Summary of Iran Stories in Today&apos;s BroadcastsBehnam NateghiSaturday, August 09, 2003 <b>UN Envoy Seeks to Arrange US-Iran Talks on Al Qaeda</b> • Special envoy of the UN Secretary General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, told the official government daily <i>Iran</i> that in talks with Islamic officials in Tehran, he was attempting to organize direct US-Iran negotiations on the extradition of the Al Qaeda members Iran said it held in custody. He said the UN favored their extradition to the countries in which they committed crimes. Intelligence minister Ali Yunesi said on Thursday that Iran will prosecute Al Qaeda members who cannot be extradited to their home countries. Iran had announced that hundreds of Al Qaeda detainees, including Saudis, Egyptians and Yemenis, have already been repatriated to their home countries. So far, Kuwait has refused to receive senior Al Qaeda spokesman Soleiman Abu Ghaith. London daily <i>Guardian</i> quoted an unnamed Islamic official who said Tehran has a golden key and the Americans know it. (Bahman Bastani) <b>Interior Minister Asks Governors to Ban Guardians Council&apos;s Election Supervision Offices</b> • Interior minister Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari said the election supervision offices that the Guardians Council opened around the country to gather intelligence on potential applicants for candidacy in the upcoming Majles election were illegal. He asked provincial governors, in conference in Mashhad, to block the activities of these intelligence gathering offices, and direct local officials not cooperate with them. He added that background checks on candidacy applicants were the job of the interior ministry&apos;s election executive councils, not the Guardians Council&apos;s election supervision councils. He added that the Guardians&apos; investigative offices have no place in the government&apos;s organizational chart. (Amir Armin) • The Khatami government and his reformist supporters charge that the Guardians Council plans to prevent potential reformist candidates to run. (Bahman Bastani) <b>Conservatives Attack Majles for Ratification of UN Treaty on Discrimination against Women</b> • The conservative faction, defensive after the loud and widespread international and domestic protest over the death in custody of Zahra Kazemi and suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations, attempts to divert public attention from those issues by attacking the Majles over the ratification of the UN treaty to end all forms of discrimination against women, Washington-based women&apos;s rights advocate <b>Zohreh Khayyam</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. The conservatives&apos; attacks are inappropriate, considering the fact that the Guardians Council will veto the Majles legislation, she adds. (Amir Armin) • Secretary-general of the league of women Azam Taleqani announced that she will stage a sit-in to protest government&apos;s silence on the outcome of the criminal investigation into the death in custody of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi. (Leili Sadr) <b>Iran Blood Bank Offers Free AIDS Tests</b> • Head of the center for blood distribution Ali-Akbar Pour-Fathollah said today that free AIDS tests will be available to blood donors and general public in the blood center branches across Iran. <b>Dr. Ramesh Mazhari</b>, an AIIDS epidemiologist, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the announcement was a welcome step forward to more open discussion of AIDS between officials and public. (Ali Sajjadi) <b>Iran-EU Relations&apos; Economic Impact</b> • Iran&apos;s exports to the EU countries declined in the first three months of the fiscal year that began on March 22, 2003, but its imports from Europe increased $790 million. Washington-based economist <b>Mohammad Eghtedari</b> says the figures reflect the deals that had been made last year and before. He adds that the impact of the current tensions in the EU-Iran relations over Iran&apos;s nuclear program and its treatment of student protestors will appear in the next year&apos;s trade figures. He said poor quality of goods produced in Iran and lower demand in Europe because of the economic downturn were factors that contributed to the growth of Iran&apos;s trade deficit with Europe. (Leili Sadr) <b>Sazegara&apos;s Transfer to Hospital Alarms Lawyer</b> • Lawyer of jailed publisher Mohsen Sazegara tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that his client&apos;s transfer to a hospital operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was alarming. He adds that Sazegara may meet a fate similar to that of Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died in the same hospital last month of a head injury she received during interrogation. Sazegara&apos;s lawyer <b>Qasem Shoaleh Saadi</b>, who had been jailed for questioning the religious qualifications of the Supreme Leader, says Sazegara his and Sazegara family&apos;s efforts to visit him in jail has met with official resistance since his arrest 50 days ago. Officials said Sazegara injured himself by self-flagellation. (Bahman Bastani) <b>Third Force Seeks to Prevent Regime&apos;s Fall</b> • People have turned away from both the reformists and the conservatives. The solution is a third current, that represents the majority of the population, the moderate conservative Tehran daily <i>Entekhab</i> writes in an op-ed piece. (Bijan Farhoodi) • Some analysts say the failure of the regime&apos;s reformist faction to deliver on promises is bringing about a new, third force that encompasses the majority of the population. Qom-based commentator <b>Dr. Akbar Karami</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the so-called “third force” or “third direction” is a group of Islamic politicians who have organized themselves around the Tehran daily <i>Entekhab</i>, and would like to lead all the political groups disenchanted with the reformists and conservatives, in order to prevent a transfer of power from the Islamic regime to the its opposition. However, he adds, there is momentum and opportunity for a true, “third force” to emerge from the masses of modern, pro-democracy, pro-human rights, secular Iranians, but it cannot succeed, because these forces are not given the chance to express themselves. (Fereydoun Zarnegar) <b>70 Percent of Runaway Girls Come from Religious Families</b> • Magistrate of the Tehran public and revolutionary courts Fereydoun Toufiqi cited a study that showed more than 70 percent of runaway girls between ages 13 to 18 come from families with strong religious and traditional values. Tehran-based sociologist <b>Shahla Ezazi</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that family and school are equally responsible for the growing number of runaway girls. Both institutions, she adds, emphasize values that are out of step with an industrial or pre-industrial society. (Shireen Famili) <b>Tehran Stock Market Director Warns of a Meltdown</b> • Tehran&apos;s heated stock market was in danger of a meltdown, warned Hossein Abdi Tabrizi, secretary general of the Tehran stock exchange. He urged the government to increase the number of companies whose shares are sold through the stock market by expediting the privatization process of the state-owned enterprises. (Arash Qavidel) <b>Relaxation of Auto Imports Fails to Ease Problems</b> • Government began relaxing the ban on car imports as a remedy for the poor quality, high prices and shortages of domestic cars, but the high tariffs charged from the importers would prevent them from competing with domestic carmakers, Tehran-based economist <b>Ali Rashidi</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Fereydoun Zarnegar) <b>Iran Forms Satellite Company with France Greece and South Africa</b> • After canceling the $125 million deal with a Russian company for making and launching a communications satellite, Iran formed a new partnership with France, Greece and South Africa to build and launch satellites. Iran Telecom board member Masoud Moqadas said yesterday that 49 percent of the new concern will be owned by Iran, with the rest shared by the three other countries. (Ardavan Niknam) <b> Calls for Release of Jailed Journalists</b> • Paris-based press freedom advocacy group Reporters San Frontiers called for the immediate and unconditional release of 21 jailed journalists. It said it had counted 50 cases of summons, arrests or other judiciary actions against journalists in only one month. (Golnaz Esfandiari) • PEN American center called on the Islamic regime to follow international treaties on freedom of speech. Director of PEN American Center&apos;s international program writer <b>Larry Siems</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that Iran&apos;s passage to democracy is important to the rest of the world and independent media pave the for that passage. (Bijan Farhoodi) • Fifty professors from European and American universities called for the release of jailed journalists and political activist in a letter to the Supreme Leader. (Golnaz Esfandiari) • Tehran reformist MP Mohsen Armin said if the Guardians Council had not rejected the Majles legislation to ban all forms of torture, the Islamic regime would not have suffered the humiliation brought over it as a result of the death in custody of Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died last month of injuries she suffered during interrogation. • Secretary of the trade union of journalists, dissident cleric Mohsen Kadivar, said yesterday&apos;s sit-in protest at the union&apos;s offices was held to show the world that Iranian journalists in Iran are unfavorable. (Abbas Malekzadeh) • More than 800 journalists called for the removal of Tehran prosecutor Said Mortazavi in a statement they issued after their protest gathering at the trade union of journalists&apos; offices in Tehran. The statement also calls for the release of arrested journalists and lifting of all press restrictions. (Nazi Azima) <b>Bread Commission to Roll Back Prices</b> • A Tehran province commission made up of representatives of government, price control organs consumer advocacy groups and bakers rolled back bread prices to last year&apos;s level, even though they were set to increase, in order to reduce the tens of billions of rials the government pays every year to subsidize bread. Bread price hikes have in the past ignited social unrest, and is considered a sensitive issue. (Ardavan Niknam) <b>Bloated Government Consumes National Resources</b> • In the 25 years following the 1979 revolution, the number of civil servants increased four times and the number of state-owned companies tripled. The state consumes 70 percent of the GNP, almost twice the ratio 14 years ago, according to the management and planning organization&apos;s deputy for human resources Mahmoud Asgari Azad. He added that the ratio of civil employees to all workers increased from 19 percent in 1978 to 34 percent in 2001. Roads and transportation minister Ahmad Khorram said of 28,000 positions in his ministry only 7800 were needed. (Fereydoun Khavand) . فريدون زرنگار(راديو فردا): در حالي که چگونگي برخورد با اعضاي ارشد القاعده که در ايران زنداني هستند، همچنان يکي از موضوعهاي اصلي در بحران مناسبات ايران و آمريکا است. نماينده ويژه دبير کل سازمان ملل مي گويد اين سازمان مي کوشد امکان مذاکره ايران و آمريکا در مورد افراد القاعده را فراهم کند. بهمن باستاني (راديو فردا): اخضر ابراهيمي، نماينده ويژه دبيركل سازمان ملل متحد در امور افغانستان اگر چه مي گويد ماموريت او به فعاليتهاي تروريستي يا ضد تروريستي جمهوري اسلامي ربطي ندارد و صرفا در زمينه موضوع بازسازي در افغانستان اخيرا به ايران سفر کرده و با مسئولان جمهوري اسلامي مذاکره داشته است، اما تحت فشار پرسش هاي مکرر روزنامه دولتي «ايران» درباره چگونگي برخورد سازمان ملل با موضوع القاعده و جمهوري اسلامي مي گويد: در حال سازماندهي مذاکره ايران و آمريکا در مورد اعضاي القاعده هستيم. آمريکا در ماه هاي گذشته بارها از جمهوري اسلامي خواسته است افراد القاعده را که بازداشت کرده، به اين کشور تحويل دهد تا بر طبق قوانين آمريکا و به عنوان متهم در عمليات تروريستي عليه اين کشور محاکمه شوند. از سوي ديگر، دولت ايران مي گويد اين افراد را خود جمهوري اسلامي محاکمه مي کند. وزير اطلاعات جمهوري اسلامي روز پنج شنبه براي نخستين بار موضع دولت ايران را درباره بازداشتي هاي القاعده اعلام کرد و گفت: از اعضاي القاعده كه بدليل سلب تابعيت آنان از کشورهاي مطبوعشان، امکان استردادشان به کشور ديگري وجود ندارد در ايران محاکمه مي شوند. تاکنون معلوم شده است که دست کم يک کشور از پذيرش اتباع خود که در شبکه القاعده فعاليت کرده اند، سر باز مي زند. کويت به نوشته روزنامه انتخاب چاپ تهران، براي تحويل گرفتن سليمان ابوغيث، سخنگوي القاعده از سوي ايران تحت فشار بود، اما سرانجام رسما اعلام کرد که تابعيت ابوغيث را لغو کرده و حاضر به تحويل گرفتن او نيست. دولت ايران اعلام کرده است صدها تن از افراد القاعده را که بازداشت خود داشته به کشورهاي متبوع آنان تحويل داده است. اما آنچه اين روزها در محافل خبري و مطبوعاتي ايران و غرب بسيار مطرح شده، امتيازي است که جمهوري اسلامي از قبل بازداشت افراد ارشد القاعده جستجو مي کند. يک مقام مسئول دولت ايران که نخواسته نامش فاش شود، به خبرنگار روزنامه انگليسي Guardian در تهران گفته است: ايران کليد طلايي را در اين زمينه در اختيار دارد و آمريکائي ها اين را مي دانند. روز پنج شنبه، بار ديگر سخنگوي دولت جمهوري اسلامي انجام هر گونه مذاکره دو جانبه با آمريکا را رد کرد و هيچ اشاره اي هم به مذاکرات اخير نماينده ويژه دبير کل سازمان ملل در اين باره با مسئولان جمهوري اسلامي نکرد. اخضر ابراهيمي، نماينده ويژه دبير کل سازمان ملل اگرچه به موانع سازماندهي مذاکره ايران و آمريکا در اين زمينه به طور مشخص نمي پردازد، اما به نکته اي اشاره مي کند که مورد اصلي اختلاف ايران و آمريکا در مورد افراد القاعده است. او مي گويد: اگر کشوري بگويد افراد القاعده که در بازداشت جمهوري اسلامي هستند، ديگر از اتباع ما نيستند، مطابق قوانين بين المللي بايد هر کس را به کشوري که در آن مرتکب جنايت شده تحويل داد. اين موضع در سخنان مسئولان دولت آمريکا هم بارها تکرار شده، اما مسئولان جمهوري اسلامي با تکيه بر دو انگيزه به آن پاسخ رد داده و مي گويند: اين افراد را خودمان محاکمه مي کنيم. يکي از اين انگيزه ها اين است که در صورت تحويل دادن افراد القاعده به آمريکا، ممکن است باقيمانده هاي شبکه القاعده از جمهوري اسلامي انتقام بگيرند و دوم اين که به عقيده مسئولان جمهوري اسلامي، معلوم نيست افراد القاعده که در ايران بازداشتند مستقيما در عمليات تروريستي 11 سپتامبر 2001 در آمريکا نقش داشته اند، اگرچه کليه منابع خبري زنداني بودن سخنگوي القاعده و طراح اصلي نظامي اين شبکه در ايران را تاييد کرده اند. اکثر تحليلگران بر اين باورند که بي ترديد، محاکه افراد القاعده در ايران اصولا سياسي است و ربطي به مسائل حقوقي و قضائي ندارد و بنا بر اين اين محاکمه اگر عملي شود، اساسا تابع چگونگي مناسبات ايران و آمريکا خواهد بود، هرچند که اعلام اوليه محاکمه اين افراد در ايران توسط جمهوري اسلامي، هنوز به معناي قطعي شدن اين اقدام نيست و بعيد به نظر نمي رسد که طرح اين موضوع از شگردهايي باشد که براي در دست گرفتن ابتکار عمل بيشتر در اين معامله و معادله سياسي، جمهوري اسلامي پيشه کرده است. اخضر ابراهيمي، نماينده ويژه دبيركل سازمان ملل متحد در امور افغانستان، فاش ساخت كه در مذاكره با مقامات جمهوري اسلامي به سازماندهي مذاكره ميان ايران و آمريكا در باره عناصر سازمان تروريستي القاعده كه در ايران به سر مي برند، مشغول است. روز پنجشنبه، وزير اطلاعات جمهوري اسلامي گفت: آندسته از اعضاي القاعده كه بدليل سلب تابعيت، امكان بازگشت به كشورشان را ندارند، در ايران محاكمه مي شوند. تاكنون معلوم شده است كه دست كم يك كشور از پذيرفتن اعضاي القاعده سرباز زده است. به نوشته انتخاب چاپ تهران، كويت، سليمان ابوغيث، سخنگوي القاعده و شهروند سابق اين كشور را نپذيرفته است. يك مقام مسئول ايراني كه نخواست نامش فاش شود به روزنامه گاردين در تهران گفته است ايران كليد طلايي را در اختيار دارد و آمريكايي ها آنرا مي دانند.