Summary of Iran Stories in Today&apos;s BroadcastsBehnam NateghiMonday, January 05, 2004 <b>Factional Reactions to US Humanitarian Mission Offer</b> • In reaction to the US offer to send to Iran a humanitarian mission headed by former US Red Cross chief Senator Elizabeth Dole, the conservative internet site <i>Baztab</i> wrote that Iran visa does not come for free, but secretary of the supreme national security council Hassan Rowhani said the US move to send rescue and medical relief teams to Iran was “creating beauty.” The US-Iran relations are complicated, but the key to untie the knot is in the US hands, he added. He said in order for any talks to begin the US should return to Iran members of the Iraq-based anti-regime opposition group the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO). The Islamic Republic should consider the US suspension of the banking sanctions against Iran as positive and react to it in a positive way, said reformist Tehran MP Mohsen Armin, deputy chair of the Majles foreign relations and national security committee. (Jamshid Zand) • The US administration&apos;s 90-day suspension of the ban on transferring funds to Iran is a positive move, but the Islamic Republic demands an end to all US sanctions, Rowhani said. If the US humanitarian aid was not an isolated act, we can expect a change of atmosphere in relations with the US, foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said. (Farin Asemi) • Despite the refusal of the Iranian government to receive a relief delegation led by Senator Elizabeth Dole, there are signals that Iran is far more ready than in the past for US moves toward rapprochement, Rey Takeyh, professor of national security studies and director of studies at the Near East and South Asia Center, National Defense University, writes in today&apos;s <i>International Herald Tribune</i>. (Ardavan Niknam) <b>Bam Earthquake News Follow-up</b> • Due to the intense relief operations and the enormous amount of aid that is pouring into the city, conditions in Bam have improved, Kermani journalist <b>Ali Parham</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. Yesterday, a group of top entertainers and film and television personalities visited Bam and met with earthquake survivors sheltered in tents, he adds. The international relief and rescue teams are still operating in the city, and the international children relief organizations said they will keep their workers in Bam for months to come. The resumption of work in some government offices and the emotional opening of schools under tents for surviving children helped bring some normalcy to the devastated city, he adds. (Fereydoun Zarnegar) • In case of an earthquake with the magnitude of the Bam earthquake, nearly 90 percent of Tehran hospitals would be ruined, warned healthcare deputy of the health ministry Dr. Mohammad-Esmail Akbari. Ninety-five percent of all healthcare facilities in Bam and surrounding villages were ruined by the earthquake, he added. (Jamshid Zand) • What we saw in Bam was a major tragedy and very upsetting, head of the Italian relief team <b>Paolo Molinari</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> at Rome airport on his return from Bam. Fortunately, there is enough food, water and supplies for the survivors, but mismanagement of the resources created delays in the relief work, he added. Meanwhile, former Italian ambassador to Tehran Ricardo Cessa, who is now Italian foreign ministry&apos;s director of Middle East and Asian affairs, visited Bam and pledged cooperation in rebuilding the city&apos;s ancient citadel. (Ahmad Ra&apos;fat, Rome) • The number of orphaned children rose to 6,000, after a more thorough count, officials announced today. Nearly 10,000 children appear to have survived the earthquake, along with 1,300 teachers. The first day of school after the earthquake was emotional for all involved, as teachers and students shed tears at seeing each other alive. (Mahdieh Javid) <b>Iran&apos;s Oil-based Economy in 2004</b> • Iran depends on oil for more than half of its annual budget, but Iran&apos;s economic circles keep a watchful eye on the fall of the dollar against euro, since most of Iran&apos;s oil income is earned in dollars, but the country procures most of its needs by spending euros. So far, Iran has experienced a nearly 20 percent fall in its euro buying power. In 2004, an ideal scenario for the Islamic Republic would be continued expansion of the US and European economies, which is expected to firm up the dollar. Another in-between scenario considered by economic planners is the continued expansion of US economy combined with continued fall of the dollar. In this case, Iran hopes that economic growth in the west would keep up demand for crude oil, helping to keep prices at the current high levels. The disaster scenario, which Iran hopes to avoid, is the possible fall of the dollar to $1.5 per euro, which would result in disruption in world economic order and sudden fall prices of raw materials, including the price of crude oil. (Fereydoun Khavand, Paris) <b>Non-Oil Trade Deficit Continues to Rise</b> • In the first 9 months of the fiscal year that began on March 22, 2003, Iran imported 4.5 times more goods and services than it exported, according to customs bureau statistics. The value of imports was $19.7 billion, while exports did not exceed $4.2 billion. In other words, if it wasn&apos;t for oil, Iran would have had an annual trade deficit of $21 billion. (Fereydoun Khavand, Paris) <b>Tehran&apos;s New Garbage Fleet Begin Hauling</b> • In a ceremony attended by top municipal government officials and members of the Tehran city council, Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad inaugurated 111 news garbage trucks. (Leyli Arman) <b>National Security Council & Majles Review Plans to Move Capital out of Tehran</b> • Majles is ready to consider a bill to move the capital out of Tehran, MP Jafar Golbaz, spokesman of the Majles national security and foreign relations committee said. The plan to move the nation&apos;s capital out of Tehran will be discussed in the upcoming meeting of the supreme national security council, the council&apos;s secretary Hassan Rowhani said. Considering that the city has been built on three earthquake fault lines, Tehran is not suitable to be the nation&apos;s capital, he added. (Fereydoun Zarnegar) • Rowhani said a plan to move the capital, which lies on a major seismological fault, was proposed by the SNSC in 1991, “but due to resistance from certain entities in the establishment, the plan was halted.” Rowhani said the SNSC would update its 1991 proposal on moving the capital and submit it for consideration by the end of the current Iranian calendar year in March 2004. He did not say to where the capital could be moved. Cabinet spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh said moving the capital had been under discussion since 1989 due to Tehran&apos;s heavy overcrowding, chaotic traffic, chronic pollution and earthquake risk, according to a dispatch from Reuters from Tehran. (Behruz Nikzat) <b>Factional Reaction to Khatami&apos;s Warning on Disqualification of Election Candidacy Applicants</b> • President Khatami&apos;s letter to the advisory council on implementation of the constitution, asking it to watch for wrongful disqualification of election candidacy applicants by the interior ministry or the Guardians Council, generated pro and con reactions from the two main factions&apos; newspapers and websites. The reformists welcomed the President&apos;s warning, but the conservatives found his assertions redundant and unnecessary. Political observers said neither President Khatami&apos;s warnings nor the reformists&apos; threat that they may pull out of elections in case of mass disqualifications of their candidates by the Guardians Council would have any impact on the Guardians Council&apos;s decision on potential election candidates. (Fereydoun Zarnegar) <b>Trials of Reformist Publications</b> • The trial of Qoli Sheikhi, managing editor of the reformist daily <i>Towse&apos;e</i> was postponed, since the defendant was out of the country. Shieikhi&apos;s lawyer Nemat Ahmadi said hid client has applied to stand for election to the Majles and election law bans prosecution of an election candidate prior to the elections. In another trial, managing editor of the monthly <i>Vatan</i> Amir-Hossein Seyyed Qara defended his magazine against charges of promoting prostitution for publication of a short story and women&apos;s fashion pictures. In yet another trial, Iraj Jamshidi, editor of the banned economic daily <i>Asia</i>, who has been in jail for the past four months, appeared before the judge of the bench 76 of Tehran criminal court in closed-door proceedings in order to defend himself against charges of cooperation with anti-revolutionary elements and financial corruption. Due to seriousness of the charges against him, his release on 2 billion rials bail was rejected, according to the official news agency, IRNA. (Arash Qavidel, Tehran) <b>Tehran City Council to Consider Renaming Street Named after Sadat&apos;s Murderer</b> • In its upcoming meeting, Tehran city council will consider government&apos;s request for renaming the Khaled Eslamboli street, named after Egyptian former president Anwar Sadar&apos;s murderer. The name change has been demanded by Egypt. (Ali Sajjadi) <b>Only 2.5 Percent of Tehranis Believe Voting Changes Policies</b> • While 54 percent of the respondents in a recent government poll said they would cast votes in the February 20 Majles elections, only 2.5 percent said they believed voting would have any impact on the country&apos;s destiny, according to official news agency IRNA. (Ali Sajjadi) <b>Islamic Student Councils&apos; Association to Hold Internal Elections</b> • The association of the Islamic student councils (Daftar Tahkim-e Vahdat) will hold a national election this week, after permission for the elections was granted by the authorities, student activist <b>Hadi Kahalzadeh</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. The right-wing splinter group that held separate elections last year with the support of conservatives has all but disappeared, due to internal divisions, he adds. The association held several meetings last week with various pro-government and opposition groups in order to form a position on the upcoming Majles elections, he adds. (Leyli Sadr) <b>UK Envoy to Iraq Visit Tehran</b> • “I made it clear that both the US and the UK recognize Iran does have influence on events in Iraq, and a positive approach from Iran can help considerably and a negative approach from Iran could do considerable damage to the future of a free, stable Iraq,” Britain&apos;s envoy to Iraq Sir Jeremy Greenstock said today in a press conference in Tehran after meeting with foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi and deputy oil minister Hadi Nezhad-Hosseinian. “I am pleased to say that my impression from today is that the Iranian view is growing increasingly positive,” he added. (Arash Qavidel, Tehran) . فريدون زرنگار (راديوفردا): عبدالله رمضانزاده، سخنگوي دولت جمهوري اسلامي در باره پيشنهاد آمريكا براي اعزام يك هيات آمريكائي به ايران اظهار داشت دولت ايران اعلام كرده است كه زمان براي آن سفر مناسب نبود و اين مسئله بايد در زمان مناسب خود مورد بررسي قرار گيرد. ناظران امور ايران مي گويند به رغم آنكه جمهوري اسلامي پيشنهاد اخير آمريكا براي اعزام هياتي به سرپرستي خانم سناتور اليزابت دول به ايران رد كرد، نشانه هائي هست كه جمهوري اسلامي بيش از هرزمان ديگر براي تنش زدائي با دشمن ديرينه خود آمريكا آمادگي دارد. اردوان نيكنام (راديوفردا): پاسخ نه چندان گرم ايران به كمك آمريكا به قربانيان زلزله بم بار ديگر بحث بر سر دو دشمن قديمي را زنده كرد. روزجمعه ايران پيشنهاد واشنگتن را براي فرستادن نماينده اي براي ارزيابي نيازهاي آينده امدادگران آمريكائي و نيز كمك به توزيع كالاهاي اهدائي به بم را رد كرد. اما واكنش مقامات جمهوري اسلامي به پيشنهاد ها و اقدام هاي تازه آمريكا، از جمله لغو تحريم 90 روزه ارسال پول از آمريكا به ايران بسيار نرم تر از گذشته مي نمود. مقامات ايران گفته اند كه از هيات حاكمه آمريكا صداهاي مختلف و گاه مخالف و متضادي گاه به گوش مي رسد امري كه شايد بيشتر در مورد خود جمهوري اسلامي مصداق داشته باشد. نخستين اظهارنظر در باره كمك آمريكا را اكبر هاشمي رفسنجاني، رئيس مجمع تشخيص مصلحت نظام روز پنجشنبه بيان كرد. او حركت آمريكا را يك ژست سياسي خواند. وي در باره كمك هاي آمريكا به زلزله زدگان بم گفت: اينها كمك زيادي نيست زيرا اينها در زلزله رودبار هم تعدادي هواپيما فرستادند و اين مسئله همانند آن دفعه است. اما ظاهرا مسئله مانند آن دفعه نبود. آقاي رفسنجاني در كنار اظهارات خود افزود قاعدتا اين مسئله در شوراي امنيت ملي بررسي مي شود و سياسي مناسب در باره آن اتخاذ مي شود به نظر مي رسد پس از اتحاذ اين تصميم مناسب در شوراي امنيت ملي بود كه روز گذشته حسن روحاني، دبير اين شورا، و چهره تازه سياسي جمهوري اسلامي در مناطق از زلزله زده، با زيبا خواندن ابراز همدردي و همبستگي آمريكا گفت واشنگتن بايد گره مشكلات را با برداشتن قدم هاي عملي مثبت باز كند. حجت الاسلام حسن روحاني، دبير شوراي عالي امنيت ملي جمهوري اسلامي (بم): اصولا اين نوع همدردي ها و همنوائي ها و همبستگي ها مي تواند يك زيبائي را بيافريند در تاريخ روابط ملت ها، اما در عين حال، مسائل سياسي ايران و آمريكا مسائل بسيار پيچيده و بغرنجي هست و ما فكر مي كنيم كه كليدش دست آنها باشد و آنها مي توانند و قادر هستند كه اين گره را باز كنند با قدمهاي عملي مثبتي كه بايد بردارند. ا.ن.: آقاي روحاني گفت اگر كل تحريم هاي آمريكا شكسته شود مي تواند از ديد ما يك علامت مثبت تلقي شود. تحليلگران امور ايران سكوت آيت الله علي خامنه اي رهبر جمهوري اسلامي را كه معمولا مواضعي تند و پرخاشجويانه در باره هر نوع برقراري رابطه با مذاكره با آمريكا مي گيرد، در اين ميان معني دار ارزيابي مي كنند، به خصوص كه روز گذشته، سخنگوي وزارت امورخارجه ايران هم گفت ممكن است فضاي تازه اي در روابط ايران و آمريكا به وجود آمده باشد. حميدرضا آصفي گفت هنوز زمان براي سفر هيات آمريكائي به ايران مناسب نيست اما اگر اين اقدام آمريكائي ها براي از بين بردن ديوار بي اعتمادي باشد، مي توان گفت فضائي ديگر به وجود آمده است. حميد رضا آصفي، سخنگوي وزارت امورخارجه جمهوري اسلامي (تهران): يك نگرش غالب بر هيات حاكمه آمريكا به سوي برچيدن ديوار بي اعتمادي باشد كه اين ديوار بي اعتمادي را هم خود آمريكائي ها به وجود آوردند. و عملا در جهت تغيير رويكرد و عملكرد حركت كنند، فضاي ديگري به وجود مي آيد. اگر نگرش غالب برود به طرف برچيدن ديوار بي اعتمادي، آن وقت مي شود صحبت كرد، اما الان هنوز معلوم نيست كه واقعا آمريكائي ها مصمم هستند، اراده دارند يا نه، يك اقدام منفرد و به قول معروف isolated act بوده. اين را بايد صبر كرد وديد و آمريكائي ها مي دانند براي اينكه فضاي روابط سياسي تغيير كند، چه گامهائي را بايد بردارند. ا.ن.: آقاي آصفي در باره لغو برخي تحريم هاي آمريكا عليه ايران گفت اين اقدام اگرچه موقت است اما في النفسه مثبت است. در اين ميان هيچ يك از مقامهاي جمهوري اسلامي به خواسته هاي جرج بوش رئيس جمهوري آمريكا از ايران كه در كنار پيشنهاد اعزام هيات مطرح شد، اشاره اي نكرده است. خواسته هائي از قبيل تحويل دادن اعضاي زنداني القاعده در ايران. اصلاح طلبان حكومتي ايران عمدتا اعتقاد دارند كه آمادگي آمريكا براي افزايش كمك به زلزله زدگان بم فرصتي براي رسيدن به روابطي تازه ميان دو كشور است كه از دست دادن آن به زيان منافع ملي خواهد بود. عبدالله رمضانزاده، سخنگوي دولت جمهوري اسلامي در باره رد پيشنهاد آمريكا براي اعزام يك هيات بلندپايه به ايران گفت زمان براي آن سفر مناسب نبود. اما واكنش مقامات جمهوري اسلامي به پيشنهاد ها و اقدام هاي تازه آمريكا، از جمله لغو تحريم 90 روزه ارسال پول از آمريكا به ايران بسيار نرم تر از گذشته مي نمود. اكبر هاشمي رفسنجاني، رئيس مجمع تشخيص مصلحت نظام روز پنجشنبه حركت آمريكا را يك ژست سياسي خواند. روز گذشته حسن روحاني، دبير شوراي عالي امنيت ملي جمهوري اسلامي با زيبا خواندن ابراز همدردي و همبستگي آمريكا گفت واشنگتن بايد گره مشكلات را با برداشتن قدم هاي عملي مثبت باز كند. حميدرضا آصفي، سخنگوي وزارت امورخارجه گفت هنوز زمان براي سفر هيات آمريكائي به ايران مناسب نيست اما اگر اين اقدام آمريكائي ها براي از بين بردن ديوار بي اعتمادي باشد، مي توان گفت فضائي ديگر به وجود آمده است.