Free Republic

The speaker of Iran's parliament, the Majlis, has said "massacre" of the people in Libya and Bahrain were taking place on the orders of the US. Ali Larijani, addressing the Majlis open session Sunday, said US officials should be made to pay for their crimes against Muslims. The Islamic Ummah (community) believes the US ordered such "criminal games", Larijani was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency.

Iran’s Majlis approved the amended draft to impeach the president and to summon him for questions and answers, MEHR news agency said. According to the source 144 Iranian lawmakers approved the amended draft that suggests the process of asking questions to the president may lead to his impeachment. The initiative was failed last week, however, it has been now approved by the lawmakers.

TEHRAN: Iran’s Parliament has summoned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for questioning, the semi-official Mehr news agency said Monday, raising tensions in a power struggle between rival hard-line factions. Lawmakers have long accused Ahmadinejad of ignoring their demands and criticism has increased in recent weeks since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blocked him from sacking his intelligence minister – which analysts said showed Ahmadinejad could no longer count on the complete support of Iran’s top authority. Unless the conservative-dominated parliament withdraws the summons, Ahmadinejad must appear before the assembly within one month after 100 lawmakers signed a motion calling him in, Mehr...

Iran announced on Sunday that it has decided to bar a special United Nations (UN) human rights reporter from entering the country. The state-run Press TV reported that the Human Rights Committee of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) decided to prevent the reporter from entering Iran, arguing that the UN does not monitor human rights violations in Western countries. "The United States, Israel and the UK are the biggest violators of human rights in the world and the United Nations Human Rights Committee should send their reporters to those countries instead of Iran," member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign...

SNIPPET: "Majlis National Security Committee chairman Alaeddin Boroujerdi said that the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Egyptian parliament, Muhammad Al-Fiqi, has authorized the members of the Iranian flotilla, which is to arrive via the Suez Canal, to enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing. Boroujerdi clarified that this flotilla, which includes Majlis members, is distinct from the one being organized by the Iranian Red Crescent."

"Gaza flotilla: 2 dead, dozens injured in navy boarding." By JPOST.COM STAFF AND YAAKOV KATZ 05/31/2010 07:00 SNIPPET: "Passengers tried to wrest weapons from soldiers, Army Radio reports; Turkish leadership in emergency meeting to discuss response to attack at sea. Passengers tried to grab weapons away from soldiers boarding the Gaza protest flotilla, starting the violence, Army Radio reported Tuesday morning, responding to accusations that Israeli commandos assaulted the ships guns blazing."

Mash’al In Iran: ‘Our Battle Is Your Battle’; ‘Together We Will Liberate Jerusalem’; Iran Will Help Rebuild Gaza; French Leaders ‘Collaborators’ In Zionists’ Gaza Massacres In a speech at the Iranian Majlis, Hamas leader Khaled Mash’al said that Hamas will not stop smuggling weapons, because doing so would be against the armed struggle. He told Iranian MPs: “Our battle is your battle... Your support for the resistance in Palestine is support for yourselves. He called on Europe to adjust its policy vis-à-vis Hamas, and to influence the U.S. to do likewise. He said that Hamas aspires to liberate Jerusalem and...

Iran Eyes Death Penalty For Web Crimes Agence France-Presse July 03, 2008 TEHRAN -The Iranian parliament is set to debate a draft bill that could see the death penalty used for those deemed to promote corruption, prostitution and apostasy on the Internet. MPs voted yesterday to discuss as a priority the bill that seeks to "toughen punishment for harming mental security in society." In addition to such crimes as rape and armed robbery, for which the death penalty is already applicable, it includes "establishing Weblogs and sites promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy." Under Iranian law, the standard punishments for these...

In what appears to be the biggest case of corruption in Iran, and perhaps in the Middle East, the Tehran-based Shahab News reported that the chief auditing office of the Iranian parliament (Majlis) has revealed that close to $35 billion of oil income from the financial year 2006-07 is missing. According to Iranian law, this money should have been paid by the government of President Ahmadinejad into Iran’s central bank. Once there, the government can request the withdrawal of funds for projects, depending upon the approval of the Majlis. However... This is a serious allegation, as this amount constitutes almost...

Members of the eighth Majlis elected Ali Larijani, representative of the holy city of Qom, as the provisional speaker of the Iranian parliament on Wednesday. The 8th Majlis was inaugurated on Tuesday with a message of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei. Out of a total of 263 votes, Larijani, the single candidate for the post, won 232 ballots. Larijani had previously served as Iran's top nuclear negotiator. Majlis provisional presiding board would also be elected today. The board would continue its work until credentials of all MPs are confirmed by the legislative body.

IRAN'S NEW PURGE - Slapping the 'Moderates' January 26, 2008 -- OPPONENTS of taking a tough line on Iran have always claimed that imposing sanctions (not to mention threatening military action) would strengthen the Islamic Republic's most radical elements. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice looks to have bought that argument. Last week, she agreed to water down the new sanctions that her advisers had devised against the Islamic Republic. -excerpt- Events inside Iran, however, provide a different picture. The Council of the Guardians of the Constitution, a 12-man committee of mullahs and their legal advisers, this week rejected applications from...

Tehran, Iran, Aug. 26 – A top Iranian official warned on Friday that Tehran may develop nuclear weapons as a “preventative measure” against threats posed by the West. “The patience of the Iranian nation has a limit. If [the West] crosses this limit, our nation, which is very suspicious of the good will of Western countries, will force Majlis to ratify the law for Iran to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty”, Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, the deputy speaker of Iran’s Majlis, or Parliament, said on Friday. “The Iranian nation is facing illogical powers that have nuclear weapons and see no deterrent....

Israeli politicians are sounding some very dire notes, but as far as I know, no one’s independently confirmed this morning’s story in the National Post yet. Neither Stephen Harper nor John Howard had heard anything about it until today. And a friend of mine with contacts in Iran says he can’t find anyone who thinks it’s true. Liberal Catnip links to a report from Montreal radio quoting one expert as saying it’s false.

Reza'i: Iranian Nation To Make 'Final Decision' in Confrontation With US IRNA (Internet Version-WWW) Bushehr, April 21, IRNA -- Secretary of the State Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei (Reza'i) said here late Thursday the Iranian nation will make the final decision in the challenge with the US. Addressing a gathering in this southern province, Rezai said the Iranian nation, as proved in 1979 Islamic Revolution, is decisive in defending their rights. He rejected the possibility of a US attack on Iran, saying under such crucial circumstances in which there is a possibility of economic sanctions, the Iranian nation will have the...

Majlis committee calls for ban on Canadians visiting Iran May 23, 2005 Tehran Times Political Desk TEHRAN – In a statement on Sunday the Majlis Foreign Relations Committee condemned the Canadian foreign minister for his recent offensive remarks against the Islamic Republic. The committee urged the Foreign Ministry to pursue the issue and called for banning Canadian nationals from visiting Iran. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said this week that his country will further limit diplomatic contacts with Iran to back demands for justice in the case of the late Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, according to the Associated Press....