Free Republic

TEHRAN (AFP) - Influential former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani challenged Western powers to make good on their obligations and help his country develop its nuclear power industry. Rafsanjani was speaking a day after Iran signed a protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which allows for snap inspections of Tehran's nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "The ball is now in the (Westerners') court," he said Friday. "We have a long time until the definitive adoption of the additional protocol" by the Iranian parliament. "If the other countries also keep to their commitments, the process that...

Iran Vows to Fight Any Nuclear Deadline September 11, 2003 The Associated Press George Jahn Iran warned Thursday that it will resist any deadline to prove its nuclear programs are peaceful, even as support for such a measure grew among leading members of the U.N. atomic agency. Chief Iranian delegate Ali Akbar Salehi spoke as the board of governors' meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency adjourned for the second day to allow member nations to hold informal talks on how to get to the bottom of Iran's nuclear activities. Iran, however said it would fight any attempt to impose...

Rafsanjani says US should let Iraqis decide Tehran, July 12, IRNA -- Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani here Friday advised the US to shift its policy in favor of serving masses in Iraq so as to get rid of a `quagmire' that is times bigger and worse than that which trapped it once in Vietnam. Rafsanjani said in his weekly Friday prayers sermons that if the US is willing to get rid of the quagmire, it should start serving the public so that they would realize they have a say in their country and that security has been restored...

Millionaire Mullahs Paul Klebnikov, 07.21.03 Forbes.com | On The Cover/Top Stories A nuclear threat to the rest of the world, Iran is robbing its own people of prosperity. But the men at the top are getting extremely rich. It's rumble time in Tehran. At dozens of intersections in the capital of Iran thousands of students are protesting on a recent Friday around midnight, as they do nearly every night, chanting pro-democracy slogans and lighting bonfires on street corners. Residents of the surrounding middle-class neighborhoods converge in their cars, honking their horns in raucous support. Suddenly there's thunder in the air....

Below is an Opinion from the Daily Star in Lebanon: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/opinion/26_06_03_a.asp The 3-Way Battle for Iran’s Uncertain Future The struggle in Iran is frequently described as one between two camps: reformists gathered around President Mohammad Khatami and hard-liners loyal to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. These two groups are certainly at each other’s throats, but no analysis of the situation is complete without an appreciation of the role being played by a third force: former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The latter’s efforts are deployed behind the scenes these days, but whatever happens in the more public contest, he...