Iranian Alert -- March 8, 2004 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD --Americans for Regime Change in Iran

The Iranian Student Movement Up To The Minute Reports ^ | 3.8.2004 | DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

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.

DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

Rare Syria Demo Broken Up

March 08, 2004
BBC News
BBCi

Syrian police have broken up a rare protest by human rights activists demanding political and civil reforms. At least seven of a small group staging a peaceful sit-in in front of the parliament in Damascus were arrested.

The protest was organised to mark the anniversary of the Baath party's rise to power in 1963.

Organisers have also been circulating a petition urging President Bashar al-Assad to release political prisoners and lift the state of emergency.


The protest against the emergency laws in place for 41 years was organised by the Committees for the Defence of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria.

Outnumbered

Organisers had been summoned by state security for questioning several times in recent days.

However they said on Sunday they would not be intimidated.

Monday saw riot police standing guard and the demonstrators were outnumbered intelligence officers in civilian clothes and black leather jackets.

One man raised a banner reading "Freedom for Prisoners of Opinion and Conscience" - but it was quickly torn up by agents, the Associated Press reported.

About 20 minutes into the protest, the main organiser, Aktham Naisse, was detained along with several others.

Low-key

Syrian flags and large banners hailing President Assad's leadership have been put up on the streets of Damascus to mark the coup which brought the Baath Arab Socialist Party to power.

But official festivities are expected to be limited and low-key.

Observers say there is a feeling there is not much to celebrate and that officials are still painstakingly trying to avoid parallels between Syria and Iraq.

In Iraq, the Baath party - which also came to power in 1963 - was led by Saddam Hussein who was ousted as president almost a year ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3543029.stm

[DoctorZIn]

Police Crack Down on Demonstration in Tehran

March 08, 2004
Iran va Jahan
KRSI Radio

Eyewitness reports from Tehran to KRSI radio station in Los Angeles indicate that a gathering by Iranian women and young men commemorating women's day, in Laleh Park, is being savagely repressed.

Chants of " Non Violence" were filled in the air when the police charged the demonstrators.

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=03&d=08&a=6

[DoctorZIn]

Hundreds of women defy the regime by gathering

SMCCDI (information Service)
Mar 8, 2004

Hundreds of Iranian women along with their male supporters have gathered at this time (17:00 local time) at the Laleh Park located in the center of the Iranian Capital.

They have defied the non declared official ban and the massive presence of the regime forces by reaching the Park located in the Fatemi avenue (former Aryamehr).

They are shouting slogans, singing the baned "Oh Iran!" and making speeches under the desperate eyes of the regime forces which have stayed affar from attacking them till now. Slogans in favor of women's rights, release of political prisoners and free elections for regime change are shouted.

Plainclothes agents are seen walking with walkie talkies and taking pictures of the crowd which is increasing constantly.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_5244.shtml

[DoctorZIn]

The last public call to European Union's leaders

SMCCDI (Public Statement)
Mar 8, 2004

Mr. Blair, Mr. Chirac, Mr. Schroeder, Mr. Berlusconi and Mr.Klestil,

Twenty-Five years of oppression, mass killing, barbarism, and mismanagement of our country by the Islamic republic and its indoctrinated technocrats have now brought Iran to the edge of collapse and civil war.

As an increasing number of young Iranians are starting to shift towards armed struggle, the masses tired of 7 years of empty promises of reforms from within the theocratic system boycotted the sham elections of Feb. 20th in the greatest yet act of Civil Disobedience. This non-violent method of struggle follows the massive boycott of last year's sham city and rural election and prior to that, in 1997, Iranians used the Islamic Republic's presidential elections as an opportunity to show their rejection of those known as "hardliners" by the greatest voter turn out in Iran's history.

Thus, more than ever, we can declare with absolute conviction that Iranians are rejecting the Islamic regime in its totality!

But despite these clear signals, many entities with short term mercantilist and neo-colonialist views, especially among the EU, are still trying to extend the life of an illegitimate regime just as they did in the case of Iraq till the situation led to war due to the persistent existence of an unaccountable and un democratic regime..."

Gentlemen,

We Iranians know that you are the leaders of the European Union. We know that you did not arrive at your positions of power by force, deception, coercion, cronyism, intimidation, or all the other subversive means that some Mullahs of Iran successfully employed to hijack power and hold on to it. You are where you are because the majority of European people, believing mainly in your honor, integrity, and competence, assigned you to your posts by utilizing true Democratic means. Your nations purport to be vanguards and champions of Liberty and Democracy and you are their torch bearers.

Thus we justly demand of you to abandon your indifference to our plight and let us arrive at the shores of Democracy too!

If you still listen to your conscience and still possess your honor and integrity, then do what is right and do not impede us in our struggle to build a nation that is founded on the principles of Human Rights, Liberty, and Democracy.

In particular, Mr. Blair, you and your Crown Prince, if you are entertaining or nurturing neo-colonialist ideas and dreams involving Iran, forget them. You failed in America and India and you will meet defeat just the same in Iran.

Abandon your support of the Islamic Republic and your demagogic pretense of conducting "Constructive Dialogue" with the doomed Islamic terrorist regime. As repression continues and persists in Iran, while the Iranian people have made it brazenly clear to the world that they don't want the Islamic Republic, you no longer have even a resemblance of justification to continue with aiding and abetting that regime. The fallacy that you liked so much to perpetuate, that within the wretched regime of ayatollahs there were "Reformist Elements" with whom you could conduct legitimate business, while knowing full and well that they are all woven from the same cloth, has lost its façade of validity. The sham elections of Feb.20 through which the "Hardliners" got rid of the so-called "reformers" should be your clue.
And the fact that Iranians massively boycotted those elections, and didn't so much as yawn for the disqualified "pro-reform" MP's when they staged a protest sit-in hoping that Iranians would rush to their support just like the Russians did for Yeltsin, should remind you for the hundredth time that Iranians do not want and care for this regime in its entirety.

There is no wiggle room or gray area. You are either with us or with the Tyranny and Terror Masters in Iran!

Gentlemen,

We know and do expect that as leaders of your nations, you primarily uphold the interests of your countries. But you must reconsider your position of willingness to gain short term profits from the Islamic Republic and opt for solid and lasting relations with a Free, Modern, and Democratic Iran that wants and will be a bastion of security in the region; an Iran which is tired of being known as a supporter, producer, and exporter of terrorists and terrorism.

Time for you to help us is now. We will appreciate and reward your help in the future when the Islamic Republic is no more, as we will not forget if you choose to ignore our pleas and carry on your romance with Mullahs. And furthermore, we will reject many of the illegal and unfair contracts that this regime has awarded to some greedy establishments in your union.

All we want from you for help is due recognition:

-Recognize that Iranians have had it and are done with the Mullahcracy that has ruined their country. They want a Free, Democratic, and Secular Iran.

-Recognize that The Islamic Republic of Iran, by the very principles and doctrine upon which it is founded, can not be reformed, either from within or without. It has finally finished playing "Good Mullah, Bad Mullah" and the Bad Mullahs are now openly in charge.

-Recognize that your continued embrace of the Islamic Republic only serves to prolong its miserable political existence because it makes the Ayatollahs in power believe they enjoy legitimacy, and by banking on it, they continue their brutality on the masses of Iranian people who so far have valiantly chosen to remain non-violent.

-Recognize that the Islamic Republic is an oppressive terrorist regime that is a threat to the world security and peace in the Middle East. It must be brought down and the Mullahs be peacefully ushered back to the mosques where they belong.

-Recognize that all you need to do is shun and abandon the hated and doomed regime and give your full moral support to the oppressed people of Iran. Iranians will take care of getting rid of the Islamic Republic and its menace themselves. Their struggle against the theocratic system, which is based on civil disobedience and non-violent measures, has started and is well under way. Absolutely no foreign troops need to march in Iran and no military intervention is sought.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Long live freedom!
Long live secularism!
Established be democracy!

March 8, 2004 (18th Esfand 1382)

The "Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran" (SMCCDI)

http://www.daneshjoo.org/article/publish/article_3143.shtml

[freedom44]

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/05/1542249

AMY GOODMAN: Today we're going to look at two of these. The 1953 coup against the democratically elected leader of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh , and the April 2002 attempted coup against Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. This week I went to Chicago to speak at the Chicago Public Library. Afterwards, I met with Steven Kinzer, author of the book, “All The Shah's Men, an American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror.” The New York Times reporter talked about the 1953 coup against the Iranian leader.

STEVEN KINZER: The story of how the C.I.A. overthrew the government of Iran in 1953 is really an object lesson in how easy it is for a rich and powerful country to throw a poor and weak country into chaos. The C.I.A. sent one of its most adept operatives, Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, to Iran with the mission of organizing the overthrow of the government. One reason I was so interested in writing this book is that I have always asked myself, how do you go about overthrowing a government? What do you do? Suppose that you are sent to a country with that mission. What do you do on the first day? How do you start and then what do you do? Well, now I know. Kermit Roosevelt set about trying to create chaos in Iran. He was able to do that very quickly by a series of means. The first thing he did was, he started bribing members of parliament and leaders of small political parties that were a part of Mossadegh 's political coalition. Pretty soon the public started to see the Mossadegh ’s coalition splitting apart and people denouncing him on the floor of parliament. The next thing Roosevelt did was start bribing newspaper editors, owners and columnists and reporters. Within a couple of weeks, he had 80% of the newspapers in Tehran on his payroll and they were grinding out every kind of lie attacking Mossadegh . The next thing Roosevelt did was start bribing religious leaders. Soon, at Friday prayers, the Mullahs were denouncing Mossadegh as an atheist enemy of Islam. Roosevelt also bribed members of police units and low-ranking military officers to be ready with their units on the crucial day. In what I think was really his master stroke, he hired the leaders of a bunch of street gangs in Tehran, and he used them to help create the impression that the rule of law had totally disintegrated in Iran. He actually at one point hired a gang to run through the streets of Tehran, beating up any pedestrian they found, breaking shop windows, firing their guns into mosques, and yelling -- "We love Mossadegh and communism." This would naturally turn any decent citizen against him. He didn't stop there. He tired a second mob to attack the first mob, to give people the impression that there was no police presence and order had completely disintegrated. So, within just a few weeks, this one agent operating with a large sum of cash and a network of contacts and various elements of society, had taken what was a fairly stable country and thrown it into complete upheaval.

AMY GOODMAN: Then can you talk about how the coup was actually carried out?

STEVEN KINZER: The first coup that Roosevelt organized was scheduled to take place on August 15th of 1953. On that night, an officer, who had been brought into the plot, was supposed to arrive at Prime Minister Mossadegh 's home around midnight with an order signed by the shah firing him as prime minister. Now, they knew that Mossadegh would refuse to accept this order, since in Iran, which was then a democracy – only parliament had the right to hire and fire prime ministers. When he resisted, he would be arrested. That was the plan. The C.I.A. had a general already designated to take over the next day as prime minister of Iran. But what happened? Mossadegh got wind of this plan. When the officer arrived at Mossadegh 's house at midnight, loyal officers stepped out of the shadows. Soon, the officer who was supposed to arrest Mossadegh was himself under arrest. So now, the coup had failed and the Shah, who had been waiting out the results at his resort near the Caspian, immediately fled the country. He went to Baghdad and then on to Rome where he told people that he was going to be looking for work, since he obviously wouldn't be able to go back to Iran.

Now, what neither he nor anyone else knew was that Kermit Roosevelt despite being ordered by the C.I.A. to come home, decided: I can still do this. I can try again. He was really a true-life James Bond. On his own, he activated his mobs on the 19th of August, just four days later, in a second coup attempt. They rampaged through the streets by the tens of thousands. Many of them, I think, never even really understood they were being paid by the C.I.A. They just knew they had been given a good day's wage to go out in the street and chant something. Many politicians whipped up the crowds during those days. Roosevelt had been spending $11,000 a week just to bribe members of the Iranian parliament. There were only 90 members. The average annual income in Iran at that time was about $500. So, you can imagine what this sum must have meant. At crucial moments, police and military units joined the crowd. They started storming government buildings. There were gunfights in front of important buildings. The crucial battle, the climactic battle was actually in front of the prime minister's house. It started at nightfall. There was heavy gunfire, including an artillery duel. About 100 people were killed just in the battle in front of Mossadegh 's house. Towards the end, members of a military unit, whose leader Roosevelt had bribed, arrived with a column of tanks, and with that, Mossadegh was no longer able to survive. By midnight, on August the 19th of 1953, his house was in flames, and he had fled over the back guard wall to surrender himself a couple of days later. And the general, who was a C.I.A. -- who the C.I.A. had selected as the designated savior of Iran was installed as prime minister.

Now, the shah was sitting in a restaurant in Rome imagining that his prospects in Iran were finished, when news correspondents burst in with cables from Tehran saying that a second coup had been attempted and it had succeeded, and he was now being called upon to return to his throne. According to correspondents who were present, he went into a form of shock, the color drained out of his face and his hands started to shake. When he could finally regain his composure, he said: I knew it. They love me. He flew back to Tehran, and a couple of nights later received Kermit Roosevelt on the last night that Roosevelt spent in Iran before returning to Washington. The two of them toasted each other with vodka, and the shah said, "I owe my throne to God, my people, my army, and you." He was quite right, although he might have gotten the order a little mixed up.

AMY GOODMAN: We're talking to Steven Kinzer of "The New York Times," who has written the book, “All the Shah's Men: American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror.” So, the shah was installed. And very briefly, the effect of this coup?

STEVEN KINZER: Kermit Roosevelt came back from his great triumph in Tehran and was brought to the oval office to brief President Eisenhower, Secretary of State Dulles and a few other members of the national security team in Washington. He later wrote about this moment. He said, as I looked over to Secretary of State Dulles, I could see he was intensely interested. He seemed to be grinning like a giant cat. My instinct told me he was planning.

Sure enough, only a few weeks later, Kermit Roosevelt was called into his boss's office, and told, you know, you did such a great job overthrowing that government in Iran, we have decided we don't like the government down in Guatemala. And we would like you to go down there and do the same thing again. Well, Kermit Roosevelt demurred but someone else was found, and in less than a year after the democratic government of Iran was overthrown by the C.I.A., the C.I.A. did the same thing in Guatemala. Now, these two seemingly great successes, purchased with modest effort and relatively low cost, I think, really thrilled Secretary of State Dulles and his brother, Alan Dulles, the C.I.A. director. Bear in mind, this was a time when the United States could not invade countries of which it disapproved, because of the Soviet Union. The Red Army was always a present threat. Here was a way that the U.S. could dispose of government's it didn't like without invading. I think it was the success of the Iran coup, and the Guatemalan one that followed ten months later, that sent the U.S. government off on this direction of covert action and regime change.

The Iran coup was the first time the C.I.A. ever overthrew a government. And Harry Truman never wanted the C.I.A. to go in that direction. I even found a phrase in one of his diaries. He used the phrase, 'American Gestapo', to describe what he was afraid the C.I.A. might become if it were allowed to run loose. So, he never used the it to overthrow governments. But the new administration that came in in January of 1955, seized onto this tool and that led us to our adventures in everyplace from Indonesia to Chile to Cuba, to Vietnam, to the Congo, and, I think, grabbed your government, set it off on a certain direction from which it still is recovering.

AMY GOODMAN: Steven Kinzer, "New York Times" reporter and author of the book, “All the Shah's Men,” describing what happened in 1953. The C.I.A.- backed coup against the democratically elected leader of Iran.

[freedom44]

Dr. Mossadeqh

[DoctorZIn]

Regime forces beaten up Iranian women and supporters

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Mar 8, 2004

The Islamic regime's forces and plainclothes agents intervened, at Laleh park of Tehran and its surrounding areas, in order to smash the celebration of the "Int.'l Women Day" by beating the female protesters and their male supporters.

Clubs and chains were used against hundreds of brave women of different ages showing once again the brutality of the theocratic regime which has based one of its main pillars on a back warded and sword forced imported ideology dating of 14 centuries to go and which discriminates women.

Faces of several women were seen in blood and many had injuries on their faces.

Several male supporters who intended to oppose to the brutal repression were beaten up badly and were seen laying on the ground.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_5247.shtml

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Fantastic!

[Pan_Yans Wife]

You are either with us or with the Tyranny and Terror Masters in Iran!

Last call.

[nuconvert]

"The German, French and British, feel, however that too much pressure could backfire, particularly at a time of domestic political struggle between Iran's moderates and hardliners."

What does that mean?

[nuconvert]

Good Letter.

[DoctorZIn]

IMPORTANT NEWS!!!!

This just in from a student inside of Iran...

"Doc,

Internet connection and cell phone connections are cut off or broken because of this evening protests in Tehran."

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Keep us posted, Doc.

[DoctorZIn]

Vigilantes Stop Iran Women's Demo

March 08, 2004
BBC News
Miranda Eeles

A gathering to celebrate International Women's Day in Tehran turned ugly as militia groups broke up what had started as a peaceful demonstration.

Members of the Basij volunteer group beat people with batons and pushed several men and women to the ground.

The authorities had tried to cancel the demonstration, withdrawing permission just hours before it was due to begin.

Shouting slogans and singing freedom songs, several hundred women defied the ban and gathered in Laleh Park.

Intimidation

They had come to hear local activists' speeches on violence against women, to commemorate International Women's Day.

"We were supposed to perform different plays," said one local woman, "to show how women are exposed to violence and to show how women's voices are not heard."

"Now they won't even let us speak," she added.

Dozens of police stood by, refusing to let the crowd congregate and ordering them to go home.

After the organisers left, members of volunteer militia groups, the Basijis, arrived, some on motorbikes, others brandishing batons.

They tried to intimidate the crowd of men and women who remained behind.

There are reports that several people were arrested.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3544791.stm

[DoctorZIn]

U.S. Complains Stance on Iran Nukes Soft

March 08, 2004
The Associated Press
George Jahn

VIENNA, Austria -- In a trans-Atlantic rift over Iran, a top U.S. official complained in a letter to France, Germany and Britain that their softer stance was hurting common efforts to get Tehran to honor promises for full nuclear disclosure, diplomats told The Associated Press on Monday.

News of the letter by U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton came amid tensions at a key board meeting of the U.N. atomic agency over whether Iran has done enough to banish suspicions it had a nuclear weapons program.

The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, refused to provide details about the letter but said such direct criticism was unusual.

Convinced that Tehran at one point wanted to make nuclear weapons and continues to harbor secrets, Washington wants tough language to dominate in any resolution adopted by the board of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency.

On the other side, Germany, Britain and France seek to emphasize progress Iran has made in revealing nuclear activities and cooperating with U.N. inspectors since the discovery last year of a secret uranium enrichment program and covert tests that could be applied toward making weapons.

At Monday's board of governors meeting, the chief Iranian delegate predicted that U.S. attempts to crack down on Tehran will fail.

Yet Iranian attempts to end international scrutiny of its past and present nuclear agenda found no favor with IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei, who said Tehran would remain a top agenda item for the U.N. agency until fears it was trying to make nuclear weapons were put to rest.

ElBaradei spoke on the first day of what was to be a three-day meeting. But diplomats said the conference might go until Friday because of the lack of consensus on how to deal with Iran's mixed record on lifting nearly two decades of nuclear secrecy.

``We are still far away on common language,'' a senior diplomat said as the meeting progressed.

A U.S-proposed text, seen by AP, spoke of ``serious failures'' by Iran to reveal nuclear secrets and the ``most serious concerns'' about its activities. Europeans consider that language too harsh.

Chief Iranian delegate Pirooz Hosseini said the U.S. attempt to take Iran to task ``is not going to work.''

``Almost all colleagues in the IAEA think that we have done our best in our ability to work with the agency,'' he said.

Before the meeting, senior Iranian official Hasan Rowhani demanded an end to the scrutiny of his country's nuclear activities, insisting they were never geared toward making arms.

ElBaradei, however, suggested that Iran would remain an agency priority. ``The issue will (only) be removed from the agenda when we are done with all the issues that are outstanding,'' he told reporters.

ElBaradei also said the board would discuss agency findings resulting from its probe of the ``complex black market network'' providing Iran, Libya and North Korea with nuclear weapons technology.

He described both Iran and Libya as being in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. But with Libya apparently keeping pledges to reveal and scrap its nuclear weapons program, it is Iran taking the heat at the Vienna meeting.

While insisting it is interested in uranium enrichment only to generate power not to make weapons, Iran suspended its program to defang criticism. Still, it reserves the right to resume such activities, despite international demands that its enrichment be totally scrapped.

Tehran has also allowed IAEA inspectors broad access to its nuclear programs and handed over materials requested by ElBaradei. But an IAEA report prepared for Monday's meeting faults Tehran for continuing to hide evidence of nuclear experiments unearthed by agency inspectors.

Made public last month, the dossier dealt the Islamic Republic a setback in its efforts to convince the world that its nuclear program is peaceful and that it is fully cooperating with the U.N. agency.

The report mentioned finds of traces of polonium, a radioactive element that can be used in nuclear weapons but that Iran says it wanted for generating electricity. It also expressed concerns with the discovery of an advanced P-2 uranium centrifuge system - something the Bush administration said raises ``serious concerns'' about Tehran's intentions.

ElBaradei told the board he was ``seriously concerned'' about Iran's refusal to declare the P-2, calling it a ``setback to Iran's stated policy of transparency.''

Hosseini, Iran's delegate, said his country had nothing else to reveal.

Washington was unconvinced.

``I think its striking that the more the agency learns the more the Iranians have to change their stories,'' chief U.S. delegate Kenneth C. Brill told reporters.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3837159,00.html

[DoctorZIn]

Iran: The World's Highest Rate Of Brain Drain

March 08, 2004
RFE/RL
Golnaz Esfandiari

Iran has the highest rate of "brain drain" in the world. That's the conclusion of the International Monetary Fund, which recently surveyed some 61 countries. The IMF says every year more than 150,000 educated Iranians leave their home country in the hope of finding a better life abroad.

RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari spoke to young people who have chosen to leave Iran and experts to see what is driving the country's future to find opportunity somewhere else.

Prague -- Vahid Garousi emigrated to Canada about three years ago, after graduating in computer engineering from one of Iran's best technical universities. Garoussi says he left for economic, social, and educational reasons.

"For a software engineer in Iran, you can find a quite well-paying job [by Iranian standards]. You can get something like 500,000 toumans a month [about $600], but still that [amount of] money is not something that [will give you a comfortable life]. So this was the economic reason. Then I had social reasons to leave Iran. The example I'm telling now is that you couldn't listen to music in your car -- Iranian pop music or I like Turkish pop music. There are many examples of these social restrictions you can think of. [And] there is no freedom of speech."

Every year more than 150,000 educated young people leave Iran for countries such as the U.S. and Canada. Some 4 million Iranians now live abroad.Garousi, now a Ph.D. student in Canada, adds that educational opportunities also were better abroad: "Then I had educational reasons. For example, you don't have good access to the Internet with high speed [and] then you have Internet censorship in Iran. [The authorities] have filtered many websites, even educational websites. We didn't have good libraries in Iran. We didn't have new books, new technical books. And, for example, here in Canada I can go to very prestigious conferences but in Iran, because of U.S. sanctions, Iranians cannot submit papers to [professional groups like the] IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers)."

Garousi says he won't return unless many things change. His story is increasingly typical. Every year more than 150,000 educated young people leave Iran for countries such as the U.S. and Canada. Some 4 million Iranians now live abroad. Few of these will ever return.

Many emigres cite a lack of basic social freedoms. In Iran, boys and girls cannot mingle together in public. Dancing is forbidden. Women and girls must cover their hair and bodies.

Under President Mohammad Khatami there has been a gradual liberalization, but public life is still closely monitored.

The situation is particularly serious among the best-educated young people. As many as four out of five (80 percent) who recently won awards in scientific fields have chosen to emigrate.

Hazhir Rahmandad, who won an international award in chemistry, left Iran in 2000 and now studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S.

"After finishing my undergraduate studies in industrial engineering, I decided to continue my studies for graduate work, and system dynamics was one of the main areas that [I] was interested in. The only place I could go to was basically the U.S., so that was one of the main reasons. The other thing was that almost everybody was applying [at foreign universities] at the end of [my undergraduate university study]. I was studying at Sharif [University] in Tehran, so it was kind of the norm. And finally I think another dimension of it was that I was interested to see a different world."

Rahmandad says Iran's political structure does not allow people like him to get involved in the country's future as much as they would like to.

"In the short term, I don't think I will be going back," he said. "I actually, personally would really like to go back and be useful to my country and I feel a lot of connection still with whatever is happening in Iran. But on the other hand, I don't see a way of how I can be useful, how I can contribute to building a better Iran -- so it is a challenge."

Amanollah Gharayi Moghadam, a professor of sociology in Tehran, agrees. He says many young people are forced to leave because society cannot absorb them and respond to their needs. "Based on our research, the most important cause for brain drain from Iran is unsuitable social conditions for the youth. There are several factors contributing to this unsuitable atmosphere."

The costs of the brain drain are high. Local sources put the economic loss at some $50 billion a year or higher. "For each inventor or scientist who leaves the country, it is as if 10 oil wells had been destroyed," Moghadam says.

Afshin Molavi is a journalist and author of "Persian Pilgrimages: Journeys Across Iran." Molavi cites economic conditions as a main reason young people choose to leave. The unemployment rate is around 20 percent -- and higher for young people. Hidden in the statistics is massive underemployment, with students forced to take jobs below their qualifications.

"Mostly they describe the economic reasons for leaving the country and they describe simply a lack of jobs, number one, and there is also a massive underemployment problem with young Iranians who may have graduated in, say, engineering ending up working as traders, businessman. Or you might find pharmacists who can't find jobs in their fields so they learn a few software packages and they have to work, say, as a part-time software engineer."

Economists say Iran needs to create more than a million jobs a year just to keep pace with its growing population. In reality, though, only about 300,000 new jobs are added each year.

"It's a very sad thought and quite a tragedy to think that these people who would really like to stay in their home country but they can't simply because of the massive economic mismanagement of the Islamic republic of Iran," Molavi says. "And the irony is that everywhere Iranians go they seem to succeed. It is extraordinary what Iranians are capable of when the are given opportunities, and they are simply not given opportunities in their home country."

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/3/C655D456-07DF-405A-8FE9-AAD51173BD66.html

[DoctorZIn]

How They Celebrate Women in Iran

March 08, 2004
The Command Post
Weblog

Today is International Women's Day.

International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

Many countries celebrate this day; some even mark it as a national holiday, closing schools and businesses.
In Iran, they tried to mark the day, but were unable to do so without bloodshed.

First, the regime made it clear that they would not sanction any demonstrations:

High security measures have been adopted and will be applied, later today, in order to stop the planned celebration of the "Int.l Women Day". The regime forces have been mobilized, especially in the Capital, to crackdown against Iranian women and their male supporters by pretexting the unlawful nature of the gatherings.
While the right of making peaceful demonstrations is recognized by the Islamic regime, its Ministry of Interior has not issued any response to the formal request made by several feminist organizations.

But the women came out anyhow, determined to have their voices heard.

Hundreds of Iranian women along with their male supporters have gathered at this time (17:00 local time) at the Laleh Park located in the center of the Iranian Capital.
They have defied the non declared official ban and the massive presence of the regime forces by reaching the Park located in the Fatemi avenue (former Aryamehr).

They are shouting slogans, singing the baned "Oh Iran!" and making speeches under the desperate eyes of the regime forces which have stayed affar from attacking them till now. Slogans in favor of women’s rights, release of political prisoners and free elections for regime change are shouted.

And then, the regime stifled those in the gathering the only way they know how:

Clubs and chains were used against hundreds of brave women of different ages showing once again the brutality of the theocratic regime which has based one of its main pillars on a back warded and sword forced imported ideology dating of 14 centuries to go and which discriminates women.
Faces of several women were seen in blood and many had injuries on their faces.

Several male supporters who intended to oppose to the brutal repression were beaten up badly and were seen laying on the ground.

Lest you think those paragraphs are somewhat biased, coming from an Iranian activist site, you can find the story at BBC as well:

A gathering to celebrate International Women’s Day in Tehran turned ugly as militia groups broke up what had started as a peaceful demonstration. Members of the Basij volunteer group beat people with batons and pushed several men and women to the ground.
Most other media carried the story of International Women’s Day by excerpting a speech from Nobel Prize Winner and Iranian, Shirin Ebadi.

No mention was made of the beatings or arrests.

http://www.command-post.org/nk/2_archives/010796.html

[DoctorZIn]

US Blasts Iran Nuclear 'Stories'

March 08, 2004
BBC News
BBCi

A top US official has accused Iran of continuously changing its explanations after UN nuclear inspectors find previously undeclared activities. "The Iranians change their stories to fit the facts," said Kenneth Brill, US ambassador to the UN nuclear agency.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be dealing with Iran for "many years to come" Mr Brill said.

He was speaking in Vienna where the IAEA board of governors is meeting to consider how to proceed with Iran.

IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei said he was "seriously concerned" about omissions in that declaration - and dismissed Iranian calls to drop the issue from the international agenda.

Iran's ambassador said Tehran had never said the dossier was complete.

'Setback'

Pirooz Hosseini said his country had been the victim of a "war of propaganda" and "misquoted" as saying the declaration was complete.

But according to his US counterpart, Iranian officials had said the October report would be "full, complete and represent total transparency".

"When it was proved that was not the case, then the Iranians changed their story and said we didn't mean it was going to be full and complete," said Mr Brill.

"I think its striking that the more the agency learns the more the Iranians have to change their stories," he said.

Iran had violated the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) for many years, Mr ElBaradei said at the Vienna talks.

He singled out Iran's failure to declare that it was researching advanced centrifuge designs, known as P2, capable of producing highly enriched uranium.

This, he said, had been "a setback to Iran's stated policy of transparency".

Iran halted its enrichment programme last year under international pressure, but has indicated the move is only temporary.

European states led by Germany, France and the UK have favoured a more conciliatory approach to Iran, pointing to the complicated political situation within the Islamic republic.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3544927.stm

[DoctorZIn]

Teacher activists and students arrested in several cities on 3rd day of strike

SMCCDI (information Service)
Mar 8, 2004

Several teachers and students have been arrested on the 3rd day of strike in the cities of Tehran, Ardebil, Esfahan, Yazd and Hamedan. The regime's plainclothes agents have proceeded to the arrests, during the late hours of night, after the detailed identification of the strikers and their supportive students.

The regime's "educational" authorities and provincial cities' local officials who have been dispatched to calm the situation and to avoid a radicalization of the situation have been reported as using the tactic of threats and false promises in order to force the teachers to resume work. Rumors of "Attempt to Murder the Strikers" and the "Deliverance of Authorization to Shoot" have been spread by circles affiliated to the regime while its recognized officials are stating that "they'll take care of the teachers conditions".

But at many occasions, such as in Yazd, the teachers are using the official mediation meeting in order to show their radical rejection of the situation and even the officials. As an unprecedented example, the Yazd governor's "promises" speech was cut off after that several teachers intervened by qualifying him and "his superiors" as bunch of "fearful bandits who must get ousted".

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_5254.shtml

[freedom44]

Teachers Strike Expands on the Third Day

•On its third day, the teachers' strike expanded to many provinces. The week-long strike, called by 15 trade associations and groups, is the last in a series of actions and demonstrations that the teachers have held across the country during the past year to demand pay increases to match that of other government employees. Naser Azimi, a middle school teacher in Tehran's 16th educational district, tells Radio Farda that the schools are open and the students are in their classes, but teachers refuse to go to the classes. With teachers out of classes, controlling the students has become the problem of school principals. (Nima Tamadon)

http://www.radiofarda.com/transcripts/topstory/2004/03/20040308_1530_1313_1614_EN.asp