Iranian Alert -- November 12, 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.

Experts say report shows Iran wants atom bomb

Reuters, UK
Wed 12 November, 2003

VIENNA (Reuters) - Arms experts say a U.N. nuclear watchdog report on Iran supports U.S. claims that Tehran has a secret atomic weapons programme by detailing a two-decade cover-up of research possibly linked to bomb making.

Despite Iran's secretiveness and the array of activities possibly associated with weapons, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concluded there was no evidence to date Iran had a weapons programme. Iran has always denied the charge.

"The report is a stunning revelation of how far a country can get in making The Bomb, while pretending to comply with international inspections," said Gary Milhollin of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, a U.S.-based non-profit think-tank. "This is a classic case of a bomb in the basement."

"Iran has secretly enriched uranium, made plutonium, and hidden the evidence of it from the world," he told Reuters. "There's only one reason why anybody would do that -- because they want to make the bomb.

The IAEA said in a confidential report circulated on Monday that Iran had a centrifuge uranium enrichment programme for 18 years and a hi-tech laser enrichment programme for 12 years, both of which it hid from the U.N.

The report also said Iran admitted to producing small amounts of plutonium, useable in a bomb and with virtually no civilian uses, and had conducted secret tests of its enrichment centrifuges using nuclear material. The IAEA said it would take time to say whether the programme was peaceful.

On Wednesday, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami insisted Tehran's nuclear plans were purely peaceful. "It's not important what machinery we have, it's important that we are not pursuing nuclear weapons," he said.

The United States says Iran's nuclear power programme is merely a front for building nuclear bombs and wants the IAEA governing board to report Tehran to the U.N. Security Council for repeatedly violating the NPT when the board meets next week.

However, Washington has few allies on the board, diplomats said, with most members supporting France, Germany and Britain, who would rather encourage Iran's new mode of full cooperation with the IAEA than punish it for past failures.

SHAH'S PLANS

Tehran signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1970, though some believe that the U.S-backed Shah, toppled in the 1979 revolution, was seeking weapons.

"The Iranians are...following the textbook written by the late Shah," Harald Mueller of Germany's Frankfurt Peace Research Institute told Reuters.

Trevor Findlay, head of the London-based Verification Research, Training and Information Centre, said: "Iran's (atomic) programme appears not to be on the scale of, or as advanced as, the Iraqi programme", but he said Iran was in clear violation of its NPT obligation to report all atomic activities to the IAEA.

On Monday, Iran gave the IAEA a letter confirming it would sign the NPT's Additional Protocol, which would give the U.N. the right to conduct more intrusive, short-notice inspections to flush out any secret weapons-related activities.

"(The protocol) will make it difficult for Iran to pursue a clandestine nuclear weapons programme, but it does not prevent Iran from pursuing (legal) fuel-cycle capabilities that would give the country a 'break-out' nuclear weapon option," said Miriam Rajkumar of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=402685&section=news

Reports: Iran, N. Korea gain in nukes

The Washington Times
November 12th, 2003

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Two intelligence reports on the nuclear capabilities of North Korea and Iran have startled U.S. intelligence officials, the New York Times said Wednesday.

Overall, the reports support the consensus view North Korea is far ahead of Iran in the production of actual weapons and poses the most urgent proliferation problems for the Bush administration, the newspaper said.

Iran's program turns out to have been even greater than U.S. intelligence agencies suspected. A 30-page report issued by the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency Monday describes a program that reached back at least 18 years and involved extremely complex technologies, including an exotic program to use lasers to enrich uranium.

Iran's decision to allow the IAEA into facilities that were previously closed to inspectors may forestall Bush's effort to seek sanctions in the United Nations, leaving Iran with an advanced nuclear infrastructure that could be restarted at a moment's notice.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20031112-082204-4969r.htm

Free, just elections guarantee high voter turnout: gov`t spokesman

IRNA News Agency
Iran

Zanjan, Nov 12, IRNA -- Government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh
here on Wednesday highlighted the need to reassure people that the
upcoming elections of the Majlis would be just and free, stressing
that this would guarantee a high voter turnout.
"People`s participation in the Majlis polls would decrease as
soon as they feel that their votes are ineffective, or that their
favorite candidates would have difficulties serving in the office once
elected," Ramezanzadeh told reporters here in the northwestern city of
Zanjan.
He said the obstacles that hamper people`s participation in the
Majlis elections must be removed, adding that people need to receive
assurances that the MPs who are elected for Majlis seats will have an
effective contribution to the decision-making of the country.
Ramezanzadeh stressed that the government never follows the
policies that are beyond the Constitution regarding the Majlis
elections.
"No state official or institution can ever implement a directive
which is against or beyond the Constitution, and it can never be
expected that the government would heed the demands of a certain power
camp that are beyond the Constitution," he said.
Ramezanzadeh stressed that people`s participation in the Majlis
polls will show whether the elections have been successful and will
also determine the alignment of power camps at the chamber.
"To guarantee people`s strong participation in the polls, the
political parties should change their policies as well as their
viewpoints toward the Majlis elections," the government spokesman
said.

http://www.irna.ir/?SAB=OK&LANG=EN&PART=_NEWS&TYPE=HE#2003_11_1215_07_17F21

"4 men sentenced to stoning, despite suspension"

November 11, 2003
©2003 IranMania

TEHRAN, Nov 11, (AFP) -- Four Iranian men found guilty of a series of kidnappings and rapes have been sentenced to execution by stoning, the conservative Qods newspaper said Tuesday, despite an order from the judiciary late last year for judges to issue alternative punishments.

The four were members of a gang who abducted and raped an undisclosed number of women and girls in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Nine members of the gang have already been executed by hanging, one of them publicly.

After a campaign by pro-reform MPs and pressure from the European Union -- which has linked progress on human rights and other issues to trade talks -- Iran's judiciary late last year announced it was suspending executions by stoning.

The hardline-run judiciary said it had ordered judges to issue alternative punishments to stoning, without saying what other punishments could be ordered.

No executions by stoning have been reported by the Iranian press for over a year, although Amnesty International reported at least two cases during 2002. Diplomats said two people were stoned to death in 2001.

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=19596&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

Richard Lugar

Christian Science Monitor
Excerpts from a Monitor breakfast on reports of Iran's secret nuclear program
By David T. Cook
11.12.2003

Senator Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana, is chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Lugar is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Denison University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. While serving in the Navy, he was intelligence briefer for chief of naval operations. After serving two terms as mayor of Indianapolis, Richard Lugar won election to the Senate in 1976 and won a fifth term in 2000.

Here are excerpts from his remarks:

On President Bush's performance in foreign policy:

"He is back on top of his game at this point. When he does come forth decisively, he is humble often in saying 'these are areas in which I have not spent my lifetime. I listen to the very best advice that I can gather.' And then he makes decisions. I think his batting average has been a very good one."

On progress in the war in Iraq:

"We have all come to the conclusion that things have not gone well in Iraq, by and large, and so we have to improve day by day."

On the work of members of Iraq's Governing Council:

"The meetings are spasmodic and don't occur for periods of time.... Conspicuously, the 25 (members) are not doing their job.... This is a time when we have to be insisting they get on with it."

On a UN agency report that Iran had a secret nuclear program:

"I applaud the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) for that report. [Having a secret nuclear program for] 18 years - that's a long stretch of time and it doesn't mean the world was beguiled all the way through that period of time. There have been some suspicions something is going on.... The thoroughness, the completeness of the [alleged nuclear] activity is astonishing. The need for vigilance and scrutiny at this point ... is rather imperative. It does offer from the standpoint of the United Nations now - not the United States - the United Nations, an evaluation that is very important. Nations can now no longer look at the situation passively. My guess is that it will increase, quite correctly, the pressure on Iran to provide for international inspection and clearly attempt to thwart the movement toward weaponization."

On President Bush's call in a speech last week to expand democracy worldwide:

"I suppose now what I would hope for is ... the program to sort of lay out how this occurs.... A full-court press for democracy across the board would imply something at least akin ... to the program the president has suggested for HIV-AIDS."

On greatest threat to safety to his grandchildren:

"The same theme this war is being fought over - the potential intersection of materials or weapons of mass destruction with suicidal terrorists. I think this combination, augmented by the ease of travel, communication, all the technical virtuosity that has come to our world, makes this especially frightening. [After Sept. 11, 2001] our foreign policy changed abruptly because we realized the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans were large oceans but not large enough to protect us. Essentially the ability to fight wars somewhere else, to deploy our troops, was important but at this point irrelevant in the event that the attack was in Washington or New York....

"As opposed to sitting still about it, it seems to me that you do a full-court press to get control of weapons and materials of mass destruction. By that I mean to work with nations to make sure that they [their nuclear weapons are] safe, inventory it so we and they know as best as possible what we do all have in the world, and preferably that we take steps to destroy it or mitigate the supply situation.... It is not going to happen without our participation either in Russia or elsewhere."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1113/p25s01-usmb.html

Iran admits violating Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, November 12, 2003

Iran has admitted violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by enriching uranium without the authorization of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

An IAEA report distributed to the agency's 35-member board of governors asserted that Iran has admitted to several violations of the NPT. They include a secret uranium enrichment program that has been operating since 1985.

During the summer of 2003, an IAEA team had found traces of enriched uranium, but Iran said the material came from an unnamed country, Middle East Newsline reported.

"Iran has now acknowledged that it has been developing, for 18 years, a uranium centrifuge program, and, for 12 years, a laser enrichment program," the report said. "In that context Iran has admitted that it produced small amounts of LEU [low-enriched uranium], using both centrifuge and laser enrichment processes and a small amount of plutonium."

The use of centrifuges and lasers are regarded as the leading methods for producing fissile material for both nuclear power plants or weapons. Iran has maintained that its uranium enrichment was for civilian purposes.

After months of denial, Iran told the agency that the Islamic republic enriched uranium at the Kalaye Electric Co. facility in 1999 and 2000.

The IAEA report determined that the agency could not conclude that Iran's secret nuclear program was meant for the assembly of atomic bombs. But the agency did not rule out such a goal over the next few years as Iran continues to build its nuclear infrastructure.

"It will take some time before the agency is able to conclude that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes," the report said.

The report raised concerns over Iran's nuclear program but did not determine that Teheran had violated the NPT. The agency said Iran had pursued a policy of concealment until October 2003. But the agency stressed that the amount of nuclear material found fell far short of what was required for the assembly of a bomb.

"While most of the breaches identified to date have involved limited quantities of nuclear material, they have dealt with the most sensitive aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, including enrichment and reprocessing," the report said.

Western diplomatic sources said the 29-page report appears to fall short of the expectations of the United States, which had sought an IAEA determination that Iran had failed to cooperate with the agency. Such a move would have resulted in the issue being relayed to the United Nations Security Council.

"In the end, the Board will have to judge when it meets on November 20th about what to do next and whether Iran has complied," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Monday.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_1.html

War on Terror Leaves Poppy to History ... Winning is Essential
The Ottawa Citizen ^ | November 12, 2003 | David Warren

Armistice or Remembrance or Veterans' Day -- it is the same moment in western experience, the bond between many old allies. We understand that peace is good. But until recently we seemed to understand that our freedom is also good, therefore war is sometimes necessary; and through war, victory.

The Armistice we signed 85 years ago, as the agreements we signed after another world war, were not mere truces. They were surrenders we were accepting. The two ideas are closely entwined -- war with peace, and freedom with victory over forces that would enslave us.

Whereas a truce is not an end to hostilities. It is only a break from them. The truce that ended the Korean War settled nothing. It is a war that could, at any moment, be fought all over again, with still more horrendous weapons. The dragon in that war wasn't slain, we left it to fight another day. And yet it was a comprehensible dragon, an organized enemy with its own will to live.

We begin to understand today that the world of the poppy has been left behind us, and the future presents a world in which the role of the soldier is much changed from what it has been.

One sees this in the town of Fallujah, Iraq. The U.S. military had no great difficulty occupying the town, and could, if it wanted, have easily erased it. Instead, in obedience to western norms of humanitarianism, it plays sentry against an enemy that does not accept that it has been defeated. The Americans pump money into welfare and schools, rebuild infrastructure, appoint a mayor and train police (who must then immediately bunker down). They give candy to the children as after former wars. They are in continuous conversation with every acknowledged figure of authority in the town, all of whom at least pretend to co-operate.

Most of the rest of Iraq is "pacified" -- but in Fallujah, and similar towns in the Sunni Triangle, it is like Afghanistan. The traditional tribal chiefs or 'warlords' seem willing to co-operate, when fear does not silence them.

But they were rendered powerless by the old regime (Saddam in Iraq; the Taliban in Afghanistan). The real power no longer belongs to them, but to nameless people beyond the reach of any kind of negotiation or intimidation.

This is the new enemy -- the one that the Israelis previously encountered in Jenin, Hebron, Jerusalem; the dis-order or anti-order that Yasser Arafat was able to establish in West Bank and Gaza. An enemy, once created, who can't be called back; who does not recognize any norms of tribe or state; and whose way of life is almost purely psychopathic. Yet an enemy that may be able to penetrate immigrant communities in the West almost as easily as he can penetrate the destabilized societies from which he came.

Like many other western countries, Canada remains only an indirect participant in the new war, that still does not have a name, though it is apparent through daily newspaper headlines. Yet our "peacekeeping" troops in Afghanistan are acquiring a taste of the new reality, which our politicians and people have not yet assimilated.

Not even the Romans faced such an enemy, through centuries of patrolling their most distant frontiers; and probably no other people previously encountered nihilism in so extreme a form. An enemy for whom the "suicide bomb" is not even a weapon, but an aesthetic gesture. Whose only purpose is to advance Armageddon. And who captures the imagination of the young.

We couldn't surrender, even if we wanted to. We must instead find new ways to fight.

http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/columnists/story.html?id=74cfd8d7-2c99-4fd6-8392-587cdf348960

Mofaz: Iran will have nukes in a year

Jerusalem Post
Nov. 13, 2003

Iran will have nuclear capability in one year, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Wednesday.

His prediction came as both the International Atomic Energy Agency and former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said they found no evidence Iran is using its civilian nuclear program as cover to produce a bomb.

"We believe Iran can reach the point of no return in one year from now," said Mofaz, who met later with Secretary of State Colin Powell and is to meet Thursday with Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

"From my perspective, the way that the US [is] leading the effort to prevent this nuclear power in the hands of an extreme regime with long-range missiles has started to bear fruit. It's necessary to continue with this effort," he said.

The US would like to see the issue referred to the UN Security Council, where sanctions could be placed on Iran.

Blix told Reuters in a Wednesday interview that he does not believe the civilian nuclear reactors being constructed by Iran are a danger. A report by the IAEA, which has yet to be released, reportedly says the group found no evidence of a secret arms bid.

Mofaz warned Syria that Israel could again strike inside its territory, as it did last month when it attacked a Palestinian terrorist training camp near Damascus in retaliation for a suicide bombing, if President Bashar Assad does not halt the activities of groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad there.

"Syria is continuing to support and to back terror activities against the State of Israel. Syria should know that they will pay a price for backing terrorism and for continuing to harbor and finance terror against the free world," he said.

Mofaz also described Assad's leadership as "strange," but did not elaborate.

Mofaz held out the prospect of dialogue with the new Palestinian Authority government headed by Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala). But he said he was deeply skeptical that Qurei would be able to combat terrorist groups with Chairman Yasser Arafat retaining control of the security forces.

"Our goal is to bring back the Palestinians to the negotiating table. But first they should fight against terrorism and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure," he said.

"We will speak with Abu Ala. To be honest with you, I'm worried about the way he's going to control the security groups. Knowing the structure, Arafat is going to control the security groups. It will make it very difficult to move forward if he will be the man to give the order and the direction to the security groups. However we will judge the Abu Ala government first and foremost by the results."

Of a possible cease-fire with Hamas or Islamic Jihad, he said: "We will not be a part of any cease-fire with Palestinian terrorist groups. We will speak to Abu Ala. But achieving an agreement or cease-fire between the Abu Ala government and the Palestinian terror groups, it is their problem. I mean the Palestinian problem."

He said prospects for a political settlement with the Palestinians in the near future are bleak and that instead the sides should work toward achieving another interim agreement.
"It will be very difficult from the situation that we are facing today to reach in a month or a few years a permanent agreement, and I believe that we have to go through some interim agreement that will rebuild the trust between the two sides, will give us a proper sense of security for the people of Israel, and give hope to the Palestinian people," he said.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1068610478892&p=1008596981749

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.