Iran

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Iran Hangs 'Heretic' for Insulting Jonah

Amir-Aslani had different take on the Koran

(Newser) - Iran has executed a 37-year-old psychologist, apparently in part for the grievous crime of believing that the story of Jonah—which appears in the Koran as well as the Bible—is a symbolic tale instead of a true account of a prophet who survives three days in a whale's...

Iranians Who Made Video of Pharrell's 'Happy' Sentenced

Sentence won't be carried out unless defendants are found guilty of future crimes

(Newser) - Six young Iranian men and women videotaped dancing to Pharrell Williams' "Happy" and the video's director have been sentenced to suspended jail terms and lashes, says a defense lawyer. Farshid Rofugaran said today that the seven have been sentenced to six months in jail and 91 lashes each,...

Iran: We Turned Down US' ISIS Offer

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says US made request, he wasn't interested

(Newser) - Iran wants the world to know that the United States came knocking—and it didn't answer the door. Though it was previously reported that John Kerry had barred the country from joining a coalition formed to combat the self-proclaimed Islamic State, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today...

US Military Charter Plane Makes Forced Landing in Iran

Plane told it couldn't fly in Iranian airspace: officials

(Newser) - A commercial aircraft chartered by the US-led military in Afghanistan was re-routed to Iran today and forced to land there in a mix-up over its flight plan, US officials say. The plane was carrying military contractors, some of whom were American, CNN reports. The plane was flying from Bagram airfield...

Coast Guard Fires on Iranian Boat

Dhow aimed machine gun at US crew patrolling Gulf

(Newser) - An Iranian boat that pointed a machine gun at the crew of a US Coast Guard cutter took off after the Americans fired a warning shot in response, the Navy says. Military officials say the Monomoy, one of the Coast Guard vessels patrolling international waters in the Persian Gulf, dispatched...

Iran: We Shot Down Israeli Drone

Revolutionary Guards say aircraft was near Natanz

(Newser) - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards is saying its forces have shot down an Israeli drone as it approached an Iranian nuclear site. The Guards issued a statement saying forces fired a missile at the drone as it neared its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, more than 185 miles south of...

Iran Bans All Permanent Birth Control

Nation's government reacts to declining birthrates

(Newser) - Bad news for Iranians wanting small families: The country plans to ban vasectomies and other permanent forms of birth control and punish all violators as criminals, the Washington Post reports. In fact any advertising of birth control will become illegal, Reuters notes, a stark turnaround for a nation that once...

Iran Plane Crashes After Takeoff, 39 Dead

Sepahan Air passenger jet lost engine, went down in residential Tehran

(Newser) - A regional passenger plane assembled in Iran crashed today while taking off from the country's capital, Tehran, killing 39 and injuring another nine onboard, according to a transportation official and state media. Deputy Minister of Transportation Ahmad Majidi provided the latest casualty figures on state TV. The channel earlier...

Iran, US Still Way Apart on Centrifuges; Talks Extended

Negotiators miss deadline, but extend talks 4 months

(Newser) - Iran and six world powers failed today to meet their target date for cutting a nuclear deal but agreed to extend the talks until Nov. 24. Months of exhausting negotiations were meant to culminate in an agreement by tomorrow that would limit programs Iran says it needs to produce energy...

Clock Ticking, Ayatollah Deals Blow to Iran Nuke Deal

Appears to undercut negotiators in new speech

(Newser) - A Sunday deadline is looming for Iran to strike a nuclear deal with six world powers under a plan set in motion last year —but with just days to go, Iran's supreme leader has made the chances of a deal being forged in time look supremely unlikely. In...

Child Bride in Iran Faces Hanging for Killing Husband

Human Rights Watch trying to stop execution

(Newser) - Human Rights Watch is trying to raise pressure on judges in Iran to call off the execution of a 21-year-old woman who killed her husband four years ago. Razieh Ebrahimi’s father forced her to marry a neighbor at age 14, and she gave birth to a child at...

ISIS Kills Shiite Volunteers Outside Holy City

Meanwhile, the White House says it may cooperate military with Iran

(Newser) - Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria killed over two dozen volunteer Shiite fighters today outside the holy city of Samarra—the first such attack since Shiites began signing up against ISIS, the New York Times reports. The volunteers, aiming to reinforce Iraqi defenses in Samarra, were traveling...

Every Iraqi Urged to Pick Up a Weapon

Iraq's top cleric says 'everyone who can' must fight

(Newser) - Iraq's top Shiite cleric issued a statement during Friday prayers today, calling on everyone—Shiite and Sunni alike—to fight back against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the New York Times reports. It is "the legal and national responsibility of whoever can hold a weapon, to...

Iran Spies Built Fake News Site to Trick US Targets

Hackers also used bogus Facebook accounts, says security firm

(Newser) - Iranian hackers savvy with social media created a fake news site and false Facebook credentials to spy on top-ranking officials in the US and elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal reports. Cybersecurity firm iSight Partners uncovered what it says is the most elaborate such scheme it has ever seen, reports Reuters...

Iran Hangs Figure in Massive Bank Fraud

He was convicted in $2.6B embezzlement scheme

(Newser) - Iran has its own way of dealing with bank fraud: hanging. State media announced today that a businessman convicted in the nation's biggest embezzlement case was executed today in prison, reports the BBC . Mahafarid Amir-Khosravi was one of four sentenced to death in the case, in which he and...

Iran Arrests 6 for 'Vulgar' Video of Pharrell's 'Happy'

Clip 'hurt public chastity,' Tehran's top cop says

(Newser) - A joyful homemade video of Pharrell Williams' "Happy" resulted in arrest and public humiliation for six young Iranians. Tehran's chief of police says the six people seen singing and dancing on the city's rooftops—including three unveiled young women—created a "vulgar clip which hurt public...

Mystery Surrounds US Plane Spotted in Tehran

The Bank of Utah owns it, sort of, and things get murkier from there

(Newser) - The New York Times today digs into a mystery: What was a private plane with a very small American flag on its tail doing at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport on Tuesday morning? As for who owns the plane, that would be the Bank of Utah—by proxy. The 13-branch community...

Parents Stop Hanging of Son's Killer at Last Moment

Iranian couple have change of heart

(Newser) - The Guardian has an amazing story from Iran, where the parents of a murdered man spared their son's killer during what was supposed to have been his public execution on Tuesday. The mercy came at the last possible moment for the man, identified only as Balal: The noose was...

Iran May Outlaw ... Vasectomies

Ayatollah is looking to boost national birthrate

(Newser) - Two decades ago, Iran started distributing free condoms and subsidizing men's sterilization. Now, it's looking to do quite the opposite: The country's parliament is considering a ban on vasectomies, along with a crackdown on contraception and abortion services. The goal: increasing the country's population, the Guardian...

Jet Passengers Refuse to Buckle Up, Save Deportee

They wouldn't fasten seat belts, and pilots couldn't take off

(Newser) - Passengers aboard a Swedish plane united in a simple but effective protest that has stopped a deportation, at least for now: They refused to buckle their seat belts, and that was enough to keep the plane from taking off, reports the Independent . The unusual action took place when passengers got...

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