Tehran adds 25 more to mass trial

IRAN expanded its mass trial of opposition supporters yesterday, adding 25 more defendants – including a Jewish teenager – who are accused of involvement in unrest over the disputed presidential election.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has attempted to paint those who took to the streets after the June election to protest his disputed victory as agents of foreign enemies seeking to topple the Islamic system.

The president pushed ahead with preparations for his next term yesterday by announcing that he will nominate three women to join his new cabinet, a move that could produce the first female ministers in the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.