Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

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”

1 posted on 05/30/2004 9:13:22 PM PDT by DoctorZIn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies ]


To: Pan_Yans Wife; fat city; freedom44; Tamsey; Grampa Dave; PhiKapMom; McGavin999; Hinoki Cypress; ...
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”

2 posted on 05/30/2004 9:15:54 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn

Iran Won't Cooperate With US on Iraq

May 31, 2004
Arab News
Agencies

TEHRAN -- Iran yesterday ruled out any cooperation with the United States in its occupation of neighboring Iraq, and demanded that any new Iraqi government be given "full sovereignty".

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi refused to say if the Islamic republic, which recognizes the US-appointed interim Governing Council, will also offer recognition to the new caretaker government due to take power by June 30.

He also complained that a US-British draft resolution on Iraq being considered by the UN Security Council contained "a number of ambiguities".

"There is no question of any cooperation between Iran and the United States in Iraq," Asefi told reporters.

"Iran does not want to cooperate with an occupying force which now commits barbaric acts against holy sites," he said, referring to US military operations in the cities of Karbala and Najaf.

Asefi refused to spell out Iran's diplomatic position following the handover, but added "what is important is that Iraq has total sovereignty and that the occupiers leave as soon as possible."

Tehran Warns IAEA

Iran warned the UN nuclear watchdog yesterday not to put too much pressure on Tehran lest its rulers end their cooperation altogether.

"Iran is still bound by its commitments," Asefi told reporters. "There is no sign from our side that we will question our cooperation, but the agency should not create an atmosphere that pushes our leadership to doubt this cooperation," he cautioned.

His comments came two weeks before the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is due to again examine Iran's dossier amid ongoing suspicions that Iran is using a bid to generate nuclear power as a cover for secret weapons development.

Meanwhile, Iran has lodged an official complaint with Jordan after Farah Diba, the widow of the ousted Iranian shah, was invited to the wedding of Crown Prince Hamza, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=45957&d=31&m=5&y=2004


3 posted on 05/30/2004 9:17:00 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn

4 posted on 05/30/2004 9:18:17 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn

Iran Offers 20% Stake in its Oil Field to India

May 31, 2004
The Financial Express
Anupama Airy

NEW DELHI -- In a move which will fetch the country 60,000 barrels of oil per day, Iran has offered 20 per cent equity to India in its Kushk-Husseinieh oil field. This is a semi-discovered oil field in Iran and is expected to produce 3,00,000 barrels of oil a day.

ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), the nodal agency for persuing upstream activities in Iran, will do a detailed evaluation of this offer.

Alongside, India will shortly finalise the sales and purchase agreement for importing 5 million tonne per annum of liquified natural gas (LNG) from Iran. GAIL (India), the lead agency for negotiating LNG imports, has already held three rounds of talks with the National Iranian Gas Exporting Company (NIGEC) on the term sheet for LNG SPA. A 20 per cent equity participation of GAIL in the LNG project is also being discussed with NIGEC.

Officials disclosed that discussions on these issues took place last week between petroleum secretary, BK Chaturvedi and a senior Iranian minister during their visit to Amsterdam for attending the 9th International Energy Forum. A high level government-to-government meeting is now expected to take place in June end to finalise details of the Indo-Iran co-operation in the oil and gas sector.

Back home, a high level meeting was called by Mr Chaturvedi on Friday where co-operation with Iran in areas of exploration, LNG imports and petrochemicals was discussed. Present at the meeting were IOC chairman and managing director MS Ramachandran, GAIL CMD Proshanto Banerjee, OVL MD R Butola and senior petroleum ministry officials.

According to officials, GAIL has informed the ministry that a pricing formula for LNG imports has already been worked out among the working groups and the GSA is expected to be signed between GAIL and NIGEC in the next two months.

“Indications are that the price negotiated with the Iranians for LNG is around 30 per cent cheaper than price of imported LNG from Qatar. This will create a tough gas-to-gas competition between RasGas, Shell and Reliance on the west coast”, a senior ministry official said.

It may be noted here that under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between India and Iran, during the visit of President Khatami to India in January 2003, it was agreed that while India will buy LNG (5 million tonnes per annum in Phase I) from Iran, the latter will offer suitable discovered/semi-discovered oil fields to India on nomination basis.

The petroleum ministry had, however, expressed concerns over the fact that not much progress has been made by the Iranians in offering suitable discovered and semi-discovered oil fields to India. It was noted in the last review meeting taken by secretary petroleum on March 18, 2004 that in September 2003, the Iranian side had offered three discovered/semi-discoverd fields including Cheshmeh Khosh, Parsi and North Azadegan to OVL along with a possible participation in four exploration blocks.

On studying the data provided, while the North Azadegan field was not found worth pursuing, OVL found Chesmeh Khosh and Parsi to be worth pursuing further. The same was conveyed to the Iranians in January 2004.

However, OVL later lear that the development of the Cheshmeh Khosh field has been entrusted to a subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Considering the risk capital involved, Parsi field on stand alone basis was not considered worth pursuing further.

Then again at the end of November 2003, an Iranian high level official indicated at a meeting convened by the ministry of external affairs in Delhi that the Iranian side was willing to offer 40 per cent interest in South Azadegan to OVL for which the latter conveyed its interest for participating in this project. “The matter, however, could not be pursued further as NIOC later signed the field development contract for this field with a Japanese consortium”, as per the recorded minutes of the review meeting.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=60308


5 posted on 05/30/2004 9:19:32 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn

Excerpts From an Interview With John Kerry on Diplomacy and Defense

New York Times - Excerpts From Interview
May 30, 2004

Following are excerpts from an interview Friday with Senator John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee:

On President Bush's focus on Iraq to the exclusion of North Korea and Iran, which he describes as "more compelling threats":

"This administration has been almost myopic in its view on Iraq itself, to the exclusion of those things that are necessary to in fact make the world safer. I think that this administration is high on rhetoric and high on ideology and low on actual strategic thinking and truth. And the fact is that they have broken alliances across the planet that have served us well for years, they've left our reputation in tatters. There's no one who deals with the global community who doesn't understand the degree to which we've isolated ourselves, and I think we're less safe because of that."

On negotiating with hostile powers:

"We have to be more artful in seeing what they see, not just thinking about it from our point of view. War is the ultimate failure of diplomacy; or use of force is the ultimate failure of diplomacy. But I know the difference between when you've really tried to give meaning to the words `last resort' and when you haven't."

On comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam:

"Sure, there are increasing similarities. It's never been Vietnam. It's not Vietnam. It doesn't have to be. But there are growing similarities. Whether or not it becomes that is truly up to this administration and the leadership over the course of the next months."

On the possibility that a new Iraqi government would push American forces from the country:

"There's an enormous crapshoot in the approach of this administration on this, which is not exactly the best way to be approaching something like this. Which is why I am saying that as president I would want to be proceeding from the greatest position of strength. I would want to be proceeding from the best prospects of success in the mission. And the best prospects of success and the greatest position of strength come from a maximum number of countries on the ground and involved, and come from a maximum share in local responsibility. None of which this administration has yet embraced or truly pushed for."

On America's role in the world:

"I think it's an insult that when the world is twice as large as it was in the cold war, I mean half the world was shut to us during the cold war, the Peace Corps is smaller today than it was when President Kennedy started it. That tells you a lot.

"Our budget today for foreign policy, for everything we do — for drugs, for embassies, for foreign commercial service, for all of our efforts, including foreign aid — is smaller than it was under Ronald Reagan in 1986. We need some leadership to project our country into the world in a way that shows our values and our ideas and restores our influence and reputation. I think this administration has taken us to a low point unlike anything that I've seen in the entire time I've been in public life."

On nuclear containment and Russia's missile stores:

"I mean either this is deadly serious, or it's not. Now when you sit with any expert they'll tell you it's the most serious thing in the world. Well if it is, why aren't we treating it as if it were? And we're not. There's bureaucratic hassles with Putin now. There's been a complete inattention. This wasn't even on the agenda of the last meeting of our president and President Putin. Not even on the agenda to talk about the nuclear reduction, that threat. That's not serious when only 22 percent has been contained. I'm going to make it serious. It's going to be the top priority."

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_6417.shtml


6 posted on 05/30/2004 9:20:47 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn

IRGC Commander Warns Iraq's Occupiers of "Divine" Wrath

Tehran Times - Politics Section
May 31, 2004

TEHRAN -- An Iranian IRGC Commander has invoked historical facts to say that Iraq's occupiers, riding roughshod over Shi'ite sanctities, will be struck down by the divine wrath.

"History has shown that the haughty and ignorant bullies, who are unaware of divine blessing to holy graves, will be struck down by the divine wrath and Muslim nations," said head of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Rahim Safavi.

The United States has sent troops as well as tanks into the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Kerbala, sparking bloody clashes with forces loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, which have taken their toll also at the holy quarters.

The two cities, home to the shrines of the Master of the Faithful, Imam Ali, and his son Imam Hussein, are among the most holy places for Shiite Muslims.

Exchange of gunfire in Najaf recently damaged the golden dome of Imam Ali's holy shrine.

Safavi recalled the sacrilege of holy sites by the former Soviet tsars after their invasion of Iran during the World War I.

"We have seen that several years later, the tsar dynasty was murdered at the hands of Bolsheviks and even their children were not spared," he said.

"Americans must know that the holy shrine of the Master of the Faithful and Imam Hussein (AS) are respected by the Islamic nations and world Shiite Muslims and disrespect for such places will draw the anger and fury of the world Muslims," Safavi added.

"The ignorant and bullying government of America has adopted a policy of confrontation with the Islamic world by aggressing Afghanistan and Iraq as well as backing the occupying regime of Al-Quds.

"This policy will stir up the hatred of more than one billion Muslims," he said.

Iran has strongly condemned U.S. forces for entering the Iraqi cities of Kerbala and Najaf and warned the United States of the 'consequences' of breaching the sanctity of holy places.

"The sacrilege of holy sites is not acceptable at all," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said recently.

"The American government naturally has to bear the consequences of such actions," he added.

"American actions all across Iraq are not acceptable, but there is added sensitivity when this comes to Najaf and Kerbala because of the presence of holy quarters and houses of eminent sources of religious reference," Asefi said.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_6420.shtml


7 posted on 05/30/2004 9:21:35 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn

Two British Trade Missions Arrive in Tehran

Tehran Times - Economy Section
May 31, 2004

TEHRAN -- Two British trade missions arrived in Tehran in order to conduct meetings with ranking Iranian officials, businessmen and industry leaders.

A trade delegation from Wales arrived in Tehran Friday, 28 May, for a five-day mission. The visit is sponsored by Wales Trade International, which has been created to be a major driving force in helping Welsh companies establish themselves in overseas markets, and forge business alliances with counterparts worldwide.

WTI offers focused and coordinated support to Welsh companies in order to help them develop their export skills, identify potential trade partners, and grasp the many opportunities available to them internationally.

A mission form the London-based British Iranian Chamber of Commerce arrived in Tehran on Sunday. They are due to be in Iran from 30 May to 4 June. Lord Lamont of Lerwick and Lord Phillips of Sudbury are leading the Mission. During their visit, they aim to raise the profile of United Kingdom trade relations with Iran, to encourage closer commercial and economic relations between Britain and Iran and to further UK foreign direct investment in Iran. The Mission also hopes to provide further advice on how to increase Iranian exports to the United Kingdom.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_6421.shtml


8 posted on 05/30/2004 9:22:18 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn
I am not of Iranian heritage.

I had thought you were, but you certainly picked up a love of the Iranian people somewhere.

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

And may that day come swiftly. The one thing I would love to see is the Iranians (Persians) establish a free government without any outside troops - or those crazy mullahs - involved.

9 posted on 05/30/2004 9:26:35 PM PDT by xJones
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn

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


25 posted on 05/31/2004 10:47:31 AM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn

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


26 posted on 05/31/2004 10:48:50 AM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn

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


27 posted on 05/31/2004 10:49:45 AM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn

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


29 posted on 05/31/2004 4:15:23 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: DoctorZIn
This thread is now closed.

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”

30 posted on 05/31/2004 9:26:08 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson