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	<title>Omid Memarian</title>
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		<title>Worries Mount over Sanctions&#8217; Ripple Effect</title>
		<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON, Jul 8, 2010 (IPS) - Although the United States and its allies insist that the latest round of U.N. sanctions against Iran targets high-level government officials rather than the general population, interviews with a number of analysts, activists and journalists in Tehran reveal a growing concern over the impact on the country&#8217;s middle class.
&#8220;The [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://omidmemarian.com/2010/07/09/worries-mount-over-sanctions-ripple-effect/</link>
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		<title>Iran Pressured to Open Doors to U.N. Rights Investigators</title>
		<description><![CDATA[GENEVA, Jun 11 (IPS) - The Iranian government rejected charges that it has violated human rights and freedom of speech and assembly before a session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva Thursday - the same day that the Iranian opposition&#8217;s request to hold a peaceful protest was denied by authorities.
Although Tehran insists there is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://omidmemarian.com/2010/06/17/iran-pressured-to-open-doors-to-un-rights-investigators/</link>
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		<title>Anniversary Preview: Tehran Gets the Jitters</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Tension is building in Tehran ahead of Saturday's anniversary of the Iranian protests. Omid Memarian talks to people in the Iranian capital.
In advance of the one-year anniversary of Iran’s disputed elections on Saturday, the government has sent security forces into the streets of Tehran to prevent another popular uprising. Already, plainclothes police and students have clashed violently, and the government has warned against further protest rallies. Confrontations with women over how to dress, and the execution of five dissidents last month have contributed to tensions in the capital.
When students gathered at the Azad University recently, chanting slogans such as “death to the dictator,” and protesting recent arrests, plainclothes officers swiftly cr]]></description>
		<link>http://omidmemarian.com/2010/06/10/anniversary-preview-tehran-gets-the-jitters/</link>
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		<title>Iran’s Hanging Judge</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Jun 9 2010, Institute for War and Peace Reporting- Abolghasem Salavat, dubbed “Judge of Death”, and two colleagues have presided over most political trials since last year’s unrest.A decision to show clemency to 81 of the people detained in the unrest that followed last year’s presidential election in Iran has once again shone the spotlight on the country’s judicial and penal systems.
On June 2, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved a recommendation by the head of the judiciary. Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, to release some of the 81 under amnesty and reduce the sentences of the rest.]]></description>
		<link>http://omidmemarian.com/2010/06/09/iran%e2%80%99s-hanging-judge/</link>
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		<title>Divisions Sharpen as Iran Girds for Renewed Protests</title>
		<description><![CDATA[BERKELEY, California, Jun 7, 2010 (IPS) - A week before the first anniversary of Iran's contested presidential elections, the disruption of a speech by the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini during a memorial service for the founder of the Islamic Republic on Jun. 4 has once more publicly exposed the rift within the top level of Iran's leadership. According to the government, two million Basij militia members and supporters from all over the country were mobilised to come to Tehran to participate in last week's ceremonies marking the 21st anniversary of Khomeini's death. ]]></description>
		<link>http://omidmemarian.com/2010/06/07/divisions-sharpen-as-iran-girds-for-renewed-protests/</link>
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		<title>WSJ: IRAN IS ABUSING THREE MORE AMERICAN HOSTAGES</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Wall Street Journal, April 3 2010- As the three Americans detained in Iran near the end of their eighth month in captivity, it has become increasingly clear that their case, like those of so many other prisoners in Iran, is not legal but political and a matter of human rights. Since Sarah Shourd, 31, Shane Bauer, 27, and Josh Fattal, 27, were arrested by Iranian authorities who claimed they illegally crossed the border from neighboring Iraq last July, the three Americans have been almost completely cut off from the outside world. Swiss Ambassador Livia Leu Agosti, whose embassy represents U.S. interests in Iran, was able to visit the trio twice, but the last time was in late October. It was not until March 9—more than seven months after their arrests—that the three were permitted to call their families for the first time.]]></description>
		<link>http://omidmemarian.com/2010/04/21/wsj-iran-is-abusing-three-more-american-hostages/</link>
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		<title>Iran Lobbies Over Rights Forum</title>
		<description><![CDATA[ 26 Feb 10 -Denying rights abuses could prove costly for Tehran, both economically and politically.
Iranian activists have viewed with anger and dismay the outcome of a United Nations review of human rights in Iran and the country’s rejection of its recommendations. Iran attracted criticism from the West over a lack of freedom of speech and assembly and the position of religious minorities like the Bahais at the routine session in Geneva on February 15 of the UN Human Rights Council.]]></description>
		<link>http://omidmemarian.com/2010/02/26/iran-lobbies-over-rights-forum/</link>
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		<title>Can Iran’s Opposition Find Montazeri Replacement?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[IWPR Institute (Mianeh)- The death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s most outspoken critic late last month came as a blow to the opposition movement in Iran. But the void left by the loss of Grand Ayatollah Ali Montazeri may yet galvanise other senior Shia clerics into vocal criticism of the regime, thus shifting the equation [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://omidmemarian.com/2010/01/09/can-iran%e2%80%99s-opposition-find-montazeri-replacement/</link>
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		<title>Q&amp;A: Attack on Karrubi Was a &#8220;Coordinated Effort&#8221;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[BERKELEY, California, Jan 8 (IPS) - Hussein Karrubi, the son of Iranian opposition figure Mehdi Karrubi, whose car was struck by two bullets on Thursday in Qazvin, a city near Tehran, tells IPS the Islamic Republic is trying to silence and intimidate his father. Many analysts believe that the escalating attacks by security forces on opposition [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://omidmemarian.com/2010/01/09/qa-attack-on-karrubi-was-a-coordinated-effort/</link>
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		<title>IRAN: Revolutionary Guards Tighten Economic Hold</title>
		<description><![CDATA[BERKELEY, California, Dec 29 (IPS) - News that Iran&#8217;s Revolutionary Guard Corps is withdrawing a billion dollars from the country&#8217;s Foreign Reserve Fund in order to complete Phases 15 and 16 of the gigantic South Pars gas project has generated concern among Iranian analysts, who believe the move reveals the military organisation&#8217;s excessive power over [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://omidmemarian.com/2009/12/29/iran-revolutionary-guards-tighten-economic-hold/</link>
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