Iranian Alert -- January 18, 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.

When the Pope was rejected for the Nobel Prize, I at first thought that Ebadi receiving it, at this critical time in Iranian history, may actually be a means to an end.

Then she attacks the US and treatment of prisoners at Gitmo, now she is a nuclear science expert.

She is a lawyer and a former judge, and an activist. Now, I ask you, in terms of American conservative thought, doesn't she appear to be a liberal, all bark and no bite?

She could get on her soapbox and plead for the world to pay attention to human rights abuses in Iran... but instead, she wants to give political commentary that only adds to the noise, and doesn't bring about any positive change.

In the end, she may only be remembered as an Iranian, Muslim, woman who has achieved prominence on the world stage where she can comment on events from afar without getting the ear of any forces that can stimulate change in Iran... NOT as an impetus for change, freedom and democracy. That is a huge disappointment.

Asefi: US After Cutting Iran-EU Ties

January 18, 2004
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
IRIB News

Tehran -- Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said here Sunday that some circles, including the United States, make certain remarks to stop cooperation between Iran and Europe.

"It was clear for us that certain circles, including the Americans were not satisfied with the consensus reached between Iran and the three European states," Asefi told reporters at his weekly press conference.

Pointing to developments in Iraq, he added resorting to the trend of democracy is the best solution for that country.

He also stressed that views of senior ayatollahs, particularly that of Ayatollah Sistani, should be noticed.

Asked about relations between Tehran and Cairo, the Spokesman said, "Tie with Egypt runs its due course and the two countries' Foreign Ministries are responsible to follow up the case."

Referring to the current developments in the Majlis (parliament) in regards to a sit-in protest by parliamentarians to reject the mass disqualification of nominees for the 7th Majlis election, Asefi said, "We think the guidelines set by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution (Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei) were precisely classified and would help solve the problem."

http://www.iribnews.com/Full_en.asp?news_id=196724

Ruhani: Sheba Farms Withdrawal Will Compel Hezbollah to Disarm

January 18, 2004
Ha'aretz
Yoav Stern

Iran believes an Israeli withdrawal from the disputed Sheba Farms area along the northern border with Lebanon would compel Hezbollah to disarm, according to a top Iranian security official.

London-based Al Hayat newspaper on Sunday quoted Iran's national security agency chief Hasan Ruhani as saying that since Hezbollah was the only resistance group currently operating against Israel in Lebanon, it could not be demanded to cease its activities while these were still justified.

However, Ruhani said, if Israel were to withdraw from the Sheba Farms, the group would have to cease its military operations and turn into a political party.

Iranian sources said the issue of Hezbollah was raised in talks between Ruhani and French President Jacques Chirac last week. Chirac stressed the need for calm on the Israeli-Lebanese border, expressing his opinion that Hezbollah should become a political party. Ruhani agreed, saying that this would occur only in the far future, after peace would be achieved in the region.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=384279&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Pakistan Detains Aide to Father of Atom Bomb

January 18, 2004
Reuters
Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Authorities have detained a key aide to the father of Pakistan's atom bomb for questioning as they investigate reports of the possible transfer of nuclear technology to Iran, officials said Sunday.

Pakistan has questioned Abdul Qadeer Khan, revered as a national hero for developing the nuclear device, and several of his colleagues in recent weeks after a U.N. nuclear agency began a probe into possible links between the Pakistani and Iranian nuclear programs.

A senior government official said Islam-ul-Haq, Khan's principal secretary, was detained for questioning on Saturday evening in Islamabad.

"He was rounded up in connection with the probe of the Iranian nuclear program," said the official, who asked not to be named.

Pakistan, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, says some of its scientists may have been driven by "personal ambition or greed" to export technology to Iran but denies the government itself was ever involved in such technology transfer.

The detention of Haq came hours after President Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan faced serious accusations of spreading terrorism and nuclear technology.

"Our nuclear and missile power is for the defense of Pakistan," Musharraf told a noisy parliament session on Saturday.

"But we have to assure the world that we are a responsible nation and we will not allow proliferation of nuclear weapons."

The New York Times Saturday quoted U.S. law enforcement officials as saying they were looking into whether the Pakistani government was involved in a plot by a South African businessman to export trigger devices that could be used for nuclear weapons.

It quoted a Pakistani diplomat in Washington as saying Islamabad would cooperate in the investigation but denied its involvement in the export deal.

NO CONTACT WITH FAMILY

Haq, a former army official, was serving as a director at the Khan Research Laboratories, the country's top uranium enrichment laboratory, set up by Khan in 1970s near Islamabad.

Haq's wife, Nilofar Islam, told Reuters she had no information about her husband's whereabouts. "We have had no contact with him since last evening," she said.

Pakistani intelligence officials questioned at least three scientists working with KRL last month after diplomats in Vienna said the International Atomic Energy Agency was investigating a possible link between Islamabad and Tehran.

Officials said Khan was also questioned in connection with these "debriefing" sessions.

Iran acknowledged using centrifuge designs that appear to be identical to those used in Islamabad's past quest for an atom bomb. Pakistan tested its nuclear device in 1998.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4153454

Iran's Guardian Council "Won't Back Down At All"

January 18, 2004
Dow Jones Newswires
The Associated Press

TEHRAN -- Iran's hardline Guardian Council defended on Sunday its disqualification of prospective candidates for next month's parliamentary elections, further deepening the political crisis that has prompted sit-ins and warnings by the government that it won't hold sham elections.

"We claim that the Guardian Council has constantly implemented the law. ... Hues and cries will have no impact on our interpretation of the law," Guardian Council spokesman Ebrahim Azizi told reporters.

The Guardian Council, an unelected body controlled by hardliners, has triggered a crisis by disqualifying more than a third of the 8,200 people who applied to stand in the Feb. 20 elections.

State media controlled by hardliners say the disqualified fell short on the necessary criteria, but reformists say the move was political and intended to skew the elections in favor of conservatives.

On Saturday, reformist Deputy Interior Minister Morteza Moballegh, who is Iran's chief of elections, warned he would not allow next month's legislative elections to proceed unless hardliners retracted their mass disqualification of reformists who'd hoped to run, including more than 80 sitting reformist lawmakers.

About 80 reformist lawmakers, who began holding daily sit-ins last Sunday to protest the disqualifications, took their weeklong protest against the Guardian Council a step further Saturday when they began holding dawn-to-dusk fasts.

"The Guardian Council won't back down at all," Azizi told a press conference.

The comments dashed hopes of a breakthrough after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the Guardian Council Wednesday to reconsider the disqualifications and laid down criteria that appeared to be easier to meet.

"Lawmakers whose speech or behavior suggest that they have had no loyalty to Islam or the constitution will remain disqualified," Azizi said.

Most of the protesting lawmakers say they've been disqualified because of their criticism of the unelected hardliners in open sessions of parliament.

Reformers have welcomed Khamenei's intervention, but said they would wait to see how the council responded.

Khamenei chooses the council's 12 members, and some reformist legislators have said the councilors would not have acted without the supreme leader's approval.

Khamenei also said this week that the council should "resist bullying tactics" by lawmakers.

The disqualifications generated wide protests. Scores of legislators staged a daily sit-in in the lobby in parliament. President Mohammad Khatami condemned the disqualifications and warned he might resign if they were not reversed. And the European Union and the U.S. said the elections would lose credibility unless the disqualifications were overturned.

Iran's 27 provincial governors have vowed to resign by Monday unless disqualifications are reversed.

The Feb. 20 elections are seen as a test for Iran's reformers, whose popularity has waned because of their perceived failure to deliver on promises of liberalization.

Over 46 million Iranians are eligible to vote on Feb. 20, more than 7 million of them youths just past the minimum age of 15 to vote.

Reformists believe the ruling Islamic establishment needs to become more open and respect the demands of its overwhelmingly youthful population.

Hardliners regard such reforms as undermining the principles of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2004011811250000&Take=1

Could U.S. Iran Sanctions Suspension Be Extended?

January 18, 2004
Reuters
Carol Giacomo

WASHINGTON -- President Bush may extend his temporary suspension of some U.S. sanctions on Iran and this would be desirable, according to former national security adviser Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft.

Iran and the United States have not had formal diplomatic ties since the Iranian revolution when radical students held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days from 1979-1981.

In a Reuters interview on Friday, Scowcroft, who was national security adviser to Bush's father and advocates dialogue with the Islamic state, said he believes the United States and Iran are "moving toward some kind of exchange, but at a glacial rate, and neither side is enthusiastic about it."

Tehran could affect U.S. attitudes quite favorably if it turned over al Qaeda operatives, believed to be in Iran, as Bush has demanded, he added.

Scowcroft is an eminence grise of the American foreign policy establishment with close ties to the White House.

He represents a more traditional wing of the Republican Party that has been at odds with more interventionist neoconservatives, the ones who pushed the Iraq war and until recently were perceived as wielding rising clout.

Sources said Scowcroft has met with Iran's U.N. ambassador several times last fall. The Bush team did not ask him to undertake this mission but was aware of his efforts, the sources said.

While opening the door to dialogue with Iran, Bush and top aides have made clear that Tehran must turn over al Qaeda suspects to Washington or a third party and abandon an alleged nuclear weapons program.

Both countries have strong domestic constituencies opposing dialogue and it is unclear what will tip the balance in favor of pro-engagement forces, but if Iran gave al Qaeda suspects to Washington that would have a positive effect, Scowcroft said.

PART OF 'AXIS OF EVIL'

Two years ago, Bush branded Iran as part of an "axis of evil" along with prewar Iraq and North Korea.

But U.S. relief efforts in response to the devastating Dec. 26 earthquake in the town of Bam that killed more than 30,000 people seemed to have prompted a slight thaw in the frosty relationship between Washington and Tehran.

In one possible sign, Bush last month eased for 90 days some of the U.S. sanctions on Iran to speed the flow of humanitarian assistance for earthquake victims.

Asked if this decision might be extended, Scowcroft said: "I think it's possible, yes. And yes, I think it is desirable because we need to establish a dialogue with the regime.

"I don't think this administration is prepared to reach out too much, but if it looks like it would be useful to extend it (the temporary sanctions suspension,) they might be prepared to do that," he added.

After an initial U.S. earthquake relief team received a mostly warm reception from Iran, Bush offered to send a higher level delegation headed by Sen. Elizabeth Dole, former head of the American Red Cross, and a Bush family member, reportedly his sister, Doro. But Tehran rejected the overture.

SCOWCROFT: IRANIAN PRESIDENT 'IMPOTENT'

Scowcroft co-chaired a 2001 study by the Atlantic Council thinktank that recommended unilaterally lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran.

He said he still endorses this idea, but "it may not be as good an idea as it was before" because Iran's politics are more roiled and uncertain than ever due to an growing power struggle between reformers and conservative clerics.

At the time of the report, Scowcroft said, it was important to encourage Iranian reformers and give them ammunition to push changes that would produce economic benefits for Iran.

Now Iranian President Mohammad Khatamei, who failed to deliver promised reforms, is "impotent," although the Iranian people still clearly want reform, he said.

Scowcroft said he was puzzled that the mullahs, who already control key power levers, tried to disqualify many of the reform candidates seeking election to parliament next month.

"It shows that the conservatives are more nervous than I thought they would be about their position," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4154291

Iran's Guardian Council Begins Reviewing Candidate Blacklist

VOA News
18 Jan 2004, 16:41 UTC

Iran's powerful Guardian Council says it has started a case-by-case review of candidates it has barred from running in upcoming parliamentary elections.

Spokesman Ebrahim Azizi told reporters in Tehran Sunday that the council began its work on Saturday, complying with an order from Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The council was ordered to conduct the review following strong protests from Iranian parliament members, governors and government officials.

Last week, the unelected council barred more than a third of the 8,200 candidates hoping to run in the February elections. Most of the disqualified candidates are reformists, including 80 current members of parliament.

Conservative hard-liners control the council, which screens all laws and candidates to ensure they comply with the principles of Iran's Islamic Republic.

On Saturday, the man in charge of the February elections, Deputy Interior Minister Morteza Mobalagh, said he would step down unless the candidates barred from the ballot are reinstated.

Iran's 27 provincial governors have also threatened to resign, while some 80 lawmakers have been holding a sit-in at the Iranian parliament for eight days.

Despite the protests, the Guardian Council spokesman said today that council members would not respond to propaganda or pressure. He said candidates whose behavior suggests they do not respect Islam would remain disqualified.

Some information for this report provided by AP, Reuters and AFP.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=A3A67BE8-A259-4F70-A66A315334266AB6

Iranian Crisis Deepens As Elections Near

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line Guardian Council on Sunday defended its disqualification of prospective candidates for next month's parliamentary elections, further deepening a political crisis.

The Guardian Council, an unelected body controlled by hard-liners, has disqualified more than a third of the 8,200 people who applied to run in the Feb. 20 elections.

Reformists believe the move was an attempt to skew the elections in favor of conservatives.

"The Guardian Council won't back down at all," Guardian Council spokesman Ebrahim Azizi told a press conference. "Lawmakers whose speech or behavior suggest that they have had no loyalty to Islam or the constitution will remain disqualified."

The comments dashed hopes of a breakthrough after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the Guardian Council on Wednesday to reconsider the disqualifications and laid down criteria that appeared to be easier to meet.

On Saturday, reformist Deputy Interior Minister Morteza Moballegh, who is Iran's chief of elections, warned he would not allow next month's legislative elections to proceed unless hard-liners backed down.

About 80 reformist lawmakers have been holding sit-in demonstrations for a week. They took their protest a step further Saturday by starting dawn-to-dusk fasts.

President Mohammad Khatami (news - web sites) condemned the disqualifications and warned he might resign if they were not reversed. And the European Union (news - web sites) and the United States said the elections would lose credibility unless the Guardian Council's decision was overturned.

Iran's 27 provincial governors have vowed to resign by Monday unless the disqualifications are reversed.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=2&u=/ap/20040119/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_elections

The other day I mentioned how Iranians were writing on their currency anti regime and anti the election statements.

I just read an imteresting post by an Iranian on this...

"dorod to all my fellow iranians...
i would like to make a proposal to all the freedom fighters and people of iran....i read a post earlier about placing a red dot on the iranian currency but unfortunately i dont think that all people would know the meaning...and so i have discovered that with lemon juice u can write a message on the money and have it develop natually within a week.. i have tested this method many times and have discoverd that the ink cannot be washed off...if we can get everyone to do this with stamps or even printers the possibilities are tremondous. also the government cannot do anything because they would have no clue who would do this because we can give the money to the bank and the bank would be handing out the written on currencies.... please give me some feedback... i have already contacted many people and have gotten this started...the ink is invisible for about a week....but u can have it developed earlier with heat if u want....the more sour the lemon juice...the more darker....(it worked excellent through my tests).... "

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