A group of people accused of involvement in the post-election unrests in Iran have been charged with links to anti-revolutionaries including the banned Mujahideen Khalq Organziation (MKO).
The charges were announced Sunday during the third court session of a group of 25 defendants.
Lawyers of the defendants were also present at the hearing at the 15th branch of the Revolutionary Court, IRNA reported.
“A number of opportunists through their destructive moves wanted to make bitter the sweet taste of victory in the June 12 presidential elections for the Iranian nation,“ said the deputy prosecutor Sepehr who read the indictment.

A number of defendants were linked to the anti-revolutionary groups as well as the terrorist MKO to organize the unrests and undertake bomb attacks.

“Some of the defendants threw hand grenades and explosive devices during the post-election riots and attacked the Basij (volunteer forces) to disturb public order.
“Attacking public and private property, including torching banks and public buses , distributing CDs and statements to provoke social sentiments and intimidate the public in Tehran, possessing light weapons and firearmsÉ.were other moves by the defendants to disturb public order and security,“ he added.
“The enemy sought to disturb the internal atmosphere and prevent the judiciary from bringing to justice those involved in the velvet coup“ the indictment claimed.
The statement also stressed that a number of defendants were “linked to the anti-revolutionary groups as well as the terrorist MKO to organize the unrests and undertake bomb attacks.
“Based on the plots conceived in recent years, they (defendants) were moving toward toppling the ruling Islamic system in line with the plans of the MKO and other anti-revolutionary groups,“ added the indictment.
Video images of the street unrests were shown in court after the reading of the indictment.
The first and second session of the controversial trials were held on August 1 and 8. In the dock are a senior member of the pro-reform Kargozaran-e Sazandegi Party Mohammad Atrianfar, former industry minister Behzad Nabavi, former vice-president and a member of the Assembly of Combatant Clerics Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, a Frenchwoman, Clotilde Reiss, and two local staff of the French an British embassies in Tehran.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday the West’s Iran policies have been a failure and now they are interested in friendly ties with the Iranian people.
Addressing a seminar on the role of mosques, he said the “defeated western powers have sent messages announcing their readiness for restoring cordial ties with the Iranian people,“ IRNA reported.
Referring to the post-election unrests he said with their visible interference in Iran’s domestic affairs, the key powers thought they could harm the Islamic Republic system and its people.
He regretted that the enemy with its media, money, power, deceptionÉfor three decades tried but failed to undermine the ruling establishment in Tehran.
Iranians are interested in normal relations with other countries based on justice, the president noted.
The ongoing hue and cry (over the disputed elections) is an indication to the defeat of the enemies of the Islamic Republic, he noted, and said “The time of despotism and materialism has passed.“
Ahmadinejad won the bitterly disputed elections with more than 24 million (62.6 percent) out of 39.1 million ballots cast.
His main rival Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroui, another disgruntled candidate, rejected the outcome as a fraud and have demanded fresh elections.
Hundreds of thousands of Mousavi supporters staged rallies to protest the results. More than 230 people were killed in the ensuing violence.
Tehran has accused Britain and other western governments of inciting the violence. The latter have denied any role in the protests.

An army helicopter belonging to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) crashed Sunday in Shahriar, 45 kilometers southwest of Tehran. Three people on board were killed.
Search and rescue teams rushed to the site.
Shahriar county governor, Mohammad-Ali Erfanmanesh told Mehr News Agency that while authorities had confirmed reports of the incident, there was no immediate report on what might have caused the crash.
Iran has suffered a number of aviation disasters over the past decade both military and civilian. Aircraft incidents, however, have been on the rise in the past few weeks.
The chopper crash came only a day after a small training aircraft crashed and burst into flames near the capital killing two people.
The incident comes nearly a month after a commercial flight, a Tupolev-154M, crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran en route to the Armenian capital on July 15, leaving all 168 passengers onboard dead.
In another tragic incident, a plane flying from Tehran to the northeastern city of Mashhad skidded off the runway in the holy city during landing. That crash killed 17 people on board.
Officials in Tehran normally blame the tragic disasters on a US ban on the sale of aircraft and plane parts to Iran. But experts point out that almost all of the crashes are related to Russian-built jets that have no problem of spares or maintenance.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement Saturday calling on Iran to release Americans who are detained there or have disappeared there.
“We once again urge Iran to quickly resolve all outstanding American citizen cases,“ Clinton said, FOX News reported.
The increased emphasis on Americans in Iran came after news that a graduate student from the United States who had been held in Iran returned this week to Los Angeles.
The student, Esha Momeni, was imprisoned for a month last year. She was freed in November but was only now able to return to the US.
Retired FBI agent Robert Levinson has been missing since March 2007. Three hikers--Joshua Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd--were detained by Iranian authorities on July 31. And an Iranian-American scholar, Kian Tajbakhsh, was arrested last month on charges related to provoking unrest after Iran’s Jun election.
“Our goal is to ensure the safe return of all our missing or unjustly detained American citizens to the United States as quickly as possible so that they can be reunited with their families,“ Clinton said in her statement.
The United States and Iran have not had formal diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but in March, Clinton took the unusual step of sending a letter to the Iranian government in relation to Momeni, Levinson and Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi. Saberi was convicted of espionage before being released on an appeal in May. Levinson was last seen on Iran’s Kish Island on March 8, 2007.
The three hikers are accused of crossing over the border from Iraq, though they have said it was by accident and they had no intention of straying into Iran.

Iran’s ambassador in Afghanistan on Saturday said Tehran is worried about the developments that could come on the heels of the Aug. 20 presidential elections.
“We have received signals that after the vote some (negative) developments might occur in Afghanistan. This is cause for concern. We have held talks with Afghan officials, the UN and even some European ambassadors so that the elections are held as planned,“ Fada Hossein Maleki told ISNA.
He did not elaborate, nor say what is Tehran’s real cause of concern in the war-torn neighboring country.
“The election is decisive in determining the future of the country. Iran believes that the Afghan government should hold the election as scheduled so that its people can determine their own fate. Of course, some countries are worried that certain powers want to convey that due to the insecurity and insatiability in that country the vote should be delayed.
Iran’s position is that that would not be helfpful. Let us recall the attitude of the British forces who were in charge of Helmand. They did not confront the forces of radicalism and even held talks with the Taliban, which infuriated many countries, the US included.“
According to the envoy President Barack Obama made a mistake by increasing the number of his troops in the impoverished country.

Troop Dilemma
“The point is that there is no military solution to the Afghan crisis. Diplomatic ways should be pursuedÉ Obama and the other US politicians have realized that the decision to increase the number of the American troops there was not appropriate. Now the US and other NATO states have a serious rift over the contentious issue,“ he noted.
On the issue of cooperation between Iran and Italy in Afghanistan, Maleki said “NATO has certain expectations from Afghanistan’s neighbors. Italy, which is also a NATO member, has good relations with IranÉ and expects Tehran to help resolve the Afghan crisis. But, we have not yet received an official request.“
Afghanistan’s neighbors, including Iran and Russia can and should contribute to the resolution of the protracted conflict in Afghanistan, he noted.
“The initiative to hold a summit the Iranian, Afghan and Pakistani presidents in Islamabad in October is welcomeÉ One important feature of such meetings is that we do not allow extraterritorial powers to decide for the region,“ he concluded.

Mohammad Ali Jafari

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said that the top priority of the corps is to design comprehensive plans to neutralize potential threats against the country.
General Mohammad Ali Jafari said that the IRGC sees the need to confront “soft threats“ in all arenas as the most important need of the country, Presstv reported on Sunday.
The IRGC is preparing to meet military, hard and soft threats. The force has also tasked the Basij (volunteer) forces to neutralize the soft threats, he said without elaboration.
Jafari noted that the elite Guards had gained valuable experience during the Iraqi-imposed war (1980-88).
“The IRGC effectively adjusted military plans, battle tactics and war strategy during the Iraq-Iran conflict to counter threats to the country.“
Jafari said the achievements made during the Iraq-Iran war have contributed to IRGC capabilities.
The senior commander’s comments come amid Israel’s continuous threats to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities in a military strike.
Israel, Middle East’s sole nuclear-armed regime, continues to repeat its allegations against Tehran, despite the lack of evidence to prove that Iran -- a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty -- is conducting nuclear activity other than the peaceful work Tehran insists it is pursuing.
This is while Iran’s nuclear sites remain under the strict supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Israel Urged to Rush
An Israeli defense official believes Tel Aviv must rush to carry out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities even without US approval, a report says.
A ’senior defense official’ said that Tel Aviv believed a military strike could ’significantly delay’ what it claims to be an Iranian nuclear weapons program, Presstv quoted the Israeli daily Maariv as saying Wednesday, without revealing the official’s name.
The official added that Israel could carry out such an attack without US approval but time was running out for it to be effective.
“The Iranians are creating fortifications and camouflage to defend against a strike from the air,“ said the official.
“The military option is real and at the disposal of Israel’s leaders, but time is working against them.“
However, in contradictory remarks, the official said there was ’no point’ in a strike in the near future, before President Barack Obama’s proposed talks with Iran begin and before officials in Washington ’despair of the effectiveness of the talks’.

Venezuelan ambassador in Tehran said that the US wants to turn Colombia into another Israel in the region.
Referring to the 200 years of popular resistance in Latin America against the colonial powers, David Velasquez, who was talking to reporters late Saturday, said today is the time for resistance in Latin America adding that the colonialists are once again trying to incite conflict, but our experience helps us resist their plots,“ IRNA reported.
Velasquez said ties between Caracas and Tehran have become stronger over the past decade and “the two sides do not want to function according to US wish and whim“.
In light of “Iran’s revolutionary credentials and its historical and cultural background, Venezuela wants to further expand relations with the Islamic Republic,“ he added.
The diplomat said the US is concerned about the positive trend in Iran-Venezuela relations and is trying to disrupt the process.

Opposition to Military Bases
On Wednesday Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran is opposed to an impending deal to expand the US military presence in Colombia.
Mottaki spoke in Bolivia on a tour of Latin America, where Tehran has cultivated closer ties--especially with left-leaning nations, AP reported.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is against foreign military bases anywhere in the world,“ he said.
Colombian officials say the proposed 10-year lease agreement would give US forces access to at least seven military bases to boost anti-drug efforts. Bogota says the deal would not push the number of American troops and civilian military contractors beyond 1,400--the maximum currently permitted by US law.
Over the past few years, US officials have expressed concerns about Iranian efforts to strengthen relations with Latin American nations, saying such ties sabotage Washington’s attempts to isolate Iran.
The administration of former president George W. Bush spearheaded efforts to isolate Iran over its civilian nuclear program by adopting punitive measures and pushing for UN sanctions against Tehran.
But seven Latin American countries that are members of ALBA (the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas)--Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Cuba, Bolivia, Honduras and Nicaragua--held a trade fair in Tehran in December in a symbolic rejection of the sanctions imposed on Iran.

A member of the special parliamentary committee following up the conditions of people arrested in the post-June 12th presidential election unrests, said all illegal detention centers of the police should be closed down.
“The police have places for keeping suspects for 24 hours. These are places of temporary custody and not detention centers. But, they have gradually transformed into detention centers,“ IRNA quoted Gholam-Reza Assadollahi as saying on Sunday.
He emphasized that if it is necessary to hold a suspect for more than 24 hours, he or she should quickly be transferred to a detention center.
“Based on the rule of law, all detention centers should operate under the supervision of the State Prisons Organizations (SPO). Otherwise, their activities are illegal. The judiciary and SPO should rapidly identify and close down these illegal detention centers,“ he pointed out.
Assadollahi recalled that the committee pursues determination of the fate of the arrested people, examination of violations of police and judges in treating these people and also closure of illegal detention centers.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, who is also a member of the fact-finding committee investigating the cases of post-vote detainees, visited Evin Prison on Wednesday.
“All prisoners are satisfied with their conditions in Evin,“ he said.
The committee has held talks with the detainees as part of their probe of alleged mistreatment.
The lawmaker said the detainees’ complaints were mainly related to the temporary detention center at Kahrizak, where they were kept before being sent to Evin Prison.
The center was shut down upon the order of the Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, due to ’substandard’ conditions.

Bashar Assad

An official at the presidential office in Tehran said Syrian President Bashar Assad’s scheduled visit to Tehran has been delayed.
“President Assad’s visit has been delayed,“ the unidentified official told IRNA on Sunday.
Meanwhile Fars News Agency reported Sunday that Assad, who is to pay a one-day visit to Iran, is likely to mediate between Tehran and Paris to secure the release of French lecturer, Clotilde Reiss.
Reiss is charged with espionage after she admitted in court last week that she took part in the post-election unrests and presented the French Embassy in Tehran with a report.
Assad has reportedly accepted a mediation role.
Syria is one of the closest allies of Iran and relations between Assad and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are very good.
Observers believe that Assad’s mediation efforts would be successful.
This is while Iran has accused some western states -- particularly the US, the UK and France -- for instigating the post-vote unrests.
Some local staff at the UK and French embassies are among those on trial on charges of aiding foreign powers against the interests of the Islamic state.
French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, recently admitted that Paris had ordered its embassy in Tehran to shelter the rioters in case they sought help.

Amid rumors of a decision to postpone the first semester at universities, the country’s cultural regulator said it has no such plans.
The reaction came after some websites on Friday reported that the Supreme Council for the Cultural Revolution, the highest body for making policies and decisions on cultural, educational and research activities, has decided to close the country’s universities for at least one semester, Presstv reported.
Citing reliable sources in the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, the websites claimed that the decision had been made in an effort to control possible student protests in the new academic year starting in less than two months.
The report adds that the proposal, which will be justified as a plan to control the spread of swine flu, is currently waiting approval from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The council on Saturday said such a proposal had never been discussed.
“The country’s universities will start the next semester as usual,“ the council said in a statement.
Iran’s June 12 election, which saw Ahmadinejad reelected with two-thirds of the vote, became the cause for mass protests, which turned violent.
Protests in Tehran lead to the arrest of more than 1,000 people. Around 30 people, official statistics say, have been killed in the post-election unrests, a figure disputed by the opposition and pro-reform groups.