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Iran Invites 3 European FMs to Discuss Nuclear Issue

VOA News

Iran has invited the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany to Tehran to help settle an international dispute over its nuclear program.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Sunday Iran hopes for a "constructive dialogue" with the three ministers. He did not announce a date for the visit.

Mr. Asefi says Iran has been in talks with the three countries since they sent a letter offering possible technical assistance in return for Iranian cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The IAEA has set an October 31st deadline for Iran to prove it is not trying to obtain nuclear weapons.

An IAEA team has been in Tehran since Saturday to negotiate Iran's signing of an additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The protocol would allow for broader, unannounced searches of Iran's nuclear facilities.

The United States accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is only for generating electric power.

The IAEA is also calling on Iran to stop enriching uranium, which can be used to build nuclear weapons. Iran has so far not agreed to that demand.

If Iran does not comply with the requests, the agency could refer the issue to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose sanctions.

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PRAETORIANS PREPARE TO PLAY OVERT POLITICAL ROLE.

Hard-liners already hold the best hand in Iran's political poker game. Now they are poised to pull a wild card from their sleeves. Conservative figures in the government and the leading conservative political factions are advocating the candidacy of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) personnel for parliamentary office. The IRGC ground forces deputy commander in charge of cultural affairs, Brigadier General Alireza Azimi-Jahed, said on 3 October that having IRGC members in the parliament would help Iran, ILNA reported. He added that they could be candidates only after their resignations from the IRGC are accepted. Azimi-Jahed said, "if elected they would not try to establish a military attitude in the parliament."

According to Article 29 of the election law, armed forces personnel must leave the military at least two months before registering as candidates. They must discontinue all activities related to their previous profession. A conservative legislator from Tehran, Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, said on 12 October that there is nothing wrong with military personnel serving in the parliament, ILNA reported. He noted that many of these people have served in various professional areas and now they want to bring their expertise to the legislature. Haddad-Adel conceded the likelihood of such candidates receiving right-wing support and added, "This is natural and it is not a crime for a current of thinking to support military men." Alluding to the reformists, Haddad-Adel said that some of them are much more militaristic than the armed forces personnel who would run for office. This would not be the first time that former military and security personnel stand for public office in Iran; they have done so in every election since 1979. What is significant now is that such a large number of such individuals are to run, and that this is reportedly part of an organized political plan. Reformists worry about the hostility expressed toward them previously by some IRGC and Basij leaders.

IRGC spokesman Commander Masud Jazayeri denies that that the Guards Corps has made specific recommendations to its personnel about participating in the election, "Iran" reported on 15 October. Jazayeri said that all government organizations, including the military, are prohibited from any action for or against a specific candidate. Another IRGC official, Commander Fathollah Jafari, added that the Guards Corps command announced formally before the last election that it would not support specific candidates or groups and it intends to do the same thing this time. "The Guards Corps is always trying to have a lively and purposeful presence in all the areas of social life," Jazayeri said according to "Iran." "The election is not an exception to that rule. However, there is a big difference between this kind of participation and interfering in the decisions of the voters and their elected representatives."

There have been many unsubstantiated claims that IRGC personnel voted overwhelmingly for the dark horse and reformist candidate, Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami, in the May 1997 presidential election. How will they vote in the parliamentary election? Will they vote for their comrades in arms, or do they bear an animosity toward the military leadership that would preclude such support? What about the general public: will appeals to patriotism and revolutionary values attract public support? (Bill Samii)

Source: RFE/RL Iran Report Vol. 6, No. 42, 20 October 2003