Excerpts: Iran delegation to Saudi for hajj talks. Microsoft to crack down
on extremist acts content. Iran's Assembly of Experts remains in
ultraconservative hands May 24, 2016

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 5/24/’16:”New Iranian Delegation to Saudi for
hajj talks”,by Staff Write

SUBJECT”Iran delegation to Saudi for hajj talks

QUOTE:”On Friday[5/20], a senior Saudi religious leader warned against those
who would “wreak havoc” under the guise of pilgrimage “)

An Iranian delegation was travelling to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday[5/24] for
talks on the annual hajj pilgrimage despite a diplomatic crisis between the
Gulf rivals, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with IRNA, Ohadi said that the visit to
Saudi Arabia by the Iranian delegation is taking place upon an official
invitation by the new Saudi Minister of Hajj. He added that “the talks will
be held on Wednesday[5/25] in Jeddah.”

Iranian pilgrims should be able to receive consular services, the official
said.

Ohadi also insisted on issuing visas for Iranian pilgrims in Iran which he
said has to be included in a possible agreement between the Iranian and
Saudi officials.

On May 12, Culture Minister Ali Jannati, who oversees the Hajj Organization,
said “arrangements have not been put together” for Iranians to make this
year’s pilgrimage to Mecca at the end of the summer.

The two countries held an unsuccessful first round of talks last month in
Saudi Arabia on organizing this year’s pilgrimage for Iranians.

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has denied then, claims that it will
bar Iranian citizens from the annual Hajj pilgrimage this year.

The ministry accused Iran of blocking its own citizens from attending Hajj
as “one of many means to pressure” the Saudi government.

According to a statement, Saudi ministry officials met with an Iranian
delegation in April to decide on Hajj arrangements, but the Iranians left
without signing the agreement, saying they will seek the advice of Iran’s
religious authority. It was the first dialogue between the region’s foremost
powers since diplomatic relations were severed in January.

Riyadh cut ties with Tehran after demonstrators burned its embassy and a
consulate there following the Riyadh execution of a Saudi scholar.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are at odds over a raft of regional issues, notably
the conflicts in Syria and Yemen in which they support opposing sides.

On Friday[5/20], a senior Saudi religious leader warned against those who
would “wreak havoc” under the guise of pilgrimage, an apparent swipe at the
Islamic republic.

+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 5/24/’16:”Microsoft to crack down on content
promoting extremist acts”,by Reuters

SUBJECT:Micrsoft to crack down on extremist acts content

QUOTE:”Microsoft said users can use an online form to recommend removal of
content”

FULL TEXT:With the world growing more concerned about attacks by militant
groups on civilians, Microsoft Corp on Friday[5/20] outlined new policies to
crack down what it called “terrorist content” on some of its consumer
services.

In a blog post, the company said it would ban what it called “terrorist
content” on some services such as gaming tool Xbox Live, the consumer
version of its Outlook email service, and its consumer documents-sharing
service.

But for its search engine Bing, Microsoft cited free expression and said it
would remove links only when that “is required of search providers under
local law.”

Initially, Microsoft will rely on consumers to report objectionable content.
The company also said it would fund research of a tool that scans content
and flags images, audio and video.

“We will consider terrorist content to be material posted by or in support
of organizations included on the Consolidated United Nations Security
Council Sanctions List that depicts graphic violence, encourages violent
action, endorses a terrorist organization or its acts, or encourages people
to join such groups,” the blog post said.

The steps illustrate the tough predicament many companies face balancing
public safety with individual rights.

The issue came to the fore after Apple Inc. and the US government clashed
over whether federal authorities could force Apple to create software to
unlock a phone used by a shooter in the San Bernardino attacks last year.

Ultimately, the government paid a third party to unlock the phone.

“The events of the past few months are a strong reminder that the Internet
can be used for the worst reasons imaginable,” Microsoft said in its
post.Microsoft said users can use an online form to recommend removal of
content.“Use this Web form to report content posted by or in support of a
terrorist organization that depicts graphic violence, encourages violent
action, endorses a terrorist organization or its acts, or encourages people
to join such groups,” the instructions read.

Microsoft said it would provide information on how to counter negative
content, a policy adopted by another technology giant: Facebook Inc.

The social-media service this year announced a tool it calls “counter
speech,” encouraging activists to counter extremist views with posts
promoting tolerance. Last year, Facebook updated its guidelines to prohibit
advocacy of “terrorist activity, organized criminal activity or promoting
hate.”

Social media site Twitter Inc suspended 125,000 accounts, most of which it
believed were linked to the militant ISIS group.



+++SOURCE:Naharnet (Lebanon) 5/24/’16:”Hardliner Elected Head of Key Iran
Oversight Body”, by Agence France Presse

SUBJECT:Iran’s Assembly of Experts remains in ultraconservative hands

FULL TEXT:Iran's Assembly of Experts chose another hardline cleric as its
chief on Tuesday[5/24], keeping the powerful religious body in
ultraconservative hands despite gains by reformists and moderates in
February elections.The assembly oversees the work of supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and would choose the 76-year-old's successor if he
dies during its eight-year term.

Its 88 members elected Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, 89, as chairman, defeating
two conservatives.The cleric is one of the few hardliners who secured
re-election in the February vote that saw a landslide for reformist and
moderates in the capital and big gains elsewhere.The hardliner also chairs
the Guardian Council, the body which vets all candidates for public office
in Iran and has a veto over all legislation.

The council sparked controversy in February's election by disqualifying
thousands of hopefuls, most of them reformists.

The 88-member assembly has proven well beyond the reach of reformists,
although moderate President Hassan Rouhani and heavyweight former president
Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani topped the election to it in Tehran.

Rafsanjani, a senior figure in the moderate and reformist camp, did not have
enough confidence to run for the chairmanship of the conservative-dominated
body. Media said he could not even muster a quarter of the votes.

The reformists had hoped to unseat Jannati in February's election but he
scraped through to take the last of the 16 seats reserved for Tehran.

Other prominent hardliners were less lucky, including outgoing assembly
chairman Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi and Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi,
a close adviser to ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In the vote for the assembly chairmanship, the reformist camp reportedly
threw its support behind Ayatollah Ebrahim Amini, a moderate conservative
who is a prayer leader in the Shiite clerical center of Qom.But he won just
21 votes to Jannati's 51.

The new assembly could have a major say in Iran's future political direction
because of Khamenei's advancing age.Under Iran's political system, the
supreme leader has the final say on all matters of state, and has far more
power than the president.

Khamenei has held the post since 1989 when he succeeded revolutionary leader
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on his death and has dominated Iranian politics
ever since.In a message to the incoming assembly, Khamenei called on its
members to remain loyal to the principles of the Islamic revolution of
1979"The responsibility is all-around and precise protection of the Islamic
and revolutionary identity of the ruling system," he said.

- Speakership contest -The assembly vote on February 26 coincided with a
parliamentary election in which Rouhani allies in the moderate and reformist
camp made substantial gains.Their List of Hope swept all 30 seats in the
capital, denying conservative leader Gholam-Ali Hadad Adel re-election.Many
of the leading parliamentary opponents of Rouhani's policies, including his
signature nuclear deal with the United States and other major powers, lost
their seats.Reformists took 133 of the 290 seats in parliament. That fell
short of a majority but it was more than the conservatives' 125 seats.

The remaining seats are held by independents and representatives of
religious minorities who are expected to give Rouhani a working majority to
pass key reform legislation that eluded him in the outgoing
conservative-dominated parliament.Tuesday[5/24] was its last session and
lawmakers were seen taking selfies on their mobile phones before speaker Ali
Larijani called them to order.

Larijani is a moderate conservative and placed no hurdles in the way of the
passage of last year's nuclear deal.He is expected to stand for re-election
when the new parliament convenes next week.The head of the reformist List of
Hope, Mohammad Reza Aref, is expected to stand against him but he does not
enjoy the undivided support of his own camp.

Party lines are notoriously opaque in Iran and some lawmakers from the
moderate-reformist camp are likely to vote for Larijani."Larijani can better
direct parliament than Aref," the leader of the reformist Construction Party
faction, Gholam Hossein Karbaschi, told the Shargh newspaper.
===========
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA