Iranian Alert - December 22, 2004 [EST] - Iran Continues Atomic Work Breaking Spirit of Accord

Cold War Holds Lessons for Iran Regime Change
[Excerpt]
December 22, 2004
The Wall Street Journal
Reza Ladjevardian

Your Dec. 8 editorial "Democracy for Iran" correctly argues for the Bush administration to call for an (internationally monitored) referendum in Iran. Having seen the negative consequences of the 1979 Islamic revolution, the Iranian people have become leery of the sacrifices and uncertainties associated with any more revolutionary changes. The chaos and bloodshed in Iraq have also made them even more risk averse. A referendum is the most viable option, because disillusionment with Islamic fundamentalism has even spread to members of the regime itself. ...

Similar to the last days of communism in which there were more communist sympathizers in Latin America, Africa or Asia than in the former Soviet Union or Eastern Europe, Islamic fundamentalism has been discredited in Iran , but not yet so in Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc., because Iran is the only major Islamic country that was unfortunate enough to actually implement Islamic fundamentalism.

When the Soviet Union eventually imploded under its own weight of economic mismanagement and political repression, communism was discredited as an ideology, insurgency funds ceasing to flow from Moscow to third world Communist organizations and America becoming free of realpolitik fears of unintended consequences. The same applies to Iran and Islamic fundamentalism.

Our lessons from the Cold War are quite relevant today in the war against terrorism. Just as we supported the democratic dissidents in the Communist bloc, we need to help bolster Iran 's grassroots democratic movement and, thus, help expose the fallacy of Islamic fundamentalism as a political and economic ideology. A referendum is the way.

Reza Ladjevardian
Houston

Iran arrests 'US and Israeli spies'
(Filed: 22/12/2004)
Iran has arrested more than 10 people since March for spying on its atomic projects, the intelligence minister has said.

Iran's Bushehr power plant

Ali Yunesi claimed the spies had been working for America and Israel and said three of them were working within the state nuclear programme.
He told the Iranian news agency IRNA: "More than 10 spies have been arrested this year [Iran's year begins in March]; three of them staff of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran. They have been working for the CIA and Mossad and were arrested in Tehran and Hormuzgan."
He said the other detainees had not been working for a government body.
Israel and the United States accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge, saying it needs nuclear power stations to meet booming domestic electricity demand.
A senior Israeli official said he knew nothing about the arrests but added he suspected the timing of the revelation was intended to whip up fears about a "Zionist threat" to distract from the mounting pressure on Iran.
The official said: "This is a way for the regime to bolster support at home. The last time they uncovered a 'great spy ring' was when they were under great pressure. This is always a good way for them to justify their policies at home."
Iran reached a deal with Britain, France and Germany to freeze all enrichment activities from Nov. 22 but Iran is taking advantage of a clause that permits Iran to finish some atomic work begun before the suspension took effect.

Escaped Journalists reveal the latest confession extraction techniques
News Release
December 20th 2004

The three journalist members of the Marze Por Gohar Party, who recently escaped Iran, gave a brief overview of the most recent methods of extracting confessions from journalists and political dissidents. In view of the recent “public confessions” by several Iranian bloggers, the recent revelations by Maryam Bahmanpour, who was a co-defendant in the famous Siamak Pourzand case in 2002, is of particular interest to those want a better understanding of the human rights situation in Iran, which is being currently occupied by the leaders of the Islamic Republic.

Please find below two links to documents pertaining to Ms. Bahmanpour

Link 1
Link 2

Ms. Bahmanpour described her own and her colleagues’ experiences during their detention for various journalistic activities deemed subversive by the authorities. She begins by explaining the interrogators’ obsessions with sexual and “immoral” issues, who generally demand extremely detailed recounts of the victim’s sexual history, especially from women, accompanied by physical torture and abuse. After building a greatly exaggerated, “criminal” sexual case against the victims and forcing them to sign the fabricated statements, they confront them with routine penalties for the sexual crimes, such as stoning, which is practiced in the Islamic Republic for adultery. The fact that the judge in journalist cases, Saberi Zafarghandi, is also in charge of adultery cases, and has already condemned numerous women to stoning, leaves no doubt as to the seriousness of the above threats in the minds of the hapless victims.

Subsequently, the victims are given an ultimatum to either confess to espionage charges or face the public humiliation and horrific penalties mentioned above. Given the circumstances it is not difficult to fathom which option the victims will choose. Upon extracting espionage, or espionage related confessions, victims are paraded in front of a show trail where they will beg for forgiveness and mercy following public (sometimes televised) confessions. It is noteworthy that the victims’ confessions in the adultery case will always remain open to future prosecution and therefore will always terrorize them and their families so long as the regime exists.

The international community should pay particular attention to these “confessions”, which must themselves be considered as crimes against humanity, just like the horrors of the Inquisition and the infamous Stalin trails.

In the near future, the escaped journalist members of the Marze Por Gohar Party, Maryam Bahmanpour, Mohsen Barghandan and Payam Taheri, will divulge more detailed accounts of the Islamic Republic’s inhumane and humiliating practices, via press releases and press conferences that will be announced soon.

For inquires in English please contact Babak Namdar at: 818.441.1660 or email news@marzeporgohar.org

For inquiries in Farsi please contact Ms. Parvaneh at: 310.473.4763 or email news@marzeporgohar.org

"The Shah was not a president, a mere ruler or head of state. He was a living manifestation of the continuity of our civilization.
"he was the living representation and the custodian of an identity that was balanced on three pillars: religious faith, national heritage, and political tradition. He was the personification and upholder of that trinity that provided Iranians with their unique sense of selfhood setting them apart from other cultures and civilizations.
" If watching old movies of the Shah makes Iranians break down in tears, it is because of a huge emptiness in their national soul that yearns for fulfillment and repair."

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