همايون مجد (واشنگتن)
Summary of Today's BroadcastRFE/RL Persian ServiceWednesday, April 03, 2002 * Reformists call for Middle East peace * Debate on referendum anniversary * New regulations on Friday prayer leaders * Illusions of recent Iranian immigrants to US US Defense Secretary: Iranians Will Topple Regime * Secretary Rumsfeld said at a press conference yesterday that the Iranian people would eventually rise against the Islamic Republic, which has denied them their rights. He also complained that Iran has permitted al-Qaeda terrorists to safely disperse to other countries. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) Iranian Reformists Call for Peaceful Means in a Letter to Arafat * To show their independence from the official media, a group of reformist journalists and MP's published a letter to Chairman Arafat calling for a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict. Calling themselves "Iranian Intellectuals," they delivered the letter to the Palestinian Authority's Tehran "embassy." Prominent reformist MP's were present, including some who had not signed the letter. Prominent newspaper editor Masha'allah Shamsolvaezin says the letter's demand for a fair and comprehensive peace clashes with the stated policies of the Islamic Republic and its harder line calling for the elimination of Israel. (Mina Baharmast) Tehran Newspapers Debate Islamic Republic Referendum * After the two-week New Year holidays, newspapers resumed publishing today with most commemorating the 23rd anniversary of the Islamic Republic referendum. The conservative newspaper Resalat criticized the reformists' views on democracy: "if the Islamic Republic were to be a democracy, it would have had the word "democratic" in its name from day one." Resalat said in the early days of the revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini rejected the word "democratic," since he knew that democracy would end in secularism. The conservative daily Keyhan, controlled by the Islamic Republic Leader, wrote that the Islamic Republic is the only regime in the world that allowed its people to choose their form of government. The reformist Nowruz wrote that the people's vote for an Islamic Republic did not mean rejection of a non-Islamic republic. Rather, it was meant to end the autocratic rule of the Shah. The reformist daily Bonyan wrote that democracy would prevent the use of religion as an instrument of power. It added the absolute rule of one Islamic Jurist is not the only form of Islamic government. (Mehdi Khalaji) New Bureaucratic Controls over Friday Prayer Leaders * New regulations announced by the Friday Prayer Policy Council centralized control of the Friday prayer system in Iran, increasing the Leader's control over an institution that had once been a political forum for independent-minded prominent local clerics. The new system would limit the tenure of Friday prayer leaders to only three years, retire the older prayer leaders and reassign prayer leaders to cities other than their own. (Mehdi Khalaji) The Impact of Unification of the Foreign Exchange Rate * It is too early to judge the impact of the unification of the foreign exchange on the price of imported goods, says Tehran-based economic journalist Mohammad Reza Balideh. He tells RFE/RL that consumer prices will nevertheless go up, since the base price for calculating import tariffs has changed from the former rate of 3,000 rials to the dollar to the new unified rate of 7,700 rials to the dollar. But the Central Bank has not yet offered foreign exchange at the expected rate of 7,700 rials to the dollar, says London-based foreign exchange dealer Ali Pakpour. He tells RFE/RL that today dollar was sold in the open market at 7,955 rials and government banks bought dollars at 7,920 rials. (Fereydoun Zarnegar) The Impact of Middle East Tensions on Oil Prices * The conflict in the Middle East combined with the prospect of economic growth in the industrial countries has increased crude oil prices, which would benefit Iran. (Fereydoun Khavand, Paris) WORLD * Israel extends siege of Palestinian towns. (Jamshid Chalangi, Cairo) * In reactions to the Middle East crisis, most countries avoided radical moves and little attention was paid to Iraq, Libya and Yemen's call for an Arab oil embargo against the US and Israel. (Siavash Ardalan) * Vatican calls for protection of Middle East holy sites. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome) * In an interview with RFE/RL, the Palestinian Authority's minister for planning and foreign cooperation Nabil Shas warns that a broader conflict may rage in the Middle East. (Jamshid Chalangi, Cairo) * Senators Specter and Lieberman criticize administration on Middle East. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) * Review of western press articles on Middle East crisis. (Alireza Taheri) * Allied forces prepare to root out al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants in eastern Afghanistan. (Shireen Famili) * Gary Sick says Rumsfeld's statements about Iran's support for terrorism were not different from what American officials have been saying since President Bush's axis of evil speech. He tells RFE/RL that US and the Islamic Republic have common interests, while they differ on issues such as the Arab-Israeli conflict. He does not see, however, a chance for negotiations in the near future. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) * OPEC rejects using oil as a weapon in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, writes Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. (Shahram Mirian) * RFE/RL begins broadcasting to northern Caucasian region after delaying for a month due to the Russian worries about possible resumption of war in Chechnya. (Alireza Taheri) * Egypt suspends relations with Israel. (Jamshid Chalangi, Cairo) * China plans manned spacecraft launch in three years. (Shahram Tehrani, Beijing) * Fortune magazine publishes list of the world's richest companies. (Alireza Taheri) * US says negotiations can resume even before cease fire in the Middle East. State Department calls for implementation of latest UN Security Council resolution. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) * Switzerland was the only country to cut relations with Israel over the siege of the West Bank. (Siavash Ardalan) * OIC could not agree on a definition for terrorism, writes al-Ahram. (Jamshid Chalangi, Cairo) * Bush approves Sharon's eye-for-an-eye policy in the Middle East, writes Los Angeles Times. (Shireen Famili) * Powell rejects Sharon's idea to exile Arafat. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) ARTS AND IDEAS Weekly Science Magazine The funding process for scientific research the US * Dr. Yasaman Shirazi, Scientific Review Administrator, National Institute of Health, and Dr. Mohammad Navab, Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, UCLA, explain the complicated process by which public funds are granted to projects in research institutes and universities. (Fatemeh Aman, Washington) Research on Genetic Causes of Heart Attacks in Children * Dr. Mahnaz Motevalli, Associate Professor of Pediatric Cardiology and Joint Appointment in Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, explains her work on India's ethnic minorities as a part of the research on genetic causes for heart attacks in children. (Fatemeh Aman, Washington) Youth, Society and Education * In his weekly program, Dr. Said Peyvandi continues his discussion about the need for textbook reform in Iran and reviews news about youth and education. (Nazi Azima) Classical Persian Literature: Story of Zahak * Iraj Gorgin reads from the 13th Century Persian text, Tarikh Tabari the story of the successful popular rebellion against a tyrant ruler in Isfahan who fed young men's brains to the snakes on his shoulder. More than 17,000 Iranians Celebrate New Year in a Stadium in Cologne * The New Year celebration, partially aired today on RFE/RL, featured top pop singers from Los Angeles. It attracted more than 17,000 Iranians living in Europe to Cologne's largest concert hall. Actor Behruz Vossughi said the guest of honor, Tehran-based poet Ms. Simin Behbahani, could not attend. Touraj Negahban read his poem about Behbahani. Dariush performed his new anti-drug addiction song. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne) Iranians in the US: Illusions * Just two days after arriving in the US, members of an immigrant family talk about their feelings about Iran and their hopes and ideas about the US. The mother says she waited 23 years to get her children out of Iran. Her 27-year old daughter says some of her friends prefer to stay in Iran because drugs are cheaper and more accessible. Her 31-year-old brother, an accountant, says he is terrified about his future in the US. Professor Mehdi Bozorgmehr, Director of the Middle East and Middle East American Center of City University of New York, says Iranians who immigrated to the US after the revolution harbor an illusion of pre-revolutionary life in Iran, while recent arrivals bring a grand illusion about US life. He tells RFE/RL that unlike South Korean and Taiwanese immigrants who come to the US for economic reasons, the Iranian immigrants do not want to go back. (Behnam Nateghi, New York)
دانالدرامسفلد، وزير دفاع آمريكا در يك كنفرانس مطبوعاتي مشترك با وزير دفاع نروژ روز سه شنبه پيش بيني كرد كه مردم ايران حكومت جمهوري اسلامي را سرنگون خواهند ساخت. وي افزود تروريست هاي القاعده براي گريز از افغانستان اجازه يافتند از مسير ايران استفاده كنند. وي گفت: "ايران كشوري است كه در آن سرانجام مردم وضع خود را تغيير خواهند داد." وي افزود مردم ايران از حقوق خود محروم هستند و رهبري ايران با گذشت زمان خود را با وضع دشواري روبرو خواهد ديد.
Summary of Today's BroadcastRFE/RL Persian ServiceWednesday, April 03, 2002 * Reformists call for Middle East peace * Debate on referendum anniversary * New regulations on Friday prayer leaders * Illusions of recent Iranian immigrants to US US Defense Secretary: Iranians Will Topple Regime * Secretary Rumsfeld said at a press conference yesterday that the Iranian people would eventually rise against the Islamic Republic, which has denied them their rights. He also complained that Iran has permitted al-Qaeda terrorists to safely disperse to other countries. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) Iranian Reformists Call for Peaceful Means in a Letter to Arafat * To show their independence from the official media, a group of reformist journalists and MP's published a letter to Chairman Arafat calling for a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict. Calling themselves "Iranian Intellectuals," they delivered the letter to the Palestinian Authority's Tehran "embassy." Prominent reformist MP's were present, including some who had not signed the letter. Prominent newspaper editor Masha'allah Shamsolvaezin says the letter's demand for a fair and comprehensive peace clashes with the stated policies of the Islamic Republic and its harder line calling for the elimination of Israel. (Mina Baharmast) Tehran Newspapers Debate Islamic Republic Referendum * After the two-week New Year holidays, newspapers resumed publishing today with most commemorating the 23rd anniversary of the Islamic Republic referendum. The conservative newspaper Resalat criticized the reformists' views on democracy: "if the Islamic Republic were to be a democracy, it would have had the word "democratic" in its name from day one." Resalat said in the early days of the revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini rejected the word "democratic," since he knew that democracy would end in secularism. The conservative daily Keyhan, controlled by the Islamic Republic Leader, wrote that the Islamic Republic is the only regime in the world that allowed its people to choose their form of government. The reformist Nowruz wrote that the people's vote for an Islamic Republic did not mean rejection of a non-Islamic republic. Rather, it was meant to end the autocratic rule of the Shah. The reformist daily Bonyan wrote that democracy would prevent the use of religion as an instrument of power. It added the absolute rule of one Islamic Jurist is not the only form of Islamic government. (Mehdi Khalaji) New Bureaucratic Controls over Friday Prayer Leaders * New regulations announced by the Friday Prayer Policy Council centralized control of the Friday prayer system in Iran, increasing the Leader's control over an institution that had once been a political forum for independent-minded prominent local clerics. The new system would limit the tenure of Friday prayer leaders to only three years, retire the older prayer leaders and reassign prayer leaders to cities other than their own. (Mehdi Khalaji) The Impact of Unification of the Foreign Exchange Rate * It is too early to judge the impact of the unification of the foreign exchange on the price of imported goods, says Tehran-based economic journalist Mohammad Reza Balideh. He tells RFE/RL that consumer prices will nevertheless go up, since the base price for calculating import tariffs has changed from the former rate of 3,000 rials to the dollar to the new unified rate of 7,700 rials to the dollar. But the Central Bank has not yet offered foreign exchange at the expected rate of 7,700 rials to the dollar, says London-based foreign exchange dealer Ali Pakpour. He tells RFE/RL that today dollar was sold in the open market at 7,955 rials and government banks bought dollars at 7,920 rials. (Fereydoun Zarnegar) The Impact of Middle East Tensions on Oil Prices * The conflict in the Middle East combined with the prospect of economic growth in the industrial countries has increased crude oil prices, which would benefit Iran. (Fereydoun Khavand, Paris) WORLD * Israel extends siege of Palestinian towns. (Jamshid Chalangi, Cairo) * In reactions to the Middle East crisis, most countries avoided radical moves and little attention was paid to Iraq, Libya and Yemen's call for an Arab oil embargo against the US and Israel. (Siavash Ardalan) * Vatican calls for protection of Middle East holy sites. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome) * In an interview with RFE/RL, the Palestinian Authority's minister for planning and foreign cooperation Nabil Shas warns that a broader conflict may rage in the Middle East. (Jamshid Chalangi, Cairo) * Senators Specter and Lieberman criticize administration on Middle East. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) * Review of western press articles on Middle East crisis. (Alireza Taheri) * Allied forces prepare to root out al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants in eastern Afghanistan. (Shireen Famili) * Gary Sick says Rumsfeld's statements about Iran's support for terrorism were not different from what American officials have been saying since President Bush's axis of evil speech. He tells RFE/RL that US and the Islamic Republic have common interests, while they differ on issues such as the Arab-Israeli conflict. He does not see, however, a chance for negotiations in the near future. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) * OPEC rejects using oil as a weapon in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, writes Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. (Shahram Mirian) * RFE/RL begins broadcasting to northern Caucasian region after delaying for a month due to the Russian worries about possible resumption of war in Chechnya. (Alireza Taheri) * Egypt suspends relations with Israel. (Jamshid Chalangi, Cairo) * China plans manned spacecraft launch in three years. (Shahram Tehrani, Beijing) * Fortune magazine publishes list of the world's richest companies. (Alireza Taheri) * US says negotiations can resume even before cease fire in the Middle East. State Department calls for implementation of latest UN Security Council resolution. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) * Switzerland was the only country to cut relations with Israel over the siege of the West Bank. (Siavash Ardalan) * OIC could not agree on a definition for terrorism, writes al-Ahram. (Jamshid Chalangi, Cairo) * Bush approves Sharon's eye-for-an-eye policy in the Middle East, writes Los Angeles Times. (Shireen Famili) * Powell rejects Sharon's idea to exile Arafat. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) ARTS AND IDEAS Weekly Science Magazine The funding process for scientific research the US * Dr. Yasaman Shirazi, Scientific Review Administrator, National Institute of Health, and Dr. Mohammad Navab, Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, UCLA, explain the complicated process by which public funds are granted to projects in research institutes and universities. (Fatemeh Aman, Washington) Research on Genetic Causes of Heart Attacks in Children * Dr. Mahnaz Motevalli, Associate Professor of Pediatric Cardiology and Joint Appointment in Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, explains her work on India's ethnic minorities as a part of the research on genetic causes for heart attacks in children. (Fatemeh Aman, Washington) Youth, Society and Education * In his weekly program, Dr. Said Peyvandi continues his discussion about the need for textbook reform in Iran and reviews news about youth and education. (Nazi Azima) Classical Persian Literature: Story of Zahak * Iraj Gorgin reads from the 13th Century Persian text, Tarikh Tabari the story of the successful popular rebellion against a tyrant ruler in Isfahan who fed young men's brains to the snakes on his shoulder. More than 17,000 Iranians Celebrate New Year in a Stadium in Cologne * The New Year celebration, partially aired today on RFE/RL, featured top pop singers from Los Angeles. It attracted more than 17,000 Iranians living in Europe to Cologne's largest concert hall. Actor Behruz Vossughi said the guest of honor, Tehran-based poet Ms. Simin Behbahani, could not attend. Touraj Negahban read his poem about Behbahani. Dariush performed his new anti-drug addiction song. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne) Iranians in the US: Illusions * Just two days after arriving in the US, members of an immigrant family talk about their feelings about Iran and their hopes and ideas about the US. The mother says she waited 23 years to get her children out of Iran. Her 27-year old daughter says some of her friends prefer to stay in Iran because drugs are cheaper and more accessible. Her 31-year-old brother, an accountant, says he is terrified about his future in the US. Professor Mehdi Bozorgmehr, Director of the Middle East and Middle East American Center of City University of New York, says Iranians who immigrated to the US after the revolution harbor an illusion of pre-revolutionary life in Iran, while recent arrivals bring a grand illusion about US life. He tells RFE/RL that unlike South Korean and Taiwanese immigrants who come to the US for economic reasons, the Iranian immigrants do not want to go back. (Behnam Nateghi, New York)
دانالدرامسفلد، وزير دفاع آمريكا در يك كنفرانس مطبوعاتي مشترك با وزير دفاع نروژ روز سه شنبه پيش بيني كرد كه مردم ايران حكومت جمهوري اسلامي را سرنگون خواهند ساخت. وي افزود تروريست هاي القاعده براي گريز از افغانستان اجازه يافتند از مسير ايران استفاده كنند. وي گفت: "ايران كشوري است كه در آن سرانجام مردم وضع خود را تغيير خواهند داد." وي افزود مردم ايران از حقوق خود محروم هستند و رهبري ايران با گذشت زمان خود را با وضع دشواري روبرو خواهد ديد.
