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Random Checks on Iran Nuclear Sites Years Away

July 27, 2003
AFP
The Peninsula

TEHRAN -- Random inspections of Iran's nuclear sites are still years away even if Tehran accepted an additional Non-Proloiferation Treaty protocol, a parliamentary deputy told the student news agency Insa yesterday.

Reformist MP Mohsen Mirdamadi and head of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee said: "Accepting the protocol does not mean that we are obliged to execute it tomorrow, the negotiations over the acceptance of the protocol can take a long time, even several years.

"The countries that intend to accept the protocol must start negotiations with IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Authority) and reach agreement on its regulations. This is a complicated task and will take some time, for some countries it has taken up to three years," he added.

Mirdamadi defended the acceptance of the NPT protocol that allows spot checks and said: "Considering the present international situation, if we don't accept the protocol, the international pressures on us will increase seriously, this must be considered by the regime and the appropriate decision must be made".

Iran has asked the IAEA to send a team of legal experts, expected in Tehran in the next few days, to brief the authorities on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty protocol, Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said.

On Monday, EU foreign ministers expressed "increasing concern" over Iran's nuclear programme and warned it would review relations with Tehran unless it cooperated fully with the UN's nuclear watchdog agency. Iran's foreign ministry rejected Tuesday any conditions or threats.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=July2003&file=World_News200307271523.xml

Report: 5 Suspects Arrested in Iran for Canadian Journalist's Death
VOA News
26 Jul 2003, 21:49 UTC

An Iranian news report says five people have been arrested in connection with the death of a Canadian journalist earlier this month.

A student news agency (ISNA) quoted the public prosecutor's office in Tehran as saying Saturday the five were being held in custody as the investigation into the death of Zahra Kazemi continues. Officials did not disclose the identities of those detained nor any other details related to the case.

Ms. Kazemi, a Canadian photojournalist of Iranian descent, died July 11 in a hospital run by Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards after spending time in custody. A Iranian government report listed the cause of death as a blow to the head that caused a cerebral hemorrhage. The report did not specify if the blow was deliberate nor who delivered it.

The 54-year-old photographer had been arrested for taking pictures outside a Tehran prison (Evin) during last month's student-led protests.

Canada has recalled its ambassador to Iran over Tehran's decision to bury Ms. Kazemi instead of returning the body to Canada, as her family had requested. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said his government is considering trade sanctions against Iran as a means of retrieving the body.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=A4618F1C-69AC-4873-A98C6E87378068EC

Parallel intelligence services alarmed by Iranian President

Iranmania ^ | July 26 2003 | AFP

Posted on 07/27/2003 8:54 AM CDT by knighthawk

TEHERAN, July 26 (AFP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has expressed alarm over the treatment of political activists by unofficial intelligence agencies, the country's main reformist party told state media Saturday.

Khatami issued a formal complaint to the office he set up after his election in 1997 to record violations of constitutional rights, said the reformist party Iran Participation Front (IIPF), lead by the president's brother Mohammad Reza Khatami.

The president's written complaint claims that around 60 political radicals have been arrested by unofficial intelligence agencies, kept in isolation and subjected to psychological abuse to extract forced confessions, official news agency IRNA reported.

The office called on the IIPF secretary general to submit evidence so that the allegations could be investigated, IRNA added without elaborating.

Iranian officials are starting to acknowledge the existence of unofficial intelligence agencies, supported by certain elements in the Islamic republic, which are becoming increasingly active and influential.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/953330/posts