Free Republic

<p>TOGETHER they form the largest bloc in the parliament, where, with their allies, they command a two-thirds majority. So why are 80 members of the 290-member Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Iranian parliament, behaving like an opposition and holding a sit-in amid threats of mass resignation?</p>

Together they form the largest bloc in the parliament where, with their allies, they command a two-third majority. So, why are 80 members of the 290-member Islamic Consultative Assembly -- the Iranian parliament -- behaving like an opposition and holding a sit-in amid threats of mass resignation? The reason is that the next general election, to be held on Feb. 20, could end the parliamentary career of many of them, not because of rejection by voters but because they won't even be allowed to stand. A couple of months ago Richard Armitage, the No. 2 at the U.S. State Department,...

Thousands of the regime forces have been mobilized in the Kerman Province and especially in the cities of Bam and Jiroft in order to prepare the "conditions" for the "future" visit of the Islamic republic leaders. Orders have been issued to arrest or shoot on any protester in the devastated areas under the label of "fighting looters". The Islamic regime knowing the degree of the popular hatered and the existing explosive situation has preferred to postpone these official visits and its leaders, such as Mohamad Khatami, haven't showed up on the scenes of the unprecedented devastation which stroke the region...

The stench of death filled Iran's earthquake-devastated city of Bam on Sunday and fears of epidemics and looting grew as hopes dwindled for those still buried by a disaster that killed 22,000 people. Aid poured in from around the world, including Iran's arch-foe the United States, to help deal with what appeared to be the world's most lethal earthquake in at least 10 years. "The toll has risen to 22,000 dead," an official from the government of the Kerman province where Bam is located told Reuters on Sunday evening. Cemeteries overflowed with corpses. Mullahs in shirt-sleeves rather than their usual...

High level U.S. and Iranian officials put aside diplomatic differences to directly discuss humanitarian aid after the earthquake that killed tens of thousands of Iranians, a State Department official said on Saturday. Spokesman Lou Fintor told reporters the discussion took place in a phone call between Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Iran's permanent representative to the United Nations, Mohammad Javad Zarif. "Given the urgency of the situation we deemed direct contact to be the most appropriate channel," Fintor said. The White House said earlier the United States would send government and civilian emergency workers and 150,000 pounds of...

One Irish and two German tourists kidnapped in southeastern Iran earlier this month have been released and are in good health, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said Sunday. "The three hostages have been freed and are safe and sound," Kharazi told state television. "All three are in good health," the minister said, without elaborating on the circumstances of their release. Earlier Sunday, deputy interior minister Ali Afghar Ahmadi had announced that he expected the tourists to be freed "very soon." The trio were kidnapped by bandits while cycling near Nosrat Abad, on the road between the ancient city of Bam, which...

Pakistani scientists may have played a major role in advancing Iran's nuclear program, but more than a half-dozen other countries are now being drawn into the UN investigation, diplomats and arms experts say. A month-long probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency has traced the origins of Iran's program to the late 1980s, when Iran was supplied with the first drawings on centrifuge technology, its main way of enriching uranium - leading to suspicions it was developing nuclear weapons. The investigations have widened "well beyond" Pakistan, Russia and China to include companies in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and other West European...

The regime's plainclothes men and security agents have arrested in several cities, such as in Tehran and Esfahan, Iranians who angered by the situation had shouted publicly unprecedented slogans considered almost as a blasphemy by the ruling theocracy. These unprecedented slogans were nothing else than "Long Live Israel!" and "Long Live America!" shouted during tens of popular Blood collect gatherings by Iranians welcoming the Israeli and American support of the quake's victims. The popular anger has been boosted as the Islamic regime has banned any Israeli support of the quake's victims by rejecting this country's offer of aid. Many Iranians...

U.S. and Iranian officials put aside diplomatic differences to directly discuss humanitarian aid after the earthquake in Iran that claimed tens of thousands of lives, a State Department official said on Saturday. The United States will send government and civilian emergency workers and 75,000 tons of medical supplies to Iran, the White House said. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in a statement that the United States was working with Iranian authorities, the United Nations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent to quickly send aid to Iran after the devastating earthquake in the city of Bam, where officials...

US seeks bin Laden here, there and everywhere By Mark Huband and Mohsen Asgari Published: December 26 2003 18:43 | Last Updated: December 26 2003 18:43 Much of the story behind Saddam Hussein's eight months on the run has yet to be made public. But US military and intelligence officials say the Iraqi dictator never wandered far from the banks of the Tigris. Remaining within the Sunni heartland, he scrambled from one farmhouse to the next, sometimes by car or van, sometimes by boat. By contrast, Osama bin Laden, leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist group, appears to have become far...

While Pakistani scientists are believed to have played a major role in advancing Iran's nuclear program, more than a half-dozen other countries are now being drawn into the U.N. investigation, diplomats and arms experts say. They say a monthslong probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency has traced the origins of Iran's program to the late 1980s, when Iran was supplied with the first drawings on centrifuge technology, its main way of enriching uranium. The investigations have widened "well beyond" Pakistan, Russia and China to include companies in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and other West European countries, said one diplomat. There...

The Bush administration began sending 150,000 pounds of medical supplies in a military airlift to quake-ravaged Iran, White House officials said Saturday. The administration is also dispatching teams of about 200 search-and-rescue, disaster relief coordination and surgical experts from Fairfax County, Va., Los Angeles and Boston, said spokesman Scott McClellan. Disaster-response experts will also be drawn from three federal agencies. The government and civilian teams will work with the International Red Cross, the Iranian Red Crescent Society and the United Nations to determine needs and distribute the supplies. Among the medical supplies being shipped to Iran are blood, food and...

Overwhelmed rescue crews picked through entire city blocks of rubble in search for survivors and bodies a day after an earthquake ruined this southeast Iranian city. With the death toll in the thousands, Iran appealed for international help and promised to waive visas for foreign relief workers. The scope of the tragedy was so vast that a reliable death toll was impossible to pin down so soon after the magnitude 6.5 quake hit Bam early Friday. The Interior Ministry's early estimate on Saturday was 20,000 dead, while two leading rescue officials said the toll could eventually double. "As more bodies...

Iran's defense minister said Wednesday that his country would strike back with its long-range Shahab-3 missile if Israel attacked its nuclear facilities. Ali Shamkhani was responding to comments made last month by Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, who said Israel wouldn't permit Iran to develop nuclear weapons - a hint it was prepared to take unilateral military action. "We will strike Israel with all weapons at our disposal if the Zionist regime ventures to do so," Shamkhani said in comments carried by the official Islamic Republic News Agency. He said the Shahab-3, able to reach Israel, would be used. The...

Pakistan has admitted for the first time that it may have been the source of sensitive nuclear know-how and equipment for Iran's uranium-enrichment program, a sophisticated and extensive project that has been kept secret for 18 years. The admission from the Government in Islamabad on Tuesday followed weeks of denial of any involvement in the Iranian projects. It followed Pakistan's disclosure that it was questioning Abdul Qadeer Khan - the man who masterminded Pakistan's acquisition of nuclear weapons - about possible links with Iran. Pakistan is under intense pressure from Western countries and from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the...

The United States has urged North Korea, Syria and Iran to "get smart" and follow Libya's example in pledging to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs and join the rest of the world in productive cooperation. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tripoli's decision had put the United States and its allies "on a bit of a roll," and states still pursuing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons would be better off if they followed suit. "We hope that the North Koreans are watching all of this, and realizing that others are getting smart, and it's time for them to...

Iranian officials have warned Israel that there will be painful consequences if it attacks Iran in any way. The head of the Iranian air force, General Seyed Reza Pardis, told the Mehr news agency on Monday that if Israel launches an attack on Iran, it will be "digging its own grave." President Mohammad Khatami has also warned that Israel would be making a mistake if it carried out its threat to destroy Tehran's nuclear capabilities. The warnings follow comments from Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz last week that an operation to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities if necessary is under consideration. Speaking...

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is urging other nations to follow his lead and allow international inspections for weapons of mass destruction. ``In my opinion they should follow the steps, or take the example of Libya, so that they prevent any tragedy from being inflicted on their peoples,'' Gadhafi told CNN in an interview broadcast Monday. The interview came after Gadhafi's government agreed Friday to dispose of its weapons of mass destruction and open the door for inspections. Libya will tell the United Nations nuclear watchdog about current nuclear programs, adhere to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and sign an additional protocol...

A lengthy investigation of the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, by American and European intelligence agencies and international nuclear inspectors has forced Pakistani officials to question his aides and openly confront evidence that the country was the source of crucial technology to enrich uranium for Iran, North Korea and possibly other nations. Until the past few weeks, Pakistani officials had denied evidence that the A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, named for the man considered a national hero, had ever been a source of weapons technology to countries aspiring to acquire fissile material. Now they are backing away...

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is arguably the most popular treaty in history: except for five states, every nation in the world is part of it. For more than three decades, it has helped curb the spread of nuclear weapons. Since 9/11, however, and especially in the last several months, the viability of the treaty has been called into question. Some say it is obsolete. Others say it is merely ineffective. In support of its argument each side cites the situation in Iran, which has been able to advance a nuclear weapons program despite being a member of the treaty. The...