Cartoon by Jamal Rahmati. Courtesy of Persian Cartoons

* * As Norooz approaches the price of food sky rockets in Iran, to the point where many of the normal food stuffs is unaffordable even to the middle classes in Iran, let alone the millions of the poor who cannot afford much to set their NoRooz or prepare the .

* * Below: A video of Ahmadinejad’s trip to the southern Persian Gulf city of Bandar Abbass. The Iranian regime’s media claimed that millions turned out to greet and welcome him to Bandar Abbass. It appears that his entourage and security is more than those “enthusiastic Iranians who had rushed to greet him”.

* * Below: Video of Congressman Mike Honda introducing House Resolution 267 to recognize the cultural and historical significance of NoRooz and though Representative Honda has worked very closely with the Iranian regime’s lobby for many years, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), it is still one step in the right direction.

Guido Westerwelle

* * German Radio reported: Foreign Ministers of Germany, France and Britain in letter have called for the European Union authorities to confront the Iranian regime for ‘jamming’ the BBC, Voice of America (VOA), Deutsche Welle among other other foreign media. Iran has jammed all radio and TV programs of foreign media outlets since December 2009.

Bernard Kouchner

Guido Westerwelle (German FM), Bernard Kouchner (French FM) and David Miliband (British FM) who penned the March 17th joint letter, addressing Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affaris and Security Policy and Pedro Serrano, designated acting Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations from Spain who took over in January 2010.

Click here for a pdf copy of

David Miliband

The three European Foreign Ministers emphasized in their letter that it is entirely inappropriate for the regime in Tehran to jam foreign TV and radio programming and that jamming the programming was violating the civil rights of the Iranian people who have the right to have access to information being broadcast from those outlets. They wrote: “With regards to the situation in Iran, we cannot stay silent. The European Union must vehemently condemn Iran’s unacceptable behavior.”

According to the German news agency a draft of this statement will be provided to all 27 Foreign Ministers of the European Union member countries during the March 22nd meeting. The German Foreign Minister announced that during this meeting all attempts will be made to take harsher action should the Iranian regime continue in this vein.

* * On Thursday, March 18th, as scheduled visitors turned out at Tehran’s Behesht’eh Zahra cemetery for a memorial of the martyrs of the summer of 1388. As the year draws to a close the families of the deceased gathered to commemorate their loved ones but as expected the regime’s guards and security forces did not allow others to enter the grounds.

Below: A video of Neda’s mother weeping at her daughter’s graveside

Below are the photos:

* * Javan Online, a website run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards reports: Rutgers professor Hooshang Amirahmadi who has recently arrived in Iran. After being heartily greeted by his family and relatives, he visited his place of birth, the small town of Shanderman. In an interview with some members of Iranian press, Amirahmadi stated that he was less corrupt than Hossein Khomeini (Ayatollah Khomeini’s youngest grandson) who a few years ago traveled to both the U.S. and several Arab countries and held meetings with some officials from those countries. Amirahmadi said: “I haven’t sold myself. I am a true believer of the core of the and I am a supporter of the Islamic constitution but I have a problem with the mindset (!) because the leaders here have always lost and have been unable to stay on and protect their own. Iran is a military dictatorship. A relationship between the U.S. and Iran is to Iran’s benefit but the U.S. insists on the condition that in order to maintain a relationship with any country, first and foremost it must establish a military base within that country!”

It is important to mention that Amirahmadi is the former head of Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy Center for Middle Eastern Studies and president of the , a nonprofit advocacy group, which has touted Hezbollah and Hamas as legitimate organizations and not terrorist.

Also, in recent years allegations of sexual harassment by female students are what is said to have fueled Amirahmadi’s removal from his position at the Bloustein School’s Mid East Studies program. Planet Iran editors contacted Rutgers University to confirm or deny these allegations, however our calls were not returned.

Mullah Mohammad-Taghi Messbah-Yazdi

Other assets and holdings of the Messbah-Yazdi family’s are: $184 Million USD in banks in Dubai, another $221 Million USD in the Alnakhl Corporation and 55 Million Euros in banks in Spain.

The above news is compiled and translated by Planet Iran staff.