Iranian Alert -- October 23, 2003 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD PING LIST

The US media almost entirely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” But most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.

There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. Starting June 10th of this year, Iranians have begun taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy. Many even want the US to over throw their government.

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.

In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.

This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. 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. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.

I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.

If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.

If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.

PS I have a daily ping list and a breaking news ping list. If you would like to receive alerts to these stories please let me know which list you would like to join.

Iran Submits Report to UN Nuclear Agency

October 23, 2003
VOA News
Voice of America

Iran has turned over to the U.N. nuclear agency what it calls a full report on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

The report was presented to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, in Vienna Thursday. He said it will take several days to assess the four-centimeter thick document.

Iran's representative to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi, said the report includes a history of the country's nuclear activities, including some that were carried out "discreetly," in the past 20 years.

Details about the report were not released, and it was not clear if it would answer the key question of where Iran obtained centrifuge parts on which inspectors found traces of highly enriched uranium.

Mr. Salehi said the equipment had been obtained through intermediaries on the world market, making it difficult to determine the country of origin.

The IAEA had set an October 31 deadline for Iran to prove it is not trying to build nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear energy program.

Iran announced on Tuesday it would comply with IAEA demands to suspend its uranium enrichment program and allow unannounced inspections by international nuclear regulators.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=A1E52A5C-1D44-4F58-8ACE6EDED1D96FAF&title=Iran%20Submits%20Report%20to%20UN%20Nuclear%20Agency&catOID=45C9C78D-88AD-11D4-A57200A0CC5EE46C

Doves Heartened Over Prospects for Engagement

October 22, 2003
The New York Sun
Marta Hummel

WASHINGTON — Iran’s promise yesterday to allow unfettered U.N. weapons inspections and to stop enriching uranium has advocates of “engaging” Iran with international cooperation claiming success.

Advocates of a tougher American stance are saying it’s too early to celebrate. They’re readying tougher sanctions that could split America from the European nations that the Bush administration has been working with to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb.

Yesterday’s announcement in Tehran came during a visit there by the foreign ministers of Britain, France, and Germany.

President Bush has been criticized by the Democratic presidential candidates for not having France and Germany as allies in the war on Iraq, and for dealing with Iraq militarily and unilaterally rather than diplomatically and multilaterally.

Some in the press were already moving yesterday to draw conclusions about which approach worked best in the case of Iran, with which America does not have formal diplomatic relations.

“The Europeans were less confrontational with Iran than we were. They had diplomatic relations and so forth, and they managed to swing this deal,” said one member of the press in asking a question at yesterday’s State Department briefing.

The State Department spokesman, Adam Ereli, said, “This statement today is an indication of what can be achieved when we all work together to send the same firm message.”

“This is an issue that President Bush and the secretary for a long time have been highlighting to the international community,” Mr. Ereli said.

Others, including some on Capitol Hill, were more skeptical of what had been “achieved” by the declaration, which seemed to avert a crisis that would have accompanied an October 31 deadline for Iran that had been set by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Iran remains the no. 1 state sponsor of terrorism,” said Rep. Brad Sherman of California, the top Democrat on the House subcommittee on international terrorism, nonproliferation, and human rights.

“There may come a day when Iran really abandons its nuclear weapons program, but this is just a small concession. I think the Europeans wanted to announce a success and put their skepticism at the door,” Mr. Sherman said.

Another issue is whether Iran will follow through on its promise to give inspectors unhindered access.

“It’s a lie. In Farsi we say ‘They want to give you a toy to keep you busy with,’” said Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi, an Iranian living in America who advocates for a democratic, secular Iran.

Another Iranian opposition figure based in America, Manouchehr Ganji, said, “Iran just wants to buy time.”

Iran is three times the size of Iraq, and with only about 1,000 trained weapons inspectors throughout the world, visiting the Iranian sites will take a long time.

The declaration made yesterday by the European foreign ministers and Iran says that Britain, France and Germany “recognize the right of Iran to enjoy peaceful use of nuclear energy.”

But some energy experts say Iran has no peace-related need for nuclear energy.

“There is no justification for Iran to have a nuclear program. It is sitting on the second-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and could be a net exporter of natural gas — you generate electricity through natural gas,” said an adjunct government professor at Georgetown University, S. Rob Sobhani.

Others saw the move as a step toward reducing Iran’s nuclear threat, but only a partial one.

“It’s really good news on addressing the uranium problem,” said Patrick Clawson, deputy director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, “but not in addressing the plutonium problem that we’ve had since before January,” when the United Nations found evidence of enriched uranium.

Both enriched uranium and plutonium can be used to build atomic bombs.

Iran’s congressional critics are readying new legislation that would toughen sanctions that have been in place since 1996 on foreign companies that trade with Iran and Libya. A Clinton-era executive order prevents American companies from doing business in Iran.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican of Florida who chairs the subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia of the House Committee on International Relations, yesterday introduced the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act Enhancement and Compliance Act. The bill makes the removal of sanctions contingent upon a presidential certification that Iran no longer poses a national security threat to the United States and makes it harder for a president to waive the sanctions. It also establishes an Office of Global Security Risk within the Securities and Exchange Commission to assess the risk to American investors of companies that invest in terrorist countries.

The 1996 sanctions were a source of tensions between American and Europe.

“Neither Iran or Libya have shown signs of relenting in their support for international terrorism. Those companies who continue to pursue investment in the oil sectors of these rogue nations, thus enabling this aggression, must realize that they are bankrolling terrorism,” Ms. Ros-Lehtinen said in a press release announcing the legislation.

http://daily.nysun.com/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=NYS/2003/10/22&ID=Ar00100

Iran Admits It Kept Secrets from UN Nuke Watchdog

October 23, 2003
Reuters
Louis Charbonneau

VIENNA -- Iran acknowledged on Thursday having been "discreet" about its nuclear program in the past but said it had no more secrets after giving the United Nations what it called a full declaration of all its nuclear activities.

The head of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, said Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi, delivered the declaration eight days ahead of an IAEA deadline for Iran to prove it has no secret atomic weapons program as Washington alleges.

"I was assured that the report I got today is a comprehensive and accurate declaration," ElBaradei said.

"It is a large set of documents. We obviously have to start our verification activities (but) it is going to take us time to go through all these documents and reconstruct the full history of the program," he said.

Salehi declined to give any details about the declaration, a stack of papers in a binder about one and half inches thick.

"We have submitted a report that fully discloses our past activities, peaceful activities, in the nuclear field," he said.

However, he said the secretive nature of some of Iran's activities -- which has fueled U.S. concerns that Iran is covertly developing an atomic weapon -- was a natural response to sanctions unfairly imposed on the Islamic republic.

"The important thing to note is that Iran had to do some of its activities very discreetly because of the sanctions that have been imposed on Iran for the past 25 years," Salehi said, adding that they were "legal activities."

"Nevertheless (Iran) had to do them discreetly," he said.

Submission of the report meets a key demand of the Vienna-based IAEA, which set the October 31 deadline.

"I hope we will come to the conclusion that we have seen all past nuclear activities in Iran and that all materials and activities in Iran are under (IAEA) safeguards," ElBaradei said.

BOMB-GRADE URANIUM

The IAEA is particularly keen to have details about the origin of uranium enrichment centrifuge parts, which Iran says it bought on the black market and blames for contaminating two Iranian sites where the IAEA found traces of bomb-grade uranium.

"We should know the origin of materials and equipment to verify the Iranian statement that this (enriched uranium) was the result of contamination," ElBaradei said.

But Salehi indicated this information was not there, as Reuters reported previously, saying it may be impossible to trace their origins as the parts were bought through "intermediaries."

Salehi reiterated his country's commitment to a deal brokered by the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany in Tehran on Tuesday, under which Iran pledged to accept tougher IAEA inspections and suspend its uranium enrichment activities.

In a play on President Bush's description of Iran, North Korea and pre-war Iraq as an "axis of evil," Salehi said Iran and Europe had joined forces in an "axis of providence" based on dialogue and mutual respect.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin echoed Salehi's comments while speaking to reporters in Ljubljana, but told Iran it must make good on its promise to come clean about its nuclear program.

"Now that we have made a path to get out of this crisis, (we need) to act on the basis of this dialogue and confidence," he said. "It's important...that the commitment taken by Iran becomes a fact."

Villepin said he was in close contact with ElBaradei, his German and British counterparts, and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov over Iran.

(Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Tehran and Urban Susa in Ljubljana)

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3677967

Nobel Prize Winner Says Protests Not Path for Rights Reforms

October 23, 2003
The Associated Press
Brian Murphy

TEHRAN, Iran -- Street protests and clashes are not the way to force Iran's Islamic rulers to loosen their hold on power, but the system could be reformed from within, Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi said Thursday.

Her comments in an interview with The Associated Press offered a sense of how Ebadi, once little known outside Iranian human rights circles, may exert her influence following her surprise Nobel win Oct. 10.

Ebadi, a lawyer and rights activist, has dashed hopes by some reformers she might lead pro-democracy demonstrations or take other high-profile steps to pressure the regime.

Instead, Ebadi called such militant action a step backward and appeared content with trying to gradually soften Iran's ruling clerics and their interpretations of Islamic justice.

"I am not the leader of any group," Ebadi said. "I just give service to people who need help. ... Winning this prize is not going to change anything I've been doing."

She promised to continue rights campaigns and legal defenses for alleged political prisoners and others.

"I completely believe that you can do some changes within this system," she said in one of her few interviews since returning to Iran last week. "The time for violent overthrows is over all over the world. It belongs to the past century."

"People going onto the streets – breaking windows, setting fires and sometimes killing – doesn't change anything," she said through an interpreter. "It just means some people go to jail."

Ebadi, though, acknowledged the volatile reality: the deep frustration of many Iranians who perceive themselves helpless to challenge the all-encompassing power of the country's non-elected theocracy.

Mainstream reform leaders must maintain some momentum – through the courts, parliament and international bodies – or could lose their supporters to groups urging revolt, she warned.

"It is very important that disappointment doesn't infect the pro-reform movement," Ebadi said, sitting in her small law office still filled with flowers from her Nobel celebration. "We have to give them hope that we will win. The most worrisome point is when a dangerous disappointment sets in. ... That's when it can turn violent."

The Nobel announcement, which came while Ebadi was in Paris for a conference, was widely interpreted as a message to the entire Islamic world to work for expanded human and political rights. Some Iranian hard-liners denounced the award as Western interference.

Ebadi, 56, was greeted on her return to Tehran by more than 5,000 supporters in the largest pro-reform gathering since student-led protests in June.

Ebadi demanded that Iranian leaders free all "political prisoners," including journalists and activists jailed for alleged crimes against the Islamic establishment. She said there has been no response from the leadership.

She also has taken over "complete supervision" of the legal representation for the family of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died July 10 about three weeks after being detained for taking photographs outside a Tehran prison during protests. An intelligence agent is charged with the alleged beating death.

Ebadi she may not personally appear in court and could turn over the duties to colleagues.

Ebadi added that she would "never" seek elected office, although her voice could be important in deciding who will try to succeed reformist President Mohammad Khatami in 2005.

"A defender of human rights must always be among the people and be the voice of those who cannot be heard," she said. "The targets of human rights reform are governments. If a rights defender enters the government, then they are part of the system they are criticizing."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20031023-0522-iran-ebadiinterview.html

This does not look good. I have told that she is NOT the solution many are looking for. -- DoctorZin

Iran is harboring a son of Osama bin Laden and letting him direct terrorism

Thursday October 23, 2003
PHX News

Saad bin Laden, one of Osama bin Laden's oldest sons, has emerged in recent months as part of the upper echelon of the al Qaeda network, a small group of leaders that is managing the terrorist organization from Iran, according to U.S., European and Arab officials.

Saad bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda operatives were in contact with an al Qaeda cell in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the days immediately prior to the May 12 suicide bombing there that left 35 people dead, including eight Americans, European and U.S. intelligence sources say. The sources would not divulge the nature or contents of the communications, but the contacts have led them to conclude that the Riyadh attacks were planned in Iran and ordered from there.

Although Saad bin Laden is not the top leader of the terrorist group, his presence in the decision-making process demonstrates his father's trust in him and an apparent desire to pass the mantle of leadership to a family member, according to numerous terrorism analysts inside and outside government.

Like other al Qaeda leaders in Iran, the younger bin Laden, who is believed to be 24 years old, is protected by an elite, radical Iranian security force loyal to the nation's clerics and beyond the control of the central government, according to U.S. and European intelligence officials. The secretive unit, known as the Jerusalem Force, has restricted the al Qaeda group's movements to its bases, mostly along the border with Afghanistan.

http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=7202

Put simply, there are things the CIA does not want to know, and it acts to ensure that it will not know them.

Well, duh.

Bill Gertz just wrote this in the Washington Times, and it's in his Breakdown and Robert Baer's See No Evil.

CIA should be called CYA: it's purely partisan, out to embarrass Bush with the Alan Foley-Valerie Plame-Joseph C. Wilson tea-sipping crapola.

As well as its institutional denial that Atta met with Al-Ani.

Iran an ally in the war on terror? And the big bad wolf will help protect Little Red Riding Hood.

Of course the work of all the Torricellis, Church's, Schweikers, Dodds, Leahys has hurt.

As has the Stansfield Turner annihilation of 800 case officers.

The obscene compromising of 17,000 files by Deutch.

The undoing of security by Nora Slatkin.

Now we have Tenet who is not with the program at all vis a vis our president--and should therefore be toast, histoire, ash heapville.

It ain't no disco--it's war.

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