Iranian Alert -- January 12, 2004 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD --Americans for Regime Change in Iran

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.


If you don't make a donation to Free Republic, then that's one more thing you have in common with Patrick Leahy.

Reformist legislators in Iran hold protests

Karl Vick, Washington Post
Published January 12, 2004 IRAN12

Reformist legislators in Iran held angry protests Sunday after a conservative oversight body barred more than 80 of them from seeking reelection next month.

The legislators first walked out of parliament, then dozens staged a sit-in to protest the sweeping decision by the hard-line Guardian Council, which screens all candidates for national office. The council is appointed by Iran's supreme religious leader.

"It's meaningless that qualification of prominent figures who have worked for the nation for years is not approved," said President Muhammad Khatami, who was voted into office in 1997 on a reform platform.

In addition to the incumbents, thousands of other candidates were barred from running for the 290-seat parliament, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. In Tehran alone, parliament members said, about 900 of the 1,700 candidates for seats had been disqualified.

The disqualifications represent a new frustration for Iran's reform movement, which despite overwhelming public support has failed to wrest decisive political power from unelected conservative clerics. Last year, the Guardian Council vetoed two bills that would have broadened Khatami's powers and removed the council's authority to screen candidates.

The candidate disqualifications -- more than three times the number four years ago -- amounted to an aggressive reassertion of authority by the conservatives, who have ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution. Half of the council's 12 members are clerics; all 12 are appointed either directly or indirectly by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who succeeded the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as Iran's supreme leader.

The disqualified legislators include Muhammad Reza Khatami, the younger brother of Iran's president who leads the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the largest reformist party.

"The sit-in today is the beginning of a movement which will have more ramifications," he said.

Another prominent reformist, Mohsen Mirdamadi, called the Guardian Council's action "a civilian coup d'état." He charged that the council "barred certain individuals in every electoral constituency in order to clear the way for their favorite candidates."

Conservatives have recently spoken of mobilizing their supporters to regain control of parliament in elections set for Feb. 20.

President Khatami appealed for calm, saying he would ask Khamenei to review the disqualifications. The president's spokesman suggested that the Cabinet office charged with carrying out elections might ignore the disqualifications when publishing ballots.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4313339.html

US "big problems" with Syria & Iran

January 12, 2004
IranMania News

WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (AFP) -- An advisor to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Sunday that the United States had "big problems" with Syria which allowed terrorists to enter Iraq via its territory.

"One of the things they're (the Syrians) doing is facilitating the entry into Iraq of terrorists who are there to kill Americans," Richard Perle told

"They're holding on to money that belongs to the people of Iraq. And they're building chemical weapons, at least. So we have big problems with the Syrians."

On January 5, Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara said he wanted to see improved relations between Washington and Syria following the US adoption of legislation paving the way for unilateral sanctions against his government.

Syrian media on Saturday called for Washington to wield its influence and help revive peace talks with Israel that collapsed in acrimony four years ago.

But, said Perle, the Syrians "from time to time, will throw us a crumb, a piece of intelligence here, or they'll take a minor step there. And they hope, and in the past they've sometimes been right, that that that will deflect us from what ought to be our course, which is a real change in their policy."

Perle also warned against US moves to stretch out its hands to the Iranian regime.
"The problem is the moderates in Iran are not in power. The mullahs who are in power are not moderate. I don't think a preemptive strike is called for," he said.

And of Saudi Arabia, Perle said: "The Saudis qualify for their own membership in the axis of evil."

Perle, who accuses the Saudis in a book he has just published of qualifying "for their own membership in the axis of evil,"

"I hope that those who believe that we are now getting full cooperation are right. I have yet to see the evidence."

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=21548&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

Solana applauds Iran nuclear cooperation

Mon 12 January, 2004
Reuters

TEHRAN (Reuters) - European Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana has applauded Iran's efforts to dispel international concerns it may be developing nuclear weapons.

Tehran insists its nuclear programme is solely geared to producing electricity from atomic power and last month signed an international protocol which permits U.N. inspectors to carry out snap checks of its nuclear facilities.

In a deal hammered out with the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany and France in October, Iran has also suspended its uranium enrichment activities and admitted to an 18-year cover-up of sensitive nuclear research.

"The Iranian authorities have undertaken commitments and we'd like to see continuous cooperation," Solana told a news conference at the start of a two-day visit to Iran.

"We still have to clarify some things but we're in a very good and constructive mood of cooperation," he said after a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi.

Iran's President Mohammad Khatami on Sunday called on Washington to recognise Iran's right to develop nuclear technology for civilian purposes.

U.S. officials, while welcoming increased signs of Iran's cooperation with the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, continue to raise concerns that Iran's nuclear programme may be a front for building atomic weapons.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=437208&section=news
-----
Comment: When will EU leave Iran alone?

"Iran elections will have bearing on ties with EU"

Monday, January 12, 2004 - ©2003 IranMania.com

TEHRAN, Jan 12 (AFP) -- The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana told Iran's clerical leaders Monday that the holding of free and fair elections here next month would have a bearing on their relations with the European bloc.

Solana's two-day visit to Iran, described by diplomats as an effort to keep up momentum in the two sides' warming relations, has been overshadowed by a major political crisis here following the large-scale barring of reformists from the February 20 parliamentary elections.

Although Solana referred to the issue as an "internal matter" for Iran, he was clear in spelling out the potentially dire consequences for Iran-EU relations if the vote is perceived as being rigged by religious hardliners.

"The fairness of an election is not only on the day of the election, the process should be fair," he told reporters in a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi.

"But it's very difficult for me to explain to the Europeans how MPs who are representatives of the people could not participate again in the election," he added.

"What is important is that the elections are fair," Solana emphasised, although he did acknowledged the political wrangling ahead of the crucial vote was far from over.

In contrast to the United States, which has labelled Tehran part of an "axis of evil," the EU is pressing ahead with a policy of constructive engagement with Iran, pressing human rights issues while at the same time seeking to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement.

The policy has scored in some areas, notably with the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany succeeding late last year in convincing Iran to come clean on its nuclear programme and sign up to tougher inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog.

But EU diplomats say the dialogue has largely been with Iranian reformists -- whose control over parliament and therefore the government is now under threat from powerful religious conservatives controlling the Guardians' Council, the political watchdog seeking to blacklist large numbers of reformist candidates.

"A very important component of our engagement with Iran is democracy and human rights, and Mr. Solana will certainly be looking at what is happening in the run up to the elections next month," a senior EU diplomat close to Solana told AFP.

"It would be hard to envisage our dialogue continuing with the same intensity if hardliners are in power and had taken power in such questionable circumstances," said the diplomat, adding that a conservative victory could put EU-Iran dialogue "back to square one".

In addition to human rights and the nuclear issue, the EU has also been pressing Iran on two other matters -- cooperating in the fight against terrorism and lending its support to Middle East peace efforts.

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=21556&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

EU making some sense?

Further Egypt Ties Need More Time

January 12, 2004
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
IRIB News

Tehran -- President Mohammad Khatami said that given the current favorable Iran-Egypt relations, further measures towards its improvement should be taken step by step and hoped that the issues of bilateral concern will be settled while the inter ests of both sides are protected.

In response to a reporter's question, at the end of today's cabinet meeting, about the US administrators remarks about Iran, the president said that the Americans are still threatening Iran.

Turning to the humanitarian aid of the foreign states including the US provided on the occasion of the killer earthquake in Bam city which claimed thousands of lives and levelled the area, he expressed appreciation for all relief and rescue measures no matter by whom they were taken.

The chief executive hoped that the recent developments will bring about major changes in the US faulty policies and that it would stop its charges against Iran.

Pointing to the US accusation that Iran attempts to access nuclear weapons, the president said, "We have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) additional protocol and if the US has a good will, it should dismiss its charges against Iran."

"Besides it should confirm Iran's legal rights to access nuclear technology towards peaceful applications under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA)."

http://www.iribnews.com/Full_en.asp?news_id=196293

Iranian Council Bars Thousands from Vote

January 11, 2004
The New York Times
Nazila Fathi

TEHRAN -- A new power struggle engulfed Iran's government on Sunday when a hard-line Islamic religious authority disqualified half the 8,200 candidates in parliamentary elections next month, provoking outrage among reformers who accused their conservative rivals of trying to steal the vote.

Rejected candidates included a brother of the reform-minded president, Mohammad Khatami. More than 80 current members of the 290-seat Parliament were rejected, including two prominent feminists, two deputy speakers and six leaders of important parliamentary commissions. Many had been outspoken critics of Iran's strict Islamic religious political system and its treatment of dissenters and diverse views.

The religious authority, the 12-member Guardian Council, had disqualified some candidates in previous elections and had blocked many reform bills passed by Parliament in recent years. But the number of disqualifications for the Feb. 20 elections represented the most drastic action the council has taken against reformers in the country's parliamentary history.

Nearly 60 reformist members of Parliament held a sit-in at Parliament on Sunday to protest the action. Ali Shakourirad, a lawmaker on the disqualified list, told reporters that the group intended to continue the sit-in until the disqualifications were reversed. If not, he said, "we will take further steps in our protest."

The Iranian Student News Agency reported that governors general around the country had said in a letter to President Khatami that they would resign if the disqualification of candidates was not reversed. "Clearly if there are no results within a week, governor generals see no reason to continue their jobs in conditions in which they cannot provide free elections, which is one of the fundamental rights of citizens," the news agency quoted them as saying.

President Khatami urged supporters to react calmly, but he was clearly angered by what outside political analysts called a brazen effort by religious conservatives to neutralize Iran's reform movement.

"There are legal means to react to this problem, and I hope these legal means will solve the problem," President Khatami told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

"We must not do anything to cause tension but we have the right to say what we have to say and to protest," he said. "One political faction must not consider its right more than what it deserves, and it should not eliminate another faction in order to win in elections."

Mohsen Mirdamadi, head of Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, who was among those disqualified, told the Islamic Republic News Agency that the Guardian Council's move was a "bloodless coup." He said President Khatami's younger brother, Mohammad Reza Khatami, and some others were disqualified because the council had concluded they did not support the rule of the supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The ayatollah has the power to change the Guardian Council's decision. It remained unclear late Sunday whether President Khatami would appeal directly to him or take some intermediate action first.

Other rejected candidates included six from the ethnic Kurdish region of Iranian Kurdistan. Jalal Jalali, a parliamentarian from Sanandaj, in the center of that region, was quoted by the Etemad newspaper as saying Kurds would boycott the elections if their candidates could not run.

The six clerics of the Guardian Council are picked by Ayatollah Khamenei. The council is responsible for vetting election candidates and approving Parliament's laws to make sure they are compatible with Islamic law and the Constitution.

There was no public explanation by the council for its decisions on each of the disqualified candidates. But Iranian newspapers reported Sunday that a majority of disqualifications were made because the candidates opposed Iran's religious government or were members of illegal opposition groups. The newspapers said some were disqualified because they had criminal records.

The election had been seen as a test of the public's attitude toward the reform movement in Iran. The council's disqualification actions could lead to voter apathy, some political commentators said.

"We must not forget the fact that the Islamic Republic has received its legitimacy in the past 25 years from voters' turnout in elections, and if people refrain from voting this time the system's 25-year-old legitimacy would be questioned," wrote a journalist, Badrolsadat Mofidi, in the Shargh newspaper on Sunday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/12/international/middleeast/12IRAN.html

An End to Evil, How to Win the War on Terror

January 09, 2004
The American Enterprise Institute
AEI

AEI fellows David Frum and Richard Perle lay out a plan for victory in the war on terror that includes...overthrowing terror-supporting regimes; waging a global campaign against the terrorist ideology by promoting democracy, open trade, and the rights of Muslim women...

To view a video presentaion of David Frum, Richard Perle to the American Enterprise Institute click on the link below.

How to Win the War on Terror

Since the fall of Baghdad, both supporters and opponents of the George W. Bush administration have asked what should and could come next in the terror war. In An End to Evil (Random House, December 2003), AEI fellows David Frum and Richard Perle lay out a plan for victory in the war on terror that includes reinvigorating homeland security with a new security agency, better border controls, and national identity cards; overthrowing terror-supporting regimes; waging a global campaign against the terrorist ideology by promoting democracy, open trade, and the rights of Muslim women; and transforming the U.S. government to ensure that all its agencies and parts dedicate themselves to fighting and defeating terror.

About the book:

How to Win the War on Terror

By David Frum, Richard Perle

An End to Evil charts the agenda for what's next in the war on terrorism, as articulated by David Frum, former presidential speechwriter and bestselling author of The Right Man, and Richard Perle, former assistant secretary of defense and one of the most influential foreign-policy leaders in Washington.

This world is an unsafe place for Americans--and the U.S. government remains unready to defend its people. In An End to Evil, David Frum and Richard Perle sound the alert about the dangers around us: the continuing threat from terrorism, the crisis with North Korea, the aggressive ambitions of China. Frum and Perle provide a detailed, candid account of America's vulnerabilities: a military whose leaders resist change, intelligence agencies mired in bureaucracy, diplomats who put friendly relations with their foreign colleagues ahead of the nation's interests. Perle and Frum lay out a bold program to defend America--and to win the war on terror. Among the topics this book addresses:

why the United States risks its security if it submits to the authority of the United Nations

why France and Saudi Arabia have to be treated as adversaries, not allies, in the war on terror

why the United States must take decisive action against Iran--now

what to do in North Korea if negotiations fail

why everything you read in the newspapers about the Israeli-Arab dispute is wrong

how our government must be changed if we are to fight the war on terror to victory--not just stalemate

where the next great terror threat is coming from--and what we can do to protect ourselves

An End to Evil will define the conservative point of view on foreign policy for a new generation--and shape the agenda for the 2004 presidential-election year and beyond. With a keen insiders' perspective on how our leaders are confronting--or not confronting--the war on terrorism, David Frum and Richard Perle make a convincing argument for why the toughest line is the safest line.

David Frum and Richard Perle are resident fellows at AEI. \

http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.704,filter.,type.past/event_detail.asp

Reformists have been quick to mobilise and challenge the conservative bid to remove them from power, leaving the two rival camps in political deadlock.

Iran's interior ministry, responsible for organising elections, has branded the disqualifications "illegal" and warned that they would not be enforced, therefore throwing the whole electoral process into chaos.

The government was also risking collapse, with up to eight cabinet ministers reportedly preparing to resign and all of Iran's 27 provincial governors saying they will also quit unless the crisis was resolved within a week.

Khatami has also made an impassioned appeal for calm. Students, one of the driving forces behind reforms who might have been expected to protest, have so far kept quiet.

Amid widespread frustrations with the reform movement, analysts had already been pointing to a possible all-time low voter turnout next month and the handing of power to conservatives who can rely on a hardcore support base -- exactly what occurred during municipal elections in February 2003.

Such an outcome would effectively leave Khatami as the sole reformist within the regime until his term ends in mid-2005.

Iranian reforms hang in balance as conservatives bid for absolute power 2 hours, 21 minutes ago

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1504&ncid=1504&e=2&u=/afp/20040112/ts_afp/iran_vote_040112143754

Conservative ex-MP Mohammad Mohammadi-Far (C) fights with reformist MPs during a sit-in. The future of reforms in Iran was hanging in the balance as embattled reformists loyal to the president fought a dramatic bid by conservatives to wrest absolute power over the Islamic republic.(AFP)

Note: It's not surprising that Students aren't protestings. Student groups have long parted with the reformist movement and started the Third Force someone needs to keep AFP up to date because they seem years behind.

MKs Eldad and Erden Invite Iran to Open Negotiations

January 12, 2004
Arutz Sheva
Israel National News

MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) and MK Gilad Erdan (Likud) are calling upon Iran’s President Khatami to enter into political negotiations with Israel without any pre-conditions. The tongue-in-cheek call comes after President Katzav invited Syria’s Bashar Assad to visit Jerusalem and amidst rumors of increased relations with Libya.

The MKs say they hope to discuss with the Islamic republic of Iran its pursuit of nuclear weapons, which have the potential to reach Israel through use of Iran’s ‘Shihab-3’ missiles. The MKs also said that if a true peace were to engulf the entire region, then it would be possible to consider the dismantling of nuclear weapons in the region.

Eldar and Erden expressed their frustration to Arutz-7s Haggai Seri Levi, saying that the proposals inviting Israel’s enemies to Israel are purely for purposes of public relations.

Prime Minister Sharon pointed out in a Sunday press conference that Syria’s Bashar Assad was simply using Israel to deflect criticism from the US, while continuing to facilitate terrorism.

http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=56036

Iranian Leader Shuns Intervention

January 12, 2004
BBC News
BBCi

Iran's supreme leader has said the controversy over next month's parliamentary elections must be resolved through legal channels. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he would only intervene after legal procedures had been exhausted.

The row began after the Guardian Council - a hardline body made up of clerics and Islamic lawyers - barred 2,000-plus reformists from standing.

The decision provoked a storm of protests from reformers.

The provincial governors in charge of administering the elections say they will resign unless the ban is reversed, and 80 reformist deputies are continuing a sit-in inside the Iranian parliament.

Reformist President Mohammad Khatami has appealed for calm.

'Judgment and duty'

Most of those disqualified are believed to have appealed, and their cases will be examined by the Guardian Council over the next two weeks.

They include include Mohammad Reza Khatami, the younger brother of the president, and Behzad Nabavi - who are both deputy speakers of parliament.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that if there were a large number of questionable disqualifications, he would use his constitutional powers to try to redress the situation.

"At this stage we have legal channels and everyone should act based on law," he said in comments carried by state radio.

"If it gets to the point that it becomes sensitive and requires a decision... there is no doubt that I will step in and act in accordance with my judgment and duty, as has been the case in the past."

The 12-member Council of Guardians is empowered to ensure parliament's actions comply with Islamic principles.

Council spokesman Mohammad Jahromi said 2,033 of the 8,200 candidates had been barred but MPs said the figure was higher.

MP Reza Yousefian said more than 80 of 290 MPs had been banned from re-election.

Iran's parliament is dominated by the reformists, who have won all major national elections since 1997.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who is currently visiting Tehran, has said that a clear and transparent electoral process was very important to the EU.

"It's very difficult for me to explain [to the European Parliament] how MPs who are representatives of the people could not participate again in the election," he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3389285.stm

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