Summary of the Iran Stories of Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiSunday, March 02, 2003
<b>Reformists Admit Defeat in the Municipal Elections</b>
* With more than 80 percent of the votes in Friday's town and village Islamic councils elections already counted, it is now clear that the reformists were dealt a heavy blow by the unprecedented low voter turnout. Some Majles reformists, including MP Hossein Ansari-Rad, head of the Majles complaints committee, portrayed the voters' reaction as a slap against the Islamic regime. Tehran MP Fatemeh Haqiqatju said all political factions and security organs need to analyze the results of these elections. (Alireza Taheri)
<b>Majles to Vote on the Emergency of the Referendum Bill</b>
* The Majles is to vote today on the bill introduced last week by 25 MPs to regulate the process of seeking approval for Majles legislations directly from the public through national referenda. In recent history, prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh used a national referendum to shut down the parliament in 1950, the Shah sought public approval for his land reform and political and social modernization in a national referendum in 1962, and Ayatollah Khomeini had the Islamic Republic constitution approved in a national referendum. (Amir Armin)
<b>Writers Criticize Guardian Council Member's Call for More Book Censorship</b>
* In newspaper articles and interviews today, writers and reformist politicians protested against Guardians Council member Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi's call for more restrictive book censorship. Speaking as the Friday prayer leader at Tehran University, Yazdi said 540 out of 600 books published with permission from the culture ministry propagate moral corruption and prostitution. Novelist Siroos Zonuzi Jalali said Yazdi only made a general statement without naming even one book. Shiraz MP Jalil Sazegarnezhad, a member of the Majles culture and arts committee, said Yazdi's judgment about books was hasty and unfair. (Amir Armin)
<b>Iran to Face Aging Population in 21st Century</b>
* According to the UN population unit's report on population trends in the 21st Century, Iran would face an aging problem within the next 50 years. (Fereydoun Khavand, Paris)
<b>Pollster Appeals His Verdict</b>
* Pollster Hosseinali Ghazian, head of the padlocked Ayandeh polling agency, appealed his 8-year jail sentence. He was arrested last fall, along with reformist politician and journalist Abbas Abdi and other polling agency executives after the publication of a poll that showed 74 percent of respondents favor the resumption of the US-Iran relations. In his appeal, Ghazian asked for Islamic mercy. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)
<b>Islamic Students Write to UN Human Rights Investigators</b>
* The association of the universities' student Islamic councils Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat, said in an open letter to the five-man fact-finding mission of the UN Human Rights Commission to Iran that many Iranian laws violate international human rights conventions by allowing arbitrary arrests, revenge killings, censorship of the press and discrimination against women. (Bahman Bastani)
<b>Ayatollah Montazeri Complains of Continued Restictions</b>
* Qom-based high-ranking dissident cleric Ayatollah Hosseinali Montazeri, who was released from five years under house arrest 30 days ago, complained that government restrictions against him have not yet completely ended. Montazeri's son, Ahmad, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that his father's classes continued to be banned and he has not had access to his bank accounts for the past five years. He adds that, otherwise, people are free to come and go to Montazeri's household. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)
<b>Police Arrest A Filmmaker and Four Film Critics</b>
* Filmmaker Yasamin Sufi and film critics and movie magazine translators Mohammad Abdi, Amir Ezzati, Sa'id Mostaqasi and Kambiz Kaheh were arrested after being summoned to a unit of Tehran police that oversees public halls, movie houses and restaurants. Tehran-based journalist Shayan Jaberi tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that Yasamin Yusefi received a call summoning her to the Vanak police station, and she was arrested there. (Mahmonir Rahimi)
<b>147 Journalists Call for Eshraqi's Freedom</b>
* In a letter to Majles Speaker Mehdi Karrubi, 147 writers and journalists called for the immediate release of <i>Hayat-e Now</i> writer Alireza Eshraqi, who has been in jail for the past two months for his involvement in the publication of a cartoon that was considered insulting to the Islamic regime's founder Ayatollah Khomeini. (Shireen Famili)
* Virginie LeCoussol of the Reporters sans Frontiers tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that Eshraqi has been unfairly treated in jail and even though he is not a cleric, would be tried by the special court for clergy, whereas the owner of <i>Hayat-e Now</i>, Supreme Leader's brother Hadi Khamenei, is free. (Jean Khakzad)
<b>Weekly Roundtable: Human Rights and Democracy</b>
* As we approach the International Day of Women on March 8, <b>Radio Farda</b> devotes this week's roundtable on democracy and human rights to women. Tehran-based Islamic scholar and women's rights advocate Marzieh Mortazi Langaroudi, Johns Hopkins University's women's studies professor Azar Nafisi, and Washington-based women's rights advocate Roya Boroumand comment on women's rights movement in Iran in the past century. (Maryam Ahmadi, Washington)
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عليرضا طاهري (راديوفردا): باشمارش بيش از 80 درصد آرا در انتخابات شوراهاي اسلامي شهرو روستا، شكست اصلاح‌گرايان در اين انتخابات كاملا قطعي شد. بااين حال شماري از اصلاح‌گرايان مي‌كوشند تا شكست خودرا در اين انتخابات زنگ خطري براي كل نظام جمهوري اسلامي بدانند.
حجت الاسلام حسين انصاري راد، رييس كميسيون نود يا رسيدگي به شكايات مجلس شوراي اسلامي‌مي‌گويد ازانتخابات شوراها همه بايدعبرت بگيرند. فاطمه حقيقت‌جو، نماينده تهران در مجلس پارا از اين فراتر مي‌گذارد وپيشنهاد مي‌دهد تمام گروه‌هاي سياسي و دستگاه‌هاي امنيتي بايد به تحليل اين انتخابات بپردازند. اشاره خانم حقيقت جو به ضرورت تحليل دستگاه‌هاي امنيتي از انتخابات شوراها نشان مي‌دهد كه حضور بي رنگ مردم در انتخابات ازديدگاه اين نماينده مجلس خطري امنيتي براي نظام جمهوري اسلامي است. خانم حقيقت‌جو مي‌افزايد: اين مسئله شكست اصلاح‌گرايان نيست، اين شكستي براي همه‌است واين پيام تلخ رادربردارد كه‌اگرما به مطالبات مردم توجه نكنيم به نظر نظام تمام مي‌شود. ازسوي ديگر محمد كيانوش راد نماينده مردم اهواز در مجلس مي‌گويد عده‌اي راي ندادند چون تصور مي‌كردند انتخاب اصلاح گرايان هم مشكل آنها را حل نمي‌كند. ميثم سعيدي ديگر نماينده مجلس نيز مانند همكاراهوازيش مي‌گويد عدم حضورمردم تهران درانتخابات نه‌ازسربي مسئوليتي كه ناشي ازانتظارات تحقق نيافته آنهاست. بسياري از تحليل گرايان در ايران با نظر آقاي سعيدي هم آوا هستند، وسرچشمه دلسردي مردم را در تحقق نيافتن خواستها و انتظاراتشان مي‌دانند. اين تحليلگران مي‌گويند: روندسياسي ايران امروز يادآورنمايشنامه معروف درانتظارگودو است. درايران نيز به‌خصوص بعد از درخشش اميدي كه دوم خرداد به‌همراه داشت، اكثريت مردم درانتظار گودويي نشسته‌اند كه با آمدن او همه مشكلات‌شان حل مي‌شود. اكنون با گذشت بيش از 5 سال از دوم خرداد، به نظر مي‌رسد كه بسياري از مردم ايران ديگرنه تنها انتظارگودوي اصلاحات را ندارند، كه شماري از آنها اصولا شك كرده‌اند كه گردويي وجوددارد. با شمارش بيش از 80 در صد آرا در انتخابات شوراهاي اسلامي شهر و روستا، شكست اصلاح گرايان در اين انتخابات كاملا قطعي شده است. با اين حال شماري از اصلاح طلبان مي كوشند تا شكست خود را در اين انتخابات زنگ خطري براي كل نظام جمهوري اسلامي بدانند. حجت الاسلام انصاري راد، رييس كميسيون اصل نود مجلس شوراي اسلامي گفت: از اين انتخابات بايد همه عبرت بگيرند. فاطمه حقيقت جو نماينده تهران گفت: تمام گروه هاي سياسي و دستگاه هاي امنيتي بايد به تحليل اين انتخابات بپردازند.
