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18 Sep 2011 10:37

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World: Iran: Jailed American hikers hit another snag in attempt to post bail

  • what Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the American hikers stuck in Iran, won’t get out on a combined $1 million in bail until Tuesday … due to the process getting held up.
  • why One of the Iranian judges that needs to sign off on the hikers’ bail just so happens to be on vacation. Wait … they couldn’t find someone else to sign? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Sep 2011 11:31

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World: Iranian lawyer: Jailed hikers need judge’s signature to post bail

  • Everything is in place to post bail (for Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer) and to have them released, except for the signature of a judge.
  • Masoud Shafii, the lawyer for the American hikers jailed in Iran • Revealing that the fate of the two men rested in the hands of a judge — the $500,000 bail for each is in place, it’s just a matter of getting the judge to make a critical last step. Then Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal would be able to go home. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi hoped the judiciary would so so. “We hope the judiciary will announce its decision in the near future … According to our information, the judiciary has the intention of reducing their sentences,” Salehi said. The judiciary, which is very conservative, recently contradicted the words of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claiming that the hikers would not get released right away. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Sep 2011 10:14

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World: Iran contradicts Ahmadinejad on fate of jailed American hikers

  • The two Americans are going to stay in prison for a bit longer. Reports of their imminent release are wrong.
  • An Iranian judiciary official • Basically contradicting what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said about the fates of American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, who have been held by Iran for two years for what effectively amounts to trespassing. Was Ahmadinejad simply making nice with Ann Curry? Or sounding nice for the United Nations? If so, that’s really lame. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Sep 2011 11:55

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World: Big news: Iran’s energy grid officially includes nuclear power

  • what Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant has just connected to the country’s grid for the first time, making it the first time the Middle East has produced its own nuclear power.
  • when The plant “joined the national grid” at 11:29 p.m. last night (that was 2:59 p.m. Eastern), and will have a ceremony to inaugurate the plant on September 12. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Aug 2011 11:07

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U.S.: Iran hikers’ families: Jail sentencing has been extremely difficult on us

  • Of the 751 days of Shane and Josh’s imprisonment, yesterday and today have been the most difficult for our families. Shane and Josh are innocent and have never posed any threat to the Islamic Republic of Iran, its government or its people.
  • A statement from the families of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal • Expressing disappointment over the eight-year sentence imposed on the two men by Iran. The men received the jail sentence for spying and entering the country, but the hikers emphasize that they merely walked into Iran by accident. Meanwhile, the lawyer for the men, Masoud Shafiee, plans to appeal the tough sentence. “I still hope for my clients to benefit from Islamic kindness and compassion in this holy month (of Ramadan),” he said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Aug 2011 15:18

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World: Jailed hikers likely didn’t know where terrain crossed into Iran

  • I think he went to [Iraqi] Kurdistan to cover the elections … and [during a hike] unfortunately didn’t know the ground he was walking on well enough to avoid crossing over whatever boundary was there.
  • New America Media executive director Sandy Close • Discussing the fate of Shane Bauer, one of the hikers who was sentenced to eight years in prison for accidentally crossing into Iran back in 2009. Bauer had planned to write a story about Iraqi Kurdistan, but those plans were put on hold after Bauer and his friends Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd were arrested for accidentally crossing into Iran, and then getting caught. Shourd was let go on the promise she’d eventually come back, but Fattal and Bauer will spend a decade in jail. Where’s Bill Clinton to broker a deal when you need him? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jul 2011 23:33

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World: Iran to pull the plug on the Internet in two years’ time

  • 2 years until Iranians get their Internet revoked source
  • » Although only 11% of Iran’s citizens use the Internet, Iranian officials have nonetheless decided that within the next two years, all Internet access in the country will be restricted to a state-controlled intranet. Which is to say there will be no Internet access in Iran. (Note from editor: This story is a little old. So as not to be giving you completely outdated information, we’ll point out that officials plan to roll out tests of their “National Internet” starting next month.)
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

06 May 2011 14:40

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World: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces ultimatum from Iran’s Supreme Leader

  • [Khamenei] gave me a deadline to make up my mind. I would either accept [the reinstatement] or resign.
  • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (as quoted by Iranian parliament member Morteza Agha-Tehrani) • Describing the choice that Iran’s president is reportedly up against. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, reportedly has to accept the reinstatement of intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi, who Ahmadinejad had forced to resign. If this is true, it’s a pretty good reminder to everyone that Ahmadinejad holds less power than his title suggests. (By the way, this story is from The Guardian, whom we trust a bit more than Examiner.com, and also largely matches ProducerMatthew’s report from last night.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Mar 2011 11:26

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World: Israel captures weapons-loaded ship with Liberian flag, blames Iran

  • Iran is the source of all evil in this region. It finances, supports, encourages and supplies all the terrorist organizations operating here.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu • Pointing the finger after the Israeli military found a ship headed from Turkey to Egypt loaded with weapons, which the Israeli government believes was headed to Gaza. “The source of the weapons is Iran, which is trying to arm Gaza,” Netanyahu said in a text message (which is apparently how Bloomberg interviews all of its sources these days). The ship had a Liberian flag. So, let’s see … a ship heading from Turkey to Egypt, with a Liberian flag on it, has ties to Iran? Wait, what? Last month, an Iranian ship headed through the Suez Canal to Turkey – the first time that’s happened since 1979’s Islamic Revolution. Also worth noting – Israel says that Turkey is completely uninvolved in the current incident. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Feb 2011 10:58

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World: Iran’s long-gestating Bushehr nuclear plant delayed AGAIN

  • dreamAn Iranian nuclear power plant, long in the works since before the Islamic Revolution and currently being tag-teamed with Russia, was supposed to finally get up early this year after numerous delays.
  • reality Russia is forcing Iran to unload a bunch of nuclear fuel assemblies to test for numerous safety concerns, according to a nuclear watchdog. Maybe it’ll open after that? 36 years is a long time. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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