Second raid on Iran Nobel laureate: rights group

The Iranian government raided Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi's law office in Tehran less than 10 days after closing the headquarters of her human rights watchdog group, a rights advocacy group said on Tuesday.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that officials identifying themselves as tax inspectors went to the Tehran law office of Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, on Monday and removed documents and computers. "We are extremely worried for Shirin Ebadi's safety and her ability to continue her important human rights work," Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch executive director, said in a statement.
Iran's judiciary said last week that the closure of Ebadi's Human Rights Defenders Center on December 21 was a temporary measure, saying the office could be reopened "if the group obtained the necessary legal permit" for its activities.
The judiciary says the group was acting as a political party without having a permit. The Iranian Mission to the United Nations in New York was not immediately available for comment. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid strongly condemned the raid on Ebadi's private law office and the "continued harassment" of the Nobel laureate by Iran's authorities.
"This is yet another example of the Iranian government's refusal to abide by international norms," Duguid told reporters. "We urge the Iranian authorities to allow human rights activists and civil society organisations to operate free of oppression." The French presidency of the European Union has condemned Iran for closing the Human Rights Defenders Center office and called on Tehran to reopen it.
Ebadi repeatedly has criticised Iran's human rights record, citing what she says was a rising number of political prisoners and the highest number of executions per capita in the world last year. Ebadi's advocacy of human rights in Iran has earned her a spell in jail. Iran's government rejects accusations that it violates human rights and accuses its Western foes of hypocrisy and double standards.