Executions: one way to stay in power

The execution a man and a teenager, Mohammad Reza Ali-Zamani (37) and Arash Rahmanipour (19) who were detained during the summer protests has sent a chilling warning to the government’s political opponents. The state prosecutor said they had been found guilty of being ‘enemies of God’ after confessing membership of a pro monarchist group intent on committing acts of violence. The executions have been widely condemned. A spokesman for the...Read More

New Year, New Arrests

2010 has started with news of the arrest of up to 85 believers gathering to celebrate Christmas. According to the FCNN website, 15 Christians were taken into custody on Christmas eve in Pakdasht, a township 25 km southwest of central Tehran and about 70 were detained the same evening in Karaj, a large town north of Tehran. After a week the fifteen Pakdasht Christians were moved to Evin prison, and...Read More

If you have to fly, make sure you avoid those old Russian planes

Last week yet another old Russian Tupolov plane got into trouble. Its rear end burst into flames as it landed at Mashad airport. There were 147 passengers on board, with thirteen crew. Thankfully nobody was killed, but at least 46 people were injured. The news will make Iranian flyers nervous. Last summer a plane crash landed, again in Mashad, and killed 17 people; and a few weeks earlier another of...Read More

Websites and mobiles, new frontiers

Website browsing used to be done on computers, and phoning people was done on phones. Now mobiles are really small computers – and those who can afford this latest technology are browsing on their phones: full marks to the IT industry for refusing to rest when there is another frontier to tackle. Christians involved in Iran need to make sure this new merging of computers with mobiles is used to...Read More