Posted on 10/09/2004 9:03:22 PM PDT by DoctorZIn
The US media still largely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” As a result, most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East. In fact they were one of the first countries to have spontaneous candlelight vigils after the 911 tragedy (see photo).
There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. I began these daily threads June 10th 2003. On that date Iranians once again began taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Today in Iran, most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy.
The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.
In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.
This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. 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. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.
I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.
If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.
If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.
DoctorZin
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Tehran would welcome John Kerry's proposal to supply nuclear fuel, Hossein Musavian, the head Iran's Supreme National Security Council's foreign policy committee, announced today.
First outlined in a June speech, Kerry's plan to provide Iran with nuclear fuel in exchange for a pledge to use it for peaceful purposes only was unveiled to the American public during the first presidential debate.
"I think the United States should have offered the opportunity to provide the nuclear fuel, test them, see whether or not they were actually looking for it for peaceful purposes," Kerry said in a critique of the Bush administration's handling of Tehran's nuclear program, which the Iranians claim is only for civilian purposes.
"If they weren't willing to work a deal, then we could have put sanctions together," Kerry said of Tehran. "The president did nothing."
Initially, Iran rejected the idea, saying that reliance on foreign supplies would jeopardize its nuclear program.
Musavian told Reuters that Kerry's offer was also dismissed because officials could not tell if it was genuine or merely rhetoric in the U.S. presidential campaign. "If it is part of Kerry's election campaign ... we do not want to be part of it," he said. "Let the Americans play their game themselves."
But, now, the Iranians have changed their tune. Musavian says the Islamic Republic would welcome what Kerry running mate John Edwards has described as a "great bargain," and the proposal will be reviewed. Iran, however, should be allowed to pursue its "peaceful nuclear program," he made clear.
"Iran welcomes any constructive proposal from any American candidate," Musavian told Reuters. But "our legitimate right of pursuing peaceful nuclear technology should be considered," he said.
Musavian blames a history of "hostile" U.S. policies toward Iran, going back to the Reagan era, for his refusal to engage in direct talks on the nuclear issue with Washington. "It is because of 20 years of mistrust ... Up to now, Americans have not shown any sign of good will," he charged.
Edwards told the Washington Post in August that if Iran failed to take Kerry's "great bargain," it would be confirmation that the country is building nuclear weapons under the cover of developing a peaceful source of power.
WorldNetDaily has previously reported that Tehran is already engaged in an ambitious program to develop nuclear weapons to compliment its recently attained ballistic missile capabilities. According to the latest intelligence reports, Iran has decided at the highest levels of government to produce a bomb within the next four months.
Edwards assures that if Tehran accepted the proposal and subsequently cheated, Kerry could be counted upon to pull together a coalition of European allies to impose sanctions. "If we are engaging with Iranians in an effort to reach this great bargain and if, in fact, this is a bluff that they are trying to develop nuclear weapons capability, then we know that our European friends will stand with us," Edwards said.
Keep up the great work DoctorZIn, The fever of Liberty is spreading, Afghanistan seems to be infected with it :-)
God Bless,
Mike
By Mike Collett-White
Inside the compound, UN workers explained to Afghans voting for the first time how democracy worked — a simple tick beside their candidate of choice
AFGHAN men and women across the volatile south ignored the threat of militant attacks on Saturday, queuing at polling stations in villages and towns that were Taliban heartland three years ago.
In the main southern city of Kandahar, the atmosphere was festive as large crowds of men pushed to get into a voting site near the blue-tiled Kherqi Sharif mosque.
On the other side of the street, a trickle of women covered in burqa veils entered a school to take part in Afghanistan’s first direct presidential poll.
“We came here to vote for peace and stability and freedom for women,” said Raihana, a 37-year-old mother of eight who lived in exile in Iran for 14 years to flee war. “I am illiterate and I want a chance to learn,” she said from behind her heavy veil. “If the Taliban were in power, our lives would still be in ruins.”
Preparations for the election were plagued by logistical challenges and security threats in the south and southeast, where the death toll from guerrilla attacks among civilians and security personnel has been highest. The 472 polling stations in five southern provinces are far fewer than the United Nations would have liked, voter registration is lower than average and fewer than 300,000 women will vote here in this ultra-conservative Islamic society.
In some ways the success or otherwise of the election in these troubled areas will be the true test for Afghanistan and for the United States government, which wants to hold up the process as a foreign policy success and an example for Iraq.
‘Urban terrorism’: On the eve of the landmark ballot, Kandahar governor Yusuf Pashtun warned of the threat of “urban terrorism”, or a major Taliban attack, in heavily populated areas.
So far these have failed to materialise, although Afghan soldiers intercepted a truck carrying 60,000 litres of fuel and primed with explosives outside the city on Thursday, averting what Pashtun said could have been a “catastrophic” blast.
Officials in Kunar province, east of Kabul, said several rockets were fired in two villages overnight but there were no casualties. Security in Kandahar was tight, with Afghan police carrying rifles guarding polling sites and searching people entering to vote. US armoured Humvee vehicles mounted with machine guns rolled through town in a show of strength.
People were likely to be more nervous about voting in remote districts of Kandahar, Zabul, Helmand and Uruzugan provinces, where Taliban remnants have been most deadly.
President Hamid Karzai, who is from Kandahar and an ethnic Pashtun like most in the south, is expected to do well in the region, and many voters said they had backed the favourite. At one polling site, young members of Karzai’s campaign team wearing baseball caps emblazoned with his picture told voters to support him, in an apparent breach of election rules.
Inside the compound, UN workers explained to Afghans voting for the first time how democracy worked — a simple tick beside their candidate of choice.
“This is the first time I have voted in my life,” beamed Mullah Abdul Ghafar, 56, through a toothless grin. “Previous governments did not allow me to choose my leader,” said the man, his white beard matching his turban.
Despite euphoria in central Kandahar, the vote is not universally popular across the south, where some favour the ousted Taliban and its strict interpretation of Islamic laws to a US-backed government in Kabul propped up by thousands of foreign soldiers in the country.
Even some of those who voted on the coolest morning of the year in this normally hot and dusty city were not wholly critical of the hardline militia, widely credited for bringing better security than exists today. “There were a number of Afghan Taliban who were good people, but the Pakistanis and Arabs tried to destroy our lives,” said Abdul Zahir, a 43-year-old with a greying beard and grey turban. reuters
Your right.
Elections in Afghanistan and soon in Iraq is going to create tremendous pressure for freedom in Iran.
Posted Saturday, October 9, 2004
KABOL, 9 Oct. (IPS) Elections in Afghanistan, the first more or less free and democratic exercise ever held in this central Asian nation, ended amid controversy over an ink, supposed to be indelible used to mark voters fingers to prevent fraud but found that it could be washed easily, leading to fears of manipulations.
More than 10.5 million Afghanis, including for the first time in the history of the Muslims dominated country over 4 million women went to some 22,000 polling stations -- women voted at separate booths from the men, in keeping with this nation's conservative Islamic leaning -- across the county to elect their president, with Mr. Hamed Karzai, the incumbent President-Prime Minister installed two years ago by the West and backed by the United States given by most analysts as the favourite.
However, the process, considered by most observers as “historic” without the violence predicted by the remnants of the Taleban and other islamist groups opposed to free elections was suspended in some polling stations temporarily due to an ink supposed to be indelible but denounced by the majority of the candidates as being “washable”.
Fourteen candidates out of the 15 fighting for the top job, including Mr. Yunes Qanooni, a Tajik considered as the top rival to Mr. Karzai, an ethnic Pashtoun, called for the vote to be halted because of irregularities.
"To prevent fraud in the process of the election, Qanooni wants the election immediately stopped", the French news agency AFO quoted one Qanooni’s aide as having said.
Thirteen other candidates also called for the election to be halted, saying it was not legitimate, candidate Abdul Satar Sirat said, claiming to speak on behalf of the others.
"We 14 candidates announce that the election should be stopped immediately", he told reporters after a meeting at his house in Kabol, adding that they would not recognize the outcome as valid.
"Today's election is not a legitimate election. We are not a part of today's election", Mr. Serat said after a meeting of most of the 15 candidates and the representatives of the others.
Flanked by all those who attended the meeting, Serat accused election authorities of favouring the US-backed Karzai and not being able to prevent multiple voting.
But officials minimised the problem, blaming some electoral officials for using the wrong pen to mark voters' fingers with ink, which was found to wash off easily.
“Halting the vote at this time is unjustified and would deny these individuals the right to vote", said election official Ray Kennedy.
Mr. Farooq Wardak, an official of the Joint Election Monitoring Board said: "We would not simply stop the elections as they ask but we do our assessments and the JEMB will decide either to stop or not stop", he said.
Mrs Jalal, the lone female candidate told the American news agency Associated Press: "The ink that is being used can be rubbed off in a minute. Voters can vote 10 times".
"It is not only the ink issue but there are several other unlawful acts", the aide said.
"For example in the places where there are more Karzai supporters the polling stations are open but where there are more supporters for other candidates the stations are closed with officials saying 'there are no ballot papers, there is no ink", he explained.
Election workers reprimanded several Karzai campaign officials for coming to lobby voters at site, a violation of electoral law.
In his first reaction to the protest, Mr. Karzai, who voted in the presidential palace early morning, ruled out cancellation of the elections, saying that he would respect the outcome of the polling.
Journalists covering the race said as the voting ended, Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan-born American ambassador was discussing with some of the contesters, including Mr. Qanooni.
Around 800.000 Afghanis living in neighbouring Pakistan and 400.000 in Iran also took part in the exercise.
Contrary to neighbouring Islamic Republic of Iran, where women can vote and also be elected to the Majles, or parliament, but can not become president, Afghanistan’s Islam-based laws allows women running for the presidency, as confirmed by the presence of Mrs. Mas’ouda Jala, a doctor who is among the 15 remaining candidates out of the original eighteen.
Voting was also mired with violence, as election officials reported the arrest of three Pakistanis who planned to detonate an explosive truck in the center of the city on polling day.
"This would have caused hundreds of deaths ... and the electoral process would have been derailed in the area", said Col. Ishaq Paiman, the Defense Ministry deputy spokesman.
A flurry of rockets landed in several cities around the country on Thursday and Friday, including one that hit a parking lot near the U.S. Embassy and another in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
The polling was observed by around 5,000 observers, including local agents from 35 political parties and 600foreign observers.
Former Afghan King, the ageing Mohammad Zaher Shah had called on Afghans to vote freely for their own favourite in the country's upcoming landmark presidential elections.
"I, as the father of the nation request you, dearest, to take part in this historical event and vote for your favourite candidate", he said in a statement on Wednesday, making it clear that his own favourite was Karzai, who bestowed on him the title of “the Father of the nation” after he was picked as Prime Minister by an emergency Loya Jirga, or grand council of tribal leaders in 2001.
Other prominent figures like former Prime Minister Borhanedddin Rabbani, have announced their support for Karzai.
In a recent talk with the Persian-Pashtoun service of the BBC, Mr. Karzai pledged inclusive government if elected, saying he wanted to get away from the coalition-style administration of the last three years which "had not got anywhere".
"I want to build a government which reflects the whole Afghan people", he said.
Bellow is a glossary to the Saturday elections:
CANDIDATES: Originally 18, including interim leader Hamed Karzai, former Interior Minister Yunes Qanooni, Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostum, and Mas’ouda Jalal, the only female candidate.
STAKES: The vote is Afghanistan's first-ever direct presidential vote and first national ballot since the fall of the Taleban, the ultra orthodox Muslims who ruled over the country before being booted out on November 2001 by the Americans, imposing strict Islamic laws, forbidding music and television and women from working. They also destroyed a big state of Lord Buddha in the city of Bamiyan. Karzai is hoping a victory will solidify his rule and allow him to take bolder steps to rebuild the country and fight the influence of warlords that still hold sway in much of the countryside.
POLLS OPEN: From 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. (0230 GMT to 1130 GMT) But was extended for another 2 hours due to long queues in some polling stations.
VOTING CENTRES: 4,807, each with separate polling booths so that men and women may vote apart to respect the country's Islamic customs.
VOTING STATIONS: There are 21,521 stations within the voting centres. Of these 12,354 will be for men, and 9,187 for women.
MONITORS: More than 16,000 domestic observers but only about 225 international monitors will be involved in overseeing the vote to guard against fraud and intimidation _ a turnout which has disappointed the United Nations.
VOTERS: Some 10.5 million people have registered within Afghanistan, about 740,000 in Pakistan, and there are believed to be another 400,000 to 600,000 eligible voters in Iran. 41 percent of those registered in Afghanistan are women, but that ratio is lower among Afghan refugees in Pakistan and in the deeply conservative Pashtoun belt in south-eastern Afghanistan.
POPULATION: There are believed to be about 25 million people in Afghanistan, though there has been no reliable census since decades of ruinous war forced millions to flee. Many have since returned.
RECENT HISTORY; Afghanistan was thrown into a bloody civil war from 1988, after the defeat of the Soviet Union’s mighty Red Army at the hands of the Jihadis, or mujahedeens, with fighters loyal to the then prime minister Golbodin Hekmatyar, a CIA informer belonging to the dominant Pashtoun ethnic, fighting forces of the Tajik warlord Ahmad Shjah Mas’oud, known as the Lion of Panjshir, killed on 9 September 2001 by Arab terrorists sent by Al-Qa’eda’s Saudi leader Ossama Ben Laden, 2 days before attacking targets in New York and Washington.
On 1996, the Taleban, supported by Pakistan and a population tired of 20 years of unabated civil war and Soviet occupation, enter Kabol, led by Mollah Mohammad Omar.
RESULTS: Election officials say it will take two weeks to count the vote because of the remote terrain of much of Afghanistan and a lack of experience with democratic votes. They hope to have partial results sooner, but say they don't know when a winner will be announced.
In separate announcements on the final day of the presidential campaign Wednesday, Syed Ishaq Gilani and Abdul Hasseb Aryan said they were dropping out of the race.
ENDS AFGHAN ELECTIONS 91004
* 50 percent voter turnout: International Organisation for Migration
* Afghans want peace at home
By Shahzad Raza
ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees in Pakistan exercised their right to vote in Afghanistan’s first presidential elections on Saturday under tight security.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the agency administering the election, declared around 50 percent voter turnout. The voting was simultaneously held in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Many voters said they voted for current Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Some told Daily Times that they voted for Mr Karzai because they want stability in their war-ravaged homeland.
The first Afghan to vote in Islamabad was 19-year old Moqadasa Siddiqui. “I am so very happy and proud. I hope that this election will bring peace to my country and I hope that my family will be able to return to our homeland,” she observed
The polls were peaceful throughout Pakistan, except for a few minor incidents in Peshawar and Hangu. The polling process was, however, not disrupted, said IOM Director for Out-of-Country Registration Peter Erben at a press conference.
He said voter turnout was good in Pakistan. “In Pakistan, the projected midday figure showed that 350,000 people had voted with four hours remaining before polling centres closed,” he said.
After polling concluded, the ballot boxes were sealed in the presence of IOM officials. They will be sent to Kabul under IOM supervision for vote counting.
IOM registered around 740,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan to vote in the presidential election. In Iran, 600,000 registered Afghans voted. Mr Erben said IOM hopes for good turnout in Iran. In Pakistan, about 410,000 Afghans registered in the North West Frontier Province, 320,000 registered in Balochistan and 10,000 registered in Islamabad. Voters were not registered in Sindh and Punjab.
In Islamabad, a heavy police force was present at the capital’s four polling stations–two each for male and female voters. Inside the polling stations, Afghan origin security personnel conducted at least two body searches of everyone entering.
Voting began at 7am and concluded peacefully at 4pm. Before noon, a lacklustre response by voters was witnessed. However, a few hours before the end of polling, voters turned out.
“I have cast my vote in favour of Mr Karzai because I feel he is our president and can ensure stability in our country, which saw so many years of bloody conflicts,” said young Afghan refugee Ramin Hashmi. He said a majority of Afghan refugees living in Islamabad voted for Mr Karzai. He added that other presidential candidates were not as popular among the refugees as Mr Karzai.
Another Afghan refugee, Hafizullah Khan, who also voted for Mr Karzai, expressed hope that after the installation of an elected government in Afghanistan, the law and order situation would improve.
He said he and the majority of Afghan refugees wish to return to their homeland if there is an improvement in the law and order situation.
EU not against Iran's civilian nuclear program
BRUSSELS (IRNA) -- The European Union Foreign Ministers' Council is to discuss Iran's nuclear program during its meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.
The ministers will focus on Iran's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the IAEA's upcoming report on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program in November, EU sources told journalists in Brussels Friday.
"The vision that we had in the past is still there. We had in the past a position with Iran where we were not against the development of a civil nuclear program, where we were offering a trade and cooperation program, where we were offering support for WTO membership," said the EU sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Those still could be parts of our relationship with Iran but not in the current circumstances. The nuclear issue is crucial. We believe that it is very important that the EU, the U.S., the G8, Russia, Japan, we all stand together in a way on this issue that dos not allow Iran to drive a wedge between us," stressed the sources.
"The nuclear issue must be resolved. A military nuclear Iran is not acceptable to us and would fundamentally destabilize the region," added the sources.
The Council is expected to discuss the development of EU-Libya relations against the background of the December 2003 announcement by Libya that it would dismantle WMD programs.
As part of its policy of engagement with Libya, the Council is likely to decide to lift the EU arms embargo on Libya, which was imposed in 1986 by the European bloc.
The Council is expected to underline the importance of cooperation on migration issues and of improvements in the human rights situation in Libya.
It is likely to express concern over the plight of Bulgarian medical workers arrested in 1999.
On the Middle East, the Council is expected to deplore the Israeli atrocities committed in Gaza and condemn all acts of terrorism.
The Council will also discuss the issue of whether to lift the arms embargo on China.
The EU foreign ministers' meeting will also cover the situation in Sudan, Burma, the western Balkans and ties with India.
Russia should speed up construction of Bushehr power plant: MPs
Tehran Times Political Desk
TEHRAN (MNA) -- MP Reza Talai-Nik of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said on Saturday that the current exchanges of visits by Iranian and Russian officials indicate the two countries’ serious determination to deepen and expand relations in the economic, political, and defense spheres.
The two countries’ mutual interest in strengthening ties and implementing the previously signed memoranda of understanding is logical and necessary to defend the national security and interests of the two states, he added.
He stressed that Russia should compensate for the delays and expedite the process of peaceful nuclear cooperation with Iran in order to pave the way for the further expansion of bilateral relations.
The MP also said that Iran and Russia play a strategic role in responding to regional threats and Tehran-Moscow political, economic and defense cooperation is essential to prevent U.S. domination of the Middle East.
Meanwhile, MP Shokrollah Attarzadeh said on Friday that since Russia has resisted the U.S. pressure to discontinue its nuclear cooperation with Iran and has continued construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran should adopt a positive attitude toward Iran-Russia bilateral relations.
Attarzadeh, who represents Bushehr in the Majlis, added that every country considers its interests on every occasion and if the Russians believe that good relations with Iran is in their best interests, they will resist the pressure even more than in the past.
MP Javad Jahangirzadeh, who represents Urumieh in the Majlis, said on Friday that Iranian and Russian officials’ discussions during exchanges of visits scheduled for the next few days should focus on strengthening mutual confidence and bilateral ties.
As two great regional powers, Iran and Russia play a significant role in maintaining regional peace and stability, he noted, but criticized certain Russian officials for their contradictory statements in regard to Iran’s problems in the international arena, adding that such remarks may strain relations between the two countries.
MP Hamid-Reza Haj-Babayi of the Majlis Presiding Board said on Friday that the Russians are well aware of the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran is an important country in the region.
Haj-Babayi said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has prioritized construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant within the framework of its plan to develop nuclear technology and the plant will play a special role in Iran’s economic and industrial development.
However, if Russia continues delaying the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency (IAEO) should suspend the contract, he added.
Political analyst Ali Khorram said on Friday that Russia plays a special role in Iran’s nuclear program and since it is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, consultations with Russia on the nuclear issue can be useful.
Dr. Khorram, who was formerly Iran’s representative at the UN disarmament and human rights commissions, said that lessons learned in Iran’s diplomacy on the nuclear issue could also be useful in discussions with Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf littoral states on the demarcation of maritime borders.
The United States believes Iran's uranium enrichment is entering the full production stage from the experimental phase, a senior U.S. administration official said Saturday.
Noting Iran has converted "several tons" of uranium into hexafluoride, the feed material for centrifuges used to make weapons-grade uranium, the official told Kyodo News that it implies a "pretty extensive operation."
The official, requesting anonymity, indicated it would be unavoidable for the United States to seek to bring the Iranian nuclear case to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
"They don't have any intention of giving up the nuclear program," he said.
In late September, the International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a resolution censuring Iran's nuclear development program and urging Tehran to immediately halt its uranium enrichment activities.
Iran said earlier this month that it had processed several tons of uranium to prepare for enrichment.
The official said Iran should give up weapons of mass destruction programs by following the path of Libya.
After months of negotiations with the United States and Britain, Libya announced last December that it will voluntarily abandon all its weapons of mass destruction programs and accept international weapons inspectors.
The official also urged Japan to cancel an oil development deal with Iran.
"It's just a risky proposition I think for Japan, which needs energy security, to be dealing with a country that's so suspect to pursuing nuclear weapons," the official said.
"That's one reason why we've said, 'Look elsewhere for supplies and fuel, Libya and elsewhere, you don't need to deal with Iran and it's better not to,'" he said.
Japan and Iran in February signed an agreement on an oil development project in Azadegan, southern Iran, one of the world's largest oil fields.
The official said Japan has assured the United States that it will not proceed with the Azadegan project if there is evidence that Iran is involved in a nuclear weapons program.
On Iran's reported development of a missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers, the official said, "That's pretty close to what their missile range is."
"As long as they can now get the warhead to Eastern and Central Europe, which I think they can in this range, then they can intimidate" Europe, he said.
TEHRAN - Germany remained unbeaten under new coach Juergen Klinsmann with a 2-0 win over Iran thanks to goals from Fabian Ernst and Thomas Brdaric in a friendly before a frenzied men-only crowd of 110,000 on Saturday.
Iran were hosting a major world soccer power for the first time in decades and as well as a huge crowd in the stadium there were another 150,000 fans outside who could not get tickets.
Iranian women were not allowed to see the match after the football federation on Tuesday upheld a ban on them entering stadiums even though women are the Islamic country's most passionate fans. However, German women were allowed to attend.
More crackdowns.
Are women still allowed to breathe in air in Iran?
Iran Denies to Have Welcomed Kerry's Nuke Offer
LONDON, Oct 10 (IranMania) - A senior Iranian official Sunday denied a report which said Tehran would welcome Senator John Kerry`s proposal for a 'great bargain' to solve dispute over Iran's nuclear program, Iran's State News Agency (IRNA) reported.
"US presidential candidate John Kerry`s proposal is part of his electoral campaigning and we are not interested in being drawn into such issues," head of the foreign policy committee at Iran`s Supreme National Security Council Hossein Mousavian said.
Reuters news agency had quoted him as having welcomed the proposal, virtually made by vice presidential candidate Senator John Edwards.
Edwards had said that Kerry would be willing to supply Iran with nuclear fuel for power generation if Tehran abandons its own fuel-making capability and if Iran did not accept this offer, it would confirm Iran wanted to make an atom bomb.
In a fax sent to IRNA, Mousavian said, "Reuters news agency has filed a news as if I had welcomed Kerry`s proposal. "But we are rejecting direct negotiations with Washington about Iran`s nuclear program due to the United States` antagonistic policies."
http://www.iranmania.com/news/articleview/default.asp?NewsCode=25975&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
Iran to be Among World's Polyethylene Exporters
Sunday, October 10, 2004 - ©2004 IranMania.com
LONDON, Oct 10 (IranMania) - Iran will be among biggest exporters of polyethylene in the world by 2007 with implementation of a project on transfer of polyethylene to western provinces by pipeline.
According to the Persian language daily 'Etemad' on Sunday, the project will transfer some 1.5 mln tons of ethylene from Assalouyeh and Mahshahr to five provinces of Kohgilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad, Lorestan, Kermanshah, Kurdestan and West Azarbaijan.
The 1,650 kilometers transfer pipeline would provide feedstock for projects of five petrochemical complexes. In the 11th Olefin Project, only one ethylene production unit will produce 1.2 mln tons in one year.
Some 360,000 tons of ethylene excess capacity of the 8th Olefin Project would also enter this pipeline. The value of investment in five petrochemical projects, with the production capacity of 1.650 mln, is estimated to reach over $1.440 bln.
It is predicted the five complexes would sale $1.110 bln. The 11th Olefin Project in Assalouyeh, fed by 1.5 mln tons of ethane per year, will produce 1.2 mln tons of ethylene. Total investment of this project, including the Olefin unit, pipeline and five petrochemical complexes in western parts of the country, is estimated at $1.629 bln in addition to 4,480 bln rials.
The project will enjoy a 22% capital return. Inauguration of five petrochemical complexes, with production capacity of 1,650 tons of various polyethylene and ethylene glycol, would meet the needs of domestic consumption of Iran`s western, northern and central provinces.
Moreover, Iraq, Turkey and Syria can become good markets for export of Iran's polymer products. Iran's net imports amounted to some 64,000 in 2002 and it is predicted the export figure would hit 2.5 mln tons by 2007 through inauguration of underway projects.
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=25966&NewsKind=BusinessEconomy
Technically, this isn't a 'crackdown', because women haven't been allowed in soccer stadiums. Just a reinforcement of the present ban.
Can't have women exposed to 1/2 naked men, can we?
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