Join Us At Today's Iranian Alert Thread – The Most Underreported Story Of The Year! 
"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin”
Iran's Parliament Approves Draft of Abortion Bill
Iran's parliament on Tuesday approved a draft of a bill to legalize abortion in the first four months of pregnancy. According to the bill, an abortion can be performed only when the woman’s life is in danger and/or when the fetus is malformed. According to Iran’s Payyand News, a woman will also need the consent of both parents to receive an abortion.
Another parliamentary vote is still required on the draft of the bill before it is made into law. In addition, Iran’s conservative Guardian Council also has to approve the bill, as it does all legislation, before it can be made law.
Abortion has been illegal on most grounds in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=8552
Iranian Diplomats Should Be Expelled
July 23, 2004
Toronto Star
TheStar.com
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi is living on another planet if he thinks Canadian-Iranian relations will not be harmed by the sudden and inexplicable conclusion of the Zahra Kazemi murder trial behind closed doors.
Former Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham was correct to immediately recall Canada's ambassador to Iran. We recommend a further step — expel Iranian diplomats from Canada. Iran needs to hear clearly that Canada will not maintain diplomatic relations with a country that refuses to abide by the rule of law.
Kazemi was arrested last June after taking photographs of a student protest outside of an Iranian prison. Seventeen days later, July 10, 2003, the 54-year-old woman died while in custody, tortured by her captors and died of a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage.
Iran refused to return Kazemi's body to Canada despite her son Stephan Hachemi's requests, instead opting for a hasty burial in that country.
Kazemi's family have not been given access to autopsy reports.
Hachemi's lawyer was not granted a visa to enter Iran.
Canadian diplomats and the media were barred from the proceedings and the legal team representing the Kazemi family accused the court of covering up the facts.
It's an appalling denial of due process of law. Ottawa should do all in its power to bring this case before the International Court of Justice.
Meanwhile, Iran's diplomatic spokesman makes a grave error by shrugging off Canadian concerns. He has failed to understand that Iran has managed to truly anger one of the most patient countries on the globe.
Iran is, of course, free to conduct itself as a flagrant denier of human rights but rogue states deserve to bear the opprobrium of this nation and its friends.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1090534212048
US Worried By N. Korea, Iran Missile Link
July 24, 2004
Reuters
Khaleej Times Online
TOKYO -- There is strong evidence that North Korea and Iran are cooperating on missile development, a senior US official was quoted as saying on Saturday.
Japan’s Asahi Shimbun daily did not name the US official, whom it quoted as telling reporters on Friday during a visit to Tokyo that Iran had given data on launch tests to North Korea.
Iran and North Korea are part of US President George W. Bush’s “axis of evil”.
“There is very strong evidence indicating that Iran and North Korea are cooperating on ballistic missile development,” Asahi quoted the US official as saying.
The comments coincided with a visit to Japan by US Undersecretary of State John Bolton, part of a drive by Washington to breathe life into six-party talks aimed at ending a 20-month-old standoff over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
Bolton was scheduled to leave on Saturday after talks with Japanese officials.
North Korea shocked Japan and the world in 1998 when it launched a Taepodong ballistic missile that passed over Japan before splashing into the sea.
Japan is also concerned about North Korea’s Rodong-1 missiles, which have a range of around 1,300 km (800 miles), and upon which Iran’s Shahab-3 ballistic missile was based.
In a September 2002 summit with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il pledged to extend a moratorium on ballistic missile launches.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2004/July/theworld_July484.xml§ion=theworld&col=
Have often wondered if this is not the country we should have attacked instead of Iraq.
Then we could have just "marched next door".
(...one Arab country at a time...)
Iran helping Al Qaeda Avoid US Intelligence Monitors
July 25, 2004
Al Qaeda is able to avoid US intelligence efforts to monitor their electronic communications with the help of Iran. The UK online news site, Telegraph.co.uk, in an interview with a Jamil Yousif, a former Pakistani police investigator, has learned that Al Qaeda and associated terrorists “are hiding near the Pakistan-Afghan border. They have sophisticated satellite phones which enable them to use Iranian land phone lines to log on to the internet.
"They are using land lines in one country and hiding in another, which enables them to dodge the security agencies."
Iran has long admitted to having an Al Qaeda presence. The evidence of Iranian support for terrorists is well known. Bi-partisan Congressional support for action against Iran appears to be building.
http://www.newsignored.com