ازدحام در اطراف هتل لاله، محل اقامت هيات حقوق بشر سازمان ملل

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Summary of the Iran Stories of Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiSaturday, February 22, 2003 Crowds Gather Around UN Human Rights Envoys' Hotel * Tehran's Hotel Laleh, where the UN human rights commission's fact-finding delegation has been staying during its 12-day visit to Iran to investigate prison conditions and allegations of arbitrary arrests, was besieged by crowds today, as former prisoners and relatives of jailed political activists and journalists converged on the hotel amid heavy security in the hopes of meeting with the delegation members. A Tehran journalist tells Radio Farda that the unusual number of police and security forces' vehicles parked in the streets around the hotel caused a traffic jam in Fatemi avenue and other streets. He adds that due to a ban on demonstrations, petitioners and their families had to keep moving around the hotel, as they waited for news. The delegation, however, had already left Tehran for trips to Shiraz and Isfahan. (Mahmonir Rahimi) * Paris-based human rights activist Abolkarim Lahiji tells Radio Farda that the UN delegation has met with some political prisoners in the past 24 hours, and would meet jailed lawyer Naser Zarafshan and jailed student activist Ali Afshari. He says he hopes that the delegation will continue meeting with prisoners on Monday. But at the meetings planned to take place at the UNDP office on Qaem-Maqam Farahani street, only some of the large number of people who have asked for meetings will be seen. Others, he hopes, would be seen in the future trips of this or similar delegations. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian) IAEA Chief ElBaradei Visits Iran's New Atomic Sites * On the second day of his two-day trip to Tehran, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Muhammad ElBaradei met with President Khatami and Majles Speaker Mehdi Karrubi. He hoped for the expansion of the Islamic regime's cooperation with the IAEA. (Homayoun Majd) * Senior Associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an expert on Russian and Central Asian nuclear programs Rose E. Gottemoeller tells Radio Farda that she hopes ElBaradei would convince the Iranian authorities to allow further unannounced visits to Iran's nuclear sites. She adds that US State Department Deputy John Bolton's upcoming trip to Moscow would focus on explaining the dangers of Russia-Iran nuclear cooperation. (Amir Armin) Iran Receives $500 Million Credit with Oil Contracts as Collateral * The head of Iran's foreign investment company said Iran has received a $500 million credit by using oil contracts as collateral. Oil expert Morteza Hashemi tells Radio Farda that he has not heard of using oil contracts as collateral for a loan. (Bahman Bastani) Judiciary Allows Sazegara's Wife to Visit Prison * Dr. Soheilia Hamidnia, wife of jailed critic of the Supreme Leader and the Islamic Republic constitution Mohsen Sazegara, tells Radio Farda that she saw her husband at the Evin prison for the first time since his arrest last Tuesday. She says the intelligence ministry has assumed responsibility for her husband's arrest. She adds that Sazegara appeared weak after five days of hunger strike. Sazegara has announced that he will not end his hunger strike until his unconditional release and the judiciary's admission that his opposition to the constitution is constitutionally legal. In an article which appeared last week on his web site www.alliran.com, Sazegara had called for removing the position of the Supreme Leader from the Iranian constitutional. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian) * Sazegara's son Hamid tells Radio Farda that someone from the Evin prison called and asked his mother to go there to meet with her husband. He says once before when he and his uncle went to the Evin prison after receiving a similar call, they were told that Sazegara was not there. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian) Low Turnout Seen for the Local Councils' Elections * On the eve of the town and country Islamic councils' elections, political parties have issued lists of their favorite candidates, but there is little public interest in the elections, and little campaign activity is visible on the walls of Tehran and other big cities. A public opinion survey released by a student-run polling agency indicates that only 46 percent of eligible voters plan to go to polls in Tehran. New political parties such as Javanan (Youth), Azadi (Freedom) have sprang up with their candidates lists. However, the nationalist-religious coalition members pulled out of the elections. Major parties have announced the names of their candidates for Tehran mayor and head of Tehran city councils. Former mayor Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi is the mayoral candidate of the reconstruction executives' party. The pro-Khatami Jebheh-ye Mosharekat (Islamic Iran Participation Front) party forwarded the name of former deputy interior minister Mostafa Taj-zadeh as its mayoral candidate. (Shayan Jaberi, Tehran) Mother of Jailed Editor Demands Her Son's Relase * In a letter to President Khatami, the mother of jailed Hayat-e Now editor Alireza Eshraqi asked for her son's release. The judiciary arrested Eshraqi for his involvement in the publication of a cartoon that was deemed an insult to the Founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khomeni. It showed a former US Supreme Court Justice crushed under President Roosevelt's thumb. (Homayoun Majd and Shireen Famili) Boeing Jets Designer Faults the Upkeep of Russian Jets * As crews collect pieces of the bodies of 302 Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps officers who died in the crash of the Russian-made Ilyushin cargo jet last Wednesday, Iran announced that the number of victims of Russian jet crashes in the country over the past 30 months has reached 500. Former Boeing jet designer Reza Toloui tells Radio Farda that the second-hand Russian planes which make up the majority of Iran's passenger fleet, have not been serviced correctly by their former owners. He adds that most spare parts for Russian jets available in the international market do not meet the standards of the international civil aviation authorities. (Jean Khakzad) Reformist Cleric Develops Eye Condition * Wife of jailed reformist cleric Hasan Ysefi-Eshkevari tells Radio Farda that her husband developed an eye condition in jail, due to his diabetes, but was allowed a one-month medical furlough. She adds that, back in jail, Eshkeveri is still suffering from cloudy vision, but the doctors have said the blood clot blocking vision would be gradually absorbed. (Shireen Famili) . خيابان هاي اطراف هتل لاله در تهران محل اقامت هيات اعزامي حقوق بشر سازمان ملل زير نظر شديد نيروهاي امنيتي و انتظامي قرار گرفت و به سبب حضور بيش از حد مردم ازدحام و ترافيك شديد در اين خيابان بوجود آمده است. يك روزنامه نگار در تهران در مصاحبه با راديو فردا مي گويد: از صبح امروز در خيابان فاطمي، و به سوي هتل لاله، حضور نيروهاي انتظامي، شبه نظامي و امنيتي كاملا مشهود است. به دليل كنده شدن وسط خيابان فاطمي، حد فاصل روبروي هتل لاله، براي ساختمان فاضلاب تهران، ترافيك خيلي شديدي به وجود آمده و حضور نيروهاي انتظامي مزيد بر علت شده. در واقع حضور ميني بوس ها و لند كروزر هاي نيروهاي انتظامي كه در خيابان هاي فرعي مجاور هتل لاله پارك شده، باعث مي شود كسي تجمعي به آن صورت نكند و همه بصورت رهگذر عبور مي كنند. دو سه روز است كه گزارشگران حقوق بشر هتل لاله را ترك كرده اند براي رفتن به زندانهاي ديگر در شهرستان هاي ايران و تا آنجا كه مي دانيم احتمالا در شيراز هستند. وي مي افزايد: هنوز كسي موفق به ديدار با آنها نشده است.