Heard in Iran This Week
on Radio Farda
(Washington, DC -- October 11, 2007) Radio Farda kept listeners and website visitors informed about:
* Protests by Tehran University students against President Ahmadinejad
* The debate over the impact of sanctions against Iran
* Exclusive interviews with Shirin Ebadi on Iran's worsening human rights situation, an author sentenced for writing "false statements" in his novels and the ongoing sugar factory strike in Khuzestan
Student Protests at Tehran University
* Several hundred students staged a protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's policies during Ahmadinejad's October 8 speech at Tehran University. Radio Farda was the first media to report news of the protests, providing listeners audio from the scene as well as exclusive interviews with participating students, including activist Vahid Abedini (http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/10/08/f4_tension-Tehran-Ahmadi-speech.html; article in English at http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/10/127E1D9B-927F-4211-9349-377EE2E19D64.html; a gallery of photos taken during the students' rally can be viewed at http://www.radiofarda.com/photogallery/342.html)
* Prior to Ahmadinejad's speech, Iran's largest student organization, the Office to Foster Unity published an open letter. On October 7, Radio Farda reported that the letter posed 20 questions for Ahmadinejad, on issues ranging from the arrest and expulsion of students and dismissal of university professors, to the government's economic and foreign policies, Ahmadinejad's many statements about the Holocaust and his claims at Columbia University regarding the existence of a "unique freedom of expression in Iran" (http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/10/07/f3_Tahkim-letter-to-Ahmdinejad.html; article in English at http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/10/FB92BEB1-E1CE-4DC1-BB32-7A52C89CCC34.html)
Potential Impact of Economic Sanctions Debated
Radio Farda's weekly "Viewpoints" program on October 5 offered listeners a debate on the potential impact of international sanctions against Iran over the country's nuclear program, featuring economic analyst Dr. Hooshang Asadi, journalist Nasir Shirkhani and London-based economic analyst Hassan Mansour (http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/10/05/o2_view_points.html).
Exclusive interviews on Radio Farda
* On October 9, Radio Farda broadcast an exclusive interview with lawyer and Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, on the sidelines of the annual "Forum 2000" conference in Prague. (http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/10/09/f1_Ebadi_interview.html; transcript in English of the interview at http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/10/6868A4B0-1A14-4622-86B9-36C69825FBDB.html).
* Radio Farda's "Evening Magazine" on October 8 featured exclusive interviews with writer Yaghub Yad-Ali, sentenced to one-year imprisonment on the charge of "spreading false information" in his novels, as well as with participants in the workers' strike at the Haftapeh sugarcane factory, which entered its tenth day (audio at http://tinyurl.com/2tarve)
RFE/RL Analysis
Disbanding Militias "Key To Cutting Iran Sway In Iraq"
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/10/B1B74023-96E5-44E7-B306-848C4B2F5C49.html
October 5, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani says disbanding Shi'ite militias will be key in reducing Iranian influence in the country.
For more on these and other stories about Iran, please visit:
http://www.radiofarda.com -- Radio Farda's Persian-language website
http://www.rferl.org/reviews/farda.aspx -- "Focus on Farda" bi-weekly review
http://www.rferl.org/reports/iran-report/default.asp -- "RFE/RL Iran Report" weekly analysis
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/iran.html -- RFE/RL English-language coverage of Iran
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