Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Iran

Iraq Meeting Ends Without Rice-Mottaki Meeting

A face-to-face meeting was not in the cards in Sharm el-Sheikh (RFE/RL)

May 5, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- An international meeting on ways to stabilize Iraq ended on May 4 without any direct talks between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki.

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May 05, 2007

Officials said, however, that lower-level Iranian and U.S. diplomats -- the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and Iran's deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi -- held a brief informal talk during the two-day meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called this contact between Iran and the United States a "positive sign."

Dress Controversy

U.S. officials said the Iranian foreign minister had departed early from a dinner with Rice and other delegates on May 3, apparently because the dress worn by the evening's entertainer, a female Ukrainian violinist, did not meet Islamic standards.

Violinist Larissa Abramova said on May 4 that she was wearing a red, sleeveless dress with long matching gloves and a red scarf, AP reported.

Rice did have a meeting during the conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem -- the first such high-level talks between the United States and Syria in more than two years.

Iran has stepped up its pressure on activists using the Internet

Iranian Activists, Journalists Receive Threatening E-mails

A number of Iranian activists and journalists based inside and outside the country have told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda they have been threatened in anonymous e-mails. More

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