Summary of Iran Stories in Today&apos;s BroadcastsBehnam NateghiFriday, June 20, 2003 <b>IAEA Asks Iran to Sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty&apos;s Additional Protocol</b> • IAEA&apos;s 35 member board of governors asked Iran to allow the UN unannounced inspections of its nuclear facilities, and criticized Iran&apos;s refusal to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty&apos;s additional protocol, that seeks to prevent the development of nuclear weapons. (Mehdi Khalaji, Prague) • Russia&apos;s deputy foreign minister Yuri Fedotov said Russia welcomes IAEA&apos;s “balanced view” on Iran. (Mehdi Khalaji, Prague) • Despite its close cooperation with Iran on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Russia urged Iran to sign the additional protocol of the UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Russia&apos;s representative to IAEA Gregory Brodnikov tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that he too urges Iran to sign the protocol. He says he hopes that it would not come to a point when Iran would feel forced to sign the protocol. He adds that President Khatami has told Russian President Putin that Iran is prepared to sign any treaty that IAEA requires. (Camellia Entekhabi-Fard, Washington) • Heads of 15 EU nations, in Spain for a three-day summit, asked Iran to open its nuclear installations to UN inspection. (Alireza Taheri, Prague) • President Khatami told Russian President Putin in a phone conversation yesterday that Iran has no plans to produce nuclear weapons, President Putin told a press conference in Moscow. (Siavash Ardalan, Prague) • White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the US welcomes IAEA&apos;s statement on Iran, and said, if Iran is not producing nuclear weapons, why it doesn&apos;t fully cooperate with the IAEA. “I do not believe the [Bush] Administration is headed toward military action in Iran, said Senator Chuck Hagel on Thursday in a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington. He said the US can quietly work with non-revolutionary forces in Iran “in trying to develop more diplomatic channels.” House minority leader Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi said no country has the right to threaten other countries with nuclear weapons. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian, Washington) <b>Special Report: Iran on the Verge of Regime Change</b> • In a <b>Radio Farda</b> roundtable discussion, author and Notre Dame University professor Abbas Milani, Paris-based commentator Ahmad Salamatian and columnist of banned reformist newspapers Masoud Behnud discuss the impact of the wide-spread anti-regime demonstrations in Iran. (Shahran Tabari, London) <b>Human Rights Watch Asks the Supreme Leader to Dissolve the Plainclothes Security Force</b> • In an open letter released on Friday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch asked the Supreme Leader to dissolve plainclothes security force. (Jamshid Zand) • HRW&apos;s Iran expert <b>Elaheh Sharifpour Hicks</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that no one appears to be able to control the so-called “pressure groups.” They commit crimes openly, she says, in the name of supporting the Supreme Leader. She adds that it is not clear how many people have been arrested during the recent student protests, and by whom. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian, Washington) • Paris-based head of the Society to Defend Human Rights in Iran <b>Abolkarim Lahiji</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the judiciary is itself a lever of pressure against the pro-democracy forces. He also says in Iran everyone knows that the so-called pressure groups are under direct control of the Supreme Leader. (Ali Sajjadi, Prague) <b>Regime Change without Military Intervention</b> • Unlike Iraq, which was a torture chamber, Iran has an advanced opposition, and the students&apos; demand for a regime change through referendum has supporters within the reformist wing of the regime. Changing two articles of the Islamic regime&apos;s constitution would eliminate the role of the Supreme Leader, and peacefully accomplish Iranians&apos; demand for separation of religion and government, writes veteran journalist Amir Taheri in a syndicated column that appeared in the <i>New York Post</i>. (Behnam Nateghi, New York) <b>Students Protestors Return to Campuses</b> • Tehran streets were calmer after nine days of protests on Thursday night. Residents describe the city as being under martial law, with police and plainclothes security force deployed everywhere. However, protests continued inside university campuses and the streets of Urumuieh, Gilan, Kermanshah and Rafsanjan. In Tabriz 135 students were arrested, 50 were arrested in Shahsavar, 8 in Yazd, and more than 300 in Isfahan. (Jamshid Zand, Prague) • A student of Shahid Beheshti University tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that on Sunday the student dorms were attacked by police and plainclothes security force, who, after seven hours of clashes, arrested a few students. On the next day, he adds, some 500 security personnel returned to the dorms, looking for student demonstrators. He adds that on Thursday, the Tehran revolutionary court summoned 51 students, including 11 girls. (Bijan Farhoodi, Washington) • A Kermani student tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that, in Kerman, protests began on Sunday night, during which 40 were arrested. Another 100 were arrested on the second night. On Tuesday night, the police had permission to shoot, he adds, and wounded at least two protestors. Seventy were arrested that night, he adds. Nearly 600 people rallied in the Kerman University on Wednesday. On Wednesday night police attacked people gathered at the Kosar square, while cars in the streets leading to the square honked their horns and flashed their lights. He says, protestors are mostly young students, boys and girls. He adds that the students resist the Ansar-e Hezbollah paramilitary security force with Molotov cocktails and rocks. He says the people&apos;s support has encouraged the students. (Mahmonir Rahimi, Prague) • The authorities seem to be trying to end the anti-regime demonstrations before July 9, the anniversary of the student uprising of 1998. But even if they fail, there is no united movement in the country against the regime, writes London&apos;s the Economist. It adds that President Bush&apos;s strong support for the protestors further weakened them. (Nazi Azima) • Iranians stage a demonstration in Cologne in support of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Iran. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne) • Secretary of Italy&apos;s social democrat party supported student demonstrations and asked the EU to stand behind them. (Ahmad Ra&apos;fat, Rome) <b>Wife of Arrested Activist Goes on Hunger Strike</b> • Soheila Hamidnia, wife of Mohsen Sazegara, publisher of banned reformists newspaper and consitutional reform activist Mohsen Sazegara, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that she began a hunger strike on the sixth day of the arrest of her husband and their son Vahid. She says her husband, who went on hunger strike on the day he was arrested, had asked her to announce that he would not end his hunger strike untill all the students arrested during the recent anti-regime demonstrators are released. She says the condition for ending her hunger strike is visiting her husband and her son. (Nazi Azima, Prague) <b>Friday Prayer Leader Calls for Execution of Protestors</b> •In his speech on Friday at the official Friday prayer ceremony, former judiciary chief and a Council of Guardians member Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi called for the execution of those arrested during the pro-democracy demonstrations of the past nine days. Hundreds have been arrested in Tehran and major cities. However, it seems that authorities disagree on the arrests and what to do with the detainees. A deputy intelligence minister said the ministry has no knowledge of some of the arrests. (Siavash Ardalan, Prague) <b>Iranian Mafia Cartels Profit from Smuggling Fuel to Afghanistan and Pakistan</b> • According to head of the state-owned national fuel distribution company Hossein Kashefi, more than half a million liters of subsidized gasoline and other fuels from Iran reach markets in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Smugglers, organized by strong mafia-style cartels in Iran and Pakistan, carry fuel on camels and mules over the border. Their operation costs Iran $1.4 billion per year. (Fereydoun Khavand, Paris) <b>Two MKO Sympathizers Die from Human Torch Protests</b> • France announced that 20 of the 208 arrested members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), including MKO leader&apos;s wife Maryam Rajavi, will be taken before an anti-terrorism judge on Saturday and will be placed under formal investigation for alleged participation in a terrorist organization. In protests by MKO sympathizers in France, Switzerland, Britain and Italy, several protesters torched themselves. So far, two have died from burns. France&apos;s internal security organization, DTS, believes the group was beefing up its Paris base to make it a global operations center from which to launch attacks on Iranian embassies in Europe -- something the group denies. “The Mujahideen has seen a sectarian shift that illustrates the fanaticism of its militants. The dramatic immolations of recent days sadly confirm this,” DTS chief Pierre de Bousquet said in an interview with Paris&apos; <i>Le Figaro</i>. (Bijan Farhoodi, Alireza Taheri, Jean Khakzad, Siavash Ardalan) <b>Delay in Repatriation of Iraqi Refugees Blamed on US</b> • Director of the interior ministry&apos;s foreign nationals affairs Ahmad Hosseini blamed Iraq&apos;s civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer for the slowdown of the repatriation of Iraqi refugees in Iran. He said Bremer has temporarily blocked their return. UNHCR representative in Iran tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that Iraqi refugees are free to return home, but prefer to wait out the current instability there. The UNHCR, she says, is working with Iranian and US officials to arrange for the return of the refugees in manageable, small groups. (Fariba Mavedat, Prague) <b>Los Angeles Group Sees A Turning Point in Iran Protests</b> • Spokesman of the central committee of the national union for democracy in Iran <b>Amir Rafi-Nia tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that his year-old Los Angeles group is made of young Iranian-Americans. He adds that he believes by expanding to general public, the democracy movement in Iran has passed a turning point. (Firouzeh Khatami, Los Angeles) .كامليا انتخابي فرد: (راديو فردا): ولاديمير پويتن، رئيس جمهوري روسيه، روز جمعه در يك كنفرانس خبري در مسكو اعلام كرد كه رهبران ايران به او اطمينان داده اند كه تصميمي براي توليد سلاحهاي هسته اي ندارند. آقاي پوتين گفت كه محمد خاتمي، رئيس جمهوري اسلامي، دو روز پيش در يك گفتگوي تلفني، اين اطمينان را به وي داده است. اما خبرگزاري رويتر امروز گزارش داد كه رد تازه ترين درخواست سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي از سوي ايران، مبني بر پروتكل الحاقي، شك و ترديد ديپلماتها را نسبت به فعاليتهاي هسته اي ايران، بالا برده و اين تصور را بوجود آورده است كه ممكن است حق با واشنگتن بوده و ايران سعي دارد بمب اتمي بسازد. آقاي گريگوري برادنيكوف، سفير روسيه در آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي در وين، در مصاحبه اختصاصي با راديو فردا مي گويد: ما از آنجا قول ايرانيها را مبني بر عدم تلاش براي دست يافتن به سلاحهاي هسته اي مي پذيريم كه متكي به اطلاعاتي هستيم كه به تاييد رسيده است و ما واقعا مي دانيم كه براساس ضوابط ايمني آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي، در ايران چه مي گذرد. از سفير روسيه در IAEA، پرسيدم كه باتوجه به اطلاعاتي كه روسيه در اختيار دارد، آيا اين احتمال مي رود كه ايران پروتكل الحاقي را امضا كند؟ وي مي گويد: اين همان چيزي است كه هيئت مديره آژانس، از ايران خواستار آن شده است. من از طرف خود مي گويم كه ايران بايد پروتكل الحاقي را بدون تاخير و پيش شرط امضا كند. اين تنها خواست روسيه نيست. بلكه اين خواست تمامي اعضاي هيئت مديره است و ما بسيار اميدواريم كه ايران اين توصيه را بپذيرد. آقاي برادنيكف، سفير روسيه، در آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي در پاسخ به اين پرسش كه در صورت عدم امضاي پروتكل الحاقي توسط ايران، آيا روسيه به همكاري خود با جمهوري اسلامي ادامه خواهد داد يا خير مي گويد: دردرجه اول بايد گفت كه اين يك سئوال فرضي است و تا حالا نيز ايران امضاي اين پروتكل را رد نكرده است. روز گذشته اعضاي هيئت مديره آژانس اتمي از ايران، جدا خواهان امضاي پروتكل شدند. به نظر مي آيد ايرانيها مي خواهند بسيار مثبت رفتار كرده و اين پروتكل را امضا كنند. چيزي كه ما از آن استقبال مي كنيم و اميدواريم كه وضعيتي پيش نيايد كه ايران نه بصورت داوطلبانه، بلكه به اجبار ناگزير به امضاي آن شود. آقاي گريگوري برادنيكف به راديو فردا مي گويد كه در مورد قراردادي كه مربوط به بازگرداندن سوختهاي مصرف شده اتمي در نيروگاه بوشهر به روسيه بود و ايران اعلام كرد كه بي قيد و شرط اين معاهده را امضا خواهد كرد، هنوز توافقنامه اي به امضا نرسيده است. وي مي گويد كه اين توافقنامه ربطي به پروتكل الحاقي و آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي ندارد و موضوعي است بين ايران و روسيه و دليل عدم امضاي آن سياسي نبوده و مربوط به نقصهاي فني و نوشتن اين قرارداد از طرف روسيه مي باشد. وي مي گويد كه عقد اين قرارداد نيز براي روسيه مهم است و به محض آماده شدن آن به امضاي طرفين خواهد رسيد. آقاي برادنيكف در پاسخ به اين پرسش كه آيا در مكالمه آقاي پوتين با آقاي خاتمي، ايران قول مساعدي براي امضاي پروتكل الحاقي داده است، مي گويد: آقاي خاتمي نگفته است كه آنها آماده امضاي هر پروتكلي كه مد نظر آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي است، هستند و اين نقل قول مستقيم آقاي پوتين است. آقاي برادنيكف، اظهار خوشنودي كرد كه كشورهاي گروه 8 نيز در اويان فرانسه از اين ديدگاه حمايت كرده و خواستار امضاي بي قيد و شرط پروتكل الحاقي توسط ايران شده اند. يك خواست ديگر آژانس از ايران اين است كه مواد اتمي را در كارخانه تغليظ اورانيوم در نطنز به كار نبرد. اما علي صالحي، سفير ايران در آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي، روز پنجشنبه به خبرنگاران گفت كه تهران به هيچ وجه قصد لغو و يا به تعويق انداختن به كارگيري مواد اتمي در كارخانه نطنز را ندارد. خبرگزاري رويتر ميگويد كه گرچه ديپلماتها فكر نمي كنند كه ايران از نطنز براي توليد اورانيوم غني شده، جهت توليد بمب اتمي استفاده ميكند، اما آنها نگران اين هستند كه آنها از اين دانش براي توليد اورانيوم غني شده در كارخانه هاي مخفي در نقاط ديگري استفاده بعمل آورد. ايران منكر آن است كه مي خواهد سلاح اتمي بسازد و مي گويد برنامه هايش صرفا براي برنامه هاي صلح آميز توليد انرژي است. روسيه كه همكاري نزديكي با جمهوري اسلامي براي ساختن نيروگاه اتمي بوشهر دارد، مانند ديگر اعضاي سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي خواهان امضاي پروتكل الحاقي منع گسترش سلاح هاي هسته اي توسط جمهوري اسلامي شد. گريگوري برادنيكوف، سفير روسيه در آژانس بين المللي در مصاحبه با راديو فردا مي گويد: ما زماني قول ايران را مبني بر استفاده صلح آميز از انرژي اتمي مي پذيريم كه متكي به اطلاعاتي باشد كه به تاييد رسيده است. سفير روسيه در آژانس مي گويد: هيئت مديره آژانس از ايران خواستار امضاي پروتكل الحاقي شده است، من هم به سهم خود مي گويم ايران بايد اين پروتكل را امضا كند. وي در پاسخ به امكان همكاري روسيه با ايران در صورت عدم امضاي اين پيمان توسط ايران، مي گويد اميدواريم وضعيتي پيش نيايد كه ايران به اجبار پروتكل را امضا كند. وي مي افزايد آقاي خاتمي به ولاديمير پوتين گفته است كه ايران حاضر است هرنوع پروتكلي كه مدنظر آژانس بين المللي است امضا كند.