مهدي خلجي
Summary of Today's BroadcastRFE/RL Persian ServiceWednesday, February 27, 2002 TOP STORY Rafsanjani Calls Problems with the US "Solvable" * Tehran's problems with Washington are solvable, said Former IRI President, Hashemi Rafsanjani in an interview with the official news agency IRNA. He called for the return of "Iran's frozen assets," adding that "tension in foreign relations is not to our advantage." He denied intervention by his Expediency Council in legislative affairs, and said the proposed expansion of the Council's role would require revision of the IRI Constitution. Rafsanjani denied that his Expediency Council backs the conservative Guardians Council in its frequent disputes with the Majlis. He also said proposals for including women and changing the membership of the Council from appointed individuals to ex-officio membership is being reviewed by the IRI Leader. (Mehdi Khalaji) IRAN Lawyers of "Nationalist-Religious" Defendants Demand Open Trials * The trial of Habibollah Peyman, a leading member of the Nationalist-Religious Coalition, was postponed due to the Revolutionary Court's disagreement with his lawyers. In a letter to the IRI Judiciary Chief, defense attorneys of the 19 defendants again called for open trials, says Peyman's lawyer, Abdolfatah Soltani, who signed the petition. He tells RFE/RL that the charges are political, which the IRI Constitution requires be tried in open courts. Soltani also says parts of Peyman's file have not been turned over to him. Reza Rais-Tousi, another jailed member of the Nationalist-Religious coalition, has been allowed to go to hospital to treat his bad back and battered nerves, according to his wife, Ms. Farzaneh Roustai, who tells RFE/RL that her husband has spent more than six months of his year in jail in solitary confinement. (Jamshid Zand) Air Pollution and Traffic, Problems Facing the New Tehran Mayor * Reducing air pollution in Tehran soon cannot be expected of Mohammad-Hassan Maleki, Tehran's new mayor, says Tehran-based journalist, Abbas Assadi, in an interview with RFE/RL. Air pollution in Tehran is tied to heavy traffic, he adds, and the only way to deal with it is to expand and revamp public transportation. While a contract to replace all taxis in Tehran was signed six months ago with the car maker Iran-Khodro, no action has yet been taken. (Fereidoun Zarnegar) IRI Foreign Minister Meets Germany's Schroeder * The Afghan issue was among the topics discussed in Berlin today between Kharrazi and the German Foreign Minister. (Shahram Mirian, Koln) Caspian Sea Legal Regime Discussed in Moscow * Tehran University professor Jamsheed Momtaz says the Iran-Soviet Union treaties of 1921 and 1941 are still valid, giving Iran an equal share of the sea. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister supports shared exploitation of the water but says the seabed must be divided among the littoral states. Turkmenistan did not attend the first-day's session. US State Department's Steve Mann said conditions are not ready for Turkmenistan to export its gas through Afghanistan. (Mani Kasravi, Moscow) Iran-Russia Conflict Over the Caspian Sea * Iran continues to favor shared exploitation of the Caspian Sea, according to Mehdi Safari, the head of Iran's delegation to the conference in Moscow on the Caspian Sea, but if another legal regime must be selected, Iran demands equal division of the sea among the five littoral states. Safari said that until a legal regime becomes effective, Iran will not allow any country or company to explore for oil and gas within its 20 percent portion of the Caspian Sea. Russia's proposal to divide the seabed and mutually exploit the water is not acceptable to Iran, Dr. Saeed Mahmoudi, an expert of Marine Law and professor of international law at the University of Stockholm, tells RFE/RL. Such a move would reduce Iran's share to only 13 percent of the seabed, and would place oil and gas resources beyond the reach of Iran, Dr. Mahmoudi says. He adds that closed waters all over the world are shared among the littoral states, but he finds it curious that the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said there is no dividing line in the Caspian Sea. He says that a document signed with the former Soviet Union in the 1950's explicitly described Iran's demarcation line from Astara port to Hosseingholi Bay, and that the share of other countries from the seabed should be calculated beyond this line. (Mina Baharmast) Uncertain Status of Student Prisoner, Javad Rahimpour * Although some of the jailed student activists were freed through a pardon by the IRI Leader, families of students still in jail are worried. Javad Rahimpour, a student of Alameh Tabatabai University, who disappeared a year ago, is one of them. A fellow student activist, Farhad Akbari, tells RFE/RL that Rahimpour turned up in Branch 4 of the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court a few weeks after his disappearance, charged with national security crimes. His family and friends still have no news of him, although his case has been turned over to Branch 26. (Jamshid Zand) Booksellers Lose Worker Insurance Exemption * The Social Insurance Organization decision to revoke the exemption of booksellers from paying workers' insurance is unfair, says bookseller and publisher Sadegh Samii, in an interview with RFE/RL. The government and the City, he says, continue to support Tehran booksellers with tax and city dues exemptions. (Ardavan Niknam) Critics Call the New Car from Iran-Khodro a Lemon * Samand, the new model introduced by Iran's largest car maker as a "national car" was criticized by Majlis MP's as hodgepodge of foreign parts. President Khatami sent a delegation to Iran Khodro to check on the design and manufacturing process. The government has halted production, pending investigation. The manufacturer claims 85 percent of the parts are made by Iranian contractors, while 15 percent, mainly engine and the electronic elements, were imported, says Ms. Bita Teymouri, the editor of the monthly magazine, Transportation Industry (San'at Haml-o-Naql). She tells RFE/RL that it is common to make a car from parts made in various countries, but the 300 samples of the new car which were sold had steering problems and overheated on the highway. (Baktash Khamsehpour) The Job Market and the Increasing Rate of Joblessness * The Third Five-Year Development Plan failed to create jobs at the projected level in its first two years of implementation, according to the IRI Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. The jobless rate among university graduates has increased from 11 percent to 22 percent in the past two years. (Fereydoun Khavand) WORLD Middle East Crisis: Peace for Land * As violence escalated between Israel and the Palestinians, Saudi Arabia's peace for land proposal has fixed the eyes of peace seekers on Riyadh. (Jamshid Chalangi) The Joint Conference of EU & GCC in Granada * In their meeting with the EU at Granada, GCC delegates discussed the Persian Gulf islands of Tonbs and Abu Mussa, claimed by UAE. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome) US President Welcomes Saudi's Peace for Land Proposal * In a phone conversation with Prince Abdullah, Bush praised his peace proposal. The UN Security Council began discussing the Middle East crisis. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) Tension in the Sub-Continent and Karzai's Trip to New Delhi * Review of English-language press. (Fariba Mavedat) China's Effort to Meet US Worries on Weapons Transfer * Beijing tries to reach an agreement with the US about Chinese weapons technology transfer to Iran, Iraq and North Korea. (Shahram Tehrani, Beijing) US & Europe Nail a Weapons Trafficker * An international network of weapons trafficking was busted by US and Europe security and intelligence forces. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) Closing Down of the US Defense Department's Office of Strategic Influence * The Defense Secretary claims the Office did not intend to disseminate false and misleading information. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) German Christian Democrats Use an Iranian-born Model as a Political Weapon * Sheila Malek, 21, an Iranian-born German model, has become the latest weapon in Germany's national elections. She will help influence the immigrant vote for the benefit of Christian Democrats. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome) THIRD HOUR The Impact of Infectious Diseases on Brain Seizures & Heart Attacks * Two top Iranian medical researchers from UCLA and Texas University in Houston discuss their research on the impact of common cold and other infectious diseases on vascular constriction. (Fatemeh Aman, Washington) Youth, Society and Education * In his weekly program, Saeed Peyvandi, professor of sociology in Paris and an expert on Iran's educational system, discusses the influence of globalization on Iranian textbooks. In the second half of his program, he talks about the political conflict that has torn apart Iran's largest student activist organization.
رييس مجمع تشخيص مصلحت نظام در يك مصاحبه خبري با خبرگزاري هاي ايرنا و ايسنا و راديوتلويزيون جمهوري اسلامي، اظهار داشت: "مشكل ما با آمريكا قابل حل است." وي افزود تشنج در روابط خارجي به نفع ما نيست. رفسنجاني مداخله در قانونگذاري توسط مجمع را رد كرد و گسترش آن را موكول به تغيير در قانون اساسي دانست. وي همچنين اتهام جانبداري مجمع از جناح محافظه كار حاكميت را رد كرد و گفت تركيب مجمع را رهبر جمهوري اسلامي تعيين مي كند و پيشنهاد هايي براي حضور زنان و جايگزين كردن شخصيت هاي حقوقي به جاي شخصيت هاي حقيقي در مجمع توسط رهبر رسيدگي مي شود.
Summary of Today's BroadcastRFE/RL Persian ServiceWednesday, February 27, 2002 TOP STORY Rafsanjani Calls Problems with the US "Solvable" * Tehran's problems with Washington are solvable, said Former IRI President, Hashemi Rafsanjani in an interview with the official news agency IRNA. He called for the return of "Iran's frozen assets," adding that "tension in foreign relations is not to our advantage." He denied intervention by his Expediency Council in legislative affairs, and said the proposed expansion of the Council's role would require revision of the IRI Constitution. Rafsanjani denied that his Expediency Council backs the conservative Guardians Council in its frequent disputes with the Majlis. He also said proposals for including women and changing the membership of the Council from appointed individuals to ex-officio membership is being reviewed by the IRI Leader. (Mehdi Khalaji) IRAN Lawyers of "Nationalist-Religious" Defendants Demand Open Trials * The trial of Habibollah Peyman, a leading member of the Nationalist-Religious Coalition, was postponed due to the Revolutionary Court's disagreement with his lawyers. In a letter to the IRI Judiciary Chief, defense attorneys of the 19 defendants again called for open trials, says Peyman's lawyer, Abdolfatah Soltani, who signed the petition. He tells RFE/RL that the charges are political, which the IRI Constitution requires be tried in open courts. Soltani also says parts of Peyman's file have not been turned over to him. Reza Rais-Tousi, another jailed member of the Nationalist-Religious coalition, has been allowed to go to hospital to treat his bad back and battered nerves, according to his wife, Ms. Farzaneh Roustai, who tells RFE/RL that her husband has spent more than six months of his year in jail in solitary confinement. (Jamshid Zand) Air Pollution and Traffic, Problems Facing the New Tehran Mayor * Reducing air pollution in Tehran soon cannot be expected of Mohammad-Hassan Maleki, Tehran's new mayor, says Tehran-based journalist, Abbas Assadi, in an interview with RFE/RL. Air pollution in Tehran is tied to heavy traffic, he adds, and the only way to deal with it is to expand and revamp public transportation. While a contract to replace all taxis in Tehran was signed six months ago with the car maker Iran-Khodro, no action has yet been taken. (Fereidoun Zarnegar) IRI Foreign Minister Meets Germany's Schroeder * The Afghan issue was among the topics discussed in Berlin today between Kharrazi and the German Foreign Minister. (Shahram Mirian, Koln) Caspian Sea Legal Regime Discussed in Moscow * Tehran University professor Jamsheed Momtaz says the Iran-Soviet Union treaties of 1921 and 1941 are still valid, giving Iran an equal share of the sea. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister supports shared exploitation of the water but says the seabed must be divided among the littoral states. Turkmenistan did not attend the first-day's session. US State Department's Steve Mann said conditions are not ready for Turkmenistan to export its gas through Afghanistan. (Mani Kasravi, Moscow) Iran-Russia Conflict Over the Caspian Sea * Iran continues to favor shared exploitation of the Caspian Sea, according to Mehdi Safari, the head of Iran's delegation to the conference in Moscow on the Caspian Sea, but if another legal regime must be selected, Iran demands equal division of the sea among the five littoral states. Safari said that until a legal regime becomes effective, Iran will not allow any country or company to explore for oil and gas within its 20 percent portion of the Caspian Sea. Russia's proposal to divide the seabed and mutually exploit the water is not acceptable to Iran, Dr. Saeed Mahmoudi, an expert of Marine Law and professor of international law at the University of Stockholm, tells RFE/RL. Such a move would reduce Iran's share to only 13 percent of the seabed, and would place oil and gas resources beyond the reach of Iran, Dr. Mahmoudi says. He adds that closed waters all over the world are shared among the littoral states, but he finds it curious that the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said there is no dividing line in the Caspian Sea. He says that a document signed with the former Soviet Union in the 1950's explicitly described Iran's demarcation line from Astara port to Hosseingholi Bay, and that the share of other countries from the seabed should be calculated beyond this line. (Mina Baharmast) Uncertain Status of Student Prisoner, Javad Rahimpour * Although some of the jailed student activists were freed through a pardon by the IRI Leader, families of students still in jail are worried. Javad Rahimpour, a student of Alameh Tabatabai University, who disappeared a year ago, is one of them. A fellow student activist, Farhad Akbari, tells RFE/RL that Rahimpour turned up in Branch 4 of the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court a few weeks after his disappearance, charged with national security crimes. His family and friends still have no news of him, although his case has been turned over to Branch 26. (Jamshid Zand) Booksellers Lose Worker Insurance Exemption * The Social Insurance Organization decision to revoke the exemption of booksellers from paying workers' insurance is unfair, says bookseller and publisher Sadegh Samii, in an interview with RFE/RL. The government and the City, he says, continue to support Tehran booksellers with tax and city dues exemptions. (Ardavan Niknam) Critics Call the New Car from Iran-Khodro a Lemon * Samand, the new model introduced by Iran's largest car maker as a "national car" was criticized by Majlis MP's as hodgepodge of foreign parts. President Khatami sent a delegation to Iran Khodro to check on the design and manufacturing process. The government has halted production, pending investigation. The manufacturer claims 85 percent of the parts are made by Iranian contractors, while 15 percent, mainly engine and the electronic elements, were imported, says Ms. Bita Teymouri, the editor of the monthly magazine, Transportation Industry (San'at Haml-o-Naql). She tells RFE/RL that it is common to make a car from parts made in various countries, but the 300 samples of the new car which were sold had steering problems and overheated on the highway. (Baktash Khamsehpour) The Job Market and the Increasing Rate of Joblessness * The Third Five-Year Development Plan failed to create jobs at the projected level in its first two years of implementation, according to the IRI Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. The jobless rate among university graduates has increased from 11 percent to 22 percent in the past two years. (Fereydoun Khavand) WORLD Middle East Crisis: Peace for Land * As violence escalated between Israel and the Palestinians, Saudi Arabia's peace for land proposal has fixed the eyes of peace seekers on Riyadh. (Jamshid Chalangi) The Joint Conference of EU & GCC in Granada * In their meeting with the EU at Granada, GCC delegates discussed the Persian Gulf islands of Tonbs and Abu Mussa, claimed by UAE. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome) US President Welcomes Saudi's Peace for Land Proposal * In a phone conversation with Prince Abdullah, Bush praised his peace proposal. The UN Security Council began discussing the Middle East crisis. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) Tension in the Sub-Continent and Karzai's Trip to New Delhi * Review of English-language press. (Fariba Mavedat) China's Effort to Meet US Worries on Weapons Transfer * Beijing tries to reach an agreement with the US about Chinese weapons technology transfer to Iran, Iraq and North Korea. (Shahram Tehrani, Beijing) US & Europe Nail a Weapons Trafficker * An international network of weapons trafficking was busted by US and Europe security and intelligence forces. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) Closing Down of the US Defense Department's Office of Strategic Influence * The Defense Secretary claims the Office did not intend to disseminate false and misleading information. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) German Christian Democrats Use an Iranian-born Model as a Political Weapon * Sheila Malek, 21, an Iranian-born German model, has become the latest weapon in Germany's national elections. She will help influence the immigrant vote for the benefit of Christian Democrats. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome) THIRD HOUR The Impact of Infectious Diseases on Brain Seizures & Heart Attacks * Two top Iranian medical researchers from UCLA and Texas University in Houston discuss their research on the impact of common cold and other infectious diseases on vascular constriction. (Fatemeh Aman, Washington) Youth, Society and Education * In his weekly program, Saeed Peyvandi, professor of sociology in Paris and an expert on Iran's educational system, discusses the influence of globalization on Iranian textbooks. In the second half of his program, he talks about the political conflict that has torn apart Iran's largest student activist organization.
رييس مجمع تشخيص مصلحت نظام در يك مصاحبه خبري با خبرگزاري هاي ايرنا و ايسنا و راديوتلويزيون جمهوري اسلامي، اظهار داشت: "مشكل ما با آمريكا قابل حل است." وي افزود تشنج در روابط خارجي به نفع ما نيست. رفسنجاني مداخله در قانونگذاري توسط مجمع را رد كرد و گسترش آن را موكول به تغيير در قانون اساسي دانست. وي همچنين اتهام جانبداري مجمع از جناح محافظه كار حاكميت را رد كرد و گفت تركيب مجمع را رهبر جمهوري اسلامي تعيين مي كند و پيشنهاد هايي براي حضور زنان و جايگزين كردن شخصيت هاي حقوقي به جاي شخصيت هاي حقيقي در مجمع توسط رهبر رسيدگي مي شود.
