posted January 05, 2001 09:30               

IRAN PRESS SERVICE OFFERS ITS BEST WISHES FOR 2001 TO ALL ITS READERS, FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS ALL OVER THE WORLD AND OFFER THIS "AT A GLANCE CALENDAR" OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE LAST YEAR IN IRAN.

YEAR of 2000

January

2 Publication of "Mosharekat", the paper of the Iranian Islamic Participation Party

18 Raid of the Turkish Police on Islamist and Hezbollah organisations, killing the leader of Hezbollah, Hosein Valioglu

25 Qolamhossein Karbaschi out of prison, pardoned by the leader

February

18 Elections for the Sixth Majles

21 First result shows the extraordinary victory of the reformists, Rafsanjani is not elected

27 Rafsanjani "placed" among Tehran candidates

March

3 Order to Belgium Police to investigate complaint of an Iranian-Belgian national against Hashemi Rafsanjani

5 Escalation in Iran-Belgium relations, with all Iranian papers and political organisations attacking Brussels for this "cowardly orchestrated by the Zionists"

12 Attempt to assassinate Sa'id Hajjarian, Publisher of Sobhe Emrouz. He escaped death

21 a Sa'id Asgar is identified as the killer of Hajjarian

23 Identification of four of the team that attempted to kill Hajjarian, while the press finger out the Pasdaran Intelligence for the assassination and a plan to proclaim state of emergency
including the removal of Khatami and shutting the next Majles

28 OPEC decision to increase the ceiling of total production, despite opposition from Iran

April

4 Divergences between Intelligence Ministry in the one side and Judiciary and Pasdaran on the other over the handling of the killers of Hajjarian

6 Death of Habib Bourghiba, first President and "father" of modernTunisia

7 Start of the Conference on the aftermath of reformists victory in parliament elections, organised in Berlin by theHeinrich Boel Institute attended by 17 leadoing Iranian reformists, including Mrs. Mehrangiz Kaar, Hojjatoleslam Hasan Yusefi-Eshkevari, Hamid Reza Jala’ipur, Ezzatollah Sahabi, Mahmud Dolatabadi, Changiz Pahlavan etc..

9 End on Berlin Conference in total chaos, after being disrupt by organisations opposed to the regime. Also a fight erupted the first day with the security abd protesters.

10 Imprisonment of Masha’allah Shamsolva’ezin, Editor of Asre Azadegan for 2 and half year

13 Start of the trial of 13 Jews accused of espionage for Israel in Shiraz

16 Pasdaran's severe warning against the government and the reformists "we shall crush their skull".

19 Projection of an "edited" version of Berlin Conference including scenes of woman dancing, man completely nude and model taking off her cloth, outcry of the hard liners and call for the arrest of the Iranian participants at the meeting

20 Khameneh'i strong attack on the reformist press, labelling them as "enemy’s bases"

22 Arrest of Akbar Ganji

23 Arrest of Latif Safari for 2 and half year

24 Closure of 8 reformist titles, including Asre Azadegan and Fath and Iran Farda,

25 Closure of more reformist publications, the total stands now at 14

Start of trial of Sa'id Hajjarian killers, despite of his opposition

27 Resignation of George Habbash From the PFLP

29 Arrest of Mrs Mehrangiz Kaar and Shahla Lahiji for their participation at the Berlin Conference

May

2 Hajjarian out of hospital

5 Second round of Majles elections confirms Victory of the reformists

9 Abbas Amir Entezam out of prison for medical check up

17 End of the trial for Hajjarian's killers, 15 years for Sa'id Asgar, the would be killer

20 Council of Guardians confirms 28 of 30 Tehran candidates, after order from Khameneh'i, but places Rafsanjani in 20 th place

21 Resignation of General Ali Shahbazi from Army's Joint Chiefs of Staff and his replacement by General Mohammad Salimi, former Defence Minister

22 Council of Guardians formal complaint against elections HQ, meaning Mostafa Tajzadeh, its "bete noire"

23 Interior Ministry's counter complaint against CG

23 Fall of the infamous "Khiam" Prison, after the Israel evacuated the area, a reminder of the fall of Saigon

24 End of 5th Majles

24 Israel out of South Lebanon after 22 years

25 Rafsanjani resigns from his seat in Majles

27 Sixth Majles officially inaugurated

30 Mehdi Karrubi elected Interim Speaker

June

First Death of Hojjatoleslam Abu Torabi, in charge of POWs, in a car accident

2 Explosion of pipeline near Khorramabad, 5 deada

4 A certain Ahmad Behbahani, in Turkish refugees camp, claims to be a senior Intelligence officer, says Iran behind Pan Am explosion, destruction of Khobar building, assassination of Turkish intellectuals

5 Death of Hushang Golshiri, poet and writer

10 Summit of ECO in Tehran without Turkish new President Ahmet Nnecdet Sezer

10 Death of Hafez Asad of Syria of heart attack. His son, Bashar, 34, expected to replace him

11 Hojjatoleslam Mehdi Karrubi elected as Majles Speaker, Behzad Nabavi and Dr. Mohammad Reza Khatami first and second Deputy Speakers, Mrs. Soheyla Jolodarzadeh as first
woman elected to the Board

14 Signing of a historic agreement between the North and South Korea Kim

14 Official visit of Abdurrahman Vahid of Indonesia to Iran

16 Jailing of Alireza Khoshandam, Editor of "Gofteman Khaq", on charges of insult of Islam etc..

17 First reshuffle of cabinet by Khatami. PPT Minister Mohammad Reza Atef become Head of Organisation of Planning and Management

17 Death of Nosrat Rahmani, national poet

17 Imprisonment of Heshmatollah Tabarzadi

17 Bashar Asad formally elected as Baas Party Secretary General and nominee to replace his father as President

18 Receiving Kofi Annan, US Secretary General, Khameneh'i says he may not oppose peace if rights of Palestinians are guaranteed

18 Majles votes first urgency motion to revise hated Press law and 155 MPs in an open letter to Chief Justice urges him to free political prisoners.

22 Khatami's official visit to China for five days

28 Rev.Guard Brigadier-General Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Commander of the Guard's Air Force named by Khameneh'i as LEF Commander, replacing Brigadier-General Hedayatollah
Lotfian, the man students say is responsible for atacking the dorms on 8th July.

28 Mrs.Shirin Ebadi and Hojjatoleslam Mohsen Rahami arrested, charged with dissemination of lies and disturbing public's opinion, based on "confessions" from Amir Farshad Ebrahimi the "author" of the famous videotape.

July

First Two of the Jews accused of espionage for Israel condemned to 13 years, the rest between 11 to 4 years of jail

5 Public unrest and demonstrations in Shatareh, near Eslamshahr, demanding their attachment to Tehran instead of Eslamshahr, buses burned, clashes with LEF, roads blocked etc.

Similar demonstrations in Abadan, people protesting against shortage of drinking water, the salinity of the existing water etc.

Other demonstrations and unrests reported from Piranshahr in Kurdistan

8 Clashes in Tehran University between students with LEF and Ansar Hezbollah, ordinary people joined the students, street fight lasted all night, produced hundreds of wounded, as LEF and Ansar were using electric cable and bicycle chain against opponents.

Slogans were shouted against Khameneh'i and for the first time protesters warned also Khatami "this is your last chance"

9 Fighting between students, people and LEF, Basij and Ansar continued for the second straight day, at the end of which Khameneh'i summoned all senior leaders, including Khatami, Hashemi Rafsanjani, Nateq Nouri and Mehdi Karrubi to his residence, discussed with them the situation and latter said the US, UK and Europe are doing to the Islamic Republic what they did to former Soviet Union

10 Start of Khatami’s official visit to Germany

12 End of Khatami’s visit to Germany

12 End of the controversial trial of LEF officers accused of attack on students last year. All but one or two acquitted, including Colonel Farhad Nazari, the LEF Commander who ordered the attack

15 Trial of Mrs. Shirin Ebadi and Hojjatoleslam Mohsen Rahami in an Islamic Revolution Court

15 Test firing of the 1300 Kms range Shahab-3 ballistic missile by Iran, arousing controversy and concern in Israel and the United States

16 Hojjatoleslam Mohsen Kadivar freed from prison, after 18 months of detention

16 New round of rockets fired to Information Ministry building in northern Tehran, with MKO claiming responsibility

17 Bashar Asad took oath, becomes Syria’s 16th President, replacing his father in the first Middle East "hereditary republic", inaugurated by North Korea

19 Khameneh'i appointed Pasdar Admiral Ali Akbar Ahmadian, Commander of Pasdaran Navy as new Chief of Pasdaran Joint Chiefs of Staff, replacing him by his Deputy, Admiral
Morteza Safavi.

20 First Congress of the Islamic Iran Participation Front

22 Release from prison of Mrs. Ebadi and Hojjatoleslam Mohsen Rahami

24 Death of Ahmad Shamlou, Iran’s great national poet, writer, scholar, art critic, publisher and playwright, at the age of 74

25 Closure of Gunagun bi-weekly

26 Khatami officially announce he would seek re-election, promises continuation of reforms, "same reforms for which people had voted for"

27 Funeral of Shamlou, with the participation of thousands of people, most young ones, reciting some of his best known poems

29 Taleban claim capture of strategic city of Nahrein in Northern Afqanestan

30 Open letter of the Islamic Associations of Bazaar to Khatami, calling on him to present the bilan of his economic results on Television

31 Suprising victory of Moshe Katsav over Shimon Peres in Israeli presidential election

31 Temporary arrest of Hojjatoleslam Taqi Rahmani, journalist and reformer cleric in Shar Kord on order from Islamic Revolution Tribunal charged with insulting the leader

AUGUST

First Aug. Release of Taqi Rahmani on a 2 Million toman bail

" " Emameddine Baqi condemned to 7 and half years jail by an Islamic Revolution Court

3 FAO’s alarming report on "disastrous" drought situation in Iran, threatening millions of people in rural areas, domestic animals, food stock

5 Arrest of Hojjatoleslam Hasan Yusefi-Eshkevari on his return to Tehran

6 Khameneh’i’s unprecedented order to Majles not to debate press law motion, shocking deputies, clashes between conservatives and reformists, protests against the decision

7 arrest of Ahmad Zeydabadi, a religious-nationalist journalist and commentator

11 Arrest of Mas’ud Behnud, a veteran journalist

13 Arrest of Ebrahim Nabavi, prize winner satirical columnist

14 Arrest of Mohammad Quchani, a political correspondent and investigative journalist

15 Hojjatoleslam Ali Akbar Mohtashami elected as leader of Second Khordad Majles fraction

15 Hojjatoleslam Mahmud Alavi replaced Hojjatoleslam Quchani as Head of Political-Ideological Department of Armed Forces, on appointment by the leader

22 Ezzatollah Sahabi freed from prison

24 Clashes between students and LEF and Ansar Hezbollah in Khorramabad

26 A LEF officer killed in Khorramabad during clashes between students and Ansar Hezbollah

SEPTEMBER

8 Release of Tabarzadi from prison

10 OPEC decides to increase output by 800.000 bpd

12 Morteza Sarmadi appointed ambassador to London replacing Qolamreza Ansari

13 Ali Asqar Khaji, Head of Persian Gulf Department at FM named as ambassador to Saudi Arabi

15 first indirect meeting between Iranian and US Foreign Affairs Minister at the 6+2 conference on Afghanistan in New York

17 Abdolhosein Ramezani appointed by leader as new Commander of LEF Intelligence, replacing Mohammad Reza Naqdi

21 Some of accused Jews get reduced jail sentence, between 7 to 4 years

22 Assassination of Eskandar Khatlani, Tajik prominent journalist and poet, in Moscow

27 OPEC’s Summit in Caracas, Venezuela

28 First meeting between Khatami and Iraqi vice-president Yasin Taha Ramazan in Caracas

OCTOBER

3 Majles rejects Nasrollah Jahangard proposed by Khatami as new PTT Minister

5 "Democratic revolution" in Belgrade against Milosevic

7 Kidnapping of 3 Israeli soldiers by Hezballah in Shaba, at borders between Israel, Syria and Lebanon

8 Trial of Hojjatoleslam Hasanm Yusefi-Eshkevari at the CST

13 Visit to Baghdad of Kamal Kharrazi, Iranian Foreign Minister, amidst controversy

16 Yusefi-Eshkevari accused by the CST of moharebeh, fighting God, apostasy, offending leader, charges that carry death sentence

21 Arab Summit in Cairo to discuss Israel-Palestinian issue

22 Visit to Tehran of Jose Maria Asnar, Spanish Prime Minister

22 New shelling of pasdaran HQ in Tehran by MKO

23 Ms. Madeleine Albright historic visit to Pyongyang, North Korea

24 Death of Fereydun Moshiri, leading poet

25 Explosion at a big ammunition depot near Mashhad

29 Beginning of trial of the "Berliner 17"

30 Khatami’s visit to Japan

NOVEMBER

1 circulation of an 80 pages secret document listing 140 names and address of Intelligence Ministry’s agents

5 Parliamentary elections in the Republic of Azarbaijan

9 At the start of his trial, Akbar Ganji said prison guards forcing him to wear prison uniform beat him

10 Ebrahim Nabavi’s "mea culpa" and confessions, in a letter from prison

12 Summit of OIC in Doha, Qatar, after the Emirate closed Israel office under pressure from Iran and Saudi Arabia

15 Trial of Ebrahim Nabavi, the satirist writer, pledging he would quit writing

18 Ebrahim Nabavi freed from prison

21 Arrest of an unidentified Belgian citizen in Tehran

26 Khatami’s "landmark" speech, confessing he has no power implementing Constitution and his own duties as President

29 New national budget presented to Majles by Khatami

30 During his trial, Akbar Ganji openly name Ali Fallahian, Dorri-Najafabadi and Mohsen Ejeh’I as some of those who ordered the assassination of dissidents

DECEMBER

10 Naser Zarafshan, lawyer for the Mokhtari and Puyandeh families arrested

13 Geroge W Bush officially President of the USA

13 Trial of Mas’ud Behnud, veteran journalist, who also made a mea culpa, applogised, accepted all charges except dealing in drugs and announced he would retire from journalism

14 Visit of Ali Ahani, FM Deputy to Moscow, where he proposed an anti-NATO pact between Iran, Russia, China and India

15 Khatami officially accept resignation of Ata’ollah Mohajerani, Guidance Minister, imposed on him by the leader, another important setback for Khatami

16 Mas’ud Behnud freed from prison, he also pledged to stop journalism

17 Arrest of Ezzatollah Sahabi

17 Next Iranian presidential elections fixed for 8 June 2001

20 Families of the serial killing murders announced they will boycott the trial and dismissed their lawyers

19 UN Security Council decided sanctions against Taleban unless they hand over Osama Bin Laden

23 Trial of the "serial killers"

23 Letter to Judiciary head by 130 writers, intellectuals, scholars, politicians etc calling for the release of Naser Zarafshan