Iranian Alert -- February 4, 2004 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD --Americans for Regime Change in Iran

The US media almost entirely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” But most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.

There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. Starting June 10th of this year, Iranians have begun taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy. Many even want the US to over throw their government.

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.

In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.

This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.

I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.

If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.

If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.

EVEN THE MOST DICTATORIAL REGIMES CHANGE WHEN PEOPLE IS UNITED

By Safa Haeri

PARIS, 4 Feb. (IPS)

Iranian republicans are against the present system of "velayat faqih" and instead, promote a "secular, democratic regime based on the power of parliament. But at the same time, they rule out any covert or violent methods to achieve their aims", according to Mr. Bizhan Hekmat, one of the organizers of the recent meeting of the Iranian Republicans in Berlin.

"For the time being, what we are looking for is to unite Iranians in the Diaspora who favour a republican system for Iran based on parliamentary democracy, to be an umbrella and work for radical changes in Iran", he pointed out in a wide-range interview with Iran Press Service.

A member of the Iranian Nationalist Republicans, the 65 years old Hekmat adds that for the time being, the Union of Iranian Republicans (UIR) that was created in Berlin as a result of the meeting does not want to concentrate on organizing the Iranians inside the country.

The Berlin conference, held from 8 to 10 of January, was the largest ever of any gathering of Iranians outside Iran in the past decades, with more than 1.300 people coming from as far as the United States, Canada and Iran attending, among them several veteran political activists.

"The situation in Iran does not bode well for clandestine activities. We saw that in the past the underground groups did much less than the mullahs who were engaged in more open activities", Mr. Hekmat pointed out.

The road the UIR proposes for bringing changes does not differ from the one that the majority of Iranians are for: peaceful methods, starting by organizing the masses for civil disobedience.

In the view of Mr. Hekmat, this regime is not reformable, but at same time, it is possible to force the ruling conservatives to open doors to more changes, like limiting the powers of the vali-e-faqih (in this case, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i) and the un-elected bodies such as the Council of Guardians Special Rights for eliminating undesirable candidates… "under a combination of pressures from inside and outside".

"But nothing could take place in Iran without the existence of a nationwide political movement. Hence, our effort to that end, but first, we have to unite our ranks outside and then building bridges with inside, on due time, without precipitation", he observed.

In a Manifesto, or Road Map for action, the Conference proposed a secular, democratic system, an open market economy and a "decentralized" administration. Externally, they propose "détente and friendly" relations with "all nations", that includes Israel without naming the Jewish State.

"We are for the official recognition of two separate Israeli and Palestinian states", Mr. Hekmat said, insisting that he speaks more on his own name that on behalf of the UIR.

He also thinks that one should not "exaggerate" the role of the American Jewish lobby in "all" the decisions taken by American administrations.

On the position and the role of the students at present political situation, Mr. Hekmat belittles the importance of Iranian students lack of enthusiasm for the embattled reformists and says they might be in a "moment of thinking".

An active member of the former Confederation of Iranian Students that fought the toppled Monarchy by supporting the Islamic Revolution of Grand Ayatollah Roohollah Khomeini, Mr. Hekmat went back to Iran after the victory of the Revolution, but like many other fellows, he was "disenchanted" and came back to Paris, where he runs a computer center, "to start again the fight, this time against the Islamic Republic".

The students have realized that bringing some 300, backed by some 8.000 people, into the streets, is not enough. So, they are thinking about the past but mostly the road to take in the future", he said.

Below are large excerpts from the interview:

Iran Press Service – What was the aim of your congress?

Bizhan Hekmat – To form an umbrella for the (Iranian) Republicans and as far as possible, bringing structural changes in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Of course, you might say "but this is not possible from outside". We too. But we think that we can have some impact on what is going inside the nation by establishing contacts with forces inside, as seen by the presence in our meeting of some people who came from Iran. However, we do not intend to organize inside before organizing and mobilizing ourselves outside in order to be able to be reckoned by the international community, helping foreign powers, lawmakers and politicians to understand Iranian realities and promote human rights, democracy and political liberties in Iran.

IPS – Why not starting by mobilizing Iranian republicans in Iran. After all, Iran is already a Republic?

B H – Conditions are not ripe for full open anti-regime activities and we are against covert operations that, even in the past, before the Islamic Revolution, had not been much successful. The organization that really helped the process was that of the (Iranian) clergy that was fighting openly. Also, the present situation makes it much more difficult for clandestine activities while at the same time there is some limited room for open civil and political actions, as seen by the existence of human rights groups, centers for the defence of journalists and intellectuals, the Bar Association etc that, if developed further, better organized and working in harmony with each other, they can become a force to reckon with.

IPS – It seems that in your meeting you had difficulties if reaching a consensus on some important issues, such as the secularism or radical changes in the Constitutions?

B H – This not correct. A large majority approved the separation of religion from the State, changing the Constitution and a regime based on parliamentary system, all the points prefiguring in our Manifesto. The only points of divergences were whether to boycott the forthcoming elections and the controversial subject of so-called nationalities or ethnicities. On the first question, it was left to the Coordination Council to decide and on the other; we thought we should not waste our time on the form of the future Republic, a federal or centralized system. However, we have expressed our total support for all Iranian minorities and a decentralized government.

IPS – What do you think about the present electoral crisis and the regime itself?

B H – We support a referendum, but left the decision to our Council.

IPS – But considering the past experiences and the regime’s 25 years of authoritarian rule, do you think that the ruling clerics are bent to reform?

B H – I doubt that this regime can change its present structures and the past six years have proved that the regime is not self reformable. However, in every regime, even the most dictatorial, when people enter the scene and the international atmosphere is also ripe, it is possible to impose some of the people’s basic demands.

IPS – Yes, but what in a regime ruled by the concept of velayat faqih, meaning a semi-divine?

B H – We support all efforts aimed at limiting the powers of the vali e faqih, as well as those of other un-elected centers of decisions. The way we suggest to that goal is a national referendum. But again, before, it is necessary to have organized and united all Iranian democratic forces.

IPS – But we see that Iranians are not much enthusiastic. The students, who are at the forefront of political activities, are mute.

B H – The students had known a lot of ups and downs. I would say their present silence is a moment of thought for them; reviewing the past and thinking about future strategies. They realized that bringing some 300 students in the streets, backed by some 8.000 people is not enough.

IPS – You have kept aside other Iranian political groups like the Monarchists that, like you, also want a democratic, secular system. Don’t you want reach a coalition with other forces?

B H – When the Monarchists gathers, they do not invite us. I might say that for the time being, they might be better organized. As I said, we have to organize ourselves first. But this does not mean that doors are closed to dialogue with other political formations, both inside and outside, like Constitutionalist Monarchists, and study what we can do together.

IPS – Would you say that doors are open for a coalition on few points, like changing the regime to a secular, parliamentary democracy?

B H – What we have said is that doors are open.

IPS – So far, none of foreign governments have taken Iranian opposition seriously. Why?

B H – No, this is not very correct. They had contacts with the late Mr. Shapour Bakhtiar or the Mojahedeens (the Iraqi-based Mojahedeen Khalq Organisation)...

IPS – … I mean Western powers. And if they had contacts, was it not using them as scarecrows against the regime?

B H – Establishing contacts with foreign governments needs time, organisation, plans, all the things we (the Iranian opposition outside) lacked. As far as we are concerned, this is in our plans. I must also add that authoritarian regime never allow opposition forces to emerge, as a result, foreign governments have no precise idea about them, their strength, numbers, policies etc. But the fact that a certain number of important German personalities, politicians and lawmakers attended our meeting is a positive point.

IPS – In relation with the United States and the influence of Jewish lobbies in Washington concerning the Islamic Republic, what is your position?

B H – As far as Israel is concerned, our position is very clear. We are for two separate Israeli and Palestinian states, working peacefully together to guarantee the equal and legitimate rights of both Palestinians and Israelis.

On the other question, we think one must not exaggerate the importance of the American Jewish lobby, one that had always been there. Thinking that this lobby has the control of American decision-makers is not correct, as seen by the former Democrat Administration that, despite enjoying very close relationship with these lobbies, offered the Islamic Republic important concessions, from the Foreign Affairs minister, Mrs. Madeleine Albright, herself also a Jew.

ENDS IRANIAN REPUBLICANS 2204

http://www.iran-press-service.com/articles_2004/Feb_04/iran_republicans_2204.htm

Ney says Fox News using Middle East consultant with Iranian terrorism link

By GREG WRIGHT
Gazette Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Ohio Rep. Bob Ney says an expert on the Middle East who appears regularly on the Fox News Channel has ties to an Iranian terrorist organization.

Alireza Jafarzadeh said Friday his group's opposition to Iran's fundamentalist Muslim government doesn't make it a terrorist group.

The State Department added the National Council of Resistance of Iran to its terrorist list in 2002 because it had ties to Mujahedin-e Khalq, a terrorist organization that seeks to overthrow Iran's government.

Jafarzadeh was the Washington-based council's congressional representative until the State Department closed its offices in August 2002.

"Absolutely not -- that is ridiculous," Jafarzadeh said when asked if his organization was a terrorist group.

Jafarzadeh, who runs his own consulting firm, claims the Bush administration put his group on the terrorist list because the White House wants to improve ties with Iran.

"Now he's simply not telling the truth," Ney, R-St. Clairsville, said in a telephone interview late Thursday.

Fox News officials refused to comment. Jafarzadeh said he would continue to appear on the 24-hour cable news network.

Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) is a Marxist-Islamic organization created by children of college-educated Iranian merchants in the 1960s, the State Department said. The group resented the infiltration of Western culture during Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi's reign.

MEK supported the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and fundamentalist revolution that overthrew the shah. But MEK turned against the regime in the 1980s and is now the largest Iranian dissident group.

American relations are slowly warming with Iran's fundamentalist government. Iran is considering allowing a delegation of American lawmakers to visit for the first time since the 1979 revolution.

On Wednesday, Ney was in a group of lawmakers who met with Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations.

Jafarzadeh, who attended college at Ohio University in Athens, accused Ney of switching sides by cozying up to an Iranian regime he used to criticize. Ney taught English in Iran before the revolution and is fluent in Farsi.

"We were good friends until he switched sides and he began defending the Iranian regime," Jafarzadeh said of Ney. "I have nothing personal against him. I still respect him."

Ney is also asking the Justice Department to investigate the Iranian-American Society of Northern Virginia, which planned a January benefit for victims of last month's Iranian earthquake. Ney said that group is also linked to MEK and Jafarzadeh and should not be allowed to raise money in the United States.

The Justice Department will review Ney's request, spokesman John Nowacki said.

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/news/stories/20040131/localnews/327329.html

Note: Although the MKO is a terrorist group and should be treated as such, Bob Ney has gone on an aggressive campaign of trying to undermine opposition groups to the Islamic Republic while at the same time meeting members of the Islamic regime.

Important to note that Ney had Trita Parisa working for him for a while. Mr. Parisa is a ranking member of the NIAC (a group large segments of Iranian-Americans believe is affiliated underhandedly with the Islamic Republic).

Mr. Ney may have been brainwashed by Mr. Parisas propaganda.

Pars Organization

Pars Organization began its activities in November 1998.
This organization is recorded in the book of French register on February 12, 2000.
The duty of Organization is the coordination of the opponents with interior and exterior of Iran of the elements subversive of the terrorist government of the Islamic republic.

This organization continues its combat for a democratic and laic company in order to protect the human rights in Iran.

The central part of Organization gathers 70 members in the field of the policy, economic, cultural and military and intellectuals.

This organization has the responsibility to maintain solidarity and to coordinate the groups policy including/understanding, the republicans, like the national party, the Socialists democrat, the side ? Iranians and the Democratic movement.

This organization gathers approximately 3000 members and sympathizers throughout the world.

Doctor Nouri is the general manager.

The Charter

The Islamic Republic is responsible for systematic violations of the Humans right and of the destruction of the Iranian national culture, considered as foreign by its leaders.

The Committee for the Inversion of the Islamic mode Iran gives itself for mission the dismissal of the mode, with the assistance of all our compatriots? willing of freedom. This is in order to establish a State of right, legitimacy by the real practice of the vote for all.

The Committee takes as a starting point the following principles:

1 Strict separation between the religion and the businesses of the State Protection of the freedom of the worship on the basis of SECULARITY.
2 Installation of a government resulting from the parliamentary majority leading only the policy of the country and person in charge in front of the deputies.
3 Application of the multi-party system within a legal framework
4 Handing-over with the honor of the Iranian culture
5 Equality of all in front of the law. Respect of essential freedoms, in accordance with the charter of the Declaration of the rights of man
6 Adhesion has a liberal economic system moderated by the control of the State

The Committee for the Inversion of the Islamic mode of Iran proclaims its support for the forces of opposition mode. It precisely asks all our compatriots to be linked, inside as outside the country, in order to reverse the Islamic dictatorship in Iran.

http://www.sazmanepars.org/

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