AFP — Iran more than any other foreign state is meddling to fill a void in Iraqi politics five months after a general election left the war-wracked nation without a new government, a poll said Saturday.

Asked about the present political hiatus which appears to show no immediate prospect of resolution, 41.2 percent of 12,000 people questioned said Tehran was hindering Iraq's chances of establishing a new government in Baghdad.

In comparison, 31.5 percent of respondents pointed the finger at the United States, 11.6 percent at Gulf states, and 8.9 percent at Saudi Arabia. Turkey (5 percent) and Syria (2.3 percent) were also blamed for interfering.

AFP — A woman sentenced to death by stoning in Iran for adultery accused authorities of lying about the charges against her so they could execute her in secret, in an interview published Saturday.

Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, 43, spoke through an intermediary for the interview with the Guardian newspaper and also put her treatment down to gender, adding "they think they can do anything to women in this country".

The Associated Press

Amnesty International says the lawyer defending a woman sentenced to death by stoning in Iran has been released from a detention center in Istanbul.

Drewery Dyke of the London-based rights group says Mohammad Mostafaei is expected to travel to Norway in the coming days.

Iranian political prisoner, Jaafar Kazemi, is at risk of execution at any time, according to Amnesty International.

Iran's Supreme Court has rejected Kazemi's request to appeal against his death sentence, the human rights group announced on its website on Friday.

A number of youths gathered in front of a stadium on Wednesday where the mullahs’ President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking and chanted “down with dictator.”

According to obtained reports, Ahmadinejad was speaking at the so-called Qods Stadium in the western city of Hamedan.

The World Alliance of Iranian Communities for Ashraf expressed gratitude to Iranians, supporters of the Iranian Resistance and freedom-seeking people around the world for their participation in the week of solidarity with Ashraf and honoring 30,000 political prisoners massacred in 1988.

 

In this international campaign, Iranians and supporters of Ashraf held 200 rallies and meetings in various cities across the world.