Summary of Iran Stories in Today&apos;s BroadcastsBehnam NateghiThursday, February 13, 2004 <b>Iran Continues to Develop Nuclear Weapons, US Says</b> • Iran is still trying to develop nuclear weapons and the US will consider what options it should use to deal with the problem, US Undersecretary of State John Bolton said in Berlin. “We&apos;ll be looking seriously at what to do about Iran,” he added, suggesting that any future action could be taken in cooperation with Britain, France and Germany. (Maryam Ahmadi) <b>Iran Hid Advance Designs for Uranium Enrichment, IAEA Says</b> • Despite its commitment to the International Atomic Energy Agency to disclose all its nuclear activities, the Islamic government hid plans for advanced centrifuge facilities used for enriching weapons-grade uranium from the UN inspectors, diplomats in Vienna told the <i>Financial Times</i>. (Alireza Taheri) <b>Reformist Candidates Drop Out of Elections</b> • Several prominent reformist MPs, whose candidacy in the February 20 elections had been approved by the Guardians Council, withdrew their names. They said they will not run, in solidarity with fellow MPs banned from reelection. Tehran MP and former interior minister Ali-Akbar Mohtashemipour, a member of the society of reformist clerics (Mamja-e Rowhaniyoon Mobarez), joined 34 members of pro-reform parties Participation Front and the leftist Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, who had earlier announced their decision not to participate in the elections. After being cleared to run in the last minute by the Guardians Council, Mohtashami had been named as the head of a reformist electoral coalition. Also, 39 Fars province reformist candidates said they will not run. Meanwhile, the MPs banned from reelection said they would not retract their resignations, despite the Supreme Leader&apos;s announcement that resigning would be considered a religious offense and a punishable crime. The Guardians Council&apos;s belated reinstatement of some reformist MPs was done under pressure, and does not mean endorsement of those candidates, senior conservative cleric Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi said, accusing reformist MPs of wine drinking and fornication in the Majles. (Mehdi Khalaji) • In what appeared to deepen the gap in the ranks of the reformists, some reformist candidates formed a new electoral coalition and established campaign headquarters in Tehran and other cities. The “coalition for Iran” said in its first communiqué that active participation of the reformists in the elections would help win seats in the Majles, despite large scale election bans on reformists MPs and candidates. A lack of participation in the elections would produce no result except handing over the entire Majles to the conservatives, the communiqué said. Meanwhile, the interior ministry&apos;s elections headquarters expressed concerns about possible election frauds, including transporting voters to certain electoral districts and using fake IDs for voter registration. (Mehdi Khalaji) • Official campaigning period begins today, making life difficult for sanitation workers who will have to clean up streets of Tehran and major cities which will be littered with campaign tracks and such publications as Hafiz poetry, high school chemistry and English language learning instructions, with the photos of election candidates. As in the previous elections, campaigns will include lunch parties for voters in traditional restaurants, music concerts and comedy shows. (Keyvan Hosseini) • Names of some prominent “moderate” reformists appeared in the electoral lists of conservative groups. These include Majles speaker Mehdi Karrubi and Tehran MP Majid Ansari, both from the society of reformist clerics, whose names appeared in a list along with Gholamali Haddad-Adel, head of the Majles conservative minority. Meanwhile, pro-reform party the Participation Front, which has the largest bloc of MPs in the Majles, closed its provincial election offices, MP Ali Shakurirad said. (Keyvan Hosseini) • In Islam, the people have no right to choose, Mesbah-Yazdi said, according to Tehran daily <i>Aftab-e Yazd</i>. There is no appointment by people in the Islamic society, he added. (Ali Sajjadi) • In a letter to the German government, MPs from four major German parties called for free and fair elections in Iran. Prominent Bundestag members from the Social Democrat and Social Christian parties criticized the Guardians Council&apos;s election bans. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne) • Bundestag international relations committee member from the Social Democratic party Rudolf Binding said the Guardians Council has become an obstacle to democracy in Iran, Berlin-based political commentator <b>Mehran Barati</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. The German parliamentarians no longer believe that democratic pretensions such Majles elections can hide the Islamic dictatorship in Iran, he adds. They believe that Germany should support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people, and should call for the participation of all candidates, including those banned by the Guardians Council, in the February 20 elections. All major German political parties agreed on the need to support democracy and human rights in Iran, he adds. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian) • MPs from four major German political parties voted for a resolution calling for free and fair elections in Iran. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne) • <b>Radio Farda Roundtable: Khatami and Majles Elections</b>: In today&apos;s roundtable, nationalist-religious coalition activist <b>Mohammad Bastehnegar</b> says Khatami insisted that elections should be fair, free and competitive, but after the Guardians Council rebuffed him on mass disqualification of election candidates, Khatami has somewhat pulled away. We believe that the final decision belongs to the people, not those who want to decide for them, he says. Geneva-based monarchist activist <b>Dariush Homayoon</b> says the reason Khatami does not urge the people to participate in the elections is that he knows people will no longer listen to him. Khatami has not had a major impact on Iran&apos;s domestic politics for some time, he adds. It appears that, except for a small minority, the people will not turn out for these elections, he says. Khatami had a good impact on domestic politics in the first couple of years of his administration, but for the past five years, he obviously has decided to side with the Supreme Leader. Khatami&apos;s lack of vigor is not just rooted in his character. He represents the contradictions inherent in the Islamic Republic constitution and in the holy Qur&apos;an itself, he adds. Berlin-based leftist activist <b>Maliheh Mohammadi</b> says Khatami&apos;s presence guarantees that no major suppression of the opposition forces will take place. One outcome of Khatami&apos;s reform movement was the formation of a domestic opposition, which, with the mass resignation of reformist Majles MPs, will now move out of the government. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian) • The conservatives may succeed in gaining a majority in the Majles, but they will not succeed in their plan to turn the clock back and establish a totalitarian system in Iran, writer and human rights activist <b>Emadedin Baqi</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. Ousting the reformists from power was a strategic mistake, he adds. Since the conservatives want to grab power though undemocratic means, international pressures and pressures from the domestic public opinion will increase, creating a dangerous situation for the Islamic Republic, he says. (Mehdi Khalaji) <b> Economic Legislative Record of the Reformist Majles</b> • More than 58 percent of the Majles dealt with economic reforms, including tax reform and the foreign investment promotion and protection bill, reports Tehran economic monthly <i>Donya-ye Eqtesad</i>. Despite the reformists&apos; efforts, their legislations did not produce the intended results, due to changes and modifications made in their bills by the Guardians Council and the Expediency Council. (Fereydoun Khavand) <b>Saddam&apos;s War Stabilized the Islamic Regime, Says German Daily</b> • Nobody helped to stabilize the Islamic regime more than Saddam Hossein, who attacked Iran in 1980 hoping to topple the newly formed government, German daily <i>Frankfurter Allgemeine</i> writes in an article on the 25th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. (Parviz Farhang, Cologne) <b>Charles&apos;s Visit Seemed as Boost for Conservatives, Critics Charge</b> • The symbolic meaning of British Crown Prince Charles&apos; official trip to Iran could be construed as an expression of support for the conservatives in the upcoming Majles elections, critics in Britain charged. The trip raised questions about Britain&apos;s “diplomatic offensive” at a time when Iran&apos;s conservatives appear to be gaining the upper hand in domestic politics, RFE/RL&apos;s reporter Jan Jun writes. (Farin Asemi) <b>Foreign Minister Visits Rome, Vatican</b> • Foreign minister Kamal Kharazi began his two-day official visit to Italy, during which he had a five-minute audience with the Pope. Kharrazi is scheduled to meet Italian foreign minister Franco Ferattini. (Ahmad Ra&apos;fat, Rome) . مينا بهارمست (راديو فردا): همزمان با تبليغات رسمي نامزدهاي انتخاباتي، شماري از نامزدهايي كه صلاحيت آنها توسط شوراي نگهبان تاييد شده از نامزدي انتخابات انصراف دادند. مهدي خلجي (راديو فردا): علي اكبر محتشمي پور، رئيس فراكسيون دوم خرداد مجلس شوراي اسلامي از نامزدي نمايندگي براي انتخابات هفتمين دوره مجلس شوراي اسلامي انصراف داده است. وي كه به تازگي به رياست ستاد گروههاي دوم خرداد براي انتخابات برگزيده شده بود، از واپسين كساني بود كه صلاحيت وي در شوراي نگهبان براي ورود به رقابتهاي انتخاباتي تاييد شد. آقاي محتشمي پور، عضو ارشد مجمع روحانيون مبارز به رهبري مهدي كروبي است. مجمع روحانيون مبارز با اعلام شركت در انتخابات راه خود را از گروههاي ديگر دوم خردادي مانند جبهه مشاركت اسلامي و سازمان مجاهدين انقلاب اسلامي جدا كرده است. جبهه مشاركت و سازمان مجاهدين انقلاب اسلامي كه برخي از اعضاي آنها، حتي نماينده مجلس ششم هستند، در شوراي نگهبان فاقد صلاحيت براي شركت در انتخابات مجلس هفتم تشخيص داده شدند. برخي از اعضاي نماينده اين دو گروه از نمايندگي مجلس هم استعفا دادند و با وجود غير قانوني و حرام خواندن استعفا از سوي آيت الله خامنه اي، رهبر جمهوري اسلامي همچنان بر استعفاي خود پافشاري مي كنند. فرماندار تهران امروز اعلام كرد تا كنون 34 نفر از نامزدهاي حوزه انتخاباتي تهران از نامزدي انصراف داده اند. بنابرگزارش خبرگزاري رسمي جمهوري اسلامي، ايرنا، 39 نفر از نامزدهاي تاييد صلاحيت شده انتخاباتي در استان فارس نيز از نامزدي انصراف دادند. چند نامزد در برخي شهرهاي ديگر مانند آبادان و سنندج نيز انصراف خود را از نامزدي نمايندگي مجلس هفتم اعلام كردند. ناظران سياسي مي گويند ممكن است در هفت روز باقيمانده به انتخابات، بازهم شماري از نامزدهاي تاييد صلاحيت شده از رقابتهاي انتخاباتي كناره گيري كنند. بخش عمده انصراف دهندگان مانند نمايندگان استعفا داده، به عملكرد شوراي نگهبان در رد صلاحيت گسترده نامزدهاي اصلاح گرا اعتراض دارند. تبليغات محافظه كاران به نفع اقدام شوراي نگهبان و عليه نامزدهاي رد صلاحيت شده اصلاح گرا همچنان ادامه دارد. با وجود آنكه به دستور رهبر جمهوري اسلامي صلاحيت شماري از رد صلاحيت شدگان در شوراي نگهبان تاييد شد، محافظه كاران نگراني و ناخرسندي خود را از ورود آنها به رقابتهاي انتخاباتي پنهان نمي كنند. محمد تقي مصباح يزدي از چهره هاي سرشناس محافظه كار و نزديك به آيت الله خامنه اي گفته است تاييد صلاحيتهاي اخير به معناي اصلح بودن آن افراد نيست. آقاي مصباح افزوده است مخالفت با ولي فقيه، مخالفت با امامان و در حقيقت شرك به خدا است. آقاي يزدي تاكيد كرد گروههايي كه وي آنها را گروه فشار مي نامد، براي تاييد صلاحيتها به رهبري فشار آوردند و اين تاييد صلاحيتها بر اساس حكم حكومتي صورت گرفته است. در راهپيمايي ديروز در تهران به مناسبت سالگرد 25 سالگي انقلاب ايران، حسين الله كرم، يكي از رهبران گروههاي فشار و از چهره هاي تندروي محافظه كار، سخنراني كرده و نامزدهاي اصلاح گرا را به مشروبخواري، نمازنخواندن و انجام عمل منافي عفت در درون مجلس شوراي اسلامي متهم كرده است. انصراف نامزدهاي اصلاح گرا راه را براي ورود محافظه كاران به مجلس هفتم بيشتر باز مي كند. همچنين انصراف نامزدها ممكن است كار گروههاي اصلاح گرايي مانند مجمع روحانيون مبارز را براي تشويق مردم به شركت در انتخابات دشوار نمايد. برخي از نمايندگان عضو جبهه مشاركت و سازمان مجاهدين انقلاب اسلامي در مجلس، عليرغم غير قانوني و حرام خوانده شدن استعفا از سوي رهبر جمهوري اسلامي، از نمايندگي مجلس استعفا دادند. فرماندار تهران اعلام كرد تا كنون 34 نفر از نامزدهاي حوزه انتخاباتي تهران از نامزدي انصراف داده اند. علي اكبر محتشمي پور، رئيس فراكسيون دوم خرداد مجلس و عضو مجمع روحانيون مبارز، از نامزدي انصراف داد. حسين الله كرم، يكي از رهبران گروههاي فشار در سخنراني خود نامزدهاي اصلاح گرا را به مشروبخواري، نمازنخواندن و انجام عمل منافي عفت در درون مجلس متهم كرد. به گمان ناظران انصراف نامزدها ممكن است كار گروههاي اصلاح گرايي مانند مجمع روحانيون مبارز را براي تشويق مردم به شركت در انتخابات دشوار نمايد.