Iranian Alert -- March 3, 2004 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD --Americans for Regime Change in Iran

The Iranian Student Movement Up To The Minute Reports ^ | 3.3.2004 | 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]

Iraq's Terror Sources Reside Next Door

March 03, 2004
The New York Sun
Michael Ledeen

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1089633/posts?page=20#20

[DoctorZIn]

Rafsanjani Blames "Occupation Forces" for Explosions in Iraq

March 03, 2004
BBC Monitoring
BBC Monitoring Middle East

Tehran -- Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani here Wednesday [3 March] blamed occupation forces for Tuesday's bombing attacks which claimed lives of many innocent mourning Muslims in Iraq.

In a meeting with members of central council and officials at Imam Khomeyni Relief Committee, he said affection for Ashura, the 10th day of lunar month of Moharram which marks martyrdom anniversary of Imam Husayn (AS [peace be upon him]) and 72 of his close companions and relatives, and the teachings of Ah al-Bayt (Infallible Household of Prophet of Islam) will never diminish as a result of such terrorist acts.

Marking the first quarter of establishment of Imam Khomeyni Relief Committee which coincided with 'Charity Week', he termed the incidents in the holy cities of Karbala, Al-Kazimiyah and the Pakistani city of Quetta as renewing allegiance to the lofty goals and aspirations of Imam Husayn (AS).

Such organized crimes demonstrates the depth of outrage and enmity towards Shi'is, he said adding that choosing of such day for his criminal act proves that the perpetrators were afraid of the impacts of Ashura on the campaign against tyranny.

On probable complicity of extremist groups in such terrorist acts in the holy cities of Karbala and Al-Kazimiyah, he held the global arrogance and the US [A] in particular responsible for the incident.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rafsanjani lauded the hard efforts of Imam Khomeyni Relief Committee in helping needy people in the society.

[Passage omitted: About the explosions and number of people killed]

Source: IRNA news agency, Tehran, in English 1341 gmt 3 Mar 04

Excerpt from report in English by Iranian news agency IRNA

http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk/nfnews.shtml#fifth

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Imam Khomeyni Relief Committee

What is this? Is it an Iranian agency? And were their resources put to use in Bam?

[DoctorZIn]

Iranian Man Submits to Fatal Lashing to Save Sisters

March 03, 2004
CTV Television
Canada AM

CTV Television

Host(s): Seamus O'Regan

Guest(s): Richard Kurland, Immigration Lawyer; Nayer Mofidi, Sister of the Late Mohsen Mofidi; Nika Nahasti, Sister of the Late Mohsen Mofidi

O'REGAN: Could a clerical error by Canadian officials be responsible for the death of an Iranian man and the torture of his two sisters? A lawsuit launched by the family of Mohsen Mofidi alleges just that. They say that delays by Immigration Canada led to his death at the hands of Iranian authorities. Joining us now from Vancouver to explain their story for the first time to a television audience are Mohsen's sisters, Nika Nahasti and Nayer Mofidi, and immigration lawyer Richard Kurland.

Thank you very much for joining us, all of you. Richard, I'll begin with you and I'll ask you, you know, a clerical error from Immigration Canada caused what sounds to be a nightmare. Can you explain to me how this happened?

KURLAND: Yeah, in 1999 the mother came to Canada seeking asylum. The abuse she suffered was so severe that it merited international protection. Canada welcomed her as a refugee. She then submitted the form to become an immigrant. And on the form she put the names of her three daughters in Iran. A clerk in Damascus said it's the wrong form and made an error. Not withstanding the intervention of Immigration Canada here in Vancouver, the Justice Department and the Federal Court, this same clerk insisted on the wrong form right up to 2004. We don't understand how that happened. And the result, the girls were stranded. Regrettably, they were picked up by the Iranian morality police. The two youngest were incarcerated, tortured for 16 days. The youngest had her teeth broken in, in the back, beaten by chains. Confessions were obtained, of allegedly having a boyfriend. The confessions were used against --

O'REGAN: That was the crime here.

KURLAND: That's the crime. It's a moral crime. They were alleged to have had boyfriends. They gave confessions falsely, under torture. They put up their homes for bail so that they wouldn't remain in Iranian prison and wouldn't have to be lashed. And we did our best to get their immigrant visas, but we hit a stone wall at a clerk in a Damascus office.

O'REGAN: Let's talk about what happened to the brother.

KURLAND: Well, after the girls were brought to safety -- well, in order for the girls to arrive to freedom in Canada the brother self-presented to Iranian authorities. He was accused of aiding and abetting the conspiracy to have boyfriends. And then they rolled out the charges: possession of a satellite dish and the consumption of alcohol in medicine during the 1980s. He presented himself to detention and lashing so that his sisters could safely leave Iran without notice by the Iranian authorities. He sacrificed his life so that the girls could come to Canada.

O'REGAN: Nika, I want to ask you a question. I know your brother was buried in Tehran on Friday. We understand you tried to get his body released to bring him here?

KURLAND: Nika's English isn't strong --

NAYER MOFIDI: Yes, that's why I was translating it to her. Yes, we tried to bring his body here, but it didn't work out.

KURLAND: The Iranian government was not about to release a body that had been so thoroughly lashed that evidence would trigger an international investigation by any court.

O'REGAN: Nayer, do you believe that by turning himself in that your brother saved your sisters?

NAYER MOFIDI: I'm sorry, I didn't catch that.

KURLAND: Did the brother, in turning himself in, result in saving your three sisters?

NAYER MOFIDI: Yes.

KURLAND: Nayer is the fourth sister, a Canadian, who was there. And she left because it's her brother who was presented for detention and arrested and subsequently lashed to death.

O'REGAN: I understand, Richard, that there was a private meeting held with the justice minister, the federal justice minister, last night. What happened there?

KURLAND: Oh, you guys are good. Irwin Cotler, the justice minister, tried to help this family and gave pragmatic compassion. But it's not the justice minister that issues visas to safety --

O'REGAN: No, it's Foreign Affairs.

KURLAND: It's not the justice minister that does our Canadian foreign policy. Canadian silence was the response to assistance for Mr. Mofidi. And Canadian silence as a policy tool didn't dismantle the Soviet gulag system and didn't address the evil of apartheid. Canadian silence from Bill Graham doesn't address the evil of the Iranian lash. One phone call from Mr. Graham to the government of Iran may have postponed that lashing.

O'REGAN: A hundred and twenty lashes each, for your sisters, Nayer. I'm just wondering, how do you feel right now? You must be, I can't imagine the emotions that you're feeling right know, Nayer.

NAYER MOFIDI: Devastated. I still can't believe that my brother is dead.

KURLAND: When the girls presented to the Canadian embassy and the Canadian embassy refused to give them any travel assistance or even a transit visa, we scrambled in Vancouver over a weekend to get their funds transferred electronically to Iran and in a panic got a transit visa for one week later to come to Canada. The American government on Monday morning received a formal, written request for assistance of the government of the United States to directly or indirectly help these girls. We cc'ed the Immigration Department. Suddenly it became, "Oh, those girls! Of course we can try and do something." It was the American intervention, the possibility of American intervention, that spurred Canada to action. And the only reason we had that one-week opportunity is after the girls met our Canadian embassy crew in Tehran and were examined by the medical officer whose hands were shaking as he examined the youngest one because her teeth were broken by chains during her incarceration, couldn't perform the examination after that. When they said no to helping a 19- and 22-year-old and a 21-year-old, fear prematurely caused their periods. And under Islamic law they could not be lashed the following day. That bought me one week's time. And that's why they're here. That's why they're here.

O'REGAN: Boy, oh boy. It's a little overwhelming. Nika, we're so glad that you're with us. Nayer, thank you very much for joining us this morning. We know this must be terribly difficult. Richard, we will follow this story. We appreciate the three of you taking part.

KURLAND: Thank you. And the girls are grateful to all of Canada for sanctuary. They are truly grateful. Thank you, everyone.

NAYER MOFIDI: Thank you.

O'REGAN: Thank you, thank you.

http://www.ctv.ca/generic/generated/news/World.html

[nuconvert]

Good article.

[freedom44]

Iran, South Korea Score Olympic Qualifying Football Matches
VOA Sports
03 Mar 2004, 18:44 UTC


The football (soccer) teams from Iran and South Korea have scored victories in their Asian Olympic qualifying matches.
Iran powered past Malaysia Wednesday by a score of 4-1 in Group A action in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Iman Mobali led the way for visiting Iran with two goals as his team dominated the second half of play at Petaling Jay Stadium. Malaysia's Fadzli Saari scored the game's first goal in the 34th minute in the under-age-23 competition.

In the other Group A match, host South Korea edged by China 1-0 at Seoul World Cup Stadium. It took a late goal by South Korea's Cho Jae-jin to break the deadlock with China in the 82nd minute as he scored off a pass from teammate Choi Sung-kuk.

The final round of Asian Olympic qualifying has 12 teams split into three groups of four. The winner of each qualifies for the Athens Olympics.

South Korea travels to Teheran to play Iran on March 17.



http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=5928C9B6-8D39-40E5-9946D1AF120AF5DF

[freedom44]

•Zahra Eshraqi, grand-daughter of leader of Islamic revolution Ayatollah Khomeini said in an interview with the German weekly Focus that she would have received more votes than her husband deputy Majles speaker Mohammad-Reza Khatami. She says because in a New York Times' interview she criticized the strict enforcement of women's Islamic headgear in some government offices, the Guardians Council banned her from standing in the elections. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)

http://www.radiofarda.com/transcripts/topstory/2004/03/20040302_1130_0045_0200_EN.asp

[freedom44]

Quakes shake Bushehr suburbs
Mar. 2 – Three earthquakes, ranging 5.1, 3.3 and 3.6 Richter in magnitude, shook Ahrom, a town in suburbs of Iran`s southern province of Bushehr, at 11:21, 11:52 and 13:26 local time on Tuesday.
No reports on possible casualties or damages caused by the quakes were available.
Iran is situated on some of the world`s most active seismic fault lines and quakes of varying magnitudes are of usual occurrence./-

http://www.iranwpd.com/

[DoctorZIn]

I just heard this from RonDog in LA...

President George W Bush is in town to do some campaign fundraiser. The Hate Bush Crowd: www.answerla.org is out in force.

RonDog reports that Freepers are also in force but reported that he saw approximately 50 Iranians in support of the President waving US and Iranian flags. He said they were doing a great job and quite impressive.

[freedom44]

Great to hear and it's not the first time that's happened. Thousands at this demonstration

[StriperSniper]

I don't know where he is leading, but Rep Robert Andrews(D-NJ) is giving a special order speech concerning Iran now on C-SPAN 1.

[DoctorZIn]

Tehran Court Orders US to Pay 1.2 Billion Dollars in Damages

March 03, 2004
AFP
Aljazeera.Net

A Tehran court has ordered the United States government to pay 1.2 billion U.S. Dollars in damages in connection with military actions against the Islamic republic in the 1980s, a report said on Wednesday.

"We obtained a conviction against the American government to pay 400 million dollars for its part in the deaths on the martyrs Nasr Allah Shafiie and Nadir Mahdavi," lawyer Nassrin Niktash was quoted as telling the student news agency ISNA.

"We have asked the foreign ministry to follow this dossier to obtain payment," he said.

He said that Shafiie and Mahdavi were killed by US Marines in the 1980s, but the report did not elaborate.

According to ISNA, the court also ordered the United States to pay $800 million to two Iranians who were "kidnapped" by US forces and "suffered damage," also without elaborating.

Similar penalties

The verdicts come following a series of cases lodged against Tehran in US courts. The Islamic republic has been ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages following 21 such lawsuits.

In one of the most high-profile cases, a US court ruled last September that Iran had to pay more than $420 million to a dozen US victims of a 1997 bombing in Jerusalem carried out by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, which the court alleges is supported by Iran.

In March 2000, a US federal judge ordered Iran to pay $341 million to journalist Terry Anderson and to members of his family.

Anderson, who had been Beirut bureau chief for the Associated Press, was kidnapped by another Palestinian resistance group, Islamic Jihad, and held for more than six years.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/90C84965-A36A-41BF-AE69-E5601366FA8F.htm

[DoctorZIn]

Zarqawi Infiltrates Shi'ite Community

March 04, 2004
Middle East Newsline
MENL

BAGHDAD -- A leading Al Qaida-aligned insurgency leader has used Iranian nationals to infiltrate Iraq's Shi'ite majority community.

Iraqi and U.S. officials said Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, regarded as the most lethal insurgent in Iraq, has succeeded in infiltrating agents into the Shi'ite community in several major cities of the country. They said Al Zarqawi has recruited Iranians to collect intelligence and transport suicide bombers to Shi'ite civilian targets.

Al Zarqawi, the officials said, has managed to collect information on a range of Shi'ite targets where U.S. forces have not been deployed. They said his agents have taken advantage of the uncoordinated security around Shi'ite mosques and other shrines, regarded as high-value targets because of the large number of people they attract. Al Zarqawi, the officials said, has also taken advantage of the refusal by Shi'ite mosque guards to cooperate with Sunni police deployed outside the houses of worship.

On Tuesday, in the bloodiest day in Iraq since the end of the U.S.-led war against the Saddam Hussein regime, about 200 Shi'ites were killed in suicide and other bombings in Baghdad and Karbala. The Shi'ites were marking the 10-day Ashura mourning period for the death of Hussein, the grandson of Mohammed, founder of Islam.

http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2004/march/03_04_2.html

[StriperSniper]

Andrews has just called for regime change in Iran for the benefit of the Iranian people and the security of America. He is not calling for military action, but everything short of that. Sounds like a start, but he has to remember that military action must be an option if you are going to have that policy.

I usually don't agree with a word he says, but Rep. Andrews is giving a powerful speech in support freedom for Iran.

[nuconvert]

Can you give any info on that speech?

Did you listen to it?

[StriperSniper]

It's still on. He started with some of their atrocities, and has been going on with a comprehensive look at what is going on and the threat that it poses.

[StriperSniper]

Andrews - "The issue tonight is where is the next sanctuary..."

He has made the case that it is Iran, now that we have taken care of Iraq and Afghanistan.

[nuconvert]

Thanks a lot. I caught the last 15-20 mins. He was very good

[StriperSniper]

No Problem.(The only reason I even noticed, was I had just caught the end of Rep. Tancredo and hadn't changed the channel.)

I'll try to find it in the record tomorrow and post the whole thing.

[nuconvert]

Great. I just went to CSPAN and Andrews site.
Nothing there.
Thanks again.