Posted on 02/15/2003 7:02:25 AM PST by jazzyjen97
Congressman Tom Allen on US-Iran Relations
* According to a report on the CBN television network, more than the people of any other country in the Middle East, Iranians favor normal relations with the US. It said the conservative clerics are concerned that the US may be planning to attack Iran after Iraq. Congressman Tom Allen (D-Maine) tells Radio Farda that he does not believe that Iran would be next to be attacked by the US. He says members of the administration who believe we have to go after Iraq does not have a similar feeling about Iran. They are following, with great interest and hope, the conflict within Iran. Tom Allan adds that he believes Iran is the most interesting country in the Middle East, a country that carries the greatest hope for moving the Muslim world into an accommodation with the West in a way that it would benefit from the benefits of a free economy. (Mahtab Farid
Isfahan Prayer Leader Faults the Revolution on its Anniversary
* Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, who resigned last year from his position as the Friday prayer leader and representative of the Supreme Leader in Isfahan, said in an interview yesterday on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that the revolution has strayed from the path of its early days and the promises it made to people. He says in practice some of the revolutionary goals and promises were abandoned, mutilated or only partially kept. He added that the regime has only a little time left to reform. (Maryam Ahmadi)
24th Anniversary of the Islamic Revolution
* Professor Azar Nafisi of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, tells Radio Farda that the revolution helped Iranians reconsider their values. She says, before the revolution, she considered her rights as a woman a norm. It was only after the revolution that she and all Iranian women developed an awareness of these rights. She adds that another outcome of the revolution was that those who believed in it began to reconsider their beliefs and their involvement in establishing the Islamic regime. She says the most positive outcome of the revolution is that the Iranians have become aware of the need to struggle for their rights and civil liberties, and this awareness would certainly bring about a fundamental change. (Shahran Tabari, London)
* A large group of Iranians living in Southern California demonstrated against the Islamic regime in front of the Federal building in Los Angeles. Musician Mehrdad Asemani tells Radio Farda that Iranians oppose the regime that has taken away all their freedoms. Musician Shahbal Shabpareh tells Radio Farda that there are many famous musicians and pop stars among the demonstrators today. (Ali Sajjadi)
* In a statement on the anniversary of the revolution, the student's Islamic council of the Ferdowsi University and medical school in Mashhad protested against the closing of newspapers, jailing of writers and the house arrest of dissident religious leaders. (Amir Armin)
* Sociologist Hossein Ladjevardi tells Radio Farda that the Islamic rule has resulted in the rejection of Islamic values by the young people in Iran. (Iraj Arianpour)
* Former US-Embassy hostage Barry Rosen calls for the release of Ali Abdi, a former leader of the group that held him and 51 other American diplomats hostage for 444 days. A Tehran court convicted Abdi last week to eight years in jail for his role in the public opinion poll that showed 74 percent of the respondents favor the resumption of US-Iran relations. Rosen tells Radio Farda that Abdi is a noble person struggling for the freedom of all Iranians. He asks the regime to let Abdi go, if it considers itself strong enough to tolerate dissenting voices. (Mahtab Farid)
Actually, they may be up first with Iraq on deck.
Agreed. That would be a mistake.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.