Iranian Alert -- August 15, 2003 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

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.

PA seizes $3 million Iran sent Islamic Jihad

By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
Last Update: 15/08/2003 08:22

The Palestinian preventive security apparatus, under Mohammed Dahlan, recently seized $3 million sent from Iran for the Islamic Jihad organization in the territories.

The money, which arrived indirectly via Arab countries, was confiscated by the Palestinian Authority, and then distributed to charity organizations.

In the seven weeks since agreeing on the cease-fire, the
PA has taken steps to reduce incitement against Israel and to tighten its control over PA funds. However, the control is not complete and PA chairman Yasser Arafat and his security services have their own funds.

Israeli sources say the Palestinian leadership sees these acts as fighting terrorism. PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Minister for Security Affairs Dahlan have not carried out any real action against the terror organizations. Even the "90-day plan" on security issues that Dahlan presented to the United States is hardly being implemented, except for organizational steps, the Israeli sources say.

Dahlan and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz met for four hours Thursday evening to discuss transferring more cities to Palestinian control and PA action against terror. They are planning to meet again on Friday or Sunday, Israel Radio
reported.

Israel said it was prepared to hand over Qalqilyah and Jericho, Israel Radio reported, and the Palestinians asked for control over Ramallah.

Mofaz told Dahlan that the transfer depended on Palestinian willingness to take "real action against the terror organizations," Israel Radio reported. They also discusses ways to advance the peace process.

Palestinian sources described the talks as positive, but said that no agreements were reached.

Following the meeting, an Israeli security source said that "our goal is to advance the peace process, not to crush it."

Mofaz met Thursday morning with U.S. envoy to the Middle East John Wolf and called on him to press Dahlan and Abbas to take action against terror.

http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?l84810758

DCHQ chief says Iran home to two million drug addicts

8/14/03
Secretary-General of the Drug Control Headquarters (DCHQ) Ali Hashemi said in Hamedan on Wednesday that Iran has over two million people addicted to various kinds of drugs, IRNA reported.

"Some 1.2 million are hardcore drug abusers while 800,000 are using drugs as pastime," he added.

Also, he said out of 270,000 heroin addicts, 140,000 are intravenous drug users (IDUs) and "65 percent of AIDS sufferers are also injecting drug addicts."

He said Tehran and Kermanshah provinces have the highest rates of addicts in comparison to the whole size of their population.

Addicts spent a whooping rls 40 billion on their destructive habit and use between 800 tons to 1,050 tons of assorted narcotics annually, the drug czar underlined.

Also Hashemi said that out of 15,000 arrested or self-introduced addicts in seven provinces 802 are women.

Some 43.4 percent of addicts are between 20-30 years of age and three percent have higher education, he said adding that some 90 percent of DCHQ activities are in line with the prevention and demand reduction strategies.

Hashemi added that "this constitutes our strategy to reign in the drug abuse spread."

Hashemi, also a presidential advisor, said last month that the drug problem has degenerated into a global threat whose impact is not less than that of nuclear and environmental hazards'.

Speaking to reporters, he added that the cash flow from drug trade runs close to dlrs 1,600 billion annually and that the total number of addicts worldwide is close to 400 million.

He referred to the 44 million youth under 30 in Iran and said, "They are facing danger of addiction and we need to strive to create employment opportunities for them and fill their idle time."

The drug czar also warned that if addiction in the country is not effectively dealt with, "it could become a national security threat."

He said one of the DCHQ's goals is to reduce the threat of addiction through prevention and treatment. He further highlighted the important role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in combating drugs trafficking.

Hashemi stated that DCHQ has inked anti-drug trafficking agreements with over 28 countries and participated in four seminars held in Paris, Tehran, Vienna and Kabul last year.

Hashemi said Afghanistan still poses a serious danger to the region as it serves as a route for transit of drugs.

He said more than 65,000 hectares of lands in Afghanistan were under poppy cultivation and the figure is expected to reach 85,000 hectares in 2003.

He expressed regret over Iran lying on the route for transit of drugs, calling for all-out campaign against use of illicit drugs.

He added that 152 tons of drugs, including 10 tons of morphine and 65 tons of hashish, were confiscated from drug traffickers in the same period.

http://www.payvand.com/news/03/aug/1078.html

Iran defies US with plan for second nuclear plant

AP in Tehran
Friday August 15, 2003
The Guardian

Iran is to get a second nuclear reactor with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, and is beginning feasibility studies for a 5,000MW reactor, the official news agency IRNA reported yesterday.
First Vice-President Mohamad Reza Aref authorised the atomic energy organisation to sign contracts for the second reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power site, it said.

State television said on Wednesday that plans for a second reactor had been approved, but it did not report the size of the plant.

Iran is building its first nuclear reactor at Bushehr, on the shore of the Gulf, with Russia's assistance. It has a capacity of 1,000MW and should be completed next year.

Washington suspects it of developing a clandestine nuclear weapons programme and has lobbied for the International Atomic Energy Agency to declare Iran in violation of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

Iran denies that it has ambitions to make nuclear weapons and says it wants nuclear power as an alternative source of energy as its oil reserves diminish.

At its meeting yesterday, Iran's supreme nuclear council commissioned the atomic energy organisation to prepare studies for building a 5,000MW nuclear plant, IRNA reported.

The IAEA has called on Iran to allow unfettered access to its nuclear sites. It director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, will report on Iran next month.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,1019331,00.html

Forget Hizbullah; Bomb Syria!

August 15, 2003
FrontPageMagazine.com
Ariel Natan Pasko

The time has finally come for Israel to take the gloves off and start to hit hard. It's time for Israelis to get over their "Syrian Syndrome," that irrational and deep-seated fear of Syria, dating back to the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The Syria of today might not be much different than the Syria of 1973, but Israel has changed dramatically. Israel's military in 2003 is more advanced. Israel's economy - while still a little slow - is exponentially ahead of Syria's. In fact, by every measure of national power Israel is well beyond Syria, and the gap has grown not shrunk since 1973. So get over it, Syria is a paper tiger, or a basket case.

Even after renewed attacks on Israel, why bother with Hizbollah? Why play Syria's and Iran's game? Why pretend that Hizbollah is calling the shots? Why give immunity to the real culprits? Put the blame squarely where it belongs: on Syria.

One could try to blame the Lebanese government for not doing enough to tone down Hizbollah. The Lebanese military really should take up positions in Southern Lebanon and de-militarize Hizbollah. Israel has left Lebanese soil. Ask the UN; for once they support our position and agree with us. But alas, Lebanon is not an independent state; Lebanon is a puppet regime controlled by Damascus.

So Israel needs to put the blame where it belongs; on the only power capable of reining in Hizbollah, of disarming them, of cutting off their flow of weapons from Iran, and of discouraging them from attacking Israel -- and that's Syria.

Syria uses Hizbollah as a proxy army to keep pressure on Israel. Notice the Syrian occupation army in Lebanon never attacks Israel; it's always Hizbollah. Thus, Syria cannot be directly blamed for the attack. Well, forget the small fry; blame Syria!

First, the Israeli government should make it a cornerstone of it's foreign policy to take every diplomatic opportunity to raise the issue of Syria' continuing violation of UN Security Council Resolution 520, which calls on all foreign forces - including Syria - to leave Lebanon. What a joke that Syria sits on the UN Security Council, while it violates a Security Council resolution. No wonder many people in the United States, Israel, and elsewhere hold the UN in such low esteem. And Israel should more vigorously lobby Washington to pressure Syria until Syria gets out of Lebanon.

In the beginning of May, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Damascus and Beirut. After leaving Damascus, he said in a Beirut press conference that he and Assad discussed "all of the outstanding issues" that have hindered U.S.-Syrian relations in the past. That included frank talks about Weapons of Mass Destruction; Syria's support for Hizbollah; and closing the Iraq-Syria border "and keeping it sealed" to technology, fighters and Iraqi authority figures. Powell made it clear to Assad, that the U.S. commitment to Middle East peace "would include Syria and Lebanon, and would include the Golan Heights." But, Powell made no mention of speaking to Assad about getting Syria out of Lebanon.

Later, speaking in Beirut -- not Damascus -- Powell assured Prime Minister Rafik Hariri of U.S. support for "an independent and prosperous Lebanon free of all - all - foreign forces." But the main focus of Powell's visit to Syria, it seems, was to prevent it from helping out Saddam's buddies, to "give up the goods" on WMDs, to stop their support for terrorist groups (which they haven't) and to soften up their rejection of the Road Map. To this end, Powell dangled the Golan Heights as a reward for good behavior, despite Syria's opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq and despite their facilitation of "volunteer fighters" to help Saddam. Little focus was put on getting Syria out of Lebanon, and nothing has happened on that front since Powell's visit.

Yet, on May 2nd -- the day before Powell's meeting with Assad -- in Washington, Senator Barbara Boxer, D-CA, and Senator Rick Santorum, R-PA, introduced the Senate version of the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (S 982). The bill's purposes are to 1) halt Syrian support for terrorism; 2) end the Syrian occupation of Lebanon; 3) stop Syria's production of Weapons of Mass Destruction; and 4) hold Syria accountable for the illegal Syrian-Iraqi trade, which provided Iraq with the weapons that killed American troops.

The House version of the Act was introduced on April 10. Both bills now have a solid majority of support in the U.S. Congress. Sponsors and supporters of the bill claim it will weaken Syria's ability to wage wars, to threaten its neighbors and to destabilize the region. So, there clearly is support for pushing Syria out of Lebanon emanating from the U.S. Congress. Israel should remind the Bush Administration of that.

Today, after the United State's victory in Iraq and the inclusion of Iraqi Shi'ites in its governing council, it would be hard for Hizbollah or Iran to portray the U.S. as out to get the Shi'ites in Lebanon just because they oppose Hizbollah. Ending the vicious Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and dismantling Hizbollah as a military force there, would also serve U.S. and Israeli interests in putting a firm limit to Iran's influence in the area. This no doubt would have a positive effect in weakening Islamic Jihad -- and to a lesser extent Hamas -- in Damascus and Gaza. Iran is already on the American and Israeli agenda, due to it's closing in on real nuclear capability. Anything that weakens Iran's ability to "export" the revolution is good for the region and the world.

Second, in blaming Syria's dictatorial regime for Hizbollah's attacks on Israel, the Israeli government should announce a new policy of retaliatory raids against Syrian military positions in Lebanon. Why should Syria be immune from the costs of its pro-Hizbollah policies? After announcing this change in policy of holding Syria accountable for Hizbollah attacks, the Israeli government should begin a policy of "graduated escalation" beginning with hitting Syrian positions in Lebanon.

Everyone should remember the beginning of the Lebanon War in 1982, when Israel warned Syria to stay out of its way but Syria didn't listen. When confronted, Israel shot down more than 90 Syrian planes with just one loss. Today, Israel has significantly increased its military superiority over Syria since1982. If Syria doesn't stop the Hizbollah attacks and prepare to end its occupation of Lebanon, the next phase would include selected targets in Syria itself. This "graduated escalation" would put the issue of the vicious Syrian occupation of Lebanon since 1976 and their support for Hizbollah terror against Israel on the top of the American, EU, and UN agenda.

Israel and the United States have to support a free and independent Lebanon, free of Syrian occupation, free of Hizbollah terrorism, free to return to its former glory. It's in Israel's interest; it's in Lebanon's interest; it's in the United States' interest; and it should be a top priority to demonstrate to Assad that the policy would also be in the Syrian people's interest.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=9399"

One Day After News of Their Escape Iran Denies Ever Holding Bin Laden's Son, Top Lieutenants

August 14, 2003
AFP
IranMania

TEHRAN -- Iran Thursday denied that it had ever held al-Qaeda leader Osama's bin Laden's son or two principal lieutenants after an Arabic daily charged that the trio were being allowed to slip out of the country.

A foreign ministry official told the Iranian Student News Agency that longstanding reports that Saad bin Laden and al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri and number three Saif al-Adel had been detained in Iran were untrue.

He strongly denied Wednesday's report by the London-based Asharq al-Aswat daily that Zawahiri might already have slipped across the border into Afghanistan or Pakistan with the help of elements of the hardline Revolutionary Guard and that Adel and bin Laden junior were trying to follow him.

"The individuals named by Asharq al-Awsat have never been arrested in Iran and so the allegation that they have left Iran is completely meaningless," the official told ISNA.

"All al-Qaeda members who were arrested in Iran remain in custody."

It is the first time that Iran has broken its silence about the identity of the al-Qaeda leaders it is holding. Previously Iranian officials had said only that they had arrested "important and less important members" of the Islamic militant network since the US-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan in late 2001.

Iran has come under immense US pressure to hand over its al-Qaeda captives amid charges that members of the group working out of Iran had a hand in triple suicide attacks that killed 35 people in Saudi Arabia in May.

The Islamic regime has said that it will try, extradite or deport all its captives, but Wednesday ruled out giving US investigators permission to question them.

Tehran-based diplomats say the regime's plans to dispose of its al-Qaeda prisoners have been complicated by the fact that many have been stripped of their original nationality and therefore cannot be extradited.

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news_en.pl?l=en&y=2003&m=08&d=15&a=3

Islamic regime shuts down official student body's website following publication of report on death of Canadian journalist

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Aug 15, 2003

The Islamic republic regime has closed down the website located at www.akunews.org. This website, in Persian, belongs to the official student body named "Amir Kabir Islamic Association of Students" (AKIAS).

This repressive move has happened since the begining of yesterday afternoon and has persisted till now (18:30 THR local time). It follows the publication, by this site, of a detailled report on the regime's Judiciary force's statement in reference to the death of the Candian-Iranian journalist killed under torture.

The Islamic judiciary had stated, on Thursday morning, that Zahra Kazemi was killed but was known to have been part of a plot and corruption network intending to contribute to the overthrown the Islamic republic regime.

The official's statement had continued, shamefully, that Kazemi had contributed to the creation of groups of young female intending to increase the prostitution in Iran.

It had added that Kazemi had contributed to the creation of operative groups and has teached them the preparation of incendiary devices such as Molotov Cocktails.

The Islamic judiciary's statement on Ms. Kazemi is in line with the known policy of the regime to discredit anyone, dead or alive, who might create a danger for the regime's existence in the World's opinion.

Many of the regime's opponents or victims have been qualified, in the last years, as "Drug Traffickers, Bandits, Renagades, Spies, Corrupts, Hooligans etc...". Such policy helps the regime's European and Japanese backers to justify the continuation of their economic relations with the clerical administration.

But this is the first time that such policy is used against a citizen of a country such as Canada and the regime hopes that the Canadian government will follow the same path as all other countries blinded by commercial opportunities.

Kazemi died under duress as she retaliated to the brutality of the regime's investigators. It's reported, by other sources, that she returned the slap in the face received from the infamous Judge Mortazavi. Thrown on the ground, she was feet kicked till death by the Judge and other investigators present in the room.

She refused, till death, to sign false confessions on basless charges of corruption and espionage.

It's to note that AKIAS was among those student bodies backing the so-called 'reformists" and it's totally different than the underground "Amir Kabir Independent Student Association" which seks a secular regime for Iran.

Kazemi's death is getting used, by the so-called reformist faction of the regime, in order to chase their opponents from judicial and political power with hope of saving the theocratic regime under a "reformed" frame. But such policy is rejected, today, by the majority of the Iranians who want the total annhiliation of the Islamic regime and the instauration of a Secular and Democratic regime.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1762.shtml

Zahra Kazemi Case : EU foreign ministers urged to put pressure on Iran

Reporters Without Borders wrote to each of the European Union's 15 foreign ministers today urging them to put pressure on Iran over the murder of Zahra Kazemi, a journalist with both Iranian and Canadian citizenship. The letter was also addressed to the foreign ministers of the 10 countries that are about to join the EU, which has been conducting a "constructive dialogue" with Iran since 1998.

"We would like to formally ask you to do everything in your power to get the Iranian authorities to agree to the formation of an independent commission of enquiry that would include international experts," Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard wrote. "Those responsible for Kazemi's death must be identified, brought to trial and punished."

The organisation also ask the foreign ministers to support Canada in its representations to the Iranian authorities.

A resident in Canada for the last 10 years or so, Kazemi was on a visit back to Iran when she was detained on 23 June while photographing the relatives of detainees outside Evin prison, north of Tehran. She was beaten while in custody and died as a result of her injuries on 11 July.

The Iranian authorities at first tried to conceal the causes of her death. But on 16 July, Vice-President Ali Abtahi recognised that she had been "beaten." Nonetheless, her body was hastily buried on 22 July in the southern town of Chiraz, although that her mother, a resident in Iran, initially asked for her body to be repatriated to Canada. She acknowledged on 30 July that she had subsequently been pressured into giving permission for the body to be buried in Iran. The Canadian authorities have not stopped requesting the body's repatriation ever since Kazemi's death was announced.

Some reformist parliamentarians have gone so far as to blame Kazemi's death on the judiciary, a conservative stronghold. The Tehran prosecutor, Said Mortazavi, is said to have concealed the circumstances of the death and to have pushed for a rapid burial. In a letter published in the newspapers on 24 July, Mohammad Hussein Khoshvagt, director for foreign press at the culture ministry, acknowledged that Mortazavi forced him to announce that Kazemi's death was due to a cerebral haemorrhage. Mortazavi allegedly accused Khoshvagt (who is in charge of issuing press visas to foreigners) of issuing one to a spy.

The reformist parliamentarian Mohsen Amin said it was Mortazavi who gave the order for Kazemi's death to be attributed to cerebral haemorrhage, and who told the family to bury her very quickly. Amin also said that Kazemi told the police who questioned her that she had been hit on the head.

Another reformist parliamentarian, Elaheh Koulaie, attributed Kazemi's death to a climate of press censorship and hostility to any criticism.

On 30 July, Vice-President Abtahi spoke openly of "murder." On 11 August, the spokesman for the judiciary, Gholam Hossein Elham, recognised that Kazemi died as a result of a blow to the head, but said individuals were at fault, not an institution.

Nonetheless, the use of torture appears to be common in Iranian prisons. President Khatami's brother, in an open letter dated 9 July, called for measures to prevent abuses against political prisoners. Moreover, after leading a UN commission on human rights fact-finding mission to Iran, Louis Joinet in February 2003 voiced concern about conditions of detention, especially the widespread use of very long periods of solitary confinement which, he said, could be considered as a "prison within prison" and lent itself to arbitrary application.

http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=7748

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