WP: US, Europe condemn human rights abuses in Iran The United States and the European Union are calling on Iran to end human rights abuses against its citizens.  In a joint statement Monday, the U.S. and E.U. condemn the large scale detentions, mass trials and denial of the right to peaceful expression following last year’s disputed presidential elections. They say they are particularly concerned about the potential for further violence and repression in the days leading up to Thursday’s anniversary of the Islamic Republic’s founding.  Opposition leaders have called for a fresh round of demonstrations Thursday.  The statement comes amid a report out of Tehran that a former deputy foreign minister has been sentenced to six years in prison for conspiring to “disturb security” and spread propaganda against Iran.

ICHR Iran: Student Facing Execution for Throwing Rocks The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran today strongly condemned the prosecution of a young student activist, Mohammad Amin Valian, under the charge of Moharebeh, or “enmity against God,” which is punishable by death and called the charges “grossly disproportionate.”  At least nine other protestors have been sentenced to death in similar unfair trials and are at risk of imminent execution. Five other protestors, including Valian, were prosecuted last week and face the death penalty if convicted. The main pieces of evidence used to convict the twenty-year old student are photographs showing him throwing rocks during Ashura protests.

ICHR Iran: Shirin Ebadi: Politics Rule the Iranian Judiciary The 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, who heads Center for Human Rights Defenders in Iran, was interviewed by International Campaign for Human Rights. Regarding Iranian Judiciary’s recent actions including executions of two political dissidents and group execution sentence for several other protesters she said: “Unfortunately, the Iranian Judiciary has fallen short of justice and politics are determining its core and actions now. This is why we are now witnessing sentences which are even contradictory to Islamic Republic’s very own approved laws. In other words, the government approves laws which it refuses to obey itself. They are accusing people of heretics, moharebeh, when all they have done is to participate in street protests or sending an electronic mail. In some cases all the email contained was a piece of news. They won’t let suspects’ attorneys attend trials and appoint public defenders for suspects. These are all examples of actions which contradict The Criminal Case Review Policies and demonstrate that trials are political. When politics enters a courtroom, justice leaves that courtroom.”

ICHR  Iran: Using Photographs of Protests Outside Iran to Intimidate Arriving Passengers at the Airport Authorities at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran have been collecting photographs of Iranians in protest gatherings outside the country. These Iranians have participated in gatherings to show solidarity with Iranians inside Iran for condemning violations of human rights in Iran. When leaving IKI Airport, some Iranian citizens have been randomly taken to rooms and after being questioned about the country and city to which they were traveling, their faces have been checked against available photographs in attempts to identify Iranians who have attended such gatherings.

Several people who have recently returned from Tehran told International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that at Imam Khomeini Airport, they spent a few hours with anxiety as their faces were compared to available photographs. One of these individuals who has recently returned from Tehran told International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran: “…after I checked in my luggage, an officer asked me to follow him to the side entrance door. In the room I noticed people sitting behind monitors showing hundreds of faces on them. They were not passport photographs, but photographs of people in different gatherings. In one photograph a girl had raised a fist and in another a young man was yelling.” These individuals said that at departure time, officers asked the names of destination states and cities and when they took people to the room where they checked for photographs, they searched on the cities where the individual was heading in order to see whether he or she had participated in rallys.

RFE: Preparing For 1979 Anniversary: Internet Disruption And New Dumpsters A video has been posted on opposition websites that shows how in central Tehran plastic dumpsters are being replaced by tougher metal ones. During the street protests of recent months, protesters were seen setting dumpsters on fire and using them as shields between themselves and security forces.   The replacement of the dumpsters could be an attempt to counter street protests and prevent protesters from setting them on fire.   Another video posted on opposition websites shows loudspeakers being installed on Vali Street, where demonstrations are expected, apparently in order to dampen the voices of the opposition protesters.

Hard-line blogs have also been issuing warning to the Green opposition movement. Here, a revolution anniversary poster on a hard-line blog that seem to warn the opposition that it will be crushed. “On February 11 we will be waiting for you,” it says, adding that the “Iranian nation” will deal with “the rioters” in the streets.Citing “reliable sources,” another blog reported that government programmers have designed a new computer program that allows the identification of the faces of people who attempt to hide them with masks, as some opposition protesters have done during the street protests. The blog claims that modern cameras that have entered Iran “suspiciously” and are being distributed among the Basij forces, who plan to use them on February 11.

Spiegel: ‘The West Must Impose Sanctions on Iran This Month’ Over the weekend, Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki rebuffed a uranium swap plan proposed by the West. In Tehran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered his scientists to begin enriching uranium to 20 percent. It is now time to impose tough new sanctions, say German commentators.

Spiegel: Several Federal Police Had Dangerous Liaisons in Iran The scandal involving federal police officers at the German embassy in Tehran who allegedly had affairs with an Iranian woman is expanding. The woman, who apparently holds both Iranian and British citizenship, is currently sitting in the dock in a show trial.

WorldFocus: Video: Iran moves steadily closer to nuclear power goals