Iranian Alert -- May 31, 2004 [EST]-- IRAN LIVE THREAD -- "Americans for Regime Change in Iran"

The US media almost entirely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” 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.

Mullah Karroubi appointed advisor to Iran so-called supreme leader

Persian Journal
may 31st 2004

The former reformist speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mehdi Karoubi, has been given new posts as advisor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and member of a top political oversight body, state media said Sunday.

The reports cited Karoubi's "performance and achievements" as head of the rowdy reformist parliament, which was handed to conservatives after most pro-reform candidates were barred from contesting February elections.

Karoubi, although approved to stand, lost his seat in polls that saw allies of embattled reformist President Mohammad Khatami routed from the legislature.

In addition to being named an advisor to Khamenei, Karoubi was also named as a member of the Expediency Council -- a body designed to arbitrate between the parliament and the unelected 12-member Guardians' Council, a powerful hardline-run vetting body.

The Expediency Council, which has close to 40 members, is headed by former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Karoubi had previously sat on the Expediency Council as head of the parliament.

Although himself a reformer, Karoubi spent much of his tenure as speaker attempting to calm the anger of reformist deputies over the blocking of legislation by the Guardians.

A mid-ranking cleric, Karoubi also refused to join calls for a boycott of the February polls.

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_2447.shtml

Iran Makes its First Anti-Ship Missile

May 31, 2004
AFX UK
Ample

TEHRAN -- Iran has begun manufacturing its first locally made anti-ship missile, a "kind of cruise missile" named the Kosar, the state-run news agency IRNA reported.

Quoting the Islamic republic's defense ministry, the report said the missile is being made by Iran's Aerospace Industries Organisation and has been "designed for defensive purposes".

According to the report, the new missile can target its goals in three different positions as coast to sea, sea to sea and air to sea, and has been designed to be either televised or radar guided.

"The new missile has been designed according to geographical specifications of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman," the report added, without specifying its range.

"Kosar" is a Koranic term referring to a river of eternal life in paradise.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

http://www.iii.co.uk/shares/?type=news&articleid=4987559&action=article

Iranian Judiciary Quashes Death Sentence on Dissident

May 31, 2004
AFP
IranMania

TEHRAN -- Iran's Supreme Court has decided to quash a death sentence on dissident intellectual Hashem Aghajari and will announce the decision shortly, the Iranian student news agency ISNA reported Monday.

The agency, which has been well informed on the Aghajari case, did not provide a source in its report and added that officials in the hardline-controlled judiciary were so far refusing to confirm the news.

Aghajari, a history professor at Tehran University and a disabled war veteran, was convicted of blasphemy by a judge in Hamedan in November 2002 for calling for a reformation in Iran's state Shiite Muslim religion.

He also said Muslims were not "monkeys" and "should not blindly follow" religious leaders, an assertion that the court saw as a direct challenge to the Shiite concept of emulation and the status of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The verdict sparked protests in Iran and abroad, and Khamenei demanded it be reviewed.

In January 2003, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial but the same judge in Hamedan recently confirmed his previous sentence.

Khamenei has again ordered a review of the case, and was quoted by a justice official as saying Aghajari's remarks "cannot be characterised as apostasy and are not liable to the death penalty".

http://www.iranmania.com/news/310504d.asp

Turkish Court Opens Istanbul Suicide Bomb Trial

May 31, 2004
Reuters
Ayla Jean Yackley

ISTANBUL -- A Turkish court Monday began hearing the mammoth case of 69 people charged with involvement in last November's devastating suicide bombings in Istanbul, which have been linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

It was set to be Turkey's highest profile trial since the 1999 conviction of Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan and will be closely watched internationally amid security concerns ahead of next month's NATO summit in the city.

In one of modern Turkey's worst weeks of peacetime violence, the four truck bombs killed 61 people and wounded more than 600 in attacks directed at two synagogues, the British consulate and the local headquarters of London-based bank HSBC.

Twelve defendants, flanked by security officers, looked on sullenly as they appeared in the Istanbul State Security Court. All the accused are due to attend the court by June 4 in a case which immediately presented a legal dilemma.

Lawyers for most of the defendants told the court they were advising their clients against testifying because in their view the court no longer had the authority to try the case.

Turkey's president this month approved EU-inspired constitutional amendments including the abolition of the state security courts, which handle political and "terrorism" prosecutions as well as corruption and organized crime cases.

The Aksam daily newspaper reported Justice Minister Cemil Cicek as saying a law establishing new criminal courts would be passed within a fortnight. Any proceedings conducted before then could be repeated in the new courts, he said.

The 12 accused, nearly all in their 20s and 30s and married with children, first identified themselves in court. Among them were five suspected ringleaders in the bombings, named as Adnan Ersoz, Yusuf Polat, Harun Ilhan, Baki Yigit and Fevzi Yitiz.

FOREIGN FUNDING

A 128-page indictment in February said five defendants would face charges carrying life sentences for "trying to change the constitutional order by force," with the recommendation that they be detained until they die.

The remaining 64 could face jail terms of between 4-1/2 and 22-1/2 years for charges including membership of or assisting an illegal group.

The indictment said a Turkish representative of al Qaeda masterminded the bombings, with funding from operatives in Europe and Iran.

Police in Turkey's biggest city are preparing an extensive security operation ahead of the NATO summit, to include President Bush, being held in the city on June 28-29.

A series of small-scale blasts in Istanbul and the capital Ankara have kept nerves on edge since last November's attacks.

A freemason's lodge in Istanbul was targeted in a suicide bombing in March, killing one of two bombers and a waiter.

Anatolian news agency said Sunday authorities were questioning four far-left suspects in connection with a car bombing at a McDonald's restaurant in Istanbul this month which caused damage but no casualties.

Four small bombs also exploded outside Turkish HSBC branches this month ahead of a visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, but no one was hurt.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5301207

Iran Watchdog Approves Division Of Province

May 31, 2004
Reuters
deepikaglobal.com

TEHRAN -- Iran's constitutional watchdog has approved a bill to carve up the country's biggest province, a proposal that has ignited violent clashes in the past, local newspapers reported today.

Iran's former reformist parliament voted last month to split the northeastern Khorasan province into three to allow more equitable budget allocation and prevent the regional capital Mashhad from absorbing the lion's share of state money.

The hardline Guardian Council watchdog, which has the power to veto any legislation it deems unconstitutional or un-Islamic, rejected the proposal earlier this month. But parliament re-submitted it after making some changes.

''The parliament has amended the legislation to address the Council's objections,'' Reza Zavvarei, deputy head of the Guardian Council, was quoted as saying by the Sharq daily newspaper.

Guardian Council officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Dozens were injured and scores arrested in clashes in 2001 and 2002 in Khorasan, which borders Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, when parliament previously discussed dividing the province.

There have been no reports of protests during the debates on splitting the province up this year.

Some residents fear they will lose influence and shares of the budget when rival cities become new regional capitals. The saffron-growing province has many strong tribal loyalties.

http://www.deepikaglobal.com/ENG4_sub.asp?ccode=ENG4&newscode=55237

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