Trial of 3 Americans Begins in Iran

NY-Times

TEHRAN — The trial of three American citizens held in Iran and accused of illegally entering Iranian territory and spying began behind closed doors on Sunday, according to Iranian news agencies.

Press TV, via Associated Press

From left, Shane M. Bauer, Sarah E. Shourd and Joshua F. Fattal in Tehran in May 2010. The trial was postponed after Ms. Shourd failed to return to Iran after being released for medical reasons.

Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters

The lawyer for the three, Masoud Shafiee, said the presiding judge had assured him that he would be permitted to see his clients “one or two hours” before the opening of proceedings.

Unnamed judicial sources quoted by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, which is closely linked with Iran’sRevolutionary Guards Corps, stated that Joshua F. Fattal and Shane M. Bauer, both 28, were due to appear at branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court at 10am on Sunday, more than 18 months after their capture by border guards near Iran’s border with Iraqi Kurdistan in June 2009.

The same officials stated that they were “unaware” of whether a third American, Sarah E. Shourd, 32, who faces the same charges, would be appearing at the court session. Ms. Shourd spent 14 months in detention before being released on bail in September 2009 for medical reasons, at which point she returned to the United States.

The trial of the three was postponed in November after Ms. Shourd failed to return to Iran to appear alongside Mr. Fattal and Mr. Bauer, though today’s announcement of the trial and her continued absence suggest that she is likely to be tried in absentia.

Speaking to Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency on Saturday, the lawyer for the three, Masoud Shafiee, said that Ms. Shourd had been summoned by Iran’s Foreign Ministry and had provided a statement to be read in her defense. Iran’s authorities have stated that Ms. Shourd’s $500,000 bail would be forfeited if she failed to return to face charges.

Mr. Shafiee also said that he had not been allowed to see his clients to prepare them for their defense, though the presiding judge had assured him that he would be permitted to see them “one or two hours” before the opening of proceedings.

All three have denied that they knowingly entered Iranian territory or that they were involved in espionage.

Domestic analysts believe that Mr. Bauer and Mr. Fattal will eventually be released after back-door deal-making similar to the arrangements which many believe to have taken place between Iran and France over the release of French academic, Clotilde Reiss, who was arrested and accused of espionage during the first days of the street protests which erupted following the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.

Ms. Reiss was allowed to leave Iran in May 2010 shortly before the release by France of Ali Vakili Rad, who was convicted in the assassination of Shapour Bakhtiar, an Iranian prime minister from the time of the shah who was living in exile, in 1991. France and Iran denied speculation that the two releases were linked.

However, clouding the issue over the fate of the American citizens is the continuing diplomatic impasse between Iran and the United States after the most recent round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program held in Istanbul in January ended with no clear progress after both sides refused to back down on major points of contention.

Iranian passenger plane crashes in NW

SAMAA

TEHRAN: An Iranian passenger jet with at least 105 people on board crashed in bad weather on Sunday near the northwestern city of Urumiyeh, Iranian media said.

At least 50 people were rescued from the crash, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted an official as saying.

Fars said there were 105 people on board, but state TV put the number at 156.

Iran has suffered a string of crashes in the past few decades. U.S. sanctions against Iran have prevented it from buying new aircraft or spare parts from the West.

The last major air crash in Iran was in July 2009 when a Caspian Airlines Tupolev aircraft bound for Armenia caught fire in mid-air and crashed into farmland near the city of Qazvin, killing all 168 people on board.

One of the country's worst air accidents happened in February 2003 when an Iranian Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed

in southeast Iran, killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and crew aboard

Iran claims to down 2 spy planes

Iran claims to down 2 spy planes

Dunya News
Iran has shot down two unmanned western reconnaissance drone aircraft in the Gulf, according to Iranian official news agency.
"Many spy planes and ultra-modern aircrafts of our enemies have been shot down (by our forces) ... We have also shot down two spy planes in the Persian Gulf," said commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the elite forces' aerospace unit. "But it is the first time we are announcing it." He did not say when the aircraft had been shot down, but described them as "western drone reconnaissance" aircraft. Iran is at odds with major powers over its nuclear activities, which the United States and its allies suspect are intended to enable Iran to produce nuclear bombs. Iran denies the allegations and says it wants only to generate electricity. "All their military bases are completely within Iran's missile range and we have full control of our enemies and notice any changes taking place on our shores," Hajizadeh said.

Iran seeks Pakistan's help in investigating Chabahar bombing

Rehman Malik assured the Iranian ambassador of all necessary
help from Pakistan in investigating the Chabahar bombing.

Tribune

ISLAMABAD: Iran asked Pakistan to help in the investigation of the suicide bombing which took place in the south-eastern city of Chabahar in Iran.

Iranian ambassador Mashallah Shakri called on interior minister Rehman Malik in Islamabad.

He gave him a letter from the Iranian government in which it is requested that Pakistan help in the investigation of the bombing which killed 35 people and wounded more than a 100.

The interior minister assured the Iranian ambassador that Pakistan would extend all necessary hep to Iran. Malik said that an investigation team would be sent to Iran if the need arises. He said that Pakistan would never allow anyone to use its land for terrorist activities against any other country.

Iran supreme leader blames West for bombing

An Iranian schoolgirl holds a portrait of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei  in Tehran

AP

TEHRAN, Iran - (AP) — Iran's supreme leader on Friday blamed the West for a deadly suicide bombing at a mosque this week, saying the country's enemies were trying to divide Muslims and halt its nuclear activities.

The armed militant group Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's double bombing outside a Shiite mosque in the southeastern port city of Chahbahar near the Pakistan border, which killed 39 people.

In a condolence message read during funeral ceremonies for the victims, Ayatollah Ali Khameneiblamed the attack on "arrogant powers," a reference to the United States and its allies.

"The people have perceived the goals of the enemy and realized that the arrogant powers do not want the Islamic world to have pride or leadership," he said, according to the state news agency IRNA. "The enemies do not want the unity of Muslims ... They do not want to see uranium enrichment in our country."

He did not elaborate on the connection. Iran has often accused the United States and its allies of supporting Jundallah in hopes of causing instability in Iran, a claim Washington has denied. The U.S. and other countries condemned Wednesday's attack, and the United States designated Jundallah a terrorist organization earlier this year.

Jundallah has carried out a series of deadly attacks on the military and civilians in eastern Iran over the past years, and said the latest attack was to avenge the hanging of its leader Abdulmalik Rigi earlier this year.

The United Nations has demanded Iran halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or material for a warhead. The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of secretly trying to build a nuclear weapon. Iran denies the claim, saying its nuclear program is peaceful and that it has a right to enrich uranium.

State TV showed footage of the funeral ceremonies, including photos of the victims. At least three of them wore uniforms, apparently policemen.

Pakistan condemns terrorist attack in Iran

APP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday strongly condemned the terrorist attack in the port City of Chabahar in Iran leading martyrdom of 39 innocent persons and injuring more than 80.

Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit in a statement issued here said, “The Government of Pakistan expresses its deepest sympathy and condolences with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the bereaved families.”

The spokesman said, “The perpetrators of this heinous crime are common enemies of both Iran and Pakistan.”

Referring its close brotherly ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan also expressed its resolve and commitment to closely cooperate with Iran to defeat the menace of terrorism.