Iranian Alert -- March 5, 2004 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD --Americans for Regime Change in Iran

UN Nuke Watchdog Must Keep Hands on Iran - Diplomats

March 05, 2004
Reuters
Louis Charbonneau

VIENNA -- The United States and the European Union's "Big Three" were searching for a compromise on a draft U.N. nuclear resolution on Iran that is not too harsh but keeps up the pressure on Tehran, diplomats said on Friday.

On Monday, the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors begins meeting to discuss resolutions on Iran and Libya's previously undeclared nuclear programs -- both of which were supplied by a global black market linked to the father of Pakistan's atom bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Diplomats from the 35 states on the IAEA's board told Reuters a resolution on Iran had been drafted by the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and was being circulated. But it had to be revised to accommodate comments from France, Britain, Germany and non-aligned countries.

"It's important that the board keeps its hands on this issue," said one Western diplomat, adding that the draft's tone was "not too critical" so as to avoid being controversial. "It's important to send a message that the board remains involved."

The diplomat said the EU's "Big Three" were working on softening the resolution by "making the text more positive."

In a new report on U.N. inspections in Iran, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran withheld information on its research in the advanced "P2" enrichment centrifuge, which can produce arms-grade uranium at twice the speed of the "P1" centrifuge.

In October, Tehran gave the IAEA what it described at the time as a full and truthful account of its entire nuclear program. But it failed to mention either the P2 or sensitive experiments with plutonium and polonium, a substance that can be used to initiate a chain reaction in a nuclear fission bomb.

Iran has been lobbying board members to remove the Iranian atomic program from the IAEA's agenda, but the resolution proposed by Washington and its allies would prevent that.

Washington has long accused Iran of running a secret atomic weapons program in violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and has called on the IAEA board to declare Iran in "non-compliance" and report it to the U.N. Security Council. That could lead to sanctions.

But the United States has met with strong resistance on the IAEA board from the "Big Three," who would prefer to engage Iran instead of isolating it, and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which has been loathe to come down hard on Tehran.

Washington dropped the idea of reporting Iran to the Council at next week's meeting, but diplomats said the Libyan precedent would set the stage for a possible Council report in June.

THE LIBYAN PRECEDENT

In December, Libya announced it had a nuclear weapons program but invited the IAEA oversee its dismantling. Since then, U.S., British and IAEA experts have evacuated most sensitive atomic equipment and documents to the United State.

For the United States, Libya has become everything that Iran is not -- cooperative with U.N. inspectors, transparent and apparently sincere in its desire to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction programs.

On Thursday, U.S. Under Secretary of State for arms control and international security, John Bolton, told reporters in Lisbon that Iran's behavior was in sharp contrast to that of Libya, where disarmament is moving at an "acceptable pace."

The United States and Britain are co-sponsoring a resolution, the text of which Libya has already approved, that will praise Tripoli's disarmament but will call for a report to the U.N. Security Council, diplomats said.

"This Security Council report will be purely informative," said one diplomat. "There will be no sanctions against Libya, but it will set an important precedent for Iran."

He said that in June, Washington could then cite the Libyan precedent as a basis for reporting Tehran to the Security Council, but without the praise that Libya will get.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20040305_317.html

Iran Human Rights

March 05, 2004
Voice of America
Editorial

An Iranian man named Mohsen Mofidi died recently, reportedly after receiving eighty lashes with a leather cord as part of an official punishment. According to the human rights group Amnesty International, Mr. Mofidi was accused of possessing a satellite dish and medicine containing alcohol. Amnesty International says he was also accused of fostering so-called “corruption” because his sisters apparently had boyfriends. Before the flogging, Mr. Mofidi reportedly spent four months in prison, where he became ill. The flogging was carried out despite his illness.

In its latest report, the U.S. State Department says the Iranian government’s poor human rights record has gotten worse. The report cites the July 2003 death in police custody of Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian photographer. She was killed by a blow to the head after being arrested for taking pictures at Evin prison in Tehran. Torture of detainees and prisoners by Iranian security forces is frequent.

Many hundreds of pro-reform demonstrators were arrested in June 2003. Many Iranian political activists, student leaders, and journalists remain in prison. There have also been reports of political killings.

Lorne Craner is U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor: “It’s another issue that we’ve tried to pursue, both in the [United Nations] General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights. Canada proposed the resolution on Iran. . .condemning these kinds of practices in Iran at the General Assembly last fall.”

The U-N General Assembly’s adoption of that resolution sends a clear message that people around the world recognize the plight of the Iranian people. Mr. Craner says the U.S. is working with other countries to hold Iran’s theocratic regime accountable for its human rights abuses.

The Iranian people have made it clear that they want change. But the unelected Council of Guardians has vetoed most reform legislation. This year, the council went ever further: it disqualified more than two-thousand candidates for controlled parliamentary elections, including many reform-minded incumbents. In response, record numbers of Iranians boycotted the elections.

http://www.voanews.com/Editorials/article.cfm?objectID=424A2EEE-8803-49F6-8DEF4917B46AC4FE&title=3%2F5%2F04%20%2D%20IRAN%20HUMAN%20RIGHTS

Defector says Iranian military pro-U.S.

Believes as many as 40% 'waiting for the arrival of America'

Posted: March 5, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

A former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has defected to Azerbaijan and disclosed that Iran's military is infused with pro-U.S. sentiment.

Col. Bakharali Bagiryan arrived in Baku last week.

"I came to Azerbaijan 40 days ago and was registered with the Azerbaijani representative office of the UNHCR as a political émigré," Bagiryan said at the Baku Press Club Feb. 23.

Bagiryan said many Iranian military troops would like to defect.

"In Iran, the military are not issued with passports, which deprives them of the opportunity to leave the country legally," he said. "I have been sent to Azerbaijan in the capacity of a representative of those who want cardinal changes in Iran's state structure."

The IRGC are Islamic shock troops and are Teheran's key liaison with international terrorist groups, such as Lebanese Hezbollah.

Bagiryan said some 40 percent of servicemen in the Iranian army think as he does and are "waiting for the arrival of America in Iran."

"The strengthening of the U.S. position in the region causes optimism among many Iranian servicemen and they secretly support the operation in Iraq," the colonel said. "I think that many of them would back a similar U.S. operation in Iran."

Bagiryan said Teheran's claim that the Iranian army fully supports the government is groundless. He said he intended to stay in Azerbaijan and help those fighting for the national interests of southern Azerbaijan.

His remarks appeared in the Baku newspaper Turan, an independent, non-governmental news agency close to the People's Front of Azerbaijan.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37417

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.