Iran Frees Journalists Arrested in Rallies

Of 109 Jailed During Demonstrations, 44 Released With 3 Reporters; 62 Await Trial

(AP)  Iranian authorities have released three journalists who were among more than 100 people arrested during pro-government and opposition street demonstrations this week, the country's official news agency reported.

One of the reporters, Farhad Pouladi, is an Iranian who works for Agence France-Presse. The other two are foreign reporters, but the report by the IRNA news agency did not identify them or say for whom they work.

Police detained 109 people during the rallies this week, IRNA said. Sixty-two of them were handed over to judicial authorities for trial on charges of disturbing public order and the rest were released after questioning, said security spokesman Azizollah Rajabzadeh, according to the news report.

Iranian security forces beat anti-government protesters with batons Wednesday on the sidelines of state-sanctioned rallies to mark the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover. The counter-demonstrations were the opposition's first major show of force on Tehran's streets in nearly two months.

The protests showed the determination of Iran's opposition to reassert its voice. But the latest marches drew far fewer demonstrators than in the weeks after the disputed June 12 presidential election, suggesting the relentless pressure by authorities could be taking a toll.

The protesters believe Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory over a pro-reform candidate was rigged.

The IRNA report said the three journalists released Saturday had been taken into custody Wednesday as they headed to cover the rallies outside the former U.S. Embassy.

Iran has imposed wide-ranging restrictions on media that include bans on firsthand reporting of street demonstrations and other events not authorized by authorities.

IRNA said two political activists jailed over the country's postelection turmoil, Ali Tajernia and Ebrahim Amini, have also been released on bail pending a verdict in their trial.

More than a 100 political activists and protesters have stood trial since August on charges of seeking to topple the ruling system through what the government has described as a "velvet revolution."

[earth5661]

Alpha,

The end of the story is not in the middle of the book. Based on your analogy of current events you would tell us were losing WW2 in 1944.

Finallt, where do you get your Ideas about Iran from ? It obvious you have been brainwashed by Iranians .

Iran....stability ??

Iran supports every terrorist organization known to mankind.......Hezzbollah,Hamas,Chavez,Somalian pirates, Iraqi insurgents and on and on.

[bubbadubba]

Like Papa Chester says, whenever I hear the word or read the word Iran, all I hear after that one word is Blah Blah Blah.
Same old same old.

[John_Merritt]

It just goes to show the power of prayer is powerful indeed. That is one commonality we share with so many religions, we all pray. So maybe my God forwarded the message over to their Allah, and voila. Or maybe my God is the one and same Allah they pray to. Hmmmm......

I am so happy for those are free today, and maybe the hearts and minds of the leaders in Iran will see that much can be accomplished when they know freedom is a wonderful thing. To free another free's oneself. How sweet it is.

[YrStillWrong]

Perhaps they were traded for the regime's supporters on the CBS News board.

[alphaa10000]

GOP JIHADI OUT OF BULLETS

It must be embarrassing to GOP jihadis.

Current administration diplomacy with Iran is yielding some positive results, in contrast to the non-diplomacy of Bush, and the near-hot war with Iran promoted by Cheney.

Again, eight years of Bush and Cheney brought zero results-- but with a different approach, and less than one year, we have the beginning of talks with Iran.

Put another way, Iran happens to be one key to resolving many MidEast conflicts that drain American blood and treasure-- the biggest of them, Afghanistan.


A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDIPLOMACY

The contrast in results with Obama is easily understood. Bush paid no attention when, in 2001, Iran said it was willing to negotiate the entire nuclear weapons issue-- with no preconditions.

And in 2002, Bush gave his infamous "Axis of Evil" speech that set both Iran and North Korea on a hostile path, and effectively ended negotiations on the very issue that demands resolution with both states, today.

Had negotiations been pursued with Iran back in 2001, it is likely Iran would have played a moderating and constructive role for peace in the MidEast. And we almost certainly would not have the nuclear issue over our heads, today.


THE IRANIAN CONTRIBUTION

With Iranian cooperation as a regional power, the US can have much greater confidence Afghanistan policy will succeed.

Few Americans realize Iran helped the US reach the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, after 911. Iran made it clear to this country it would not impede our efforts to reach the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

In fact, Iran also secured cooperation from chieftains in its region of influence in western Afghanistan, which contributed to the victory of the Northern Alliance in 2001.

Iran has as great an interest in MidEast stability and cooperation as any other state, and peace depends as much on our behavior as theirs.

[YrStillWrong]

Yeah, it's always about GWB. Always. Just like the movie "Psycho" is about Norma Bates' mother, and has nothing to do with Norman's response to Mother.