Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiFriday, January 9, 2004
<b>Conservatives Protest Street Name Change</b>
* The decision to rename the Tehran street named after former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat's assassin was vehemently opposed by 200 demonstrators, members of Ansar-e-Hisbollah, who after leaving the official Friday prayer ceremony at the Tehran University, lashed at the ciity council and foreign ministry for trying to take back ‘the medal of honor' that founder of Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khomeini had bestowed on Sadat's killer Khaled Islamboli, in whose honor the hard-liners plan to erect a memorial. The name change took place in the wake of talks on Egypt-Iran relations between President Khatami and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in Geneva. (Amir Armin)
* The ‘children of Khomeini' are enraged over this infamy (change of name) which questions the late Ayatollah Khomeini's beliefs, Fatema Rajavi, wife of judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Elham, writes in a harsh and at times sarcastic article for one of Ansar's main publications (Yaltharrat-al-Hossein). Now that you've gone this far, she writes, why don't we changeTehran's name to Tel Aviv? (Keyvan Hosseini)
<b>Reactions to Mass Disqualification of Reformist Election Candidacy Applicants</b>
• Release of jailed coalition members Reza Alijaani, Hoda Saber and Taqi Rahmani is the condition set by the nationalist-religious coalition for taking part in the February 20th elections, coalition member Mohammad Bastenegar said in an interview with state-owned labor news agency ILNA.
• We do not endorse boycotting the elections, spokesman of the society of reformist clerics (Majma Rouhanioun Mobarez) Tehran MP Rassoul Montajebnia said. Our only condition is that reformist candidates be allowed to run, he added.
• The reformist Hambastegi party would boycott the elections, if the party's candidacy applicants were disqualified by the Guardians Council in the vetting process, deputy chair Hambestegi's central council Urumieh MP Shahrbanoo Amani said.
• We will not back elections in which candidacy applicants are disqualified illegally and arbitrarily, central committee member of the pro-reform party Participation Front (Jebheh-ye Mosharekat) Hadi Qabel said. Petty bickering over the disqualifications would drastically diminish voter turnout, Isfahan MP and Participation Front member Ahmad Shirzad said. The centrist pro-reform party the executives of reconstruction (Kargozaran-e Sazandegi) would take part the elections, even if the party's candidates were banned from running, Kargozaran central committee member Hedayat Aghaee said. (Amir Armin)
• “We still have 40 days left to consider our position, the association of Islamic student councils (Dafter-e Tahkim Vahdat) central committee member Abdollah Momeni said. Our decision would only hinge on what we see fit for the strengthening of democracy. The conservatives are betting on demoralizing the members of Dafter-e Tahkim Vahdat, but we won't bankroll a rubber stamp election, Tehran MP Ali Akbar Moussavi Khoeini said. We must opt for non-participation as a form of passive resistance until we are able to change the constitution itself, constitutional reform activist Mohsen Sazegara said. (Maryam Ahmadi)
<b>Secular Republicans Alliance' Convention in Berlin</b>
• On the second day of its convention in Berlin, Ettehad-e-Jomhourikhahan, alliance of secular, non-monarchist republicans, discussed views on the form of the future government in Iran in regard to ethnic minorities. All participants are in agreement over the territorial integrity of Iran, but they also see the necessity of decentralization which gives rise to more autonomy for ethnic minorities, US-based activist <b>Amir Hossein Ganjbakhsh</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. The languages and cultures of the minorities must be allowed to flourish, he adds. (Fereydoun Zarnegar, Berlin)
• Ohio-based sociology professor Ali Akbar Mahdi talked about the need to organize experts in all fields as part of the transition to a secular democracy. It is not enough to simply gain political power, he tells <b>Radio Farda</b>, if we don't want that power to change into yet another form of dictatorship. We must address people's daily needs, as well as the social and economic requirements right now and prepare practical plans ahead of achieving political power, he adds. Another convention, France-based Dr Mehdi Momken tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that he decided to join the group, despite his religious beliefs, because he supports separation of religion and government. (Shireen Famili, Berlin)
<b>Solana's Visit to Tehran</b>
• EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will visit Iran next Monday, after making a stop in Vienna on Sunday for talks with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei. Solana has expressed some dissatisfaction with the course of nuclear talks and the Islamic government's reluctance to firmly abandon any future possibility of uranium enrichment activities, Glasgow University's international relations professor <b>Reza Taqizadeh</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. When it comes to human rights, the EU is as determined as the US and we shall witness more pressure on Iran for cooperation with the IAEA, he adds. (Shahram Tabari, London)
<b>US-Iran Relations</b>
• George Bush is naïve to think we can start relations while repeating old demands about extraditing Al-Qaeda members held in Iran or worry over WMD and human rights issues, former president Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in a speech at the official Friday prayer ceremony at Tehran University. (Bahman Bastani)
• This is not the first time that groundwork is laid for new relations between the two countries, but once again the opportunity the Islamic government throws the opportunity away, Mehdi Mozafari, professor of international relations at Aarhus University in Denmark tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. While the US conditions for resuming talks are clear, what Iran is asking is either impractical or too vague, he adds. When the Supreme Leader asks the US to stop using natural resources in Muslim countries or pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan, it becomes hard to see any talks resume, he says. For all practical purposes, the resumption of relations with the US serves Iran's national interests, but the Islamic government authorities appear more interested in their own hold on power. When Rafsanjani, Kharrazi or Khamenei talk about ‘mutual respect' and US acceptance of ‘our values,' if you read between the lines, what they are asking is the US official endorsement of the legitimacy of absolute clerical rule. (Shahran Tabari, London)
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ژان خاكزاد (راديوفردا): كولين پاول، وزير امورخارجه آمريكا گفت كمك آمريكا به زلزله زدگان ايران يك تحول سياسي نبود، بلكه يك تحول انساندوستانه بود، زيرا ما هنگام نياز پشنهاد كمك داديم و اين پيشنهاد پذيرفته شد. اما آيت الله علي خامنه اي، رهبر جمهوري اسلامي روز گذشته كمك هاي آمريكا به زلزله زدگان بم را جنجال آفريني خواند و گفت كمك انساندوستانه به رابطه دو كشور ارتباط ندارد و با اين اقدامات دشمني پيوسته عميق و بنيادي آمريكا با ملت ايران و مصالح و منافع كشور فراموش نخواهد شد.
اردوان نيكنام (راديوفردا): وزير امورخارجه آمريكا گفت نيت اين كشور ياري رساندن سريع به زلزله زدگان ايران بود. كولين پاول روز پنجشنبه گفت جرج بوش رئيس جمهوري آمريكا مي خواست به سرعت به نيازهاي زلزله زدگان بم كمك كند. ايالات متحده آمريكا براي كمك به عمليات امدادرساني در منطقه بم يك گروه پزشكي را همراه مواد خوراكي و دارو به ايران فرستاد اما جمهوري اسلامي با سفر يك هيات بلندپايه آمريكائي براي ارزيابي وضعيت منطقه مخالفت كرد.
آقاي پاول روز گذشته در يك مصاحبه مطبوعاتي در واشنگتن گفت:
كولين پاول: The President was quick to respond. He gave us directios to get in touch with Iranians very quickly and offer our assistance and we did that and they responded very quickly.
ترجمه با صداي ژان خاكزاد: رئيس جمهوري آمريكا به زلزله ايران به سرعت واكنش نشان داد و به ما دستور داد سريعا با ايرانيان تماس بگيريم و پيشنهاد كمك خود را به آنها عرضه كنيم. آنها نيز به سرعت پاسخ دادند. پاول گفت اين يك تحول سياسي نبود، ولي تحولي انساندوستانه بود چرا كه ما به هنگام نياز پيشنهاد كمك داديم و اين پيشنهاد پذيرفته شد.
پاول: ...a human breaktthrough in the sense that help was offered when it was needed and it was accepted.
ا.ن.: اما آيت الله علي خامنه اي، رهبر جمهوري اسلامي روز گذشته كمك هاي آمريكا به زلزله زدگان بم را جنجال آفريني خواند و گفت كمك انساندوستانه هيچ ارتباطي به رابطه دو كشور ندارد و با اين گونه اقدامات دشمني پيوسته، عميق و بنيادي آمريكا با ملت ايران و مسائل و منافع كشور فراموش نخواهد شد.
رهبر جمهوري اسلامي: به هيچ وجه نشان ندادند مسئولين رژيم ايالات متحده آمريكا كه از دشمني خود نسبت به نظام اسلامي و به مردم ايران ذره اي كم كرده باشند. در همين حال هم وقيحانه مردم را و دولت را و نظام را متهم كردند و متهم كردند و دائم تهديد مي كنند. چهره جنگي مي گيرند، چهره خصمانه و خشم آلود مي گيرند، از آن طرف هم دو كلمه حرف مي زنند و پنجه چدني خود را پنهان مي كنند در يك دستكش حرير.
ا.ن.: گفته هاي ديروز رهبر جمهوري اسلامي عليه آمريكا ساعاتي بعد از آن بيان شد كه وزير امورخارجه جمهوري اسلامي كمال خرازي گفت ايران حاضر است به شرط حفظ احترام متقابل مذاكره با آمريكا را آغاز كند. كمال خرازي گفت اگر آمريكا روند جديدي در برخورد با ايران در پيش گيرد، و حاضر شود با حفظ احترام متقابل و اصل برابري با ايران مذاكره كند، فضا عوض خواهد شد. كولين پاول، وزير امورخارجه آمريكا گفت كمك آمريكا به زلزله زدگان ايران يك تحول سياسي نبود، بلكه يك تحول انساندوستانه بود، زيرا ما هنگام نياز پشنهاد كمك داديم و اين پيشنهاد پذيرفته شد. اما آيت الله علي خامنه اي، رهبر جمهوري اسلامي روز گذشته كمك هاي آمريكا به زلزله زدگان بم را جنجال آفريني خواند و گفت كمك انساندوستانه به رابطه دو كشور ارتباط ندارد و با اين اقدامات دشمني پيوسته عميق و بنيادي آمريكا با ملت ايران و مصالح و منافع كشور فراموش نخواهد شد. از سوي ديگر، كمال خرازي، وزير امورخارجه جمهوري اسلامي گفت حكومت ايران حاضر است به شرط حفظ احترام متقابل مذاكره با آمريكا را آغاز كند.
