Iranian Alert -- April 27, 2004 [EST]-- IRAN LIVE THREAD -- "Americans for Regime Change in Iran"

The Iranian Student Movement Up To The Minute Reports ^ | 4.27.2004 | 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.” 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. I began these daily threads June 10th 2003. On that date Iranians once again began taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Today in Iran, most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy.

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]

"Iranian Politicians Must Improve Country's Image"

April 27, 2004
BBC Monitoring
BBC Monitoring International Reports

The conservative thinker Amir Mohebbiyan has said that those who won the recent parlliamentary elections must continue to take the reformists seriously and attempt to neutralize them by exploiting their divisions. He also urged the conservatives to improve their image abroad by propaganda and political action. The following is the text of an editorial in the Iranian newspaper Resalat on 21 April

Following the defeat of the 2nd Khordad Front in the seventh Majlis elections, Iran's political scene has changed, and from this day forward, a new strategy must be planned; because relying on old strategies in times when everything has changed is not politically wise.

Actions such as the attempts of the Participation Front to set aside its old strategy (reforms) and adopt new ones, the visit of key members of the Militant Clerics Society to the Eminent Leader after their decision to accept non-clerics into the society (of course in line with creating a new and more comprehensive structure), and ultimately, the resignation of Behzad Nabavi, the effective member of the Islamic Revolution Mujahedin Organization, in order to afford him the chance to lead this organization full-time during a period when they are attempting to become a political party, all indicate that Iran's political environment is rapidly changing and the faction critical of the government (the majority of the seventh Majlis) will face a new lineup of its old contenders (while this faction has focused all its energy on its not-so-great achievement - victory in the seventh Majlis elections).

I believe that the following factors were behind the new political atmosphere of our country:

1) No triumphs or defeats last forever and those who think that the 2nd Khordad Front does not have a chance to renew itself are underestimating it with a childish arrogance. The 2nd Khordad learned many lessons after its defeat in the Third Majlis elections. I believe that this front will reconstruct itself much faster than we think, unless we can force it to reconstruct itself into a more law-abiding current. If we succeed in doing so, in our future contests with it, we will face more democratic actions, not just an array of anarchist motions as we witnessed after the 2nd Khordad.

2) The Participation Party first experienced defeat in February 2002, as a result of which it lost its hegemonic position in the 2nd Khordad Front. This in turn led to a contest between the top parties over hegemony in this torn up front. This will make our work more difficult because we will now need more energy. Nevertheless, it will also afford us better opportunities; the contradictory commands issued by this seven-headed political movement cause great confusion among the supporters of this front.

3) As I had previously anticipated, the 2nd Khordad Front is now practically wiped out. We must have good knowledge of the positive and negative effects of this in order to take full advantage of it. What must we do to organize our future strategy?

I believe that political leaders must try to build the future by thoroughly understanding the realities of Iranian society and by avoiding over-confidence brought about by their present achievements.

Uniformity and consistency in the 2nd Khordad Front is not advantageous for us, and although it is not expected that things will improve for the front within the next year or so; nevertheless, just as it is dividing, so are its supporters. In line with this:

a) We must not deal consistently with the 2nd Khordad Front because this will unify them. Put more clearly, our different attitude towards them will separate them from one another in public opinion. So in this democratic solution, our dealings with the Militant Clerics Society must be different to our dealings with the Participation Party.

b) We must encourage the reactive elements and parties of the 2nd Khordad Front, like the Hambastegi, Mardom Salari, and... [ellipsis as published] parties, to work independently because they are no longer under the pressure of a godfather. To achieve this, 2nd Khordad representatives in these parties, like Asghar-zadeh in Hambastegi and Kavakebi in Mardom Salari, must be put aside and replaced by independent and powerful figures with more democratic standpoints.

c) One of the mistakes of those who believe that the national-religious activists have a variety of different supporters is that if they were to be eliminated from the political scene, their limited potential would be transferred to the 2nd Khordad radicals. I believe that the national-religious and other such movements will not last more than 10 years. Unfortunately or not, this organization died with the demise of its leaders and those who see themselves as the second generation of this current are really radicals who are using this name as a cover.

Therefore, I believe that with wisdom and prudence, we must prepare the ground for the demise of the national-religious current in the inner margins of the system. I stress that the threat of the national-religious is far less than that of certain faceless political elements in the 2nd Khordad Front. We must not allow the birth of a dangerous second generation within this front.

d) From the moment that the 2nd Khordad Front went under, the process of reconstructing the opposition faction and the image of the system should have begun. Current moves are far too slow and inadequate.

The faction critical of the government has a bad image outside the country which definitely blemishes the image of the entire system. A wave of heavy propaganda, based on democratic standards, can rectify this image.

In line with this, to maintain the standards of a democratic system, we must send the world a message through meaningful political actions. Undoubtedly, our wise movements will reduce the political pressures of the United States against our country to a great extent. Let us not forget that we need time, and political manoeuvres can stabilize our system and its image at minimal cost.

http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk/

[DoctorZIn]

Iranian Film Mocking Clerics Is a Box Office Hit

April 27, 2004
Reuters
Parisa Hafezi and Paul Hughes

TEHRAN -- An award-winning Iranian comedy poking fun at the conservative clerics who run the Islamic Republic is breaking box-office records after narrowly squeezing past the country's zealous censors.

Cinemas screening "The Lizard" -- which follows the fortunes of a thief who escapes prison by donning the turban and robes of a Muslim cleric -- have sold out performances days in advance and added late-night slots to cope with the huge demand.

"It's unprecedented in Iran's cinema history," said Nasser Shabani, manager of the Fardis-e Barin film distribution company.

The film's release was delayed by more than a month as censors debated whether it should be banned -- a common fate of many home-produced and most Western films deemed too provocative or corrupting for the Iranian public.

Eventually The Lizard, which won the audience prize at an international festival in Tehran in February, was given the green light after four short scenes totaling about one minute were cut.

In the film, thief Reza Marmoulak (Reza the Lizard) slips out of a prison hospital in his clerical disguise and takes up the life of a man of the cloth.

As a preacher, his irreverent style -- cracking suggestive jokes and referring to "brother (film-maker Quentin) Tarantino" during a sermon -- has cinema audiences unaccustomed to open mockery of the clergy in stitches.

"I loved it because it touches on issues that we ordinary people can't even dare to think about," said stage designer Sanaz, 25.

The former convict's direct language proves a big hit and brings worshippers flocking back to mosques. But in the process Marmoulak undergoes something of a moral transformation, turning his back on a life of crime and discovering God.

Director Kamal Tabrizi said the film's success was mainly because it was the first comedy in Iran focusing on the clergy.

But he said the film also carried a deeper message that Iran's clerics would do well to heed.

"This film somehow indicates the gap between clerics and the people," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"Maybe I wanted to say that the methods shown (by Marmoulak) in this film could be used to bridge this gap."

Some clerics saw the funny side of the film and said it conveyed a positive message overall.

"This film helps viewers to see that clerics are like other people, there are good ones and bad ones" Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a mid-ranking cleric, told Reuters.

"I think it's a very positive movie because it draws a distinction between real clerics and those who pretend to be clerics but deep inside they are not."

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=filmNews&storyID=4954982

[DoctorZIn]

Spanish Daze

April 27, 2004
National Review Online
Nicole Sadighi

The European Union and terrorism

Albert Einstein once wrote that "the world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." The people of Spain and their new leader prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero have apparently decided that the appropriate response to the murder of 200 of their fellow citizens is to do nothing and appease the terrorists.

The remarkably successful attack on 3/11 changed the political face of Spain overnight. It was a meticulously, and cleverly, calculated assault that came just three days before a general election, at a time when few thought that José María Aznar of the Popular party, who led in all of the opinion polls, could be beaten by the Socialists.

If there is anything the terrorists have learned, it is that they can slaughter Europeans with impunity; voters will automatically blame George W. Bush and the war on terror for "provoking" the attack. So, it is only a matter of time before the terror networks target another of Washington's European ally.

The necessary elements are already present. There are Islamist militia in Antwerp; Islamic sharia courts all over northern Italy; as well as Islamic terrorist-recruitment centers and financial networks in London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Brussels, Switzerland, Berlin, and Paris.

If the European Union is to protect its citizens then it must take a firm grip on the situation and take immediate tactical measures to assure the security of the continent. The omens are not good. The European attitude thus far has been to shake hands with terrorists like Khaddafi, and have tea with the mullahs of the Islamic Republic of Iran. No democratic country has any justification for doing business as usual with these people. At a time when all the democratic nations should be standing side by side, tall and brave, and showing solidarity in a display of strength and bold defiance, they are instead falling prey to weakness. What sort of message are they giving to the dictators of this world?

Removing the Taliban was key to freeing Afghanistan. Removing Saddam was key to bringing democracy to Iraq. But there is more to do. Removing the mullahs in Iran will be revolutionize democratically the Middle East and Central Asia. During the civil-rights movement, Martin Luther King urged whites and blacks to work together: "We cannot walk alone." The innocent people of Iran have for 25 years cited those very same four words and yet, they have been walking alone. If the EU stood as a united front and exposed the Islamic Republic for all of its mass killings and human-rights violations, it would not only start extinguishing their own terrorism crisis but also free the Iranian people.

— Nicole Sadighi is an advocate of nonviolent movement for establishing democracy and secularism in Iran.

http://www.nationalreview.com/voices/sadighi200404270853.asp

[DoctorZIn]

Strangled, Suppressed and Betrayed

April 27, 2004
Iran va Jahan
Shahla Samii

1979 was the year many of us left Iran due to turmoil, uncertainty and the catastrophic events unfolding under Khomein's iron will and vengeful plans for the country and its people, cleverly shrouded under the name of Islam and social equality.

Until then I had lived with my family in Tehran, where I had married my late husband in 1966. He was foremost a physician, but also a humanitarian and patriot who worked tirelessly to improve medical care, modernizing and building hospitals and advancing healthcare. He also believed that education was the country's greatest natural resource and endeavored to extend the benefits realized through education by founding and establishing institutions of higher education. He aimed and succeeded, amongst others of that era under the late Shah of Iran's educational platform, to woe back students and professionals who had been studying and working abroad, to return and use their talents and assets to build a better future for all Iranians.

Since my husband's passing in the year 2000, and in his memory, I have endeavored to pursue his patriotic passion to once again bring the benefits of education in a free, democratic and pluralistic society to my compatriots. I attempt to do this by highlighting the injustices suffered by the Iranian people under the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), informing the Western media and public of the duplicity and treachery of IRI apologists, and hopefully serving as a voice for the youth in Iran who are stifled and suffocating, yet hopeful in yearning for a better tomorrow with the moral support of their compatriots and contemporaries in exile.

The majority of the Iranians, under the ruthless rule of the IRI, have for some time now turned their back on their regime. Without doubt, a minority has been on the payroll of the IRI, staunchly supporting the regime and often in the forefront of fighting any dissent within Iran. The victims of the supporters of the IRI are the students and the disillusioned 70% under the age of 30; the striking workers and teachers who are left without adequate pay and have to work several jobs to survive; the private sector of small businesses who have no linkage to the regime and its cronies.

The IRI has spent millions to keep some groups on board, both inside and outside Iran, and has played its hand right with the EU and other Western governments whilst shouting slogans against the “Evil Empires,” the United States and Israel. Inadvertently and surprisingly they gained another source of allies: the exiled visiting Diaspora whose voices, when abroad, sound the IRI propaganda instead of relating the truth about the actual conditions of a desolate and miserable Iranian people.

When Khatami was elected President, his mandate was to moderate the excesses of the revolution, while his hidden agenda was to seduce the world and millions of Iranian exiles. Except for superficial changes, he failed the mandate, yet he succeeded in the more important hidden agenda.

He started with his “dialogue among civilizations,” exuding a smiling, kind and civilized demeanor. Then he began his quest to attract Iranians in exile to come home; passports, visas and travel into and out of Iran became easier, mandating the Foreign Ministry to accommodate people of all backgrounds, even exiled former politicians. The challenge was to make the Diaspora ambassadors for the IRI. This proved not difficult because many exiled Iranians who traveled back often became unwilling but accommodating pawns in this charade.

Just listen to this group and imagine their joy: when their dollars make everything cheap in Iran; when they revisit with old family and friends; when they remember that their compatriots by nature are kind and hospitable; when they see their country still offers its many natural beauties and its strong cultural heritage in spite of the present regime.

On returning to their adopted homes, they relate positive tales of life in Iran, the life of a small and privileged minority. The sole detractor in their words relates to walls of bureaucracy when trying to recoup property or assets they used to own, and only successful through bribes and having to buy-back what has been legitimately theirs.

Iranians are proud people by nature, and although their incomes have plummeted in real terms, they mask the hardships they have endured. When family and friends visit, just as when foreigners visit Iran, to maintain their pride and dignity, they entertain their ‘guests’ generously.

These travelers have become the mouthpiece for positive propaganda for the IRI. They do not talk about the politics of the regime, such as their funding of terrorists, nor do they mention students and journalists languishing in prison. They do not know, or perhaps do not care, which newspapers are closed down, how many girls prostitute themselves, or where the addicts are sleeping. The health hazards posed by unchecked air pollution and chaotic and dangerous traffic problems of metropolitan Tehran are irrelevant. Most importantly, they forget that the youth in Iran has a bleak future under this regime.

Amongst the younger exiled generation, many are wooed by so-called Iranian-American civic societies who take it upon themselves to be their representatives with American educational, cultural and political establishments. They do not refer to the plight of Iranians. Human rights under the IRI are no longer a priority. Dissent and the misery index inside Iran are forgotten.

I believe that we, the Diaspora, have a duty to our compatriots. 25 years ago many of those now suffering under this oppressive, ruthless and corrupt regime were not born or were just toddlers. The Diaspora enjoys the yearnings of those in Iran. We have freedom of speech and the rule of law on our side; they do not. We have opportunities to study, enter a diverse job market and with hard work achieve our goals and acquire a decent and comfortable life; most of those under the IRI do not, unless they give up on principles and honesty.

We should not become the betrayers of the Iranian people. Our mandate is to highlight the regime’s political manipulations, undemocratic actions, lack of human rights, numerous social injustices, economic stagnation, nepotism and corruption, and we must draw attention to the suppression of the people’s voices to the outside world.

Visiting our families, friends and helping our compatriots should not diminish this duty. We in the West, young and old, should not become the unsuspecting trophy of Khatami's reign and help in prolonging the nightmare of our nation. We have to reach out to the Western media, to the U.S. Administration and our political representatives, to human rights groups, to the EU and their leaders, and become the ambassadors of the Iranian people and not the regime. The aspirations of the Iranian people for freedom and democracy are vital in the larger context on the war against terrorism, the future of a stable Middle East and world peace.

We should and have to be the voices of the majority of the people in Iran and we have nothing to fear in telling the truth.

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=04&d=27&a=2

[DoctorZIn]

When Terror Comes Home

New York Post - By Amir Taheri
Apr 27, 2004

FOR more than a year now Saudi Arabia, the kingdom that sits atop a quarter of the world's oil reserves, has been hit by a wave of terrorism that shows no signs of abating.

Until a month ago, it was nothing but "operations against deviants." Now Saudi officials use terms like "conflict" and "war." And after a suicide-bomb attack destroyed the security forces buildings in Riyadh earlier this month, Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz said, "We are waging war against evil-doers."

"War" is no exaggeration. According to Saudi sources, kingdom forces have clashed with terrorists at least 80 times since last November. Some seem to have been fairly large-scale battles. Casualties on both sides run into the hundreds. The security forces have captured more than 1,000 alleged terrorists and uncovered terrorist arms caches that could supply fairly large military units.

Government losses are not reported. But a recent meeting between Prince Nayef and families of the "heroes lost in the war against deviants" attracted a large turnout.

Worse is the fear that the terrorists have instilled in the average Saudi.

Last Wednesday, a rumor, spread by Arab satellite TV channels, notably Al Jazeera, warned the people of Riyadh not to venture out of their homes because of "imminent explosions." The streets emptied in a flash, turning the usually bustling city into a ghost town. Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz, the governor of Riyadh, had to appear on television to reassure citizens they would be safe.

These may be early days in a long struggle. It is foolish to compare the threat, as did one Saudi editorialist, to a "patch of cloud in a serene sky."

Over the past half a century, the kingdom has faced a variety of challenges - from advocates of pan-Arabism, from proto-Communists, from Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini. In every case, the Saudis were able to contain the threat by a mixture of firmness and compromise. They bought off some enemies with fat checks. In other cases, they made political pirouettes to get out of a tight corner.

Some Saudi policymakers believe the latest threat could also be handled via traditional means. They are wrong.

Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, the deputy interior minister and the man in overall command of the campaign against terror, insists that the new threat, from al Qaeda-style groups, is in an altogether different category.

He is right.

It is enough to watch one of the blood-curdling diatribes of these terror masters, often broadcast by Al Jazeera, to know that this is one monster that cannot be restrained, let alone tamed, by traditional methods. These groups have said they seek nothing but total victory for their diseased ideology. And there is every reason to believe that they mean it.

The first thing to do is to understand that these al Qaeda-style terror groups do not exist in isolation. They are products of an entire society and must be studied in a broader context.

Think of a nesting set of Russian "matrushka" dolls.

The biggest doll represents Saudi society, which has become obsessed with religion in the past few decades.

Before oil, the Saudis lived in tents and certainly had no money to build houses with two entrances, one for men, the other for women. The oil bonanza has allowed most of them to build their homes on the basis of architectural apartheid.

In the pre-oil days, Saudi women had to work to help ward off collective starvation. Now they are given an expensive education but kept locked up at home.

In 1960, there were no more than eight mosques in Riyadh; today, almost 3,000. (Some put it closer to 20,000!)

In 1960, the kingdom didn't have the money for a single state-sponsored school of theology. Today, there are hundreds, producing tens of thousands of Islam "experts" each year.

The second doll, nested within the bigger one, represents the numerous institutions, always well-funded by oil money, that the kingdom has set up to make sure that citizens behave in as Islamic a way (whatever that means) as possible.

The third doll represents the many hundreds of charities, big and small, that have collected billions of dollars for Islamic causes that no one quite understands and/or controls.

The fourth doll represents the army of preachers, teachers, muezzins, muftis, mutawaa (enforcers) and "discerners of good and evil" who outnumber those who work in the vital oil industry.

The fifth doll represents the many thousands of Saudis - recruited, trained and financed by the state - dispatched to Afghanistan to wage jihad.

Finally, we have the smallest and deadliest doll: the terrorists and suicide-bombers who regard virtually all other Saudis as impious, if not downright heathen, and, thus, facing the choice between "reversion to Islam" and death.

They are the ultimate products of a society in which religion, rather than being regarded as part of life, has become an obsession that engulfs the entire nation's existence.

From the moment they wake up until the moment they sleep, Saudis are bombarded with religion, with not a single day of respite. Every evening they watch television that sings the praises of martyrdom, which means killing some Israelis, Americans or, more recently, Iraqis in suicide attacks.

Saudi state TV now devotes long programs to the effects of terror attacks on the kingdom itself. It gives officials unrestricted air time to lament the attacks and to condemn "the evil doers."

But all such programs are immediately followed by others in which fire-eating preachers talk about "our Palestine," "the beauty of martyrdom" and the ugly soul of the Western powers. The 9/11 attacks and the suicide-murder of Israelis sitting in cafes or riding buses to work are presented with a mixture of admiration and awe. The criminals who are killing Iraqis in the name of Islam are presented as "fighters against occupation."

The Saudis must begin to realize that there is no good terrorism. The clichèôbout one man's terrorist being another man's freedom-fighter is an intellectual swindle. Terrorism is terrorism, regardless of where it strikes and why.

Today, the Saudis are paying the price of not wanting to understand that simple truth. The same "evil-doers" who cut off the testicles of Soviet soldiers, many of them Muslims, in Afghanistan in the 1980s are now killing Saudi workers and Iraqi schoolchildren.

Until they understand this, the Saudis will be unable to play their part in the war against terrorism, let alone protect themselves against the self-appointed enforcers of Allah's will on earth.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_5926.shtml

[DoctorZIn]

When Terror Comes Home

New York Post - By Amir Taheri
Apr 27, 2004

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1125022/posts?page=25#25

[F14 Pilot]

Radio Free Europe just reported he was a Sunni Cleric!

[F14 Pilot]

What we need to do, is stop these darn oil and aerospace companies from investing in Iran, and our government needs to stop using the Clerics as diplomats to the terrorists in Fallujah, and elsewhere.

As long as we have companies willing to business with Iran, tghe Mullahs will stay in business.

Good Quotations! I agree~~~!

[freedom44]

Difficult to say when it's going to happen. At least, for now we know that the young people are leading and have led a social revolution, one so strong the regime has been unable to control.

The average age of the Guardian Council who are the hard-liners running the country is 74, the ranking member Jannati is 80. Even Rafsanjani who is the strongest mullah in the country is 74, in 5 years they're going to be too old and unable to run the country, especially with a strongly pro-US youth.

70% of Iran's population is under 30.

[F14 Pilot]

Iran's Khatami praises Hezbollah for resistance to Israel

IranMania News
April 27th, 04

TEHRAN, April 27 (AFP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami described Lebanon's Hezbollah movement as the "pride of world Muslims" for its resistance to Israel at a meeting with one of its leaders recently freed from jail by the Jewish state, Iran's official news agency IRNA said on Tuesday.
The reformist president on Monday met Lebanese cleric Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid, one of a number of Hezbollah prisoners freed in late January in a swap with Israel.

"Freed Lebanese PoWs are symbols of religious resistance," Khatami was quoted as saying to Obeid, who had been held in Israeli jails for 14 years before his release.

"The Lebanese resistance fighters are the pride of world Muslims, Arab nations and the Iranians," Khatami said, adding that "no one will forget the fact that it was the Lebanese resistance fighters who kicked out the Zionist occupiers and liberated Lebanon."

Khatami however played down the links between Iran and Lebanon's largest Shiite movement, saying that "the bonds of proximity between you and us are our religious and cultural commonalities."

http://www.iranmania.com/news/270404d.asp

[blackie]

Let Freedom Ring!

[nuconvert]

Press Freedom Society Meets with (Ayatollah) Montazeri

•The board members of the society for defense of press freedom met with high-ranking dissident cleric Ayatollah Hosseinali Montazeri in Qum. Defending freedom of the press is defense of people and the society, Montazeri said. Some officials consider themselves custodians of the people, whereas according to the law, all citizens have the right to express themselves freely, Montazeri added. The society for defense of press freedom holds annual meetings in Qum at the offices of various top clerics, Tehran-based lawyer and human rights activist Mohammad Seifzadeh who was present at the meeting, tells Radio Farda. The Ayatollah said so long as opponents have not resorted to violence and weapons, they should remain immune from prosecution. No one should be prosecuted for expressing his views, Montazeri added, according to Seifzadeh. (Fereydoun Zarnegar)

http://www.radiofarda.com/transcripts/topstory/2004/04/20040426_1430_0903_1250_EN.asp

[nuconvert]

[Update]

Veteran Journalist Pourzand's Health Improved, Nurse Says

•According to a nurse, who was interviewed by the state-run “students” news agency ISNA, veteran journalist Siamak Pourzand's conditions improved. He has been given a 14-day medical furlough by prison authorities to recover at home. Pourzand was taken to hospital from his cell in the Evin prison, after he fell into coma following a heart attack.

http://www.radiofarda.com/transcripts/topstory/2004/04/20040426_1430_0903_1250_EN.asp

[nuconvert]

France's Total to Sign $1.2 Billion Gas Deal with Iran

•The French oil giant Total will soon sign a $1.2 billion deal with the National Iranian Oil Company to develop the phase 11 of the Pars South natural gas field, according to NIOC officials. The deal follows Total's purchase of 30 percent of a Pars-LNG consortium, of which 20 percent is owned by Malaysia's Petronas, and 50 percent is held by NIOC. Iran currently has three liquefied natural gas (LNG) production projects underway: NIOC-LNG of the National Iranian Oil Company, the Pars-LNG consortium of NIOC, Total and Petronas, and Persian-LNG of NIOC, Shell and Repsol.

•In the reports offered at Tehran's first international gas exporting conference, most striking point was the gap between the enormity of Iran's gas reserves and its paltry share of the world's natural gas market. While Iran holds nearly 18 percent of the world's total gas reserves, it produces only 2 percent of the world's natural gas, and depends on Turkmenistan for domestic consumption. (Fereydoun Khavand)

http://www.radiofarda.com/transcripts/topstory/2004/04/20040426_1430_0903_1250_EN.asp

[nuconvert]

Union Asks Judiciary to Overturn Long-Term “Temporary” Bans on Newspapers

April 26, 2004

•The national trade association of journalists asked the judiciary to consider lifting the “temporary” bans it placed last year on scores of reformist and independent newspapers and magazines. By law, no judicial ban on publication of a newspaper can last more than 10 days, after which a court must decide on the charges against that publication, Tehran-based lawyer and freedom of press advocate Ahmad Bashiri tells Radio Farda. (Fereydoun Zarnegar)

http://www.radiofarda.com/transcripts/topstory/2004/04/20040426_1430_0903_1250_EN.asp

[windchime]

Bump!

[DoctorZIn]

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