Iranian Alert -- DAY 42 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

The Iranian Student Movement Up To The Minute Reports ^ | 7.21.2003 | DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movment in Iran from being reported.

From jamming satellite broadcasts, to prohibiting news reporters from covering any demonstrations to shutting down all cell phones and even hiring foreign security to control the population, the regime is doing everything in its power to keep the popular movement from expressing its demand for an end of the regime.

These efforts by the regime, while successful in the short term, do not resolve the fundamental reasons why this regime is crumbling from within.

Iran is a country ready for a regime change. 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.

Please continue to join us here, post your news stories and comments to this thread.

Thanks for all the help.

DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

To find all the links to all 42 threads since the protests started, go to:

[DoctorZIn]

Join Us at the Iranian Alert -- DAY 42 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

Live Thread Ping List | 7.21.2003 | DoctorZIn

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

[F14 Pilot]

Iran missile move alarms Israel

Iran has brought into service a new ballistic missile that is capable of hitting Israel.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attended a televised ceremony to hand over to the armed forces the Shahab-3 missile which has a range of 1,300 kilometres (800 miles).

"Today our people and our armed forces are ready to defend their goals anywhere," Mr Khamenei was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

Israel and the United States - which both accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons - have expressed grave concerns over the latest developments.

Iran is also under growing pressure from the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to sign the so-called additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, allowing tighter inspections of its nuclear facilities.

Iran has repeatedly denied the charges, insisting that its missile programme is purely meant as a deterrent.

'Ready to defend'

Iranian television showed Mr Khamenei, flanked by officers and other clerics, and three of the Shahab-3 rockets on what appeared to be mobile launchers.

"This divine force has answered all threats," Mr Khamenei was quoted as saying in front of about 1,000 troops in ceremonial dress.

Iranian television also reported that the Revolutionary Guards - who have their own air force - were given some new but unidentified attack and transport helicopters as well as an undisclosed number of Russian-built Sukhoi-25 jets.

The head of the Revolutionary Guards, Yahya Rahim-Safavi, was quoted as saying in his speech during the ceremony that his force was now "ready to defend Iran against any threat".

'Shooting star'

The surface-to-surface missile was first tested in 1998.

It was handed over to the armed forces after the final test was conducted earlier this month.

The Shahab-3 could also reach eastern Turkey and Pakistan.

In Farsi, Shahab means "meteor" or "shooting star".

Iran launched an arms development programme after its 1980-88 war with Iraq, following a US weapons embargo.

Since 1992, Iran has announced the production of missiles, a fighter plane, tanks and armoured personnel vehicles.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3081737.stm

[DoctorZIn]

Tehran Prosecutor General told to quit over Canadian's death

World News
Jul 20, 2003

TEHRAN - Iranian reformist lawmakers on Sunday called for a top hardline judiciary official to resign or be sacked over the death in custody of a Canadian journalist this month.

In a series of blunt verbal attacks MPs accused Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi's interrogators of beating Montreal-based Zahra Kazemi to death and said the former judge was waging an implacable campaign against journalists in Iran.

Officials at Mortazavi's office and the judiciary declined to respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the accusations.

Kazemi, 54, a Canadian of Iranian descent, died of a brain haemorrhage caused by head injuries more than two weeks after she was arrested for taking photographs outside Tehran's Evin prison, where many political dissidents are held.

Kazemi's death has tested previously harmonious relations between Iran and Canada and shed a spotlight on Iran's shadowy security services and treatment of the media.

Reformist deputy Mohsen Armin, in a speech to parliament broadcast live on state radio, said Kazemi told police she had been beaten, particularly on the head, during initial interrogations by officials from Mortazavi's office.

"Mortazavi, instead of respecting the dignity of journalists and the country's prestige...by punishing those who beat her," ordered her to stay in detention, Armin said.

Three days after her arrest, complaining of feeling unwell, Kazemi was transferred to a hospital run by the hardline Revolutionary Guards where she slipped into a coma and died.

RUMOURS CAMPAIGN

Following Kazemi's death, Armin said Mortazavi had told officials to announce she had died of a stroke and ordered her body to be buried.

Kazemi's burial was halted when President Mohammad Khatami ordered a thorough investigation of her death. The results of the probe were to be announced by Monday, officials said.

"I announce that Mortazavi and his supporters should be dismissed and a court should review their cases," Armin said.

Conservatives said Mortazavi, who in his previous position as head of a Tehran court ordered the closure of scores of liberal newspapers, was the victim of a rumours campaign.

"Evidence shows the reformists' propaganda machine has begun its project aimed at removing Mortazavi," said Amir Mohebian, an editor of the hardline Resalat newspaper.

"If they succeed, they will use it to remove all the people they want, one by one," he told the ISNA students news agency.

The reformists accused Mortazavi and his allies in the judiciary -- a key bastion of conservative opposition to Khatami's pro-reform agenda since his 1997 election -- of being behind a wave of detentions of journalists. More than a dozen journalists and editors have been arrested since mid-June.

Many newspapers were now too afraid to publish stories without first checking with Mortazavi, the MPs said.

"Today the judiciary's behaviour shows that a lot of the activities of this organisation are under question and need to be seriously reviewed," MP Mohammad Kianoushrad told ISNA.

"Maybe the least the judiciary could do would be to accept the prosecutor's resignation," he added.

Some reformists have said Kazemi's case highlights the operation of a shadowy parallel intelligence service in Iran which is beyond the control of the government.

"This case is an opportunity reformists have been looking for to expose the operation of these parallel entities," said a political analyst, who declined to be named. "It may shed some light on this dark corner and help them get rid of some elements who have plagued them for the last six years."

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1274.shtml

[DoctorZIn]

Transcript of US Senator John Cornyn's speech on Iran

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jul 20, 2003

The following is US Senator John Cornyn's speech made at the occasion of the commemoration of the 4th anniversary of July 9th Student Uprising in Iran. The meeting, highly covered by most Texan TV networks such as CBS and Warner, was organized by SMCCDI and held at the Dallas (Texas/USA) Intercontinental Hotel on July 13, 2003.

John Cornyn (R-TX) is one of the original co-sponsors of the "Iran Democracy Act", introduced by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), which seeks to help the Iranian secular forces in order to end the rule of the Islamic regime.

Parts of Senator John Cornyn's speech have been broadcasted, for Iran, by abroad based radio and TV networks. These transmissions have lead to the reception of tens of emails from Iranians expressing their gratitudes to the Senator and his colleagues.


The transcript of the speech is as follow:

"Thank you, Aryo Pirouznia, for that kind introduction. I’m happy to be here with all of you today.

This week, we marked the four year anniversary of attacks on students at the University of Tehran by fundamentalist militants. Those attacks killed one student, injured at least 20 others, and triggered six days of nationwide anti-government protests, the worst since the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the Shah.

As you all know, in anticipation of this anniversary, the government of Iran announced last week that it had taken steps to crush expected demonstrations. Several demonstrators were killed two weeks ago, and hundreds were badly beaten by the regime’s brutal thugs. The University of Tehran was shut down, along with all other Iranian universities. The regime officially arrested over 4,000 pro-democracy demonstrators, including 800 students and key student leaders – and the true number of the imprisoned is even higher than Iran’s spokesmen will admit.

Make no mistake: these are the actions of a vicious regime that fears for its survival. I am here to tell you that I am committed to ensuring that those who died protesting the repression of the Iranian government will not have died in vain.

After 24 years of theocratic rule, and nearly seven years under the so-called reform government, it is clear that the repressive government in Iran is still up to no good.

In a State Department report released earlier this year, Iran is cited as “the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2002.” It has provided funding, training, weapons, and safe haven to anti-Israeli terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. According to the report, some members of Al-Qaeda have found safe haven in Iran.

The report also states that Iran’s “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of Intelligence and Security were involved in the planning of and support for terrorist acts and continued to exhort a variety of groups that use terrorism to pursue their goals.” And according to State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher, Iran is in the process of developing a full-scale nuclear program.

The State Department’s research also shows clearly that Iran is a serial abuser of human rights. To understand the full measure of Iran’s cruel and inhumane regime, you need look no further than the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran, where political opponents are viciously tortured, and even their children are imprisoned.

Terrorist groups cannot survive without the financial and logistical support provided by sympathetic governments. Without state sponsors, terrorist groups would have a difficult time obtaining the funds, weapons, materials, and protection they need in order to carry out their deadly activities.

This is the reason for President Bush’s doctrine of the post-September 11th world – that America will treat nations that harbor terrorists and support terrorist activity as no different from the terrorists themselves. That is why we have struggled to ensure American security and spread freedom throughout the world by ending the terrorist activities of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and toppling Saddam Hussein’s dangerous and illegitimate regime in Iraq.

In Iran, a country where nearly 70% of the people are under the age of 35, the majority of citizens have never known any government other than the tyranny of the mullahs. Yet the seeds for freedom are still there.

According to a survey conducted last year by the Tarrance Group, 63% of Iranians believe that “fundamental change” in Iran’s system of government is needed to create freedom and economic opportunity. And 71% would support a national referendum that allows the people of Iran to decide what system of government is best for the country.

President Abraham Lincoln recognized that it is our highest goal to see the dream of freedom thrive and spread. He said: “It is not merely for today, but for all time to come that we should perpetuate for our children’s children this great and free government, which we have enjoyed all our lives.”

I firmly believe that the very same goal is embodied in the Iran Democracy Act, which supports the right of the Iranian people to choose their government. The people of Iran should be able to choose to support the current fundamentalist regime or the creation of a new government, one based on respect for freedom and human rights.

History has taught us that we cannot afford to confront tyranny with feeble measures and meaningless words. The Western world has heard the cries for freedom in Iran. We must respond by sending a clear, definitive message: we will not stand idly by while this repressive regime abuses Iranian families and children, and we will not tolerate support for terrorism or illegal weapons programs that threaten the cause of peace and security in the Middle East.

The Iran Democracy Act is just the beginning. For the sake of freedom and security in the Middle East, we must adopt a comprehensive policy towards the current Iran regime.

We must end all efforts to accommodate or appease the Iran theocracy. We must have a policy of strong and unequivocal state support for groups in Iran that are dedicated to freedom and human rights – the same steps we once took in communist Poland. And we must support increased pro-democracy broadcasting into Iran – especially since such broadcasting has played a central role in recent protests

We must undertake serious diplomatic efforts to end the flow of nuclear components to Iran, particularly from nations that are already our allies. We must continue multilateral diplomatic efforts to press Iran to allow unfettered access of the IAEA to all locations.
And we must support the President’s Proliferation Security Initiative to block exports to Iran that will be used to enhance the country’s weapons and missile programs.

We must confront the government of Iran for what it is – a government dedicated to the development of nuclear weapons, the support of terrorist acts, and the repression of the people of Iran. America can no more bargain with this regime than a man can bargain with a rabid dog.

It is easy for some cynical politicians to say that the students demonstrating in Iran this week will ultimately fail. They look at history and come to that inevitable conclusion. We all remember the defiant courage of the students and demonstrators in Tiananmen – but we also remember the tanks, the soldiers, and the regime that ultimately prevailed.

It’s true that freedom in Iran may seem like a far off goal today, one that is undermined by regional political interests, one that requires the support of political leaders, one that some writers say requires a political miracle to succeed. But it should surprise none of us that these are the same naysayers who claimed that the Soviet Union would endure forever, that Saddam Hussein could not be toppled, that the Berlin Wall would never fall – and they all came crashing down in spite of it.

They say the people of Iran need a miracle. Well, I am an American – I believe in miracles.

We must continue to work together, never forgetting our goal, toward the cause of freedom in Iran. We can – we will – make this miracle happen.

Through it all, you here today, united with the pro-democracy forces in Iran, have never forgotten a deep, inviolable truth – one that I hope my political colleagues will be reminded of. As the poet Seamus Heaney (SHAY-muss HAY-nee) writes:

History says, don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.

Thank you..."

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1275.shtml

[F14 Pilot]

A GOOD LINK FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO KNOW WHO IS WHO IN IRAN...............

WHO HOLDS THE POWER IN IRAN:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/middle_east/2000/iran_elections/iran_struggle_for_change/who_holds_power/

Check the above link and you will find out who is in charge over there!

[F14 Pilot]

Tehran, July 20, IRNA -- Five cabinet ministers in charge of an
inquiry into death of Iranian photojournalist Mrs Zahra Kazemi said on
Sunday that she died from physical attack.
President Mohammad Khatami assigned four cabinet members to
inquire into her death last week.
In a directive to Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad
Masjed Jamei, Minister of Information Ali Yunessi, Minister of the
Interior Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari and Minister of Justice Ismail
Shushtari, the president sought to clarify every aspect the victim's
sudden death. Minister of Heath and Medical Education Masoud
Pezeshkian joined the team in the process of autopsy.
"You should determine the reasons for her sudden death and who is
responsible for it," President Khatami said in his directive in
reaction to a statement from her family that she may have died of
physical attack.
Mrs Kazemi was arrested while taking photo from Evin prison
compound where families of those under arrest were staging
demonstration on June 23.
President Khatami urged the four cabinet ministers to see whether
there is a matter of culpability in the case.
The report issued by the investigating committee said that Mrs
Zahra Kazemi died of brain hemorrhage caused by a break in her skull

[firewalk]

Thanks for the ping

[Valin]

CNN refusing to tell the truth about Iran
IranVaJahan 7/20/03 Gary Metz
http://www.iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news_en.pl?l=en&y=2003&m=07&d=20&a=5

Posted on 07/20/2003 10:11 PM CDT by freedom44


Repeating their Iraqi mistakes in Iran.

It appears CNN is once again in the business of burying news stories when their reports might embarrass their host country. If it were not for a student from Iran I might not have heard of this report. Fortunately the world of the Internet makes it increasingly difficult for stories to remain hidden from the public. The story I am referring to was published on gooya.com and while written in Persian it is available on the net. I contacted CNN for a response but they chose not to.

Gooya.com is reporting that an Iranian student, Hamid, provided CNN with video of the attack on the student dormitories by the regime. The student was arrested by the regime and taken to the same prison, Evin where the Canadian/Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was tortured. Kazemi eventually died allegedly under the hands of the regime official Saeed Mortezavi, Tehran's Chief Prosecutor. The story of her murder has been international news for the past week.

But unlike Kazemi whose photos of the Evin prison remain in the hands of the regime, Hamid was successful in getting his footage to CNN. According to this report CNN is refusing to air the student's footage, claiming it would endanger his life. But since they refused to air the footage the story has not received international attention and his life is now in grave danger.

It was reported that as the regime's enforcers arrived to arrest Hamid, he ate additional footage to keep it from the regime. They report that this young man was then taken to Evin prison where the same official responsible for the death of Kazemi ordered immediate surgery in the prison to retrieve the footage in his stomach. Since that time, due to infections caused by the surgery they were forced to move him to a hospital where it is reported he has four different infections.

Apparently CNN has not yet learned it lesson about protecting tortuous regimes. Just a few months ago CNN admitted that it sat on a variety of news stories in Iraq that would have exposed the nature of the Iraqi regime (New York Times, Editorial | The News We Kept To Ourselves, by CNN producer Eason Jordan).

In both cases they use the same excuse that they are protecting the lives of their sources of information.

In reality, the only thing keeping the regime from killing this brave Iranian is international awareness of his situation. The regime needs to maintain the illusion of respect for human rights to provide the Europeans and Japan with an excuse for further economic ties. If CNN were to broadcast this report and attribute it to him it would provide him with the notoriety needed to keep him from being one more unnamed student executed by the regime. It is time for CNN to stop protecting this regime in order to maintain its office in Tehran. When journalists sell out their ethics for rating it destroys the value of a free press to protect the innocent from corrupt governments.

I hope CNN will reconsider its position on this story. It may save a life and perhaps redeem the soul of that network.


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/949628/posts

[DoctorZIn]

Iran's new secret Net police

From Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin
Jul 21, 2003

Tehran launches 'ayatollah bugs,' say student groups

Sources close to student groups in Iran as well as diplomats in the capital Tehran said the government had formed a new secretive Internet police.

The unit, nicknamed the "Ayatollah bugs," was formed to monitor Internet activity and especially to stem the growing number of Iranian bloggers. The government believes Iranians are using Internet blogs to spread ideas alien to the Islamic revolution and especially the idea of democracy.

Agents stormed a number of universities and colleges across the country and checked computer rooms. In a number of cases students operating their own blogs were arrested. Iranian agents were ordered to monitor students in Europe who use cyber cafes or library computers for communications with dissidents and for the dissemination of info coming from Iran.

* Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin is an online, subscription intelligence news service from the creator of WorldNetDaily.com – a journalist who has been developing sources around the world for the last 25 years.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33664

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

[dixiechick2000]

Thank you for the link!

It, sometimes, gets confusing trying to keep up with all of the thugs.;o)

[nuconvert]

This story is getting attention from the media.

[DoctorZIn]

More death sentences carried in Iran

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jul 21, 2003

Several more death sentences were carried in Iran, on Saturday and on Sunday, against freedom lovers and opponents to the regime arrested following the bloody crackdown on last June's protests.

3 of the executions were carried in the central prison of Esfahan and the 3 others in the Capital. All arrested were young Iranians who preferred to stand against the ruling theocracy rather than living on knees.

The name of one of the executed has been reported as "Gholam Hossein Mohammadi" (known as Siavash) who was arrested during the bloody clashes of Nasim Shahr, a district of the the poor suburb of Tehran known as Eslam-Shahr.

Hundreds of other arrested demonstrators of all ages and genders are languishing in prisons and several of them will be executed in the next days according to the regime's decision to increase its policies of Terror and Fear adopted in order to undermine the popular will for its overthrown. 5 of these future executions, decided to be carried "publicly" are to take place in Esfahan this week.

The threats made against the families of arrested and murdered demonstrators seem to work as many refuse to comment on their relatives fates.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1292.shtml

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #11

What is the situation in Iran now? Is the opposition regrouping? Are they changing their strategy now? Or are they just laying low to weather the on-going crackdown?

[nuconvert]

Thank you

[dixiechick2000]

"Five cabinet ministers in charge of an inquiry into death of Iranian photojournalist Mrs Zahra Kazemi said on Sunday that she died from physical attack."

"President Khatami urged the four cabinet ministers to see whether there is a matter of culpability in the case.
The report issued by the investigating committee said that Mrs Zahra Kazemi died of brain hemorrhage caused by a break in her skull."

I'm glad to see they aren't trying to whitewash the matter.

Everyone involved should be imprisoned, and beaten with shoes until their skulls crack.

Or, at least, attached to trees and taunted.

[nuconvert]

"Iranian agents were ordered to monitor students in Europe who use cyber cafes or library computers for communications with dissidents and for the dissemination of info coming from Iran"

Well, this is scary. Are they going to start kidnapping Europeans now?

[dixiechick2000]

That IS scary. How long before they start monitering in the US?

[nuconvert]

Any other information on this poor soul?
I suppose we'll learn the names of the others in the next few days.
Just Terrible.