Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiMonday, January 19, 2004
<b>Deputy Foreign Minister Calls for Thaw in US Relations</b>
• The Bush administration can follow up the temporary suspension of some of the US sanctions against Iran with allowing US companies, led by oil and gas firms, to do business with Iran. The US “doesn't have to do anything for Iran, they can do it for American companies that are so enthusiastic about tapping the Iranian market,” deputy foreign minister for economic affairs Mohammad-Hossein Adeli said today in an interview with the Reuters, referring to the Bush administration's 90-day suspension of banking sanctions against Iran after the December 26 Bam earthquake that killed more than 40,000. “That move, combined with the first direct US aid to Iran since 1979 revolution, signaled a faint thaw in their frosty relationship, the Reuters wrote. “We are not sure if it is a signal or not, it depends on whether it is going to be supported by other practical measures,” Adeli said of the US humanitarian aid for the Bam earthquake victims. (Jean Khakzad)
• Washington might extend the sanctions' suspension beyond its initial 90-day limit, suggested former US National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft on Friday during an interview in Washington with the Reuters. (Alireza Taheri)
<b>Pakistan Interrogates Nuclear Scientists on Transfer of Nuclear Technology to Iran</b>
• Pakistan today said investigations into the alleged illegal transfer of nuclear technology to Iran would continue. So far, up to eight senior officials of Pakistan's prime uranium enrichment facility - the Kahutta Research Laboratories east of Islamabad - have been detained for what officials describe as “routine debriefing sessions.” But families and friends of the people being interrogated claim at least 25 KRL scientists and administration officials are being currently interrogated in connection with allegations that some of them might have supplied nuclear information and materials to Iran and North Korea, wire services reported from Islamabad. (Alireza Taheri, Behruz Nikzad)
<b>MPs Banned from Running for Reelection Vow to Continue Majles Sit-in</b>
• The eighty-three Reformists MPs banned from running in the February 20 elections by the Guardians Council vowed to continue their strike until bans on all candidacy applicants were overturned. On the eighth day of the sit-in, officials from other conservative and reformist institutions of the regime threw their support behind the striking MPs, or condemned it, depending on their factional affiliations. The Assembly of Experts and the Inspector General joined the defenders of the Guardians Council, and the central council of the society of reformist clerics, including President Khatami and Majles speaker Mehdi Karrubi, issued a statement threatening to boycott the elections, if the mass disqualifications were not overturned. The MPs' sit-in is an appropriate move, but the students' question is why this move began on such a late date, secretary of the association of the Islamic student councils Abdollah Momeni said today in a speech to the Majles strikers. (Bahman Bastani)
• In a letter to President Khatami, the coordination council of the regime's reformist parties gave him one week to resolve the disqualification crisis, warning that if the crisis extends beyond that date, there would be enough time for candidates to campaign. (Bahman Bastani)
• After a meeting attended by its entire membership, including President Khatami and Majles speaker Mehdi Karrubi, the political party of reformist clerics (Rohanioun-e Mobarez) said it does not see any reason to participate in the upcoming elections if the problem of mass disqualifications of candidacy applicants was not resolved quickly. (Bahman Bastani)
• The declarations of the European Parliament and other international bodies condemning the mass disqualifications of candidacy applicants does not create any obligation for us, foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said today. These countries make hasty judgments about democracy in Iran without being aware of the intricacies and complications of the issue, he added. (Ardavan Niknam)
• The Guardians Council overturned the disqualifications of a number of elections candidacy applicants who had appealed the local election supervision committees' decisions, the Guardians Council's spokesman Mohammad Jahromi told the state-run “student” news agency. More than 3,000 complaints have been received by the Guardians Council, 2,000 from the disqualified applicants, and 1,000 from the applicants whose qualifications could not be determined, he added. To expedite the review process, the Council has formed ten committees, he said. (Jamshid Zand)
• In Qum, conservative seminary students staged a demonstration denouncing the striking Majles MPs. Pro-reform Qum seminarians held separate gatherings and meetings to express support for the disqualified Majles MPs. A group of thirty reformist seminary students went to Tehran to join the Majles MPs, but were prevented from entering the Majles by the security forces, Qum seminarian <b>Ahmad-Reza Ahmadpour</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. A group of striking MPs came to the Majles gate to greet the visiting seminarians, including deputy Majles speaker Mohammad-Reza Khatami, who said the strike will go on until assurances were received of free and fair elections under the law, Ahmadpour adds. (Mahmonir Rahimi)
• “Iran's powerful Guardian Council said yesterday that it stood by a decision to disqualify thousands of reformist candidates from standing in next month's parliamentary elections,” London's daily <i>Guardian</i>'s reporter Dan De Luce writes from Tehran. (Shahran Tabari, London)
• In a symbolic gesture of support, a group of Germany-based political activists and members of the newly formed secular republicans union (Etehad-e Jumhurikhahan) held a sit-in protest at the Bundestag. The demonstrators demand the dissolution of the Guardians Council, Berlin-based journalist <b>Majid Roshanzadeh</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. My participation in this protest is personal and unrelated to any political group, activist <b>Kazem Kardavani</b> says. (Parviz Mardani, Berlin)
<B>Foreign Debt Exceeds $30 Billion</b>
• The country's foreign debt reached $30 billion, according to the latest figures released by the central bank. Considering the government's commitments to oil companies in buy-back oil exploration deals, the foreign debt is actually $60 billion, economic observers warned. Lower oil prices would bring back the foreign debt crisis of the early 1990s. (Fereydoun Khavand, Paris)
<b>Booming Iran-Iraq Liquor Trade</b>
• Iraq's booming liquor trade with Iran is a consequence of the divergence between the two countries' laws. Alcohol is banned inside the Islamic Republic. It is perfectly legal in secular Iraq, even if most Iraqis avoid it for religious reasons, reported the Associated Press in a dispatch from Iran-Iraq border town of Solaimanyiah. (Ardavan Niknam)
<b>Liberalism Has Contributed to Inequality, Says Nobel Peace Laureate</b>
• The human rights should be at the center of economic development, 2003 Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, who is attending the anti-globalization World Social Forum in Bombay, told the Paris daily <i>Liberation</i>. Unfortunately liberalism has contributed to inequality between countries, and between people within the countries, she added, speaking of her reasons for attending the socialist forum. (Mir-Ali Hosseini)
• In an interview with the London daily, Ms. Ebadi called on President Khatami to make good on his promise to resign, since his administration could not deliver on the promise of reforming the country's election system. (Shahran Tabari, London)
<b>Regime's Charities Compete for Aid Funds</b>
• Despite commitment of more than $1 billion from international sources, $400 million from the GCC countries alone, and over a trillion rials of relief and reconstruction budget approved by the cabinet for the earth-quake stricken city of Bam, the Islamic government announced that the survivors would have to pay back in installments the aid they will receive to rebuild their homes. The survivors complained about the disorganization and inadequacy of the relief services provided in the past three weeks, as powerful Islamic religious-economic cartels, such as the Imam Aid Committee, which are riddled with corruption and mismanagement, have begun to compete among themselves for a greater share of donated funds. (Mehdi Khalaji)
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محمد حسين عادلي، معاون وزارت امورخارجه جمهوري اسلامي، از آمريكا خواست به دنبال لغو موقت تحريم هائي كه براي ايران وضع شده، گام هاي محكمي به سوي ايران بر دارد. به خبرگزاري رويترز گفت آمريكائي ها لازم نيست براي ايران كاري كنند. آنها مي توانند براي شركتهاي آمريكائي علاقمند به سرمايه گذاري در ايران كاري بكنند.
