Iranian Alert -- DAY 37 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movment in Iran from being reported.

From jamming satellite broadcasts, to prohibiting news reporters from covering any demonstrations to shutting down all cell phones and even hiring foreign security to control the population, the regime is doing everything in its power to keep the popular movement from expressing its demand for an end of the regime.

These efforts by the regime, while successful in the short term, do not resolve the fundamental reasons why this regime is crumbling from within.

Iran is a country ready for a regime change. 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.

Please continue to join us here, post your news stories and comments to this thread.

This just in...

I have yet to confirm this meeting, but many Iranians Americans are contacting me asking for our help.

It appears we need to expose this group.

For us in California, we need to find out if this report is accurate and if so what Darrel Issa is doing.

DoctorZin

STOP JULY 22 WASHINGTON MEETING IN SUPPORT OF ISLAMIC REPUBLIC!

We are forwarding the information regarding the formation of a new lobby group called Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC).

The invitation e-mail that has been forwarded to us seems to be an internal memo and contains the outrageous statement (underlined by us) that:

"The reception will mark the official launching of IAPAC, and provide an opportunity for influential business and civic leaders of the Iranian American community to meet with the founding member of IAPAC, Hassan Nemazee, as well as members of the U.S. Congress and their staffs, to discuss how relations between Iran and the US can be restored in support of the Islamic Republic and the revolution. "

The new group, Iranian American PAC is headed by none other than Hassan Nemazee, a board member of the infamous AIC [DoctorZIn Note: AIC is a pro Islamic regime organization that has been discredited in Washington DC]!

The other people on the board, Akbar Ghahary and Faraj Alaeii are ALSO on AIC's board!

See bio below.

Nemazee was appointed to become an ambassador to Argentina in 1998 as a favor to the mullahs. The mullahs wanted a US ambassador in Argentina that could help them cover their crimes and terrorist attacks in Argentina. Clinton said
yes since he was so weak, but in the last minute, human rights activists managed to reverse the decisions. Nemazee is now back in Washington with his new PAC that will lobby to save the mullahs!

We contacted the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. (Tel: 1-800-824-5419). Hotel's information desk confirmed that IAPAC has a reception on July 22, 2003, 5:30 PM.

We have contacted Senator Kennedy's office about his announced participation. They have not yet confirmed it.

It is possible that since AIC has been exposed and discredited, new proxies are going to fill in!

We are trying to find more about this alarming development and will share it with you as soon as the accuracy of the e-mail is confirmed.

However, since the kick off reception of this lobby group is verified, and since any association with a terrorist regime like Islamic Regime of Iran (IRI) is against the US Anti Terrorism Act and Home Security Act, those who are against the human rights abuse and terrorism of IRI should react and oppose the formation of IRI's lobby groups and their illegal activities.

If you are concerned about the possible participation of Senator Kennedy and other congressmen in a reception given by IAPAC, please contact them using the following contact information:

Senator Edward Kennedy
Main Office:
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: 202/224-4543
FAX: 202/224-2417
senator@kennedy.senate.gov

Local Office:
2400 JFK Building, Boston
MA 02203
Tel: 617/565-3170

Congressman Steny H. Hoyer
U.S. House of Representatives
1705 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone - (202) 225-4131 Fax - (202) 225-4300

Darrell Issa, R-49 CA
Washington DC Office:
211 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
phone: 202.225.3906; fax: 202.225.3303

San Diego County Office:
1800 Thibodo Road, #310, Vista, CA 92083
phone: 760.599.5000; fax: 760.599.1178

Phoenix Park Hotel:
520 N. Capital St. NW Washington DC 20001
Tel: 1-800-824-5419; Fax: 202-393-3236

----- Original Message -----

From: democracynow2002@yahoo.com

To: mehr@mehr.org
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 5:02 PM
Subject: Islamic Republic to hold meeting in Washington!!
From: "Laleh Sharifi"
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 12:40 PM
Subject: IAPAC Event

Dear Friends,

I would like to cordially invite you to attend the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC) Kick Off Reception at the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. on July 22, 2003, 5:30 PM (sharp) to 7:30 PM. The reception will mark the official launching of IAPAC, and provide an opportunity for influential business and civic leaders of the Iranian American community to meet with the founding member of IAPAC, Hassan Nemazee, as well as members of the U.S. Congress and their staffs, to discuss how relations between Iran and the US can be restored in support of the Islamic Republic and the revolution.

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) will be our keynote guest joining a distinguished panel of other Members of Congress, including Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-5th MD and House Minority Whip) and Congressman Darrell Issa.

The invitation and RSVP instructions are in the attached Word Document. I would appreciate it if you could assist us by publicizing the event with your family and friends.

For more information, please contact info@iranianamericanpac.org
I hope to see you there.

Laleh

Iran confirms photojournalist died of brain hemorrhage after beating

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
The Associated Press
7/16/03 5:40 PM

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- An Iranian-Canadian journalist died of a brain hemorrhage caused by a beating after she was arrested while taking photographs during anti-government protests last month, Iran's vice president said Wednesday.

It was the first admission from an Iranian official that Zahra Kazemi, who died Friday, was beaten.

Earlier, Iranian officials maintained Kazemi, a freelance photographer, died of a stroke, contrary to her family's contention that she was beaten to death by Iranian security agents who detained her as she covered the student-led protests.

"She has died of a brain hemorrhage resulting from blows inflicted on her," Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. "We are pursuing details of the matter to see how it happened."

Wednesday's revelation underscored the struggle between reformers and hard-liners who control Iran's judiciary and security forces.

Government hard-liners had insisted Kazemi died of a stroke and tried to push ahead with her funeral. But a committee appointed by reformist President Mohammad Khatami to investigate the death stepped in Tuesday to prevent the burial, and Wednesday's admission about the beating came from Abtahi, a Khatami ally.

Kazemi's death "has no outcome other than tarnishing our international image at a time when we are in deep crisis at home and abroad," Abtahi said Wednesday.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien called Wednesday for a full investigation into Kazemi's death.

"We're very keen on having the truth ... and if crimes have been committed, we will demand (the perpetrators) face justice," Chretien told reporters in Quebec.

Reformists have linked Kazemi's death to a crackdown by hard-liners on journalists. Khatami has decried the closure of more than 90 newspapers in the past three years and the imprisonment of dozens of writers and activists in mostly closed trials without jury as a violation of the constitution, but said he was "powerless" to stop them. A number of Iranian journalists have been arrested in the past few days.

Last month's protests, among the largest in years against the Islamic establishment, underline the growing anger and disillusionment among the Iranian public.

On Wednesday, Khatami ordered his ministers of justice and intelligence to review their enforcement of judicial and security powers over journalists, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Kazemi, 54, who holds both Canadian and Iranian passports and lived in Quebec, was detained in Tehran on June 23 as she took photos of Tehran's notorious Evin prison during the protests. Family and friends said she was allegedly branded a spy and beaten unconscious by police interrogators. She was never formally charged with any crime.

Friends who visited her in the hospital days before she died said she was unconscious, with severe cuts and bruises on her face and head.

Authorities had tried to limit coverage of the protests by keeping journalists away from the heart of the demonstrations. A government order last month warned journalists getting too close to the unrest could be dangerous.

On Tuesday, Amnesty International joined calls by Iran's Islamic Human Rights Commission and other rights organizations for an independent investigation into Kazemi's death.

Her son, Stephan Hachemi, said Wednesday in Montreal he was not satisfied with Iran's explanation.

"I'm not surprised about anything when it comes to what they're saying," he said. "The cause of her death is not clear."

He said he wants his mother's body returned to Canada, and a full investigation involving Canadians to determine how she died.

Joel Ruimy, executive director of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, called Wednesday's revelation that Kazemi was beaten a first step in uncovering the circumstances of her death.

"Until all the facts come out, the West should be very wary of full normalization with Iran," added Ruimy, who spoke to The Associated Press in Toronto.

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0745_BC_Iran-Journalist

DoctorZin Note: This story is important because the EU claims that their support of the Iranian regime is producing positive results in the area of human rights reform in Iran. Thus this story is forcing the EU to re-examine it continuance of that support.

Iran's Student Riots - June 2003

July 16, 2003
The Middle East Media Research Institute
Ayelet Savyon*

Arresting Opponents of the Iranian Regime The student demonstrations that started in Tehran on June 10, 2003 spread across Iran and continued for 10 days. What began as a protest at the University of Tehran against the regime's intent to privatize university studies and charge tuition quickly broadened. Calls against regime heads and in support of democracy and regime change were voiced during the demonstrations, as were demands for the resignation of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. [1] Although there was a period when it seemed that the regime had managed to suppress the unrest in Tehran , it erupted in other cities across the country.

The reaction of the conservative regime, which is accustomed to dealing with student demonstrations, was to try to contain them while at the same time restricting access to them by foreign media. [2] In official statements, the regime noted that student protests were legitimate, but at the same time acted harshly against the "hooligans," who, it said, had exploited the wave of unrest. The regime also made a show of preserving order. Following reports that forces of the Basij (the paramilitary youth militia loyal to the regime) and the Ansar-E Hizbullah (an organization loyal to the regime) had burst into student dormitories at the university and attacked students in their beds, and had attacked drivers who honked their horns in support of the demonstrators, the regime announced that a number of members of these organizations were arrested for attacking student demonstrators. [3]

Initially, the regime asserted that no students were detained. However, subsequently, Iranian Prosecutor-General Ayatollah Abd Al-Nabi Namazi announced that the regime had jailed 4,000 persons, [4] while Arab and foreign media sources reported on student disappearances and the arrests of intellectuals who spoke out against the regime. [5]

The London-based Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsatreported that Supreme Leader 'Ali Khamenei issued arrest warrants for 137 political activists, authors, and MPs, among them author and journalist Mohsen Sazgara, who posted pictures of the violent Ansar-E Hizbullah attack on sleeping students on his website. Also arrested was Taqi Rahmani, an author close to the recently banned Freedom Movement, and author Reza 'Alijani, who had previously spent over a year in solitary confinement while in prison. [6]

I. Reactions to the Regime's Attempts to Repress the Protests

A. Reformist Reactions

There was no uniform response by the reformist camp. Overall, the reformists expressed understanding of the student protests, but repeatedly called on the students to abide by the law or voice their arguments in subtler forums.

As in other crises, President Khatami was the only high-ranking political figure to hold off issuing a response, in this case, for 10 days. Khatami said that any criticism or opposition had to be within legal bounds, and added that "no [governmental] system supports disturbances or stubborn behavior by students," and that he expected the students to obey civil law. [7]

Defending and speaking for the students was Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Mehdi Karroubi, who countered claims by conservative religious leaders that only a few of the demonstrators were students [8] and defended them against conservative religious leaders who demanded that they be subject to the full force of the law. He said, "All the students you saw [in the demonstrations] are children of the revolution… They may have problems with a specific official, or with an institution, but they have no problem with the regime as a whole… Some were offended because their friends were arrested, but we, naturally, will solve this problem in accordance with the constitution. I do not use the terms 'thugs' and 'hooligans' [as the conservatives do with regard to the students]." [9]

Reformist officials cited the demonstrations as proof that the regime was free and democratic. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said: "What differentiates democratic from non-democratic societies is the existence of demonstrations of this kind." [10] In his attempts to downplay the unrest, he said, "There is no news in Iran ; what is happening in Iran , like what happened in the past, is 100 times smaller than what happens in the U.S. every day. How can brutal treatment of the people by the American police be considered democratic, while non-violent demonstrations in Iran are glorified by the media?" [11] Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi added, "It is natural that in a democratic country students call for their demands to be materialized. We are proud that we are living in a democratic country that derives its mandate from the people." [12]

Some reformists criticized the Basij and Ansar-E Hizbollah, calling them "thugs." Interior Minister Abdolvahed Moussavi-Lari, who also claimed that only some of the demonstrators were students, hinted that these organizations were responsible for the unrest, saying, "We were faced with two groups during the unrest. The first included those who did not observe the Islamic Republic boundaries and criteria and were inspired by foreign media to carry out destructive activities; the second group included vigilantes and irresponsible elements [i.e. Basijand Ansar-E Hizbollah] who acted without taking into account the country's interests." [13]

Moreover, a letter signed by 166 Majlis members decried "the brutal behavior towards the students" by the Basijand Ansar-E Hizbollah, but nonetheless warned students to be wary of suspicious elements infiltrating their ranks. The letter also stated that the demonstrations were the result of the absence of channels for criticism of the political system and of the regime's failure to pay attention to the people's democratic demands. [14]

Officials outside the government – such as high-ranking cleric Ayatollah Saneii and members of radical reformist groups in the Majlis – called for the government to address the students' demands regarding the suppression of free speech and the need for political reform. They also explicitly condemned the Ansar-E Hizbollah and Basij actions. Ayatollah Saneii said: "The greatest concern of the tyrants and oppressors is that the people have no connection to them… The people have [a right] to vote freely, in accordance with the constitution; the masses of the people must go to the polls." [15]

In addition, a member of Qom's Council of Theology Instructors, Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Taqi Fazel Meibodi, stated, "Assault, repression, and intimidation are not the way to deal with student and labor rallies [and have] almost always produced the opposite result." He called for the political parties and the free press to be reactivated so that they could speak for the students and workers; "if these bodies are institutionalized... we will not have such problems [i.e. street violence and clashes]." [16]

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that 248 public figures, among them authors, intellectuals, and students, published an open letter emphasizing the Iranian people's right to criticize – or even remove – the regime leadership and to label absolute rule a form of heresy. The statement also said that the people "have the full right to supervise the actions of [their] leaders, to advise them, and to criticize them. The people also have a right to fire or topple them if they are dissatisfied with them… The status of figures [who place themselves] in a situation of absolute and divine rule is complete heresy towards God and a clear provocation to human dignity." [17]

The [Student] Office to Consolidate Unity issued a communiqué accusing the regime of tyranny and with acting against the aspirations of the people: "A government that breaks the mirror while looking at its ugly face in it – [a face reflected by] the criticism of detained writers and intellectuals – is not fit to run the country." [18]

Another facet of the reformist reaction to the student riots was to join the conservative camp in accusing the U.S. government and its leaders of responsibility for the demonstrations and of intervening in Iran's domestic affairs. Khatami, for example, called American declarations of support for the demonstrators "intervention in our domestic affairs," and 217 Majlis members signed a letter condemning the U.S. for "its intervention in Iran's domestic affairs affairs." [19]

B. Conservative Reactions

The conservatives condemned the demonstrations, describing the protesters as "hooligans" and "people incited by the foreign press." They accused the U.S. of involvement, whether through active assistance or through expressions of support. The conservatives repeatedly threatened to deal harshly and violently with the demonstrators; in actuality, however, the police tried not to be seen in the foreign press as forcibly repressing demonstrations, and restricted the demonstrations to campus grounds. [20] In addition, the conservatives took advantage of the event to attack reformist parliamentarians and to slander the entire student movement.

Immediately after the start of the unrest, Iran's Supreme Leader 'Ali Khamenei accused the U.S. of orchestrating the demonstrations and termed the demonstrators "emissaries of the enemy," saying: "The enemy openly supports these adventurers… Therefore, the entire people, especially youth and officials, must remain vigilant." [21]

At a ceremony marking the 1988 downing of an Iranian civilian airliner by a U.S. guided missile cruiser, former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani, currently Expediency Council head, said: "Washington paid a heavy price in order to generate an atmosphere of unrest in our country… The unrest was led by a group of thugs and hooligans who thought a miracle was on the horizon… The failure of the recent unrest in Iran is a further disgrace to the U.S. – the dinosaur with the brain of a bird…" [22]

Tehran's Friday prayer leader and former Judiciary head Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi added at Friday prayers, "There is no more room for patience towards those who endanger national security." He demanded that the students be declared enemies of Islam – a declaration that incurs a death sentence. In an attempt by the regime to prepare the ground for action against the student movement, Yazdi charged individuals who had acted on behalf of the movement with inciting the riots. [23]

Tehran Police Chief Brig.-Gen. Morteza Talaie said that the troubles were caused by "those who once used to serve Saddam Hussein and America… and now are inciting people by means of television broadcasts funded by the Americans." Iran's Prosecutor-General Abd Al-Nabi Namazi promised that "the agents responsible for the riots… would be dealt with forcefully." [24]

Also, the Basij at Tehran Universityissued a statement saying that its "organized and lawful participation" in recent developments "had been at the request of [regime] officials, and was aimed at stopping the demonstrators' ploys." [25]

II. Majlis Members Accused of Involvement in Demonstrations

With the approach of July 9, 2003 , the fourth anniversary of the 1999 riots, a new crisis was fomenting between the regime and the reformist camp, based on the regime's accusations that reformist Majlis members were involved in the demonstrations. These charges came in reaction to some Majlis members (Mathim Sa'idi, Fateme Haqiqat Joo, Reza Yosefian, and Ali Akbar Mussavi Hoini) who declared a 48-hour sit-in protest against police treatment of students. [26]

Tehran Prosecutor-General Saeed Mortazavi , who has shut down over 80 newspapers during the past three years, said that the Judiciary would prosecute any MP found guilty of fanning the unrest. [27] The conservative Resalatand Kayhandailies published admissions by detained student Payman 'Aref regarding the involvement of MPs in the incidents. [28]

However, MP Haqiqat-Joo called the admissions by the detained student "funny and completely counter to the truth." She added that "the publication of such admissions is a phase in a scenario planned in advance and designed by the strategists of the tyranny and the aggression against the students… One of the objectives behind such moves is concealing the inhumane crimes committed against the students in the university dormitories… These confessions are virtually a piece in the puzzle that can be called 'suppression of Iran 's reform movement,' aimed at denying all the righteous demands of the Iranian nation, and therefore totally worthless and unauthentic." [29]

Also, the reformist daily Aftab-e Yazd stated that confessions by detained students that reformist MPs had urged the students to go out into the streets to demonstrate "should not be taken seriously." The paper claimed that those who were arrested were making false statements as a result of their difficult prison conditions and their lack of access to legal defense. [30]

The same MPs – Mathim Sa'idi, Fateme Haqiqat Joo, Reza Yosefian, and Ali Akbar Mussavi Hoini – wrote a letter to Revolutionary Guards Commander Maj.-Gen. Rahim Safavi urging him to prevent armed forces, including the Basij, from becoming involved in political matters such as student gatherings. [31] In response, Revolutionary Guards Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Massoud Jazayeri said that the Basij was a legitimate student body and was entitled to intervene in student-related affairs. He concluded by saying, "The Revolutionary Guards will continue to defend the lofty value system of the Islamic Revolution in the military, cultural, political, and social domains." [32]

*Ayelet Savyon is Director of the Iranian Media Project

Footnotes can be found at the link below.

http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA14203

DoctorZin Note: It is unfortunate that the author of this article assumes this is a struggle between the reformist and the conservatives, neglecting the "third force"(arguably the largest) those seeking a secular democracy in Iran.

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

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