Iranian Alert -- DAY 23 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

Live Thread Ping List | 7.2.2003 | DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

In just 7 days (July 9th) the people of Iran are planning massive demonstrations events and strikes.

On this date, 4 years ago, the regime brutally attacked peaceful student demonstrators while in their dorms. The result was the loss of life and liberty of hundreds of students, many of which are still unaccounted for.

Once again, the regime has been threatening a major crackdown on the protesters. A major confrontation is just days away.

Iran is a country ready for a regime change. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a country. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary.

Please continue to post your news stories and comments to this thread.

Thanks for all the help.

DoctorZin

[6323cd]

Oh, goody. There will be fewer but better Muslims.

[AdmSmith]

Is the IAEA really going to Iran on July 9th? That's no coincidence.

I found that fascinating as well.

I do not know how the date was decided, probably by IAEA. ElBaradei would stay in Iran for one day, but an accompanying delegation might stay longer and might visit Iran's nuclear facilities.

[nuconvert]

The President has announced support for Liberia and the ouster of Taylor. It's unclear whether he'll send in troops or a force of 80 or so spec. ops type guys. The guess is the latter to protect the embassy and use it as a base.

[DoctorZIn]

The other day I published the article below by Banafsheh... it had been unpublished at the time. It is very interesting reading.

A Constitutional Construct for the Post-mullah Era
July 02, 2003
Iran va Jahan
Banafsheh Pourzand and Elio Bonazzi

It has now been published as the lead story at:

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news_en.pl?l=en&y=2003&m=07&d=02&a=11

Congrats, Banafsheh!

[nuconvert]

Have you noticed a decrease in the outgoing news from Iran since the satellite dish ban and web site blocking devices have gone into effect? Do you think they're finding ways around the blocking? I know you said you have helped and others have said so also. I suppose they could be confiscating laptops and other computers when they find them.

[McGavin999]

So, Katami has decided to stand up for the Young Lions. I don't think it's a case of him suddenly developing courage so much as finally figuring out which side is going to win. :o)

[nuconvert]

This is a bit eerie. Any updates, Doc?

[DoctorZIn]

As I said earlier this morning, the regime is trying to cut all contact with the outside world. The people are angry about this. I chatted with some in Iran last night where they said the building they live in had over 200 separate satellite dishes and the regime forced them to remove them all.

I also have noticed that we haven’t yet heard from Khashayar. It is likely that these attempts at closing them off from the outside world will backfire on the 9th. Time will only tell. If you are praying individual, pray for them.

DoctorZin

[GOPJ]

bump

[nuconvert]

"I also have noticed that we haven’t yet heard from Khashayar"

Yes. I hope Khashayar is okay.

A week seems a very long time.

[DoctorZIn]

Shah's son rallies American Right against mullahs

Iran's exiled crown prince says religious leaders cannot deliver real reform, writes David Rennie in WashingtonFrom his exile home near Washington, Reza Pahlavi is confident that he smells revolution in the Iranian air. It may be a long way from suburban Maryland to the streets of Teheran, but he has been here before.

He was 18, and a crown prince, the last time there was regime change in Iran. In Texas for air force training, he watched as his father, the Shah, left his country on a medical "vacation" that swiftly became permanent exile.It was January 1979, and the western-backed monarchy had been swept aside with startling speed, after months of martial law, riots and crippling strikes.

Now, in emails, faxes and telephone messages that reach him from Iran every day, Mr Pahlavi says he senses a similar mixture of disdain and impatience.

Western politicians - most recently Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who visited Teheran on Sunday - continue to pin hope on the elected elements of the Iranian state, urging President Mohammed Khatami and his allies to stand by promises of reform. To Mr Pahlavi, they are too late.

"Certain quarters still insist on raising hopes based on so-called moderates. But the world is behind the curve by at least a year. For all practical purposes, the reform movement is dead," he told The Telegraph.

"I don't know Mr Khatami personally. I'm not suggesting that he's necessarily somebody with evil intent. Perhaps he even had good intentions. But at the end of the day he has failed to deliver."

Iranians are not just disappointed with their president. "It's beyond disappointment. They're enraged," said Mr Pahlavi. He resists talk of regime change from outside, and especially threats of military intervention.

"There is no need for it. Change in Iran will happen from within," he said. The outside world's role should be to offer moral support for the protesters - 4,000 of whom were arrested last month - and to sever political and commercial ties with the mullahs.

He has reached out to his countrymen from afar, calling for civil disobedience, then a referendum, so that Iranians can decide their own form of democratic government.

Mr Pahlavi has powerful friends in Washington. On Capitol Hill, Senator Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, has called for £30 million in funding for opposition groups and broadcasters, many with monarchist links.

A group of neo-conservative hawks recently formed the Coalition for Democracy in Iran, advocating an all-out drive to overthrow the mullahs.

Mr Pahlavi knows what his new friends want to hear, predicting that a democratic Iran would scrap its nuclear weapons programme, and hinting that a new Iran would restore the friendly ties with Israel forged by his father.

The Bush administration is more cautious, even declining to endorse Mr Brownback's bill for the moment. George Tenet, the CIA chief, told Congress this year that "no Iranian government, regardless of its ideological leanings" will readily give up weapons "seen as guaranteeing the security of Iran".

Mr Pahlavi dodges the question of whether he would be king. He said his "only mission" was to lead Iran towards a democratic choice of government. "On that day I've said my mission in life would be accomplished," he declared.

Many Iranian-Americans mutter that he is surrounded by hardliners from his father's old regime. Yet he is not afraid to voice remarks that would appal the old guard. He said some good came from Iran's 24-year "direct experiment with theocracy".

It has been "tragic and costly", but Iranians have been "intellectually and ideologically inoculated" against clerical rule.

"Unless there is a clear separation between religion and government, there is no hope for meaningful democratisation. This is the basic conclusion that Iranians have reached," he explained.

• A French court yesterday ordered the release on bail of Maryam Rajavi, the symbolic leader of the Iranian opposition People's Mujahideen, who is suspected of terrorist offences.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030702/wl_mideast_afp/azerbaijan_iran_us_030702212008
"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

[JulieRNR21]

"Unless there is a clear separation between religion and government, there is no hope for meaningful democratisation. This is the basic conclusion that Iranians have reached," he explained.

Exactly....Turkey is the model for Iraq & Iran..... It has a secular government and tolerates other religions. There are a large number of Christians in Turkey according to a Turkish friend of mine.

I pray that July 9 will be Iran's 'Independence Day'!

[visualops]

Just read the post regarding the banner, and I see it wasn't happenstance I chose that image. I'm very glad this has been a boost, that's what I was hoping for.

Anything else I can help with let me know.

[nuconvert]

2 questions.
Do we know of the Coalition for democracy? Did a search and couldn't find anything.
Also, I thought the French refused to let Rajavi out on bail? If she's out, is she a flight risk?

He seems very optimistic. That's encouraging.

[DoctorZIn]

U.S. to Beam TV Show to Iran From Washington

By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 3, 2003; Page A16 [An Excerpt]

The U.S. government plans to launch a Persian-language television newscast in Iran on Sunday as the Bush administration continues to encourage internal dissent against the ruling clerics, administration officials said yesterday.

The Voice of America program, to be announced today, will be sent from Washington by satellite to avoid the jamming that has interfered with U.S. government radio programs aimed at the Iranian people.

The program, "News and Views," will include headlines, a report about the United Nations and a cultural package. It will air nightly from 9:30 to 10 p.m., Tehran time. VOA said a network of Iranian stringers will supply news from within the country.

The U.S. government's satellite newscast builds on the efforts of exiles in Los Angeles who are trying to promote rebellion in Tehran and other Iranian cities by beaming private radio and television programs into the country by satellite. The United States has said it is not involved in those programs, but some Pentagon officials and others in the administration have argued for a more activist approach to undermining the mullahs.

Voice of America officials said the mission of the new program is journalistic. But President Bush has praised Iranian protesters for demanding greater freedom from the clerics for pursuing what he calls a "free Iran." The White House has been working with allies around the world to try to build pressure on Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions.

A senior administration official, who refused to be identified because the plan has not been announced, said the mission of the new newscast is to "add volume and reach" to the efforts of the exiles.

Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the VOA, said the goal is to provide Iranians with an alternative to news programs controlled by their government.

"By reporting what's happening, we can help further the struggle for freedom and self-determination in Iran," Tomlinson said. "The demonstrations alone reflect the unrest in the nation, and if ever there was a time when the people of Iran needed sound, factual, objective reporting on their country, it's now."

The program will last at least through Sept. 30, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors plans to spend about $500,000 on it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1078-2003Jul2.html

[freedom44]

Nice threat there Khatami. I'm sure the students are shivering from your millionth threat to resign.

[nuconvert]

I thought I just heard a very condensed version of this on Britt Hume.

[freedom44]

They refused to exile her to Iran like Khatami asked the French government to do.
She's currently on bail and she's not a flight risk.