Summary of the Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam Nateghiunday, February 02, 2003
<b>EC's Foreign Relations Commissioner Visits Iran</b>
* In his upcoming visit to Tehran, European Commission's foreign relations commissioner Christopher Patten is to discuss human rights, war with Iraq and the Middle East crisis. The EU-Iran talks on a comprehensive trade agreement are expected to resume next month. (Baktash Khamsehpour)
* London-based veteran journalist Jahangir Behrouz tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that President Khatami and Chris Patten both know that without US approval no real development can take place in the EU-Iran relations. (Shahran Tabari, London)
<b>Court Sentences Two Pollsters to 7 & 8 years Jail</b>
* In interviews with domestic newspapers, judge Said Montazeri confirmed that he has issued verdicts for two of the three main defendants in the judiciary's case against the officials of two padlocked public opinion survey agencies accused of spying for the US. (Baktash Khamsehpour)
* Ramezan Hajji-Mashhadi, lawyer of pollster Hossein Ghazian tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that he too has heard the news, but has not seen the verdicts. He says apparently his client Hossein Ghazaian has been sentence to seven years in jail and Abbas Abdi, board member of the pro-Khatami party Jebheh-ye Mosharekat (Participation Front), has received eight years. The two were directors of the padlocked public opinion polling agency Ayandeh, who along with officials of the national center for public opinion research, were put on trial on charges of espionage after the publication of a poll that showed 74 percent of the respondents favor the resumption of US-Iran relations. (Kian Manvai)
<b>Judges' Disciplinary Court Calls Press Closings Illegal</b>
Mohammad Ale-Es-haq, head of the judges' disciplinary court, said the courts have acted illegally in closing 90 newspapers and magazines during the past three years. Tehran-based journalist Ahmad Zeydabadi tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the judges pay little attention to Ale-Es-haq's statements, even though he is officially above them. Zeydabadi adds that, for example, press court judge Said Mortazavi has refused to send his cases to Ale-Es-haq for review. He adds that the only outcome of Ale-Es-haq's unprecedented statement is that owners of the closed newspapers can cite it to argue against the court orders banning their publications. (Amir Armin)
<b>Lawyers Advocate Release of Their Colleagues from Jail</b>
* In a series of letters to domestic and international officials and organizations, the founding members of the center for defense of human rights defenders called for the release of their colleagues from jail. Lawyers Naser Zarafshan, Abdolfatah Soltani and Mohammad-Ali Dadkhah were thrown in jail for their defense of political activists, journalists and the relatives of the victims of the serial murders of dissidents. (Kian Manvai)
<b>Iran Loses One-Third of its Forests</b>
* Regional director of the environmental protection department of the Eastern Azerbaijan province said the latest surveys indicate that Iran has lost more than a third of its natural forests in the past twenty years to excessive logging and grazing. Tehran University ecology professor Esmail Kahrom tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that excessive logging has resulted in flooding and the erosion of the fertile topsoil. He adds that the environmental protection department's recent proposal to protect the forests could put a stop to the illegal logging and grazing. (Nazi Azima)
<b>Conservatives MP Propose to Transfer Comptroller's Office to Government</b>
* Eighty-Three Majles MPs signed a bill that would transfer the national comptroller's office from the Majles to the government. Reformist MP Mohammad Shahi-Arablu tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the comptroller's officer must stay under the Majles, but the MPs should focus on ideas to change the way it conducts its audits. (Mahmonir Rahimi)
<b>Tehran-based Iraq's Shiite Opposition Meets with Sunni Leaders</b>
* The leaders of Sunni Iraqi opposition groups met with the Tehran-based military commander of the Shiite opposition, Abdolaziz Hakim. The US is concerned that a majority of the 65 Iraqi opposition coordinators elected three months ago in the London gathering of the Iraqi opposition groups subscribe to the positions of the Islamic government in Iran. The US favors increasing the number of the coordinators to near 100 in order to better reflect the views of the Iraqi Sunnis. (Bijan Farhoodi)
<b>Conservative Economist Implicates Central Bank in Money Laundering</b>
* Tehran University's conservative economy professor Ahmad Tavakoli, who was minister of labor in the 1980's, accused the central bank of participation in the laundering $12 billion to $14 billion per year for goods and drugs smugglers and embezzlers. (Fereydoun Khavand)
.
كريستفر پاتن كميسر روابط خارجي كميسيون اروپا براي يك ديدار چهارروزه وارد تهران مي شود. وي در اين سفر روابط جمهوري اسلامي با عراق و اسراييل را با مقامات جمهوري اسلامي مورد گفتگو قرار مي دهد. پيش بيني مي شود پيامد هاي حمله نظامي احتمالي آمريكا و متحدان آن به عراق در اين گفتگو ها مورد توجه ويژه قرار گيرد. وي در اين سفر دور دوم گفتگو ها در زمينه روابط تجاري ميان اتحاديه اروپا و جمهوري اسلامي را به انجام خواهد رساند. اولين دور اين گفتگوها در ماه دسامبر در بروكسل برگزار شده بود. اتحاديه اروپا ادامه مذاكرات را به انجام اصلاحات در رعايت حقوق بشر در ايران موكول كرد كه در واكنش به آن قوه قضائيه مجازات سنگسار را موقتا متوقف ساخت. وي در ادامه سفرش توقف هاي كوتاهي در تركيه و لبنان خواهد داشت.
جهانگير بهروز، روزنامه نگار پرسابقه و تحليلگر مسائل ايران، در مصاحبه با راديوفردا مي گويد رسيدن به توافق بر سر قرارداد بازرگاني و مسائل نظير حقوق بشر يك مقدماتي لازم دارد كه هنوز فراهم نشده است. خاتمي شايد بتواند براي راضي كردن اتحاديه اروپا در مورد حقوق بشر و در مورد مطبوعات وآرادي ها كارهائي بكند و قدم هائي هم برداشته شده ولي مسئله اصلي در روابط ايران واتحاديه اروپا نيست بلكه مسئله اصلي روابط ايران و آمريكا است و آقاي خاتمي و پاتن هر دو مي دانند كه با وجود همه اختلاف هائي كه بين اتحاديه اروپا و آمريكا وجود دارد، تا توافق كامل آمريكا بدست نيايد اتحاديه اروپا نمي تواند قدم مهم و موثري در توسعه روابطش با ايران بردارد. وي مي افزايد: پاتن مسائل مختلفي را در مصاحبه با ايرنا گفته است حقوق بشر، خليج فارس، مواد مخدر در افغانستان، اما مسئله اصلي را نگفته است كه همان مسئله مورد نظر آمريكا است كه ايران چه روشي در آينده در قبال اختلاف اسرائيل و فلسطين در پيش مي گيردو در اين مورد حتي خاتمي اصلاح طلب هم نمي تواند قول قطعي بدهد. چون نمي تواند نظر آمريكا را تائيد كند و پاتن، كه يك ديپلمات مورد احترام در ايران است هم نمي تواند اين را حل كند. وي مي گويد مذاكرات ايران و اروپا مدتها ادامه پيدا خواهد كرد اما مسئله اصلي حل نشده باقي مي ماند و نتيجه اي از مذاكرات گرفته نشد. كريستفر پاتن كميسر روابط خارجي كميسيون اروپا براي يك ديدار چهارروزه وارد تهران مي شود. جهانگير بهروز، روزنامه نگار برجسته و تحليلگر مسائل ايران، در مصاحبه با راديوفردا مي گويد پيش شرط رسيدن به توافق بر سر قرارداد بازرگاني و مسائلي نظير حقوق بشر بين جمهوري اسلامي و اتحاديه اروپا، حل شدن مسئله اصلي يعني روابط ايران و آمريكا است و آقاي خاتمي و پاتن هر دو مي دانند كه با وجود همه اختلاف هائي كه بين اتحاديه اروپا و آمريكا وجود دارد، تا توافق كامل آمريكا بدست نيايد اتحاديه اروپا نمي تواند قدم مهم و موثري در توسعه روابطش با ايران بردارد.
