Iranian Alert -- February 2, 2004 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD --Americans for Regime Change in Iran

The Iranian Student Movement Up To The Minute Reports ^ | 2.2.2004 | DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

The US media almost entirely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” But 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. Starting June 10th of this year, Iranians have begun taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy. Many even want the US to over throw their government.

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.

In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.

This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.

I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.

If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.

If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.

DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

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”

[DoctorZIn]

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”

[xJones]

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.

Keep the reports coming, Doc.

[DoctorZIn]

Claiming Defence Only to Proliferate

February 02, 2004
Bangkok Post News
bangkokpost.com

The world should be shocked into action by the discovery of banned nuclear facilities inside newly neighbourly Libya and suddenly cooperative Iran. A few antagonistic countries insist on the right to develop terrible weapons systems in secret. People may say that international inspections by suspicious nuclear experts violate national sovereignty. The correct reply from now on must be to ask what they have to hide.

The world has a right to an answer to this pertinent question. North Korea has recently invited groups to observe its nuclear weapons programme and seems closer to playing the extortion card than ever. The administration has told private groups it is on the verge of testing nuclear weapons. The regime could be dissuaded from these tests by large and generous amounts of aid, along with promises to leave Pyongyang alone. Diplomats hope negotiations can bring a solution. Others, undiplomatically, properly call the Pyongyang position nuclear blackmail.

The truth is international agreements on proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons have broken down because of a tiny minority of rogues. Almost all countries not only welcome inspections by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, they facilitate them. Almost all countries report honestly and properly on their stocks of terrible weapons. Almost all countries report the labs, equipment and personnel they have to build the worst weapons.

No weapons treaty, however, contains enforcement procedures. For some 30 years, Libya flaunted rules on chemical and nuclear weapons. Now, Tripoli has seen the advantages of cooperation, and will reap the rewards of membership in the international community once again. North Korea is the best known country trafficking in illegal weapons. It threatens neighbours, conducts business with the worst types of governments and groups, and greatly harms its own people.

There also are cases like Taiwan and Israel, whose governments maintain terrible weapons secretly in the questionable name of national defence. Superpowers can also contribute. Last week, nuclear power China decided to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which monitors and restricts the proliferation of weapons and the technology to build them.

In recent weeks, the United States, Japan and South Korea have said little about the Pyongyang part of the ``axis of evil''. Washington has properly treated Iraq, Iran and North Korea as separate cases. Clearly, the hope is that China can convince its long-time ally that its best hope is to cooperate with the world. It is likely the dictator Kim Jong-il can survive yet another winter by scraping up income through aid _ including from Washington _ and illegal, covert weapons sales like the recent Scud missiles smuggled to Yemen.

Mr Kim is most worried about his survival. In fact, while his fall and the collapse of his regime would be welcomed in decent circles everywhere, the fallout from a Pyongyang political implosion would be massive. A far more attractive solution would see a change of policy in Pyongyang, where the nuclear programme and illicit weapons sales halt immediately, in return for which the world would help North Korea develop into a responsible and economically improving state.

The time has come to challenge and to rein in the tiny handful of rogue nations using the pretext of national defence to proliferate. The world must face Pyongyang and a number of other uncooperative countries with more determination. North Korea has the right to develop a system of national defence. Every country has the duty to defend its borders and thus its citizens. In these dangerous days, however, no country has the right to challenge peace and stability.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/02Feb2004_news28.html

[DoctorZIn]

Skating on Thin Ice

February 01, 2004
The Hindustan Times
Rajesh Mishra

The unraveling mysteries from North Korea to Iran and Libya to Saudi Arabia, hint at suspected Pakistani involvement in State-sponsored foreign collaborations.

The Pakistani argument that key nuclear scientists have acted upon unauthorised ‘personal ambition and greed’ seems an attempt to divert international attention. In any case, the danger of WMD spreading out of Pakistan remain alarmingly high.

Last year, a sales brochure from the Khan Research Laboratory offering equipment and assistance in enrichment of uranium was obtained from outside Pakistan. It raised proliferation concerns and also questions on whether such offers were being clandestinely sold to other countries. The international community, including the US, seemed to show a lack of sensitivity in such matters till recently. Now, however, Islamabad’s nuclear history is under sharp western media focus.

In August 2000, The Guardian published a notice for the export of 11 radioactive substances, including depleted and enriched uranium, plutonium and tritium and 17 types of equipment, including nuclear power reactors, nuclear research reactors and reactor control systems.

A former army chief, General Mirza Aslam Beg, was quoted as saying in the news daily: “We have enough material to maintain our low-level nuclear deterrence and so much in surplus that we can sell it in the open market. It is a respectable way of earning money.” The realities now disclosed project a larger picture of unlawful deals.

Undermining international no-rms, Islamabad has received extensive technology and systems support from Beijing to create its nuclear arsenal. Pakistan-China collaboration in nuclear matters, in turn, propelled an arms race in South Asia. During the course of developing a nuclear weapons infrastructure in the country, a new corpus of nuclear experts was raised under the leadership of its ace scientist, A.Q. Khan, in Pakistan. Khan himself was dismissed as advisor to the president this past week. The scientific capabilities Pakistan received from China and other nations are now widely believed to be spreading to different parts of the world, including Iran.

The Washington Post of December 21, 2003 reported that Iran’s nuclear programme was tied to Pakistan. It revealed that a probe of Iran’s secret nuclear programme pointed to Pakistan as the source of crucial technology. Islamabad refuted the allegation.

A few weeks earlier, a story in The Times of November 13, 2003 had Iran admitting that Pakistan gave it key nuclear help. The Pakistan foreign ministry called the report ‘totally baseless’ and ‘anti-Islamic’. However, literature on defence and strategic matters suggest that nuclear cooperation between Iran and Pakistan started in 1986. Pakistan has also refuted reports that Khan made secret visits to Iran.

The two senior scientists arrested in early December last year, Yasin Chauhan, Director-General of Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), and Mohammad Farooq, laboratory director at KRL, had worked under Khan. Pakistan has critical uranium enrichment and missile development facilities at KRL. In March 2003, the Americans had imposed sanctions on KRL for missile related transfers from North Korea.

A Japanese newspaper has also reported that North Korea had sent three scientists to Pakistan in 1999 to study uranium enrichment technology. According to media and intelligence sources, Pakistan-North Korea relations for arms transfer are now some three decades old, beginning with North Korea’s supply of artillery, ammunition and military equipment to Islamabad. The initial trade relation was based on North Korea’s need for hard currency and Pakistan’s demand for army equipment. The watershed of State-level authorisation for carrying covert projects can be said to have rigorously started since Benazir Bhutto came to power for the first time in December 1988 and subsequently sent a few officials to North Korea for a feasibility study of new opportunities. It is widely believed that Bhutto herself travelled to Pyongyang in 1993.

One of the reasons speculated behind the removal of Khan from KRL was his links with North Korea. Still, as late as in July 2002, US spy satellites detected the shipment of missile parts from North Korea. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf refuses to accept the charges. “We work on solid fuel and they operate on liquid fuel. We do not need to exchange anything with them,” he said in a recent interview.

However, in early November 2003, during his visit to South Korea, Musharraf also said a reported visit to North Korea by Khan was connected with the purchase of conventional short-range missiles, not sales of nuclear technology.

The denial and then acceptance in parts stands to prove that Pakistan’s refutation of intelligence and media disclosures cannot be taken at face value. Discoveries that some members of Pakistan’s scientific community are under the influence of extreme ideologies further raise the fear of sensitive information, technology or material falling into rogue hands. Khan himself once said: “All western countries, including Israel, are not only the enemies of Pakistan but, in fact, of Islam.” Other scientists like Bashir-uddin Mahmood also have strong ideological affiliations based on religious faith.

Mahmood, along with a few others, was arrested for his alleged links with al-Qaeda. Two other scientists, Mohammad Ali Mukhtar and Suleiman Asad, were slipped out of Pakistan on the pretext of ‘research’ in Myanmar.

It was reported that Mahmood, who was arrested on October 23, 2001, had several meetings in August 2001 with Osama bin Laden, one of his top lieutenants, Al Zawahiri, and two other al-Qaeda officials in Kabul. Mahmood also had meetings with Mohammad Omar, head of the ousted Taliban government, during his visit to Kandahar in 2001.

‘Dirty’, or radiological dispersal bombs, may be a disastrous fallout of the association of nuclear scientists with terrorist outfits. Indications of such a possibility became stronger with the arrests of Abu Zubaydah in April 2002 and, two months later, Abdulla al Muhajir alias Jose Padilla. Western intelligence sources believe that Padilla and an associate researched the manufacture and detonation of dirty bombs in Lahore.

In January 2003, an agency news report stated through official documents from the Chashma nuclear power plant that, between 1997 and 2002, at least nine senior nuclear scientists had absconded from Pakistan; the latest defection was as recently as in July 2002. Though the reasons given were poor working conditions and low salary structures, the reality is yet to surface.

At a time when its nuclear history is under scrutiny, Pakistan has been trying to shift responsibility to the so-called ‘unauthorised ambitious’ scientists for their illicit relations with foreign actors. When a State itself is suspected of unlawful nuclear and missile collaborations with other countries, the scientists alone cannot be blamed.

Is it possible that the scientists involved in State-managed clandestine deals overreached the arrangement of cooperation? If so, was it a planned move to overlook this extended relationship? Or was the Pakistan government unable to question the illegitimate affairs within secret arrangements that involved a scientist like Khan? Is it plausible that the scientists would act independently in a situation where the military-ISI nexus works closely with them? The safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons complex is at stake. By the time Bush gets an assurance from his ‘stand-up guy’, Musharraf, the damage would already have been done.

The writer is a defence analyst based in New Delhi

http://www.iranvajahan.net/manage/article.shtml

[DoctorZIn]

Assefi Says Iran and Russia Discrepant on Atomic Fuel Disposal

February 01, 2004
Petroenergy Information Network
K. Soltani

TEHRAN -- Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi stated that there was disagreement between Iran and Russia as to how the spent nuclear fuel at Bushehr atomic power plant should be disposed of.

Asked whether the dispatches about the upcoming visit by Russian minister of atomic energy to Tehran were accurate, Assefi said that he was not sure about such a trip and it was not clear whether the Russian minister would make the visit or not.

He said the main reason for continued delay of Rumyantsev’s expected visit was technical differences between Tehran and Russia with regard to disposal of the spent fuel at the power plant.

“We have differences about the executive methods for returning the spent fuel to Russia,” he noted.

The spokesman, however, pointed out that the two countries were in full agreement over completion of the Bushehr plant and making it operational.

http://www.shana.ir/en/news_view.asp?group_id=1&news_id=5726&group_title=News

[DoctorZIn]

Assefi Says Iran and Russia Discrepant on Atomic Fuel Disposal

February 01, 2004
Petroenergy Information Network
K. Soltani

TEHRAN -- Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi stated that there was disagreement between Iran and Russia as to how the spent nuclear fuel at Bushehr atomic power plant should be disposed of.

Asked whether the dispatches about the upcoming visit by Russian minister of atomic energy to Tehran were accurate, Assefi said that he was not sure about such a trip and it was not clear whether the Russian minister would make the visit or not.

He said the main reason for continued delay of Rumyantsev’s expected visit was technical differences between Tehran and Russia with regard to disposal of the spent fuel at the power plant.

“We have differences about the executive methods for returning the spent fuel to Russia,” he noted.

The spokesman, however, pointed out that the two countries were in full agreement over completion of the Bushehr plant and making it operational.

http://www.shana.ir/en/news_view.asp?group_id=1&news_id=5726&group_title=News

[DoctorZIn]

More Cheating by Tehran

February 01, 2004
The Washington Times
Editorials/Op-Ed

Tehran doesn't seem to have learned the central lesson from the demise of Saddam Hussein: The rules have changed, and it has become dangerous to lie and play games with the international community when it comes to weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Just a few weeks ago, Tehran acknowledged that it is continuing to build uranium-enrichment centrifuges, which are needed to make nuclear weapons. This contradicts the announcement made last fall by Britain, France and Germany that Iran had agreed to halt such activity. In short, the European trio appears to have been hoodwinked.

In September, the U.N.-affiliated International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called on Iran to suspend its uranium-processing and enrichment activities and sign a protocol permitting more intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities. Iran agreed to sign the protocol and suspend the activities. In return, Iran gained a promise that it could have more access to high technology from Europe. Then, in December, Iran signed the protocol, much to the relief of politicians and diplomats in Europe and Washington.

Unfortunately, they were jolted back to reality when Iran announced several weeks ago that it is building the centrifuges. Tehran now brazenly claims that the deal does not require it to halt all "enrichment-related" activities and that it has the right to continue to amass centrifuges. France, Britain and Germany disagree with Tehran's very narrow interpretation of the agreement. But Germany wants to use gentle persuasion to get Iran to change its behavior, while Britain, France and IAEA Director-General Mohammed ElBaradei may be inclined to ratchet up the pressure if Iran's defiance continues.

"Iran is just the opposite of Libya," one frustrated diplomat told Reuters last month, referring to Moammar Gadhafi's renunciation of WMD and opening facilities up to international inspectors.

Of course, Tehran's cheating is nothing new. It merely continues behavior that has gone on for several decades. In November, the IAEA issued a 30-page report documenting Iranian deception about its nuclear weapons programs dating back to the mid-1980s. At the time, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton warned that if Iran "is continuing to conceal its nuclear program and has again lied to the IAEA, the international community must be prepared to declare Iran in noncompliance with its IAEA safeguards agreements."

Iran's continued cheating could have dire consequences. Henry Sokolski of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (who has been notably prescient in warning about the Iranian threat) writes in National Review Online that, if Iran fed those centrifuges with the enriched uranium that Russia plans to send it for the light-water Bushehr reactor, Tehran could produce enough material for a bomb "in a matter of weeks."

This week, a who's who of international terrorists — including Hezbollah and al Qaeda offshoots — are meeting in Tehran to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Ayatollah Khomeini's seizure of power. This event, known as the "Ten Days of Dawn," serves to remind us all why it would be intolerable to permit the Iranian regime to obtain nuclear weapons and why preventing this should be a top priority for American policy-makers.

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040131-104829-5803r.htm

[DoctorZIn]

Pakistani Nuclear Scientist Confesses to Sharing Secrets

February 02, 2004
The Christian Science Monitor
Owais Tohid

KARACHI, PAKISTAN -- Pakistan's chief nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has confessed to sharing nuclear technology with Iran, Libya, and North Korea in a 12-page document presented to President Pervez Musharraf, according to a briefing given by government officials in Islamabad.

News of the confession followed a decision to dismiss Mr. Khan from his government post on Saturday by the nuclear command authority, a grouping of top military and political officials supervising the probe.

The confession will bolster the government's hand should it decide in the coming days to prosecute Khan - a popular figure who combines the brilliance of Albert Einstein with the nationalist fervor of John Wayne.

"During investigations, Khan said we wanted some other Muslim countries to develop nuclear technology, so pressure on Pakistan could be lessened," says an official close to the investigation. When it was pointed out that North Korea is not a Muslim country, Khan "could not give a specific answer," says the source.

The fate of Khan and other suspects in the probe lies with the nuclear command authority. The options are said to include a military court, a special tribunal, or administrative action. Putting a national hero on trial would be a risky move for Mr. Musharraf, and one that could have far-reaching political implications in a nation that is already sensitive about protecting its sovereignty.

Official sources say the bank accounts of Khan and other suspected individuals have been closely monitored; all suspects are barred from traveling abroad.

Pakistan's covert nuclear program generated controversy last November when the International Atomic Energy Agency probing Iran's nuclear program found evidence that some Pakistani scientists might have aided the neighboring country in its developing nuclear program.

Western intelligence sources say Pakistani scientists also traded uranium enrichment with North Korea and Libya in separate deals.

Sources say the international nuclear body provided the list of at least five scientists and officials associated with the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL), a uranium enrichment plant headed by Khan from 1976 to 2001, located just outside the capital city of Islamabad.

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman says the investigation is concluding as "the bulk of the investigation is completed."

Officials say six suspects remain in custody. Among them are three scientists: former director general of the KRL, Mohammad Farooq, and two other close aides of Khan. Others are administrators and security personnel of the KRL, including two former military brigadiers and Khan's Personal Staff Officer. Khan has not been detained but his movement has been restricted and his Islamabad residence is under 24-hour watch.

"If some of those who were called national heroes have done this, the nation has the right to see the true faces of those who have compromised Pakistan's national interest and used its assets for personal gains," says Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hyat.

Khan is witnessing the end of his golden era spanning almost three decades, during which he was projected as a national asset and his posters adorned the streets. People named their children after him. Cricket clubs and social welfare associations wished to be honored by his participation in generating funds.

Two years ago, Musharraf removed Khan from the active management of the KRL. Khan was given a ceremonial government position - the post stripped from him Saturday.

Opposition parties and a religious alliance of extremist groups coordinated small-scale rallies across the country condemning Musharraf. Ghafoor Ahmed, a senior religious leader, says that religious and political parties should forge an alliance to "protect the country's nuclear program."

The decision to remove Khan, while leaving alone many of his military and government backers, provoked harsh criticism from observers.

"While we say a few scientists were involved, the world will say it couldn't have happened without the knowledge or connivance of the top army brass," the country's leading columnist, Ayaz Amir, wrote in the Dawn newspaper.

It remains to be seen whether the government and military's probe will be widened to include top military officials. Musharraf is expected to discuss the investigation and the dismissal of Khan in a televised address to the nation on Thursday.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0202/p07s02-wosc.html

[TigerLikesRooster]

This is not about Iranian politics but about her history.

I want to know more about Khorazem dynasty. I looked through Internet information, which is sketchy at best.
Does anybody know a good source written in English on this subject?

Thanks in advance

[Arkie2]

IRAN HOSTS LEADING INSURGENCY GROUPS

Feruary 2, 2004

NICOSIA [MENL] -- Iran plans to host leading Islamic groups regarded by the United States as terrorist in a 10-day conference next week.

Iranian officials said the conference to discuss strategy against the United States and its allies will begin on Sunday and last 10 days. They said Iran, in wake of an intense debate that pitted reformers against conservatives, has invited such organizations as Hamas, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad and Al Qaida allies such as Ansar Al Islam.

The conference, termed "Ten Days of Dawn," is meant to mark the 25th anniversary of the return to Iran from exile of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the revolution that ousted the Shah of Iran in 1979. Officials said the conference, ordered by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, marks Iran's investment in fostering Islamic insurgency groups in the Middle East, Asia and South America.

Hizbullah, sponsored by Iran in 1983, will have the largest presence in the Teheran conference. Hizbullah will be represented by 17 branches around the world.

[AdmSmith]

Try http://www.google.com/search?q=Khwarezm-Shah+Dynasty&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&start=10&sa=N

[unienglish26]

To the person who mentioned the fact that Israel (and Taiwan) have nuclear weapons. Yes, it is known that we (Israel) have such weapons, as does the United States. But you should know that in our hands - as with the U.S. - it is a weapon of (G-d forbid) last resort. In the hands of rogue states it is something to fear. Know, too, that the young people of Iran are supporters of both the U.S. and Israel. After the earthquake at Bam, when it was heard that the U.S. and Israel wanted to help, sounds of "Love live Israel, long live The U.S." were heard in the streets until the people yelling this were arrested.

[nuconvert]

Yes. It's an annual event. Sick.

Thanks for the post.

[nuconvert]

"...if Iran fed those centrifuges with the enriched uranium that Russia plans to send it for the light-water Bushehr reactor, Tehran could produce enough material for a bomb in a matter of weeks."

This is why the administration can't wait until November.
Something must be done SOON.

[DoctorZIn]

Iran Reformists Push for Election Delay

February 02, 2004
Reuters
Amir Paivar and Paul Hughes

TEHRAN -- Iran's reformists are pushing for a postponement of this month's parliamentary elections in a showdown with hardliners which has plunged the Islamic Republic into its worst political crisis in years.

After a day of high drama in parliament, where more than 120 reformist lawmakers handed in their resignations on Sunday over the vote row, there was a sense of tense anticipation on Monday.

Reformists are objecting to the decision by the Guardian Council -- an unelected constitutional oversight body run by religious hardliners -- to declare more than 2,000 would-be lawmakers unfit to stand in the February 20 election.

The council's move has led to international concern about the vote's legitimacy and overshadowed celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's return from exile to create an Islamic state.

More than 80 current deputies in the reformist-dominated 290-seat parliament are among those barred from the election.

In a statement issued late on Sunday, reformist lawmakers, dozens of whom have held a sit-in protest at parliament for the last three weeks, said that even if the Guardian Council now relented, the vote must be postponed.

"Even if all disqualified candidates are reinstated in the coming days, the election must be postponed so that all candidates have the time and opportunity to take part in a sound and fair competition," they said.

President Mohammad Khatami's reformist government has in recent days twice asked the Guardian Council -- a 12 member body of clerics and Islamic jurists -- to postpone the election.

Should the council reject the delay request, Khatami's government could refuse to organise the vote. Khatami could also allow provincial governors, who play a key role in administering elections, to carry out their threat to resign over the vote row.

Concerned about such tactics, hardliners have threatened to prosecute any official who hampers the vote by resigning.

A first request for a vote delay by the interior ministry was immediately rejected by the Guardian Council last week. But a second, lodged on Saturday, has not yet been answered.

SUSPECT PACKAGE

Despite the heightened political tension, public interest in the dispute has so far been muted. Disillusioned by years of broken promises of reform, most Iranians have grown apathetic to the ongoing reformist-hardline power struggle.

An official at the Tehran governor's office told the ISNA students news agency a package containing some wiring, but no explosive, was found at parliament's entrance on Sunday after the assembly received an anonymous bomb threat by telephone.

At a cabinet meeting on Sunday, ministers endorsed a pledge made by Khatami on Saturday that his government would "hold only free and competitive elections," the IRNA news agency said.

With talks between appointed hardliners and elected reformers deadlocked, hopes for a solution are pinned on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Khomeini in 1989.

Analysts say Khamenei, who has the last word on all state matters, may order many of the candidate bans overturned to avert a legitimacy crisis and heightened international criticism.

"It's the leader's time to step in now. Although he often leaves things until the very last moment," said one political analyst who declined to be identified.

Given the proximity of the election and the lengthy case-by-case process needed to confirm the resignations, analysts said the lawmakers' walkout was largely a tactical ploy.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/WireFeed/WireFeed&c=WireFeed&cid=1074160638583

[DoctorZIn]

Iranian FM Pursues Prison Exchange with Israel

February 02, 2004
The Media Line
themedialine.org

Iran’s Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi traveled to Lebanon on Sunday in search of information on four Iranian diplomats who went missing during Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, according to news reports.

While Israel is believed to be involved in their disappearance, it maintains that the four were in the custody of Christian militia.

Kharazi said that a committee would be established to research the matter.

The second phase of the Israel-Hizbullah prisoner exchange stipulates that Israel must provide information on the Iranians in exchange for concrete information on missing Israeli pilot Ron Arad. [More details on prisoner exchange.]

Israeli sources believe Arad is in Iranian custody, although he was captured in Lebanon. Iran denies the claim.

http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=4685

[DoctorZIn]

MP's Office Attacked in Northwest Iran

February 02, 2004
BBC Monitoring
BBC Monitoring Newsfile

Text of report by Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) web site

Tehran -- The former secretary of the Islamic Students Union of the Azad Islamic University of Tabriz was beaten by unidentified people last night at the office of the city's [Majlis] deputy.

Speaking on the telephone to the reporter of the Iranian Labour News Agency, ILNA, Babak Mohammadzadeh, secretary of the Islamic Students Union of the Azad Islamic University of Tabriz, added: At 2300 [local time] last night, two unidentified people, with their faces covered, furtively entered the office of Mr [Akbar] A'lami, deputy for Tabriz, and severely beat Aydin Mowlazadeh, the former secretary of the Islamic Students Union of the Azad Islamic University of Tabriz.

He made the claim that they even intended to strangle Mowlazadeh with a handkerchief and said: They wrote some threatening messages against the Tabriz deputy on the office walls, including "A'lami, either resignation or death".

Mohammadzadeh said: The Law Enforcement Force is now at the office and is investigating the matter.

Mohammadzadeh said these actions marked the start of a new project against the student movement and reformist deputies, and expressed the opinion: The only aim behind these actions is to threaten people, to intimidate them and to sow fear.

Source: Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA), Tehran, in Persian 1050 gmt 2 Feb

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=02&d=02&a=4

[DoctorZIn]

Iranian Conservative Says MPs and Governors Who Quit May be Prosecuted

February 02, 2004
AFP
Agence France Presse

An Iranian conservative official involved in rejecting more than 3,000 would-be candidates for elections due this month warned in remarks reported Monday that poll officials and MPs who had resigned in protest could be prosecuted.

"Election officials within the executive, particularly provincial governors, prefects, sub-prefects, must know that, in the present situation, any resignation is viewed as a hindrance to the electoral process and may bring about prosecution," said Hojatoleslam Ahmad Azimizadeh, quoted by the Iranian news agency IRNA.

Azizimizadeh is head of the electoral control commission for greater Tehran.

The electoral commissions are responsible to the hardline conservative Guardians Council, which on their advice barred 3,605 of 8,000 would-be candidates for the February 20 elections, most of them reformists.

The move sparked probably the worst political crisis in the history of the Islamic republic, which is marking its 25th anniversary this week.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the Guardians Council to review the files on the barred candidates but it reinstated only 1,160, leaving some 2,500 out of the running, including around 80 sitting MPs.

The provincial governors, charged by the interior ministry with organising the election, resigned afterwards. They were followed on Sunday by around 120 MPs, a move that could paralyse parliament.

"This sort of action against a legal procedure can be viewed as a lack of loyalty towards the Islamic Republic," said Azimizadeh, adding that this was open to prosecution.

He added: "These (MPs') resignations, the tone of the statement which accompanied their action, and the statements of some of the barred candidates, show the Guardians Council carried out its work well, within respect of the law."

His commission was determined to work with the executive so that the elections take place as scheduled, he said, amid reformist demands for the polls to be postponed.

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

[DoctorZIn]

Rafsanjani Says People will "Blind the Mesmerized Enemy" in Elections

February 02, 2004
BBC Monitoring
BBC Monitoring Newsfile

Excerpt from report by Iranian TV on 2 February

[Announcer] Speaking at the Id al-Adha sermons in Tehran, Hojjat ol-Eslam val Moslemin [Akbar] Hashemi-Rafsanjani pointed out that the anniversary of the victory of Islamic revolution was approaching and stressed: On that day, the world will be jealous of scenes of Iranian people showing their love for the revolution.

The head of the Expediency Council said that the people's presence in various arenas was an indication of their vigilance, adding; This year, the enemy has escalated its attacks on the revolution and we should maintain a powerful presence in the ceremony to mark the anniversary of the victory of the revolution. In this way, we should blind the mesmerized enemy, which is trying to create a rift between the people and officials.

The head of the Expediency Council also expressed the hope that the people's participation in the elections for the seventh Islamic Consultative Assembly will dash the enemies' hopes even more than before.

[Rafsanjani - recording] The first issue we have to deal with are the elections and we are rapidly approaching the date of the elections. Unfortunately, political altercations have occurred between various political groups and factions. This has, to some extent, caused alarm internally. They have also led to attacks abroad. We hope that the adroitness of our officials and wise men and the vigilance of our people will foil this sedition. After the elections, we will, once again, see that our enemies will become despondent and miserable. However, our people will be happy and they will rejoice and they will have a good Majlis. [People say amen]

This can only happen through the vigilance of you people. Allow those who have a different mentality to do whatever they like. However, you people constitute the very fabric of our society. The country belongs to you. The revolution belongs to you. Your massive participation led to the victory of the revolution. Every year, your effective and constant presence in various arenas led to the survival of the revolution. Your support will contribute to the evolution of the revolution as well. Today, you are facing another test. You can rest assured that, at this point in time, Almighty God will support Iran's Islamic revolution.

[Announcer] In another part of the sermons, the Id al-Adha prayer leader referred to the current situation in Iraq, adding that dozens of people had been killed or wounded in the attacks over the last few days in that country. He said: America and Britain have unfairly intervened in Iraq and they are the ones who are responsible for the events in that country.

[Passage omitted: On religious issues]

Source: Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1, Tehran, in Persian 1030 gmt 2 Feb 04

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=02&d=02&a=6