Iranian Alert -- December 4, 2003 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD

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.

Congress Readies Iran Freedom Funding

December 04, 2003
New York Sun
Eli Lake

WASHINGTON -- Congress is preparing for the first time to authorize public funding for human rights and democracy activities inside the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Tucked inside the 2004 Omnibus Appropriations bill is language that instructs the State Department to spend $1.5 million “for making grants to educational, humanitarian and nongovernmental organizations and individuals inside Iran to support the advancement of democracy and human rights in Iran.”

While the amount is modest, it breaks a long-standing barrier against American spending inside Iran and could signal the Bush administration’s intention to no longer heed a 1981 agreement with Tehran that pledged that Washington would not interfere in the internal affairs of that country.

The expected passage of the spending measure next month would coincide with a campaign on the ground in Iran to urge citizens to boycott February’s elections to the Majlis, the Iranian parliament.

At the American Enterprise Institute yesterday, democracy activists in Iran speaking by teleconference said they had seen many buildings in their neighborhoods emblazoned with “Na,” Persian for no, the unofficial slogan of the upcoming boycott campaign.The push to keep Iranians away from the polls next year is in keeping with recent tactics of Iran’s democrats to avoid large demonstrations in favor of more diffuse actions.

Last March, municipal elections were boycotted and on July 9 many Iranians did not show up for work to commemorate the anniversary of violent crackdowns against students.

In the last three months, the Bush administration has signaled that it is not prepared to confront Iran’s government, a regime that the president nearly two years ago declared a member of the “axis of evil.”The Pentagon has chilled its ties in the last two months with anti-regime Iranian activists, while Secretary of State Powell last month praised a resolution from the International Atomic Energy Agency that found no evidence that the country intended to use uranium centrifuges it had kept hidden from the U.N. body for nuclear weapons.

At the same time, the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council concluded a series of diplomatic and trade agreements with the Islamic Republic last month with the blessing of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

While the executive branch softens its stance against Iran, many in Congress have pushed a harder line.

Earlier this year, Senator Brownback, a Republican of Kansas, introduced legislation that would have set aside $50 million each year for broadcasts from exiles into Iran and stated that American policy was to end the rule of the clerics in charge there.The proposal was opposed by the State Department and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar, a Republican from Indiana.

But Mr. Brownback continued to push for some funding for those opposing Iran’s government, and he managed to get the rather modest $1.5 million into the appropriations legislation.

“This is an important precedent,” the president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Clifford May, said. “For the first time we are seeing Washington give concrete support for the democratic forces in Iran.”

While the National Endowment for Democracy runs a handful of programs that aim to push democracy in Iran, all of them are grants to organizations in America that have supported reformists in Iran.The new instructions in the budget for next year would for the first time go toward programs on the ground in Iran.

The State Department in the past has been wary of American funding for programs inside Iran because of the 1981 Algiers Accord, which established a commission to settle outstanding property claims between Iran and America and pledged that future presidents would not interfere in the Islamic Republic’s internal affairs.

Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat of California, said he supported the money for Iranian democracy building.

“I hope that this is the start of a concerted effort by our government to assist the Iranian people in their struggle for a more representative government,” he said.

http://daily.nysun.com/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=NYS/2003/12/04&ID=Ar00700

Iranian Opposition Supporters Voice Discontent with Regime

December 04, 2003
Washington File
Afzal Khan

Washington -- The growing opposition to the Islamic regime in Iran found expression during an intercontinental radio talk show connecting Iranian opposition supporters with Iranian Americans December 3.

The event was organized by the American Enterprise Institute in Washington and was broadcast live by the Farsi-language radio station "Radio Sedaye Iran (KRSI)" that broadcasts daily into Iran from Los Angeles, California. A panel of Iranian-American activists invited by AEI joined in the discussions with opposition activists from within Iran participating by phone.

The callers from Iran, who used pseudonyms for security reasons, were united in their belief that the so-called reforms promised by the Islamic regime are a sham and that true freedom and democracy can only return to Iran with the removal of the "mullah-ridden" government there.

A caller identifying herself as a housewife said, "We gave President Khatami six and a half years to impose his reforms, but nothing has happened. We don't trust him," she said

The housewife, who claimed to be a member of the "activist" movement in Iran, said that democracy cannot "co-exist" with an Islamic regime, and that religion must be divorced from government.

Asked what the United States can do to help the democracy movement in Iran, she said the U.S. government must not "support" or encourage the Islamic regime. Instead, the Bush administration should "boycott" the regime, she said.

She said she was part of a large group of Iranians who on September 11, 2001 took part in a candlelight procession. "Many of us were arrested and taken to solitary cells," she said.

A student under the pseudonym of "Ms. Nargess" called on the United States to play "a bigger role" against the Islamic regime by providing support to the opposition media.

"Nargess" said that as a woman living in Iran, she wanted a secular government, not an Islamic one.

The third caller, identifying himself as a university professor, said that Iranians for the last 25 years have been denied freedom.

He said the 65 million people in Iran have "God-given rights" and that they should be allowed to hold a referendum to choose their government, "be it a monarchy or a Khomeini-like one."

The professor urged Iranians living abroad to help the opposition. He pointed out that radio programs beamed into Iran need to be more sophisticated and have "interesting programs" such as on human rights, instead of just rhetoric against the Islamic regime.

A fourth caller said that he is "a handicapped man" as a result of wounds suffered during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

He said he is a practicing Muslim who wanted the opposition to be more organized. "We want the United States to recognize us," he said.

The fifth caller, "Hassan," said he too was handicapped from wounds sustained in the Iran-Iraq war.

"Hassan" said the highly touted reforms are "done and finished" and the people in Iran are "fed-up and cannot take it anymore."

The sixth caller, describing himself as a poet, complained about the dire economic conditions facing many Iranians. He said he knew many jobless people who eat just one meal a day of "only potatoes and no meat or chicken."

In answer to a question from AEI moderator, Danielle Pletka, a caller identifying herself as "Miss Iran" said activists in the student movement were going to boycott the parliamentary elections planned by the regime in February.

Another caller, "Mohammad," said that "two months ago" posters to boycott the elections began appearing on walls.

The four Iranian-American panelists who took part in the dialogue were:

-- Manda Zand Ervin, the founder and president of the International Alliance of Iranian Women, which draws international attention to human rights abuses against the women and children of Iran;

-- Roozbeh Farahanipour, a writer and journalist who is a founder-organizer of "Hezbeh Marzeh Por Gohar" (The Glorious Frontiers Party), which has been outlawed by the regime;

-- Ramin Parham, of the newly founded Iran Institute for Democracy;

-- Aryo Pirouznia, who worked with the Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=December&x=20031204185336retsurbmraw0.4855463&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html

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