“[Sweden] has made what has been called a ‘remarkable’ decision to grant asylum to gays and lesbians from Iran. The Swedish Migration board has decided that openly gay and lesbian people of Iran will be granted instant asylum in the country, contrary to the previous asylum-conditions that required substantial evidence of the individual’s persecution.” [Mamba]

Despite dozens of reports on persecutions and executions over the years, UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith insists that there’s no threat to gay people in Iran. As long as they’re “discreet,” of course… …In her letter to Lord Roberts of Llandudno, Ms Smith rejected a call for an immediate halt to the deportation of gay and lesbian asylum seekers. “We recognise that the conditions for gay and lesbian people in Iran – and many other countries – are such that some individuals are able to demonstrate a need for international protection.
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With particular regard to Iran, current case law handed down by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal concludes that the evidence does not show … Continued…

The United Kingdom has finally granted Iranian 20-year Mehdi Kazemi asylum. The move came after months of back-and-forth - literally. Kazemi fled the UK for the Netherlands, which sent him back. The government originally had no interest in keeping Kazemi, who faced death back in Iran, but finally agreed to let him live in peace. [UK Gay News]

America’s next president will have quite a task: boosting our international standing.

In an effort to get the ball rolling, Equality Forum asked Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton if they would help persuade British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to stay 19-year old Iranian Mehdi Kazemi’s deportation.

Kazemi’s been shuttled back and forth between Britain and The Netherlands as the government decides whether to send him home, where he’ll likely face an execution.
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Gay Iranian teen Mehdi Kazemi arrived at Heathrow airport from The Netherlands today and will live with his uncle as the United Kingdom decides his long-running asylum claim. [Pink News]

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would approve.

The Iranian president became an international laughing stock last year after claiming Iran doesn’t have gays like the Western world. And, according to a Human Rights Watch report, he’s right!

Michael Petrelis passes on word that gays, queers and other so-called deviants make nary an appearance in HRW’s last four reports on the Middle Eastern nation. Of course, we all know Iran’s got some homos, because we sporadically hear accounts of public executions. The government deems these people sexual criminals, often claiming they abused a teenage boy or another despicable act.

Many activists see this as a not-so-subtle code for queer, but the hazy boundaries of these … Continued…

After initially rejecting him - twice! - the Greek government has granted a 40-year old Iranian asylum. [Pink News]

Scottish politicos are coming out in full force for Jojo Jako Yakob, the Syrian seeking asylum in the United Kingdom. One concerned party said it would be “unacceptable” for the Home Office to send him back, which is totally true, but have they conveniently forgotten the Iranian teen, Mehdi Kazemi? That’s an outrage, too. [Pink News]

Uh-oh! Iranian gay Mehdi Kazemi ain’t the only gay fighting for his life. Switzerland may soon deport a Cameroonian national, Anatole Zali, who fled his homeland after receiving death threats. Swiss authorities didn’t find enough grounds to keep Zali, whose personal appeals have been struck down. That whole neutrality thing cuts both ways, huh? [Pink News]

What would Michael Lucas say!

Two prominent personalities - CNN’s Glenn Beck and activist Peter Tatchell - compared asylum seeking gay Iranian Mehdi Kazemi’s plight to that of Nazi fleeing Jews. Watch Beck’s comments above and Tatchell’s after the jump.
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Controversial MP George Galloway raised eyebrows this week while discussing the ongoing Mehdi Kazemi drama.
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Britain’s Interior Minister Jacqui Smith says she and her colleagues are “reconsidering” gay Iranian Mehdi Kazemi’s asylum plea. [POQ]

Nineteen-year old Iranian national Mehdi Kazemi returns to the UK this week from the Netherlands, which denied his pleas and sent him back to Britain. British authorities don’t have the best gay track record, so activists want you - yes, you! - to sign a petition to PM Gordon Brown requesting asylum for Mehdi, who faces execution if sent back to Iran. [iPetitions]

The Netherlands denied 19-year old Iranian Mehdi Kazemi’s asylum appeal. He will now head back the UK, which may send him back to Iran, where he likely faces death. [UK Gay News]

Britain’s Home Office fails again. As officials debate what to do with gay Iranian Mehdi Kazemi, they may force 40-year old Pegah Emambakhsh back to the anti-gay nation. Emambakhsh fled Iran after the government executed her girlfriend. She faces the same fate, unfortunately. [Independent]