Peaceful Demonstrations and Video from Inside Iran

The woman pictured above has just been released from prison, where she shared a cell with a woman who had stabbed her husband to death.

In both cases, the Patriarchy seems equally threatened. Here's more news about the people of Iran and their current struggles:

17th Annual Celebration of Iranian Cinema at UCLA: April 7 – May 11

Some of the latest headlines from payvand.com, where news of Iran is gathered from around the world:

Iran: Arrests of peaceful demonstrators and activists continue - Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to release immediately and unconditionally all those detained in connection with recent peaceful demonstrations by teachers, students and others, to halt all trial proceedings that could result in the imprisonment of prisoners of conscience and to cease harassment of those campaigning to uphold human rights, including trade union and political rights. 4/21/07

MPs call for prompt release of Iranian diplomats detained in Iraq - Iranian politicians are losing patience about the continued illegal detainment of Iranian diplomats by U.S. forces in Iraq. One hundred days have passed since U.S. troops stormed the Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil on January 11 and arrested five diplomats under the pretext that they were fomenting violence in Iraq. -MNA 4/21/07

Award-Winning Writer Yaghub Yadali Jailed In Iran - Yaghub Yadali, an Iranian writer who received a prestigious literary prize, has been jailed in Iran. Yadali's wife, Akram Kabiri, was quoted by Iranian news agencies as saying that her husband has been in prison in the southwestern town of Yasuj for some 40 days. 4/21/07

US Lawmakers Call on India to Halt Military Cooperation with Iran - A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has asked India to cease its growing military cooperation with Iran. New Delhi and Tehran recently stepped up military-to-military cooperation. As VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, such efforts could spell trouble for the pending nuclear deal between the United States and India. 4/21/07

Mokarrameh's birthplace becomes budding painting village - The Son of the late Iranian artist Mokarrameh Qanbari is convinced that the birthplace of the artist has great potential for being turned into a painting village. -MNA 4/21/07

Running on Inferno's Platform - Senator John McCain (R, Arizona) while on a campaign in N. Carolina, was videoed singing "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys "Barbara Ann". To this ‘hero’ of the Vietnam War, the White House means not only prolonging the Iraq war and the death of more Americans and slaughter of Iraqis, which he has strongly endorsed , but also the genocide of innocent Iranians. -Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich 4/21/07

SAIS Panel: Road to Democracy in Iran goes through Civil Society and Economic Reform - Iran is facing major cultural and societal challenges, causing the reform movement to lie in a state of dormancy. To make the movement relevant within Iranian society, there must be a revival of ideas geared toward democratic and economic prosperity. -Sara Shokravi, NIAC 4/21/07

When all else fails, blame Iran - Matters must be really deteriorating in Afghanistan. Why else would the Pentagon brass now be darkly suggesting that Iranian arms have been "captured," supposedly on their way to the Taliban? It sounds suspiciously like the tired old formula; when matters go really bad somewhere in the Middle East, change the subject and blame Iran. -Just World News 4/21/07

Women are free to participate in every field in Iran: MPs - Members of Cultural Commission of Iranian Parliament emphasised that women in Iran are free to participate in every part of social life. The three member Iranian delegation comprising Mrs. Fatemeh Rahbar, Mrs. Fatemeh Alia and Laleh Iftekhari talked to the media persons in the premises of Iranian Culture House in New Delhi -IRNA 4/21/07

Germany: Founder Of Council Of Ex-Muslims Seeks To 'Break Taboo' - Mina Ahadi, an Iranian-born activist living in Germany, has founded a council of former Muslims who have renounced their faith. Members of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims are immigrants from predominantly Islamic countries. Ahadi, who is now under police protection, spoke with RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari. 4/21/07

Iraq and the Kurds: Resolving the Kirkuk Crisis - A new approach is urgently needed to settle the status of Kirkuk, where security is deteriorating and an explosion of ethnic tensions could destroy any gains anticipated from the U.S. surge in Baghdad. -International Crisis Group 4/21/07