Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiTuesday, April 13, 2004
<b>Nuclear Inspectors Arrive in Iran</b>
• Five inspectors from the UN International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran for a series of meetings and inspections, Mohammad Saeedi, a top Iranian nuclear official, told The Associated Press on Monday. The inspectors try to confirm whether Iran has stopped suspicious nuclear activities -- including the building of centrifuges for uranium enrichment. The visit coincides with a call by Iranian radicals that their government should defy the IAEA, expel its inspectors and resume uranium enrichment. The Iranian government, though, appears determined to stick to a more moderate approach in hopes of avoiding international isolation, the AP writes, noting that for the second time since last October, the Islamic Republic authorities announced last Friday that they suspended the construction of centrifuge facilities.
<b>Khatami Withdraws Political Reform Bills</b>
• President Khatami officially withdrew his twin bills to reform the election law and give the president power to suspend courts' rulings he finds “unconstitutional.” In a letter to the Majles, Khatami made official what he had said last year, when he apologized to the nation for the ure of his political reform plan. The Guardians Council rejected both bills and insisted on its position, despite the government's flexibility, Khatami said.
<b>Possible Cabinet Shuffle</b>
• The cabinet spokesman said some of the key ministers plan to resign, and will discuss their plans in tomorrow's meeting of the cabinet. In its final months in office, Khatami's reformist government will have to coexist with the conservatives, who will take over the Majles next month. (Mehdi Khalaji)
• A leading figure of the conservative coalition Abadgaran praised Khatami for withdrawing the two political reform bills. These two bills are not the real problems of the people today, former labor minister Ahmad Tavakoli, who was elected to a Tehran seat in last February's Majles elections, said.
• Interior minister Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari plans to quit over the February 20 Majles elections in which the Guardians Council blocked 2,400 reformist candidates from running. The economy minister and three other ministers, all close to President Khatami, would also resign, according to Austrian daily <i>Der Standard</i>. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)
<b>Iran's Support for Iraqi Hardliners</b>
• Iran's involvement in the unrest in Iraq is an outcome of the domestic rivalries within the Islamic Republic, according to Italian daily <i>Il Folio</i>. The Iraqi Shiite organizations and political groups are aware of this, and have expressed concern about Iran's role, it said. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome)
<b>Reformist Paper Warns of Plan to Sell State Banks</b>
• The conservative faction plans to transfer four major state banks to its supporters in the unregulated saving and loan industry, reformist economic daily <i>Hayat-e Now</i> reported today. The Khatami government proposed 14 months ago to transfer the Melat, Tejarat, Sepah and Saderat banks to the private sector, but the plan was nixed, first by the supreme administrative justice court, and later by the Guardians Council, after approval by the Majles. The plan now lingers in the Expediency Council, where, according to <i>Hayat-e Now</i> it will be held until after Khatami's term in office.
• The saving and loan industry, has suffered through defaults and bankruptcies and is under international scrutiny as a means of laundering illegally gained funds, <b>Radio Farda</b>'s Paris- based economic commentator <b>Fereydoun Khavand</b> says. The crisis-ridden saving and loan institutions are naturally interested in linking to the country's banking network, and in the right political climate, taking over state banks by these institutions would be an easy way for laundering funds gained through not-so-transparent means, he adds.
<b>Democratic Coalition Calls Iran Biggest Jail for Journalists</b>
• The democratic coalition of Iran said in a statement today that the Islamic Republic continues to be the world's biggest jail for newsmen. In the statement, addressed to the UN Human Rights Commission, the coalition offers a list of prominent journalists in jail. It urges the UNHRC to assign a special reporter to investigate cases of human rights abuses in Iran. (Mahmonir Rahimi)
<b>Nationalist-Religious Coalition Members Call for Release of Their Jailed Comrades</b>
• Eleven members of the opposition group nationalist-religious coalition protested against the continued detention of three fellow coalition members: Taqi Rahmani, Hoda Saber and Reza Alijani. Coalition member <b>Mohammad Bastehnegar</b>, one of the 11, who have all spent more than a year in jail before being convicted to long jail terms, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that “we have not been informed of the outcome of our appeals, and the judiciary should release the three or jail all of us, since their cases are similar to ours.” He said he and his fellow coalition members are in consultation with lawyers to find legal means to obtain the three jailed members' release. (Jamshid Chalangi)
<b>Daughter of Political Murders' Victim in Washington</b>
• <b>Parastou Forouhar</b>, daughter of nationalist political activists and opposition leaders Parvaneh and Dariush Forouhar, victims of the 1997 serial murders of political dissidents by intelligence ministry agents, gave a talk today in Washington at a meeting of the Iranian Mothers Committee. In her last conversation with the head of the Majles complains committee, he told her that, in the course of his investigation on her parents' killings, he came across officials that should have testified, but he did not have the power to summon them, she said. “This shows that people who were involved in the killings continue to enjoy high level protection, Ms. Forouhar tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. All those who were involved in her parents killing are now free, she added. (Ali Sajjadi)
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جمشيد چالنگي (راديوفردا): روز گذشته بازرسان آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي براي بازبيني تاسيسات اتمي ايران وارد تهران شدند. اين ديدار بنا به گزارش خبرگزاري آسوشيتدپرس با سخت تر شدن موضع افراط گرايان رژيم تهران همراه شده است که خواهان آن هستند تا ايران آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي را ناديده گرفته، بازرسان آن را از ايران اخراج کند، و به گفته خبرگزاري آسوشيتدپرس، غني سازي اورانيم را از سر بگيرد.
فريبا مودت (راديوفردا): آسوشيتدپرس مي نويسد: عليرغم موضع سرسختانه افراط گرايان رژيم ايران، به نظر مي رسد که دولت جمهوري اسلامي مصمم است تا به اميد اجتناب از انزوا در جامعه بين المللي، همچنان با مساله سياستي ميانه رو پيشه کند.
محمد سعيدي، يکي از مقامات برجسته برنامه اتمي ايران، در گفتگو با خبرگزاري آسوشيتدپرس تاييد کرد که کارشناسان آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي، روز دوشنبه براي يک رشته مذاکرات و بازبيني ها وارد ايران شدند. قبلا از آن آقاي سعيدي گفته بود که ايران به منظور جلب اعتماد بيشتر جامعه بين الملل، و همانگونه که در طول ديدار يک روزه آقاي البرادعي از تهران وعده داده بود، تعبيه و احداث دستگاه هاي گريز از مرکز را از روز جمعه متوقف کرده است.
آسوشيتدپرس مي افزايد: اين دومين باري است که ايران در اين مورد چنين وعده اي مي دهد. مقامات ايران در روز 29 مارس، يعني دو هفته پيش هم اعلام کرده بودند که تعبيه دستگاه هاي گريز از مرکز را که در غني سازي اورانيم استفاده مي شود، متوقف کرده اند.
آقاي البرادعي در پاسخ به سوال هاي مخبرين جرايد در مورد ايران گفت که همکاري هاي ايران با آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي، کند و آهسته بوده است، اما وي در عين حال اظهار اميدواري کرد که مذاکرات مربوط به برنامه هاي اتمي ايران پيشرفت کند. در جريان ديدار يک روزه آقاي البرادعي از تهران، مقامات جمهوري اسلامي همچنين متعهد شدند که تا تاريخ معيني، منبع عنصر اورانيم غني شده را که بازرسان آژانس در تاسيسات اتمي ايران يافتند، افشاء کرده، و به سوالاتي که در مورد تاسيسات تازه کشف شده P2، مخصوص غني سازي اورانيم، از آنها مي شود، پاسخ دهند.
آسوشيتدپرس مي افزايد که محافظه کاران نزديک به آيت الله علي خامنه اي، محمد البرادعي، رئيس آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي را متهم کردند که جاسوس آمريکا است و اگر ايران تسليم تقاضاهاي آژانس شود، به منزله آن است که اين کشور به خواست آمريکا براي تسليم تکنولوژي هسته اي خود تن در داده است. مقامات تهران همچنين مي گويند که کاسه صبرشان در حال لبريز شدن است، و از آژانس خواسته اند تا پرونده ايران را در گردهمايي هيات مديره در ماه ژوئن، مختومه اعلام کند.
هفته گذشته حسن روحاني، نماينده ارشد ايران در مذاکره با آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي، گفت که اگر چنين نشود، ايران مطمئنا در اين مورد واکنش نشان خواهد داد. اما به گفته وي، اين واکنش شامل خروج جمهوري اسلامي از معاهده منع گسترش سلاح هاي اتمي نخواهد شد. روز گذشته بازرسان آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي براي بازبيني تاسيسات اتمي جمهوري اسلامي وارد تهران شدند. اين ديدار با سخت تر شدن موضع افراط گرايان رژيم تهران همراه شده است که خواهان آن هستند تا حکومت ايران آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي را ناديده گرفته، بازرسان آن را از ايران اخراج کند، و غني سازي اورانيم را از سر بگيرد. محمد سعيدي، يکي از مقامات برجسته برنامه اتمي جمهوري اسلامي، گفت که تهران به منظور جلب اعتماد بيشتر جامعه بين الملل، و همانگونه که در طول ديدار يک روزه محمد البرادعي، رئيس آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي، از تهران وعده داده بود، تعبيه و ساخت دستگاه هاي گريز از مرکز را از روز جمعه متوقف کرده است. اين دومين باري است که تهران در اين مورد چنين وعده اي مي دهد.
