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”
Posted on 07/04/2004 10:32:26 PM PDT by 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
Regime bans gatherings and Demos for Students Uprising anniversary
SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jul 4, 2004
The Islamic republic regime is banning, officially, any gathering or demo planned for July 8th and is mobilizing thousands more of its troops and foreign mercenaries in order to try to smash any popular action. The governors of Esfahan and several cities have declared their firm intention to oppose any move at the occasion of the 5th anniversary the Students Uprising.
Even the requests made by several tolerated religious student associations trying to seek legal authorizations for gathering, a right recognized by the theocratic regime's constitution itself, have been rejected or ignored.
Reports, from sources within the regime's forces, are stating on specific orders granting the use of lethal force against anyone opposing the Islamic State's directives in certain conditions. Iranian cities have a very noticeable foreign occupation look and show the determination of the regime's leaders to smash any rebellion.
Hundreds of check points have been created in each city and militiamen are searching cars or arresting residents under various charges in order to increase the popular fear.
More brutal collects of Satellite dishes and receivers are taking place in Iranian cities and militiamen are rushing to homes using such concept. Rumor's are existing about another deal made between the regime and the Cuban leadership in order to jam again all abroad satellite programs broadcasted by opposition or Persian services of foreign channels. Such deal has been made during Kharazi's last week trip to Cuba and promises of big economic incentives helping the Castro's regime to overcome of its fear from the US warning on any interference in freedom of communication.
The SMCCDI uses often the opposition or the Persian services of foreign satellite TV and radio networks in order to spread its views and calls for the Iranians. Several programs are in line next week in order to pay tribute to the Students Uprising and to call on the population for various protest actions.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_6935.shtml
Persian services of foreign media pay tribute to Iranian Students Uprising
SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jul 4, 2004
The Persian services of two of the most respected and auditored foreign media, by millions of Iranians, have planned special programs paying tribute to the Iranian Student Movement and analyzing the Uprising of July 1999. In that line, the state sponsored "Khol Israel Radio" and "Voice of America TV" (VOA TV) networks will broadcast programs on Monday and Wednesday.
Radio Israel's special program will be aired tomorrow (7/05/04) from 19:00 till 20:00 by satellite and also on short waves; And VOA's satellite TV edition will be on Wednesday (7/07/04) from 18:30 till 20:30 (Iran local time). Both programs will also be available to internet users in live or as archived by visiting:
The Audio section of the Persian Service of Radio Israel
http://radis.org/Audio.htm
The Persian Service of VOA TV and Radio
Several Iranian political activists, such as, the SMCCDI's Coordinator will participate in these panels and will debate on the issue and the prospects of the future of the students and secularists' struggle to reach freedom and democracy in Iran.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_6936.shtml
Iran Poll update:
Is Iraq better off today?
-- No 41.13 % (218)
-- Yes 42.64 % (226)
-- Not Sure 16.23 % (86)
Total Votes: 530
http://poll.mashregh.com/
Britain says unsure of Iran's nuclear intentions
LONDON, June 4 (AFP) - British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Sunday he was unsure whether to believe Iran's insistence that is has no intention of trying to build nuclear weapons.
"I'm not sure, is the answer. And nobody is," Straw said in an interview with BBC radio."Where they have not helped themselves is in not providing full and frank disclosures to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," he added.
Iran insists a site in Tehran, alleged by the United States to have been used for developing weapons of mass destruction, was in fact a former research and development military" installation, IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei said last week.
Meanwhile, Iran's new conservative-controlled parliament is considering pushing through a bill that would force the Islamic regime to resume uranium enrichment activities, a senior deputy told AFP on July 1.
The proposed bill, still under discussion, would scrap a deal signed last October with Britain, France and Germany under which Iran agreed to make several "confidence-building" gestures to the IAEA, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog.
Depending on its purity, enriched uranium can be used as both fuel for a civilian nuclear reactor and for a nuclear bomb. Iran insists it is only interested in generating electricity.
http://www.iranmania.com/news/050704d.asp
Syrian president visits Iran
TEHRAN, July 4 (AFP) - Syria's President Bashar al-Assad arrived in the Iranian capital on Sunday for a two-day visit and high-level talks, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Assad, on his third visit to the Islamic republic since taking office in 2000, was accompanied by a high-level delegation including Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam and Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara.
After being greeted by Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi at Tehran's international airport, Assad was due to meet with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Khatami.
IRNA said only that the talks would cover "bilateral relations, regional issues and Palestine".The Syrian president paid a short visit to Tehran in February 2003 on the eve of the US-led war against Iraq, and had previously been to Tehran in January 2001.
Khatami last visited Syria during a May 2003 tour of Arab states.
http://www.iranmania.com/news/050704b.asp
How to Tame Tehran
July 05, 2004
Middle East Quarterly
Ilan Berman
Middle East Quarterly Spring 2004
Over the past year, Iran has become a major cause of concern in Washington. The Islamic Republic has been discovered to possess a robust nuclear program, of a scope well beyond previous estimates. It has also made substantial breakthroughs in its ballistic missile capabilities. Less noticed, but equally significant, has been Tehran's growing activism in the Persian Gulf, the Caucasus, and Iraq.
There is a vision and a method to Iran's policies. In the words of Mohsen Reza'i, secretary of Iran's Expediency Council, Iran believes it is destined to become the "center of international power politics" in the post-Saddam Hussein Middle East.(1) Iran's new, more confrontational strategic doctrine even has a name: "deterrent defense." According to foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi, this national security concept is designed to confront "a broad spectrum of threats to Iran's national security, among them foreign aggression, war, border incidents, espionage, sabotage, regional crises derived from the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), state terrorism, and discrimination in manufacturing and storing WMD."(2)
Under the rubric of "deterrent defense," Iran is exploiting U.S. preoccupation with Iraq to build capabilities that will establish its hegemony in its immediate neighborhood and enhance its role across the Middle East. Iran's moves, if unchecked, will create agrave and growing challenge to U.S. aims in the region. At stake are nothing less than the geopolitical balance in the Middle East and the long-term achievement of U.S. goals, from stability in Iraq to regional peace.
How has Iran's policy changed? And what can the United States do to thwart Iran's new drive?
STRATEGIC AMBITIONS
For years, policymakers in Washington had suspected Tehran's rulers of pursuing an offensive nuclear capability. They had viewed with alarm the growing strategic ties between Iran and Russia and had publicly expressed concerns that the centerpiece of that cooperation,the $800 million light-water reactor project at Bushehr, could lead to significant Iranian nuclear advances.
Then, in the summer of 2002, an Iranian op-position group disclosed the existence of an extensive uranium enrichment complex at Natanz in central Iran. This revelation and a series of subsequent discoveries by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)-ranging from advanced clandestine nuclear development to the presence of trace weapons-grade uranium-revealed the true extent of Iran's nuclear endeavor.
This effort turns out to have been far broader and more mature than originally believed. Iran is now thought to have some fourteen other facilities, including heavy- and light-water reactors in Isfahan and Arak, and suspect sites in Fasa, Karaj, and Nekka. Together, these constitute all the makings of an ambitious national effort to develop nuclear weapons.(3) Iranian officials, meanwhile, have hinted at the existence of still other, as yet undisclosed, facilities essential to the country's nuclear program.(4)
Iran appears to have agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment activities under an October2003 deal with France, Germany, and Great Brit-ain. Similarly, international pressure succeeded in prompting Iran to sign the Additional Protocol to the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty(NPT), permitting snap inspections and invasive monitoring of segments of Iran's nuclear sector by the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, two of Iran's main atomic suppliers, Russia and China, wield veto power on the United Nations Security Council, making it improbable that Iranian nuclear violations would result in meaningful censure. And in fact, ongoing IAEA deliberations have so far failed to yield decisive international action, despite mounting evidence of Iran's atomic breaches.
There is also a lingering uncertainty over Tehran's nuclear time line. While informed American observers contend that Iran is stillsome two years (and possibly longer) away froman offensive nuclear capability,(5) others believethat an Iranian bomb could materialize much sooner. In November 2003 testimony before the Israeli parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Mossad chief Meir Dagan warned that Iran could reach a "point of no return" in its nuclear development by mid-2004, following which time an Iranian offensive capability would become a virtual certainty.(6) President Bush has himself warned that the United States "will not tolerate" a nuclear-armed Iran.(7) But if estimates are off, even by a few months, Iran could present the world with a nuclear fait accompli.
At the same time, major breakthroughs in Iran's strategic arsenal have made it an emerging missile power. In June 2003, the Islamic Republic conducted what it termed the final test of its 1,300-kilometer range Shahab-3 ballistic missile. The launch was a success, confirming Iran's ability to target U.S. allies Israel and Turkey, as well as U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf. Since then, with great fanfare, the Islamic Republic has inducted the advanced rocket into its Revolutionary Guards (the Pasdaran).(8)
This potential for proliferation is hardly the only worry. If recent signals are any indication, the Shahab-3 has already evolved well beyond its officially declared capabilities. In September2003, at a military parade commemorating the anniversary of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, the Shahab-3 was officially described as possessing a range of 1,700 kilometers.(9) Additionally, opposition groups have charged that Tehran's overt missile development actually masks a much broader clandestine endeavor-one that includes developmentof the 4,000-kilometer range Shahab-5 and even a follow-on Shahab-6 intercontinen-tal ballistic missile.(10)
Such efforts have only been strengthened by Iranian perceptions of U.S. policy. The Bush administration's rapid dispatch of Saddam Hussein's regime, and its contrasting hesitancy in dealing with a newly nuclear North Korea, has had a profound impact on Iran's calculus. North Korea's nuclear maneuvers, and its ability to successfully stymie U.S. strategy, have led Iranian officials to express their admiration for Pyongyang's resistance to U.S. "pressure, hegemony and superiority."(11) There has indeed been some internal debate in Iran about the risks of stepping over the nuclear threshold. Yet even leading Iranian reformers appear to have gravitated to the notion that nuclear weapons are necessary to shift the regional "equilibrium."(12)
CHARM OFFENSIVE
These strategic advances, however, are only part of the picture. In tandem with Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile breakthroughs, a significant transformation has also begun in Iranian foreign policy.
For Tehran, the overthrow of Hussein's regime has only fueled mounting fears of a dangerous strategic encirclement. The U.S. destruction of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan had already ensconced the pro-Western—albeit fragile—government of Hamid Karzai in Kabul. For Iran, the extremist Sunni Taliban posed an ideological threat, but a U.S. foothold on Iran's eastern border is regarded as even more threatening. Regime change in Baghdad, therefore, confronted officials in Tehran with the two-fold danger that Iran could be pinioned between two U.S. client-states, and that Iraq's fall might be aprelude to a similar U.S. drive to transform their country.
In response, Iran formulated its new strategic doctrine of "deterrent defense." In practice, this has entailed a major expansion of Iran's military capabilities. Heavy defense expenditures,and ongoing strategic partnerships with both Russia and China, have made possible a farreaching national military rearmament. Defense acquisitions made over the past several years have steadily broadened Iran's strategic reachover vital Persian Gulf shipping lanes, to the point that Tehran now possesses the ability to virtually control oil supplies from the region.(13) Iran has also increased its diplomatic activism in the region, redoubling its long-running efforts to erect an independent security framework as a counterweight to the expanding U.S. militaryfootprint.(14)
As part of this effort, in February 2004, Iran codified an unprecedented military and defense accord with Syria—one formally enshrining an Iranian commitment to Syria's defense in the event of a U.S. or Israeli offensive. Iranian officials have subsequently made clear that these mutual defense guarantees also extend to Lebanon and to the Islamic Republic's most potent regional proxy: Hizbullah.(15)
Iran has also raised its military and diplomatic profile in the Caucasus. In April 2003, foreign minister Kharrazi embarked on a diplomatic tour of the region intended to marshal support for a common regional security framework for Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, and Turkey as an alternative to cooperation with "external forces."(16) But lukewarm regional responses have prompted the Islamic Republic to nudge these countries into alignment through less subtle means. In mid-October 2003, Iran commenced large-scale military maneuvers in its northwest region, near Azerbaijan. The exercises, reportedly the largest conducted by Iran in recent memory, massed troops on the Iranian-Azeri border in a clear show of force aimed at dissuading the former Soviet republic from expanding cooperation with the United States.(17) A corresponding Iranian naval buildup is now visible in the Caspian Sea in response to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan's growing military relationships with Washington. U.S. advances in the region are regarded by Iran as potential threats, but paradoxically they have also presented Iran with opportunities that it has been quick to exploit.
The coalition campaign against Saddam Hussein's regime succeeded in eliminating the threat posed by Tehran's most immediate adversary, thereby cementing Iran's dominant regional standing. Iran has exploited the postwar political vacuum in Iraq to foment instability through a variety of measures, ranging from political support of radical Shi‘ite elements to an increase in drug trafficking.(18) This broad offensive has reportedly included the infiltration of hundreds of Pasdaran operatives into Iraq where they have engaged in active recruitment, influence operations, and assassinations—at a cost to Iran of some $70 million per month.(19)
Hussein's overthrow has also effectively defanged a lingering threat to Tehran: the Mujahideen-e Khalq Organization (MKO), a wing of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Since the spring of 2003, coalition forces under a U.S.-imposed cease-fire have curtailed the anti-regime group's operations in Iraq. And a subsequent December decision by Iraq's new governing council has labeled the MKO—previously tolerated and even supported by the Baathists—as a terrorist organization.(20)
To Iran's east, meanwhile, the fall of the Taliban has removed an ideological competitor for Muslim hearts and minds while lingering factionalism and tribal rivalries have allowed Iran to perpetuate Afghanistan's instability.
Iran is clearly determined to remake its strategic environment in its favor. Iran has mobilized its technological resources to give it greater reach and has used political, economic, and military clout to encourage a tilt in its direction in its immediate neighborhood. Paradoxically, the United States, by breaking up the old order instates neighboring Iran, has given Tehran hitherto unimagined opportunities to influence the region.
FALSE STARTS
Can international diplomacy deflect Iran's newest drive for regional hegemony? It hardly seems likely. From 1991 to 1997, the European Union (EU) engaged in a "critical dialogue" with the Islamic Republic, attempting to moderate Iran's radical policies through trade. But by 1997, critical dialogue had actually achieved exactly the opposite result, infusing Iran with much needed currency while failing to alter Tehran's support for terrorism, its pursuit of WMD, and its violations of human rights. Diplomacy has had a limited effect because the EU countries have allowed their economic interests to undercut their diplomatic efforts. For example, in late 2002, in the midst of revelations regarding Iran's advanced nuclear development, the EU signal edits intention to commence new negotiations with the Islamic Republic on a sweeping trade and cooperation pact.(21)
The United States has also wavered in its application of diplomatic pressure. The May 1997 election of soft-line cleric Mohammad Khatami to the Iranian presidency—and his subsequent, much-publicized "dialogue of civilizations" interview on CNN—convinced many in Washington that Iran was moving toward pragmatic accommodation. Since then, U.S. policymakers, despite reiterating their continued commitment to containment of Iran, have time and again qualified Iran's membership in the "axis of evil." Most notably, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, in a February 2003 interview with the Los Angeles Times, distinguished between Iran on the one hand and North Korea and Iraq on the other—on account of Iran's "democracy."(22)
This, too, is an illusion. The Islamic Republic in recent years has engaged in a widening governmental campaign of domestic repression—one that includes stepped-up crackdowns on the press and the brutal persecution of regime opponents. The repression reflects a governmental effort to grapple with the grounds well of political opposition that has emerged among Iran's disaffected young population in response to the country's rising unemployment and economic stagnation.
At the same time, Iran's theocrats remain deeply antagonistic to all U.S. overtures. This was demonstrated most recently by the quiet contacts between Washington and Tehran in the aftermath of the devastating December2003 earthquake in Bam, Iran. Despite deep support for dialogue among reformist parliamentarians, clerical hard-liners opposed to such a rapprochement ultimately cut short the contacts.(23)
If the United States wants to alter Iran's behavior, it cannot expect results from the tried-and-failed approaches of "critical dialogue," "dialogue of civilizations," and other false starts.
U.S. OPTIONS
Yet a policy that reassures allies, deters Iranian aggression, and curbs Iran's expansionism is more than feasible. It requires the United States to do four things: broaden containment to include counter-proliferation; revive Gulf defense alliances; mobilize Turkey; and woo the Iranian people.
Expanded containment. Far and away the most urgent task now facing Washington is arresting Iran's nuclear progress. Over the past year, U.S. policymakers have expressed increasingly vocal concerns over the corrosive global potential of an Iranian nuclear breakout, ranging from a nuclear arms race in the Middle East to Tehran's growing capacity for nuclear blackmail. Yet the United States could assume a more proactive role in preventing nuclear technology transfers to Iran.
This is the concept behind the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), the counter-proliferation partnership launched by President Bush in May 2003.(24) Since its inception, the PSI—designed to prevent the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by rogue nations through more aggressive intelligence-sharing and interdiction efforts—has already charted some notable successes vis-à-vis North Korea, including a clampdown on illicit North Korean smuggling operations by both Australia and Japan. And recent maneuvers by PSI-member nations in the Coral Sea and the Mediterranean suggest a growing role for the alliance in the Middle East, both as a mechanism to intercept illicit WMD trafficking in the Persian Gulf and as a means to target proliferation networks (such as the recently unearthed nuclear ring led by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan) now active in the region.
But the PSI is not the only tool in Washington's arsenal. In the Caucasus and Central Asia, the United States is quietly moving ahead with Caspian Guard, an initiative designed to bolster regional security through expanded maritime patrols, aerial and naval surveillance, and border protections. As part of this effort, the United States has stepped up military exercises with Azerbaijan and has committed some $10 million to strengthening the former Soviet republic's naval capability and border security. This includes beefing up Azerbaijan's communications infrastructure and helping to carry out counter-proliferation operations.(25)
Similarly, under a five-year defense accord signed with Kazakhstan in 2003, Washington has bankrolled the construction of a Kazakh military base in the Caspian coast city of Atyrau and has allocated millions to equipment and training for the Kazakh army, maritime and border-patrol forces.(26) Central to this effort is the prevention of WMD proliferation through the region, not least the transfer of technology from Russia to Iran.
The early successes of the PSI and Caspian Guard suggest that both initiatives can and should be expanded to address more comprehensively the threat from the Islamic Republic.
Reviving Gulf defense. Over the past several years, fears of a rising Tehran have begun to drive many Arab Gulf countries toward accommodation with Iran. For ex-ample, such concerns led Oman to establish a modus vivendi with the Islamic Republic through the codification of a sweeping agreement on military cooperation in 2000 (albeit one that has since been denied by Oman).(27) Kuwait subsequently followed suit, striking a similar bargain in October2002.(28) Even Saudi Arabia, previously a strategic competitor of Iran, capitulated on along-discussed framework accord with Tehran in late 2001, in the wake of two multi-billion-dollar Russo-Iranian defense accords.(29)
But for many of these countries, such bilateral partnerships are a product of necessity—a function of the inadequacy of national defenses and regional alliances in addressing Iran's rising expansionism. The distrust of Iran still runs very deep. As a recent editorial in London's influential Arab-lan-guage Ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper emphasized, Iran now poses a threat to "Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan, which share with Iran a land border of 5,400 kilometers and a sea border of 2,400 kilometers ...The Iranian nuclear danger threatens us, first and foremost, more than it threatens the Israelis and the Americans."(30)
Such worries have prompted the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprised of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain,and the United Arab Emirates, to initiate a feasibility study for an alliance-wide antimissile system. At the same time, individual countries in the Arab Gulf (most notably Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) have initiated efforts to upgrade their individual missile defense capabilities.(31) Recently uncovered nuclear contacts between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan suggest that at least one of Iran's neighbors has begun to actively contemplate the need for a strategic deterrent against the Islamic Republic.(32)
All this suggests that a U.S. strategic initiative toward the Arab Gulf may find ready customers. On the one hand, a deepening of Washington's bilateral military dialogue and defense contacts with individual Gulf nations might lessen regional dependence not only on Iran but on an increasingly volatile and unpredictable Saudi Arabia as well.(33) On the other hand, the creation of a formalized American security architecture over the region could reinvigorate Washington's regional partnerships while excluding and isolating Iran.(34) Common to all of these efforts is the need to provide Tehran's neighbors with the tools to counter its growing potential for nuclear and ballistic missile blackmail.
Talking Turkey. Ties between the UnitedStates and Turkey have been tepid since Ankara's unexpected refusal to grant basing rights to U.S. troops on the eve of the spring 2003 Iraq campaign—a move that torpedoed U.S.plans for a northern front against Hussein's regime. Since then, however, policy makers in both countries have begun to mend fences. As part of that process, the United States should insist that Turkey do more to hedge Iranian ambitions in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Unfortunately, Turkey's historic role as a strategic competitor of Iran has been substantially eroded. Indeed, over the past two years, Ankara has steadily drifted toward a new relationship with Tehran. Much of this movement has been underpinned by energy. Turkey's growing dependence on Iran—which could provide roughly 20 percent of total Turkish natural gas consumption by the end of the decade(35)—has diminished Ankara's economic leverage vis-à-vis Tehran.
But politics play an important role as well. Since its assumption of power in November 2002, Turkey's Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) has gravitated toward closer ties with its Muslim neighbors under the guise of an "independent" foreign policy. Iran has been one of the chief beneficiaries of these overtures, and bilateral contacts and economic trade between Ankara and Tehran have ballooned over the past year. This political proximity has only been reinforced by common worries over Iraqi instability in the aftermath of Hussein's ouster.
Nevertheless, Ankara's deep ethnic and historical ties to the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia make it a natural counterweight to Iranian-sponsored religious radicalism in those regions. Given Turkey's deep interest in expanding trade and development in the Caspian, Turkey also remains suspicious of Iran's maneuvers there. Meanwhile, Tehran's ongoing sponsorship of terrorism, including the Kurdish variety, has put Iran and Turkey on very different sides of the war on terrorism.
These commonalities have led observers to suggest that Turkey's most constructive role might be as a force multiplier for U.S. interests in its "northern neighborhood."(36) In fact, Ankara and Tehran's divergent strategic priorities—on everything from Central Asian Islam to Caspian energy to the future political composition of post-war Iraq—suggest that Turkey and Iran could become competitors again. The United States should encourage such competition by creating incentives for Turkey to play its historic role.
Wooing the Iranians. One of the Bush administration's most enduring challenges in prosecuting the war on terrorism has been effectively communicating its goals and objectives to a skeptical Muslim world. Over the past two and a half years, that need has spawned an expanded public diplomacy effort. This has included media outreach on the part of top administration officials like National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Iran, however, has been included only belatedly in these plans. More than nine months after September 11, with U.S. officials saturating the airwaves of Arabic networks like Qatar's al-Jazeera, not one high-ranking U.S. official had granted an interview to a Persian-language television outlet.(37)(This is despite the existence of dissident channels, such as the Los Angeles-based National Iranian Television [NITV]), capable of effectively carrying the U.S. message.) Even when the United States did finally overhaul its public diplomacy toward Iran with the launch of the Persian-language Radio Farda in December 2002, the station's entertainment-heavy format led critics to complain that the United States had diluted its democratic message.(38) Since then, broadcasting to Iran has continued to be funded at minimal levels, despite Congressional efforts to expand outreach. Such a lackluster effort reflects continuing confusion within the U.S. government about exactly whom to engage within Iran.
In fact, the success of public diplomacy hinges upon a clear American vision of Iran's desired direction and the sustained political will to assist Iran in reaching that goal. In that light, there should be only one answer to the question of whom to engage: the nascent democratic opposition. The United States should demonstrate its support for that opposition by expanding expatriate and government-sponsored broadcasting, using it to highlight and criticize Tehran's bankrupt clerical rule.
REGIME CHANGE
The United States has been guilty of sending mixed signals to Iran over the past few years. Most significantly, it has apologized for the Central Intelligence Agency's role in the coup of 1953—an early case of regime change—and it has declared its goal in Iran to be behavior modification rather than regime change. The mixing of signals simply reflects a confusion of policy—a confusion that has become positively dangerous, both to U.S. interests and the security of Iran's neighbors.
In fact, the U.S. objective in Iran is closer to the regime change it imposed on Iraq than to the behavioral change it brought about in Libya. The Iranian regime is not one mercurial man, whose behavior can be reversed by determined action. Iran has a ruling elite with many members, a shared sense of history, and a consistency of purpose that has been tested in revolution and war. This regime will not change, which is why the ultimate objective of U.S. policy must be to change it. That should not be forgotten, even if regime change in Iran cannot be pursued by the military means used in Iraq. Short of military intervention, the United States needs a comprehensive strategy to block Iran's nuclear progress, check Iran's adventurism in the Persian Gulf and the Caucasus, and give encouragement to the Islamic Republic's nascent domestic opposition. Through a strategy that bolsters Iran's vulnerable regional neighbors, rolls back its military advances, and assists internal political alternatives, Washington can blunt the threat now posed by Tehran—and set the stage for the later pursuit of its ultimate objective.
Ilan Berman is vice president for policy at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C., where he directs research and analysis on the Middle East and Central Asia.
1 - Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Mar. 5, 2003.
2 - Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi, cited in Saisat-eRouz, Feb. 18, 2003.
3 - Defense News, Jan. 12, 2004; Michael Rubin, "Iran's Bur-geoning WMD Programs," Middle East Intelligence Bulletin,Mar.-Apr. 2002, at http://www.meib.org/articles/0203_irn1.htm.
4 - Ahmad Shirzad, Iranian member of parliament, Nov. 24,2003, remarks before legislative session, RFE/RL (Radio FreeEurope/Radio Liberty) Iran Report, Dec. 8, 2003.
5 - "Iran: Breaking out without Quite Breaking the Rules?"Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, May 13, 2003, athttp://www.npec-web.org/pages/iranswu.htm.
6 - Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), Nov. 18, 2003. Israeli officials havefurther threatened to take preemptive military action, if neces-sary, to prevent this from happening; Agence France-Presse,Dec. 21, 2003.
7 - The New York Times, June 18, 2003.
8 - Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1, July 20,2003.
9 - Agence France-Presse, Sept. 22, 2003.
10 - Middle East Newsline, Oct. 25, 2002.
11 - IRNA, Dec. 14, 2003.
12 - The Washington Post, Mar. 11, 2003.
13 - Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby, Defense Intelligence Agencydirector, "Current and Projected National Security Threats tothe United States," statement for the record, Senate Select Com-mittee on Intelligence, Feb. 11, 2003, at http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2003_hr/021103jacoby.html.
14 - M. Javad Zarif, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations,commentary in The New York Times, May 10, 2003.
15 - IRNA, Feb. 27 and Feb. 29, 2004; Ma'ariv (Tel Aviv), Feb.29, 2004.
16 - Itar-TASS (Moscow), Apr. 29, 2003.
17 - Uch Nogta (Azerbaijan), Oct. 22, 2003.
18 - See, for example, Al-Hayat (London), Nov. 28, 2003, andJan. 5, 2004.
19 - Ash-Sharq al-Awsat (London), Apr. 3, 2004.
20 - The New York Times, Dec. 19, 2003.
21 - Xinhua News Agency (Beijing), Dec. 12, 2002.
22 - Los Angeles Times, Feb. 16, 2003.
23 - Mohsen Armin, deputy chairman of the National Securityand Foreign Relations Committee, Iranian Islamic Consulta-tive Assembly (majles), Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA),Jan. 4, 2004.Iran could provide20 percent ofTurkish naturalgas consumptionby the end ofthe decade.
24 - Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland,the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, the UnitedKingdom, and the United States currently make up the coremembership of the PSI, while over sixty other nations—includ-ing Turkey—have voiced their backing for the initiative.
25 - Associated Press, Jan. 3, 2004.
26 - Radio Free Europe, Oct. 8, 2003.
27 - Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1, Apr. 10,2000.
28 - Xinhua News Agency, Oct. 2, 2002; Reuters, Oct. 3, 2002.
29 - Middle East Newsline, Apr. 18, 2001.
30 - Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), Oct. 8, 2003.
31 - Defense News, May 23 and Dec. 1, 2003.
32 - The Washington Times, Oct. 22, 2003.
33 - For more on existing defense ties between the United Statesand the Gulf states, as well as the potential for their expansion,see Simon Henderson, The New Pillar: Conservative ArabGulf States and U.S. Strategy (Washington, D.C.: WashingtonInstitute for Near East Policy, 2003).
34 - See, for example, Kenneth Pollack, "Securing the Gulf,"Foreign Affairs, July-Aug. 2003, pp. 2-15.
35 - "Turkish Energy Policy," Turkish Ministry of ForeignAffairs, at http://www.mfa.gov.tr/grupa/an/policy.htm.
36 - Soner Cagaptay, "United States and Turkey in 2004: Timeto Look North," Turkish Policy Quarterly, Winter 2004, athttp://www.washingtoninstitute.org/media/cagaptay/cagaptay020204.pdf.
37 - Interview with Iranian dissident, Washington, D.C., July2002.
38 - See, for example, Jesse Helms, "What's ‘Pop' in Persian?"The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 16, 2002; Jackson Diehl, "CaseyKasem or Freedom?" The Washington Post, Dec. 16, 2002.
http://www.meforum.org/meq/
European's Nuclear Deal with Iran "Falling Apart"
July 04, 2004
AFP
IranMania
TEHRAN -- There was plenty of diplomatic drama last October when the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany jetted into Tehran to bring Iran back from the brink of sparking a major nuclear crisis.
But nearly nine months on, diplomats are cannily admitting their bid to strip Iran's ruling clerics of gaining A-bomb potential is falling apart. And perhaps more alarmingly, there does not appear to be a great deal that they can do about it.
The problem, say diplomats who were close to hammering out the "Tehran declaration", lies not so much with Iran's recent backing away from certain technical aspects of it, but with its firm rejection of the accord's more ambitious premise.
"We wanted the same kind of agreement with Iran as what we had with Libya. Iran had an opportunity to abandon its more sensitive nuclear work, and in return win greater trade and better relations with the West," recalled the senior diplomat.
This was an effort to get around the inherent weakness of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) -- a text of good intention in so far as member states are allowed to master the entire nuclear fuel cycle for peaceful purposes as long as they commit themselves not to take the relatively easy next step to military usage.
"Iran is a special case. There was a pattern of years of deception, so we needed to go beyond the NPT," explained another EU diplomat working on the nuclear dossier.
"We wanted Iran to give up the nuclear fuel work in exchange for guaranteed supplies of fuel from overseas, as well as improved trade and diplomatic relations."
But for Iran's 25-year-old Islamic regime, it was an existential leap too far.While careful to repeat denials of any nuclear weapons ambitions, officials have described the fuel cycle as an "inalienable right", while supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said it is "essential".
Iran may be only interested in generating nuclear power for now, but having a full fuel cycle under its belt means that having a nuclear deterrent would become a feasible strategic option -- and a tempting display of muscle if the present regional climate does not cool.
Last October Iran did agree to suspend uranium enrichment pending the completion of UN inspections, but it is still working full throttle on other key parts of the fuel cycle -- a uranium conversion facility in Isfahan, a heavy water reactor in Arak and now centrifuge construction and testing.
Officials are also threatening to resume enrichment too, if things do not go Iran's way at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- the UN's nuclear watchdog and guardian of the NPT.
And to add insult to injury, Tehran is saying it is the Europeans who have failed to meet their side of the agreement. So what now for Europe's so-called "big three"? In diplomatic circles, the three are drawing unflattering jokes that compare their mission last October to British prime minister Neville Chamberlain's attempted appeasement of Adolf Hitler in the fateful Munich agreement of 1938.
"Ah yes, we have in our hand a piece of paper," laughed one European diplomat when asked to reflect on Jack Straw, Joschka Fischer and Dominique de Villepin's convergence on Tehran last year.
The bottom line, he said, is that the deal "has not brought peace in our time. In fact it is falling apart, and Iran has been gaining time."
There are several options, none of which are tempting.The most extreme -- declaring war against Iran by launching air strikes on
nuclear facilities -- could only serve to galvanise the regime, and spark a host of retaliatory measures in an already explosive region.
What's more, unless IAEA inspectors manage to turn up a "smoking gun" here, they still have no concrete proof that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons -- meaning they will have to again tackle the uncomfortable debate on "pre-emptive" attacks that so badly split the international community ahead of the war with Iraq.
In addition, analysts point out, regional developments are working against them: Iraq is still unstable and Saudi Arabia's predicament means that few have the will to pick yet another fight.
One oft-cited option could be to side with the United States and send the dossier to the UN Security Council -- even if gaining a consensus there on tough sanctions may be impossible given Russia's attachment to its lucrative contract to build Iran's first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr.
Such a move could bring Iran back into line.But it also send Tehran the other way -- chastised by the IAEA, Iran's now-dominant hardliners could abandon the NPT altogether and adopt the so-far effective diplomacy of "axis of evil" bedfellow North Korea.
The EU has already frozen talks on a Trade and Cooperation Agreement, but even that has a hollow ring.European firms have been queuing up for contracts here -- Total and ENI among others in Iran's oil and gas sector, and giants such as Renault and Volkswagen in the car industry.
The next IAEA meeting is in September.Iran looks unlikely to be satisfied by seeing its case taken off the agenda, and for the Europeans -- still chewing over their uncomfortable options -- it may very well result in yet more "wait and see".
http://www.iranmania.com/news/040704d.asp
Iran's Revolutionary Guards reinforced amid new "threats": official
TEHRAN, July 4 (AFP) - A senior commander in the Revolutionary Guards Corps said Sunday that Iran's ideological army has been strengthened amid new threats against the Islamic republic, the official news agency IRNA reported.
"The armed forces must be prepared to protect the Islamic republic," Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jafari was quoted as saying.
The Revolutionary Guards Corps "has committed itself to organisational transformations, considering the changes in the nature of threats against Iran," he said.
"So far the battalions have been reinforced, while the necessity to act fast and pay attention to military tactics have been taken into consideration," added the commander of the Revolutionary Guards' ground forces.
The commander did not elaborate on the structural changes in the Corps, founded after the 1979 revolution to protect the Islamic regime against both internal and external threats and now one of Iran's most powerful entities.
"During the past 25 years America has carried out several plots to destabilise the Islamic Republic. The only thing they have not done is military attack, which it would not dare to given the people's support of the regime," he said.
The commander said the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan -- both neighbours of Iran -- were merely a part of Washington's campaign against Tehran, which he boasted had "messed up America's plans in the Persian Gulf region".
The Revolutionary Guards, or Sepah-e Pasdaran, exist in parallel to the regular armed forces. They also have their own naval and air forces, and are largely deployed to protect Iran's borders.
http://www.iranmania.com/news/050704a.asp
-People's support my arse..
Straw Defends Diplomacy with Iran
July 04, 2004
BBC News
BBCi
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has told BBC Radio Four that "bit by bit", progress is being made in Britain's relationship with Iran. He said the fact that a diplomatic incident had arisen was "unfortunate".
But he firmly defended the joint diplomatic efforts by France, Germany and the UK on the Iran nuclear dossier.
Iranian authorities recently detained eight Britons who had entered Iranian territorial waters in the Shatt al-Arab waterway for three days.
The men were training the Iraqi river patrol service in the waterway, which forms the border between Iran and Iraq.
'Productive' cooperation
Mr Straw said he hoped the squabble could be solved satisfactorily, and praised the overall progress in relations with Iran.
"On the whole, the co-operation we have received from Iran both in respect of Afghanistan and Iraq had been good and productive," he said.
"We got the men back, which was the prime matter, but there are other matters still outstanding and then we can move on."
With regard to the concerns of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over Iran's possible plans to develop nuclear weapons, Mr Straw said there had not been "full co-operation" by Iran, but insisted the current approach by France, Germany and the UK was correct.
"What I say to you critics is: What's your alternative?
"What we are seeking to do is to get the Iranians to accept that they have been under long-standing obligations to meet their commitments under the non-proliferation treaty.
"We are certainly a long way further forward in terms of getting to meet those commitments."
Asked whether he believed Iran's claims that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons, he replied: "I'm not sure."
Israel's role
With regard to Israel's nuclear capability, Mr Straw argued that the territorial integrity of Iran was not being questioned, whereas that of Israel was.
"I don't happen to approve of a lot of the actions that the government of Israel takes, and I make that very clear.
"But I also say that if you want a nuclear-free Middle East, you have to ensure that first of all it is the Arab and Islamic countries that remove their threat to Israel, and then we can put a great deal more pressure on Israel to abandon its undoubted nuclear weapons programme, which has been there... for defensive purposes."
Mr Straw was adamant that the current diplomatic effort was the only meaningful approach to solving the problem.
"Iran is a very important country. It's the dominant player in the region, so you can't ignore it.
"And I think the approach we have adopted and have been working on very closely with France and Germany, particularly on the nuclear dossier, is the right approach."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3864857.stm
Iran now pushing the limits
By Carol Devine-Molin
web posted July 5, 2004
Iran has been exhibiting an increasingly bold and confrontational pattern in its dealings with the West. There's been a momentum growing, and not for the good. A few weeks ago, the Iranians detained eight British servicemen for three days and exploited them on a televised propaganda broadcast, claiming that their boat had illegally entered Iranian waters. This version of events is now questionable -- British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon has made recent assertions that the servicemen had been "forcibly" brought within Iran's waters by the Iranians themselves.
Moreover, during this last week, the US government expelled two Iranians that were ostensibly "security guards" at Iran's UN Mission in NYC, but were engaging in suspicious activities by photographing and videotaping NYC landmarks, subways, bridges, etc. However, this is nothing new on the part of Iranians, who have been caught on prior occasions participating in similar forbidden behaviors. The FBI was reportedly monitoring the two suspects over a period of time, leading the FBI to surmise they might very well have been involved in the development of "target folders" for future attacks on our nation's soil. Iran has long been dubbed the chief terror-sponsoring state of the Middle East, and is known to be harboring members of al-Qaeda at the current time.
Interestingly, there has been testimony before the 9/11 Commission that Iran and its surrogate Hezbollah have ties, albeit tenuous ones, to the September 11th attacks. As noted by the World Net Daily website: "Former CIA analyst Douglas MacEachin, a member of the 9-11 commission staff, said in testimony last week Iran and its terrorist group ally Hezbollah were linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist group. Other U.S. intelligence officials said there is also evidence Iran is linked to the Sept. 11 attacks. According to the officials, two of the hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, who were aboard the aircraft that hit the Pentagon, had stayed at the Iranian ambassador's residence in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before entering the United States in January 2001."
However, some in the West are exceedingly alarmed that Iran is well on its way to acquiring a nuclear weapon. In the past, Iran played a game of jerking the chain of the International Atomic Energy Agency, manipulating the agency with only marginal cooperation and plenty of lip-service. Iran was to halt all enrichment-related reprocessing but it's apparently still bent on its nuclear ambitions. Iran will continue to construct centrifuges, so international concerns remain unabated. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice is now raising the specter of sanctions against Iran because of its failure to comply with the IAEA run by Mohamed ElBaradei. Of course, Iran maintains that its nuclear involvement is for peaceful purposes only. But how can they be believed?
The truth here is not complicated. The ruling mullahs of Iran are a very dangerous class that despises the West, including Israel that is viewed as a western society and a significant affront to the Islamic world. The mullahs are in league with the jihadis that are determined to slaughter all infidels – this is common knowledge. Therefore, we must be very focused on Iran's efforts to arm itself with nuclear warfare, a notion that is given short-shrift by many Europeans.
Essentially, what this all boils down to is that Iran's nuclear facilities will have to be taken out, and soon. Clearly, Israel cannot have these fanatical mullahs in possession of nukes – one nuke would wipe out the tiny state. I think it's a fair bet that Israel will take preemptive action against Iran's nuclear capabilities within the year.
http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0704/0704iran.htm
Iran-Syria call for foreign troops pull-out
BAGHDAD: Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad called for the rapid departure of foreign troops from Iraq yesterday.
"The solution is the quick end to the occupation, the installation of a government comprising all elements of the Iraqi people and the co-operation of the international community to bring stability and reconstruction," Khatami said.
"We have always been in agreement with Iran on the need for Iraq's territorial integrity, a representative government and the departure of the occupying forces," said Al Assad, on a two-day visit to Iran.
Both Syria and Iran have been accused by the United States of supporting anti-coalition insurgents inside Iraq, which Tehran again hit back yesterday.
"The erroneous actions of the US occupiers is the main cause of insecurity in Iraq," Iran's Isna news agency quoted Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi as telling UN envoy for Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Iran - which fought a catastrophic eight-year war against the former Iraqi president - said it will soon file its dossier against Saddam Hussein - who was on Thursday charged with crimes against humanity in a Baghdad court.
"One of the crimes of Saddam is the attack against Iran, the deaths of Iranians, the use of chemical weapons. We have prepared a complaint which will be filed to the tribunal," a foreign ministry spokesman in Tehran said.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=85995&Sn=WORL&IssueID=27107
GATHERINGS IN SUPPORT OF PRO-DEMOCRACY STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS IN IRAN.
Main cities, Iran (On 07/08/2004)
Iranian students will commemorate the legacy of the 1999 Students Uprising by gathering inside and in front of the Iranian universities despite the official ban.
In addition, thousands of Iranians are expected to come into streets and squares of most Iranian cities or on their roof tops and to condemn the Islamic regime in another show of rejection of the theocracy. They will also cherish the legacy of the "Epic of the Students Uprising of July 9, 1999".
These wide spread demonstrations are estimated to be extremly bloody as the Islamic regime which has increased the repression, intends to smash the popular actions.
On Thursday, July 8th, 2004
From Noon (isnide and around the universities) and from 19:00 in the cities.
In all Iranian streets and squares, especially in the Enghelab, Amir Abad, Vali e Asr, Azadi, Baharestan, Narmak, Tehran Pars and Madar areas of the Iranian Capital.
Dallas, (TX/US) (On 07/11/2004)
SMCCDI organizes the commemoration of the anniversary of July 9-14, 1999, Student Uprising of Iran and its legacy.
Participants will cherish the memories of those fallen during the bloody governmental crackdown on the 5 glorious days of students protests.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
From 05:00 PM (Local time)
At the "Le Gala" room of the "Intercontinental Hotel" (former Kempenski) located at the junctions of North Dallas Parkway and Arrapaho Rd.
Düsseldorf, Germany (On 07/10/2004)
The Iranian community will march in order to commemorate the Student Uprising of July 9-14, 1999, and to demonstrate their solidarity with enchained Iranians.
The demonstrators will request the end of the German government's collaboration with the Islamic regime and pressures on the Mullahcracy in order to respect Human Rights in Iran and to step down from political power.
Saturday, July 10, 2004
From 14:00 (Local time)
From Banhoff toward the City Court
Paris, France (On 07/10/2004)
SMCCDI organizes the commemoration of the July 9-14, 1999, Student Uprising Iran and its legacy. This demonstration will follow the SMCCDI Demo of July 8, 2004, in front of the regime's Embassy.
Participants will cherish the memories of those fallen during the bloody governmental crackdown on the 5 glorious days of students protests.
On Saturday, July 10, 2004
From 16:00 till 18:00 (local time)
Place du Trocadero
Heidelberg, Germany (On 07/10/2004)
The Iranian community will gather in order to commemorate the Student Uprising of July 9-14, 1999, and to demonstrate their solidarity with enchained Iranians.
The demonstrators will request the end of the German government's collaboration with the Islamic regime and pressures on the Mullahcracy in order to respect Human Rights in Iran and to step down from political power.
Saturday, July 10, 2004
From 15:00 till 17:00 (Local time)
At the Bismark Platz (town center)
Palo Alto, (CA/US) (On 07/09/2004)
The Iranian community of San Francisco will gather near the Stanford University in order to commemorate the Student Uprising of July 9-14, 1999, and to demonstrate their solidarity with enchained Iranians.
Friday, July 9, 2004
From 07:30 PM (Local time)
At the University Ave and Emerson
Washington (DC/US) (On 07/08/2004)
The Iranian community will gather in the US Capital in order to commemorate the Student Uprising of July 9-14, 1999, and to demonstrate their solidarity with enchained Iranians.
The demonstrators will request the public moral support of the Iranian secularist movement and the US pressure for free elections in Iran.
Thursday, July 8, 2004
From 11:00 AM (Local time)
At the West side of the US Capitol Building
Göteborg, Sweden (On 07/08/2004)
Iranians and Swedish freedom lovers will gather for the commemoration of the July 9-14, 1999, Student Uprising of Iran and its legacy. They will show their rejection of the Islamic republic and cherish the memories of those fallen during the bloody governmental crackdown on the 5 glorious days of students protests.
On Thursday, July 8, 2004
From 17:30 (local time)
From the Gustaf Adolfs Torg toward Glatsen
Gotenborg
Paris, France (On 07/08/2004)
SMCCDI organizes for the 3rd consecutive year the commemoration of the July 9-14, 1999, Student Uprising of Iran and its legacy.
It's to note that this demonstration will take place in the Capital of the Islamic regime's closet ally, in front of the Islamic Republic Embassy.
Participants will show their rejection of the Islamic regime and cherish the memories of those fallen during the bloody governmental crackdown on the 5 glorious days of students protests.
On Thursday, July 8, 2004
From 19:00 till 21:00 (local time)
Place de l'Iena
Ottawa, Canada (On 07/08/2004)
Iranians will gather for the 2nd consecutive day in front of the Islamic republic's Embassy in order to condemn the persistent repression in Iran and in order to cherish the legacy of the Students Uprising of 1999.
They will also ask from the Canadian government to pressure the Islamic regime in order to bring to an open court of justice the murderers of Zahra Kazemi the Iranian Canadian journalist killed by agents of the regime
Thursday July 8, 2004
From 10:00 AM (local time)
In front of the Islamic republic Embassy located at 245 metclafe
Helsinki, Finland (On 07/08/2004)
The Iranian community will gather in order to commemorate the Student Uprising of July 9-14, 1999, and to demonstrate their solidarity with enchained Iranians.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
From 12:00 PM (Local time)
In front of the main church of Helsinki
Hamburg, Germany (On 07/08/2004)
The Iranian community will gather in order to commemorate the Student Uprising of July 9-14, 1999, and to demonstrate their solidarity with enchained Iranians.
The demonstrators will request the end of the German government's collaboration with the Islamic regime and pressures on the Mullahcracy in order to respect Human Rights in Iran and to step down from political power.
Thursday, July 8, 2004
From 12:00 PM (Local time)
At west side of the Central Train Station (Hopt Banhoff)
London, UK (On 07/08/2004)
Iranians will gather, in front of the regime's Embassy, for the commemoration of the July 9-14, 1999, Student Uprising of Iran and its legacy. They will show their rejection of the Islamic republic and cherish the memories of those fallen during the bloody governmental crackdown on the 5 glorious days of students protests.
They'll also denounce the support made, by Jack Straw and the Britsh circles, of the Mullahcracy.
On Thursday, July 8, 2004
From 12:00 till 16:00 (local time)
In front of the Islamic republic Embassy
Odense, Danemark (On 07/08/2004)
Iranians will gather for the commemoration of the July 9-14, 1999, Student Uprising of Iran and its legacy. They will show their rejection of the Islamic republic and cherish the memories of those fallen during the bloody governmental crackdown on the 5 glorious days of students protests.
On Thursday, July 8, 2004
From 16:00 till 18:00 (local time)
In front of the City Hall (Mayor‚ office)
Stockholm, Sweden (On 07/08/2004)
Iranians will gather for the commemoration of the July 9-14, 1999, Student Uprising of Iran and its legacy. They will show their rejection of the Islamic republic and cherish the memories of those fallen during the bloody governmental crackdown on the 5 glorious days of students protests.
On Thursday, July 8, 2004
From 16:00 till 19:00 (local time)
In Center of Stockholm, Sergels Torg
Den Haag, Netherlands (On 07/08/2004)
Iranians will gather for the 2nd consecutive day for the commemoration of the July 9-14, 1999, Student Uprising of Iran and its legacy. They will show their rejection of the Islamic republic and cherish the memories of those fallen during the bloody governmental crackdown on the 5 glorious days of students protests.
On Thursday, July 8, 2004
From 13:00 (local time)
In front of the Dutch Parliament
Toronto, Canada (On 07/08/2004)
The Iranian community will gather in order to commemorate the Student Uprising of July 9-14, 1999, and to demonstrate their solidarity with enchained Iranians.
The demonstrators will request for the Canadian government's pressure on the Islamic regime in order to respect Human Rights and to bring to an open justice the murderers of Zahra Kazemi, the Iranian Canadian journalist killed last year by the regime.
Thursday, July 8, 2004
From 06:00 PM (Local time)
At the Mel Lastman Square, (hear of North York, north of Toronto)
München, Germany (On 07/08/2004)
The Iranian community will gather in order to commemorate the Student Uprising of July 9-14, 1999, and to demonstrate their solidarity with enchained Iranians.
The demonstrators will request the end of the German government's collaboration with the Islamic regime and pressures on the Mullahcracy in order to respect Human Rights in Iran and to step down from political power.
Thursday, July 8, 2004
From 17:00 till 18:00 (Local time)
At the Stachus square
Munich
Atlanta (GA/US) (On 07/07/2004)
Iranians will gather in order to commemorate the Students Uprising of July 1999, and its legacy.
On Wednesday July 7,2004
From 06:30 PM till 08:30 PM (Local time)
At the Amphitheater of Centennial Park Downtown Across from CNN building
Los Angeles, (CA/US) (On 07/07/2004)
The Iranian community of S. California, along with opposition groups such as SMCCDI, will gather in order to commemorate the Student Uprising of July 9-14, 1999, and to demonstrate their solidarity with enchained Iranians. Held a day earlier than inside Iran, in order to show the Diaspora's solidarity, a protest march will also take place at the same occasion.
Wednesday, July 7, 2004
From 05:00 PM (Local time)
In front of the Federal Building located at Wilshire Blvd. in Westwood
Brussels, Belgium (On 07/07/2004)
Iranians will gather in front of the European Union's Building in order to condemn the support of the illegitimate Islamic republic regime by main European countries.
The will cherish the memories of all those fallen for the cause of Freedom and Secularity in Iran and especially the students who uprised in July 9, 1999.
On Wedenesday July 7, 2004
From 14:00 till 16:00 (local time)
In front of the EU building in Place Maurice Schumann
Vancouver, Canada (On 07/07/2004)
Iranians will gather in order to condemn the Islamic regime and to show their support of the Iranian Student Movement and Secularist forces.
They will also ask from the Canadian government a strong stand in refernce to the murder to the Zahra Kazemi by the Islamic regime's agents.
On Wednesday July 7, 2004
From 04:00 PM till 06:00 PM (local time)
At the Victoria Park located in North Vancoover
Ottawa, Canada (On 07/07/2004)
Iranians will gather in front of the Islamic republic's Embassy in order to condemn the persistent repression in Iran and in order to cherish the legacy of the Students Uprising of 1999.
They will also ask from the Canadian government to pressure the Islamic regime in order to bring to an open court of justice the murderers of Zahra Kazemi the Iranian Canadian journalist killed by agents of the regime
Wednesday July 7, 2004
From 04:00 PM
In front of the Islamic republic Embassy located at 245 metclafe
Den Haag, Netherlands (On 07/07/2004)
Iranians will gather for the commemoration of the July 9-14, 1999, Student Uprising of Iran and its legacy. They will show their rejection of the Islamic republic and cherish the memories of those fallen during the bloody governmental crackdown on the 5 glorious days of students protests.
On Wednesday, July 7, 2004
From 12:00 till 14:00 (local time)
In front of the Dutch Parliament
Oslo, Norway (On 07/03/2004)
Iranians will gather for the commemoration of the July 9-14, 1999, Student Uprising of Iran and its legacy. They will show their rejection of the Islamic republic and cherish the memories of those fallen during the bloody governmental crackdown on the 5 glorious days of students protests.
During this advanced action, the protesters will also denounce the deals made between the Statoil company and the clerical regime.
On Saturday, July 3, 2004
From 14:00 till 16:00 (local time)
In front of the Norway's Parliament
Sacramento (CA/US) (On 07/04/2004)
Iranians of N. California will gather in order to condemn the Islamic republic regime and to cherish the legacy of the Students Uprising of July 9-14, 1999.
Sunday July 4, 2004
From 07:00 PM
In Front of Arden Mall
Koln, Germany (On 07/03/2004)
The Iranian community will gather in order to commemorate the Student Uprising of July 9-14, 1999, and to demonstrate their solidarity with enchained Iranians.
The demonstrators will request the end of the German government's collaboration with the Islamic regime and pressures on the Mullahcracy in order to respect Human Rights in Iran and to step down from political power.
Saturday, July 03, 2004
From 14:30 (Local time)
In front of the main church of Koln
Main cities, Iran (On 05/02/2004)
Teachers and their supporters, such as the students, will come into the streets in order to support the "Spiritual Fathers and Mothers of Iranians" (Teachers) in their protest movement and requests.
Many other teachers will start a week long strike that might radicalize if their conditions are not fulfilled.
In most Iranian schools and in front of the offices of the Ministry of Education and the Social offices in main Iranian cities.
from 10:00 AM (local time)
Tehran, Iran (On 04/30/2004)
Workers and their supporters, such as the students, will come into the streets in order to condemn the persistent deterioration of their conditions, the official corruption and looting of Iran's manufacturing assets by questionnable privatizations.
They will mark at this occasion the Int.'l Workers Day, a day sooner than the rest of the World due to this year's difference in Iranian calendar. They will march from the Mokhber-odoleh junction, located in downtown Tehran, toward the offices of welfare.
From 09:00 AM (local time)
Berlin, Germany (On 04/20/2004)
Iranians and German Freedom Lovers will gather, in the German capital, in order to condemn the repressive Islamic republic regime and especially the Mykonos terrorist attack, in the mid 90s, during which several Iranian opponents were killed by the regime's hit squad.
The demonstrators will also protest against the change made, by the Berlin's Mayor, in the writing of the commemorative stone which shall be placed in the famous restaurant. The German government has pressured Berlin's municipal officials in order to avoid jeopardizing the economic relations of this country with the tyrannical and terrorist regime of the mullahs despite the sentence issued, in 1997, by the German judiciary declaring the "highest levels of the Islamic republic as involved in these murders".
On Tuesday, April 20, 2004
From 16:30 (Local Time)
At the Prager Platz of Berlin
http://www.daneshjoo.org/article/publish/cat_index_10.shtml
Iraq Accuses Iran, Syria Of Backing Rebels
July 04, 2004
Iraq may be about to provide a casus-beli for a war of self defense against Iran and Syria. According to a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph:
The new Iraqi government will publish damning evidence this week linking foreign powers, including Iran and Syria, to the Muslim extremists and loyalists of the former regime who launched a bloody rebellion after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister, told The Telegraph that the interim government had gathered intelligence detailing the support provided to insurgent groups by some neighbouring nations.
Although he did not name the countries, senior Iraqi officials indicated that Iran and Syria were the worst offenders. The accusation that governments in Teheran and Damascus have been aiding the insurgents could create an immediate diplomatic crisis for the Baghdad administration that assumed power only last week.
Most pundits have contended that the Administration would not take on Iran or Syria until after the US elections.
http://broadscapeventures.com/weblog/dfme/archives/001600.html
Europe Intends to Impose Second Additional Protocol on Iran: Professor
TEHRAN, July 4 (MNA) –- Professor Asgharkhani of Tehran University praised Iran’s recent decision to resume production of parts for nuclear industry centrifuge construction and uranium enrichment activities last week.
Asgharkhani told the Mehr News Agency that the European Union and the United States have failed to live up to their commitments to Iran, adding that their goal is to isolate the Islamic Republic.
He said that both the U.S. and the EU are currently pressuring Iran in an attempt to prevent the country from gaining access to advanced nuclear technology.
He added that the Europeans are a step ahead of the U.S. in this regard, stressing that Europe wants to make Iran change its position and alter its behavior.
Referring to Iran’s letter to leaders of the EU big three, Britain, Germany, and France, Asgharkhani said that the Europeans want Iran to sign a second additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which would oblige it to extend the suspension of uranium enrichment activities.
He noted that the U.S. is currently engaged in internal problems as well as the Iraq and North Korea issues, adding that Washington is not prepared to take military action against Iran.
The professor stressed that Europe intends to use diplomatic means to intimidate Iranian officials.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Asgharkhani said that if Europe wants to cooperate with Iran, it should support the country and help the Islamic Republic finalize its trade pact with the EU.
He stated that Hasan Rowhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, adopted a correct approach on resuming the production of equipment for uranium enrichment.
According to Article 10 of the NPT Iran has the right to withdraw from the treaty if it faces threats against its national security, the professor stressed.
Asgharkhani also said that the U.S. and Europe use the issues of human rights and nuclear proliferation as tools to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs.
http://www.mehrnews.com/wfNewsDetails_en.aspx?NewsID=92350&t=Political
This just in from Banafsheh...
DoctorZin Note: I rarely recommend online petitions, but I would encourage all those interested in a regime change in Iran to sign this one.
Please read this petition and if you agree with it, click on the link below to take you to the page where you can sign it. PLEASE help us Iranian activists in helping ourselves. AND if you would be kind enough to send this to EVERYONE you know we would be eternally grateful. Thank you for your kind support.
http://www.petitiononline.com/persis2/petition.html
A Plea For Support & Demonstration Attendance against Terrorists, Islamofascists, and Fanaticism
View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition
Bump!
Rasht's Bazar partially destroyed by fire
SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jul 5, 2004
A fire of an un-anounced cause burned parts of the Bazar in the northern City of Rasht. Several shops and their stocks were destroyed during the incident.
The city's officials have declared to make a report after deeper investigation.
It's to note that many Bazaris are among the regime's supporters as they often benefit of officials favors. Such links and collaboration lead often to the popular retaliation and cases of arson.
Many Iranians are believing to help the overthrow of the regime by burning the Bazars or by spreading such fear among the Bazaris.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_6944.shtml
Freedom fighters subjected to humiliation
SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jul 5, 2004
In line with the increase of its repressive actions, the Islamic republic regime has started the policy of public humiliation of maverick Iranians who opposes its misdeeds. Those protesting about the repression are first subjected to a humiliating public show before receiving lashes and to be thrown in the regime's jails.
According to the official 'Jomhoori e Eslami' (The Islamic Republic Daily, the tribune of the Supreme leader): "Five young individuals who had tried to oppose the regime's militiamen during the questionning of another suspected individual, and who have dared to get in fight with the 'Law Enforcement Forces', were put on the back of a donkey and turned into the City of Abadan "in order to serve as examples for others".
Other reports from the rebellious City of Abadan are completing this official report by stating that the group of five were later subjected to public lashing and transferred to prison.
Since the month of May and due to the approach of key Protest dates, such as, July 8th, the Islamic regime has increased its polcies of repression and terror in order to increase the fear among Iranians on the consequences of any dissent.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_6943.shtml
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