Iranian Alert -- January 6, 2004 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD --Americans for Regime Change in Iran

...So, what do the people do without the Anonymiser? Has this effectively shut down free Internet use?...

I understand that they are either trying alternative services or living with the "filtered" Internet.

I hope to have more on this soon.

Fate of Mujahedin Khalq Members Remain Unclear

January 05, 2004
Radio Free Europe
Bill Samii

An Iranian Foreign Ministry official told Swiss Ambassador to Tehran Tim Guldimann on 22 December that U.S. administrator in Iraq L. Paul Bremer's recent comments about the extradition of Iranian armed-opposition members to countries other than Iran were "irresponsible," IRNA reported.

"By making such comments, the Americans prove they are not sincere in their claims of pioneering the international campaign against terrorism," the Iranian diplomat added in a reference to Bremer's remarks concerning members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO). Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Iran because Tehran and Washington do not have diplomatic relations.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Governing Council President for the month of December Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim said in a 22 December interview with the Riyadh-based Voice of Free Iraq that some MKO members will be deported to Iran, IRNA reported. MKO members who have committed crimes in Iraq, however, will be tried there, he added. "A large number of Iraqi citizens have already filed lawsuits against certain MKO agents, who are summoned to stand trial," al-Hakim said. Tehran's stance is that MKO leaders should be tried, whereas "misguided" rank-and-file members of the organization would be forgiven.

On 24 December Iranian state television aired an unscheduled documentary about the MKO. Filmed in Iraq, the program consisted of interviews with Iraqis who said that their relatives were martyred by Saddam Hussein's regime because they were working against the MKO. One woman on the program said that the MKO arrested people who rose against the Iraqi dictator's regime. A man on the program said that Iraqis hate and fear the MKO as much as Saddam Hussein's sons.

http://www.rferl.org/iran-report/

"CIA-paid Spies" Arrested in Iran

January 06, 2004
AFP
Khaleej Times

TEHERAN -- A number of Iranians accused of spying for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and sending information over the Internet have been arrested, a top justice official was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

“Several spies who were in contact with the CIA and who were giving precious information... have been detained,” military justice chief Hojatoleslam Mohammad Niazi told the hardline Jomhuri Islami newspaper.

The paper did not say who the detainees were, but the military’s justice department normally only deals with members of the Iranian armed forces.

“The enemy wants to infiltrate the heart of the armed force and weaken the convictions of the commanders,” Niazi was quoted as saying during a meeting of clerics in the army.

He also called on clerics to “develop friendly relations with soldiers and their commanders” to foil enemy plots.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2004/January/middleeast_January103.xml&section=middleeast&col=

In Iran, Goodwill Salves Enmity

January 06, 2004
The Chicago Tribune
Kim Barker

BAM, Iran -- The Americans packed up their makeshift hospital Monday, saying their job in this earthquake-ravaged city was finished. As they took down tents and gave away leftover food, Iranian officials dropped by to say the Americans were welcome to stay.

Officially, the 80 U.S. field hospital workers flew to Iran to help care for survivors of the earthquake in Bam that killed more than 30,000 people.

But unofficially they became emissaries, the first large group of Americans in Iran since 1981, when the 52 people taken hostage at the U.S. Embassy during the tumult of the Islamic Revolution were released. Relations between the two countries have been hostile ever since.

At the goodbye scene Monday, relations were warmer. Children waved goodbye. The U.S. team's safety manager handed bread and marmalade to an Iranian child. And parliament members personally thanked the Boston trauma doctor.

One parliament member told Dr. Susan Briggs that she would be welcomed back in Iran. Briggs extended an invitation for the politicians to visit her in Boston.

"I will not say goodbye," Briggs said. "I will say thank you, because I will be back."

While in Bam, the Americans treated 727 survivors. They delivered six babies, two by Caesarean section. They operated on an Iranian soldier who had shot himself in the foot after losing his family and his home in the quake. They also set fractured limbs and cleaned infected wounds.

Workers treated 51 critical-care patients, mostly children suffering from bronchitis and other respiratory ailments. For 17 hours, through Sunday night and Monday morning, several took turns squeezing an oxygen pump by hand to keep a 2-month-old girl alive.

"They all had a story, and everyone had a tragic story," said Marty Bahamonde, the hospital spokesman. "And after a while, the stories all sounded the same. Who they had lost, and how they had lost everything. Every story was sad."

The earthquake hit in the early morning of Dec. 26, leveling many of the adobe homes in Bam. Within hours Iran opened its doors to help from throughout the world, even the United States, which was called the Great Satan in the early years of the Islamic government established after the 1979 overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, a repressive dictator propped up by Washington.

Aid supersedes animosities

The United States joined other nations in offering immediately to help, even though President Bush had declared Iran part of an "axis of evil" in his State of the Union address in 2002.

The 60 members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's international surgical team left Boston on Dec. 27. Many of them also had gone to the World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11 hijacking attack, setting up five field hospitals.

Their mission in Iraq posed challenges, such as building a hospital where there was no water, no electricity.

On the long flight over, team members discussed how they would work in Iran and what hostility they might face.

"Honestly, there was some anxiety," Bahamonde said.

But when the FEMA crew led by Briggs arrived last Tuesday at an airport in nearby Kerman, a crowd welcomed them. Another 20 Americans joined them within hours, members of a relief agency and medical workers from a Virginia search-and-rescue team.

The Americans set up their hospital Wednesday on a quake-cracked basketball court on the southern outskirts of Bam.

They tried to be culturally sensitive in this Islamic country, putting up one tent for women, one for men and one for children. Women medical workers covered their hair with winter hats, bandannas, blue hospital caps or arm sling.

A fence needed to be put up around the hospital, not for security but to keep back curious crowds.

By the time the facility opened Thursday, a line of people awaited the team. Not all were injured by the powerful earthquake in southeastern Iran. Some had old heart problems or illnesses or migraine headaches. Some just wanted to see the Americans.

All the Iranians were screened, with the neediest treated first. Those with prior ailments were not treated at all.

The first patient was an 11-year-old girl. She had been seen by five other medical teams from other countries, all of which said she was fine. Within seconds the Americans doctors diagnosed a cracked skull and blood in her brain. She was flown to Tehran, where neurosurgeons saved her life.

`We saved a lot of people'

The Americans treated the patients they could and sent those who needed more extensive care to hospitals elsewhere in Iran. They saw almost 200 patients each day, a revolving door of shock, depression, broken bones, even kidney failure.

"We saved a lot of people, actually," said Ron Gaudette, a pharmacist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

On Monday morning, the last patient left. A year-old girl had stayed at the hospital almost the entire time, suffering respiratory problems from all the dust in the air. Her mother cried when she had to leave the camp to transfer her daughter to another hospital.

Briggs said she barely slept the entire time and had not showered for a week. Once she was so tired that the doctor forgot to cover her hair when she greeted several Iranian visitors. She grabbed a nearby baseball cap, but the Iranians did not seem concerned, only thankful for the care.

On Monday afternoon she greeted yet another Iranian delegation; this one from the parliament. A dozen men crowded around Briggs, who still carried burn-treatment cream in one vest pocket and scissors in another.

"We are just doctors," said Briggs, who also is the associate director of trauma service at Massachusetts General Hospital. "Nice to meet you."

Some parliament members asked Briggs repeatedly to stay. One delegate from Kerman said the Americans' security was guaranteed.

She told him that team members were not worried for their safety, saying the Iranians had been wonderful. But the team provides only emergency care, between the time in a crisis when there is no health care and when there is some.

On Tuesday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent planned to open its field hospital, complete with X-ray machines and other medical equipment.

The U.S. surgical team donated all its equipment to the hospital, then the Americans packed up their backpacks and prepared to go home.

"Our mission is done," Bahamonde said. "Our mission is sensitive, simply because of where we are from. The last thing we want to do is overstay our welcome."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0401060255jan06,1,7365039.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Iran, Egypt Reportedly Agree to Restore Full Diplomatic Ties

January 06, 2004
Xinhua News Agency
news.xinhuanet.com

CAIRO -- Iran and Egypt have agreed to restore full diplomatic relations severed 25 years ago, Iran's Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi said on Tuesday.

"The two countries have decided to restore ties. It's a definite move and right now they are making the preparations," Reuters quoted Abtahi as saying.

Earlier on Tuesday, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman announced that Iran expects to restore full diplomatic relations with Egypt.

"Relations with Egypt must now be restored, because this will help the Palestinian people and this is the wish of all Palestinian groups," Hamid Reza Asefi said.

Meanwhile, the City Council of Tehran, the Iranian capital, on Tuesday changed the name of a street formerly commemorating the assassin of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, the official IRNA news agency reported.

In line with a request of the Foreign Ministry, Tehran's KhaledIslambouli Street had been renamed to Intifada (Uprising) Street, the report said.

Iran severed its diplomatic ties with Egypt in 1980, a year after Cairo struck the Camp David peace deal with Israel and gave asylum to Iran's exiled shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-01/06/content_1263279.htm

Iranians Begged the Aid Workers to Stay

January 06, 2004
National Review Online
Geesou Atasheen

Iran Quakes

Devestation, despair — and a touch of hope.

In the midst of death and mayhem in Bam last week, three children were born in the mobile hospitals set up in the outskirts of the ruined city. In spite of the zealous rule of the mullahs, two of the three pregnant women were birthed by male European doctors. The female European doctor who oversaw the delivery of the third woman held the infants up to the camera, after they had been washed and beautifully dressed, and said: "These three will rebuild this city!" The children were the first to be born there after the devastating earthquake of December 25th.

Though many aid workers were turned back, others were allowed to stay. Iranians were becoming angrier by the day as the mullahs arrogantly refused help from countries like Israel. A cab driver in Tehran was heard saying: "What nerve these mullahs have to turn away aid offered by the Israelis...those poor people over there are constantly dealing with those suicide bombers, who are probably financed by the clerics of the Islamic republic of Iran, and yet they are kind enough to offer us their aid and these audacious zealots over here threaten to attack them!"

Though the European aid workers are treated with respect, they also receive a great deal of aloofness. The arrival of a U.S. colonel and his aides in Hercules C130 military transport planes, however, proved to be a raging success. Iranians had gathered in the Kerman airport to greet them with arms full of flowers, shouting, "AMRIKAAYEE...KHOSH AMADEE" (American, you're welcome). Iranians hugged them and hung on to them as if their "saviors" had come. Departing Americans were met with pleas from the crowd, begging them to stay. One of the American aid workers involved said that she was shocked and deeply moved to receive such a reception.

Khatami and Khamenei's visits to Bam, however, lasted no more than a scant hour each. Though they were surrounded by "walls" of bodyguards, they could not be shielded from harangues and insults hurled at them. "It is your fault this happened to us," one woman cried. "You knew that this could happen and you liars never warned us." The hatred for the regime reached a fever pitch as it became clear that, in fact, all the information about the seismic activities and dangers of the region had been made available to the clerics for years, and they had simply ignored it.

The Iranian National Seismological Center had provided the regime with report after report and data upon data stating that the repopulation of the area could prove to be disastrous. But the mullahs had responded by saying that the 12th Imam, who is "invisible," would shield the residents of the city from harm!

The 1911 earthquake leveled this ancient city, but it was rebuilt in the '30's as a mercantile headquarters for dried goods. But in 1950 and 1966 it suffered two more catastrophic earthquakes. In the 1970's, when UNESCO declared the ancient landmarks as part of the "heritage of mankind," building in the area ceased and no further construction licenses were granted.

After the arrival of Khomeini and the Islamic republic, criminal elements appropriated large allotments of land in the region and created shoddy dwellings and markets. The local mullahs also received hefty kickbacks from the issuance of permits for such construction.

This disaster could not have been more damaging for the mullahs. As the February parliamentary elections in Iran draw near, the adamant threat of boycotting the elections looms over their turban-clad heads. The Islamic republic's refusal to allow Sen. Elizabeth Dole's humanitarian delegation to visit Iran is yet another sign of the mullahs' horror over the strengthening ties between the U.S. and the people of Iran. The Bush administration could not have been more politically savvy in offering their generous help to the devastated. This "experiment" did not only prove to the U.S. that the people inside Iran really do value their partnership in instituting a new and secular regime, but it also strengthened any and all ties that were already there.

— Geesou Atasheen is the pseudonym for a writer born in Iraq.

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/atasheen200401060800.asp

Iranians Begged the Aid Workers to Stay

January 06, 2004
National Review Online
Geesou Atasheen

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1052359/posts?page=26#26

Iran: Anti-U.S. Cleric Blowing Hot Air?

January 05, 2004
Stratfor
Stratfor.com

Summary

In a scathing attack on Washington, the head of Iran's Guardians Council said Jan. 2 that U.S. aid to the victims of the Bam earthquake did not mean that U.S.-Iranian relations were warming. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati's remarks are meant for domestic consumption -- part of efforts by hard-line clerics to maintain power in upcoming parliamentary elections. Such statements will not change ongoing U.S.-Iranian dealings, but they do underscore a shift in the debate in Iran from traditionalists-versus-modernists to an intra-traditionalist affair.

Analysis

Anti-American rhetoric heated up in Iran on Jan. 2 when Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said that his country's acceptance of U.S. relief aid to quake-stricken Bam did not mean that U.S.-Iranian relations were improving. He questioned Washington's intentions, saying, "If you had any honor, humanity or mercy, you would do better to have pity on the Iraqi and Palestinian peoples for whom you have caused an earthquake."

Jannati's harsh remarks will not have any bearing on the ongoing cooperation between Tehran and Washington. However, they are illustrative of efforts by traditional/conservative clerics to hold on to power in parliamentary elections scheduled for Feb. 20. Unelected clerics such as Jannati, who leads Iran's Guardians Council and is a member of the Expediency Council (the country's highest clerical body), see growing proximity to the United States as a threat.

The ayatollah's comments also highlight a shift in the political debate in Iran to an intra-traditionalist issue. Many members of Jannati's traditionalist camp appear to be moving to the political center, which could have immense implications for the clerics' role in the Iranian political system.

Jannati and his conservative colleagues certainly are concerned about the U.S. presence in Iraq and the behind-the-scenes dealings between Washington and Tehran. They might be either unable or unwilling to block their government's cooperation with Washington. Regardless of this, Jannati's comments are not intended to thwart U.S.-Iranian dealings. His anti-U.S. statements, though anomalous in light of ongoing back-channel cooperation over Iraq, are not an indication of a schism in Tehran. In other words, his remarks do not represent a threat to U.S-Iranian cooperation on Iraq.

Jannati's goal is not to go after the United States itself, but to strengthen his faction's position. The traditionalists have chosen a two-pronged strategy: He is using the modernists' cooperation with Washington as a campaign tactic, and he is trying to convince other traditionalists that aligning with Washington -- like the modernists are doing -- puts the clerics' power at risk. Thus, Jannati's statements should be seen in the context of the electioneering process that is under way ahead of the parliamentary elections. Clerics like Jannati are worried that the upcoming elections will be yet another opportunity for the rival modernist camp of reform-minded clerics to undermine them. The perception among traditionalist clerics that the modernist camp has been successful in creating a rift among the conservatives is exacerbating the problem.

Jannati worries that his opponents have gained influence among some of his prominent partisans -- such as head of the National Security Council Ayatollah Hassan Rohani, who recently played an instrumental role in forging the deal with the IAEA, which allows the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency to conduct snap inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities. Even more alarming for traditionalists is that growing relations with the United States are coming about with the approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei himself. Jannati and others view the dealings with Washington as strengthening the hand of the modernists, whose de facto leader is President Mohammed Khatami. Such periodic statements caution traditionalists like Rohani and Khamenei that they need to realize their folly, lest they end up strengthening the opposing camp.

In his Dec. 12 Friday sermon, Jannati publicly contradicted Khatami when he said, "They are lying. Do not be fooled by them. Leave democracy alone." Jannati made these remarks in response to comments Khatami made while addressing a seminar Dec. 11 on religious tolerance organized by the World Council of Churches in Geneva. Khatami said, "I think democracy is the only alternative. We can take it as Muslims. We must accept this has been materialized in the West. We must accept this as Muslims." Jannati understands that close proximity to the United States strengthens the hands of those who would want to weaken the power of the clerics.

The Iranian political system is a strange hybrid of parliamentary democracy and theocracy. The clash between the democrats and the theocrats was inevitable, given the manner in which its founder, the late Ayatollah Khomeini, crafted the system. Thus far, both sides, wary of the possibility that their feud might threaten the status quo, have successfully managed conflict. Nevertheless, neither allows an opportunity to pass to undermine the other side.

The Guardians Council screens candidates for parliamentary elections in an effort to block the election of those who would oppose the power of oversight the clerics enjoy. Thus far, the council has been able to control the legislature, but it is uncertain whether it can continue to do so given the circumstances.

Jannati recently emphasized that it was the duty of pious and competent individuals to seek election to the Majlis (parliament). With such statements, he is trying to keep out of parliament those who challenge the clerics' authority. The GC has gone so far as to send a letter to the Interior Ministry threatening it to reveal the details of its vote-counting mechanisms -- or the council "will have to take necessary action."

Jannati is no ordinary cleric, but he is able to use the venue of the Friday sermon at Tehran University campus. This speaks volumes about the importance Jannati and his comrades place on this issue. Clearly, he had Khamenei's tacit support to make these anti-American statements. But this raises the question of why Khamenei would allow Jannati to use such radical rhetoric when behind-the-scenes U.S.-Iranian negotiations are proceeding well?

The Iranian political system, though not exactly a democracy, is heavily rooted in the notion of collective leadership. Although the unelected traditionalist clerics still maintain absolute control in the Islamic republic, over the years this hold has been challenged by the modernist camp, which has necessitated the need for consensus on major political decisions. Supreme Leader Khamenei and some of his fellow clerics in the hierarchy have acted as mediators in the quest for equilibrium in the system. The problem, however, is that those acting as mediators are members of the traditionalist camp. Ideally, Khamenei would want to be in a position where he, removed from partisan politics, could influence both sides to his own advantage. The difficulty is that he cannot afford to do this because he is an unelected leader whose authority has been challenged by modernists advocating greater democratization. Khamenei realizes that on his own he is nothing, considering that he has senior marjiya (Shia scholars with first rank authority who are considered worthy of emulation) opposing him. Therefore, he depends upon his group for political survival.

What further forces Khamenei to consider what his fellow hardliners are saying is the fear that if they were not united, it would strengthen the Khatami camp. At the same time, because of his position at the apex of the clerical establishment, both sides try to get Khamenei to see things their way in an effort at consensus-building. This allows different players to wield power to varying degrees depending upon their position in the configuration of the hierarchy, which explains why Khamenei goes along with the actions of people like Jannati, who is currently the senior most public face of the traditionalist clerics. In essence, both sides try to exercise influence on the Supreme Leader.

In fact, until very recently Khamenei led the traditionalist camp. With the growth of the reform movement among the clerics over the years, Khamenei has had to step out of his position as head of the unelected establishment in order to do business with the elected modernists. Moreover, the dramatic geopolitical changes brought about by Sept. 11, 2001 -- particularly the ouster of Saddam Hussein and the U.S. occupation of Iraq -- have forced Khamenei to make deals with the United States, which further prevents him from openly leading the conservative clerics. Therefore, he has conveniently allowed others -- such as Hujjat al-Islam Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, who heads the Expediency Council, and Jannati -- to assume the public face of his camp.

By making these moves, the traditionalists are trying to urge caution to Khamenei and their fellow ideologues who have become interested in dealing with Washington. They are trying to send a message that such contact can undermine their hold on power. The Bush administration announced Jan. 2 that it was ready to send a humanitarian delegation headed by Sen. Elizabeth Dole to Tehran. Iran rejected the idea, saying that Washington needs to do more before any further progress can be made.

Although Washington appears to be ready to publicize it dealings with Iran, the same cannot be said about Tehran. It is quite possible that the traditionalist camp might have had some bearing on Iran's rejection of the U.S. offer. In any case, both sides are going to try to appear not to be compromising core values -- especially when they actually are. This is where Jannati's remarks are useful to Khamenei in giving the impression that Tehran is not ready to compromise its ideological position.

Iran and the United States, at some point in the future, will move toward some semblance of normalcy in their bilateral relations. In the meantime, Tehran and Washington will face opposition from key segments of their respective constituencies. In the United States, this opposition comes from pro-Israel neoconservatives and the religious right. In Iran, it will come from clerics like Jannati, who link better relations with the United States to a threat to their authority. In the immediate term, it is still unclear whether Jannati's posturing will yield the desired outcome in the Feb. 20 parliamentary elections. What is certain from all of this, however, is that the modernists have shifted the locus of the debate to one among the traditionalists themselves.

http://www.stratfor.com/corporate/static_index.neo

Thank you.

In the immediate term, it is still unclear whether Jannati's posturing will yield the desired outcome in the Feb. 20 parliamentary elections.

It is interesting that the elections are so near, and yet the outcome appears to be up in the air. I know in America we are deluged with pundits, and generally have a good feel for how things are going to turn out, well in advance. I go back to the timing of the Bam earthquake and wonder if the predictions that the regime has been really rattled are true.

?The enemy wants to infiltrate the heart of the armed force and weaken the convictions of the commanders,?

Have they arrested all members of the Iranian armed forces in Bam?

Excellent quote:

A cab driver in Tehran was heard saying: "What nerve these mullahs have to turn away aid offered by the Israelis...those poor people over there are constantly dealing with those suicide bombers, who are probably financed by the clerics of the Islamic republic of Iran, and yet they are kind enough to offer us their aid and these audacious zealots over here threaten to attack them!"

The Iranian Seesaw

January 06, 2004
The Washington Post
Editorial

For Years U.S. policy toward Iran has oscillated between extremes of hostility and ham-handed, overly solicitous diplomacy. Only the poor results have stayed constant. The Bush administration has maintained this tradition. Two years ago this month President Bush deemed Iran part of an "axis of evil" and suggested that regime change was the only solution. Last week, his administration abruptly offered to dispatch a delegation headed by one of Washington's best-known Republican senators, Elizabeth Dole (N.C.), and possibly including a member of Mr. Bush's own family. Not surprisingly, Tehran's mullahs rejected the offer. Though the nominal purpose of the visit was humanitarian -- a follow-up to the worthy dispatch of U.S. aid to the earthquake-stricken city of Bam -- its political implications were obvious: Secretary of State Colin L. Powell had just told The Post in an interview that the administration was once again open to "the possibility of dialogue." A U.S.-Iranian conversation may indeed be worth pursuing. But its proper scope and goals don't match what was suggested, even if obliquely, by the star power of the proposed American visitors.

Iran's treatment of the United States, though equally controversial at home, has been considerably more consistent than U.S. policy. Its latest rebuff of an American overture fits the pattern. Tehran knows it must avoid overt provocation of a superpower, and as American troops have deployed all around it, it has also recognized its interest in cooperating with Washington on certain security issues, from the removal of Saddam Hussein and Afghanistan's Taliban regime to the preservation of a united Iraq. But the conservative clerics who still dominate Iranian politics continue to regard the United States as a mortal enemy and aim, over time, to drive it out of the neighborhood -- while positioning Iran to emerge as a regional power with the ability to produce nuclear arms. While they are prepared to bargain with the Bush administration over such deals as swapping al Qaeda detainees in Iran for Iranian militants in Iraq, the mullahs are unlikely to welcome a genuine rapprochement -- especially if that were to mean giving up support for Palestinian and Lebanese extremist organizations or fully dismantling the nuclear program.

A sober U.S. policy would recognize these realities, while also accepting that a change of the Iranian regime, either through popular revolution or outside pressure, is unlikely in the near future. Shunning the Iranian government entirely, as the Bush administration did in the last six months of 2003, leads nowhere in the absence of prospects for regime change. But it ought to be possible to talk to Iran about al Qaeda, Iraq and Afghanistan without offering up high-level visitors and other political favors. It ought to be possible also without retreating from President Bush's strong rhetorical support for Iran's pro-democracy forces or his red-line declaration last summer that the United States would not tolerate Iran becoming a nuclear power. Dispatching humanitarian aid to a city as terribly stricken as Bam is appropriate. Favoring Iran's oppressive regime with the attention of famous senators or presidential relatives is not.

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=01&d=06&a=13

Iran shaken up by more earthquakes

January 06 2004 at 02:48PM

Tehran - Several villages in south-western Iran were damaged on Tuesday when 11 mild earthquakes struck the area in quick succession, state radio reported.

The quakes measured between 3.2 and 4.8 on the open-ended Richter scale, but caused no casualties, the radio said, but nevertheless carried an appeal for locals to be prepared for a possible major earthquake.

The report said Izeh was hit by seven tremors, while the nearby oil and gas centre of Masjed Soleiman was hit by four. The towns are situated about 450km south-west of Tehran in Khuzestan province.

"In five villages in the area of Masjed Soleiman, houses suffered damage of between 10 and 50 percent. In Izeh, homes and cowsheds were also damaged," the radio said.

"We do not know if the tremors will be followed by a more powerful earthquake. But in this kind of situation the best solution is for people to move to tents in their gardens," said Sadid Khoie, an official from the geophysics centre of Tehran university.

He told state radio that successive tremors are "a warning of a more powerful earthquake, and inhabitants of the area should be vigilant."

Iran has been on major earthquake alert since December 26, when an earthquake measuring between 6.3 and 6.7 on the Richter scale hit the ancient south-eastern city of Bam, killing up to 35 000 people. - Sapa-AFP

http://www.itechnology.co.za/index.php?click_id=126&art_id=qw1073393280485B265&set_id=1

UK Envoy Sees Iran Ready To Play Positive Role In Iraq

January 06, 2004
Dow Jones Newswires
The Associated Press

LONDON -- The U.K.'s top envoy in Iraq said Tuesday he believed Iran was ready to play a positive role in restoring order to its neighboring country.

Following talks in Tehran with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, Sir Jeremy Greenstock said Iran was an influential neighbor, "capable of doing damage to Iraq and to the stability of Iraq."

But he said that so long as the U.K. and the U.S. reciprocated and met some of the clerical regime's concerns, Iran would play a positive role.

"I think they genuinely believe that a stable Iraq, a secure Iraq - security is No. 1 - and a prosperous Iraq means Iraqis taking charge of their own affairs without interference," Greenstock told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"They're prepared to play, I hope, a positive role in producing the kind of Iraq that we both want to see. They, after all, want a stable, prosperous and good neighbor, and I think they see the prospect of that."

Greenstock, who is Prime Minister Tony Blair's top envoy in Baghdad, said Tehran wanted to be certain that the U.S. and the U.K. had "no hidden agenda of aggression against Iran."

The clerics had been reassured by the coalition's July 1 date for ending the occupation and transferring sovereignty to Iraqis, he added.

Greenstock said Iran didn't appear to want Iraq to "clone" its own Islamic regime.

"There hasn't been a hint that they want a copy of their own version of government, and I find that reassuring," he told the BBC.

The U.S. has feared that the Islamic theocracy in Shiite-dominated Iran would seek to influence the Iraqi Shiite majority to fill the power vacuum left by the ouster of Saddam Hussein.

Greenstock said Iran wanted cooperation with the U.S. and the U.K. "in the oil field, in the electricity field, in the general commercial field" and wanted free access for its pilgrims to Shia holy sites in Iraq.

He said Tehran also wanted to see action against the Mujahedeen Khalq, an Iranian militia opposed to the clerical government, which established a base in Iraq under Saddam.

"They regard the Mujahedeen Khalq as terrorists, and they want them dealt with and out of the way," Greenstock told the BBC.

http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2004010620120012&Take=1

Dialogue schmialogue.

Iranian regime must stop building nuclear weapons, stop imprisoning, torturing and executing dissenters, stop engineering terrorist attacks worldwide--

In short, the Iranian regime must stop existing.

Doing ten minutes of the diplofairy minuet doesn't get it.

Dialogue doesn't work with these "people", they only understand getting their asses kicked.

This was so important and revealing, I thought some excerpts deserved reposting.

AYATOLLAH KHAMENEH'I’S "MODEL STATE" FOR MUSLIMS

PARIS 4 Jan (IPS)

In a recent talks with his sycophants, often illiterate and uneducated young men and women known as basijis, or volunteers, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the leader of the Islamic Republic said the present Iranian theocracy is "the best model" of regimes not only for the Muslims, but also for the whole world and one that would eventually "defeat" the United States that, in his eyes, represents the "mother of all corrupt governments".

*It is worth mentioning that all the information below is based on newspapers published in Tehran or websites operating mainly in Tehran, some of them controlled by the ruling conservative clergy.

**Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Safdar Hoseyni alerted that the number of unemployed young Iranians, university graduates in particular, could reach as high as 5.6 million.

But as Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami, the powerless President of Iran expressed satisfaction at the number of people employed, independent analysts put the number of unemployed as something over or under ten million, one of the highest rate among third world nations.

According to Mr. Hoseyni, the current figure crossed the 3-million mark and therefore issued a call to recruit all Iran’s resources and all organizations operating under the Islamic regime to stand against the tangible threats emanating from the daily increase in the unemployment rate.

The minister stressed that one out of every three Iranians is aged 22-29, an age group that is considered to be seeking job opportunities. According to the minister, the annual growth rate must reach 8.6 percent to prevent an additional rise in the unemployment rate.

**Labour House secretary-general and Majles deputy Alireza Mahjoub says that the last two years alone have seen an additional decrease of 50 percent in the workers capacity to purchase staples for their families. He called upon the government to try to come up with new and more effective ways to improve the workers economic situation.

Thousands of workers in the petrochemical complex in Arak province continue hunger strike in protest of the ongoing measures to hand over the plants, which previously belonged to the National Petroleum Company, to the private sector. More than a thousand workers in the tractor manufacturing plants in the city of Tabriz continue their strikes and protests over the fact that their salaries have not been paid in the last several months.

Three more factories in the province of Mazandaran were closed down;
Five hundred workers were fired as a result. These three factories, including the Harir Ghaim-Shahr textile factory, operated under Iran’s Bank of Industry and Mines.

The factories, which, until now, were among the region’s only profitable ones, went bankrupt as a result of the privatization process and the unsuccessful management. The workers representative in the province of Mazandaran told the independent Iranian Labour News Agency ILNA that in recent years, thousands of workers in the textile industry were living under appalling conditions and were afraid of being fired and sent home without any compensation whatsoever.

**Farmers in the Caspian Sea region are disgruntled over the fact that the government has not paid its debts for rice it purchased from the farmers. They claim that their situation has never been direr and that they had no choice but to sell the rice to the government at exceptionally low prices.

Tens of thousands of traditional Persian rice farmers in the Caspian Sea region have gone bankrupt in recent years and moved with their families to large cities. It is worth mentioning that the revolutionary financial institutions and the various governmental organisations have imported thousands of tons of rice from abroad in recent years, thus intensifying the distress in the Persian rice farming business. Iran’s tea growing industry experiences similar difficulties.

**A parliament representative from the city of Ilam says, "the real reason for the spread of crime and corruption, -- two other productions of Ayatollah Khameneh'i’s "model nation" -- is the difficult economic situation that plagues the families".

"There is no point in the government concealing the actual data on crime, prostitution and drug addiction", says Mohammad Kianfar, a Majles deputy from the city of Ardabil, stressing that the Iranian Radio and Television, controlled directly by Mr. Khameneh'i, does not provide an accurate reflection of Iranian society.

"As a result of the surging unemployment rate, the lack of hope and the ever-growing social inequality, there has been a real increase in the number of women and even men engaged in prostitution to support their families", he told ILNA.

The average age among men and women engaged in prostitution has dropped to 20, whereas the equivalent figure five years ago stood at 27. More than eight thousand brothels and women trafficking businesses operate in Tehran alone; in addition, there are thousands of smaller prostitution organizations operating in private homes. In Tehran alone, more than 300 thousand girls aged 13-14 are engaged in prostitution. This year, the annual turnover of hard drug trade has reached $1.8 billion, a figure indicating an increase of 600 percent compared to 1995, according to ISNA.

Head of Iran’s Welfare Organization, Mohammad Reza Rah-Chamani (formerly, a member of the Majles associated with the conservatives), has vehemently denied the "overestimated figures published in Iranian newspapers about a significant increase in the number of citizens engaged in prostitution for living".

He said that "the recently published figure of 600 thousand women in Tehran alone engaged in prostitution to support their families is something from the realm of fantasy and not consistent with reality at all".

But he admitted that, based on recent information published in Tehran’s newspapers, the number of children living on the streets has exceeded the 2 million mark.

**Malnutrition in Iran is the cause of death of over fifty percent of infants and Iranian children under the age of five. Manager of the governmental institute for nutrition research said that Iranian children faced a risk of death from malnutrition that was ten times larger than in the past. He further mentioned that there were additional groups of children and teenagers suffering from malnutrition and lack of vitamins. He also pointed out that nearly twenty percent of the adult population suffered from malnutrition as well. He identified the families’ inability to purchase staples such as meat as the root of the problem.

86.7 percent of those suffering from various forms of lung diseases in the province of Esfahan suffer from malnutrition as well, resulting in prolonged recovery periods. Most of the ill are women and children from the families of the labourers and the unemployed, a recent research proved.

**Dr. Mahbubeh Haj Abdolbaghi, one of the senior doctors in the Imam Khomeini Hospital, claims that the true number of HIV carriers in Iran is between 30 to 40 thousand people. She added that over 5700 people would die of the disease in the near future and issued a call to "set aside the shame" and "provide students in schools, universities and other educational institutions with information on AIDS.

**Most students say that at least one of their family members is addicted to hard drugs. A significant percentage of students are forced to discontinue their studies in high school or even earlier in order to help support their families financially, addicted to drugs.

During the last eight months, an additional 131 tons of hard drugs have been uncovered and confiscated, and tens of thousands were arrested on charges of drug smuggling. These figures indicate an increase of 43 percent compared to last year. According to the data, 72,921 civilians have been arrested on charges of drug smuggling during the last eight months and more than 175 thousand drug addicts have been arrested during the same period (Entekhab, December 6, 2003).

In a single area in Tehran’s suburbs called Khak-e Sefid, hard drug users consume more than 1000lbs of heroin and opium daily. A senior sociologist in the University of Tehran who made a reference to this figure added that in addition to the extreme daily use of hard drugs in that suburb of Tehran, that dangerous area is a "feast of prostitution" that even the police forces do not dare to approach.

**A special investigating judge appointed by the judiciary to deal with the phenomenon of the upsurge in moral corruption in the city of Qom says that tens of thousands of the city’s residents, so far considered to be Iran’s most religious and traditional city, use hard drugs, drink alcoholic beverages and have even formed organisations involved in filming of pornography.

The clerics special website in Qom, www.naghshineh.com quoted the special investigating judge, Hojatoleslam Talebi as having admitted that illegal sexual relations and the multitude of pornography are the two most disturbing phenomena in that holy city. He blamed the situation on the "enemies on the outside" and said that the enemies were attempting to damage Islam.

Every day, thousands of young women in Tehran undergo illegal abortions in order to terminate pregnancies conceived as a result of illegal sexual intercourse.

Consequently, the number of clinics practicing the forbidden craft of abortions has increased. In quite a few cases, the young women die as a result of lack of proper medical care after the abortion, the moderate "Shargh" newspaper indicated.

**More than a thousand infants born to women who are held in prisons throughout Iran have been recently taken out of the prisons and delivered, in most cases, to orphanages. 167 infants were delivered to the arrested women’s parents, 90 were delivered to their relatives and the rest were delivered to orphanages. Vice-chairman of the Elmolholda welfare organization said that there were still 173 infants held in the custody of their detained mothers.

A substantial number of infants were born to political prisoners who conceived as a result of rape by jail wardens. Dozens of former political prisoners described these experiences in painful detail after being set free. A substantial number of books and numerous testimonies on this phenomenon have been gathered in recent years.

“Those who have now become enthusiastic about the recent humanitarian aids by the U.S. are nothing but political dwarfs,” the spokesman of the para-military revolutionary guards, Massoud Jazayeri, said.

"dwarfs" ? And he would be the wicked queen?

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the nastiest of them all?

Khatami and Khamenei's visits to Bam, however, lasted no more than a scant hour each.

Though they were surrounded by "walls" of bodyguards, they could not be shielded from harangues and insults hurled at them.

Tick tick tick tick tick tick. . . .