Iranian Alert -- July 7, 2004 [EST]-- IRAN LIVE THREAD -- "Americans for Regime Change in Iran"

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Iran Bans Commemorations of 99 Unrest

July 07, 2004
Agence France Presse
Siavosh Ghazi

TEHRAN -- Iranian authorities signaled yesterday they had banned any commemorations marking this week’s fifth anniversary of violent student protests amid an effort to prevent a fresh outburst of anti-regime dissent.

In comments carried in the Iranian press, the security affairs chief for Tehran, Ali Taala, said the Interior Ministry had decided to bar any gatherings and rejected a request for a student event outside Tehran University.

Student representatives have also reportedly been summoned to meet Tehran police chief Gen. Morteza Talaie and Mohsen Gomi, a university representative of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“In recent years there have been excellent relations between police and students and today, hand in hand, we should try to forget the bad memories of the 18th of Tir,” or July 9, 1999, Talaie was quoted as telling them.

In addition, the Tehran University campus will also be shut down for the anniversary. A pro-reform group, the Association of Islamic Students, told the news agency ISNA that it had been informed the measure was taken to “disinfect the campus because of cockroach infestation”.

Although Deputy Interior Minister Ali Asghar Ahmadi later insisted to ISNA that “no decision” had been taken by his ministry on the event, he did assert it was “not necessary” to mark the deadly riots.

On July 9, 1999, pro-democracy students clashed with police in Tehran and other cities in unrest sparked by a heavy-handed police and vigilante raid on a smaller dormitory protest over newspaper closures.

Officially, one student was killed and hundreds of others injured in the violence, which prompted a major regime crackdown on dissent in universities — a major driving force behind the pro-democracy movement.

On each anniversary of the unrest, the government has sought to prevent any gatherings from taking place.

In 2003, protesters merely took to the streets of Tehran in their cars, honking their horns, with the sidewalks and universities patrolled by huge numbers of police.

Prior to the anniversary last year, some 4,000 people were arrested in the wake of other protests. In recent months, police and Special Forces

units have been out in force in the capital, officially to help crackdown on bad driving amid an effort to cut Iran’s massive highway death toll.

“There is a view that the Special Forces are there to show that the regime is strong and powerful enough to tackle any protest,” explained journalist and analyst Hamid-Reza Jalaipour. “But in all truth, they have been mainly deployed to sort out the traffic problem and above all arrest motorcyclists who are the cause of a lot of accidents.”

Nevertheless, the 25-year-old Islamic government has gone all-out to prevent fresh protests. This year the anniversary falls on Thursday, July 8, due to the difference in the Gregorian and Persian calendars.

“The end-of-year exams finished a week ago, and the universities and dormitories are now closed,” said Abdollah Momeni, a leading member of the Office to Consolidate Unity, Iran’s main pro-reform student group.

“The police presence will also have a dissuasive effect, even if officially they are there to control the traffic.

“But we do think the events of the 18th of Tir should be preserved in the memory of Iranians, so we will be sending a letter of protest to the United Nations Human Rights Commission,” he said.

Under the circumstances, observers and even activists say no major protests can be expected. “There has been a lethargic atmosphere in the universities,” Momeni admitted.

Since the last anti-government protests a year ago, Iran’s reformist camp has become increasingly isolated. Most moderates were barred from contesting February’s Parliament elections, won easily by conservatives. The polls passed off calmly despite charges from reformists that the result had been rigged.

Meanwhile, Iran has appealed to Russia, which is helping build its first nuclear power plant, not to yield to US pressure to abandon the multimillion dollar deal, the official news agency IRNA reported yesterday.

“In light of the good relations and expanding cooperation between Tehran and Moscow, Iran expects Russia not to yield to the US biased approach and constant political pressure,” Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi was quoted as telling visiting Russian security chief Igor Ivanov.

Ivanov held a string of meetings here in Iran, which according to Iranian press reports were focused on the nuclear issue, the ongoing dispute over sharing Caspian Sea resources and the situation in the Caucasus.

In another development, a Chinese woman detained at Tehran airport on charges of carrying a fake passport has finally been released after three months in legal and linguistic limbo, a press report said yesterday. The Iran Daily newspaper said the woman, identified only as a student traveling as a tourist, was finally put on trial after the Chinese Embassy here provided her with a translator.

The 26-year-old, who was not named, was detained at the capital’s Mehrabad airport in late March as she tried to leave the Islamic republic. Unable to speak any of the languages the Islamic republic’s judiciary or immigration service are equipped to deal with, she was instead locked away in prison and almost forgotten about.

The paper said that when she finally appeared before a judge, she asserted she had no idea she was carrying a fake passport. Although unable to pay a fine of 2.5 million rials ($310), she was then sent home on a flight to Beijing.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=47939&d=7&m=7&y=2004

'I Will Never Bow to the Mullahs'

July 06, 2004
Potkin Azarmehr
Iran va Jahan

The Mother of Payman Piran, Iranian student currently serving a 10 year sentence, today vowed that she will never bow to the Mullahs and plead for the freedom of her son and husband from the lslamic dungeons.

Payman Piran, is currently on hunger strike along with other Iranian political prisoners in Evin prison to mark the fifth anniversary of the July student uprising. Yesterday tens of Islamic security agents ransacked his parents' house and kidnapped his father, Mustafa Piran, a school teacher.

'They have confiscated all our belongings and evacuated us from our house, I am now staying with friends. They have taken my son, they have taken my husband, and they say we can not live in a State apartment for school teachers and pay rent for our accomodation and at the same time be against the Islamic Republic, but I will never bow to the Mullahs, I will never plead to them for the release of my son and husband and our belongings." Mrs Piran said.

"They kept telling my husband to plead to the judge and tell your son to do the same too otherwise we will throw all your belongings and yourselves out of the house, but my husband refused saying NEVER, nor will my son, he is not a traitor, we are patriots." Mrs Piran continued.

Mrs. Piran finished by saying "I have no fear of them, I said it to them when they were beating my husband, if this is your Islam, I hate it, I don't want to be a Muslim."

They may have removed the Sun and the Lion from our flags, but they will never remove all the Lions and the Lionesses and our everlasting guiding Sun from our motherland.

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=07&d=06&a=13

No Regrets!

July 07, 2004
Iran va Jahan
Nicole Sadighi

In order to achieve world peace, we must change the political and socio-economics of the world. When the late President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Empire an "Evil Empire" in 1982 and described his "plan and hope for the march of freedom and democracy..." there was political outcry from all corners of the academic institutions and media and political analysts, slating his statement as diplomatic insensitivity and nothing more than a propaganda slogan. Even now, fifteen years on, the collapse of the Berlin Wall personifies "a dream come true" for so many. Democratic governments overturned Communist regimes in Eastern Europe; Germany was reunited, and the Warsaw Pact sunk into the abyss. The end of the Cold War and the end of the forty-year barricade that divided Europe has today made it possible for ten new countries, namely most from the formerly communist east, to be accepted to join the EU. There have been no regrets since.

In fact until the spotlight was turned on apartheid in S. Africa and segregation in the U.S. was "named and shamed", there were no lawsuits or protests to challenge and eventually change these systems.

However, once upon a time, nobody would have believed that one day the communist powers would end. Likewise in the 21st century, despite all the bad press, such as the foolish American soldiers who decided to take the law into their own hands at Abu Ghraib, one shouldn't have doubt for the future of Iraq and its democratic prospects. With the right policies and determination the free world can overcome tyrannies and the whole free world can dream the impossible. At the same time unfortunately the left-wing media had only focused on "those pictures" and turned it into a political fiasco. However, while Saddam or Mullahs of the Islamic Republic in Iran have committed the same atrocities and worse, or when a terrorist decapitated 26-year-old Nick Berg, or 33-year old Kim Sun-il, the South Korean translator, or Private Keith Maupin, 20, who was shot dead, there was not a murmur of a call for an investigation of any kind by these leftists. In a democracy such episodes are unacceptable and are punished which was not the case under Saddam's regime. The whole purpose of terrorist activities is to draw attention to their cause. By committing a gruesome act, such as filming an execution and posting it on the Internet, all they are doing is seeking our attention. The murder appeared calculated to horrify America and couldn't have happened at a worse time, as support for the US intervention in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level. So what do we; the people fighting a "war" on terrorism, do? We post their pictures across the front page of our papers and show them on national television. Yes, that makes sense. For the sake of a few pictures we can see what kind of an uproar they have caused.

Is the public's need to see these pictures greater than the need to discourage terrorists from doing increasingly disgusting acts to get our attention? One very much doubts it. The behaviour of a number of soldiers at Abu Ghraib was beyond reprehensible. There is no equivalence, though, between abuse brought to our attention by US military personnel and brutally hacking a man's head off then hanging his body upside down from a bridge. The man who cut off Mr. Berg's head, identified as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a deputy of Osama bin Laden, gave this message on the film: "For the American mothers and wives of American soldiers, we tell you that we offered the US administration to exchange this hostage with some of the detainees in Abu Ghraib and they refused...you will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins, slaughtered in this way." The condemnation has by most, been claimed that this murder was an act of revenge for the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Mr. Berg went missing on April 9, before the Abu Ghraib scandal had emerged; therefore he was not captured on the assumption that there might be a scandal relating to American troops a few weeks later. Abu Ghraib was merely a weak justification given by the slaughterers. If the US army were not in Iraq, then they would have claimed it was because of the Israeli - Palestinian struggle, if that was not an issue in today's society then perhaps Afghanistan would have been their excuse, if not that then a different argument and so forth. These Islamic extremists have been on a fierce mission - a mission to kill. The driving force of the terrorists is not different from the Nazi's motivations. Mass murder feeds on its appetite for hatred and dogmatic justification. For the Nazis, it was a dream of a pure race, white supremacy, which fuelled their loathing of Jews. Al Qaeda's dream is religious supremacy concluding in Islamic world domination, they proudly murder all those they deem inferior and all those who dispute their fanatical beliefs, as the Nazis did. In fact they have hatred for all Western established ideals such as, democracy, liberty, equality and essentially deem all disbelievers as the enemy who must be exterminated one way or another. In point of fact they hold a great deal of resentment for a population so diverse in religion and ethnic backgrounds, that they have declared half the world as infidels! They would even gladly butcher their own as a means to an end, as we have seen the countless attacks on western interests in Muslim countries, such as in HSBC Turkey, Spanish Cultural centre in Casablanca, Morocco, a nightclub in Bali.

Nonetheless, all those left-wing sceptics of the war on Iraq should wake up and realise the velocity of this fanatical Islamic threat and the sensitivity of the situation in Iraq. Al-Qaeda's intention has always been to coerce the U.S. forces out of Iraq via the constant barrage of attacks and killings and, to cause enough economic crisis that would probably influence the November Presidential election in the U.S.A. and, they would most certainly find Iraq as a suitable base for its operations; thus it must be appreciated that one cannot just shift 200,000 people from one regime to another. The Cold War lasted for 40 years, but it was the assertive power of pressure; which lead to a free economy and democracy, as is the case for Iraq. However, when the sand has settled, all those media pundits and left-wing governments will see that history will repeat itself and democracy will prevail; with no regrets!

Nicole Sadighi is a Market Research Analyst and freelance Journalist based in London, UK. She contributed this article to Iran va Jahan.

nicolesadighi@hotmail.com

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=07&d=07&a=2

US, Israel Highlight Iran's Nuclear Weapons Program

July 06, 2004
AFP
ABC News Online

The United States and Israel have highlighted Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program as the UN's atomic energy agency moved to probe Tel Aviv's nuclear strength. "Iran is the country that have announced that one missile toward Israel will destroy the Jewish state. So we should be concerned about the Iranians' efforts to develop nuclear weapons," Israel Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told reporters after holding talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

He said that Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) who arrived in Tel Aviv to persuade the Government to reveal its nuclear secrets, should instead step up his probe on Iran's nuclear weapons program.

Mr Shalom charged that Iran, regarded as the Jewish state's number one enemy, was trying to develop "a new missile that will include Berlin, London and Paris, and the southern part of Russia in its range".

"So if we would have to do something with ElBaradei, is to ask him to continue with his efforts to push the Iranians to put an end to its effort to develop a nuclear weapon," Mr Shalom said.

ElBaradei is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but Mr Sharon had earlier indicated that Israel's policy of refusing to confirm or deny that it has nuclear weapons would continue.

Most foreign experts believe that Israel possesses a nuclear arsenal, comprising around 200 warheads, although it has stuck to a policy of "ambiguity" for the last 40 years.

Mr Powell, speaking alongside Mr Shalom, said the Bush administration had been pointing out Iran's nuclear weapon capability to the international community for the last three-and-a-half years.

He noted that European foreign ministers had made trips to Iran to convince it to give up its nuclear arms program but without much success "even though they have received some commitments which have been unfulfilled".

"So the United States will continue to press in every way that we can, use all of the diplomatic and other resources at our disposal, to make sure the international community stands unified behind the effort to stop Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons development, or worse, acquiring a nuclear weapon," Mr Powell said.

Under an understanding with the United States dating back to 1969, Israel has committed itself to abstain from any comment on its nuclear potential and not carry out nuclear tests.

In return, Washington does not pressure Israel to adhere to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which would oblige its nuclear facilities to submit to international supervision by the IAEA.

Experts have said that Mr ElBaradei's mission was more of a political gesture to convince Arab states the IAEA is as concerned about Israel as it is about Iran, being investigated on suspicions of harbouring a secret atomic weapons program.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1148173.htm

Arrest Draws Focus on Iran Role in Iraq

London, July 6 (IranMania) - According to Associated Press Monday's arrests of two Iranians focused new attention on how Tehran is trying to protect its interests in Iraq. The Iranians were suspected of attempting to carry out a vehicle bombing in Iraq.

The announcement of the arrests by the Iraqi Interior Ministry was a rare instance tying Iranians to a particular attack. But there was no indication that the two men - who the ministry said were caught trying to detonate a car bomb in an eastern Baghdad neighborhood Monday - were Iranian government agents. They might instead be working on their own.

So far, Iran is believed to have used money, not guns, to influence Iraq - particularly by spreading wealth among Shiite political factions - while avoiding a direct confrontation with its longtime rival the United States.

Monday's arrests came on the heels of comments by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari saying some neighboring countries were financing and training terrorists in Iraq, apparently referring to Iran and Syria.

According to this report, Iran's powerful former President Hashemi Rafsanjani said Syria, Iran and Turkey should coordinate their policies to prevent the disintegration of Iraq.

The "conspiracies'' being hatched by "Washington and Tel Aviv'' against Iraq call for increased "strategic cooperation'' between Iran and Syria, Rafsanjani was quoted as saying.

Iranians showed their extreme anger that Shiite shrines in Iraq were damaged in fighting between U.S. troops and Iraqi insurgents have volunteered to join the battle against the Americans.

Iran has said it would try to stop zealots from crossing the border - and Iran's supreme leader has refused to give a green light to one group, the Devotees for Martyrdom, that says it's eager to fight in Iraq.

http://www.iranmania.com/news/060704ac.asp

Israel warns of nuclear Iran by 2008

By HERB KEINON
Jerusalem Post
Jul. 4, 2004 10:14 | Updated Jul. 7, 2004 0:16

If the international community doesn't halt Iran's march to acquiring nuclear weapons, Teheran may have its first nuclear bomb by 2008, OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aharon Ze'evi said Tuesday night.

Ze'evi made his comments on Channel 1, soon after the arrival of Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), for a two-day visit.

Ze'evi said according to Israel's intelligence information, Iran has no intention of halting its nuclear program, despite the international pressure.

Ze'evi said Israel believes that by the spring of 2005 the Iranians will have independent nuclear research and development capability, and that it will take another two and a half years for Iran to build its first nuclear weapon.

Asked if Israel needs to respond, Ze'evi said that as long as the world is taking action to halt this development, Israel should stand aside.

"This concerns Europe, the US, and the free world more than it does us, and of course it does concern us," he said.

Israel is expected to raise with ElBaradei the question of Iran's nuclear program, and what moves the international community and IAEA can take next to keep Teheran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Officially, however, the Iranian issue is not on the agenda of ElBaradei's talks here. The focus, according to Israeli officials, is to be on a wide range of bilateral issues.

ElBaradei is slated to meet with Health Minister Dan Naveh on Wednesday and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday.

If Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who is currently in the US, returns to Israel on time, ElBaradei will meet with him Thursday at the airport.

In addition, he is scheduled to hold discussions with officials of the Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, including its director, Gideon Frank.

ElBaradei is also to deliver a lecture at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem on Thursday.

ElBaradei is accompanied by Vilmos Cserveny, who is in charge of external relations for the IAEA, and the organization's spokesman, Mark Gwozdecky.
Israeli diplomatic officials repeated on the eve of ElBaradei's visit that Israel has no intention of changing its long-term policy of nuclear ambiguity.

Israel is also expected to make clear to ElBaradei that while it in favor of a Middle East nuclear free zone in principle, such a zone is premature before there is a fundamental political change in the region, including peace agreements and an end to Arab regimes calling for Israel's destruction.
Though Israel is not a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty – which gives the IAEA powers to inspect nuclear programs – it is a member of the agency. ElBaradei will not be visiting the nuclear reactors in Dimona or Nahal Sorek.

Israel neither confirms nor denies it has nuclear weapons, and has maintained a policy of nuclear ambiguity for nearly 50 years, saying only that it will not be the first country to introduce nuclear arms into the Middle East.

ElBaradei: I have no power to pressure Israel

Saying he had no "magic wand" to change Israel's policy of nuclear ambiguity, Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrived as an invited guest in Israel Tuesday for a two-day meeting that Israeli officials said will focus on bilateral issues.

"I obviously don't have a magic wand nor do I have a power of prescription ... I have the power of recommending, of advising and I have no reason to believe that I will not have an open and frank discussion," ElBaradei told reporters in Tel Aviv.

"We need to strengthen security in the Middle East and I think everybody understands that. I'd like to see Israel supporting the Nonproliferation Treaty. I'd like to see the beginning of a dialogue on how a ... nuclear security free zone could look. If I get the parties closer on the need for a dialogue, I think I'll be successful," he added.

Meanwhile, in only his second interview since his release from prison, Israe's nuclear spy Mordechai Vanunu urged ElBaradei to persuade Israeli leaders to allow him into the Dimona plant.

"Now, after 18 years that my revelation has gone to all the world and I come out of prison and report to all the world, he too must go and demand to be inside Dimona and to report to IAEA and to all the world," Vanunu said on Channel 1 TV.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1088910682563

A quarter of Iranian women beset by depression

London, July 6 (IranMania) - According to the latest research carried out in Iran the number of women suffering from physiological disorders is twice that of men.

The ‘Iran’ daily reported that the results of a survey carried out by the Psychology Institute show that 14.9% of Iranian men
suffer from some kind of mental disorder while the figure stands at 25.9% among Iranian women.

The head of the Institute, Dr. Jafar Bolhari considered the lack of a coordinated relief network in the country as the reason
behind this crisis saying: “Many of the serious psychological diseases seen today among Iranian women were at first no more
than minor problems. Yet as these problems were left unnoticed, they gradually grew into complicated crises.”

According to Dr. Bolhari the most serious psychological problem threatening Iranian women is depression. He noted that in
today’s society when an Iranian woman counters a problem she does not know where to seek refuge and that’s why she is
vulnerable toward psychological pressures.

http://www.iranmania.com/news/060704l.asp

Roundup of today’s Iran current affairs news

London, July 6 (IranMania) - To prevent illegal excavations, permanent guard posts are to be established in five of Iran’s historical sites. The establishment of the bases requires a 700 million toman ($840,000) budget.

- One fourth of the programs aired by Iran’s state-run Broadcasting (IRIB) is made up of commercial advertisements. This is
while there is no official regulation concerning the timing and the quality of TV ads in Iran.

- A number of Iranian MPs reported the formation of a new Parliamentary Commission called the Commission of Journalists and
Press.

- Iran’s Minister of Interior and government spokesman rejected any news on ratification of a bill on certain dressing codes. Despite the denial of the news, it seems that Tehran’s Police is going to unilaterally draw up regulations in this regard to counter what it terms as “violation of Islamic moral rules” in society.

- The most recent statistics indicate that the rate of employment among Iranian women is among the lowest in the world.

http://www.iranmania.com/news/060704k.asp

this page online at: http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2004/july/iran_iraq_relations_5704-2.shtml
IRAN AND IRAQ, FUTURE LEADERS OF THE MIDDLE EAST OR BITTER ENEMIES
By Safa Haeri
Posted Monday, July 5, 2004

PARIS, 5 July (IPS) The surprise hand over of powers from the Americans to the Washington-installed Iraqi government on 28 of June, 48 hours before the official date surprised the Iranians as well.

Being one of the very few nations to recognise the Iraqi Provisory Council when it was installed by the Americans six months ago, Tehran rather quickly reacted to the event, albeit cautiously.

Iran's Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi described the formal handover of authority to the Iraqi interim Government of Mr. Iyad Alawi on Monday as “a step toward establishing a popular government and restoring full popular sovereignty”.

The transfer of power from the Americans to the Iraqi government and end of occupationis a positive step.

"The transfer of power to the Iraqi government and end of occupation, which is taking place on the basis of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1546, is a positive step", he said, quoted by the conservatives-controlled Radio and Television.

"We welcome any step which is taken in line with handing over Iraq's affairs to the country's public majority as well as ending occupation", Mr. Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, the official government spokesman said last week.

"We hope the transfer of power will be in this direction and help end occupation and establish a system based on the views and votes of the people," he told reporters at a weekly news briefing, referring to the low-key ceremony in Baghdad, during which the US “Vice Roy” Paul Bremer handed the transfer document to Iraq leaders, formally ending 14-month “occupation” of the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation. "This is a historic day, a happy day, a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to", Iraqi President Sheykh Ghazi Yawar told the semi secret ceremony.

The two countries are starting to come to terms with a destructive war, which they fought between 1980 and 1988 under the regime of Saddam Hussein, who also attacked neighbouring Kuwait.

Either Iran and Iraq would embark on a marriage of raison, like the one signed between France and Germanyor revert to old rivalries, antagonism, animosity and hating, paving the way for another war, Iranian analysts said, talking to Iran Press Service.

Either they would embark on a marriage of raison, like the one signed between France and Germany after the last World War, -- a liaison that turned into a love affair, as seen from the latest polls that shows that eighty per cent of Germans consider France as their most trusted and closest allies and friends – and together, becoming the political and economic locomotive of the region, the same role Paris and Berlin plays in Europe, or revert to old rivalries, antagonism, animosity and hating, paving the way for another war, Iranian analysts said, talking to Iran Press Service.

Even if the transfer of power is more virtual than real, the event opens new chapter in the tumultuous, love and hate relations between Iran and Iraq, but the big question is whether the two neighbours could turn it into a love or hate chapter.

“Iran’s Arab and Iraq relations are full of mutual hate having their roots in both history and religion. Both they need very wise, broad minded and courageous leaders to make full use of the new situation. For the time being, we don’t see any personality of the calibre of a (Charles) De Gaulle or (Konrad) Adenauer pointing in the horizons, at least in Tehran, where the present clerical leaders are too short sighted of Lilliputians and in Baghdad, we don’t know who might emerge and which direction the country might go”, one analyst told us, referring to the French and German leaders that signed the Franco-German Pact of Friendship more than fifty years ago.

Although the interim government led by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi will have full sovereignty, there are important constraints on its powers. Not only it can not make long-term policy decisions and has not control over more than 160,000 foreign troops who will remain in Iraq “on his demand”, but also faces growing insecurity due to the activities of a number of criminal groups, foreign-paid terrorists, islamist suicide-squads and local guerrillas to name some.
“The iraquisation of the situation in Baghdad would place in a new dimension the Iran-Iraq relations. Until now, Iran’s declared opposition to the presence of occupation forces in Iraq and its backing of groups fighting the Americans was welcomed by the majority of the Iraqis and even many members of the government. But from now on, whatever Tehran says or does concerning Iraq would be dealt directly by the Iraqi government, regarding it as a hostile or friendly act”, said Mr. Sa’id Shervini, an Iranian analyst specialising in the Middle Eastern affairs based in Germany.

In his view, the continuation of the presence of American forces, “a liability that Prime Minister Alawi can not govern without it” can provide the “necessary” pretext to any force that, for whatever reason, does not want to see peace and stability coming back to Iraq.

Some pundits places the Islamic Republic in this category, observing that the emergence of a real democracy in Iraq, -- one that would be more of the American type -- would be a “tremendous” encouragement to Iranian forces fighting for the rule of democracy and secularism in their own country.

But others are more optimistic. “Not only many of the present Iraqi ministers and personalities are friends of Iran, not only some of them have lived in Iran and enjoyed protection and assistance, but also Iran has been one of the first nations to officially recognise the Provisory Council and kept an embassy in Baghdad”, Dr. Assadollah Athari, a University professor in Tehran told the semi-independent Iranian students news agency ISNA.

“Although Iranians are happy with the fall of Saddam Hussein, but at the same time are unhappy with the occupation of Iraq by the Americans and the presence of a huge American force at their doors”, he added.

Dr Mohammad Ali Basiri, another scholar in Tehran says maybe the Iraqi government is not to the Iranians liking one hundred per cent, but one has to agree that it is one hundred per cent better than that of Saddam Hussein.

“Anyway, this (the transfer of powers to the Iraqis) is a good start allowing Iran to establish sound and friendly relations with its neighbours, promising better days for the future”, he told the same ISNA agency.

Dr Mohsen Jalilvand, a professor of international relations is also convinced that Iran would “do its best” to accommodate Mr. Alawi’s government, “but, he points out, Iraq must also keep in mind the conditions, situation and interests of Iran as one of the region’s most powerful nations”.

There is no doubt that with their natural resources, mostly oil, an energy that places them behind Saudi Arabia but combined together, makes them the largest producer and exporter in the world, enjoying the region’s most educated cadres and strongest armies, both war experienced and bound by the same Shi’a faith, the Tehran-Baghdad couple would be a tremendous force that every one would have to reckon with.

As Mr. Athari had said, the Kurdish and the Shi’a members of the Iraqi government are among Iran’s best friends, since the Sh’ia-based Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SAIRI) was formed in Iran and the leaders of the two main Kurdish parties have always maintained close ties with Tehran.

But the speculative creation of such a strong tandem not only would also change dramatically the traditional game play of the strategic region, but also raising hairs in Tel Aviv, Ankara and Riyadh in the one hand, Washington and London on the other.

Thinking that the Iraqi government, because it is installed and backed by the Americans would cross the Rubicon and recognise Israel is just a wishful thinking, as seen by the Afghan experience, where President-Prime Minister Hamed Karzai, also placed on the saddle in Kabul by the Americans, has yet to establish relations with the Jewish State, even in the de facto form.

“In the best of situations, Mr. Alawi would close his eyes to the presence of Israel in the region and live the problem for the future Iraqi parliament”, said one Iraqi journalist.

The likelihood is the formation of an opposite axis made of Israel, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, all three American’s best allies in the region, backed by Washington, to the Iran-Iraq duo that, in turn, would have the “natural” support of the European Union, -- plus or minus Britain --.

Ankara and Tel-Aviv are already working closely together in the military, security and intelligence fields, to the ire of Iran, Egypt, Jordan and Syria and although Turkish-Israeli relations had been downgraded by the Turkish government and parliament controlled by the moderate Islam-based Justice and Development Party because of Israel’s operations against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the military cooperation continues unabated.

For its part, Saudi Arabia had offered the Jewish State normalisation of relations with all Arab nations under Crown Prince Abdollah’s “peace for land” plan that was submitted to the Arab Summit in Beirut two years ago, but “dismissed” by Israel. Besides, the Saudis, who in great majority are Wahabites, considers the Shi’a as “heretics” and “outside” the Islam faith in the one hand and hates the Kurds, regarding them as being of Iranian “ajami” (stranger) extract, therefore “enemies of the Arabs”.

“The big question now is whether Iranians and Iraqis could be wise and intelligent enough to resist all sorts of provocations, manipulations, political manoeuvrings and malicious propaganda that the enemies of the Iran-Iraq rapprochement would downpour on them, pushing for a new war”, asked Mr. Parviz Mardani, a Germany-based independent Iranian journalist. ENDS IRAN IRAQ RELATIONS 5704

Iraq might not oppose attacks on Syria

04/07/2004 RPS
Washington DC, July 4, 2004 /RPS News/ -- Foreign Minister of Iraq Hoshyar Zebari told the Sunday Telegraph of London that his government had gathered information from intelligence services showing support by some neighboring countries to the insurgents.

Although Zebari did not mention Syria by name, other high ranking officials in the new Iraqi government pointed the fingers at Syria and Iran as the countries that are most to blame for training and funding foreign elements in Iraq to disrupt the country’s move towards democracy.

"Since we started to look at the security situation, we have seen how foreign governments have been helping terrorists," the newspaper quoted Zebari as saying. "Why they are doing it we cannot say, but we know where the support is coming from. We have plans to put this before the public within days and it will have substantial impact," he told the newspaper.

Baghdad also believed that up to 10,000 foreign spies and undercover agents had infiltrated the country since last year’s war, the newspaper reported.

Zebari "even indicated that Iraq might not oppose attacks by American troops based in Iraq on neighboring states if they were backing the insurgents," the Sunday Telegraph added. He was quoted as warning that supporting terrorists "will backfire on those governments".

http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=5201

"They may have removed the Sun and the Lion from our flags, but they will never remove all the Lions and the Lionesses and our everlasting guiding Sun from our motherland."

PonG

Ayatullah Khomeini.
a- “…Those who say Islam is NOT a religion of war and that Islam must not kill people, do not understand Islam. The Koran says war! War! Meaning those who follow the Koran must continue the war until evil is taken out from the
world. War is a blessing for the whole world and it is a blessing from God for any nation in any environment that it may be. Why do you constantly read the verses about mercy in the Koran and ignore the verses about killing(war)?” Ayatullah Khomeini, Tehran, December 20/21st 1984, on the occasion of ceremonies for the birth of Prophet Muhammad.

b- “We are after killing the corrupt roots of Zionism, Capitalism and Communism in the world. We have decided, with the blessing and grace of God, to destroy the systems built upon these three bases… If we are torn to pieces a thousand times, we shall not stop the fighting against the oppressor…” Ayatullah Khomeini, Tehran, 20/21st July 1988, following the acceptance of the UN resolution on cease fire with Iraq.

c- “Today, East and West know very well that the only force that is able to sweep them from the scene in Islam… Our officials should know that our revolution is not confined to Iran. The revolution of the Iranian people is the starting point of the great revolution of the Islamic world… One more time I am asking the high officials of the Islamic Republic system not to be afraid of any one and any thing except the great God, tighten their belts and refrain from abandoning the struggle and Jihad against corruption and prostitution of the Western capitalism and the nihilism and aggression of
Communism. We are still taking our first steps in the global struggle against East and West. Will it be worse than apparently being defeated by world powers (devourers)? Will it be worse than being accused by the world of being violent and backward? … Will it be worse than beloved children of the pure Mohammadan Islam being hanged up on the gallows? Will it be worse than wives and children of Hizbullah being taken captive? Let the mean materialistic world treat us like that, but we shall continue acting according to our Islamic duty …” Ayatullah Khomeini, Tehran, 22/23rd March
1989.

NUCLEAR: Due to International Suspicions Russia Cannot Finish Bushehr Plant, Ivanov Tells Iran

Secretary of Russia’s security council Igor Ivanov told secretary of the supreme national security council Hassan Rowhani that due to the international community’s suspicion about Iran’s nuclear program, Russia cannot resume work on the Bushehr nuclear plant. Rowhani and other Islamic officials called on Russia to end its suspension of work on the plant.

Radio Farda Newsroom

Secretary of Russia’s national security council Igor Ivanov told the Islamic government’s top authorities that because of international suspicions about Iran’s nuclear programs, Russia is unable to finish the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, according to Russian news sources. Secretary of supreme national security council Rowhani and other officials who met with Ivanov called on Russia to resume work on the project, Iranian news sources reported.
In his meeting with Ivanov on Monday, Rowhani said Iran was committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and was in full cooperation with the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He added that the country is sending what he called “powerful signals” to the international community to reassure it that Iran’s nuclear intensions are peaceful.

He called for settling differences with Russia on the Bushehr plant so that work can resume. Russia pulled out all its personnel last year, nearly a month after US occupation of Iraq began.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA said Ivanov “praised” the Islamic government for avoiding Security Council sanctions over its nuclear program. Ivanov promised that the Bushehr plant will be finished in 2005 and will come on line in 2006, IRNA added. Russian sources, however, reported that the purpose of Ivanov’s trip was to tell Iranian officials that work on the Bushehr plant could resume just yet.

Ivanov also met with Majles speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel, who told him the completion of the Bushehr plant would be a sign of strong Russia-Iran technical cooperation.

http://www.radiofarda.com/en_article/2004/7/d1cbaeda-5944-41b6-a00f-7bf44144326d.html

That story sounds suspicious to me.

This just in fro a student inside of Iran...

"DoctorZIn,

An Iranian arrested in North of Iraq by Iraqi forces.
And in another incident, two other Iranians arrested in Baghdad by US troops.

In Turkish-Iranian border clashes, 16 Iranian soldiers and 2 Officers killed in Action in fight against Anti-Turkey government rebels.

German based MHA news agency and BBC Persian confirms the clashes in Turkish Iranian border.

Finally, regarding the July 9th demonstrations:

Doctors & Nurses promised to rally in occasion."

Bump!

freedom for Iran