Rooyesh

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is not ruling out direct talks with Iranian officials at a conference this week on Iraq, though Tehran’s nuclear program probably would not come up. At the regional meeting beginning Thursday in Egypt, Iraq is seeking support for its neighbors for helping in reining in sectarian violence. Iran’s foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, is expected to lead his country’s delegation. Iran agreed Sunday that it would attend the conference.

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Arab issues occupy a key position in Iranian foreign policy. By virtue of history and geography, Iran has a hand in several issues, atop of which are Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. In spite of overlap between Iranian and Arab issues that has resulted in tensions and differences in Arab-Iranian relations, there are growing efforts to allow the Iranian-Arab overlap to serve both parties rather than to be at the expense of either party.

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Barbers’ shops in Iran have been ordered not to serve customers who wear ties or bow ties, Iranian press says. Police say the shops risk closure if they break the rules. In the early days of the revolution wearing a tie was seen as a symbol of western decadence, but in recent years this has relaxed considerably.

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Iran agreed Sunday to attend a major regional conference on Iraq set for this week in Egypt — a major break as Iraq seeks support from its neighbors in quelling its sectarian violence. The meeting, which will include both Iran’s foreign ministry and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, raised the possibility of a rare direct encounter between high-level U.S. and Iranian officials.

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Iranian police shoved and kicked them, loaded them into a curtained minibus and drove them away. Hours later, at the gates of Evin prison, they were blindfolded and forced to wear all-enveloping chadors, and then were interrogated through the nightAll 31 were women — activists accused of receiving foreign funds to stir up dissent in Iran. But their real crime, says Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, was gathering peacefully outside Tehran’s Revolutionary Court in support of five fellow activists on trial for demanding changes in laws that discriminate against women.

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