The restaurant was crowded with Iranian pilgrims who made a lunch stop on their way to Baghdad, said Maj. Ghalib Attiya, a police official in Diyala. Most of the 47 people reportedly killed in the bombing were pilgrims. At least 69 people were wounded in the attack, said Maj. Derrick Cheng, a U.S. military spokesman.
Archive | April, 2009
Ex-Leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Seeks Presidency
Mr. Rezai, who oversaw the Revolutionary Guards from 1981 to 1997, had been seeking to unite conservative politicians behind another candidate to compete against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But he decided instead to become a candidate himself in the presidential election, to be held June 12, Iranian news media reported.
Clinton warns of Iran sanctions
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned that Iran faces “very tough sanctions” if it rejects offers of engagement over its nuclear programme.
Iranian Basketball Federation invites Utah Flash to Tehran
The Iranian Basketball Federation has invited the Utah Flash of the National Basketball Association Developmental League to play a few games in Tehran, NBA Commissioner David Stern said.
Iran’s President Refuses to Say Whether Roxana Saberi May Be Freed
“I am not a judge, and I do not pass judgment over judicial cases,” Ahmadinejad said in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. “In Iran, the judiciary is independent. I have stressed like others she should be accorded her full rights.”
Iran appoints another national soccer team coach
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran appointed another national soccer team coach on Wednesday, replacing the coach who lasted two weeks.
Afshin Qotbi takes over a day after Mohammad Mayely-Kohan resigned after only two weeks on the job. Mayely-Kohan’s resignation followed a bitter dispute with another coach, state television reported.
Iran Officially Welcomes Nuclear Talks
By NAZILA FATHI
Published: April 22, 2009
TEHRAN —Iran announced officially on Wednesday that it welcomed talks over its nuclear program, and said that it was ready to offer a proposal to resolve the dispute over its uranium enrichment activities, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Ahmadinejad raps Obama for shunning racism meeting
“I should give you, the new US administration, this advice. Mr Obama came to power with the slogan of ‘change’, meaning the American people like the rest of the world want a change in the colonialism policy,” Ahmdinejad told crowds in a speech broadcast live from Varamin, a city south of Tehran.
Jesse Jackson offers to go to Iran to help free journalist
“If our voices are heard in Iran today, I would be anxious to travel with a delegation to Iran, if we are permitted, and make an appeal for her freedom,” said the longtime civil rights activist, according to his Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Jackson, 67, was speaking Tuesday at a peace conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Switzerland deplores Israel’s “excessive” reaction to Iran talks
GENEVA, April 21 (Xinhua) — The Swiss foreign ministry has summoned the Israeli representative to Bern in response to “excessive” criticism by Israeli officials of a Swiss-Iranian presidential meeting, the official Swissinfo news website reported Tuesday.
Ahmadinejad dropped ‘ambiguous’ Holocaust reference from UN speech
Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, dropped a controversial phrase casting doubt on the Holocaust from an address to a United Nations conference on racism, according to UN officials and Farsi interpreters.
An official Iranian text of Ahmadinejad’s address to the conference on Monday referred to “the ambiguous and dubious question of the Holocaust”. However, when the president delivered the speech he omitted the phrase, referring more vaguely to “abuse of the Holocaust”. He also dropped a segment about Zionist “penetration” of western society.
Obama: Ahmadinejad’s Statements “Appalling”
A reporter asked Mr. Obama about comments Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made yesterday at a United Nations sponsored conference on racism when called Israel “most cruel and repressive racist regime.”
Mr. Obama called the comments “appalling and objectionable.”
Explosion in coalmine kills 12 in Iran
TEHRAN: Iran’s state radio says a methane gas explosion in a coalmine has killed 12 people in southeastern Iran.
Swiss and Iran presidents discuss energy, Saberi
GENEVA, April 19 (Reuters) – The presidents of Iran and Switzerland met on Sunday to discuss diplomatic issues including an eight-year jail sentence for a U.S.-Iranian journalist convicted in Iran of spying.
Iran opens doors to foreign banks
For the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran is set to allow foreign banks to establish branches in the country and engage in normal banking operations.
Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution Law had heretofore placed banking activities exclusively in the hands of government. In tandem with the Law on Usury Free Banking Operations, these two measures effectively blocked foreign banking operations from conducting business in mainland Iran.
Jailed American Gets Support From Obama and Iran’s President
Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had sent a letter to Tehran’s chief prosecutor instructing him to ensure that Ms. Saberi is given the opportunity to present a full defense.
