From CNN:

Iran’s parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of a bill that could lead to the death penalty for persons convicted of working in the production of pornographic movies.

With a 148-5 vote in favor and four abstentions, lawmakers present at the Wednesday session of the 290-seat parliament approved that “producers of pornographic works and main elements in their production are considered corrupter of the world and could be sentenced to punishment as corrupter of the world.”

The term, “corrupter of the world” is taken from the Quran, the Muslims’ holy book, and ranks among the highest on the scale of an individual’s criminal offenses. Under Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, it carries a death penalty.

The “main elements” referred to in the draft include producers, directors, cameramen and actors involved in making a pornographic video.

The bill also envisages convictions ranging from one year imprisonment to a death sentence for the main distributors of the movies and also producers of Web sites in which the pornographic works appear.

Besides videos, the bill covers all electronic visual material, such as DVDs and CDs. Other material, such as porn magazines and books, are already banned under Iranian law.

To become law, the bill requires an approval by the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog in Iran.

It is widely believed that the drafting of the bill came about as a reaction to a scandal last year, when a private videotape, apparently belonging to Iranian actress Zahra Amir Ebrahimi and allegedly showing her having intercourse with a man, became available across Iran.

The videotape was leaked to the Internet and released on a black market DVD, becoming a full-blown Iranian sex tape scandal. Ebrahimi later came under an official investigation, which is still ongoing. She faces fines, whip lashing or worse for her violation of Iran’s morality laws.

The unnamed man on the tape, who is suspected of releasing it, reportedly fled to Armenia but was subsequently returned to Iran and charged with breach of public morality laws. He remains in jail.

More evidence of the barbarism, and effeminacy, of radical Islam.

UPDATE: Dissident News has photos of Iranian Brownshirts beating and killing those the regime classify as “corrupters” and links to an in depth report on the subject.

From CNN:

A member of the Lebanese parliament was killed in an explosion Wednesday outside a Beirut military sports club in what hospital sources called an assassination.

Lawmaker Walid Eido, known as a foe of Syrian involvement in Lebanon, his son, Khalid, and two of his bodyguards were killed, Lebanese media reports said.

At least six other people died and 11 were wounded in the explosion, believed to be from a car bomb, in the seaside neighborhood of Manara, according to Lebanese security sources.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, an outspoken critic of Syria, blamed Eido’s killing on Damascus, calling it an attempt to reduce the anti-Syrian majority in the Lebanese government.

“With this bunch of assassins in Damascus, they don’t care about international justice,” Jumblatt told CNN International.

Eido, a constitutional expert, was a member of a political bloc led by Saad Hariri, the son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, whose assassination two years ago sparked widespread protests that led to the ouster of Syrian forces from Lebanon.

Eido was a vocal supporter of the U.N. tribunal investigating Hariri’s killing. The U.N. Security Council approved the tribunal earlier this month.

It seems fairly obvious who’s ultimately responsible here. From Beirut to the Beltway has more:

Is someone going to declare war on the Assad regime? Are the deputies of March 14 going to hold a session without Berri while they’re still alive? What on earth are we waiting for.

This is a message not only to Saad Hariri, but also to the Saudis and French, who thought they could ignore the Syrian factor and focus on resurrecting “dialogue” between the Lebanese parties. How many times do we have to say “we told you so”.

As I type these words, Walid Eido’s body lies in an car on the Manara. The “future movement” deputy lost his life, and his slain son lost his future. Two Lebanese soldiers were killed earlier today by Syrian-sponsored terrorists.

Who is afraid of the terrorist Assad regime?

It looks like a new front is opening in the GWOT. I hope Americans see that their interestsare better served in helping Lebanon stay independent.