Tuesday, February 22

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Tu Feb 22 -

IRAN: CAUGHT IN THE NET -

# The Genie in the Laptop
and The Mullah in the Bottle:


The spread of the internet has changed the lives of young Iranians by allowing them not only to download files of forbidden music, but also to indulge in digital dating. In a phenomenon that has taken the country by storm, hundreds of internet blogs have been created in both Farsi and English. Defying official censorship can be a perilous business...

After the two men described their prison ordeal to some politicians, the details were published on a blog by the former vice-president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a reformist cleric, whose online diary has become one of Iran’s most popular sites.

:: Abtahi’s Blog :: is also regularly blocked by government officials. From time to time it reappears, however-- a sign to Iranians of splits among politicians about how best to deal with their country’s restless youth.

:: From IRAN-VA-JAHAN ::

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# Mullahs Punish Mahabad,
Cut off Gas During Freeze


Recently there were large anti-regime protests in the city of Mahabad. As punishment, the regime has now cut off the gas to the region in the midst of the coldest winter ever, creating a deadly situation for the citizens of Mahabad...

:: "free" IRAN NEWS AND VIEWS ::

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# Christian Dhimmi Jail

A Tehran military court sentenced a 47-year-old Assemblies of God lay pastor, Hamid Pourmand, to a three-year prison term on Wednesday, five months after his arrest with more than 80 other Christian leaders. The verdict came during the second and final session of a military trial that begun in late January...

:: From The Christian Post ::
-- via Payvand News of Iran --

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# A Directory of Iranian Blogs:

:: BLOGS BY IRANIANS ::

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