Iranian Alert -- February 26, 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.

Defence Minister Says Syria a Part of Iran's Security

February 26, 2004
BBC Monitoring
BBC Monitoring Middle East

Damascus -- Iranian Minister of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani who is here at the head of a high ranking delegation, conferred here Thursday with Syrian President Bashar al-Asad on expansion of mutual cooperation.

Iran's Ambassador to Damascus Mohammad-Reza Baqeri and Syrian Defence Minister Mustafa Abd-al-Qadir Talas were also present in the meeting.

Issues of mutual interests as well as current cooperation between the two countries in fields of defence, science, education and industry featured prominently in the meeting.

The Syrian president underlined the political will of the two sides' high ranking officials to further expand mutual relations in various areas and said that besides bolstering mutual cooperation, Tehran and Damascus should deal with the threats posed by big powers.

Syria is ready to broaden and expand military, defence and security cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran, he said adding that presence of high ranking Iranian military and industrial officials in Syria indicates the firm determination of two sides to enhance mutual cooperation.

The recent parliamentary election in Iran demonstrates the fact that the country enjoys unity and the people's massive participation in the election disappointed the enemies of the Islamic Republic and Revolution.

The Iranian defence minister, for his part, underlined that the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to help bolster and broaden defence cooperation with Syria.

Highlighting the two sides' common interests, he called for continued negotiations and cooperation in order to foil plots being hatched against the two countries under the current sensitive situation of the region.

Syria is considered as part of Iran's national security in the region, he said adding that Tehran has always paid due attention to security and territorial integrity of Syria.

Pointing to geopolitical and geostrategic developments in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, he said these developments have direct impacts on Iran's national security which requires further unity, solidarity and cooperation among regional countries to

Shamkhani Arrived in Damascus on Wednesday at the official invitation of his Syrian counterpart Mustafa Abd-al-Qadir Talas on a two-day official visit.

During the visit, the Iranian minister along with his entourage will inspect various defence and industrial centres in Syria and is to ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation.

Shamkhani will leave Damascus for Beirut on Friday.

Text of report in English by Iranian news agency IRNA

Source: IRNA news agency, Tehran, in English 1335 gmt 26 Feb 04

http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk/

Iran Reformers Demand Khatami Explain Sham Poll

February 26, 2004
Reuters
Jon Hemming

TEHRAN -- Dozens of angry Iranian reformist parliamentarians have demanded President Mohammad Khatami appear before them to explain why he let last week's elections go ahead even though 2,500 of his supporters were barred from standing.

Many reformers and ordinary Iranians feel let down by Khatami, who promised freedom of speech and the rule of law, but failed to stand up to powerful hardliners once they blocked him.

Conservatives won control of parliament in Friday's polls, leaving Khatami increasingly isolated, heading a cabinet that achieved little even when it had a majority in the assembly.

"We are preparing to summon Khatami to parliament to explain his efforts for a fair election, what he did to ensure there was a free and fair election and why his government held an election which they believed was neither free nor fair," outgoing reformist deputy Reza Yousefian told Reuters on Thursday.

Pro-reform candidates only won 40 seats in the 290-seat assembly, compared to conservatives' 154, according to Interior Ministry official results released on Thursday. There are currently around 190 reformists in parliament.

Independents won 30 seats, five seats are reserved for religious minorities and 60 seats are to be recontested as candidates did not get the minimum 25 percent of votes. Polls in Bam were postponed due to December's earthquake.

The biggest reformist party, led by Khatami's brother, boycotted the elections saying they were rigged.

The soft-spoken president first criticised the barring of candidates, then, after talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the polls should go ahead.

With some 100 pro-reform publications banned and state broadcasting firmly in the hardliners' grip, outgoing reformist MPs now cling to parliament as one of the last platforms they have to vent their frustration before they step down at the end of May.

Some 75 reformists deputies had so far signed the demand to summon Khatami to parliament, Yousefian said. But parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi said he did not think the deputies would get the 105 signatures necessary to force Khatami to appear.

Ministers, appointed by the president, are not obliged to give regular reports to parliament. MPs have summoned other ministers for questioning in the past, but not Khatami himself.

A ban on the reformist newspaper Sharq, shut on the eve of polls, was lifted on Thursday after its publishers apologised for publishing a letter by some 100 MPs accusing Khamenei of presiding over a system which trampled on people's rights.

Khamenei controls almost all the key levers of power in Iran.

http://www.reuters.com/

26 February 2004

4000-year-old inscriptions unearthed in Iran
Unearthed inscriptions in Jiroft (Iran) may prove that the civilization of the region had influenced Sumerian civilization. Yusef Majidzadeh, head of the International Archaeological Study Center, said that following the second stage of archaeological studies in Halilrud region of Jiroft, Kerman Province, 25 mud seals were discovered. "An inscription written on one of the seals is datable to 4000 years ago. The 2x3cm seal is made of mud, which was unearthed in layers on top of the hill in the region. The inscription is unique and proves the fact that the civilization of the Halirud region in eastern Iran was the originator of the script," added Majidzadeh.
The discovered relics in the region are 150 years older than those in Sumer which was believed to be founder of civilization, he said, adding, "No proof showing the influence of Ilam and Mesopotamia are seen in the Jiroft region, while most of the stone-made tools and the earthenware of the region had been taken to Mesopotamia, Khuzestan, Saudi Arabia and Syria which proves the influence of the region on these areas," he continued.
Discovering huge brick platforms in Kenarsandal hills were also among the new discoveries. Platform A is made of sun-dried bricks with a length of 400m and height of 7m, and Platform B is 250m long and 10m high. These kinds of platforms, called ziggurat in Mesopotamia and Ilam, were built in stair-shaped form, with the upper platforms being smaller than the lower ones.
The ziggurat discovered in Jiroft is the largest in the east. Over 29 ziggurats are in Mesopotamia and the Chogha Zanbil Ziggurat in Khuzestan. The earthenware unearthed in Halirud belongs to 2300 BCE, while the ones in Mesopotamia date back to 2100 to 2250 BCE.

http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/000590.html

Iranian Nobel winner laments polls, warns of violence
Wed Feb 25,12:10 PM ET Add Entertainment - AFP to My Yahoo!

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi criticized elections in her country that swept conservatives to power, and issued a veiled warning that opposition to the new regime could turn violent.

But speaking at the European Parliament, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner called on the European Union (news - web sites) to remain engaged with Tehran, saying that dialogue was the only way forward.

The lawyer and rights activist noted that reformist candidates had been disqualified en masse from standing in Friday's election.

"By this means the rights of the Iranian citizens were ignored. In the name of Islam one cannot ignore and undermine citizens rights," she said.

Ebadi warned that the low turnout in the ballots reflected a yawning "gap" between the people and their government.

"If the new groups that come to power seek to ignore the wishes of the people then the gap will widen," she said.

"It is natural that a society in which the people become distant from the government will suffer tension.

"As an Iranian I wish that Iran remains a calm country. I hope the wishes of the people will be respected," she said.

But the Nobel laureate said that, if they were not, the new leadership "must know that one day it's possible that the patience of our youth (might) come to an end. I hope such a day will not come."

According to the final results, the number of new right-wing deputies in the 290-seat Iranian parliament stands at 156.

The Guardians Council, an unelected body run by hardliners, disallowed thousands of reformists from standing in the election, which saw the lowest turnout of any major ballot in the Islamic republic's 25-year history.

The EU, which has long promoted constructive engagement with Iran -- in stark contrast to the United States -- this week called the polls a "setback for democracy."

But Ebadi, speaking to the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, urged the EU to pursue its negotiations.

"You must talk with the Iranian government. Embargoes and boycotts will never solve anything," she said, in an apparent reference to Washington's isolation of a regime it says is part of an "axis of evil."

"It is negotiations that resolve problems," she said, while adding: "These negotiations must have aims and not be mere talk."

The EU's talks with Iran, offering a trade agreement in exchange for human rights improvements, have been on hold since last June when a crisis over Iran's nuclear capacity saw a severe chill in Tehran's international ties.

European Parliament chief Pat Cox, speaking at a joint press conference with Ebadi, insisted that the EU should pursue its dialogue with Iran and above all emphasize the need to improve Tehran's human rights record.

"We have been disappointed at the recent parliamentary elections. They represent a serious democratic setback, and so a new challenge to the dialogue between the EU and Iran," he said.

Ebadi described democracy in her homeland as a flower, which she said bloomed when the reformist Mohammad Khatami (news - web sites) was elected as president in 1997.

"Democracy is like a beautiful flower: it must be constantly watered, it must be taken care of. Otherwise it dies," she said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040225/en_afp/iran_vote_ebadi_040225171017

The Jews Of Iran - An Evening Of Persian Culture Featuring Literature And Music And Delicacies From Iran

New York, NY – February 23, 2004— The American Sephardi Federation/Sephardic House in conjunction with Congregation Beth Simchat Torah will present an evening to celebrate the story of the Iranian-Jewish experience examining its art and history and how these elements became integrated into the culture of the United States. Light refreshments and a sampling of Iranian delicacies will add to the experience of the evening. This event will take place on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2004 at 6:00 pm at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York City.

Dr. Houman Sarshar, Director of Publications at the Center for Iranian Jewish Oral History, Los Angeles, and co-editor of three volumes of The Contemporary History of Iranian Jews, and a contributing author to the Encyclopedia Iranica, will present a slide presentation based on his most recent book, Esther’s Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews (2002). The second half of the evening’s program will be a performance, “Persian Rhapsodies” by pianist and composer Tania Eshaghoff and her ensemble including Edward Smaldone, electric bass; Ali Bello, violin; Sky Steele, violin; Swiss Chriss, percussionist and Christopher Hoffman on the cello followed by a question and answer period.

"The most significant influences in both style and substance of Tania's music stems from the Persian tradition of the santur, with its elaborate rhythmic and melodic figuration, here translated into a distinctive pianistic technique. Her music also embraces the layered ornamentation of the Persian "avaz" tradition, a vocal style of great rhythmic subtley; her right hand "sings" as she plays this music, synthesizing the basic harmonies of the Persian tradition with a heterophonic melodic line, which appears to float with every performance. Her music is a virtual ethnography of Persian culture through the lens of her modern perspective." Anthony DeRitis

The cost of admission is $25.00 for adults and $20.00 for members of American Sephardi Federation/Sephardic House, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, students and seniors. Reservations are required. For more information, please call the box office at (917) 606-8200 or visit www.cjh.org

About American Sephardi Federation

The American Sephardi Federation is a national Jewish organization dedicated to strengthening and unifying the American Sephardic community and promoting its spiritual, cultural and social traditions. ASF serves as the coordinating body and resource for all of the American Sephardi communities. Since its arrival to the Center for Jewish History, the archival holdings and library of ASF have been enriched with valuable records of personal and community history. For more information, call 212-294-8350 or visit www.sephardichouse.org

About the Center for Jewish History

The Center for Jewish History, (www.cjh.org), is the central resource for the cultural and historical legacy of the Jewish people. Located in the heart of Chelsea, NYC, it is within a ten-block radius of one of the largest populations of college and graduate students in the country. The Center serves the worldwide academic and general communities with combined holdings of approximately 100 million archival documents, a half million books, and tens of thousands of photographs, artifacts, paintings and textiles. The Center is comprised of a partnership of five major institutions of Jewish scholarship, history and art: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. In addition to its exhibit halls, classrooms, auditoriums and banquet facilities, the Center houses the Reading Room, the gateway to accessing the collections of the five partner organizations, and the Genealogy Institute, a research center where Jewish descendants can uncover information about their ancestors. The Center for Jewish History will interest all who wish to explore the richness of the Jewish past and the promise of the Jewish future. For more information on The Center for Jewish History, visit www.cjh.org or call (212) 294-8301.

http://www.payvand.com/news/04/feb/1195.html

To: Leaders of the European Union and the People of Europe

February 26, 2004
Iran va Jahan - Letters to the Editor
Shirin Peerooz

Subject: Open Letter

BBC NEWS: 23 February, 2004: "A draft statement from an EU foreign ministers' meeting voiced "deep regret" at the conduct of the polls.

"The Council of EU foreign ministers expressed it's deep regret and disappointment that large numbers of candidates were prevented from standing in this year's parliamentary elections... making a genuine democratic choice by the Iranian people impossible," it said."

I say: you are still not getting it! The issue is not the problems between the hardliners and the so-called reformists. The issue is the great gap and the gigantic abyss that exist between these two and the people of Iran. People did not boycott the election to support the reformists. People stayed at home to say a big "NO” to the Islamic Republic in its entirety.

I am an Iranian, an Iranian woman. Like Shirin Ebadi, I am a Moslem too but that is not the issue, by no means.. I am an Iranian woman living in exile and haven't been back to my country since the clerics invaded my country and like their Arab predecessors usurped the throne and mantle of the great Achaemenian and Parthian kings.

In all these years, I have not been able to forget the land of my birth and the sufferings of my fellow countrymen. I am anxiously marking days hoping for the day that I will see my homeland freed. Throughout the years of exile, I have repeatedly sought to learn the regime's secret of survival. Indeed, it is a mystery that a regime so supremely incompetent and inconsistent at best, deeply and vastly detested at home and abroad has managed to survive. Aside from the confusion existing among my people and the lack of leadership among the opposition groups, and aside from the fact that the Islamic regime in Iran is probably one of the most ruthless and brutal regimes in the history of mankind, I find the main reason for this regime's survivability, an umbilical cord so tightly knotted into the belly of the European Union. Really, what more should these blood-thirsty crowd do for you to realize that dealing with them is just not worth it? Indeed, it can have adverse future ramifications. I am convinced that if it were not for the untiring support of EU's principal members throughout these years, the regime would have been long gone years ago.

Americans think terrorism and fundamentalism as their worst enemies. They don't know (or perhaps they know and can't do anything about it) that you are indeed their greater enemy. They have always protected you against self-inflicted internal strife, but you have repeatedly bitten the hand that fed you. Needless to say, you know they will feed you again if there is a need and they know that you will bite their hands again. They have nurtured you at time of need and in gratitude, you stab them in the back.

You know perfectly well that ruling Mullahs ruining MY country are the principal source of international terrorism. Among their innovations are the notion of martyrdom and the birth of suicide bombing. Nevertheless, so long as your coffers can profit from this brutal regime, you choose to ignore these facts. Your support pumps blood to their dying veins. It gives them energy and propagates their wretched existence. You have turned your back on my people; you are sacrificing their well being for the sake of cheaper oil and business contracts. You are taking advantage of the current situation while ignoring the fact that our homeland and the life and future of our people is wasted and destroyed by the current ruling Mullahs.

People of Europe, do you know the extra Euros in your already opulent life style is paid with the blood of people who never did you any harm? Do you know the broken and lashed bodies of the youth of my country paid for these extra benefits?

Are you aware the cost of your material gains are several million addicted children and innocent little girls who are forced to prostitute in order to live? Your governments are closing their eyes to the injustices and atrocities and keep you in the dark. Haven't you seen the women wrapped in white shrouds and stoned to death? Haven't you seen hands being severed for stealing a loaf of bread? What about eyes plucked out of their socket? Don't they remind you at all of Victor Hugo's "Les Miserable?” Aren't you afraid of God and the fact that sooner or later you may have to repent for this indifference?

Your governments are so worried about the demise of this brutal and savage regime that they have become their political supporters and faithful consultants. Whatever advise and support they need, the EU leadership provides. They constantly send their top advisers and political leaders to Iran. EU Prim Ministers, EU Ministers of Foreign affair, the head of the EU itself, even a royal Prince. To what cause? to safeguard them against our people? Against the broken hearted mother who lost four children to these criminals? Against the father who is dealing with the pain of losing a son in the war and a daughter to prostitution? Against the kidnapped writers who were stabbed to death? Against the exiles who were butchered in your own countries (recall Dr. Bakhtiar? Does it sound familiar? Recall Sharafkandi and his friends in Mikonos restaurant? How about Farrokhzad, Sahriar Shafig, Boroumand, General Oveisi, and … ?) Against imprisoned and tortured thousands in their notorious prisons? Against million expatriates suffering around the world and either afraid or too disgusted to return home? I can go on and on and on...

I was looking at the photographs of the three EU foreign ministers from France, Britain, and Germany taken during their recent travel to Tehran to help the Mullahs with their Nuclear plans; to make it short, keep them out of trouble. Their jovial laughter was like a thorn in the heart of millions of my people who have been going through the most inhumane pains in the hands of these people, and all the humiliation all these years all over the world because of those criminals. Go ahead, laugh at us, as much as you can, love and hug those bloody cruel criminals your royal highness, the Prince.

Go ahead! laugh at us, laugh at our misery. Go ahead! teach them and pamper them like spoiled children and in exchange, they will give you a little share of Iran's robbed booty.

Go ahead and brag about western civilization!, freedom!, democracy!. How can you shout about democracy in your country while you enslave other nations for your economical gains? You did this in Iraq and you witnessed the result. Now you are doing it to my country. I promise there will come a day that we will laugh at you.

My countrymen will not tolerate this regime forever and your economic dominance over my country will end soon. My country has dealt with worse situations. It has gone through many invasions, but this time, it is a different story. I hope your conscience wakes up in time and you turn your back on this regime...

This is the best time for your governments (EU in general) to understand the real issues. It is to your benefit to support the struggle of our people for freedom, this is a crucial time for us. Stop helping them and leave the rest to us...

http://www.iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=02&d=26&a=7

EU 3 Haggled Hard for Iran Nuclear Deal

February 26, 2004
Reuters
Louis Charbonneau and Paul Taylor

VIENNA/BRUSSELS -- Intense backroom negotiations among France, Britain, Germany, Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog persuaded Tehran to agree this week to suspend all activities linked to uranium enrichment, diplomats said.

Under this deal, clinched on Monday and announced on Tuesday in the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) latest report on Iran, Tehran pledged to temporarily halt all major activities connected with the enrichment of uranium -- including the manufacture, testing and assembly of centrifuges.

It was the second time in six months the European powers had persuaded Iran to make crucial concessions on its nuclear programme before an IAEA deadline that could trigger U.N. sanctions, with the U.S. breathing fire in the background.

Diplomats close to the negotiations told Reuters this could open the door to an exchange of peaceful technology, which the EU's "Big Three" in October promised Iran if it accepted snap IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities and suspended enrichment.

"It's the beginning of mainstreaming Iran with Europe, which I think is very important," said a senior Vienna-based official familiar with the IAEA report on Iran.

The report said Tehran would issue instructions for the implementation of the suspension by the first week of March.

In October, Iran agreed to suspend enrichment. But a dispute erupted when Tehran interpreted the suspension in the narrowest possible sense. While it stopped enriching uranium -- a process of purifying it for use as nuclear fuel or in weapons -- it continued manufacturing and assembling enrichment centrifuges.

At stake was the latest IAEA report, which diplomats said was held up for several days at the request of the Big Three to give them time to convince Iran to agree to a full suspension.

An EU diplomatic source said Britain, France and Germany had indicated to Iran that it would get a positive report and the IAEA board might not even adopt any fresh resolution on Iranian compliance issues next month if it agreed to a complete halt.

"It took intensive contacts on Saturday, Sunday and Monday in particular until we got full agreement of the Iranians to a total suspension including the centrifuges," the source said. "Monday was tight."

Diplomats said the suspension was the main topic discussed at a secret meeting in Vienna on Saturday between IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and head of the Supreme National Security Council, Hassan Rohani.

U.S. HOPES FOR COUNCIL REPORT DASHED

Since last June, the United States has been pushing the IAEA Board of Governors to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose sanctions, for hiding its uranium enrichment programme from the IAEA for nearly two decades.

"If there had not been an agreement on total suspension, it could have moved forward to open the (U.N.) sanctions process. But this agreement will allow Iran not to go to the Security Council and maybe not even to have a Board of Governors resolution at all," the EU source said.

Once the report came out, several Western diplomats said Washington was left with little support for a resolution of "non-compliance" with its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and for a Council report.

Not surprisingly, the United States has focused on the negative aspects of the report -- that Iran continued to hide technology and research that could be linked to a weapons programme -- saying it only strengthened the U.S. view that Tehran's nuclear power programme is a front for building a bomb.

Iran says it has never pursued a nuclear weapons programme and said it was not obliged to report such research to the U.N.

EU diplomats said the Big Three's strategy was to look to the future and stop Iran from closing the nuclear fuel enrichment cycle rather than focusing on the past. Washington, on the other hand, is unwilling to overlook any defunct weapons-related activities that might have gone on in the past.

But there are nuances of difference among Europe's Big Three, with Germany more inclined to take Iran's word that it has taken a strategic decision not to develop nuclear weapons and no more nasty surprises will be forthcoming, diplomats said.

Britain, on the other hand, was more cautious. British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Tehran on Thursday that he expected full compliance with IAEA rules and an end to its pattern of keeping atomic secrets.

"I want to make it very clear to the Iranian authorities that there must be complete and total compliance with the IAEA," he said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26625685.htm

Tony Blair: Britain Wants to Encourage a Process of Change in Iran

February 26, 2004
Nazenin Ansari
Kayhan (London)

Tony Blair expressed "serious concern" about the recent elections in Iran at his monthly news conference in Downing Street today.

In response to the question posed by Kayhan (London) as to whether the British policy of engagement with the regime of the ayatollahs will change in view of the recent unfair and closed elections and the continued breach of trust of the European Union and especially Britain regarding the continuation of the secret nuclear development programme, Mr Blair said: Obviously I would like to see all countries give their people the right to participate in full and free elections. It is sad that so many of the candidates were disqualified from the recent elections in Iraq.

"In the end I think that what countries around the world realise is that if they embrace democracy, the rule of law and human rights, they don't merely become better places to live, they also become more prosperous places."

"We engage for a reason: to make the world more secure, and to try and encourage a process of change in Iran."

Commenting on Iran's nuclear development programme Mr. Blair demanded that the Islamic regime in Iran disclose fully the details of its nuclear programmes to the United Nations atomic watchdog.

"I want to make it very clear to the Iranian authorities that there must be complete and total compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency. There can't be any partial compliance with that. The demands that they have made have to be met, and met in full, and I don't want there to be any doubt about that."

Although Iran appeared to have made a full declaration last October to the Vienna-based IAEA of its nuclear programme, Dr ElBaradei has said that new discoveries of nuclear material, including polonium, a radioactive element that can trigger an atomic chain reaction in a bomb; uranium, enriched to a far greater degree than previously admitted by Tehran; and a design for an advanced uranium-enrichment centrifuge system, called P2, believed to have come from Pakistan.

Tehran has insisted that all its nuclear research has been solely for civilian purposes. That line has been rejected by the US administration, which has always believed that Iran has been engaged in a clandestine nuclear weapons programme.

The discovery of polonium, previously undisclosed by Iran, adds to the growing suspicion that Tehran is intent on developing a nuclear bomb. Traces of polonium were discovered at a Tehran research reactor.

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=02&d=26&a=15

Iran's nuclear program - The U.S. and EU have to come together

International Herald Tribune - By Ivo Daalder and Michael Levi
Feb 26, 2004

WASHINGTON Early next month, the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of directors will once again meet to consider how to respond to new evidence that Iran has continued to hide significant elements of its nuclear program. Although the board may agree to refer the issue to the UN Security Council, the United States and Europe still differ on how best to respond to Tehran's continuing violation of its nonproliferation obligations.

The trans-Atlantic partners urgently need to coalesce around a long-term strategy for confronting Iran. Such agreement is needed to effectively deter Iranian violations and to keep the prospect of a diplomatic resolution open.

It is needed for a second reason too: This dispute has all the makings of repeating the disastrous fissures that developed over Iraq, except this time Britain appears to be siding with its European partners against the United States. That would be tragic for many reasons, not least because in this particular case there is absolutely no difference between the two sides on the ultimate objective.

Everyone - Europe and the United States as well as Australia, Canada, Japan and even Russia - knows that the consequences of Iran becoming a nuclear power are exceedingly grave.

Tehran's long-range missiles would put much of Europe within reach of a possible nuclear strike. Neighboring states might respond by acquiring deterrent capabilities of their own. And Israel, which has long seen Iran as a serious threat, might decide to strike preemptively, as it did against Iraq in 1981.

To prevent such a dangerous spiral, Iran's nuclear weapons development must be halted. It is not enough that Tehran sign on to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty , as it has done. Nor is it sufficient only to allow additional inspections by the IAEA.

As long as Iran has the inherent capability to produce nuclear weapons materials, be it by enriching uranium or reprocessing plutonium, it will have the option of following in the footsteps of North Korea - withdrawing from the nonproliferation treaty, ousting the inspectors and finishing a bomb.

Only when the key weapons-material-production parts of the nuclear fuel cycle have been dismantled and destroyed can there be any confidence that Tehran will not become a nuclear power.

Europeans and Americans agree on this goal. Now they need to agree on a common strategy to get there.

The first step must be an agreement to refer the issue to the Security Council, which should warn Iran that its continued failure to fulfill all its nonproliferation obligations constitutes a threat to international peace and security.

Next, the United States and Europe should agree on a common strategy that combines Europe's preference for carrots with America's preference for sticks. They have to agree on a clear set of benchmarks and deadlines for Iran to give up its enrichment and reprocessing capabilities. Tehran's compliance would lead to the economic and technology cooperation that European leaders promised last fall.

At the same time, the United States and Europe would have to draw red lines that Tehran could not cross. And they would have to reach a clear understanding on the kinds of coercive actions they would take in the event of further noncompliance - from economic sanctions through, ultimately, the destruction by force of Iranian nuclear facilities.

The high costs of U.S.-European disagreement over how to deal with Iran are all too obvious. It should not be beyond the capability of U.S. and European diplomats to forge a common strategy.

Ivo Daalder is senior fellow, and Michael Levi is science and technology fellow, in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_5106.shtml

IRAN, IAEA AND PAKISTAN IN A NEW CONTROVERSY

ISLAMABAD, 26 Feb (IPS)

As controversy over Iranian nuclear activities grows, with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accusing again the Islamic Republic of having failed to inform the United Nations about its ongoing programs, Pakistan said it would not hand over its scientists to the International nuclear watchdog.

"Not being a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty (NPT), Pakistan is not bound to tell the IAEA about all its nuclear activities, Islamabad’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Mas’ood Khan told reporters concerning the alleged transfer of nuclear-related technology to Iran, including parts for enriching uranium by professor Abdol Qadeer Khan, the "father" of Pakistan’s atomic bomb.

On Tuesday, the Vienna-based IAEA said that Iran had not told the Agency that it had designs for sophisticated "P-2" centrifuges for enriching uranium or that it had produced polonium-210, an element that could be used as a "neutron initiator (to start the chain reaction) in some designs of nuclear weapons.

Late last October, Iran agreed with Britain, France and Germany that it would open all its nuclear installations to unrestricted inspections by international experts and suspend uranium-enriching activities.

Masood Khan’s Iranian counterpart, Hamid Reza Asefi said Iran had done research in the past on polonium but stopped 13 years ago. "The report by the IAEA was nothing new", he was quoted by journalists in Tehran.

IAEA Egyptian Chief Mohamed ElBarade’i told reporters Tuesday on a flight from Tripoli to Vienna: "I hope this will be the last time that any aspect of the program has not been declared to us".

The report is to be reviewed when the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors meets March 8 to rule on Iran's cooperation.

Kenneth Brill, U.S. envoy to the IAEA, said the report showed that Iran failed to fully disclose its nuclear activities, as required to, in its October declaration to IAEA.

"The continuing pattern of Iranian deception and delayed admissions about its nuclear activities, as well as specific information in the IAEA report, strengthens our assessment that Iran's nuclear program is not consistent with its stated purpose, but is clearly geared toward the development of nuclear weapons", he said.

But Iran’s main negotiator with the IAEA, Hojjatoleslam Hasan Rohani said the Islamic Republic replied was only working on the design of a P-2 centrifuge, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

"We have other research projects that we haven't declared to the IAEA and we don't consider it necessary to announce it to the agency, either", added Mr. Rohani, who is also the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security, hinting also that Iran might resume uranium enrichment if the world fails to respond to Tehran's suspension of the process.

"Uranium enrichment suspension by Iran was voluntary, and only for the purpose of building confidence", he said, adding: "We have set no timing for the end of suspension ... One day uranium enrichment will be resumed".

In another development, Mr. Khan described as "wild speculation" earlier reports by Pakistani newspapers that Mr. Khalid, the son of Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama Ben Laden’s right hand man had been arrested in the ongoing military operations in Wana, Waziristan, near the Afghan borders.

According to the Jang daily, Khalid al-Zawahiri was arrested in an operation against al-Qa’eda suspects in South Waziristan and was handed over to US custody soon after the arrest and flown out of Pakistan.

But Islamabad refused to confirm the information, stating that it was not possible to give any information about the foreigners arrested during the operation because suspected terrorists might still be hiding in the area.

"The operation to flush out Al Qa’eda militants from Pakistan's territory has not yet ended, although the crackdown in the western border town is over for the time being", Mr. Mas’ood Khan, Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry senior spokesman said, adding that investigations were still going on to determine nationality and antecedents of the arrested people.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Khan said the objective of the operation was to "locate and neutralize" any terrorists in the tribal areas and would continue till they were "flushed out and eliminated".

The large-scale operation, involving specially trained men and helicopters are aimed priority at capturing Mr. Ben Laden and several of his men, believed to be hiding in the region, dominated by tribes supporting both the Taleban and al-Qa’eda, the organisation that carried out the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.

But experts and specialists said given the publicity about the operations, it would be "surprising" if any of top commanders of the Taleban that ruled over Afghanistan before the military invasion of the country by American forces on November 2001 or the al-Qa’eda are captured.

On Tuesday, General Shaukat Sultan, the Army’s official spokesman announced the capture of some twenty "suspects including foreigners" in the village of Azam Warzak, near Wana, the capital city of Southern Waziristan, where four fomer jihadi commanders who fought the Soviet Union, namely Naik Mohammad, Mohammad Sharif, Maulavi Abbas and Noor al-Islam are supposed to live.

According to the Army, Mr. Naik Mohammad is suspected to be behind the escape of most of the al-Qa’eda men during American massive bombardment of Tora Bora Mountains in Afghanistan, where Ben Laden and his close aides, including Dr. al-Zavahiri were supposed to have taken refuge.

Pakistani and Western sources in Islamabad say President Perviz Musharraf decided the operations under new pressures from Washington, ahead of planned "spring offensive" by American forces in southern Afghanistan to "eradicate" the last bastions of the Taleban, mostly fighters of Mr. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former CIA informant and Afghan Prime Minister who joined hands with Mollah Mohammad Omar, the Taleban’s Chief and Ben Laden.

At the same time, the President General is also under immense pressures from Pakistan’s influential and powerful Muslim parties and senior religious leaders who have tremendous followers among soldiers, officers and even high-ranking commanders, the sources pointed out.

Confirming that a few foreign women were among those arrested during the operation, an ISPR spokesman said that apprehended women were dealt through women police and the jirga (city council of the elders) and they were accorded due respect and had been kept in safe custody.

Commenting on reports regarding demolition of houses of those providing refuge to the "foreigners", the spokesman said it was a local custom that houses of people who provided shelter to foreign elements or involved in anti-state activities, were demolished.

ENDS ANTI QAEDA OPERATIONS 26204

http://www.iran-press-service.com/articles_2004/Feb_04/anti_qaeda_operations_26204.htm

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