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Join Us At Today's Iranian Alert Thread – The Most Underreported Story Of The Year!

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Join Us At Today's Iranian Alert Thread – The Most Underreported Story Of The Year!

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin”

Is the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act Dead?

April 26, 2004
World Markets Research Centre
Catherine Hunter

WMRC Perspective

Significance

The lifting of most sanctions against Libya and a few pioneer deals by close US allies in Iran show that ILSA is losing ground on all fronts and suggest that the US has lost the will to actively pursue extra-territorial sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Implications

US-based companies are becoming the only real players who are unable to invest in Iran as even foreign companies listed in the US consider Iranian investments.

Outlook

ILSA has another two years to live in theory, but it seems that both Iran and Libya will be back on the mainstream investment agenda before then. Iran will be the major beneficiary of the end of ILSA, having made few concessions to achieve this outcome.

Iran-Libya Sanctions Act

The removal of Libya from the investment restrictions included in the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) has again put the controversial US legislation into the spotlight, after ongoing disputes about the validity of the extra-territorial applications of the law that was first adopted in 1996.

ILSA was meant to provide a level playing field for US companies by extending unilateral investment restrictions against Iran and Libya to non-US players, an objective which provoked uproar in Europe and elsewhere and ultimately led to the dispensation of a number of waivers to European oil and gas companies, including Total, which has since become one of Iran's top investors.

Eight years later, and the extra-territorial measures of the Act have never been legally invoked, although US political pressure has been a significant factor in deterring or delaying a number of investments in Iran from close allies in East and Central Asia, as well as from non-US companies with strong US links such as BP or Tomen Corp. (originally involved in Iran's Azadegan oilfield tender).

However, the slow trickle of breaches by US allies is fast turning into a flood, as changes in the wider Middle East environment convince investors that the chances of enforcement are receding. The wave of new deals includes rocketing oil transit trade with Caspian states, which has already reached 170,000 bpd, from 125,000 bpd in 2003, and is set to reach 370,000 bpd by 2005 (see Iran: 22 April 2004: Iran Pumps Up Caspian Processing Capacity to 170,000 bpd). The announcement that US-listed LUKoil is also trying to win exploration acreage in Iran is another nail in the coffin for ILSA (see Iran: 23 April 2004: LUKoil Sees US Green Light on Iran Oil Deal), potentially leaving US companies as the last players back into Iran, as they have been in Libya.

Meanwhile, the US itself has quietly extended its lifting of sanctions on humanitarian, items and money transfers to Iran, as a humanitarian gesture following the Bam earthquake in December 2003, but the extension of that suspension for another three months in March 2004 suggests that the US is divided about how to go forward in its relations with the Iranian regime.

Breaches Build Up

To date, Iran has received over US$30bn of investment in its oil and gas sector since the passing of ILSA in 1996, mostly from European companies such as Total and Shell. A steady flow of deals has been ongoing since Iran took the decision to attract foreign investment to develop its oil and gas sector, although there has been a rapid surge in deals in the past few months as a result of perceptions of reduced risk as well as changes in Iran's decision-making process (see Iran: 23 February 2004: Conservative Landslide to Improve Decision-Making on Iran Energy Projects).

However, the real sea change has been in the attitude of close US allies to Iranian investments. The failure to conclude a deal over the development of the Azadegan oilfields by a Japanese consortium was thought to be a result of Japan's sensitivity to US pressure, particularly in mid-2003 when the nuclear debate was at its height. Under a year later, Inpex has signed a US$2bn plus deal with Iran, breaking down one of the last investment taboos and paving the way for further Japanese-Iranian co-operation, particularly in the downstream and petrochemical sectors.

US allies in the Caspian region, including Kazakhstan, have also been quietly expanding their energy trade with Iran (see Iran: 12 March 2004: PetroKazakhstan to Increase Oil Swaps With Iran), even though long-standing US policy has been to deter and prevent Iran increasing its influence in the area (a major factor in the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline). By March 2004, Kazakh oil traders had helped boost transit trade in oil to 170,000 bpd, earning Iran US$11 to US$16 a ton and giving it control over an increasing chunk of Caspian oil business. Further trade along these routes is envisaged as Iran makes major investments in increasing its pipeline network and transit capacity.

Meanwhile, in the last two weeks, US-listed LUKoil has also said that it intends to bid on three Iranian exploration blocks in the coming year, and believes it has the tacit approval of the US state department to go ahead with this, (see Iran: 15 April 2004: LUKoil Expresses Interest in Iranian Oil Tenders and Iran: 23 April 2004: LUKoil Sees US Green Light on Iran Oil Deal).

The net result is a far cry from ILSA author, Senator D'Amato's, claims in 2001 that 'billions and billions of dollars that would have been invested in making the money machine for Iran, which is their oil and gas production, have not been invested as a result of ILSA.'

Outlook and Implications

Given that the applicability of ILSA to Libya has now been officially revoked, Iran is the only possible target for the Act, although one that makes increasingly less sense over time.

Continued breaches of the Act, including those by close US allies and those subject to US pressure, show that the legislation has become toothless, as much due to the scale of violations that have damaged US credibility, as through the loss of will within the US to enforce the rules.

The US itself has been forced to trade with Iran after its intervention in Iraq, albeit through the Iraqi interim administration, which has made bilateral deals on oil products, electricity sharing as well as starting negotiations on oil pipelines and exports. The US has also continued its suspension of sanctions against Iran for humanitarian purposes for another 90 days from the end of March.

The conclusion must be that unless Iran makes further major transgressions, in terms of its nuclear programme, its support for 'terrorist' groups or potentially through interference in Iraq, the US is not going to follow through with ILSA, or even ratchet up political pressure, for those wanting to buy a stake in Iran's oil and gas sector. This is effectively a green light for non-US players to resume operations in Iran, even though the looming June deadline for further Iranian co-operation over its nuclear programme may act as a short-term deterrent for some.

While Iran makes major gains from the demise of ILSA in terms of returning to mainstream investor acceptability - having made few real concessions - it looks as though the real losers in the longer term will be US oil companies, who have been the last to return to Libya and are increasingly likely to be last back into Iran.

WMRC Contact: Catherine Hunter (catherine.hunter@wmrc.com)

http://www.wmrc.com/

Iranian Police Issue National Alert Over Internet Addiction

April 26, 2004
Agence France Presse
afp.com

TEHRAN -- Iran's youth has now been warned: the Internet can jeopardise your bodily well-being, make you lose your friends and turn you into an anti-social, faithless and mentally damaged individual.

"One of the best mediums of communication in todays world is via the Internet. It is like taking a boat that acquaints us with the beautiful shores of the world," noted the alert published Monday by the Police Directorate of Public Education.

"But in the waters are dangerous sharks. These dangerous sharks are indecent pictures, and becoming acquainted with them has no other repercussion but to inflict depression, weakness in faith, and tens of other forms of psychological and social damage."

The statement pointed to "psychological and spiritual tensions in families that have unwisely used computers and the Internet."

In order to avoid such hazards, the police gave three recommendations to the Islamic republic's young surfers: don't get addicted to being online; don't click onto immoral sites; and don't replace your real friends and family with electronic buddies.

Reliable figures on the number of Internet users in Iran are hard to pin down, with estimates ranging from 2.5 million to four million, double the level of four years ago.

Experts say the number is likely to more than double again in the next five years in a country where two-thirds of the 66 million people are below 30 years of age and many are already technologically savvy.

http://www.afp.com/english/home/

$1.2 billion contract to close eyes on Iran mullahs' atrocities

Apr 26, 2004, 17:17

The French oil giant Total won a bid to develop Phase 11 of Iran's massive South Pars offshore gas field, said a senior Iranian official here Sunday.

Negotiations to develop the gas field are on the verge of being finalized with Total officials, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Mehdi Mirmoezi, said.

Speaking on the sidelines of an ongoing gas conference here, he told reporters that completion of the phase would be significantly linked to another Iranian project on liquified natual gas (LNG).

The gas extracted during Phase 11 operations is expected to be exported to European countries.

Negotiations are currently underway with officials of Shell and Repsol for Phase 13 of this ongoing development project.

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_2154.shtml

Iran's Majlis approves to postpone run-off elections until next year

Apr 26, 2004, 22:46

Iran's Parliament yesterday approved to hold run-off elections in Tehran constituency for the seventh Majlis concurrently with the presidential election next year.

During its Sunday session, the Majlis approved the double urgency of a bill to postpone run-off elections in the Tehran constituency. The bill was signed by 18 MPs to add one paragraph to Article 9 of the Election Law.

The signatories believe that due to the vastness of Tehran constituency and selection of only one MP on May 7, holding the second round of election would impose heavy expenses on the country.

So far, out of 30 seats for the seventh Majlis in Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr constituency, only one candidate is to be selected in the second round of elections. Ali-Reza Mahjoub and Zeinab Kadkhoda are two MPs to compete in the run-off election. The Parliament run-off election was expected to be held on May 7

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_2163.shtml

The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.

Can you give us some guidance here? What time frame to you mean when you say "just a matter of time."

How many rounds would a hand full of snipers need to really make a difference right now in Iran??

Iran's military supervising nuclear experts - sources

Reuters Alert News
April 27th, 2004
By Louis Charbonneau

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards are overseeing some 400 nuclear experts in order to prevent further leaks of sensitive information about Tehran's atomic facilities, an Iranian exile and informed diplomats said.

Alireza Jafarzadeh, who disclosed in August 2002 that Iran had a hidden uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and a heavy water plant at Arak, told Reuters his new information came from the same sources who told him about Natanz and Arak.

"According to the latest information I have from well-placed sources inside Iran, some 400 nuclear experts are now under the control and supervision of the Revolutionary Guards," he said.

The Revolutionary Guards were set up after the 1979 Islamic Revolution as a force dedicated to protecting the revolution. It works in parallel with the regular army and its head is appointed directly by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Jafarzadeh was a spokesman for the exiled opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran before the United States, which lists it as a terrorist organisation, closed the NCRI's Washington office last year. He is now president of the Washington-based Strategic Policy Consulting Inc.

The United States accuses Iran of using its atomic energy programme as a front to build the bomb, and insists the Iranian military is intimately involved in Tehran's nuclear activities. Tehran denies this, saying it is a civilian programme dedicated to the peaceful generation of electricity.

Since August 2002, the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been attempting to verify Tehran's statements that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. However, Tehran has consistently withheld information from the IAEA about potentially weapons-related technology.

A diplomat who follows Iran's nuclear programme told Reuters the guards' supervision of the nuclear programme was not new.

"Since a long time ago, the Revolutionary Guards have taken over supervision of all the nuclear activities and have trained some of their people to work there," the diplomat said.

"There are hundreds of them" now working at nuclear sites up and down the country, the diplomat said. He said they have placed some sites "off limits" to personnel they do not trust.

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, Pirooz Hosseini, told Reuters: "I have not heard such information. I don't think we should put too much emphasis on such news."

REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS WANT A-BOMB

Other diplomats told Reuters it was no secret that the Revolutionary Guards were one of the most powerful hardline elements inside Iran. Unlike many of the reformists who oppose building an atom bomb, the diplomats said the Revolutionary Guards want to Tehran to build a bomb as soon as possible.

The guards have even forced some personnel changes inside the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, the diplomats said.

Jafarzadeh also said that the arrest of two atomic experts last week was part of an overall crackdown on employees working inside the Iranian nuclear industry to prevent further leaks to the NCRI and other whistle-blowers.

Iran's intelligence minister denied that the two men had been arrested for passing on atomic secrets to foreigners.

Jafarzadeh declined to say whether the atomic experts were linked to the NCRI, but warned that all "patriotic people who oppose the Iranian regime" working inside Iran's nuclear programme are in danger of being arrested.

http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp;:408e4850:8cb0351ee33732c3?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4952864

Fallujah Is a Key War-on-Terror Battleground

April 27, 2004
The Wall Street Journal
George Melloan

As U.S. Marines patrol the streets of Fallujah, inviting a major engagement, it's important to keep their role in mind. They are fighting a war against terror, not against Iraq. In Fallujah, they have engaged an assemblage of terrorists from key viper nests around the Middle East. No place better represents the kind of battleground the Bush administration had in mind when it vowed to confront the international terrorist scourge on its home turf.

The remnants of Saddam's Baathist regime and other local tough guys have been joined by foreign jihadists. There are reportedly radical Saudis of the Osama bin Laden stripe. There may be Hezbollah, an Iranian-supported terrorist group that has been harassing Israel for years. Abu Nidal, a particularly murderous bunch, may be represented. Fanatics of this ilk were responsible for the grisly deaths recently of four American civilian security specialists and the triumphal war dance around their corpses.

The invasion of Iraq last year deposed one state sponsor of terrorism, the Saddam regime, and put a well-trained, high-tech military force in a position to threaten other state-sponsors in the region. But it was overly optimistic to believe that the war was mostly won at that point. The other terrorism sponsors clearly were chastened by the display of U.S. might, but that didn't mean they weren't prepared to fight back. The method they have chosen is the one they know best, the hit-and-run tactics of terrorists and guerrillas.

Governments of the region have mostly conducted themselves with diplomatic circumspection. But as the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) has dragged its feet in establishing a representative government in Iraq, some neighbors have taken advantage of the political vacuum by backing infiltrators equipped to create chaos, kill Americans and discredit the occupation forces.

Saudi Arabia's monarchy has problems of its own with bin Laden's followers, as recent bombings in Riyadh and other Saudi cities have made clear. So it is not very well equipped to control infiltration across the long border with Iraq. Syria and Iran are a different problem. There is every likelihood both of them encourage groups trying to drive the Americans out of Arab lands.

Syria controls Lebanon, the haven from which Hezbollah launches most of its attacks on Israel. But as Hezbollah increases in strength and influence, there is a question whether Syria controls Hezbollah, or the other way around. At any rate, the Syrian government, like the one in Riyadh, is happy to see these dangerous people engaging themselves in the useful work of trying to expel the infidels in Iraq.

Iran has taken a more subtle approach. The mullahs who run that place have offered to help mediate the conflicts in Iraq. But at the same time there are reliable reports of their fighters and political agents, also Hezbollah in some cases, setting up shop in southern Iraq. The Iran-based Voice of the Mujahedin, run by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), broadcasts hatred of the U.S. and Israel to Iraqis. The young radical "cleric" Muqtada al Sadr, now wanted for murder by the coalition forces, reportedly has Iranian backing.

Like 60% of Iraqis, Iranians are Shiite Muslims. That didn't prevent Iraq and Iran from fighting a bloody war in the 1980s, but Iran has a community of Arab Shiites with family connections in Iraq.

According to an enlightening article in the April 26 issue of The New Republic, some 10,000 Iranians have been infiltrated into Iraq since the invasion. That's the number given by Iraqis to the author, Michael Rubin. A former official of the CPA, he had the gumption to forsake the CPA's air-conditioned offices in the relatively safe Green Zone of Baghdad and travel around the country to meet Iraqis. He writes that, "The Iranian security apparatus, having sparred with American forces in Bosnia and Afghanistan, was well prepared to challenge the United States in Iraq.

"Almost a month before the opening salvos of the war, the Islamic republic began broadcasting Arabic-language television across the border. As U.S.-led coalition forces fought Saddam Hussein's fedayeen in Basra and advanced on Najaf in March 2003, units of the Badr Corps poured into northern Iraq from Iran, where SCIRI was based, provoking a strong warning to Tehran by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld."

He reports that by January, the Badr Corps, trained and financed by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, had established a large office on Nasariya's riverfront promenade. In Basra, SCIRI and Hezbollah had established a joint office. "A large Lebanese Hezbollah flag fluttered in the wind."

Analysts believe the Iranians have a long-range strategy. They don't want to identify themselves with the remnants of the Saddam regime, who are, at any rate Sunni Muslims. But they want to bring subtle influence to bear in the Shiite cities of the south, with the hope of eventually fomenting the kind of militant uprising that allowed the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to overthrow the shah of Iran in the late 1970s.

So far, there is little evidence that the Iraqi Shiites are interested in setting up the kind of oppressive theocracy that has exercised supreme authority in Iran for over a quarter century. Clerics have not fared well in local elections in Iraqi cities. Iraqis were immunized at least somewhat both against tyrannical rule and radical theology during the Saddam regime.

But the main task of the coalition forces at this point is to defeat the terrorist forces. As long as the jihadists and Baathists are killing Iraqis and coalition soldiers, efforts to set up a stable governing structure in the country will be delayed. Reconstruction work and the enormous task of gathering up the tons of conventional arms stored around the country will be thwarted by armed resistance. Iraqis will be intimidated from cooperating with the American efforts to establish a democratic government.

That's what is at stake in Fallujah. The agreement by the Marines to conduct joint patrols with Iraqis is a holding action designed to prevent excessive bloodshed and destruction. But the sooner the remaining enemies are confronted and defeated, the less danger there will be that the whole operation will fail.

http://online.wsj.com/public/us

Iranian Cleric Arrested for Insulting Islam

April 27, 2004
AFP
Khaleej Times Online

TEHERAN -- An Iranian Shiite Muslim cleric has been arrested for insulting Islam and questioning the basis of Sunni belief in a recently published book, the state news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday.

Cleric Yassubudin Rastgari Juybari, who is based in the central holy city of Qom, was detained for “insulting the esteemed sources of jurisprudence, and raising serious doubts over the foundations of the beliefs of our Sunni brothers.”

The charge of insulting Islam can carry heavy penalties in the Islamic republic.

According to press reports, Juybari sparked uproar among his fellow clerics and especially among Sunnites when he published his book, “The Reality of Religious Unity and the Wisdom of the Eid al-Zahra”.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2004/April/middleeast_April842.xml&section=middleeast&col=

"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/

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

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

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

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

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

[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

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

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

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