Iranian Alert -- October 4, 2003 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD PING LIST

The Iranian Student Movement Up To The Minute Reports ^ | 10.4.2003 | DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

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.

Thanks for all the help.

DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

Iran says attackers of British Embassy were "adventurers"

10.4.2003

Two people arrested in connection with a series of shootings near the British Embassy in Tehran were adventurers, claims Iran's intelligence minister.

He says Iran is committed to its responsibilities to protect foreign diplomatic missions in the country.

"Those who have been arrested for a series of attacks on the British Embassy were two aggressive individuals seeking adventure," Ali Yunesi said.

"These people have confessed that they had carried out three separate armed attacks on the embassy," Mr Yunesi said.

The Intelligence Ministry announced Friday police had identified and detained the "elements" behind a September 14 shooting near the British Embassy, which caused no injuries.

On Sept. 3, five bullets were fired at the British Embassy in central Tehran, two days after a protest outside the embassy over Britain's role in the occupation of Iraq.

Almost a week later, shots were again fired near the building.

There were no casualties in either incident.

Britain's Foreign Office complained to Iranian authorities over the shootings.

The incidents coincided with tensions caused over Britain's August 21 arrest of former Iranian ambassador Hade Soleimanpour, who is wanted in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Argentina.

Story filed: 13:39 Saturday 4th October 2003

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_825798.html

[F14 Pilot]

Iran: Female ''murderer' gets death sentence

Saturday 04 October 2003, 18:30 GMT

An Iranian woman accused of killing a police officer whom she said tried to rape her is to face the death penalty.


Though sentenced to death six months ago, Afsaneh Noruzi, 32, has only recently been served with the notice of her punishment.

The Tehran-based Shargh daily reported that Noruzi , being held in a jail in the southern port city of Bandar-Abbas, signed and fingerprinted her death order on 28 September.

Noruzi was ordered to die by a court on 15 March for stabbing to death a high-ranking officer on the Gulf island of Kish in 1997.

She claimed the officer had tried to rape her in his office.

Her death sentence was confirmed by the supreme court.

Noruzi's 15-year-old daughter had appealed to the chief justice to review her mother's case.

Three female deputies also appealed to have the case transferred to a new judge.

The deputies said that by killing her aggressor, Noruzi was only "doing her Islamic and human duty to defend her honour as a Muslim woman."

AFP

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9D662BD6-8E70-479B-BA8F-7125AFB543E8.htm

[blackie]

Iranian [sic] justice.

[PhilDragoo]

Reform? No, revolution. There, that's better.

[PhilDragoo]

Putin is so lame here.

Russia is aiding Iran. It's "insistence" that Iran return the spent rods is diplomatic paperhanging.

As for Putin pressuring Bush to give Chia Jong guarantees in this sphere of security, how about guaranteed smackdown?

Bush looked in this apparatchik's eyes and saw his soul? Uh, no.

Thanks to Putin, Iran has the most dangerous missile force in the region.

Putin thinks he has the oil Bush needs, translating into bargaining position.

While Congress stalls Bush's $87 billion request as it gives Putin all the Nunn-Lugar millions of taxpayer dollars.

Enough of the new tone. How much crap will you eat for oil, Mr. President? Putin needs discipline.

[nuconvert]

"The 6th Majlis (Parliament) has attained remarkable achievements in the political and economic arenas, he pointed out."

What a joke. Maybe they should ask all the people out of work if "the economy has attained remarkable achievements."
And how about the value of that Toman? "Political arenas?"
What achievements?

[DoctorZIn]

Iran 'Optimistic' After Nuclear Talks

October 04, 2003
BBC News
Jim Muir

A first phase of crucial talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has ended in Tehran, with the Iranians optimistic about the outcome.

Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi - who is in Tehran for the talks - told the BBC that agreement and mutual understanding had been reached on a plan of action to clarify the issues of concern to the agency.

The aim, he said, was to speed up co-operation, so that all the questions the IAEA is asking could be dealt with as swiftly as possible.

Dr Salehi said that there were no serious sticking points, but he cautioned that it was a dynamic process and he hoped that nothing unusual would come up.

The most senior IAEA official involved in the talks, deputy Director General Pierre Goldschmidt, has returned to Vienna, but other officials and tactical experts have stayed on.

They will be engaging in detailed discussions and some inspections as the agreed programmes of works gets under way.

So this first and crucial phase of talks has ended with the Iranians in an optimistic and positive mood.

Sanctions

On its side, the IAEA itself is being much more cautious.

In fact, it is saying virtually nothing at all.

Clearly much will depend on what actually happens in the coming days, and how forthcoming and convincing the Iranians turn out to be in meeting the agency's concerns.

These include questions about how traces of highly enriched weapons grade uranium came to found at two Iranian facilities.

By the end of the month the agency wants to have a full understanding of all Iran's past and present nuclear activities so that it is in a position to certify that the country has been abiding by its obligations under the Non Proliferation Treaty.

If it cannot do that, the issue may be referred to the United Nations Security Council where Iran could face sanctions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3163968.stm

[DoctorZIn]

US and Iran in Secret Peace Talks

October 05, 2003
The Observer
Jason Burke and Dan de Luce

Secret 'back-door' diplomacy involving some of the Middle East's most influential figures has led to unexpected signals of a rapprochement between America and Iran despite angry public rhetoric on both sides.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran remain high, particularly over the question of Iran's nuclear programme and alleged attempts to destabilise the US occupation in Iraq, but a tentative dialogue has been established.

One go-between has been King Abdullah II of Jordan, who visited Tehran shortly before meeting President Bush at Camp David last month. King Abdullah is understood to have been briefed by Mohammed Khatami, the Iranian president, and Kamal Kharrazi, the foreign minister, and to have transferred their 'analysis of the regional situation' to the Americans.

Last week US officials confirmed that they had received 'positive signals' from Iran. 'There is some indication that the Iranians want to talk to us about a range of issues and we are responding appropriately,' one State Department official said.

However, analysts say that different groups in Iran are reacting to the country's new security situation in different ways, and the seemingly contradictory stances reflect deep divisions within Iranian politics and society. Religious hardliners, who control many of the key institutions, are taking a firm stance over Iran's nuclear programme and are working to cause problems for the US-led forces in Iraq. However, Iranian reformists, such as Khatami and Kharrazi, are taking a more conciliatory position.

Iran is expected to attend an international donors conference on the post-war reconstruction of Iraq in Madrid later this month, while continuing to take a hard line on the nuclear issue.

'As much trouble as we have with them on the nuclear issue, we have a slightly different relationship with them on Iraq,' Richard Armitage, the American deputy secretary of state, said last week. 'They have big interests in stability in Iraq.'

Another issue causing tensions is the alleged presence of senior al-Qaeda figures in Iran. Here differences in the US administration mirror those in Iran. American hawks, particularly those close to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, claim that Iranian hardliners are harbouring militants and facilitating their terror campaign. Their opponents in Washington say that any Sunni Muslim Islamic militants held by the Iranian regime are in prison and unable to operate.

The most pressing issue for all remains the suspicion that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has asked for prompt access to sensitive nuclear sites, giving Iran one last chance to come clean about the true nature of its nuclear programme.

Inspections last summer found traces of weapons-grade uranium and obstruction of the IAEA's work could lead to UN sanctions. The IAEA has demanded that Iran cease all uranium enrichment activity and prove it has no weapons programme by 31 October.

Senior Iranian conservatives last week dismissed the terms of the 31 October deadline. At the weekly Friday prayers ceremony at Tehran University, the powerful former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, condemned the IAEA resolution.

'The hypocritical policy of the Americans and Westerners has no justification,' Rafsanjani told worshippers amid chants of 'Death to America', though he did indicate that Iran would be willing to meet some international demands in return for guarantees protecting Iran's sovereignty.

Dr Ali Ansari, lecturer in Middle Eastern history at the University of Durham, said that the nuclear issue united many reformists and conservatives. 'Many believe it is their national right to develop a nuclear programme,' he said.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1056324,00.html

[nuconvert]

"They have big interests in stability in Iraq."

Really?

They don't have big interests in Democracy in Iraq.

[nuconvert]

"...those close to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, claim that Iranian hardliners are harbouring militants and facilitating their terror campaign"

A quote from another article in the past, to back-up Mr. Rumsfeld's point of view.

"TEHRAN IS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE TERRORISTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD CAN STILL MEET AND OPERATE IN THE OPEN. Every year, from 1 to 10 February, TEHRAN HOSTS A FESTIVAL OF RADICALISM in which terror groups, including the last remaining Marxist-Leninist ones, come together to exchange views and coordinate strategies."
"AT LEAST 22 OTHER TERRORIST GROUPS MAINTAIN OFFICES, and in some cases, such as the PKK, which fought a 15-year war against Turkey, even OPERATIONAL AND LOGISTICAL BASES in various parts of Iran."

[nuconvert]

Thanks.
This story needs publicity in order to get the regime to overturn her death sentence.

[F14 Pilot]

US and Iran in secret peace talks

Jason Burke and Dan de Luce in Tehran
Sunday October 5, 2003
The Observer

Secret 'back-door' diplomacy involving some of the Middle East's most influential figures has led to unexpected signals of a rapprochement between America and Iran despite angry public rhetoric on both sides.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran remain high, particularly over the question of Iran's nuclear programme and alleged attempts to destabilise the US occupation in Iraq, but a tentative dialogue has been established.

One go-between has been King Abdullah II of Jordan, who visited Tehran shortly before meeting President Bush at Camp David last month. King Abdullah is understood to have been briefed by Mohammed Khatami, the Iranian president, and Kamal Kharrazi, the foreign minister, and to have transferred their 'analysis of the regional situation' to the Americans.

Last week US officials confirmed that they had received 'positive signals' from Iran. 'There is some indication that the Iranians want to talk to us about a range of issues and we are responding appropriately,' one State Department official said.

However, analysts say that different groups in Iran are reacting to the country's new security situation in different ways, and the seemingly contradictory stances reflect deep divisions within Iranian politics and society. Religious hardliners, who control many of the key institutions, are taking a firm stance over Iran's nuclear programme and are working to cause problems for the US-led forces in Iraq. However, Iranian reformists, such as Khatami and Kharrazi, are taking a more conciliatory position.

Iran is expected to attend an international donors conference on the post-war reconstruction of Iraq in Madrid later this month, while continuing to take a hard line on the nuclear issue.

'As much trouble as we have with them on the nuclear issue, we have a slightly different relationship with them on Iraq,' Richard Armitage, the American deputy secretary of state, said last week. 'They have big interests in stability in Iraq.'

Another issue causing tensions is the alleged presence of senior al-Qaeda figures in Iran. Here differences in the US administration mirror those in Iran. American hawks, particularly those close to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, claim that Iranian hardliners are harbouring militants and facilitating their terror campaign. Their opponents in Washington say that any Sunni Muslim Islamic militants held by the Iranian regime are in prison and unable to operate.

The most pressing issue for all remains the suspicion that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has asked for prompt access to sensitive nuclear sites, giving Iran one last chance to come clean about the true nature of its nuclear programme.

Inspections last summer found traces of weapons-grade uranium and obstruction of the IAEA's work could lead to UN sanctions. The IAEA has demanded that Iran cease all uranium enrichment activity and prove it has no weapons programme by 31 October.

Senior Iranian conservatives last week dismissed the terms of the 31 October deadline. At the weekly Friday prayers ceremony at Tehran University, the powerful former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, condemned the IAEA resolution.

'The hypocritical policy of the Americans and Westerners has no justification,' Rafsanjani told worshippers amid chants of 'Death to America', though he did indicate that Iran would be willing to meet some international demands in return for guarantees protecting Iran's sovereignty.

Dr Ali Ansari, lecturer in Middle Eastern history at the University of Durham, said that the nuclear issue united many reformists and conservatives. 'Many believe it is their national right to develop a nuclear programme,' he said.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/waronterrorism/story/0,1373,1056413,00.html

[dixiechick2000]

"Religious hardliners, who control many of the key institutions, are taking a firm stance over Iran's nuclear programme and are working to cause problems for the US-led forces in Iraq. However, Iranian reformists, such as Khatami and Kharrazi, are taking a more conciliatory position."

So, I guess we'll see just who wears the pants in that family soon enough.

I think I already know...

[F14 Pilot]

Rafsanjani highlights Iran`s conditions for signing protocol

Tehran, Oct 3, IRNA -- Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said
here on Friday that Iran`s conditions for signing the additional
protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) may be the
same as those of the US.
"We also have conditions [for signing the additional protocol]
and our conditions may be the same as those which the US has declared
in its talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),"
Rafsanjani told worshipers in a sermon at Tehran Friday prayers.
He recalled US conditions that its signing the protocol must not
jeopardize its security, values and sanctities, and that it must not
lead to investigation of issues that are not related to the nuclear
energy.
"We have not yet declared our conditions, but I think these are
the cornerstone of our conditions," Rafsanjani said.
The Islamic Republic is already a signatory to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). However, the IAEA is refusing to
provide Iran with the nuclear expertise that under the agency`s
regulations it is entitled to receive.
Iran says it needs to receive guarantees before signing the
additional protocol that the sanctions imposed by the West are
removed and that nuclear powers help the Islamic Republic attain
nuclear technology to satisfy its energy needs.
Rafsanjani further refreshed vows that Iran would not pursue
atomic weapons, stressing that these weapons are against the religious
teachings of Iranians and all the Muslims.
"Just as the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah
Seyyed Ali Khamenei has declared, we consider using atomic weapons as
haram (forbidden) according to the Islamic sanctities and the
principles of our religion," Rafsanjani said.
"We have always been committed to this. Yet, it is regrettable
that there is a ballyhoo against Iran in the world even though we have
explicitly announced that the Islamic Republic only wants to use the
nuclear technology for peaceful purposes."
He further recalled Iran`s previous positions that it is willing
to continue cooperation with IAEA, and that it would study the NPT`s
additional protocol thoroughly and would agree to sign it "if it fits
our interests".
"They are well aware that we have made this decision at the
highest levels of the country and are now following it. But it is very
unfortunate that they are so biased and merciless toward us,"
Rafsanjani said.
The IAEA Board of Governors last month set an October 31 deadline
for Iran to prove it is pursuing peaceful nuclear programs.
The resolution that was submitted by Canada, Japan and Australia
also calls on Tehran to clarify its nuclear program by the end of
October and to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
Rafsanjani called the IAEA Board of Governors "hypocrite,
deceitful and opportunist", stressing that this issue is "very ugly
and dangerous" for world powers and their image in the international
arena.

http://www.irna.ir/#2003_10_0315_21_407

[DoctorZIn]

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[blackie]

Free the Iranian people, now!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!