalq forces in Iraq agree to surrender to U.S. forces. (Reuters). Iranian guerrillas in Iraq have agreed to yield to U.S. forces, the American military said in a statement warning other armed groups to do the same. U.S. forces told the People's Mujahideen on May 9 to disarm after American tanks and troops poured into strongholds of the rebels near the Iranian border. "5 Corps has accepted the voluntary

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consolidation of the Mujahideen Khalq's (PMOI) forces, and subsequent control over those forces," the U.S. military said in a statement. "This process is expected to take several days to complete." It said the peaceful end to the stand-off would boost U.S.- led efforts to help "establish a safe and secure environment for the people of Iraq". The military said the PMOI had been cooperating with U.S. soldiers, and told other fighters to now do the same. "Groups displaying hostile intent or refusing to cooperate...will be subjected to the full weight of coalition military power," it said. "Groups are encouraged to adhere to this warning and submit to the authority of the coalition immediately." U.S. soldiers had earlier replaced the Mujahideen along main highways in the northeast of Iraq they had been controlling. The Mujahideen has thousands of armed fighters and has had tanks, fighting vehicles, artillery guns and rocket launchers positioned near the Iranian border.

May 11 Six men get death penalty for vigilante Islamist murders. (AFP). Six men convicted of a series of murders to uphold Islamic morality in southeastern city of Kerman have been sentenced to death, the lawyer of one victim said. "Based on the information that I obtained indirectly, the six accused have been sentenced to death, but the court has not yet officially announced the verdicts," Nematollah Jafar Yazdi said. The convicted men have also been sentenced to long jail terms and lashing, he added. Iranian media reports identified the men as members of the hardline Islamic Basij militia who decided "to kill their victims to fight against moral corruption, promote virtue and eliminate vice". The alleged killers, aged between 19 and 22, have reportedly confessed to killing some victims by tying them up and throwing them into swimming pools, while others were stoned to death, the press reports said. Among the victims was an unmarried couple apparently intercepted while driving in Kerman, though one local justice official was quoted as saying there was no evidence those killed were corrupt in any way.

May 12 Reformist Journalist Freed. (Associated Press / AP). A reformist journalist who was jailed for giving interviews to foreign media has been released pending trial. Sina Motallebi was arrested on April 20 after he responded to a summons to report to a police station for interrogation. "I was released and will wait for the trial," Motallebi said. He declined to specify the charges. His wife, Farnaz Ghazizadeh, said Motallebi must remain silent. "He was interrogated since his detention on April 20. He accepted some of the charges and rejected the others," his wife said. Motallebi developed a Farsi Web site after the government banned the reformist daily newspaper where he worked. The ban came after the newspaper published a cartoon showing the late Ayatollah , leader of Iran's 1979 revolution, being crushed by a hand.

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May 13 Iranian refugees flee intimidation in Iraq. (UNHCR). The UN refugee agency has expressed concern at the rising number of refugees being targeted in post-war Iraq after a UNHCR team emerged from refugee settlements in the south with reports of widespread intimidation and eviction. Up to 1,000 Iranian refugees may be displaced in southern Iraq after having their homes, crops and other property confiscated. Some of them are living in an abandoned transit centre on the outskirts of Basra city. Many others are camped out near the border area with Iran, intent on heading back to their homeland. A UNHCR team visited the displaced Iranians' homes in the refugee settlements of Dujaila, Al-Kumiet and Ali Gharbi. The team spoke to some of the remaining refugees – estimated at 5,000 to 6,000 – and to local Iraqi tribal leaders in an attempt to diffuse tensions. At Dujaila, the refugees reported frequent gunfire in the neighbourhood, that food stocks had been depleted, the school had been destroyed and that water and electricity had been suspended in the area for more than two months. They also said that local Iraqi militias had ordered them to leave.While the UNHCR team was there, it heard two long bursts of small arms fire, observed a truck carrying masked men and saw a young boy armed with an AK 47 walking away from the settlement. These eye-witness accounts gelled with reports of a systematic campaign of intimidation from refugees who had fled to the Basra area. Like several other agencies that have visited Dujaila settlement, UNHCR believes that the refugees are in grave danger. In all, there are more than 23,000 Iranian refugees in Iraq. There are 6,700 Iranian Arab refugees in the south, including those in Dujaila and Al-Kumiet settlements. They are mostly Shia Muslims, and have been in Iraq since the Iran/Iraq war of the 1980s. Mainly farmers, they were considered to be well integrated with the host population. Nine people hanged in Iran allegedly for kidnapping, rape, drug trafficking. (AP). Nine people have been hanged in Iran for kidnapping, rape and murder, a judiciary official said. Eight people were hanged in public in Mashhad after they were convicted reportedly of kidnapping and raping young girls, the official said. In Kerman, a man convicted of murder was hanged in public, the judiciary official said. AFP report of the same news: In the city of Mashhad three men convicted of abducting women and girls, rape, homosexual acts, sodomy and fornication were hanged in public, a judiciary official in the city said, but did not name them. Iranian beheaded in public in wave of executions. (AFP). An Iranian was beheaded in public. A man convicted of murdering two fellow Iranians with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, as well as three counts of rape, was beheaded with a sword in the province of Sistan va Baluchestan. Reports did not say precisely when or where the execution took place or identify the accused, but said he had been given five death sentences, three by beheading and two by hanging.

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Mojahedin member reportedly arrested in Tabriz. (IRNA). Police in the city of Tabriz have reportedly arrested a member of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (PMOI) and seized his weapons, including a pistol and a grenade. A police chief in the West Azarbayjan Province said the arrest came following a "carefully planned operation" in which the PMOI member, identified only by his first name as Reza, was detained. The police chief described the man as having been involved in several clashes with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps forces and two cases of blasts.

May 14 Clash reportedly leads to several injured and arrests in Tehran. (SMCCDI).* A violent clash reportedly led to the injuries and arrests of several protesters who had gathered in front of the Tehran University. These few protesters who were attending a peaceful gathering on the current situation in the region were attacked by the plainclothes men and security forces using clubs and chains. The injured and arrested were put in the Intelligence cars which left the scene.

May 16 Militia attack student gathering in Esfahan. (Iranian newspaper Nasim-e Saba). The third day of the seminar on "Islamic Republic: Threats and Opportunities" was thrown into chaos after plainclothesmen attacked students at the Shari'ati Hall of Esfahan Medical Sciences University. A member of the central council of the Islamic Association of Esfahan University explained how plainclothesmen attacked students during the seminar on “Islamic Republic: Threats and Opportunities" at Esfahan Medical Sciences University. A number of students were badly injured in the attacks and they were transferred to Alzahra Hospital. Speaking about the judicial files that are being launched for members of the central council of the Islamic Association of Esfahan University in the recent days, a leading member said that they would go on strike if members of the Islamic Association are arrested.

May 17 Students in critical condition following attack by the militia. (SMCCDI).* Several students are in critical conditions following the attack by members of Bassidj force against their election gatherings held in the University of Hamadan. The students organized symbolic referundum and this led to the reaction of the Bassidj forces. Clubs and chains were used against the students while several of their ballot boxes were set on fire by the militia. Two of the students are held in the Hamadan hospital following their injuries on their faces and heads.

* Editor’s note: This report has not been confirmed by major information sources. * Editor’s note: This report has not been confirmed by major information sources.

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May 18 Iranian dissident refuses defence in retrial. (ISNA). A dissident academic whose death sentence last year sparked Iran's biggest pro- reform protests for years refused to defend himself on the first day of his retrial for blasphemy, his lawyer said. Hashem Aghajari, who was sentenced to hang last year for a speech in which he said Muslims were not monkeys to blindly follow the teachings of Islamic leaders, objected to the trial taking place behind closed doors. "As long as the court is not an open court with the presence of legal and theological experts, I will refuse to participate in any court or defend myself," his lawyer Saleh Nikbakht quoted Aghajari as saying. Cleric threatens organizers of "insulting" seminars will have ears cut off. (Iranian newspaper Aftab-e Yazd). Referring to the holding of a seminar at Esfahan University entitled: "The Islamic republic, threats and opportunities", the Friday payer leader of Esfahan has said that the holding of this meeting was an insult to the establishment and clerics. The cleric concluded by saying: “Regardless of whether it be in a state or open university, if another round table discussion is held to insult the great religious personalities, I warn you that I will order the ears of the participants and organizers to be cut off.”

May 21 Khamene'i pardons some prisoners on war victory anniversary. (IRNA). Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei granted amnesty to or commuted the penalties of another group of Iranian prisoners, indicted at military courts. The pardon was made at the request of judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi to mark the anniversary of the recapture in 1982 of the strategic Khorramshahr port in the Persian Gulf from Iraqi forces in the 1980-1988 war. The amnesty did not include those held for armed robbery and banditry, drugs and arms smuggling, spying, kidnap, rape, graft, setting up prostitution centres, graft as well as charges which amounted to threatening national security. Ayatollah Khamenei agreed to either grant amnesty or commute the sentences of 279 prisoners of Iran's ordinary, revolutionary or military courts. The amnesty coincided with the birth anniversaries of Prophet Muhammad and the sixth Imam of Shi'i Muslims, Imam Sadiq. Aghajari has prison term reduced. (AFP). Iranian dissident Hashem Aghajari has had his jail term reduced to three years from eight years, but the courts have yet to decide if he will still hang on blasphemy charges, court sources said. An additional punishment of 74 lashes was also commuted to an unspecified fine, they said. Aghajari, condemned on November 6, 2002 behind closed doors by a court in Hamedan for blasphemy, was transferred to Tehran to begin his three-year prison term, while waiting for the Hamedan court to decide whether to commute the death sentence. Iran's Supreme Court overturned the verdict in February, due to flaws in the judicial investigation. If the original death sentence is confirmed, the case will be sent back to the Supreme Court.

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May 22 Iranian refugees in Iraq repatriated. (UNHCR). A group of 180 Iranian refugees returned home in the first repatriation from Iraq in 2003. This first group of returnees were refugees who had fled their settlements in eastern Iraq in early April because of insecurity and tensions with the local host community. They have been encamped at a makeshift site at the Al Charani border crossing, hoping that they would be allowed to return home. Hundreds of other refugees refused to cross back into Iran when border authorities said that their livestock would not be allowed into the country, a standard practice stemming from veterinary health concerns. Other Iranians who have been waiting at the border for more than six weeks with their cars, tractors and other farm machinery were also not allowed to cross the border by their government. In 2002, UNHCR facilitated the return of more than 1,100 Iranian refugees in nine convoys together with their vehicles, but Iranian officials balked this time and all the refugees had to walk across the frontier, carrying their goods. There are more than 23,000 Iranian refugees in Iraq, including more than 6,000 settled in the east of the country in settlements around Dujeila, Al Kumeit and Ali Al Gharbi. More than 4,500 or Iraq's Iranian refugees were cleared by Tehran to return home before the outbreak of war.

May 22 Fear of Imminent execution of a political activist. (Association of Iranian Political Prisoners in Exile).* It was reported that Mohammad Esmaeelzadeh (m), aged 35, married, having a 7 year-old boy, faces imminent execution, after his death sentence was reportedly upheld by the Supreme Court on 2 March 1999. In a letter to the Supreme Court, High Council of Judiciary Branch and Judiciary Committee of the Islamic parliament (Majless), Mohammad denied the accusations and demanded his death penalty to be abolished, but on 9 January 2003, he was informed that his sentenced was upheld as it was and he will be executed at any time. He has reportedly been tortured and ill- treated in detention. He was wounded severely at the time he was arrested and his left leg was amputed after he was denied medication and surgery. Mohammad Esmaeelzadeh, allegedly an activist and supporter of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) arrested in Shaherviran nearby city of Mahabad in northwest of Iran, on 8 August 1996. Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, located in Mahabad, sentenced him to death on various charges, including "armed struggle agianst the Islamic regime", "membership of a proscribed Party", " taking members", participating in the killing of three local collaborators, puting road construction machines in fire and other security provisions. He is currently being held in Mahabad prison. Khaled Faridooni (m), married, and Omar Feghe-poor (m), allegedly activists and supporters of Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), arrested in the beginning of 2000, in Kurdish town of Piranshar in northwest of Iran. Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, located in Mahabad, sentenced them to death on various

* Editor’s note: This report has not been confirmed by major information sources.

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charges, including "armed struggles against the Islamic regime", "membership of a proscribed party" , "acting against state security" and other security provisions. Judgement on their cases have been sent to Supreme Court to decide. They are currently being held in Mahabad prison.

May 24 Iran to scrap Afghan refugees' permanent residence permits as of September 23. (IRNA). Iran will withdraw from September 23 permanent residence for Afghan refugees as part of the Islamic Republic's plans to gradually repatriate all Afghans, the head of Aliens Affairs Department in Khorasan Province said. He said Afghan refugees in the Khorasan Province, which accounts for 10 per cent of total Afghans in Iran, were required to submit their cards to the office by that date. "Those refugees who do not hand their cards over will be considered as illegal immigrants despite holding the cards," Olama added. Afghan refugees, found to have difficulties in returning home, will be given cards for temporary residence, the official said.

May 25 Iran bans women's body-hugging robes as un-Islamic. (Reuters). Iran has tightened controls on its Islamic dress code for women, banning robes deemed too revealing. Authorities sent directives to shops to stop the production and sale of "immoral coats", which are body-clinging and too short, the newspapers reported. Under Iran's Islamic law, women are required to dress in loose-fitting, ankle-length clothes and cover their hair and neck with headscarves. Violators risk being fined or lashed. Residents say Iran has periodic crackdowns after protests by conservatives that many women are flouting the dress code. In a sign of a gradual relaxation of Iran's social restrictions, some Iranian women wear long trousers and knee-length tight robes, and allow part of their hair to spill out from under colourful scarves. BBC report on the same news: Clothing shops and factories have been given a written order to stop producing clothes that stray from the strict female dress codes, the head of a clothing trade union in Tehran said. In recent times some Iranian women have been sporting shorter, paler coats that end at the knee and hug the body. Some don colourful headscarves that allow their hair to spill out from underneath. But now dress shops have been told they have a month to clear their shelves of items that do not conform to the code. Some traders in various shopping districts in Tehran said they had already been raided by police. Street patrols by the morals police have also been noticeably stepped up, and shops and restaurants have been told to bar women not deemed to be respecting the dress code.

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May 27 Iraqis, Afghans in Iran stripped of refugee status. (AFP). Iran has decided to strip hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans in the country of their refugee status, an official said, with about 200,000 Iraqis set to begin returning home by the beginning of June. Ahmad Hosseini, the Interior Ministry's director of refugee affairs, said that Afghans and Iraqis who sought refuge in the Islamic Republic would now be classed as migrants in the wake of the conflicts in their home countries. "Therefore the Iranian government has the right to expel them," he warned. Regarding the return of Afghans still in Iran -- estimated to number up to two million -- Hosseini said the repatriation operation would likely take until March 2005. Afghan man hanged for murder in Iran. (AFP). An Afghan has been publicly hanged for murder in the southwestern town of Poldokhtar. Ghassem Abdollahi, 47, had killed, cut up and buried a fellow Afghan whom he had robbed of 2.1 million rials (256 dollars) five years ago. Ethnic Azeris reportedly stage protest outside Iranian parliament. (Azerbaijani newspaper Ekspress).* Iranian Azerbaijanis and activists of the National Revival Movement of Southern Azerbaijan (NRMSA) staged a planned protest action outside the Iranian parliament. Hundreds of Azeris in the protest action chanted slogans urging the Iranian regime to protect the rights of Azerbaijanis in Iran, create opportunities for them to study their native language and put an end to the campaign against Azeris in this country. The police attacked the pickets when the resolution was being read out. Special police force was brought to the scene of the picket and hundreds of people were injured in the action. Several NRMSA activists were arrested. Reporters were not allowed to get close to the scene of the event.

UNHCR Ankara Country of Origin Information Team Revised February 2004

* Editor’s note: This report has not been confirmed by major information sources.

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