Iranian Alert -- August 4, 2004 [EST]-- IRAN LIVE THREAD -- "Americans for Regime Change in Iran"

The US media still largley 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.

U.S. Vows Tough Stance On Tehran, But Will Europe Follow?

August 03, 2004
Radio Free Europe
RFE/RL

Prague -- In perhaps the strongest signal yet of Washington's emerging policy on Iran, Bush administration officials say Tehran must be "confronted" and "isolated" over its nuclear activities -- and not "engaged."

Bush and White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice made it clear on 2 August that Washington intends to intensify international pressure on Tehran for failing to cooperate fully with the IAEA -- the nuclear watchdog agency of the United Nations.

But whether European nations engaged in negotiations with Iran are prepared to go along with that hard line remains unclear, even after Tehran announced this week it would not honor a pledge it made with them to suspend some nuclear-related activities.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Bush said the United States and the European Union's "big three" members are working together to ensure there is, quote, "full disclosure, full transparency of [Iran's] nuclear weapons programs."

"We are paying very close attention to Iran, and we have [been paying attention] ever since I've been in office here," Bush said. "We are working with our friends to keep the pressure on the mullahs to listen to the demands of the free world."

Later, in an interview on Fox television network, Rice intensified the U.S. rhetoric, saying the regime in Iran "has to be isolated in its bad behavior, not 'engaged.'"

She added that Washington is working with the Europeans on what she called "a very tough set of resolutions" demanding Iranian compliance on the nuclear issue.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell recently warned Iran that its case is likely to be referred to the UN Security Council for failing to meet IAEA commitments. A Security Council resolution could lead to sanctions on Iran.

But asked whether France would go along with U.S. plans to increase pressure on Iran, Rice said Washington will "just have to keep working with the French and the British and the Germans to make certain" that they follow the American position.

Whether they will is far from clear.

Analyst Steven Everts of London's European Center for Reform says there is growing frustration in Europe over Iran's failure to live up to vows that it has made on its nuclear activities. But Everts says Europe is unlikely to accept purely negative sanctions against Iran, noting that decades of similar sanctions have sparked n-o change in countries like Cuba.

"The only thing the Americans are putting on the table are further pressure, isolation, and sanctions -- and possibly more down the road," Everts said. "Europeans say Iran's a complex place; different people want different things. It should be possible to construct some form of positive incentives as well, whereby you say to the Iranians: 'If you accept denuclearization and the verification of denuclearization, here's what you can get in return, also from the United States.'"

A study released in July by the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York policy institute, also urged the United States to offer more incentives and fewer punishments as it seeks to effect change in Iran.

But the tough talk from Washington on 2 August appeared to reject the recommendations of that study, which also called for more engagement with Iran.

The Bush administration's warnings came after Iran announced that it had resumed building nuclear centrifuges, which the United States says are intended to enrich uranium for use in nuclear weapons.

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told a news conference in Tehran on 31 July that Iran would respect a pledge -- made in October to Britain, France, and Germany -- to suspend all uranium-enrichment-related activities.

But he added that a separate deal on halting centrifuge-building would not be respected: "[Based on our agreements in October], we have accepted [suspending] uranium enrichment and we are continuing that uranium-enrichment suspension based on our definition -- meaning that we have not restarted enrichment. But we are not committed to our agreement in Brussels in February on halting building centrifuge parts, because the three big European countries have failed to meet their commitments toward us. We said we could resume making centrifuges. As previously announced, we have started building centrifuge parts at our factory after we took the decision."

Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, under which signatory countries vow to refrain from acquiring atomic weapons and can be punished by Security Council action for violations.

The oil-rich Persian Gulf state denies any interest in nuclear weapons, saying it needs enriched uranium for nuclear power stations to meet increasing domestic demand for electricity.

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/08/e68f85f7-60f4-45eb-8457-6dbf762bb5d8.html

Dropping Low Profile, Israel Goes on Offensive Against Iranian Nukes

August 03, 2004
JTA
Leslie Susser

JERUSALEM -- After months of keeping a low profile on Iran’s nuclear program, Israel has launched an intensive diplomatic campaign to convince the international community to pressure Teheran to drop its efforts to produce a nuclear bomb.

Israeli officials say the campaign, involving the United States, the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency, is focusing on a September meeting of the IAEA board of governors in Vienna. That body has the power to refer the “Iranian nuclear dossier” to the U.N. Security Council, where international sanctions could be imposed.

The Israeli diplomatic move has been accompanied by a veiled threat of attack on Iranian nuclear facilities if the international community fails to stop Teheran’s nuclear weapons drive. But the Iranians, undeterred, are continuing to pursue an ambivalent and potentially military nuclear program.

Like Israel, the United States is seeking stiffer international action. The E.U. position has been less decisive, however, and it is not clear whether the union will back a U.S. demand for sanctions. Europe’s position could be crucial. Israel stopped its public criticism of Teheran after Iran and Libya intimated a readiness late last year to cooperate with the international community in dismantling their nuclear weapons programs.

At the time, Israeli experts said Libya was serious, but they didn’t trust Iran. Still, given the new situation and not wanting to draw attention to its own alleged nuclear capabilities, Israel decided to adopt a low profile on Iran, and let the United States and Europe take the lead in pressuring Teheran to drop its nuclear weapons drive.

Now Israel feels the international community has not been firm enough, and has allowed Iran to get away with a pretense of cooperation while clandestinely furthering its nuclear ambitions.

In late June, Israeli leaders decided to change tack. As a first step, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom initiated a July 2 meeting in Washington on the Iranian issue with the U.S. national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.

Afterward, Shalom declared that the international community “cannot allow the Iranians to move forward in their efforts to develop nuclear weapons.”

Less than a week later, the IAEA’s director general, Mohammed El-Baradei, came to Israel, where all his interlocutors, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, stressed the danger to world peace of nuclear weapons in Iranian hands.

On July 22, when the E.U.’s foreign policy boss, Javier Solana, visited Israel, his hosts made sure his itinerary included a meeting with Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who provided Israeli intelligence material purporting to show Iran’s nuclear duplicity.

The day before, the head of Israeli military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Aharon (Farkash) Ze’evi, briefed the Cabinet, delivering an assessment — immediately made public — that unless Iran was stopped, it would go nuclear by 2007 or 2008.

Hawkish legislators Ephraim Sneh of the Labor Party and Ehud Yatom of Likud took their cue.

“If the international community continues to show ineffectiveness, Israel will have to consider its next steps — and fast,” Sneh said.

Yatom was more explicit.

“Israel,” he said, “must destroy the Iranian nuclear facility just as we did the Iraqi reactor in 1981.”

Earlier there had been what appeared to be a calculated leak to the press. On July 18, the London-based Sunday Times reported that the Israeli Air Force had completed military preparations for a pre-emptive strike at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility and would attack if Russia supplied Iran with fuel rods for enriching uranium.

An Israeli defense source, who confirmed that military rehearsals had taken place, was quoted as telling the paper, “Israel will on no account permit the Iranian reactors — especially the one being built in Bushehr with Russian help — to go critical.”

By breaking its silence on Iran, Israel was indicating that it does not take the Iranian threat lightly — and neither should the West. Beside the obvious warning to Iran, the subtext of the Israeli message seemed to be directed at the international community: Act to stop Iran going nuclear or Israel may feel it must take preemptive military action, with all the potentially destabilizing consequences.

Then, on July 29, Israel conducted a successful test off the California coast of its Arrow 2 anti-missile system. Some observers saw the test as yet another message to Iran: In a conflict situation Israel would have the overwhelming strategic advantage of being able to intercept and destroy incoming missiles, another reason for Iran to reconsider its nuclear program.

The Iranians, however, are showing no signs of backing down. On July 25, Seyed Masood Jazayeri, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, warned that if Israel attacks, “it will be wiped off the face of the earth.”

A week later, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi confirmed that Iran had resumed building centrifuges that can produce weapons-grade uranium. His statement followed a meeting in Paris in which Britain, France and Germany failed to persuade Iran to stop making the centrifuges and allow spot inspections of its nuclear facilities as promised.

The Europeans had offered to close the “Iranian nuclear dossier” if Iran cooperated with spot inspections and stopped all production of weapons-grade uranium. But Iran has been delaying the inspections, and — though it repeatedly has insisted that it was not making weapons-grade uranium — it acknowledged that it was continuing to make centrifuges that could be used for uranium enrichment. It also has said nothing will stop it from joining the world’s nuclear club.

Like Israel, the United States maintains that Iran is dissembling, pretending to run a civilian-use nuclear program while clandestinely conducting a full-scale nuclear weapons drive. With huge oil reserves, U.S. officials note, Iran hardly needs nuclear energy for civilian purposes.

Israeli officials say much will depend now on how the Europeans respond to the latest Iranian rebuff in Paris, and what line they take at the September IAEA board meeting. If they back the American position, the result could well be a U.N. Security Council debate on a joint resolution threatening Iran with sanctions.

That would be a new phase in the international community’s efforts to stop Iran from getting the bomb. And if that happens, Israel may feel that its new more aggressive campaign had something to do with it.

Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Report.

http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?strwebhead=Israel+warns+about+Iranian+nukes&intcategoryid=1&SearchOptimize=Jewish+News

http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=6882

Iran's only female mayor sweeps up small town

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Wednesday, August 04, 2004

SAVEH, Iran: Mehri Roustaie Gherailou is unlike any other mayor in Iran - she's a woman.

The 41-year-old manager of the small city of Saveh, situated around 100 kilometers southwest of Tehran, is only the second woman to run a town in the 25-year-old history of the Islamic Republic, and at present the only female in such a job.

And she has no hesitation in pointing out her difficulties swimming against the tide in a male-dominated society.

"Men cannot give up power to women that easily," she says in her office in Saveh, once famed for its pomegranates but now a busy industrial center and trading crossroads between six provinces.

Women, she said, are generally seen as less tolerant of laziness and corruption, something that makes them "very hard to accept."

When the city council appointed her mayor in May - a political upset in the town - Gherailou said she started her job of cleaning up the drab town of 140,000 people by sweeping a broom through her new office.

"On my first day in the office, I made the necessary changes in the municipality that none of the previous mayors had done," said Gherailou, a calm but resolute woman who gives the impression of being well on top of her job.

"I immediately replaced two deputies and some directors who were no longer trusted by people. I also started to deal with cases that have been stuck in the bureaucracy for up to five years," she said.

She said the council backed her simply because she dared to apply for the job, which she admitted was a "teenage dream" of hers. In winning the post, she beat a male opponent backed by the town's deputy to the national parliament.

But the mayor has her work cut out, even if she has been earning points for heading with her team out onto Saveh's streets to meet and talk more with constituents.

The town has in recent years been flooded with some 40,000 migrant workers looking for work at its industrial, mining and agricultural facilities. There is an unmanaged labor structure, sloppy construction and overstretched public services.

The mayor also has a few ambitious projects up her sleeve: the "Ladies' Garden," a women-only cultural and sports complex which is the fourth of its kind nationwide; low-cost housing; a town computer center and new cultural offices.

For whatever reasons, she admits some people in the small city of Saveh are upset.

"Some people have tried to set fire to one of the projects under construction. I get discouraging messages from people hoping that, in the end, I will give up," she explains.

A family woman who was the eldest of eight children, she says her father always asked her opinion. She ended up completing her education with a masters degree in management - one of the thousands of women who currently outnumber and outperform their male counterparts at universities in the Islamic Republic.

And now her husband, an agricultural engineer, gives his support to her political career, having told her "you can!" when she first showed an interest in becoming mayor.

Gherailou, who is clad in the black chador, shies away from defining herself as a feminist. Instead, she prefers to point out what she does not like: male-chauvinism.

And women, she says, could also do much more to advance their position in society.

"I do not mind about what gender my staff are. I used to be a teacher, a member of the town's Women's Committee, an adviser to the governor, a member of the city council since its establishment in 1999. So I believe women are as guilty as men for not getting decent positions in society."

Iranian strategist: US elections' results not to effect Iran-US relations
Head of Middle East Strategic Studies Center (MESSC) Dr. Mahmoud Sari'olqalam said in Tehran on Monday, "The victory of the current Republican White House team, or the democrats, led by John H. Kerry, will leave no effect in the quality of Iran-US relations," IRNA reported.

Speaking to the MESSC scientific staff, Dr. Sari'olqalam added, "The contents, and involved parameters in Iran-US relations would remain unchanged following the probable victory of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, compared to George Bush Jr.'s era."

Professor of Martyr Beheshti University's Faculty of Laws and Political Studies, referring to the macro-policies of both major US political parties, added, "The Republicans' main economic objective is promoting open market economy at global level, while the Democrats major economic ideal is boosting social justice, and that is the axis of their presidential campaign currently, but they are both quite concerned about Iran case, and our nuclear plans."

He made the conclusion, "Therefore, the reaction of either the Republicans, or the Democrats towards Iran and its nuclear plans depend directly on the outcome of the two upcoming IAEA Board of Governors' meetings on Iran."

Referring to the former US National Security Advisor during former US president Jimmy Carter's tenure, Zibignew Brezebsky`s recent remarks, who has said, "Iran is the most stable country in the Middle East region currently," he said, "New baseless US accusations against Iran, on passage of some of the September 11th terrorist attacks' agents through Iran's soil, as well as other baseless US propagation against Iran, are all a part of Republicans' presidential campaign."

Sari'olqalam emphasized, "Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon`s meeting with the Democrats' candidate, too, can be evaluated as lost hopes of the Republicans for gaining the American Jews' votes for President George Walker Bush's reelection."

He concluded, "Traditionally, the US presidents who are reelected, show less support for Israel and its demands in the Middle East region."

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup gave Kerry a 50 to 47 percent lead over Bush among registered voters.

Kerry led 49 to 45 percent among registered voters last month.

"First of all, it doesn't mean anything, because you don`t know who the likely voters are," Kerry told CNN. "We're registering people. There are countless numbers of new people coming into the system."

In an effort to snatch new supporters, Kerry and his vice presidential running mate, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, are on a two-week tour of about 20 key states that could tilt Republican or Democrat in the election.

The pair is making three to four campaign stops a day in its boat, bus and train ride across the country.

http://www.payvand.com/news/04/aug/1028.html

Iran unbending on nuclear hard line
By Safa Haeri

PARIS - Continuing its policy of confrontation, the Islamic Republic of Iran confirmed on the weekend that it had resumed building nuclear centrifuges, but at the same time said it was still holding back on enriching uranium, although this assurance is open to serious doubt.

"We still continue suspension on uranium enrichment, meaning that we have not resumed enrichment," Foreign Affairs Minister Kamal Kharrazzi said at the end of talks with his counterpart from neighboring Azerbaijan, adding, however, that Tehran was not committed to any agreement with three European powers - the United Kingdom, France and Germany - on not building centrifuges.

An Iranian government spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, said that since the Europeans did not fulfill promises to close Iran's nuclear dossier at the energy agency's June meeting, Iran felt no obligation to abide by an agreement that demanded Iran suspend manufacturing and assembling parts used in nuclear activities.

Officials from the European Union's "big three" met with an Iranian delegation in Paris last Thursday and Friday, and emphasized their wish to see a halt to Iran's work on the nuclear fuel cycle.

Washington strongly suspects Iran is using a civilian nuclear program as a cover for a secret nuclear weapons project. It has been lobbying for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, to refer Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council, which could impose sanctions.

According to contacts who spoke to Asia Times Online, the Iranians resumed enriching uranium on June 19, contrary to the official line that they had suspended this activity.

The weekend talks in Paris were to prepare the ground for a September meeting of the board of governors of the IAEA, which is expected to discuss Iran's program.

Neither the Iranians nor the Europeans would comment in detail on the latest talks, although some sources described them as "tense, but frank". A spokesman for the British and German foreign affairs ministries expressed "displeasure" at Iran's attitude, saying that they "do not understand the Iranian moves".

However, the hardline evening daily Keyhan, one of the mouthpieces of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, said on Saturday in Paris that the European trio demanded that Iran should agree to "never get out of the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty]" and inform the UK, France and Germany "systematically and in an orderly manner" about its nuclear activities.

"According to a four-page document, Iran would reiterate Britain, France and Germany's right of concern over any deviation by Iran from its peaceful atomic activities to military purposes," the paper said under the title, "Does majlis [parliament] know?"

Observers told The Asia Times Online that considering the position of Hoseyn Shariatmadari, the editor of the newspaper, a high-ranking intelligence officer specializing in interrogating political and intellectual dissidents and an advisor to Khamenei, who has the final word on all major issues, "he has easy access to confidential and classified documents".

Iran was also required to cooperate with the UK, France and Germany for detente in the Middle East on the one hand and fighting terrorism in the region on the other, and also coordinate the control of all its imports and exports with the three above-mentioned powers, Keyhan reported.

"What the Europeans are asking Iran is tantamount to an unconditional surrender, worse than any of the agreements the Western colonial powers imposed on Iran under the dark eras of the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties," Keyhan added, deliberately twisting history by not mentioning that the agreements it mentioned were imposed by czarist Russia on the Qajar kings.

The United States, Israel and some European governments claim that the final aim of the ruling Iranian ayatollahs is to use civilian nuclear projects for producing the atomic bomb, an allegation that Tehran rejects forcefully, insisting that the projects are mainly for producing much-needed electricity.

But they do not explain that if this is the case, why then not use natural gas to build electrical power stations, as Iran has the largest reserves after Russia and it is much cheaper, cleaner and safer than atomic processes, particularly one based on the aging and less reliable Russian technology that Iran uses?

"We were holding these [Paris] talks to reach further understanding and create more confidence in the direction that we are not seeking nuclear weapons," Kharrazzi said. "At the same time, we will insist on our legitimate rights," he added, referring to building nuclear-powered electrical plants.

"Each side was holding firm on its earlier and stated positions. It was deceiving, but no one was expecting any real breakthrough," the source told Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity.

Diplomats in Vienna revealed last week that Iran had broken seals inspectors the IAEA had placed on installations at the huge Natanz site, 350 kilometers south of Tehran, designed to enrich uranium hexafluoride, which, when processed in centrifuges, can be enriched to low levels for power generation or high levels for nuclear weapons.

Experts say that while one needed 2,500 centrifuges to produce military-grade uranium, Natanz could accommodate 5,000 units.

"The Iranians might be telling the truth that they are not making the atomic bomb, but the fact is that their civilian programs are so sophisticated that very quickly, maybe in less than six months, they could also be used for military purposes," another source told Asia Times Online on condition not to be named for security reasons.

Talking to reporters during his recent tour of the Middle East, US Secretary of State Collin Powell made it clear that US patience on the issue was running out, saying "it is more and more likely" that the matter will have to be referred to the Security Council.

"Now Iran has made it clear that they do not intend to abide by all of those commitments, my three foreign-minister colleagues [in Europe] are concerned about this and they are working on the problem, and I stay in close touch with them. But I have made it clear to them that we believe they must insist on their commitments being met. And they have to factor it into any other actions the European Union might be thinking of taking, either in the economic sphere, the political sphere or elsewhere. It is a very troubling development," Powell said.

Coupled with a flurry of recent statements by lawmakers from the conservatives-controlled majlis, as well as articles in hardline newspapers, Kharrazzi's ambiguous announcement reflects Iran's growing displeasure with Europe's "Big Three".

"The Americans and their European allies are preparing the ground for the silent overthrow of the Islamic Republic on the pretext of the Iranian nuclear file, using it as a pressure instrument," warned Keyhan.

While threatening that they would not ratify the Additional Protocol to the NPT, hardline members of the majlis also press the government constantly to defy both the IAEA and the Europeans, expel UN inspectors and resume uranium enrichment.

"The protocol - that allows nuclear inspectors to visit all Iranian nuclear sites, installations and projects at any time and without restrictions - had been imposed on Iran by the evil chain made of the IAEA, the Americans, Europeans and Zionist lobbies, despite all international laws and regulations, including the IAEA's rules," Keyhan wrote, adding that the final objective of Europe's "Big Three" was "nothing less than destabilizing the Islamic Republic".

Last week, Mohamoud Mohammadi, deputy chairman of the majlis' Foreign Policy and National Security Commission, warned that the ratification of the Additional Protocol was "conditional to the IAEA approving our use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes".

"The fear is that the Additional Protocol could be used as a tool for political pressure. If they treat our dossier in a purely technical fashion, then we will cooperate," he said, adding, "The majority of my colleagues in the parliament think this way."

And on Monday, the official IRNA news agency published an interview with Mohammad Mousavian, head of foreign policy of Iran's Supreme Council on National Security, warning that "either Europe agrees to close Iran's file at the IAEA and transfer nuclear technology to Iran - in response Iran will ratify the Additional Protocol - or we cancel all previous agreements." He added that in the present circumstances, if the matter of signing the protocols were raised in majlis (controlled by the conservatives), it would be thrown out.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FH03Ak03.html

US reportedly sends letter to Khatami; spokesman denies it
(DPA)

4 August 2004

TEHERAN - The United States has sent a letter to Iranian President Mohammed Khatami calling for better cooperation, according to media reports in Iran, but a foreign ministry spokesman said the reports were wrong.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly gave the letter to Khatami in a secret meeting on July 29 in Teheran, the press reports said.

According to reports published in several Iranian dailies, the US called on Khatami in the “very important” letter to end the differences and start a new phase of cooperation. The reports did not mention the letter’s signatory.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi said the reports were incorrect, according to news service Kar.

The Iranian press further quoted the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Hassan Rowhani, as saying that one day relations with the US would be resumed.

“We should be realistic in this regard as with the involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US has de facto turned into one of our neighbours,” said the conservative cleric, referring to Iran’s long borders with the two states.

Rowhani further said the US has realised that settling the crisis in the region without Iranian assistance would be “quite impossible”.

“The end of the current presidential term (of George W. Bush) would be a suitable opportunity for new policies,” said Rowhani, who is widely regarded as one of the favourites to succeed Khatami in next year’s presidential elections,

Government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh however said last Monday that it would make no difference to Iran whether Bush or his Democratic challenger John Kerry wins the election in November.

Iran and the US have no diplomatic ties for almost a quarter of a century and all efforts to put an end to the hostilities have so far failed.

Bush has branded Teheran as part of the “axis of evil” and Washington accuses the Islamic state of not only supporting the terrorist network Al Qaeda but also trying to acquire nuclear weapons.

While denying the charges, Iran calls the US the “Great Satan” and main cause for all tensions in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf due to its unlimited support for Israel.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2004/August/middleeast_August89.xml&section=middleeast&col=

Iran: U.S. Vows Tough Stance On Tehran, But Will Europe Follow?

By Jeffrey Donovan

The Bush administration is warning that Iran will come under increasing pressure and be internationally isolated if it refuses to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on its nuclear program. U.S. President George W. Bush says he hopes to get the support of France, Britain, and Germany for a tough stance on Iran. But analysts say the European trio, wary of confrontation, might not be prepared to end their bid to engage Iran on programs Washington says are meant to build nuclear weapons.

Prague, 3 August 2004 (RFE/RL) -- In perhaps the strongest signal yet of Washington's emerging policy on Iran, Bush administration officials say Tehran must be "confronted" and "isolated" over its nuclear activities -- and not "engaged."

Bush and White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice made it clear on 2 August that Washington intends to intensify international pressure on Tehran for failing to cooperate fully with the IAEA -- the nuclear watchdog agency of the United Nations.

But whether European nations engaged in negotiations with Iran are prepared to go along with that hard line remains unclear, even after Tehran announced this week it would not honor a pledge it made with them to suspend some nuclear-related activities."The only thing the Americans are putting on the table are further pressure, isolation, and sanctions." -- Steven Everts, London's European Center for Reform

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Bush said the United States and the European Union's "big three" members are working together to ensure there is, quote, "full disclosure, full transparency of [Iran's] nuclear weapons programs."

"We are paying very close attention to Iran, and we have [been paying attention] ever since I've been in office here," Bush said. "We are working with our friends to keep the pressure on the mullahs to listen to the demands of the free world."

Later, in an interview on Fox television network, Rice intensified the U.S. rhetoric, saying the regime in Iran "has to be isolated in its bad behavior, not 'engaged.'"

She added that Washington is working with the Europeans on what she called "a very tough set of resolutions" demanding Iranian compliance on the nuclear issue.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell recently warned Iran that its case is likely to be referred to the UN Security Council for failing to meet IAEA commitments. A Security Council resolution could lead to sanctions on Iran.

But asked whether France would go along with U.S. plans to increase pressure on Iran, Rice said Washington will "just have to keep working with the French and the British and the Germans to make certain" that they follow the American position.

Whether they will is far from clear.

Analyst Steven Everts of London's European Center for Reform says there is growing frustration in Europe over Iran's failure to live up to vows that it has made on its nuclear activities. But Everts says Europe is unlikely to accept purely negative sanctions against Iran, noting that decades of similar sanctions have sparked n-o change in countries like Cuba.

"The only thing the Americans are putting on the table are further pressure, isolation, and sanctions -- and possibly more down the road," Everts said. "Europeans say Iran's a complex place; different people want different things. It should be possible to construct some form of positive incentives as well, whereby you say to the Iranians: 'If you accept denuclearization and the verification of denuclearization, here's what you can get in return, also from the United States.'"

A study released in July by the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York policy institute, also urged the United States to offer more incentives and fewer punishments as it seeks to effect change in Iran.

But the tough talk from Washington on 2 August appeared to reject the recommendations of that study, which also called for more engagement with Iran.

The Bush administration's warnings came after Iran announced that it had resumed building nuclear centrifuges, which the United States says are intended to enrich uranium for use in nuclear weapons.

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told a news conference in Tehran on 31 July that Iran would respect a pledge -- made in October to Britain, France, and Germany -- to suspend all uranium-enrichment-related activities.

But he added that a separate deal on halting centrifuge-building would not be respected: "[Based on our agreements in October], we have accepted [suspending] uranium enrichment and we are continuing that uranium-enrichment suspension based on our definition -- meaning that we have not restarted enrichment. But we are not committed to our agreement in Brussels in February on halting building centrifuge parts, because the three big European countries have failed to meet their commitments toward us. We said we could resume making centrifuges. As previously announced, we have started building centrifuge parts at our factory after we took the decision."

Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, under which signatory countries vow to refrain from acquiring atomic weapons and can be punished by Security Council action for violations.

The oil-rich Persian Gulf state denies any interest in nuclear weapons, saying it needs enriched uranium for nuclear power stations to meet increasing domestic demand for electricity.

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/08/e68f85f7-60f4-45eb-8457-6dbf762bb5d8.html

NUCLEAR: Iran May Back Out of Nuclear Commitments, National Security Official Says

An official of the supreme national security council said Iran may consider backing out of its nuclear commitments if the IAEA board next September issues another resolution condemning the Islamic Republic for lack of cooperation . He said the conservative Majles may bulk at ratifying the additional NPT protocol, which the Islamic government signed last year.

Radio Farda Newsroom

August 2, 2004 - The resumption of uranium enrichment activity is not just America’s concern, but the European powers expressed the same worry in the closed-door talks with Iranian envoys last week in Paris, secretary of the supreme national security council’s foreign relations committee Hossein Mousavian said on Sunday, warning the regime's hard-liners that if Iran does not address the Europeans’ concern, it cannot count on Europe’s support in the upcoming meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors.
He warned Iran’s European negotiation partners that the conservative Majles may not ratify the additional protocol to the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows more stringent inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites. In addition, the Majles may force the government to end the voluntary and temporary suspension of uranium enrichment, he added.

“The IAEA board of governors and Europe must recognize Iran’s legitimate rights within the NPT framework without any precondition, discrimination and shortcoming or not expect cooperation from Iran,” Mousavian said, according to IRNA.

He said Iran was not concerned about its case being referred to the UN Security Council, since the country has endured 25 years of US economic sanctions. “The economic pressures (against Iran) over the past 25 years have turned out to be ineffective. "This measure will be the new trial of a failed experience which we are not worried about," he added, according to official news agency IRNA.

“Our problem is not the Security Council since it has no prerogative beyond the NPT, according to which the council has to ask Iran to cooperate and the Islamic Republic’s policy has been such from the beginning,” he said.

“I do not think the Americans and Israelis will ever dare to carry out an attack even of the smallest scale against Iran’s nuclear facilities,” he added.

“America’s position in the region requires it not to take such a risk, while Israel faces an internal crisis,” he said.

http://www.radiofarda.com/en_article/2004/8/b0d931b4-bc50-4d44-bc2a-04d7efea7899.html

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