Iranian Alert -- August 9, 2003 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

The Iranian Student Movement Up To The Minute Reports ^ | 8.9.2003 | DoctorZin

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REFERENDUM IS THE BEST, PEACEFUL WAY TO REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN

LONDON 8 Aug. (IPS) Hojjatoleslam Hoseyn Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran added his voice calling for a referendum on the future regime of Iran.

"Referendum is the best way allowing the Iranians to freely decide on the regime they desire. If they vote for an Islamic Republic, the present rulers would be legitimised. If they vote for a secular system instead, it would also allow the ruling clerics to step aside peacefully, handing the power to new leaders without bloodshed", Mr. Khomeini said.

However, he stressed that the present ruling theocracy has reached its end, repeated that the regime has "lost" its legitimacy and accused the ruling clerics of "atrocities" committed against the Iranian people, ruling by "force and violence, perpetuating injustice, corruption, discrimination, random arrest and jailing and torture of dissidents and illegal confiscations".

According to the 45 years-old Khomeini, his grandfather, in his first speech upon his arrival in Tehran, had denied older generations the right to decide for the regime the future generations wanted to have.

"This is valid today, as those who voted the Islamic Republic on the 12 Farvardin (First of April 1979) referendum are in the minority against those making the majority of the population now, who were not born or not in an age for voting then", he observed in an interview broadcast by the Persian service of the BBC on Thursday 7 August.

When reminded that the dissidents were ferociously oppressed and executed under the absolute rule of his grandfather, he acquiesced, observing that he had opposed the decision in several speeches.

The son of Mostafa, Grand Ayatollah’s elder son, Hojjatoleslam Hoseyn left Iran, where he was imposed "lock on his lips", for Iraq secretly about a month ago and is seeking to establish himself in the holy city of Najaf, where his grandfather lived in exile and led the Islamic revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on 1979.

Repeating that an Islamic government is religiously "illegal" until Mehdi, the Shi’ites twelfth and last imam remains in the hiding, the young Khomeini said the present system’s "contrasting duality" (of elements of republicanism and religion) was "the main source" of it’s "total impotency" solving people’s basic and real needs and problems.

"Hence, referendum is the only way allowing Iran to get out of the impasse, replacing the present system with a secular one", he pointed out.

In earlier interviews, Mr. Khomeini had stated that if his grandfather would be alive, not only he would have joined the opponents, but also calling for a regime change.

To a question about how he would bring changes and if having a Koran and a machinegun at his bedside does not point to some methods, he replied that the book was that of Hafez (one of Iranian’s most revered poets) and that the arm was a hand revolver he keeps in case we are threatened, considering the lack of security in Iraq for the time being.

"As for taking the leadership of any movement, no one has asked me anything and I don’t expect any, but I would consider it a great honour if I can help Iranians recover freedom and democracy, be it a small step.

Asked to comment on earlier statements calling on the Americans to help bring freedom to Iran, he again emphasized that freedom is what mankind has as its "most important and cherished value".

"If we Iranians we can secure freedom by our own means, much better, but if all roads are closed to us, shall we abandon our aim, saying we don’t want freedom? If the Americans can help us in this road, why not? This is not inviting Americans to interfere in our internal affairs", he pointed out.

Asked about his view of President Mohammad Khatami and the reforms he promised but failed to achieve, Mr. Khomeini reiterated that Iranians are "deeply deceived by both the man they massively voted for and the reformists who brought nothing but more trouble than before".

"Seyyed Hoseyn had been kept out of the political theatre for the last two decades by the late Ayatollah Khomeini’s political children who have either silenced other members of the Khomeini family or coerced them in siding with the regime", one Iran watcher observed.

Iranian political analysts say that though the young Khomeini is not well known to the people and religiously, he is not a heavyweight, yet, taking in account his situation as the most senior member of the family, he could become an asset for the Iranian change regime movement in the future, provided he is assured of a solid political and communication organization, which he lacks for the time being.

This is probably one of the reasons why the authorities have ordered the local media not report any of his interviews. ENDS HOSEYN KHOMEINI 8803

http://www.iran-press-service.com/

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REFERENDUM IS THE BEST, PEACEFUL WAY TO REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN

LONDON 8 Aug. (IPS)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/960950/posts?page=3#3

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IRANIANS JOURNALISTS PROTESTED LIMITATION OF PRESS FREEDOM

TEHRAN 8 Aug. (IPS) Hundreds of Iranian journalists inside and outside the country put their pens down for more than three hours as others observed a symbolic sit in to protest growing crackdowns on journalists and limitations on freedom of the press in the Islamic Republic.

In a statement, the protesters denounced the "miserable conditions" of Iranian journalists, urged the authorities to dismiss Tehran and Islamic revolution tribunal Prosecutor Judge Sa’id Mortazavi, better known as "The Butcher of the press" and called on the Minister of Islamic Guidance to resign, accused of failing to defend the "legitimate and legal rights of journalists".

They also named the conservatives-controlled Expediency Council, the Judiciary and the Council of Guardians, as well as the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, chaired by President Mohammad Khatami, as the main bodies responsible for violating and limiting press freedom in Iran.

The protesters also called on the reformists-dominated Majles (Parliament) to approve a press law that was withdrawn three years ago on the personal intervention of Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i, the leader of the Islamic Republic.

In a related development, journalists who had participated at an official gathering for naming Iran’s Journalists of the Year walked out of the ceremony protesting the nomination of three journalists working for the State-run, conservatives-controlled Radio and Television without mentioning photographers like Kaveh Golestan and Ms. Zahra Kazemi or journalists like Akbar Ganji or Ahmad Zeydabadi.

Mr. Golestan, an internationally acclaimed photographer and cameraman, died four months ago in the Iraqi Kurdistan while covering the Allied operations in Iraq for the BBC.

Eyewitnesses told Iran Press Service that even some of the award winners refused to accept the honours in protest to the "one sided and biased" nominations.

None of the owners of newspapers and publications had joined the symbolic protest movement, which was hotly contested and criticised by all leading conservatives-controlled media.

The peaceful protest movement, decided jointly by the Iranian Association for the Defence of Press Freedom (IADPF) and the Association of Iranian Journalists (AIJ) on the "Journalists Day" was supported by some international press organizations like the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres as well as the Association of Iranian Journalists Abroad (AIJA), based in Rome.

"Amid continuing clamour about the death of photojournalist Zahra Kazemi while in custody at the start of July, Reporters Without Borders today voiced concern about the imprisonment of a total of 21 journalists in very harsh conditions in Iran, many of them in a wave of arrests in the past few weeks, the RSF said in a statement issued on the occasion.

"With 21 journalists held, the Islamic Republic of Iran is the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East", RSF added, noting that about the fact that half of the detained journalists are being held by aides of Mr. Mortazavi and by revolutionary guards in the same centre where the Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi received the blows to the head that caused her death.

In their statement, the journalists also demanded that an independent international committee investigate the death of Ms. Kazemi.

RSF’s Secretary-general Robert Ménard said the 8 August sit in was symptomatic of the discontent within the profession, pointing out that Reporters Without Borders had registered more than 50 cases of journalists being arrested or called in for questioning over a month. A total of 24 journalists were currently in prison and Reporters Without Borders called for their release.

The international press watchdog voiced particular concern about the conditions in which some of these journalists are being held. The wife of Reza Alijani, detained since 14 June, told the ISNA news agency that she did not recognise her husband during her last prison visit because he had lost so much weight. The wife of Taqi Rahmani has received no word of him since his arrest on 14 June. Her requests to visit him have all been turned down, as have the requests made by the wives of several other detained journalists.

Rahmani, Saber and Alijani were arrested on 14 June and Amir Tairani on 17 June in the capital Tehran, on charges including "attempting to overthrow the state, acting against national security and holding secret meetings with students".

In a statement, the London-based international human rights organisation Amnesty International said it fears that they may be at risk of torture and ill treatment.

The latest to be detained include Abolqasem Golbaf, editor of the monthly Gozaresh, who was arrested on 20 July for "propaganda against the regime and publishing incorrect information".

In an article published prior to his arrest, Mr. Golbaf claimed that during interrogation, Judge Mortazavi had told him to go finding a "more honest job than journalism".

Three members of the monthly’s staff, illustrator Arash Noporchian and journalists Mohammad-Amin Golbaf and Nader Karimi, were also arrested on 26 July, but were then freed two or three days later.

Hoseyn Bastani, Vahid Pour-Ostad and Sa’id Razavi Faqih, three members of the editorial staff of the reformist daily "Yas No", and Chahram Mohammadi-Nia, editor of the weekly "Vaqt", were summoned for questioning by the Tehran public prosecutor on 11 and 12 July and were then imprisoned. Yas No had published a note on 10 July explaining that it had prepared a detailed report on the 9 July demonstrations but had received orders from the Intelligence Ministry not to publish it.

Accused of publishing "an improper photo and article", Mohammadi-Nia was jailed after failing to pay bail of 100 million Rials (about 11,000 euros). Bastani, Pour-Ostad and Mohammadi-Nia were released between 16 and 20 July, but Faqih is still being held, as is freelance journalist Arash Salehi, who was arrested on a Tehran street.

Iraj Jamshidi, the editor of the economic daily "Asia", was arrested together with his wife, managing editor Saqi Baqernia, on 6 July for "publicity against the regime" after publishing a photograph of Mojahedeen Khalq’s leader Maryam Rajavi the day before. Baqernia was released on bail the following day, but Jamshidi was put in Evin prison in Tehran and was then moved to an undisclosed location. Ismail Jamshidi, editor of "Gardon" (a monthly that has been closed by the authorities), was detained 7 July. Since then, there has been no word of him.

Ensafali Hedayat, a journalist in Salam, was released on 12 July after spending 27 days in solitary confinement in the main prison of Tabriz. In a letter to President Mohammad Khatami, he said senior police officials beat him more than 300 times while in detention. He said he was lucky not to have suffered the same fate as Zahra Kazemi. (See the article entitled "ANIMALS HAVE MORE RIGHTS THAN IRANIANS" published by IPS on 6 August)

In letters recently published in the Iranian press, Abas Abdi the former Editor of "Salam", arrested on 4 November 2002 and is being held in solitary confinement, Ali-Reza Jabari of "Adineh", arrested on 17 March and the 78 years-old Siamak Pourzand, arrested on 30 March, have described the appalling situation of political prisoners, illnesses, mistreatments, physical and psychological pressure to which they are subjected. ENDS JOURNALISTS DAY 8803

http://www.iran-press-service.com/

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IRANIANS JOURNALISTS PROTESTED LIMITATION OF PRESS FREEDOM

TEHRAN 8 Aug. (IPS)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/960950/posts?page=5#5

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Pentagon hawks, Iran-Contra scam dealer hold talks
Washington |By Craig Gordon | 09-08-2003

Gulf News

Pentagon hard-liners pressing for regime change in Iran have held secret and unauthorised meetings in Paris with a controversial arms dealer who was a major figure in the Iran-Contra scandal, according to administration officials.

The officials said at least two Pentagon officials wo-rking for Undersecretary of Defen......
*
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=94701

[DoctorZIn]

Recently we have been hearing news about the state of the Iranian economy. The following are some of the headlines in today's Iranian newspapers.

*The government owes 2 thousands bilion Rials to the Municipality of Tehran.

*At least, 3.5 Bilion US $ needed to invest on the Electricity Industry of the country.

*Governmental Industry and economy is the enemy of the Stock Markets in Iran.
*Toursim Industry failure in Iran

*Lack of enough space to store wheat and rice in Iran

*Problems in Insurance Industry.

*Salary of Governmental staffs is half of what they got before 79 revolution

*Custom Charges and expenses, Still High for Importers.

In 1979 when the late Shah left Iran most Iranians felt the economy has collapsed. At the time one USD was equal to 70 rials that time, now it is 8300 rials to the dollar.

There is now a fear of the collapse of the stock market.

If that occurs, the people will become far more desparate and a change of regime that much closer.

Watch the Iranian economy.

[DoctorZIn]

Bank to offer Iranian company buyer's credit for export deal

(2003-08-09 09:07) (Xinhua)
Chinadaily

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Shanghai Branch will provide an Iranian passenger transport company with US$84.46 million worth of buyer's credit for an export deal.

An agreement on the deal was signed Wednesday between representatives of the bank and the State Bank of Iran.

Under the agreement, Raja, a state-owned railway company operated by the state railways administration of Iran, will use the credit to import 150 first-class carriages and 25 generator cars from China for its construction of a railway hub in the Middle East.

It was the third time the Chinese bank had provided financial support to China-Iran projects.

http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-08/09/content_253455.htm

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Iran Journalists Sit in to Protest

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
August 9, 2003, 3:20 AM EDT

TEHRAN, Iran -- More than 200 pro-reform journalists held a vigil in Iran, saying they were protesting a continuing media crackdown and a lack press freedoms.

The journalists lit candles on Friday to mourn the anniversary of the death of Mahmoud Saremi, a reporter of the official Islamic Republic News Agency who was killed in 1988 by the former Taliban rulers in Afghanistan, and the death of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died in Iranian police custody last month.

"Today, we have gathered here to tell the people of the world that freedom of the pen in Iran is restricted. Today, the biggest problem of journalists in Iran is absence of justice and freedom," Mohsen Kadivar, a leading reformist cleric and writer, told the audience.

"It's not a source of pride that Iran is known as the biggest jail for journalists in the Middle East ... the way you rulers behave has no consistency with the Quran, which respects the pen," he said, drawing applause from the journalists. The Quran is Islam's holy book.

Hossein Bastani, editor of the reformist Yas-e-Nou daily, said his and other reformist papers were publishing just four pages on Saturday, instead of the usual 16.

"Yas-e-Nou will be published with only four pages Saturday to protest press restrictions. There will be nothing in the paper other than coverage of the sit-in," he said.

Mass closures of newspapers began in April 2000, days after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said 10 to 15 reformist publications were "bases of the enemy."

Hard-liners have closed down more than 90 pro-democracy publications and jailed several dozen writers and political activists since then, almost all of them without trial or in closed trials without a jury.

Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-iran-journalists,0,4374225.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

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Safavi: The assumption that countries can be swiftly occupied proven false

Tehran, Aug 9, IRNA -- Commander of the Islamic Revolution's Guard
Corps (IRGC) Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi said here Friday that
the growing insecurity in Iraq simply proves that the assumption that
countries can be occupied easily is fast losing ground.
He made the remark during a closing speech at a gathering called
by the Supreme Leader's Representative Office in Universities.
Pointing to the growing evidence of the inability of the US-led
occupying forces to run the affairs in Iraq, particularly their
inability to meet the needs of the people, Safavi cited insecurity,
theft, starvation and lack of sanitation and jobs as the main problems
dogging the US occupation in that war-torn country.
He further compared the present situation of American soldiers in
Iraq to that of Zionist forces in occupied Palestine, saying their
military treatment of the Iraqi civilian population has only resulted
in growing hatred towards the soldiers.
Describing America's option for an aggressive strategy to redraw
the map of the world to conform to its own goals, the IRGC commander
pointed out that their ultimate goal is to control the oil and other
energy resources of the Persian Gulf.

http://www.irna.ir/en/tnews/030809113502.etn00.shtml

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Iran Journalists Sit in to Protest

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
August 9, 2003, 3:20 AM EDT

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/960950/posts?page=10#10

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Iran rejects report on Khatami's letter to US

Iran on Thursday rejected a press report on President Mohammad Khatami's alleged letter to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, asking the two countries to continue their secret and direct talks in Geneva.

**More here :
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=17370&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3129995.stm

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You don't seem to be reading your freepmail. Please take me off the ping list

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http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/08/08/pentagon.ghorbanifar.ap/index.html

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Important Read -- DoctorZin

Islamic regime pushes forward in its demagogic policy of releasing students

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Aug 9, 2003

As reported, by SMCCDI, the Islamic republic's decision of releasing nine students was only made in an effort to help the demagogic policy of the regime and its Intelligence circles.

These so-called released student "leaders" have made several statements praising the high degree of civility and good conditions offered to them, while in captivity, making the un-awares to think of the Iranian penitenciary system as an exotic resort.

SMCCDI reported, on Aug. 7th, that while hundreds of students and protesters, looking for the establishment of a Secular state, are still held captive and that several of them have been executed and other will be executed in the coming days; Several students, members of Islamic Student Associations and relatives of regime's officials, have been released by the Islamic republic according to its demagogic policy.

The report emphasized that the Islamic regime and its leader intend, by such anticipated releases, to calm the NGO's and foreign governments; To try to put a stop on the disintegration of the Islamic Student Associations which were a day one of the main pillars of the regime's so-called reformists; To create distinctive line between the students and all other demonstrators; And most importantly to rehabilitate Judge Mortazavi accused of the murder of the Canadian-Iranian journalist.

SMCCDI report added that the regime's demagogy which is well know to the absolute majority of the Iranians will not reach its goals.

Iranians are preparing themselves for a wide scale revolution.

The need of a radical revolution is gaining momentum and reaching spheres that till now were looking for gradual reforms. in this line and in an unprecedented manner, Dr. Mohammad Maleki, head of Tehran University wrote, today, an open letter to the Iranian students by declaring his understanding of their radical believes and hoping them victory in their endeavor for regime change in Iran.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1658.shtml

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Important Read -- DoctorZin

Islamic regime pushes forward in its demagogic policy of releasing students

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Aug 9, 2003

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/960950/posts?page=18#18

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Iran to Try Some Detained Al Qaeda Members

August 09, 2003
Reuters
Khaleej Times Online

TEHRAN - Iran's intelligence minister has said detained Al Qaeda members whose citizenship has been revoked by their native countries will be tried in the Islamic Republic, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

"The detainees whose citizenship has been withdrawn and there is no possibility to hand them over to other countries, will stand trial in Iran," the Entekhab daily quoted Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi as saying.

"Their trial will follow normal legal procedures," he said.

Iran finally acknowledged last month that it was holding key members of Al Qaeda who fled Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, but refused to name them.

The Islamic republic has already said it will not hand over any detained members of Osama bin Laden's militant network to Washington and denied U.S. media reports that it was trying to strike a prisoner exchange deal with the United States.

Among those believed to held in Iran is Kuwaiti-born Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a former teacher who emerged as the network's spokesman after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

Abu Ghaith's Kuwaiti citizenship was revoked after he appeared on world television screens issuing threats of fresh attacks.

Iran has said it would extradite some Al Qaeda detainees to unspecified "friendly countries" and some who had committed crimes in Iran would be prosecuted by Iranian courts.

Washington accuses Iran of harbouring Al Qaeda militants and has mounted its pressure on the Islamic republic following series of Bomb attacks in Saudi Arabia in May, saying the masterminds of the bombings were located in Iran.

Iran has forcefully rejected the accusations, saying it has arrested and deported more than 500 Al Qaeda suspects in the past year.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2003/August/middleeast_August151.xml&section=middleeast