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Rotten commie bastards!

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Special Dispatch - Iran/Reform in the Arab and Muslim World
August 6, 2003
No. 548

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML format, please visit:
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD54803

Ayatollah Khomeini's Grandson: 'Iran Needs Democracy and Separation of Religion and State;' 'The Iranian Regime Is the World's Worst Dictatorship'

The London-based Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that Hussein Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of Iran's Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, had left his place of residence in Iran's holy Shi'ite city of Qom to relocate to Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, which is traditionally the seat of the highest Shi'ite religious authority, as a sign of protest against Iran's regime.(1) Hussein Khomeini, 46, called the Iranian regime "the world's worst dictatorship," and stated that the regime's heads, Supreme Leader 'Ali Khamenei and former president and current Expediency Council head Hashemi Rafsanjani "and everyone who has taken over the regime" since his grandfather's time "was exploiting his [Ayatollah Khomeini's] name, the name of Islam, and the religious regime in order to continue their tyrannical rule." Hussein Khomeini called for the separation of religion and state in Iran and expressed his expectation that the movement opposing the Iranian!
regime would gather momentum and turn into a popular movement.

The newspaper also noted that members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were now searching for Hussein Khomeini in Iraq because Iranian authorities fear that he could become a symbol of resistance to the Iranian regime.(2) The following are excerpts from Al-Sharq Al-Awsat's report:

From Qom to Najaf

According to the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat report, tensions between Hussein Khomeini and Iran's religious leadership increased in recent years after Hussein Khomeini publicly lent his support to the students and reformists and issued statements that the Fatwas issued by the Judiciary against the Iranian students, intellectuals, and writers opposed to the regime were illegitimate.(3)

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat added that Hussein Khomeini's move to Najaf, which was done without the knowledge of the Iranian authorities, sparked suspicion among Iran's conservatives, who are aware of the extent of Khomeini's influence in the religious seminary in Najaf and among the religious youth, as well as within reformist circles. According to a source close to the reformists, the Iranian authorities fear that Hussein Khomeini will become a new symbol of the religious opposition to the regime in Iran.(4)

According to the paper, from his temporary residence in a region of Iraq, prior to his move to Najaf, Hussein Khomeini stressed that Iran needed "a democratic regime that does not make use of religion as a means of oppressing the people and strangling society." He noted further that it was necessary "to separate the religion from the state," and "to put an end to the tyrannical rule of religion that was reminiscent of the rule of the Church during Europe's Dark Ages," and that "All those who took control of the centers of power of Iran after my grandfather are exploiting his name, the name of Islam, and the religious regime so as to continue their tyrannical rule."

'The World's Worst Dictatorship'

The paper also noted that Hussein Khomeini spoke of the dissatisfaction and the anger pervading the Iranian street, and that he considered the current religious regime in Iran to be "the world's worst dictatorship." According to the paper, Khomeini believes that Iran's escalating protest movement "would in not too long develop into a popular revolution, and soon we would see the great event [i.e. regime change]."(5)

Khomeini, who has strong ties to some Iranian Revolutionary Guards commanders and members of the Iranian parliament and the Iranian security apparatuses, emphasized that he was continuing his struggle in order to bring about a change in the situation in Iran. He stated: "Freedom is more important than bread. If the Americans will provide it, let them come - but the Iranian people is capable of determining the fate of the current regime by itself... What we need is international sympathy and understanding for our legitimate needs."(6)

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat was informed that a squad commanded by a member of the intelligence service of the Revolutionary Guards known as "Assadi" had entered Iraqi territory the previous week in search of Hussein Khomeini, in order to assassinate him. An Iranian reformist source told the paper that Revolutionary Guards Deputy Commander Mohammed Baqir Dhu Al-Qadr had, in a meeting with top officials in the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence service, promised to put an end to the Khomeini phenomenon epitomized by Hussein Khomeini, just as his uncle, Ahmad Khomeini, was assassinated when he stopped supporting the regime and publicized his opposition to it.(7)

Najaf Versus Qom: Two Cities Holy to Shi'ites

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat noted that Hussein Khomeini's move to Najaf was considered a "painful blow" to the Iranian regime's years-long attempt to make Qom the capital of the Marja'iya,(8) as well as "a clear provocation to Supreme Leader 'Ali Khamenei." The paper added that since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, the idea of reviving Najaf's religious seminaries, opening new schools and rejuvenating the old ones, as well as the move by leading Qom clerics to Najaf, had attracted the attention of leading Shi'ite authorities who are opposed to the regime in Iran, as well as the attention of figures from the circle of Qom's religious seminary, which under the rule of Supreme Leader Khamenei is not independent.(9)

According to the paper, at the regime's order Iranian security authorities blocked sources of funding to the country's independent ayatollahs as long as they refused to accept Khamenei's authority, to consider him the Supreme Leader, and see him as the representative of the Master of Time.(10)

Four leading ayatollahs refuse to obey Khamenei: Ayatollah Hussein 'Ali Montazeri, Ayatollah Sadiq Ruhani, Ayatollah Yousuf Sani'i, and Ayatollah Muhaqiq Damad.(11)

The paper further reported that Hussein Khomeini spoke out against attempts by Sheikh 'Ali Ha'iri, who is close to the Iranian regime,(12) to impose the authority of Khamenei's control on the people of Najaf. Ha'iri, who is close to Maqtada Al-Sadr in Iraq, recently went to Iraq accompanied by personnel from the intelligence service of Iran's Revolutionary Guards for this purpose.(13)

According to a source close to Hussein Khomeini, Khomeini considers Ayatollah 'Ali Sistani, Ayatollah Saeed Al-Hakim, and Ayatollah Fayadhi the "true Marja'iya" - that is, the true Shi'ite religious authorities.(14)

Endnotes:
(1) The paper noted that while Hussein Khomeini is not a leading cleric, he does have special status and influence in Iranian society.
(2) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 29, 2003, August 4, 2003.
(3) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), August 4, 2003. The paper noted that Hussein Khomeini's relationship with Iran's regime had been tense since the death of his grandfather Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, and that this tension had become public following the death of his uncle (and Ayatollah Khomeini's son) Ahmad Khomeini and following the disclosure that Ahmad Khomeini had been assassinated by Iranian intelligence agents. During his last years, Ahmad Khomeini, under the influence of his nephew Hussein, had begun to speak out against the policy of the ruling group in Tehran, i.e. former president and current Expediency Council head Hashemi Rafsanjani and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and accuse them of prolonging the war with Iraq in order to strengthen their rule and of removing Ayatollah Hussein 'Ali Montazeri from the position of designated heir of Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini.
(4) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), August 4, 2003.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Ibid.
(8) Marja'iya - the source of Shi'ite religious authority, whose conduct must be imitated.
(9) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 27, 2003.
(10) i.e. the Hidden Imam, meaning the religious leader of the generation.
(11) Ibid.
(12) The brother-in-law of previous Iranian intelligence minister Mohammad Mohamdi Rish'hari, close to Supreme Leader Khamenei and today serving in his office and son-in-law of Iran's Experts Council head Ayatollah 'Ali Mashkini.
(13) Sheikh Al-Baydha'i and Sheikh Al-Ashkuri, of Khamenei's office and his helpers in this. Ibid.
(14) Ibid.

What a coup this would be for Bush if he could somehow assist the students in a way that would lead to the Fall of the Second Axis of Evil State. I'm sure we're actively working behind the scenes giving what support we can.

Iran Boosting aid to Fatah Tanzim During Truce

August 06, 2003
The Jerusalem Post
Margot Dudkevitch

Iran has stepped up its funding of Palestinian terrorist cells, especially those affiliated with Fatah Tanzim, since the hudna went into effect on June 29, a senior security official said Tuesday.

Millions of dollars are being sent to fund Fatah Tanzim activities in Samaria, especially renegade cells in Tulkarm, Jenin, and Nablus that do not recognize the cease-fire or obey Fatah's political leadership.

Kamel Ghanem, a senior Aksa Martyrs Brigades commander being sheltered in Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Mukata compound in Ramallah, continues to recruit and plot attacks with the help of the Iranian funding, the official said.

"We know without a doubt that Iran and Hizbullah in Lebanon are in contact with elements on the ground, issue orders, and send funds," he said. "Iran views Israel as the occupier of Islamic holy land, an emissary of the West, whose aim is to destroy Islam."

Iran has also given medical treatment to Palestinians wounded during the current conflict. During their "treatment," it recruited them to terrorist causes and gave them military training. Some of them, when they returned, participated in shooting attacks or became more active in local terrorist cells, the official said.

Iran also sends funds to the families of Palestinian "martyrs," such as suicide bombers. The funds are usually transferred via charity organizations, or sent with people traveling to the territories, he added.

Iran attempts to smuggle weapons into the region, the official said. Past smuggling attempts linked to Iran include:

The Lebanese fishing vessel, San Torini, intercepted by naval forces in May 2001 with weapons bound for the Gaza Strip;

The Karine A, intercepted by naval commandos in January 2002 with more than 50 tons of weapons intended for the territories;

The fishing trawler, Abu Hassan, seized by naval commandos last May, which had left Lebanon and was heading for the Gaza Strip loaded with bomb-making components and a batch of CDs with bomb-making instructions prepared by the Hizbullah.

Taking advantage of the current situation, Iran operates through two channels: Hizbullah in Lebanon, which attempts to establish contacts with Israeli Arabs and recruit foreigners to send on attacks in Israel; and the Revolutionary Guard, which has contacts with Tanzim members in the West Bank and Popular Resistance Committee groups in the Gaza Strip.

Most of the terrorist attacks since the hudna went into effect were carried out by Tanzim members who rely on Iranian assistance, the official said. Islamic Jihad remains the most prominent recipient of Iranian assistance, he said.

Hamas maintains its independence to a certain degree, but in recent years its ties with Iran have strengthened, the official said. Hamas relies heavily on funding it receives via charity organizations, schools, and orphanages.

The official said all terrorist organizations, especially Islamic Jihad and Hamas, are preparing for "the day after" the hudna. They are focussing on recruiting "new blood," appointing new leaders, purchasing weapons, improving infrastructure, and evaluating past activities.

Hamas in the Gaza Strip is expecting a delivery of smuggled weapons from Egypt, the official said. It has also intensified efforts to improve the range of Kassam rockets and to conduct military training for recruits, the official said.

Since the hudna was declared, three Israelis and a foreign worker have been killed and 20 civilians wounded in 178 terrorist attacks, including 118 shootings and 10 mortar attacks on Gaza Strip settlements.

Security forces have thwarted 36 terrorist attacks and arrested more than 75 terrorist suspects. Currently, there are 15 warnings of terrorist attacks, mainly in Samaria, according to security officials.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1060144184623

Low Oil Price To Harm Iran Development

August 06, 2003
Neftegaz
neftegaz.ru

The strong GDP growth in Iran this year was not only caused by the development in the oil sector but by increasing domestic demand.

However, in 2004, the country is expected to be hit by lower oil prices which will have a strong impact on government revenues and economic growth.

It can been assumed, that regional tensions in the Middle East should decline after the US-led war in Iraq. This could lead to significant lower oil prices in 2004.

http://www.neftegaz.ru/english/lenta/show.php?id=38427

Rumsfeld Pessimistic Over Iran's al-Qaeda Hand Over

August 06, 2003
ABC News
ABC News Online

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he sees no chance that Iran would turn over to the United States any detained members of the Al Qaeda network.

Reports have said that Washington had approached Tehran with a request to hand over Al Qaeda members in Iranian custody, including Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian thought to be the group's security chief.

The request follows a public acknowledgement by Iran that it was holding some senior figures of the group and it was prepared to extradite them to what it called friendly countries.

But Mr Rumsfeld is pessimistic about the chances of anyone being sent to the US.

"To the extent that they're in one way or another not being allowed to function and operate out of there, that's better," he said.

"To the extent they would be handed over to us, it would be excellent. The chances of that happening apparently are about zero."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s918816.htm

Thank you all for your posts this morning.

Interesting reading...

ANIMALS HAVE MORE RIGHTS THAN IRANIANS

(An Open Letter to President Khatami, From an Iranian Journalist)

By Koorosh Afshar

What comes here is an open letter by one of my dear compatriots, my dear friend, A. Hedayat, to the so-called president Khatami, the smiling mullah whose smile seems to have deceived some of the E.U. leaders!!!

He is a journalist who resides in Iran, in the city of Tabriz . Read his words carefully, as he is another member of the "Burnt Generation".
(The letter is translated from its original Persian and some parts are excluded for brevity.)

Attention: The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mr. Khatami
Your Excellency

I am Ali Hedayat, a journalist who was captured and after being beaten, got transferred to the Police Intelligence prison on 16th June by the vigilantes of Tabriz. Seventeen members of the vigilantes were involved in this process. They punched and kicked me for more than 300 times. They cursed me, my mother and my wife with very obscene words for hundreds of times which I will have to mention exactly in the following without any consideration and euphemism.

Also you will find out in this report that by "plainclothesmen of Tabriz" I do not only refer to the Basiji (voluntary) forces or the forces of the so-called Mosque Bases. 90 percent of those people were the official personnel of the police disciplinary forces (Law Enforcement Forces) of the Islamic Republic "NAJA", the intelligence office of the disciplinary forces, the anti narcotics office of the Police forces and public places supervision office. The remaining 10 percent were members of the Revolutionary Guards (Sepaah-e-Paasdaaraan) and Basiji forces of the factories and official organisations.

Your Excellency!

The blows that the trained members of the Disciplinary Forces inflicted on people were much more painful than those of the Basiji's and the members of the Revolutionary guards (they need to be trained and practice more!) since the latter left bruises and wounds and inflammations, unlike the former who were trained and knew how to do their job without leaving an evidence.
Your Excellency!

Before I get to the point let me inform you that none of the judges or the interrogators of our trials ever bothered to ask us why our eyes, foreheads, chins and whole bodies were inflamed and bruised. They didn't bother to ask us who had attacked us so savagely and ruthlessly. They didn't bother to ask whether we wanted to see a doctor or to be sent to a medical examiner. They didn't bother to ask us whether we had any complaints or not.

They did not even suspect that these ruthless vigilantes arrested people and beat them to death and after discovering that they were innocent, kept them in prison for some time until their wounds are cured, so that nobody would detect the truth.

I take witness the primary verdicts made by the judges of the (Islamic) revolutionary courts who had ordered (after the interrogations) that many of the young prisoners had to be released on the 20th and 21st of June provided their families could afford to pay a five-million toman bail. On the contrary, they were kept for more than three more weeks so that their wounds wouldn't be left as evidence against the vigilantes.
Your Excellency!

I apologise if (in some sentences) my pen is fouled with swear words and obscenity. For if you had also received knee-kicks in your testicles and could have also been able to feel the killing pain, you would definitely stop smiling and sitting calmly in rest posing as a reformist. You would have definitely started the never-put-into-practice reforms in practice. In spite of the fact that 17 people had mistaken me for a punching bag, all my emphasis on being sent by the judge to a medical examiner was in vain.
Any way….

In the morning of 16th of June I was notified that the university students were going to show their opposition to the government inside the university in support of the students of the universities of Tehran and other cities.

I, as a journalist who is also a university graduate in the same field, carrying my journalist card issued by the ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance and another card from the local officials of "East Azarbaijan" province went inside the university with a few other journalists and stayed then until noon. But then the guarding forces identified most of the journalist and dismissed them from the university.

(Mr. Hedayat describes the circumstances before his arrest and continue)

It was still 7:30 p.m. when a group of five plainclothesmen passed us by, one of them showed me to the others pointing to me with his head and his eyebrows.

I told my friends: "let's leave here, they showed me to each other, they are gonna beat me…."

My friends laughed at me and said, "What do they have to do with us?" Accusing me of being a paranoid, they continued saying "even if they wish to beat anybody they would do it with the ones who are chanting slogans. You could only be their last choice!"

It was just after 7:30 p.m. and we were sitting on a bench and I was trying to write down the slogans, which we could hear from inside the university or the street with my "Parker" fountain pen. Suddenly we noticed that a group of 7-8 people were approaching us quickly from the pavement. Some of my colleagues went back for a few steps but I couldn't move for three reasons: first of all I thought that if move I would be considered as an agitator. Secondly I presumed that my escape would encourage them to follow me and finally since I already knew what they were after me, therefore my escape would be of no use.

I sat where I was sitting and my only choice was to shout that I was a journalist, so that they and others would notice so that in case they beat or captured me the story wouldn't remain silent.

The first person that reached the bench was a "Mr. Iman Nejad" who started beating me with his punches and kicks. He is the head of the Public Places Supervision Office of the disciplinary forces (Amaaken-e-NAJA). He had only started that 6-7 other people also arrived.

"…You are a journalist?!..."
"…Eat Shit…mother fucker…."
"I'll fuck your mouth."

They were saying these sentences and beating me at the same time and no body listened to my cries that I was a journalist….

A few of them held my hands and the rest of them were beating me with their boots and shoes and punches. They were more than 15 people by this time. They took turns in beating me, each time one of them came forward aimed one part of my body hit me with a few punches and kicks and then went back and another face would appear with new curses.

In between, a yellow-faced youth by the name of "Colonel Roostaa", deputy commander of the Intelligence of The Disciplinary Forces of Tabriz arrived at this crowd.

As he was beating me on my jaws on the left and right he said, "I'll cut your testicles…" "You inform the world? …I won't let you live in this city. You'll be dead in less than 6 months!"….

I remember that as I was there lying at the curbs, one of those people held my head in his hands. I was surprised by this action and heard another voice shouting: "no…don't hit his head to the curbs…." So the guy turned my head from the curbs toward the grass and hit it hard there. The voice ordered, "Take him away so that they wouldn't kill him…."

Under those conditions I found a ray of hope with this sentence. They took me to the traffic department room a few meters away. As I was there, two guys entered the room and to my greatest surprise started beating me to death until they got tired. I remember that I tried to provoke their religious sense and said "Muslims! at least give me a glass of water."

All was in vain. No religious taste.

After some time one of them said: "Handcuff him and hold his hands up so that everybody would see him wouldn't kill him!" This was the first time that I felt the cold steel handcuffs on my wrists. As my nose, my mouth, my teeth were bleeding and there was a lot of blood on my clothes, we left the room and passing though these people each one of them took advantage of the time once again and kicked me. After a short while they changed their minds and decided not to walk. They stopped a car and we three people sat in the back seat.

The driver was astonished, therefore he asked: "what has this poor guy done?"

On of the vigilantes answered:" This mother fucker is a journalist for VOA and BBC and Radio Farda. He informs that bitch, Maryam Rajavi (the co-leader of the Mojahedeen Khalq Organisation). He is a spy. He is a traitor…etc."

They asked what he thought so he turned back and cursed me, but I could read it in his eyes that he was afraid and was begging me with them.

I forgave him there.

They took me to the police station and as we wanted to get off the car they covered my head so that no body would photograph me, which could "disgrace" them! One of them put my jacket on my head and covered my face with it. Also before that, the time when we were in the car they had pushed my head to the lowest position possible.

There was a guard who hit me in the eyes.

Those minutes that I spent there were like ages for me. They were beating me as a group; they were beating me in my testicles, my belly and my face with no rest. After that a revolutionary guard arrived and as if he wanted to throw an 80 kilogram punching bag into the sky he punched my in my chest and on my heart with all his power, I hadn't received such a strong blow until then, I couldn't breathe and tears filled my eyes due to the intensity of the pain.

They emptied my pockets and found my journalist cards and documents such as cash card and also my pen and my cell phone.

They took all of them from me.

After that they forced me and the others into a bus and took us to the prison of Tabriz. As we were sent there on the 19th of June I had my first meal, which was the breakfast of the prison for the first time after my capture. Even the time when the head of the police of East Azarbaijan came to visit the detainees I told him that those guys avoided giving us even the mere warm tap water, let alone food.

I told him but in return they didn't even give us a piece of bread.

After that the interrogations started again and the interrogators kept on asking me questions on what were the names of the foreign radios and televisions and newspapers and magazines that I sent news for? And how much money I had received from them, as these people believed I was very rich and their reason for that was, by their conclusion, my well-pressed clothes and suspenders!

Their other conforming discovery on considering me as a rich and callous journalist who was working for the CIA and (US President George W.) Bush was the pressing of my clothes, which was "too" tidy for them. This, also, brought me more beatings.

The other issue put forward by the interrogator was that I gave false news to the foreign media to provoke the people against the regime. But the irony was that the guy could not even count "one" case to prove himself. Later the judge also based whatever he said on these sorts of comments but with no acceptable reason.

I didn't notice my bloody diarrhoea on the first day but later it got worse with very serious bleeding, so they took me to "Kowsar" clinic, which is affiliated to the police. There the doctors refused to visit me as the agents accompanying me didn't pay the money and I didn't have any money with me as whatever I had was already confiscated. The physician of the clinic accepted to examine me for free in the end. When he saw that I, a journalist, was beaten like that, he laughed and joked: "who is safe, then?!..."

After a few days the prison guard opened the small window on the metal door of my cell and said that the judge was waiting for me. They took me to the judge blindfolded. He said that my charges were: "advertising against the government", "attacking the police with a knife" and "interviewing with foreign radios". I rejected and said that two of my charges were " press crimes" and were to be tried in the "press court". I also requested to be sent to a forensic pathologist as I could have diseases in the future due to those blows I had received on my testicles, head, teeth and eyes.

The judge said: "do you want that for future possibilities?" I answered yes; he replied:" You can see it your self that these days we are very busy. Let me see what I can do in the later."

One evening they took me to see my mother and my wife. As we were passing through the yard, I could recognise a lot of my attackers and I got frightened to find out that most of my "plainclothesmen" attackers were the "official" personnel of that office.

I told my mother that I had been beaten as I had been transferred to that place but since entering I had not been beaten and also told her that at that time I was only afraid of the future as one of the attackers (whose was colonel Roosta’i) had made a vow to kill me. As I said this the agent who was there stopped the conversation and I was taken away.

I had demand my mother to announce on the radios that I was worried about my life. That doubled the problem. A soldier told me afterwards that they were not going to kill me and also advised me that in case I was taken to the basement "close your eyes and stiffen your muscles. The rest is not important!"

I tried to concentrate and make myself ready for the new beating session.

I would like to admit that I am not a hero and I, also, get afraid. At times before they were taking me for interrogations and torture I wetted myself for which I hated myself. But I couldn't help it. I was handcuffed and they were absolutely free to do whatever they wanted with me. In this country a normal citizen has no rights. He is not even considered as a human being let alone having any rights.

The only document that is used here most of the times is the confession of the poor detainee and for that purpose one thing is sufficient: "force".

As I was in the prison I heard of a lot of terrifying stories of the youth who were arrested and tortured to confess. I learned of different methods such as: "grilling", "jack in crutch", "24 hour-on-foot", "hanging weights to the testicles" and… flogging and bastinado were among the simple methods.

They interrogated me for several times and made me sign some sheets and also wanted me to make a commitment not to interview with foreign radios but I refused as I believed that it was not the word of law. On the other hand I told them that the judge could easily nullify my social right in journalism so that I wouldn't be active in this field anymore. This was my answer. One of the interrogators told me that it was the order of the Security Council (Supreme Council for National Security) that no one was allowed to interview with the foreign radios, I said that in case such a law existed really, I would be obliged to observe it.

Anyway after all these days, finally the so-called judge ruled that I could be released provided that my family would leave a 3.000,000,000 Rial (37.500 US Dollars) bail.

After all this I was released.

I went back to receive my cell phone (they are very expensive in Iran the regime charges nearly 625 dollars for each sim card and in the free market it is more than 1000 dollars which is too much for the average Iranian people whose income is less than 200 dollars per month) they said it wouldn't be returned. They didn't give back my journalist card my cash card either. As I went to a police station to which I was guided for the purpose, I notice that those official members of the police who were in uniforms treated me with respect, which was exactly opposite the way that the plainclothes had been treating me until that time. But I could feel that they kept their distance from me, this was quite obvious. It was as if they were afraid of something. They did their best to help me as much as they could, but the problem was somewhere else.

This report was only a short summary I hope that I will be able to write a book of my observations in the near future.

I hereby, would like to say that our lives are in danger as people like a so-called colonel Roosta’i and henchmen like him have threatened us. They are after us. Therefore if any of us gets killed or kidnapped, or any member of my family, have an accident in a street or anywhere else, if we get shot or stabbed or fall from a mount, -- things which have already happened for dissidents in Iran under the mullahs -- I announce in advance that those people and their henchmen and accomplices are responsible.

Are there any people, politicians, men and women in this country who will defend our human rights or do we have to wish that we were citizens of other countries like Canada?
Regards
Ali Hedayat
Independent and free journalist from Tabriz

And this is how it goes and goes in this plagued country. We have lost a lot of people like Mr. Hedayat in the past. They didn't even have the chance to "write" their observations for the others.

The girl students were raped at the nights of their executions in the next morning by the fatwas of the clerics for the charge of having a dissident magazine with themselves.

Their families even had to pay for the bullets by which their loved ones were executed. They didn't even have the right to be buried in a grave in the cemetery of the city.

Those boy and girl students, my peers, who were captured recently didn't have this right. They didn't want others to decide on how they think and what religion or ideology they preferred.

They hated to be called a Muslim only because they were forced to.

Human rights are what we are fighting for. That is why we get captured and tortured.
Koorosh Afshar ENDS JOURNALIST TORTURED 6803

Editor’s note: Koorosh Afshar is a pseudonym for a student in Tehran. His name has been changed for his protection.

The above letter was published by the Paris-based "Iran va Jahan" (Iran and the World) website on 5 August.

Highlights, some editorial works and explanations (inside brackets) are by IPS

http://www.iran-press-service.com/

The Iranian economy is in major trouble and problems could lead to greater civil unrest. -- DoctorZin

Iran blocks share price gains

BBC 8.6.2003
The stock exchange is often full of day traders
The Tehran Stock Exchange has taken steps to try and halt an explosive rally in share prices amid fears the market could be headed for a crash
The head of Iran's stock market sent a statement to brokers on Tuesday forbidding share price increases for a two-week period.

Iran's stock market has been one of the best performers in the world this year, gaining nearly 80% since the start of the financial year in March.

The country's main share index has risen by 11% in the past week alone.

But there are already concerns that the rally is unsustainable, and that the country's investors could end up being badly burnt.

The oil effect

The surge in share prices has enticed many ordinary savers into the stock market who, so far, have enjoyed the chance to make some easy money.

The gains have been driven by high oil prices, an increase in the amount of cash being repatriated from abroad since the 11 September attacks, and rapid growth in the number of private investors.

But many fear that the rally will be unsustainable if oil prices fall next year, as widely expected.

Experts say that capping share price rises can work if previous increases were caused by market manipulation, but not if the market is being driven by genuine demand.

Unease

"Price caps work in the short-term but can create a backlash in the long-term," Professor Mehrdad Valibeigi, an Iranian economy expert at American University told BBC News Online.

"People will hold their breath for fifteen days, and then start aggressively buying again, prolonging the inevitable," he explained.

Brokers were also worried about the impact of the cap on prices, with one broker telling Reuters that the action will destabilise the market.

The psychological impact of an official intervention may also deter institutional investors.

Sources say the central bank of Iran and the Tehran Stock Exchange have been at odds over whether to intervene in the market over the past weeks.

The stock market fell by 4% on Tuesday after the price cap was announced.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3129995.stm

Iran and Cuba Zap U.S. Satellites

Insight Magazine
Posted Aug. 6, 2003

By J. Michael Waller

News, information and other programming broadcast by satellite from the United States into Iran fuels the democracy movement in that Muslim country.

State sponsors of terrorism not only threaten U.S. interests on land, at sea and in the air, but now they have teamed up to attack U.S. assets in space. By successfully jamming a U.S. communications satellite over the Atlantic Ocean, the regimes of Cuba and Iran challenged U.S. dominance of space and the assumptions of free access to satellite communication that makes undisputed U.S. military power possible.

The Bush administration, meanwhile, appears paralyzed about how to cope with this latest threat, which one U.S. official likens to an "act of war." The target of these terrorist states: Telestar-12, a commercial communications satellite orbiting at 15 degrees west, 22,000 miles above the Atlantic.

At press time, nearly a month has passed since the Cuban government began jamming U.S. government and private Persian-language TV and radio broadcasts into Iran. At a time when international political change and military action can be decided within a matter of days, the U.S. government assumes unfettered access to communications satellites to be a crucial tool of statecraft. Americans use satellites to broadcast and relay radio and TV programming into denied areas such as North Korea, Cuba, Iran, the People's Republic of China and even friendly countries.

A hostile attack on a U.S. communications satellite, even if that attack only jams a signal for a few days or weeks, could be decisive in the current environment of geopolitical instability. The Pentagon sees communications satellites as vital tools to promote "regime change" where hostile or terrorist-sponsoring governments can be undermined from within simply by broadcasting honest and accurate news and information to truth-starved populations. The Bush administration belatedly has recognized the power of news in places such as Iran, where popular demonstrations against the theocracy of mullahs have been building for several years.

The jamming of Telestar-12 began on July 6, coinciding with the startup of a new Persian-language TV news broadcast to Iran sponsored by the Voice of America (VOA). The VOA started the half-hour evening program, News and Views, just as a new wave of pro-democracy protests was about to challenge a regime the White House considered part of the "Axis of Evil" along with North Korea and the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Iranian television is censored to redact news about the increasing unrest against the government.

"The program had been designed to give Iranian audiences more truthful, objective news than is available through state-controlled media," says Steven Johnson, a former State Department official and public-diplomacy expert now at the Heritage Foundation. Iranian journalists working inside their country provide the VOA with news stories and video footage. The program augments impressive 24-hour TV-broadcasting efforts by Iranian expatriates in California and praised by President George W. Bush in a July 29 press conference [see "Expatriate Television Excites Iran"].

Satellite television has grown in popularity in Iran as a way of receiving quality entertainment and news - a far cry from the rerun fare and regime propaganda broadcast on Iran's six major channels. Though the regime banned satellite dishes in 1995, Iranians now own more than 1 million of them, many of which are small and easily concealed. About six Persian-language TV channels, run by Iranian expatriates, also are beamed into Iran. Those broadcasts are uplinked to the Telestar-5 satellite orbiting above the territorial United States, downlinked to the Washington International Teleport in Northern Virginia and then uplinked again to Telestar-12 above the Atlantic, where they are beamed down to Iran. Satellite-broadcasting experts say that Tehran is not able to jam Telestar-12 directly because its stationary orbit is out of the range of that country's antenna-based jammers. But, while the mullahs can't touch Telestar-12, their ally in Havana can and does.

When Telestar-12's owner, Loral Skynet, learned of the jamming it hired Chantilly, Va.-based Transmitter Location Systems LLC (TLS) to use its orbiting geolocation system to vector in on the source of the interference with the satellite's transponders. Within three days, TLS had the location: 22 degrees, 55 minutes, 43 seconds north by 82 degrees, 23 minutes, 19 seconds east - Bejucal, a Russian-built electronic-intelligence facility about 20 miles southwest of Havana.

A June 2001 study examined the Bejucal base's offensive capabilities apart from espionage. Authored by Manuel Cereijo, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Florida International University, the study found that Bejucal, with 10 antenna arrays, was equipped to launch electronic attacks on U.S. computer systems. Specifically, it warned that Cuba could wage denial-of-service attacks that "prevent or inhibit the normal use or management of communications facilities."

In a follow-on study released last February, Cereijo wrote, "Bejucal is an electronic-espionage base used by the Cuban military intelligence to intercept and process international communications passing via communications satellites." Desmond Ball, a professor with the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at Australia National University, says that the People's Republic of China has operated from Bejucal since early 1999, following a February 1998 cooperation agreement. Ball says that Bejucal's main functions are interception of telephone communications and conducting "cyberwarfare."

If the Bush administration already had been floundering at political action and political warfare against enemies abroad, it was caught with its pants down by the time VOA started its low-budget news show for Iran. Intelligence analysts are not sure about the extent of Chinese technical involvement, but the Cubans were able to stop a new U.S. hearts-and-minds campaign with the flip of a switch.

As soon as the jamming was identified and related facts were in, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the independent Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) that oversees VOA, went on the attack, saying the jamming was "illegal and interferes with the free and open flow of international transmissions." But the rest of the Bush administration went into default mode, filing diplomatic protests and trying to persuade international satellite-service providers to deny service to Cuba. "We raised the jamming with the government of Cuba. The interference with Loral Skynet commercial satellite transmissions appears to emanate from the vicinity of Cuba and does appear to be intentional," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters on July 18. Nearly a month later, the transmissions to Telestar-12 still were being jammed, according to Zia Atabay, president of National Iranian Television (NITV), a private and independent channel that broadcasts from its studios in Woodland Hills, Calif.

At least NITV's 24/7 broadcasting still was under constant jamming attack. Interviews with several U.S. officials produce conflicting information about what happened with the VOA transmissions to Iran. Some flatly say that the jamming continues. Others claim the jamming has stopped. One published account states that the jamming ended on July 14, while another says that VOA rerouted its Persian-language programs through other satellites. Still other officials say they aren't sure.

Atabay thinks the State Department cut a deal with Cuba or Iran, persuading the jammers to let VOA's half-hour of news get through to Iran but leaving the full-time private broadcasters to fend for themselves. "These days I'm going nuts because I can't believe that our government doesn't take it seriously," says Atabay. "They are still jamming our signal. NITV is on the same satellite, Telestar-12, as VOA, on different platforms, but both are jammed. Last month, [Secretary of State Colin] Powell was talking softly about Iran, but Iranians are upset because they think there's a deal to [cut us off]. This is a violation of international law. If they [the Iranian and Cuban governments] can block my broadcasts and bankrupt me, tomorrow they will go after another one. Tomorrow they can go after CNN or CBS." Fox News has covered the fate of NITV, Atabay reports, but "CNN didn't say a word."

The Cuban government, through its daily Communist Party broadsheet, denies all allegations. It accused BBG Chairman Tomlinson of making a "string of anti-Cuba lies" by calling the jamming "a serious threat to satellite communications." The Cuban foreign ministry assailed the United States for what it called "radio-electronic aggression against Cuba" in the form of Washington's broadcasts to the island. But the Castro regime praised the U.S. State Department: "Instead of publicly lying as Mr. Tomlinson did, [U.S. authorities] handed over two diplomatic notes asking for the cooperation of the Cuban government and presenting technical information on supposed Cuban interference with U.S. communications."

Broadcasting is a major instrument of warfare on both sides of the war on terror, just as it was during the Cold War, when decades of balanced truth-telling by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) helped to roll back the thick fog of communist censorship and hastening the collapse of the Soviet empire.

Havana openly acknowledges jamming U.S. TV and radio broadcasts into Cuba, including TV Marti. "With every right, Cuba has interfered, is interfering and will continue to interfere solely with the illegal radio and television transmissions that the U.S. government is sending to our country," the Cuban foreign ministry said in a July 18 communiqué. "In that we are aided by the sovereign right to defend our radio-electronic space from the subversive radio and television aggression directed at our country since the early years of the revolution." Havana is working in the United Nations to codify into international law the legality of state ownership of the news media and jamming of unauthorized broadcasts.

U.S. broadcasting into Cuba via Radio Marti and TV Marti has been met with a wall of jamming from Havana for two generations. "For nearly four decades Cuba has maintained sophisticated, electronic intelligence-gathering and offensive capabilities, which range from tapping U.S. phone conversations to jamming radio-communications signals and launching computer viruses. To date, U.S. decisionmakers have done little more than work around them, since they were never considered serious threats," says the Heritage Foundation's Johnson. Jamming Telestar-12 for Iran, he asserts, should prompt U.S. officials to take Cuba's information-warfare capabilities seriously. And it should be met with a tough response, administration supporters say. "Interfering with outside transmissions intended for a third country borders on hostile action," says Johnson. "A weak response may invite further mischief." But a "ham-handed" response, Johnson adds, might give Cuban dictator Fidel Castro a martyr image he craves.

The Center for Security Policy sees the issue differently. "Bejucal is now a terrorist asset," it says in a statement. "It gives Castro enormous abilities to conduct information warfare against U.S. assets in space and presents a major threat to U.S. space dominance. It is difficult to overstate the gravity of this development. President Bush should order the destruction of the Bejucal facility - now - before the threat worsens." Yet the Bush administration acts as though it's helpless, according to NITV's Atabay: "I don't believe it can happen, that America cannot deal with a terrorist government."

Iran is playing tough not only at home but against U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, mainly using political warfare. "The Iranians are interfering through the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps]," a top U.S. official tells Insight. "They are quite active along the border and particularly in the south."

From the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar in the south, the state of Qatar and members of Qatar's ruling Wahhabi family play both sides of the terrorism war. While hosting the theater headquarters of the U.S. Central Command, the Qatari regime and members of the ruling family co-own the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera, filling Arab TV viewers with anti-American invective [see "Live From Qatar: It's Jihad Television," March 4, 2002]. "Al-Jazeera's role is extremely unhelpful" to U.S. antiterrorism efforts and to pacification of Iraq, a senior U.S. official tells Insight. The State Department, he says, already has issued démarches to the government of Qatar, without meaningful results.

Meanwhile, Iranian broadcasts into Iraq are intended to incite, organize and reinforce opposition among Iraqi Shiites to the United States and its allied occupation coalition, according to a Pentagon analyst. The United States is acting equally helpless in Iraq, according to a senior administration official. Commenting on foreign hostile TV broadcasting of anti-American messages into Iraq, the official says, "I can't stop Iranian TV. I wish I could. I can't stop Al-Jazeera. I wish I could."

With that defeatist approach, the United States risks losing the peace in Iraq and handing the country over to the Iranian mullahs and the Wahhabis, critics say. BBG Chairman Tomlinson sees an even larger dimension: a threat to U.S. space dominance. The Telestar-12 incident, he says, "has ominous implications for the future of international satellite broadcasting."

J. Michael Waller is senior writer for Insight.

http://www.insightmag.com/news/449580.html

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