Parallel intelligence services alarmed by Iranian President

TEHERAN, July 26 (AFP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has expressed alarm over the treatment of political activists by unofficial intelligence agencies, the country's main reformist party told state media Saturday.

Khatami issued a formal complaint to the office he set up after his election in 1997 to record violations of constitutional rights, said the reformist party Iran Participation Front (IIPF), lead by the president's brother Mohammad Reza Khatami.

The president's written complaint claims that around 60 political radicals have been arrested by unofficial intelligence agencies, kept in isolation and subjected to psychological abuse to extract forced confessions, official news agency IRNA reported.

The office called on the IIPF secretary general to submit evidence so that the allegations could be investigated, IRNA added without elaborating.

Iranian officials are starting to acknowledge the existence of unofficial intelligence agencies, supported by certain elements in the Islamic republic, which are becoming increasingly active and influential.

Iran official backs nuclear protocol

Sunday, 27 July, 2003, 13:45 GMT 14:45 UK

The recently inaugurated Shahab 3 missile added to international fears
Iran's representative on the United Nations nuclear watchdog has urged his government to sign up to closer inspections of its nuclear sites.
Ali Akbar Salehi said signing the additional protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty would help ease the pressure Tehran faced from the international community.

Last week foreign ministers from the EU joined the United States, Russia and Australia in voicing concerns over Iran's nuclear programme and urged Tehran to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In an interview in Sunday's state-run Iran newspaper, Mr Salehi said Tehran should take a "positive view" of the protocol, which allows IAEA experts to conduct more rigorous visits to nuclear sites at short notice.

"We can use it to close the book on the politicised issue of our nuclear activities," Mr Salehi said.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes.

Opposition in parliament

Mr Salehi said he thought the protocol had "not been properly introduced to our society".

An IAEA meeting in September will discuss Iran's progress

"The protocol has not been drawn up only for Iran or Third World countries. This is an international protocol and all the countries of the IAEA will accede to it sooner or later."

Mr Salehi said he hoped Tehran would take measures to satisfy international concerns before September.

The IAEA board of directors meets then to discuss Iran's progress since June, when an initial report came out.

However, the BBC's Miranda Eeles in Tehran says observers believe the September date to be unlikely.

Any move on the protocol would have to be passed in parliament, then ratified by the supervisory body, the Guardian Council, she says.

In addition, some members of parliament have suggested that instead of signing up to tighter inspections, Iran should pull out of the treaty altogether.

A group of IAEA legal experts has been invited to Iran to discuss the implications of signing the protocol and are expected in early August.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3100819.stm

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