Americans’ lawyer: We wait for Shroud bail be deposited
ISNA-Lawyer of the three arrested US nationals said, "we are waiting for the bail set for Sarah Shourd to be deposited by Swiss embassy in Iran."
"The bail set for release of Sarah Shourd (American woman) has yet to be put up by Swiss embassy in Tehran which represents the US interests, Masoud Shafiei told ISNA.
"We are waiting for the set bail to be deposited by Swiss embassy," he said. "During my meeting with the client’s family, we agreed to take measures for her release as soon as the money is provided.
" Iran has set $500,000 bail for American Sarah Shourd. Her detention sentence has converted to $500,000 bail, but the detention sentence of the two other Americans was extended. Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said Sunday that the American woman would be free after putting up the bail, but she needs to take part in the trial when it is held. The three Americans including Shourd, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were arrested on July 31, 2009 after crossing intro Iranian territory illegally.
South African envoy urges expansion of Iran-Africa ties
IRNA – The South African ambassador to Tehran here on Monday underscored the need for further expansion of Iran-Africa cooperation in all areas.
Talking to IRNA, Ebrahim Mohammad Saley said that the upcoming Iran-Africa panel discussion will pave the way for promotion of all-out ties between the two sides.
The first Iran-Africa panel discussion is to be held in Tehran on September 14-15. Ministers of foreign affairs, industries and mines, and health of several African states as well as representatives from their active economic and investment companies will attend the gathering along with journalists and press officials from the black continent.
Lauding Iran’s initiative to host such a gathering, Saley reiterated that free dialogue would prepare the ground for expansion of bilateral cooperation in the future
Majlis could get tough on administration: MP
Tabnak-Ahmad Tavakkoli has written a letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying the Majlis will not be lenient in dealing with the administration’s law-breaking forever.
“The president should not think that the Majlis will deal cautiously with the administration’s unlawful actions forever,” Tavakkoli, who is known for his criticism of the administration’s economic policies, said.
“Our caution is due to political considerations, but MPs will (eventually) run out of patience,” he stated.
The principlist MP believes that the administration’s decisions to reduce working hours in Ramadan and declare the day after Eid ul-Fitr a holiday contravene the law.
“Based on what permission did you declare Saturday a holiday? According to the law, the parliament has the right to designate a day as a holiday,” he asserted.
The president declared the day a holiday, ignoring the repercussions of his decision on the country’s economy, he added.
He went on to say that the Majlis decided not to declare the day a holiday, but the president illegally overturned the decision.
“What message is conveyed to the society? Is undermining the Majlis and mocking its decision consistent with the oath you have taken to safeguard the Constitution?”
Elsewhere in the letter, Tavakkoli said even though the Supreme Leader advised the administration against parallel activities in the area of foreign policy, the president did not obey the Leader’s directive and did not dismiss his special envoys for strategic regions around the world.
Ahmadinejad recently appointed a number of special envoys in a move which met widespread criticism.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also opposed the move as interference in the work of the Foreign Ministry .