Iranian Alert -- February 1, 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.

For your information--this is an older article on Joseph Biden who's supposively received lots of money from Islamic republic's lobbyists.

Row deepens over Senator Biden's support of the Clerical regime

The row is deepening over Senator Joseph Biden controversial support of the Islamic republic regime.

The well know senator who's, as well, the Chairman of the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, is accused to have collected money in order to try to give a respectable image to the Islamic republic regime which is known as one of the most renegade and repressive regimes of the World.

Biden has participated in several meetings, organized by the Islamic republic's lobbyists, during which he has collected substantial amounts of money in order to finance his campaign. One of these meetings was held on February 19th and was organized by "Sadegh Namazi-khah", head of the religious "Iman foundation" and a notorious Islamic republic's lobbyist living in Los Angeles.

This was the first time that such High Rank US official had the audacity to walk, openly, in such institution in order to collect money from controversial sources when the boys and girls of those who he's representing have died, directly and un-directly, by the hands of his direct and un-direct contributors.

Thousands of emails and faxes have been sent, since beginning February, to Biden's offices condemning his actions and statements in reference to the Clerical leadership ruling in Iran.

In addition to thousands of Iranians, living in the US, common American citizens and US Politicians are getting involved, as well, in this affair by issuing statements or letters condemning Biden's activities.

As an example, Biden was slammed, today, by the Delaware Republican Chairman Everett Moore who stated:
"I can't believe that Senator Biden would have a fund-raiser at the home of a Pro-Tehran lobbyist two weeks after the White House made it abundantly clear that Iran was aiding the Al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. Frankly, I am appalled that Senator Biden would have the audacity as the Senate Foreign Relations Chairman to take money from a lobbyist supporting a country that brutalizes women, ignores human rights, and endorses terrorism...

...Senator Biden should return the campaign money and apologize to the American people for taking it in the first place, especially apologize to the many Iranian Americans living in this country who reject the Tehran regime....

...Before Senator Biden goes endorsing the Iran government and taking money from their supporters here, he should tell them to hand over the
Terrorists who have killed countless Americans and stop aiding al Qaeda forces. No wonder Senator Biden strongly opposed the President's remark that Iran was part of the 'Axis of Evil'" said Moore.

The Delaware Republican Chairman added: "Clearly, the pro-Iran lobbyist was attempting to buy Senator Biden's influence as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee by contributing to his re-election campaign. With Biden's relentless support of Iran, it can be viewed as money well spent through the eyes of the Pro-Iran lobbyist..."

http://66.34.243.131/iran/html/article214.html

Political Quake: 123 Reformist MPs Resign to Protest Elections Bans

•The reformist MPs had hoped that with their resignations, they would force the Majles to close down, and prevent it from voting on such important bills as the upcoming fiscal year's budget and the government's fourth five-year economic development plan, reported foreign news agencies AFP and AP from Tehran, adding that the earlier 109 resignations were not enough to bring the number of MPs present to below two-thirds of total MPs. (Jean Khakzad)

•In today's Radio Farda Roundtable, which focuses on the prospect of the mass resignations of Majles MPs, Tehran-based lawyer and human rights advocate Mohammad Hossein Aghasi says in order for their action to be effective in closing down the Majles five months ahead of the end of its term, enough MPs should resign to bring the number of MPs present in the Majles below the legal number required for quorum. He says the Majles speaker's appeal to the Supreme Leader is illegal, since according to the constitution, the Supreme Leader has no jurisdiction over such matters, although the conservatives place the Supreme Leader beyond and above the law. The 12-members of the Guardians Council who have created the current crisis represent a power that is beyond their legal authority, he adds. Member of the central committee of the association of the Islamic student councils (Dafter-e Tahkim Vahdat) Hojat Sharifi says: It is not inconceivable that the resignations of the MPs would be approved, because the reformist MPs' decision has been to exit the government and boycott the Majles elections. He adds that there are two analyses about the reasons that Guardians Council moved to disqualify reformist election candidacy applicants, including the Majles MPs, and in effect, eliminate the reformist faction of the regime. One is that they did it out of ignorance; the other interpretation is that the move was organized at the highest level with the approval of the Supreme Leader. However, any regime, in order to stay in power, needs either the support of its people, or the support of foreign governments, he says. It is believed that the totalitarian faction, which finds itself lacking in popular support, has made behind-the-scenes deals with foreign governments, the EU and the US. US-based commentator Hormoz Hekmat says the mass resignations of the MPs would help push forward the movement started by the people and the students and faculty members in the past two months to regain the people's right to sovereignty. But the problem is not that a number of reformists were banned from reelection, the main problem is that the Majles, which should be the people's representative, has had no authority under the Islamic regime, in which, according to the constitution, the Majles has no authority, compared to the vast authorities and powers held by the Supreme Leader and his appointees. He adds that the willingness shown by the Bush administration to negotiate with the totalitarian faction of the Islamic government is not a strategic decision, but a tactical one. The totalitarian faction's hope that it can resolve all its problems through secret deals with foreign governments is not a realistic hope.

•The conservative-backed society of Bazaar merchants threatened the reformists with harsh action. It called the mass resignation of the reformist MPs “a ridiculous show,” in a statement issued today. (Amir Armin)

•Secretary of the Guardians Council Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said the cabinet and President Khatami himself gave the Council a list of their favorite candidacy applicants and asked that they be reinstated. The public relations office of the presidency denied Jannati's statement. (Bahman Bastani)

•Negotiations with the Guardians Council has produced no result, interior minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari said, urging President Khatami to accept the resignations of 27 cabinet members and provincial governors, who said the mass disqualifications by the Guardians Council of 2,400 out of 8,000 candidacy applicants would result in un-free and uncompetitive elections. President Khatami and the interior minister had both said the government will only hold free and competitive elections. Elections in which half of the winners have already been decided by the Guardians Council would not be competitive, the interior minister said. The coordination council of the reformist faction, made up of representatives of 18 pro-reform parties and political groups, announced that it would not participate in the elections. However, conservative commentator Amir Mohebbian of the Resalat newspaper predicted that the differences between the two factions over the elections would soon be resolved in secret negotiations. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)

•Some of today's reformists used to be considered hard-liners, whereas some of those who are now seen as within the conservative camp, used to known as moderates, foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi said in an interview with Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung, playing down the reformist-conservative dichotomy that is being reported in the foreign press. The current problem arising from the mass disqualification of reformist Majles candidacy applicants is temporary issue and resolvable, he added. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)

•There was no way left for the Majles reformist MPs but to resign, senior dissident cleric Ayatollah Hosseinali Montazeri said, according to his son Ahmad Montazeri, who tells Radio Farda that his father believes the conservatives would back down from their bans on the reformist candidates, when the Supreme Leader eventually intervenes. In his meeting with German ambassador to Tehran Freiherr Von Maltzahn, Ayatollah Montazeri said the Shiite clerics in Najaf and Qum are in constant touch and there are no differences or competition between them, Ahmad Montazari says. Ayatollah Montazeri told the German ambassador that the formation of Israel was a result of the German oppression of the Jews in Europe, and now that Israel exists, it would be good if the Western countries saw to it that an independent state be formed for the Palestinians, who have lost their homes as the result of the establishment of the Jewish State. (Jean Khakzad)

•In an interview with the Rome daily Corriere della Sera, Ayatollah Montazeri said the Guardians Council's decision to disqualify reformist candidacy applicants was “illegal,” and a “treason” against the Islamic revolution (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome)

•The mass resignation of the Majles MPs would impact the Islamic regime's relations with the EU and the US, because for the first time, it has become clear to the world that a powerful faction in Iran is trying to make its total hold on power legitimate, German press commentator and University of Osnabruek professor Mohsen Maserat tells Radio Farda. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)

http://www.radiofarda.com/transcripts/topstory/2004/02/20040201_1830_0140_0646_EN.asp

Lost in translation
Preparation for the arrival of international journalists coming to Iran

By Faramarz Dalir
February 1, 2004
iranian.com

TEHRAN - Give foreign journalists a good impression of Iran, even if it means lying or mistranslating Iranians' words, Mohammad-Hossein Khoshvaght, head of Iran's international press bureau told translators in a series of recent meetings.

Khosvaght, who works under the auspices of the ostensibly reformist Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance, has been giving regular pep-talks to groups of translators in preparation for the arrival of 200 international journalists coming to cover the Islamic Republic's 25th birthday and its 7th parliamentary elections.

"I want you to give a realistic image of Iran," he told the translators gathered in his office earlier this week. "If a woman starts saying that her lipstick is a sign of revolution, just don't translate it. Say it's nonsense."

Khoshvaght, a relative by marriage to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told the translators to inform him if any arriving journalists try to cover sensitive stories such as about student activists or political dissidents or if they request to work without a translator for a day.

He told them not to allow the foreign journalists to come to their homes. He suggested that all of the journalists' phone calls would be monitored by intelligence services.

"These days are very tough days," he told the translators. "The security of the regime is threatened. You shouldn't do anything that threatens the security of the system."

The translators are all hired through several private fixer firms and are not ministry employees. Translators in Saddam Hussein-era Iraq were often required to perform such "minder" services. Foreign correspodents in Iran were also closely monitored during the first two decades after the 1979 revolution. They enjoyed a brief period of freedom following the 1997 election of reformist President Mohamad Khatami.

But despite opneing its doors for journalists entering to cover the recent earthquake in Bam, Iran's clerical regime appears to have begun clamping down hard on foreign correspondents, denying visas to some and press cards to others.

In the recent past, authorities linked to Iran's complex of intelligence services have also pressed journalists into performing espionage, demanding that they monitor the activities of fellow journalists and regularly report on their activities as well as their sources' comments.

But Khoshvaght, a former Rome bureau chief of the Islamic Republic News Agency fluent in Italian and English, has often come to the defense of foreign correspondents. Recently he publicly decried the ultra-conservative judiciary's attempts at confiscating the files of foreign correspondents. He showed a level candor rare for Iranian officials following the alleged murder of Iranian-Canadian foreign journalist Zahra Kazemi by official security forces.

http://www.iranian.com/Features/2004/February/Dalir/index.html

200 Journalists to arrive in Iran under strict conditions. Regimes translators told to lie, and mistranslate.

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