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I received this email an hour ago. Thought you might find it interesting. -- DoctorZin

......

I am forwarding you an article regarding Hossein Khomeini's speech and interview on Friday in DC at the American Enterprise Institute. Michael Ledeen was the moderator and there was simultaneous translation from Persian to English (not so great) and then a lengthy q&a where Dr. Hormoz Hekmat translated (well done).

I saw this program which was taped on C-Span2 this evening and it was incredible!!! The simultaneous translator left much to be desired, but the q&a was incredible. As a friend of mine said, while watching, this man could be called Reza Shah Kabir's grand-son: straight talk, without 'shileh-pileh.'

Mr. Ledeen did the Iranian public a great service to get Hossein Khomeini seen and heard.

Hossein Khomeini should be on all the talk-shows and get the American public riled up - he could not have been clearer how involved the IRI regime is in terrorism and how much the people of Iran want change and are not anything close to these thugs. I am glad he had also had the chance to talk to other world leaders when he was in NY - I hope they got the message loud and clear: enough dealings with the IRI - back the Iranian people, down with the IRI !!!!!!

I believe nobody can understand the depth and breadth of this unless they were present there or at least saw and heard him on TV, as I did. This should be seen by all who still promote the so-called "reformists" within the IRI. They will be very disappointed...

Here is the article which is mild compared to the strength of the message from Hossein Khomeini and how well he was able to explain the utter despair of a nation stuck within a theocracy which they don't want. He advocated freedom and democracy, separation of religion from politics, he advocated the right of any religion or sect, be it made up of only 5 people, to have their rights, that there should be no particular State religion imposed on the people. He was asked who should lead and if Shahzadeh Reza Pahlavi had a chance - he said the field is open for the right leader, whoever it may be who wants to lead the country to freedom and democracy and away from misery and oppression.

Anyway, here is the article:

Posted on Fri, Sep. 26, 2003

Khomeini Kin Assails Fundamentalist Rule
GEORGE GEDDA
Associated Press

WASHINGTON -The grandson of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, symbol of Iran's Islamic revolution, said Friday his countrymen live in a depressed state that will persist until they are freed from strict fundamentalist rule.

Hossein Khomeini, who bears some resemblance to the man who launched the uprising against the pro-American shah's government 24 years ago, said the lack of organized resistance to the mullah-led system makes him pessimistic about the prospects for change in his homeland.

"The Iranian people want democracy," Khomeini said. "Religion and government cannot be one and the same."

Dressed in traditional Iranian garb, Khomeini spoke through a translator to a large gathering of Iranian exiles and American experts on Iran at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

His grandfather's revolution overthrew a pro-Western monarchy and made Iran one of the world's most vigorously anti-American countries. "Death to America" rallies in Tehran and elsewhere were commonplace.

Ayatollah Khomeini died in 1989, but his revolution lives, with like-minded clerics making virtually all key decisions. Iranians elected a moderate president in 1997, but his powers have remained limited.

Hossein Khomeini, 45, spent time this past summer in Iraq, where he praised the U.S. ouster of Saddam Hussein's government and said he believes the Iranian people would accept American military intervention if no other way existed to achieve freedom.

"The U.S. invasion is really a blessing for the people of Iraq," he said. In contrast, he said, "Iranians are frustrated, not hopeful but lacking a movement to bring about their yearning to be free."

"The regime stifles the psyche and the soul, creating hateful individuals," he said.

Bush hosts Putin at Camp David

By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
9.27.2003

President Bush yesterday welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to Camp David, Md., where the two leaders planned to discuss Iraq's reconstruction and Iran's nuclear proliferation.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said other topics on the agenda for the summit, which culminates in a press conference today, include the Middle East conflict, the war on terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Meanwhile, the White House signaled a willingness to compromise with Congress about the president's request for $20 billion to rebuild Iraq. Some lawmakers, including Republicans, are demanding the money be structured as loan guarantees, not an outright grant.

"We're continuing to fight for the package as we outlined it and as we presented it to Congress," Mr. McClellan said. "But, obviously, we recognize this is a process where we work together on it."

The $20 billion is part of the president's request for $87 billion to fight the war on terror for another year. Congress has not balked at the bulk of that request, about $67 billion for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Still, the administration is aggressively seeking funds and troops from other nations to relieve overstretched U.S. forces. Mr. Bush is expected to press Mr. Putin for support this weekend, even though Russia joined Germany and France in opposing the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"There are times when we have some disagreements," Mr. McClellan said. "But he's not afraid to raise those issues."

The spokesman was also referring to the issue of Iran's nuclear proliferation.

The Bush administration has long accused Moscow of helping Iran develop a nuclear-weapons program. Russia has denied the charge, although it has made no attempt to hide its $800 million deal to build a nuclear reactor in Iran for the purpose of generating electricity.

The president told reporters on Thursday he would broach this topic with Mr. Putin. The timing is particularly critical because traces of weapons-grade uranium were recently found at a second site in Iran by inspectors from the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency.

The White House attempted to downplay friction between the two presidents on this topic. Mr. McClellan said the administration is encouraged that other nations have recently become concerned about an issue that the United States has been highlighting for years.

"The international community is coming together, recognizing the seriousness of Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons," the spokesman said. "It's something that we have been talking about for quite a while, and now you have the rest of the international community recognizing it."

On the topic of Iraq, some analysts expect Mr. Putin to try to trade his support on reconstruction for a chance at lucrative contracts in Iraq. Russia is still smarting over the loss of revenue from the elimination of Iraq's oil-for-food program.

Also yesterday, the White House defended its $20 billion Iraqi reconstruction against suggestions that some of the funds would go to unnecessary luxuries, such as mail service.

"It helps bring about a civil, orderly, functioning society," Mr. McClellan said, noting that it was "one of the very first steps that we took here with our own Continental Congress back in 1775."

"It's important to bringing a new nation together, and supporting the growth of commerce, and ensuring the free flow of ideas and information, just like it was for America many years ago," he added.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030926-104931-2747r.htm

Al Qaida warning: U.S. has infiltrated our 'holy warriors'

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, September 26, 2003
LONDON —

Al Qaida has warned its agents that they have been infiltrated by the United States.

An Al Qaida spokesman said the infiltration had been conducted by the United States in cooperation with unspecified Arab intelligence services.

"We warn of attempts to infiltrate the holy warriors in Iraq," the Al Qaida spokesman said. "There is a need to kill spies and make them an example for punishment after their presence and activities have been demonstrated."

The statement came in wake of the capture of several Al Qaida agents in the Sunni Triangle and Mosul area of Iraq, Middle East Newsline reported. The arrests have pointed to links between Al Qaida and loyalists of deposed President Saddam Hussein.

The statement was relayed by the London-based Center for Islamic Research and Studies.

This was the first time Al Qaida has acknowledged that its forces have been penetrated by Western agencies. Until now, Western intelligence analysts said the United States and its allies have failed to infiltrate the middle and senior ranks of the Islamic movement.

Al Qaida asserted that the penetration efforts first stemmed from Algeria. The statement by the unidentified spokesman said Algeria sent agents dressed as Islamic mujahadeen, or holy warriors, who identified themselves as members of the leading insurgency groups that operated in the North African country.

The latest appearance of spies in Al Qaida came from an unidentified Arab ally and neighbor of Iraq, the statement said. The Al Qaida infiltrators were detected several months ago and have infiltrated organization cells in Iraq.

Islamic sources close to Al Qaida said the reference was to Saudi Arabia. Over the last few months, thousands of Islamic volunteers have left Saudi Arabia for Iraq to participate in the Sunni insurgency war against the United States.

The United States was said to have placed tracking devices on the infiltrators to target Al Qaida cells in Iraq. The Al Qaida statement warned against accepting Islamic volunteers without screening them to ensure that they do not contain U.S. agents. Al Qaida said all Islamic volunteers must demonstrate a background in insurgency activities.

The Islamic sources said Al Qaida had suspected that the United States tried to infiltrate the upper echelons of the group after the suicide strikes in New York and Washington in September 2001. The sources said a U.S. air strike against the Al Qaida leadership in the Afghan city of Kandahar in October 2001 stemmed from information by a spy within Taliban.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_7.html

Persian Countdown Begins

September 27, 2003
The Ottawa Citizen
David Warren

U.S., West left with no stomach for brinkmanship

This was Sacred Defence Week in Iran. There was a big parade Monday in Tehran, to show off such hardware as the country's Shihab-3 intermediate range missile. It is a variant of North Korea's wonderfully named "No-Dong," and we got to see half a dozen of them. Among things we didn't see were the new, solid-fuel Fateh-110, first tested last year. The Iranians are now working on extending its range.

Among even less visible things, the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency continues to find traces of enriched -- which is to say, "weapons grade" -- uranium, most recently at the Kalay-e Electric Co., just south of Tehran. Earlier this year, they found traces at the more remote site of Nantanz. It would be hard not to conclude from this that Iran now has an capacity to produce nuclear weapons.

The Iranian explanation of this is as rich as the uranium traces. They say their centrifuges were bought on the black market in the 1980s (apparently from Pakistan); that they've never actually tested the things themselves with nuclear material -- and so maybe somebody else did before them.

It is at this point that Canadians need reminding of the various official Iranian explanations of the death of Zahra Kazemi. The most recent line fed to our cherubic foreign minister (when he collared Iran's foreign minister at the UN) is that there will be some sort of trial of one of her Iranian interrogators, who now stands officially accused of what the laws of that land call "semi-intentional murder." Having previously heard everything from a candid admission that Ms. Kazemi was fully-intentionally murdered, to claims that she "unintentionally died," along with much bluster about how it was none of our business, I'm surprised we even ask for Iranian government explanations.

It is the same on nuclear weapons. One ayatollah (Khamenei) says Iran wouldn't dream of developing nuclear weapons; another (Rafsanjani) says the moment it has them it will nuke Israel. Moreover, the combination of aggressive bluster with the pose of baffled ingénue is endemic to the region. Only a country that allows full access to anything by international inspectors can be beyond suspicion.

This is the problem David Kay and his team of 1,400 weapons inspectors in Iraq is still dealing with. There is no possible doubt Iraq had illegal weapons at least until 1999, and plenty of documentary evidence has been discovered within the country's security archives referring to specific continuing programs. But other documentary evidence suggests Saddam was also trying to conceal, not the weapons but the fact he didn't really have anything especially lethal. The links between Saddam and international terror are becoming clearer, but even there we are still trying to penetrate the fog.

We know, however, what can come out of the fog. Examples were the attacks on New York City and Washington two years ago.

In the delightfully understated words of the chief of the Israeli defence staff, Moshe Ya'alon, referring back to Iran, "the combination of a non-conventional regime with non-conventional weapons is a concern."

According to several sources, Israel has a plan to make an Osirak-style first strike against Iran's nuclear weapons capacity. (I should think that would require a multiple strike.) We cannot doubt the Pentagon has its own scheme, if needed. The IAEA has given Iran until Oct. 31st to make the kind of complete and honest accounting of its illegal weapons program that Saddam Hussein was once asked to provide, and so we also have a countdown.

What we probably do not have any more is the political will to act.

Saddam Hussein's behaviour -- his track record with weapons of mass destruction in combination with his known ways of conducting business -- made dealing definitively with Iraq the strategic equivalent of a "no-brainer." But not even that could be done, except over the objections of a substantial part of even the democratically-elected world community. The ayatollahs of Iran are in the happier position of being openly courted by France, Germany, even Britain.

The Bush administration intends to pursue the matter through the Security Council, where it has even less prospect of inspiring decisive international action than it had over Iraq. And whereas Israel might suddenly act on her own, out of her own desire for physical survival, the Israelis have established a track record for empty threats. (The recent, quite serious one against Yasser Arafat seems to have been all but retracted.)

It is not strictly necessary to prevent Iran, or North Korea for that matter, from acquiring and deploying nuclear weapons, or stop them from continuing their trade in equipment and know-how with the world's terrorists, and other thug regimes. We could just wait and see what the consequences will be. The worst that could happen is the sudden loss of a few Western cities, followed, I'd assume, by an unrestricted conflagration along the lines of Armageddon.

But what's that against the danger of ruffling more feathers at the UN?

My sense is that neither the Bush administration nor any other has, after the international response before, during and after the invasion of Iraq, any stomach left for serious brinkmanship; and that U.S. domestic politics have also enquagmired President Bush. I am fairly certain that, at least, this is the Iranian (and the North Korean) view.

http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/story.asp?id=65BDBE50-6F2F-499E-BD6C-517BFDC271DA

Bush, Putin Urge Iran to Abandon Nukes

Bush, Russian Leader Vladimir Putin Urge Iran, North Korea to Abandon Nuclear Weapons Programs

The Associated Press
ABC News
9.27.2003

CAMP DAVID, Md. Sept. 27 — President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Iran and North Korea on Saturday to stop their suspected nuclear weapons programs.
The leaders, standing by each other at a news conference after two days of talks, also said they looked forward to building a free, democratic Iraq despite differences over the U.S.-led war.

Bush, speaking about Iran, said, "We share a goal and that is to make sure that Iran doesn't have any nuclear weapon or a nuclear weapons program."

The United States and Russia, he said, "also understand that we need to work together to persuade Iran to abandon any ambitions she may have.

"What's important is we understand that its in our national interests to insure that Iran doesn't develop a nuclear weapon," Bush said.

Putin said the United States and Russia wanted to send "a clear but respectful signal to Iran" to increase its cooperation with the world agency that oversees nuclear nonproliferation.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20030927_495.html

Iran, Renault-Nissan to Sign Deal

September 27, 2003
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
IRIB News

Iran has finalized a deal with the auto giant Renault-Nissan to launch a joint platform for producing `L-90' cars and will sign a deal to that effect in late October, the press reported here on Saturday.

The Persian-language newspaper `Iran' quoted the President of Iran's Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) Reza Veisseh as saying that IDRO would sign the deal after it has completed examination of the legal aspects involved.

Veisseh said that IDRO would sign another deal with the Renault-Nissan for implementing the joint venture which is expected to come on stream next summer.

He also said that the venture would eventually lead to the establishment of a French-Iranian company with a share basis of 51 percent for the IDRO and 49 percent for the Renault-Nissan.

Veisseh said IDRO and Renault-Nissan will work out a contract to grant the production license of `L-90' cars to the French-Iranian company, adding that the company accordingly in an agreement would transfer the license to two Iranian giant auto producers of Iran Khodro and Saipa.

He added that Iran Khodro and Saipa will be authorized to provide the after-sale services for the `L-90' cars.

The French-Iranian company will be commissioned to establish a site to launch the platform for producing the L-90s.

It will also be commissioned to provide all parts of the platform for Iran Khodro and Saipa.

http://www.iribnews.com/Full_en.asp?news_id=189023

Pirelli to Supply High-tech Fiber Optic Cable to Link Kuwait and Iran

September 26, 2003
Engineering UK
engineering-uk.co.uk

Milan -- Emirates Telecommunications & Marine Services FZE (e-marine) in the United Arab Emirates has awarded Pirelli the contract for supplying submarine and land fiber optic cables, terminal transmission equipment and accessories for a prestigious project which will link Kuwait City with Ganeveh in Iran.

The new cable system will enable the transmission of voice, data and multimedia broadband services.

The project is for Pirelli the first fiber-optic link in the region and is expected to strongly support economic development of the region through the diffusion of connectivity and telecommunication services.

The contract foresees the manufacturing and laying of a 350 kilometers long fiber-optic submarine system – plus a 50 kilometers long terrestrial system - capable with an ultimate transmission capacity of 10 Gigabit/second on 4 channels, equivalent to more than 160 thousand simultaneous phone calls.

“This link shall prove to be an important milestone and pave the way for tremendous growth of telecommunication in the region”, Mauro Sacchetto, Managing Director of Pirelli Submarine Telecom Systems commented. “Pirelli won a tough contest prevailing over many major technology suppliers worldwide”.

Ministry of Communications of Kuwait and Telecommunication Company of Iran are the work owners. Pirelli will incorporate the most advanced DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) submarine optical transmission technology. The initially equipped capacity of the unrepeatered link – which will use Pirelli cables with G654 fibers – will be 2.5 Gigabit/second, upgradable in accordance with future traffic requirements.

The link will be completed by second quarter 2004 and foresees also three branches to Failakah (Kuwait) and Kharg (Iran) islands and to an Iranian offshore oil platform. Pirelli will supply three branching units, sophisticated optical equipment that allow for data transmission on this kind of systems.

Optical cable will be manufactured by Pirelli at its Italian facility in Arco Felice (Neaples), the excellence center of the Group for these applications, while equipment will be manufactured in Paderno Dugnano (Milan).

http://www.engineering-uk.co.uk/eng_news.taf?_function=detail&_record=22850&_UserReference=43F75FE02C1A089EC32063B8&_start=1

U.S. Army Turns Over Policing of Iraq-Iran Frontier to Iraqis

September 27, 2003
The Associated Press
MSNBC News

Muntheria Border Crossing, Iraq -- The U.S. Army for the first time Saturday gave Iraq's provisional government responsibility for patrolling a stretch of the country's borders — a sensitive, 210-mile region of forbidding desert frontier between Iraq and Iran.

The transfer was significant, because it comes as the U.S.-led coalition faces pressure to give Iraqis more control over their affairs. And security here is crucial: The border is a popular crossing point for illegal Iranian pilgrims en route to Shiite holy sites, raising fears that al-Qaida or other terrorists could sneak through in disguise.

Calling it an ''important day for the Iraqi people,'' Col. Michael Moody, commander of the 4th Infantry's 4th Brigade, formally handed patrol duties in area to Iraqi Col. Nazim Shareef Mohammed.

Part of an American drive to ease the burden on thinly stretched U.S. soldiers, the switch marked the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein that Iraqis have been given policing authority over an entire border region. The American occupation forces now have only an advisory role.

''This is a great example of new Iraqi security forces taking control,'' Moody said. ''Each day the border becomes more secure. This is good news for the Iraqi people and the coalition.''

The frontier includes a craggy, mountainous region — some of the most treacherous terrain in Iraq — and temperatures often surpass 122 degrees. It runs from the edges of Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Iraq to a point just southeast of Baghdad, encompassing nearly all of Delay province, one of three under 4th Infantry control.

''If this experiment is successful in Diyalia province, then it is an example for all of Iraq,'' declared Lt. Col. Reggie Allen, commanding officer of the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry, standing just near the border.

Mohammed's 1,178-strong force is made up of Arabs, Kurds and Turks. ''We are unique,'' said Mohammed, a Kurd. ''This is an important day for us because we officially take over this highly sensitive border.''

U.S. soldiers started training the Iraqi border forces in May, in sessions that touched on human rights of detainees as well as searches for Islamic militants or suicide bombers of the Iraqi resistance, trying to blend in with pilgrims.

With no diplomatic relations between Iran and Iraq, many Iranians try to cross at a point about 75 miles east of Baghdad on their way to Najaf and Karbala — the most-sacred cities for Shiites after Mecca and Medina.

Allen said his 4th Infantry forces, equipped with armored vehicles and scout helicopters, have stopped more than 14,000 illegal pilgrims since the end of August.

The pilgrims often trek for two or three days through the wasteland to reach a highway just inside Iraq, hoping to hook up with smugglers who charge them up to $30 to drive them south to the two cities. They are often robbed by the people offering to drive them.

''The word is out in Iran that Iraq is free,'' Allen said. ''For years, Saddam Hussein did not allow them into the country. Now, they mass themselves in groups sometimes as large as 1,000 and cross. Some die of dehydration as they cross.''

When border forces catch them, the Iranians are held in a collection facility, screened and returned home.

Lt. Col. Vince Price, who runs part of the border with Allen, said border guards recently stopped two Afghans with Taliban identification cards. The Afghans were released, but Price said it was a sign of the close cooperation between the Iraqi border police and U.S. Army.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap09-27-093709.asp?reg=MIDEAST

Iranian Militia seize 14,000 Satellite Dishes

September 27, 2003
AFP
Yahoo News

TEHRAN -- Iran's volunteer Bassij militia have seized 14,000 satellite dishes from four workshops near Tehran.

A group of 15 men were arrested from workshops located in the city of Shahriar, southwest of Tehran, and the city of Varamin, southeast of the capital, the Jaam-e-Jam newspaper reported here Saturday, giving no further details.

On September 20, Iran's volunteer Bassij militia seized 2,000 satellite dishes from a workshop near Tehran.

Use and possession of satellite dishes are banned in the Islamic republic, punishable by fines and jail terms.

Iranian hardliners denounce foreign satellite broadcasts for trampling on Islamic values and say they are used increasingly by exiled opposition groups, especially those based in Los Angeles, California, to stir anti-government unrest.

But according to official estimates about three million households have access to satellite television, while security forces have in recent years only managed to seize 70,000 sets.

On January 21, the Council of Guardians, a conservative-controlled legislative watchdog, rejected a bill approved by the reformist parliament that would have allowed limited access to satellite television.

Meanwhile, two Iranian men identified only as Sattar A. and Hani L. were sentenced to 91 days in prison and 35 lashes each for trading in pornographic compact discs, said a statement from the southwestern Khuzestan province's judiciary.

Pornography is banned in the Islamic republic.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030927/tc_afp/iran_media_satellite_030927143145

Kazemi Murder Enquiry Farce Continues

September 26, 2003
Reporters Without Borders
RSF

Reporters Without Borders today deplored the conclusion of a judge investigating the murder of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi that no state body was behind the killing and that it was simply the work of a single intelligence ministry agent who interrogated her. It repeated its call for an independent enquiry including international experts.

The judge, Javad Esmaeli, attached to the office of the hardline Teheran prosecutor, Said Mortazavi, presented his report on 22 September, blaming the unnamed agent, who has been charged with her "semi-intentional" murder, implying that he hit Kazemi without intending to kill her.

"We are very suspicious of this report, conducted under the authority of Judge Mortazavi, who has been implicated in this affair," said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard. "We hope that parliament's Article 90 Committee (which investigates public complaints against government bodies) will publish its own conclusions without making any compromises."

"What does the Esmaeli report mean ? Kazemi was held for 77 hours, during which she passed from the prosecutor's office, to the police and then the intelligence ministry. The commission of enquiry set up by reformist President Mohammad Khatami said she was "beaten" during the first few hours. How can Judge Esmaeli come to such a different conclusion ? Why has only one person been charged ? How did this person hit Kazemi without his superior knowing ? How can no civilian or military official not have known she was beaten ?" Ménard said.

Canadian foreign minister Bill Graham met his Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi, on 23 September and was assured that Canadian officials and Kazemi's family could take part in the trial, whose date has not been set. Reporters Without Borders hopes that neither the Iranian nor the Canadian government will accept Judge Esmaeli's conclusions and that a thorough investigation will establish the identity of all those responsible for Kazemi's death.

The case has become a political football between the reformists around President Khatami and the hardliners led by the country's Supreme Guide, Ali Khamenei, thus preventing a proper enquiry. The intelligence ministry, which is close to the reformists, reacted angrily to the charging of one of its officials and reiterated a threat to release evidence pointing a finger at Judge Mortazavi's office.

Kazemi, who lived in Canada, was arrested on 23 June this year as she took pictures of prisoners' families in front of Teheran's Evin prison. She died on 10 July from a brain haemorrhage caused by her beating in detention. After officials tried to cover up the cause of her death, Vice-President Ali Abtahi admitted on 16 July she had been beaten.

Her body was hastily buried on 22 July despite the request of her mother, who lives in Iran, for the body to be repatriated to Canada. The request has since been repeated by Kazemi's son and the Canadian authorities.

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=8092

Hard-liners Defy UN Nuclear Deadline

September 27, 2003
The Associated Press
The Globe and Mail

Tehran — Iran's controversial nuclear program is the latest battleground for the country's fierce political foes — the powerful, yet unelected hard-liners and the reformists who back Iran's popularly elected President.

Hard-line clerics, who have railed against the U.S.-led assault on Iran's atomic agenda, want Iran to reject an Oct. 31 UN deadline to prove its nuclear program is peaceful. They are also calling for Iran to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Reformists are pressing for Tehran to comply with international demands and allow UN inspectors unrestricted access of any site they wished to visit in Iran.

So far, Iran has given only vague answers on whether it will meet the deadline to sign a protocol allowing the inspections. If it doesn't do so, it would mean a further blow to reformist President Mohammed Khatami's grip on power and could cause even more international isolation for Iran.

Concerns that Iran may be developing a nuclear weapon have brought a rare alignment between the United States, Europe and Russia — which have long differed sharply on how to deal with Iran's Islamic regime.

On Saturday, U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin — whose country has been the main foreign assistance to Iran's nuclear program — jointly called on Tehran to show openness.

A top reformist lawmaker in Iran, Mohsen Mirdamadi, warned in remarks published Saturday that delaying on the nuclear issue was forging international consensus against Iran.

“I think our policy of procrastination over the nuclear issue is not correct,” said Mirdamadi, who heads the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee at Iran's parliament.

“Our behaviour has effectively brought Europe and the United States, which have had different positions, closer together. We are gradually creating an unprecedented global consensus against ourselves,” he told the reformist daily Yas-e-Nou. Mr. Mirdamadi is a close Khatami ally and a leader of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, Iran's largest reformist political party.

But a hard-liner close to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, insisted, “We should protect our dignity and sovereignty and not give in to coercive diplomacy.”

Hossein Shariatmadari, who manages the hard-line daily Kayhan, said Iran could not be forced to accept the NPT and should withdraw from it altogether. He also said Iran should ignore the Oct. 31 deadline and restrict access to its nuclear facilities.

“The deadline is illegal and a threat to our national sovereignty,” Shariatmadari told Associated Press on Saturday. “It's a plan, similar to the U.S. plan against Iraq, seeking the fall of the Islamic establishment in Iran.”

Iran says its nuclear program aims to produce electricity, not weapons. The United States and other Western countries, accusing Iran of seeking to develop weapons, have been pushing the UN's nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to find Iran in noncompliance with the NPT.

Saber Zaeimian, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization spokesman, told state-run radio Saturday that IAEA inspectors are expected to arrive in Tehran on Thursday to continue efforts to clear up questions into Iran's nuclear program.

The trip, initially scheduled for Monday, was postponed on Friday upon a request from Iranian authorities, an IAEA has said.

Iranian hard-liners appear to be seeking public support for the opposition to the U.S.-led campaign.

The hard-line elite Revolutionary Guards have displayed several Iranian-made missiles in public squares in Tehran in an apparent show of military strength and opposition to international pressure.

Political analyst Saeid Leylaz said if Iran accepts the additional NPT protocol, it will stop the EU from siding with Washington's policy of isolating Iran.

“Iran's policy of procrastination is meant to win concessions but it didn't work,” he added. “... At the end, I believe logic will prevail and Iran will sign before the deadline expires.”

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030927.wiran0927/BNStory/International/