Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Iran

Bush Approved Khatami's U.S. Visit

Khatami speaking in Washington on September 7 (epa)

September 10, 2006 -- U.S. President George W. Bush personally approved the visa allowing former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to visit the United States.

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September 10, 2006

Bush told the newspaper the "Wall Street Journal" on September 9 that he wanted to hear Khatami's views.

Bush also said he is interested in learning more about the Iranian government. And he said his hope is that diplomacy will work in convincing the Iranians to give up what he described as their nuclear-weapons ambitions.

Khatami was Iran's president from 1997 to 2005. He is the most prominent Iranian in years to visit the United States, outside of visits to the United Nations' New York headquarters.

Seen as a reformist, Khatami's five-city speaking tour came amid U.S. accusations that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, sponsors terrorism, and provides arms to Hizballah guerrillas in Lebanon.

(Reuters)

Ahmadinejad's Letter To Bush

(Fars)

PRESIDENT TO PRESIDENT: On May 8, the Iranian government announced that President Mahmud Ahmadinejad had sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush. The letter was the first direct communication between leaders of the two countries since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. RFE/RL has posted the English version of Ahmadinejad's letter that was posted on the Iranian president's website.
"The people will scrutinize our presidencies," AHMADINEJAD wrote. "Did we manage to bring peace, security, and prosperity to our people or insecurity and unemployment? Did we intend to establish justice, or just support special-interest groups and -- by forcing many people to live in poverty and hardship -- make a few people rich and powerful, -- thus trading the approval of the people and the Almighty for [that of those few]? Did we bring the world peace and security or did we raise the specter of intimidation and threats?"...(more)

CHRONOLOGY

An annotated timeline of Iran's nuclear program.

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

Many Iranians have been claiming that their access to social networks and Internet-based e-mail sites has been blocked in recent days.

Iran Tightens Internet Control

Iranians are reporting that their access to Facebook and Internet-based e-mail sites like Gmail has been blocked, without any explanation from the government. Not even the strongest antifiltering programs have penetrated the firewall, they say. Some speculate the move is related to Iran's plan to launch a national internet, which might sever Iranians' ability to access the World Wide Web. More

Web-savvy Iranian oppositionists are renowned for their ability to use proxies and other means to circumvent Tehran

Explainer: Iran's National Internet

Reports that Iran has stepped up its Internet censorship in recent days -- as evidenced by a general slowdown of the web, Internet blackouts, and the blocking of sites such as Google -- has raised speculation that the country might be testing its controversial "national Internet." More