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Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiThursday, October 09, 2003
<b>Khatami on Iran-IAEA Cooperation</b>
• President Khatami pledged Wednesday that Iran would give “all necessary cooperation” to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to prove it has no secret nuclear weapons program, but would not give up its “absolute right” to enrich uranium. “We will give all necessary cooperation to assure the world that we are not seeking to have nuclear weapons,” Khatami told reporters after a cabinet meeting. But he reiterated objections here to an IAEA ultimatum that also demands Iran stop enriching uranium. (Shireen Famili)
• Iran will cooperate a little with the IAEA to hide its lack of cooperation, according to the US Undersecretary of State John Bolton. "I think what will happen prior to October 31st is the Iranians will cooperate a little bit and the issue will be, ‘Did they cooperate enough?'” he told reporters in London on Thursday. In a unanimously approved resolution, the IAEA board of governors last month gave Iran until the end of October to prove that it does not have a nuclear weapons program. (Fariba Mavedat)
<b>Khatami Criticizes Judiciary on Kazemi's Death in Custody Case</b>
• President Khatami on Wednesday criticized the trial of an intelligence agent in the killing of a Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, during an impromptu press conference outside his office, as he came out of the weekly cabinet meeting. He said that members of the hard-line judiciary should also be questioned in Kazemi's death. We expected an open and inclusive trial, he added, and the judiciary should not have been influenced by those charged in the case. Instead of all the parties involved in Kazemi's arrest and interrogation, only two intelligence ministry officers have been interrogated in the case, he said. Intelligence ministry agent Mohammad-Reza Aqdam-Ahmadi pleaded not guilty on the opening day of his trial Tuesday on charges of fatally beating journalist Zahra Kazemi during interrogations in prison. Kazemi died of head injuries on July 10. (Shireen Famili)
• Murdered Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi will be honored next month by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), which has awarded its Tara Singh Hayer Memorial Award to Kazemi. The Tara Singh Hayer Memorial Award, honors Canadian journalists who have faced enormous obstacles in the course of doing their jobs. It was named in honor of the editor of the Indo-Canadian Times, murdered in the British Columbia in November 18th, 1998. CJFE's <b>Joel Remy</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the award is not an annual event, and is only given when a worthy candidate is found. (Maryam Aghvami, Toronto)
<b>Ex-Diplomat's Defense in Buenos Aires Bombing Case Not Ready, Lawyer Says</b>
• The defense of Iran's foreign ambassador to Argentina in his extradition hearing at London's High Street Court was not ready, according to Hadi Soleimanpour's lawyer Ben Bradon, who told Iran's official news agency that he will soon submit documents proving his client's innocence. The ex-diplomat, along with eight other high ranking Islamic officials, is wanted for their alleged role in the 1994 bombing attack on a Buenos Aires Jewish cultural center that killed 85 and wounded 300. The British court released Soleimanpour on bail. (Ardavan Niknam)
<b>EU-Iran Human Rights Talks Resume</b>
• Discussions on human rights issues resumed Wednesday in Brussels between the European Union and Iran. The two sides discussed freedom of the press and “the right to development,” according to a report on the Islamic regime's radio-TV monopoly. It said “right to development” should be considered as a basis for civil liberties. Talks were postponed indefinitely last month for “procedural reasons” and in order “to have more time to better coordinate,” an Iranian official said at the time. (Shireen Famili)
• A 23-man delegation from Iran took part in the talks, which, according to the EU officials were supposed to be held behind closed doors. While the main subject of the talks was to have been human rights, most of the dialogue between the two delegations focused on Iran's nuclear program. (Fereydoun Zarnegar)
<b>Khatami Calls for Release of Iranians Held by the US in Iraq</b>
• President Khatami made a plea for the release of two men held by the US in Iraq on the 100th day of their arrest. Iran said the two are TV documentary makers. The US forces said Said Abutaleb and Soheil Karami were arrested for activities not related to journalism. (Baktash Khamsehpour)
<b>Swedish Liberal Party Condemns Attempted Rape Victim's Death Sentence</b>
• In a statement issued today in Stockholm, the Swedish Liberal party called for the nullification of the death sentence approved last week by the Islamic judiciary's supreme court against Afsaneh Nowrouzi, a Kish woman who killed the head of the island's police intelligence unit after the officer attempted to rape her. Swedish MP from the Liberal Party <b>Erik Ullenhag</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the Swedish parliament has in the past criticized what he called “inhuman policies” of the Islamic Republic, and that the presence of more than 70,000 Iranians in Sweden has increased public awareness about Iran. (Elaheh Ravanshad, Stockholm)
<b>Police Arrest 500 Addicts per Day, Says Officer</b>
• The police arrested more than 500 addicts per day, says police general Mehdi Ayubi, head of the anti-drug administration, but, he added, due to lack of facilities and personnel to hold them, the arrested addicts were routinely released after paying a fine. The officials claimed that they have disbanded more than 740 drug distribution gangs during the past six months, 22 percent more than last year's figure. (Jamshid Zand, Arash Qavidel, Tehran)
<b>Enrollment Drops by 90 Percent in Post-Graduate Medical Studies</b>
• Commenting on the reported 90 percent drop in enrollment in the post-graduate medical studies, health minister Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran is losing its prime position in the region's market for medical training. (Arash Qavidel, Tehran)
<b> Industrial Reconstruction Law Takes Effect</b>
• With the approval of the Guardians Council, the government's Majles-approved industrial reconstruction bill became effective as a law. In the new law, bankruptcy and factory closings have been recognized as a necessary by-product of development and reconstruction, Tehran-based economic journalist <b>Ali Mirzakhani</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. He explains that before this law, Iranian governments' understanding of industrial reconstruction was to inject funds into dying factories in order to prevent their collapse. Many textile factories and shoe-makers have been in the process of bankruptcy for the past few years. The new law will hasten that process, he adds. (Fereydoun Zarnegar)
<b>Special Report: Khatami's Political Reform Bills</b>
• In today's special report, international relations professor <b>Mehdi Mozafari</b> of Aarhus University in Denmark, and Tehran-based reformist journalist <b>Hasan Fathi</b> discuss the rejection of President Khatami's twin political reform bills, the election law reform and the expansion of presidential powers. In his impromptu press conference Wednesday Khatami expressed doubt that the bills would be re-introduced before the upcoming Majles elections. The election reform bill sought to end the Guardians Council's power to vet applicants for candidacy in the Majles elections. The other bill authorized the Islamic president to suspend court rulings that he deemed unconstitutional. (Fereydoun Zarnegar)
• President Khatami, along with Majles speaker Mehdi Karrubi, met today with the members of the Guardians Council to discuss the twin reform bills. (Leyli Sadre)
<b>Re-Trial Ends for the Kerman Serial Killers</b>
• The re-trial of the six members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' voluntary unit the Basij, who killed five people last year in Kerman, ended today. Lawyer <b>Nemat Ahmadi</b>, who represents the victims' relatives, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that if the court acquits the men of murder, the Islamic judiciary's supreme court will return the case to another Kerman court. A preliminary Kerman court condemned all six to death, but its verdicts were turned down by the supreme court on the grounds that the men had deemed their victims to be religiously corrupt. The men, who had criminal records themselves, did not have the religious standing required by the law to rule on others' death, Ahmadi says. (Leyli Sadre)
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اردوان نيکنام (راديوفردا): محمد خاتمي رئيس جمهوري اسلامي، روز گذشته پس از جلسه هفتگي کابينه دولت در مورد مسائل عمده داخلي و خارجي به پرسشهاي خبرنگاران پاسخ داد.
شيرين فاميلي (راديوفردا): محمد خاتمي رئيس جمهوري اسلامي در پاسخ به سئوال خبرنگاران در مورد سرنوشت لايحه قانون انتخابات و تبيين اختيارات رئيس جمهوري گفت: متاسفانه اين لوايح معطل ماندند و من همواره تاکيد کرده ام که تکليف زودتر روشن شود. آقاي خاتمي افزود، البته دستور داده ام به همين قانون انتخابات موجود اقدام شود. چون معتقدم اگر همين قانون هم اجرا شود بخش قابل توجهي از مشکلات حل ميشود. البته بعيد ميدانم که اين قانون به اين انتخابات برسد.
گفته هاي آقاي خاتمي درباره سرنوشت لوايح دوگانه در حالي است که در هفته هاي اخير اختلاف نظرهاي ميان مجلس و شواري نگهبان بر سر برپايي دفاتر نظارتي شوراي نگهبان بالا گرفته است و شوراي نگهبان عليرغم مخالفت مجلس بر کار اين دفاتر پافشاري ميکند. قرار است امروز محمد خاتمي رئيس جمهوري و مهدي کروبي رئيس مجلس اسلامي با شوراي نگهبان جلسه مشترکي برگزار کنند. گفته ميشود در اين جلسه احتمالا درباره رد صلاحيتها و کار دفاتر نظارتي شوراي نگهبان بحث شود.
اقاي خاتمي در مورد روند رسيدگي به پرونده قتل زهرا کاظمي، خبرنگار ايراني – کانادايي و اين که آيا وزارت اطلاعات پذيرفته است که در قتل خانم کاظمي نقش داشته است يا نه، گفت: حتما نپذيرفته است. ما خواستار يک محاکمه آزاد، علني و محاکمه اي که تمام جهات را در نظر بگيرد، بوديم. بنده معتقدم که روال درست نبوده و اميدوارم به يک روال درستي برسيم و اصل قضيه روشن شود که چه کسي مرتکب اين عمل شده است.
آقاي خاتمي در ادامه با اشاره به اين که او اولين کسي بوده دستور بررسي را داده و با تاکيد بر نارضايتي وزارت اطلاعات بر پيگيري قضيه گفت، اولا چرا از ميان همه کساني که در معرض اين مسئله بودند، از جمله کساني که در آغاز کار به مدير کل وزارت ارشاد اسلامي تاکيد کردند که بگويد سکته مغري کرده است، چرا همه اينها را مورد بازجويي قرار نميدهند؟ چرا فقط دو نفر را بازجويي ميکنند؟ دوم اين که کيفرخواست چگونه تهيه شده است؟ چگونه است که قبل از اين که دادگاه تشکيل شود، متهم و وکيل متهم از کيفرخواست اطلاع ندارند و به دادگاهي که از آن اطلاعي ندارند احضار شدهاند. آقاي خاتمي سپس با اشاره بر اين که دادگاه بايد کاملا بي طرف باشد و به هيچ وجه تحت تاثير کساني که خودشان متهم به اين قضيه هستند، نباشد، ابراز اميداواري کرد که با درايت رئيس قوه قضائيه، روند رسيدگي به پرونده قتل خانم زهرا کاظمي به مسير درستي بيفتد.
اردوان نيکنام (راديوفردا): اضافه ميکنم که محمد علي ابطحي معاون رئيس جمهوري اسلامي نيز در حاشيه جلسه ديروز هيات دولت، خواستار رسيدگي به پرونده تمامي کساني شده که نام آنها در پرونده قتل زهرا کاظمي مطرح است. آقاي ابطحي صراحتا از قاضي سعيد مرتضوي، دادستان عمومي وانقلاب تهران، نام برد. حجت الاسلام سيد محمد خاتمي، رئيس جمهوري اسلامي، از رد لايحه قانون انتخابات و تبيين اختيارات رئيس جمهوري در شورای نگهبان ابراز تاسف کرد. ولی گفت اگر همين قانون فعلي انتخابات هم اجرا شود، بخش قابل توجهي از مشکلات حل ميشود. قرار است امروز خاتمي و مهدي کروبي رئيس مجلس اسلامي در جلسه ای با شوراي نگهبان درباره رد صلاحيتها و کار دفاتر نظارتي شوراي نگهبان بحث کنند. خاتمي در مورد روند رسيدگي به پرونده زهرا کاظمي گفت ما خواستار يک محاکمه آزاد، علني و محاکمه اي همه جانبه، بوديم. وي گفت که دادگاه با حفظ بي طرفي خود نبايد تحت تاثير کساني که خودشان متهم به اين قضيه هستند، قرار گيرد. وى از اينكه به جاي همه دست اندركاران فقط از دونفر بازجوئي شده است انتقاد كرد و همچنين از اينكه متهم و وكيل او بدون اطلاع يافتن از مفاد پرونده به دادگاه احضار شده اند.
