Join Us At Today's Iranian Alert Thread – The Most Underreported Story Of The Year! 
"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin”
Posted on 06/06/2004 9:28:51 PM PDT by DoctorZIn
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.” 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. I began these daily threads June 10th 2003. On that date Iranians once again began taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Today in Iran, most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy.
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.
DoctorZin
Human Rights Watch: Iranian Judges Have "Shut Down" Dissent
June 06, 2004
The Associated Press
The Jerusalem Post
Iranian judges have detained and tortured writers, student leaders and political activists in secret prisons and muzzled reform-minded newspapers to "shut down" dissent, Human Rights Watch said in a report Monday that holds out little hope the trend can be reversed.
"There is widespread agreement that the political environment has become increasingly abusive and defined by force," Human Rights Watch said in a 73-page report based on interviews with former political prisoners.
The report, "Like the Dead in Their Coffins: Torture, Detention, and the Crushing of Dissent in Iran," echoed the pessimism of Iran's reformist President Mohammad Khatami, who has all but conceded defeat in his struggle with hard-liners. Khatami's calls for expanding democratic rights and easing strict Islamic social rules were applauded by many Iranians, but denounced by hard-liners as a betrayal of the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the shah and brought clerics to power.
The Iranian judiciary is seen as firmly in the hands of hard-liners, led by Iran's supreme and unelected leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. New York-based Human Rights Watch said the judiciary was "at the center of the human rights violations" documented in its report.
During his first four-year presidential term, Khatami had managed to relax some of the country's strict Islamic laws and allow greater media freedoms. By the time of Khatami's second-term victory in 2001, hard-liners were fighting back, shutting down more than 100 liberal publications and detaining dozens of activists and writers for criticizing unelected hard-line clerics.
"The Iranian authorities have managed, in the span of four years, to virtually silence the political opposition within the country through the systematic use of indefinite solitary confinement of political prisoners, physical torture of student activists and denial of basic due process rights to all those detained for the expression of dissenting views," Human Rights Watch said.
"A small group of judges accountable only to (Khamenei) has shut down public dissent," the group added, saying the judges had vigilantes and security agents at their disposal to detain and interrogate dissidents, hid their activities in secret prisons and shut down newspapers that had spoken up for political prisoners.
Asked Sunday about reports of human rights violations, judiciary spokesman Naser Hosseini said torture had decreased significantly in Iran since the judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, in April ordered a ban on the use of torture to obtain confessions. Shahroudi's ban was seen as the first public acknowledgment of the practice in the country.
Despite Hosseini's assurances, Iranian reformist lawyer Mohsen Rahami said human rights violations remained a concern.
Human Rights Watch, describing the future as "bleak," said: "The authorities have largely succeeded in their campaign to send a message to the broader public that the costs of voicing peaceful political criticism are unbearably high."
Human Rights Watch interviewed former political prisoners outside Iran. Many were afraid to allow their names to be used or speak openly inside Iran. They described beatings and long stays in windowless, soundproof solitary cells described as "coffins."
One student leader and outspoken critic of the government said he was psychologically tortured by being told during his detention that his parents had had a car accident as they rushed to jail to post bail for him. His father, he was told, had been killed.
"If you had not done this, your father would not have died. This is justice for what you did," the student said he was told. He realized it was a lie only when he saw his parents in court later.
The report was issued a month before the anniversary of a 1999 raid on a Tehran University dormitory that killed one person and touched off days of anti-government protests. The anniversary is usually marked by student protests - and attempts by security forces and pro-government vigilantes to suppress demonstrations.
Human Rights Watch singled out Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, a former judge, in its report. As a judge, Mortazavi ordered the closure of scores of reformist newspapers. Human Rights Watch said he "has been personally involved in a number of coercive interrogations, threats against individual arrestees, and has even allegedly given the order for individual arrestees to be physically abused."
Reformists in Iran have publicly accused Mortazavi of illegally detaining a Canadian photojournalist of Iranian origin and then covering up facts surrounding her death in custody last July.
In April, Iran's unelected clerics honored Mortazavi as "best manager" in the judiciary, under whose umbrella prosecutors fall.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1086490421935
Iran's Suicide Bombers Parley Begins
June 07, 2004
Middle East Newsline
MENL
NICOSIA -- Iran has hosted its first conference for suicide bombers. The conference was sponsored by the Iranian government and its state-financed Center for the Appreciation of the Martyr. Iranian news media said the conference had gathered candidates from around the world for a meeting in Teheran.
The Fars News Agency said the conference was part of the events to mark the anniversary of the death of Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The conference included envoys from a range of Islamic insurgency groups sponsored or financed by Teheran.
The conference began on June 2 and included senior commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Members of Khomeini's family also addressed the conference.
http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2004/june/06_07_1.html
That is sick.
Hire a suicide bomber.
This just in from Banafsheh...
"This is the Islamic Republic of Iran's official form for hiring suicide bombers!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1148876/posts?page=3#3
Iran Predicts Nuke Program Will Get OK
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran
Published Sunday, June 6, 2004
Iran has answered most questions about its nuclear program and does not expect the U.N. atomic agency to declare it in violation of its international obligations, despite American lobbying, the foreign ministry said Sunday.
The statement came ahead of a June 14 meeting of the 35-nation IAEA's board of governors, which has wrestled for more than a year over what to do about what the United States and its allies say is a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program.
Washington wants the IAEA to declare Iran in breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and refer Iran's case to the U.N. Security Council, which may impose sanctions.
"The meeting will not produce what Iran's opponents are looking for," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. "The U.S. is using all its capabilities (against Iran), but certainly what it is looking for will not happen. There is no doubt about it."
Iran has said its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes, not geared toward making bombs.
"Iran ... has responded to all ambiguities. There is little left (of Iran's nuclear dossier) on the IAEA's agenda. Iran's situation with the IAEA is very much different from the past," Asefi said.
In Vienna, Austria, a Western diplomat who asked not to be identified said that Germany, France and Britain were working on a draft resolution praising Iran for cooperation with the IAEA but urging it to clear up remaining questions about its nuclear program.
Those three countries have at past board meetings advocated a softer line than the United States, arguing that persuasion was less risky than confrontation. But Vienna-based European diplomats have in recent days suggested that - with key questions still unanswered - patience with Iran was wearing thin.
The diplomat suggested Washington would have a chance to push for toughened language in the European draft, telling The Associated Press: "There is going to be an opportunity for the U.S. to see the resolution before its submitted."
But he indicated that any resolution could not come down too hard on Iran, saying, the board "can't make any conclusions because the Iranians stalled. We are in a holding pattern."
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei presented a report to the board last week, saying that his agency had not found proof of a concrete link between Iran's nuclear activities and its military program, but that "it was premature to make a judgment."
The report, however, alleged that Iran had tried to buy critical parts for advanced P-2 centrifuges, which can be used for energy purposes or to enrich uranium to weapons grade.
ElBaradei's report did not appear critical enough of Iran to marshal strong support at the IAEA board meeting for Security Council action against Tehran.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani acknowledged Wednesday that Iran has purchased parts that can be used for P-2 centrifuges but played down the significance. Rowhani also left open the option of producing P-2 centrifuges, prompting concern from the U.S. State Department.
Iran has confirmed it has produced P-1 centrifuges, which are used for low-grade enrichment that is not of weapons grade. It also has confirmed it has been doing research on P-2 centrifuges for years, including the production of sample parts, and has provided photos and information to the IAEA.
Iran suspended uranium enrichment last year under mounting international pressure, and in April it said it had stopped building centrifuges. IAEA inspectors had found traces of highly enriched uranium at two sites, which Iranian officials maintained was due to contaminated imported materials.
Asefi also commented on CIA director George Tenet's resignation earlier this week, saying it was an example of the United States "acknowledging its previous wrong policies."
Tenet cited personal reasons for his resignation, which came after widespread criticism of intelligence failures before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States and more recent allegations that an Iraqi politician passed intelligence secrets to Iran.
"We have to wait to see who will resign in the future due to wrong American policies today," Asefi said.
Asefi said that any U.N. resolution about Iraq's future must do three things: "return full sovereignty to the Iraqi people, specify the duration occupying forces will stay in Iraq and clarify the relationship between the new interim government and the multinational force in Iraq."
Asefi said Tehran considers the new government a step toward full sovereignty.
The 15-nation U.N. Security Council is currently debating a U.S.-British draft resolution on the scheduled June 30 handover of power to from the U.S.-led coalition to an interim Iraqi government named last week.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040606/API/406060684
This just in from our friends at activistchat.com...
"The film below contains a lot of video of the devastation from the recent earthquake in Chaloos. The video is a great example of the lack of attention and care the Islamic regime has for Iranian citizens. Only when there is an uprising do you find Police and regime mercenaries swarming to the scene. In this video, notice the lack of police or emergency rescue crew presence."
http://www.ayaran.com/Ayaran.com.wmv
ElBaradei Hopes Iran Nuclear Probe ended in Coming Months
TALLOIRES, TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- The UN nuclear watchdog hopes Iran has "come clean" on its nuclear program so a long probe into it can be wound up in the next few months, its chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Sunday.
ElBaradei said he hoped a second dossier Tehran gave the International Atomic Energy Agency was now the full picture of the program, Reuters said.
"Iran needs to accelerate its cooperation," ElBaradei said at a symposium in the eastern French resort of Talloires on Lake Annecy.
"They have a legal obligation to come clean," he said. "I would hope it's a matter of months that we should be able to bring these issues to closure."
U.S. has accused Iran of seeking a secret nuclear program, a charge vehemently rejected by Iran.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary General Hassan Rowhani on Wednesday challenged Washington to produce hard evidence Tehran was trying to build a nuclear bomb.
"It's clear they have nothing," Rohani said last week.
Iran has accepted the additional protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty which allows for tough inspections and has recently given a full report of its nuclear program to the IAEA.
ElBaradei said he was "not sure we have any concrete proof" that Iran planned to build a bomb and said the IAEA still needed to know more about its uranium enrichment program.
IAEA inspections of Iran's nuclear program will have been going on for two years in September and Tehran's second dossier, which it received last week, would take several months to assess, ElBaradei said. "We need the active accelerated cooperation of Iran to bring this issue to closure as soon as possible." Iran Says IAEA Report Contains Nothing New
Iran Sunday rejected a confidential report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying it was bereft of anything new about the country's nuclear program, IRNA reported.
"This report has no new point; it is rather repetition of the past issues (raised by the IAEA) with a different wording," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told reporters at his weekly news briefing.
Asefi said the IAEA had asked Tehran to clarify ambiguities regarding contamination of some of the imported parts and issues related to P2 centrifuges.
"Iran answered all ambiguities in cooperation with the agency, but if there exist more ambiguities, they are rooted in the pressures exerted by the countries which do not like this file to be resolved in a peaceful manner.
"This report indicates the fussiness (shown by the IAEA) and there is no sign of Iran's laziness and lack of cooperation.
“The report shows that there is no point in maintaining the status quo and that Iran's file must be closed as soon as possible”.
The report came ahead of a scheduled meeting by the IAEA's 35-member Board of Governors to discuss Tehran's nuclear case. Asefi said he was confident 'the ill-wishers of the Islamic Republic of Iran' would not achieve what they want.
The United States has been trying hard to report Iran to the UN Security Council on the charges that Tehran was pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
The spokesman, however, acknowledged that ElBaradei's report also contained 'some positive points'.
The report had praised Iran for 'providing access to locations in response to agency's requests, including workshops situated at military sites'.
Tehran has suspended production of centrifuge components as of April 9 as a confidence-building measure with the international community.
It has also voluntarily frozen its uranium enrichment activities since last October and signed a protocol allowing snap inspections of its nuclear sites by the IAEA.
The suspension followed an agreement signed between Iran and the European big three -- Britain, France and Germany -- for cooperation.
Asefi underlined 'extensive lobbies' being held and reminded the three countries of their commitments according to the 'Tehran Declaration'.
The official, however, was quick to add that 'no sign has emerged to show Europe's lack of commitment to the Tehran Declaration'.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=6/7/2004&Cat=4&Num=020
Who issued this form. What is printed under the logo in the upper left corner?
Salman Rushdie's still a burr in someone's saddle after all this time?
HRW Says Human Rights Situation In Iran Worsening
Radio Free Europe
June 7th 2004
7 June 2004 -- Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Iran of intensifying a crackdown against critics of the Islamic republic.
The charge comes in a 73-page report issued today by the New York-based human rights group. The report is based on interviews with journalists, writers, and student activists. It documents systematic abuse against political detainees, including arbitrary arrest, detention without trial, torture to extract confessions, and prolonged solitary confinement.
The report says the Iranian authorities have managed over the past four years "to virtually silence the political opposition within the country." The report said "a small group of judges" accountable only to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "has shut down public dissent."
The report also notes a three-year dialogue between the European Union and Iran has failed to achieve any tangible results. Human Rights Watch urged the EU to put more pressure on Iran to end its crackdown on political opponents.
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/06/1a1d56ee-1138-4ffa-bb85-b46d7dce3755.html
That is the Arabic/islamic moon surrounding the planet earth, That is my take!
Can you translate the text?
No, I am sorry! I think Doc translated that very well and I dont know Persian language!
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