October 10-14
A 65-year-old building manager was killed by Tehran police last week when he intervened as they tried to strip satellite dish receivers from the apartment house he managed.
Roozonline said Ali-Mo-hammad Khoi, 65, died when police physically assaulted him after he asked them to present identification cards and an authorization before entering the premises.
The assault caused him to fall down and strike his head on the pavement.
Roozonline said the police warned his family members against providing any information about his death or pursuing legal redress.
The death occurred in Tehran’s Shah Nazari Street September 28 as police raided a number of housing complexes in the area to collect satellite dishes. Raids to gather satellite dishes are launched periodically. The current one was started in June.
Majlis may allow elected mayors
The Majlis has taken up a bill that, if approved, would allow citizens of all cities with populations over 200,000 to elect their own mayors directly.
Currently, all mayors are chosen by city councils. According to the last census, Iran has 38 cities with populations exceeding 200,000. The smallest of that group, with a population of 206,000, is Nishabur, known is the West as Nishapur, which was rated as one of the 10 largest cities in the world in 1000 CE.
The Majlis agreed to take up the bill on a vote of 135 to 29 with 14 abstentions. That large vote suggests the bill is likely to pass when it emerges from committee.
Critics of the current system say mayors lack the job security they should have to be able to do their jobs since they are always subject to threats of being fired by their city councils.
In Tehran, however, Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has opposed the bill, saying the Tehran City Council is well-qualified to choose the mayor.
Mehdi Chamran, the chairman of the Tehran City Council, has been quite vocal in his opposition to the bill, saying it would devalue city councils and undercut the development and prosperity of cities.
Radio Zamaneh quoted him as asserting that “all” 120,000 elected city and village councilors across Iran oppose the bill.
