Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiMonday, March 10, 2003
<b>Iran's Nuclear Programs Worries the US</b>
* Iran has a far stronger nuclear weapons program than earlier thought, Secretary of State Colin Powell told CNN on Sunday, following Time magazine's report that Tehran was in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. "It does not surprise us at all that Iran has been trying to acquire nuclear weapons and to enrich uranium," US national security advisor Condoleezza Rice told ABC News on Sunday. Time magazine said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concluded that Iran actually introduced uranium hexafluoride gas into some centrifuges at an undisclosed location to test their ability to work. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said Iran's nuclear programs are peaceful and transparent. (Fariba Mavedat, Amir Armin, Ali Sajjadi)
* A court in Bremen, Germany, began the trial of three German businessmen accused of exporting to Iran aluminum tubes and sheets worth $30 million, which are usable in nuclear facilities. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)
* Tehran University international relations professor Davud Hermidas Bavand tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that, because of the principle of compartmentalization in international relations, the US reaction to Iran's policy on Iraq is separate from the US concern about Iran's nuclear programs. He adds that Iran's "active neutral" position about the possible US military action against Iraq allows Iran the flexibility of acting in line with the US, if needed. He adds that, most likely, the US officials would not pursue their criticism of Iran's nuclear projects in the near future. (Fariba Mavedat)
<b>Young Iranians Listen to "Great Satan" on Radio Farda</b>
* Young Iranians listen to <b>Radio Farda</b> using small pocket receivers and earphones, according to the Italian daily Courier de la Serra's Tehran-based correspondent, who writes that <b>Radio Farda</b> is the most popular radio among young listeners. Despite the official ban on satellite TV receivers, the price of satellite dish and receiver has dropped to $150, and millions watch US-based Persian-language satellite programs that air interviews with former crown prince Reza Pahlavi. More than 5 million Iranians are connected to the Internet. Most log-on using Internet connection prepaid cards that allow anonymity. As the regime's officials continue to condemn the US as the Great Satan, it appears that the young Iranians secretly harbor a deep affection for the US. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome)
* Communications minister Ahmad Motamedi said his ministry does not know the source of the jamming of satellite and radio signals that block the US-based TV and radio programs, including <b>Radio Farda</b>, in some areas of Tehran and other big cities. He said the jamming interferes with Iran's own telephone, radio and satellite communications. His statement indicates that organs within the Islamic regime but outside the control of Khatami's government jam the US-based broadcasts to Iran. (Ali Sajjadi)
<b>Foreign Ministry Protests Argentine Warrants for Arrest of Iranian Officials</b>
* Deputy foreign minister for Euro-American affairs Ali Ahani summoned Argentine Charge d'Affairs Ernesto Carlos Alvarez to protest against Argentine Federal Judge Juan Jose Galeano's arrest warrants for former intelligence minister Ali Falahian, former education minister Ali-Akbar Parvaresh and two diplomats s for their alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing attack on the Buenos Aires Jewish center that killed 85. (Ali Sajjadi)
* The New York Times reports that Judge Galeano dropped several top officials from the list of those sought by the prosecutor. These include the Supreme Leader and Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, former president. (Amir Armin)
<b>Russian Foreign Minister and Turkmen President Visit Iran</b>
* Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov arrived in Tehran for a two-day visit. President Khatami said Iran and Turkmenistan would sign nine cooperation agreements and treaties, including one on the Caspian Sea legal regime. Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov arrived in Tehran to discuss the Iraq crisis, among other things. (Ardavan Niknam)
* Russian newspapers reported that Iran-Turkmenistan relations began to improve a day after the unsuccessful attempt on Niyazov's life, when President Khatami called to offer support and condemn the assassination attempt. Iran-Turkmenistan trade volume reached $433 million in 2002. (Mani Kasravi, Moscow)
<b>Iran Rejects Any Increase in OPEC Output Ceiling</b>
* Iran opposed the proposal of Saudi Arabia and four other OPEC producers to boost production to control the rising prices. (Bahman Bastani)
<b>Ayatollah Montazeri's Restrictions Continue</b>
* Ahmad Montazeri, son of Ayatollah Montazeri, Iran's highest ranking dissident cleric, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that 40 days after his father was released from five years of house arrest, most restrictions against his financial and teaching activities continue. He says the authorities have not released Montazeri's bank accounts, his school in Qom and his house and office in the city of Mashhad. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)
<b>Family Loses Contact with Jailed Student for Two Weeks</b>
* Mother of jailed student activist Kianoush Sanjari tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that she has no news of her son since she visited him in the Evin prison two weeks ago. She said prison officials did not bring his son to his appeal hearing yesterday. Sanjari, a member of Heshmatollah Tabarzadi's Democratic Front, was arrested last July during the group's unauthorized demonstration to commemorate the 1999 police attack on Tehran University dorms. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)
<b>Clergy Court Releases Journalist Alireza Eshraqi on Bail</b>
* The special court for the clergy released <i>Hayat-e Now</i> editor Alireza Eshraqi on bail. Eshraqi, who is not a cleric, is being tried in the special court for clergy, because he worked for the Supreme Leader's brother, cleric Hadi Khamenei, who owned the banned reformist daily. The judiciary closed <i>Hayat-e Now</i> after the publication of a 1936 American cartoon that showed an old man dressed in black robe under a strong thumb, among scattered papers. The conservatives deemed the cartoon an insult to Ayatollah Khomeini, the regime's founder. (Ali Sajjadi)
<b>Iran Prepares to Defend Against Possible MKO Penetration</b>
* Iran fortified its border with Iraq in anticipation of a last push attack by the Iraq-based armed opposition group the People's Mojahedin (MKO), which would face an uncertain future after the fall of Saddam's government. (Leyli Sadr)
<b>TV Bosses Takeover Culture Ministry's Film Department</b>
* The appointment of Mohammad-Mehdi Heydarian to the position of deputy culture minister in charge of the film department has transformed the bureaucracy that handles script approvals, movie censorship, screening permits and production financing. Heydarian, a former TV executive, has stacked the department with fellow TV executives. Worried about new restrictions, filmmakers, as the general public, wish for the return of the pre-Khatami era. (Shayan Jaberi, Tehran)
<b>Culture Ministry Permits Golestan's Anti-Shah Book after 24-Year Ban</b>
* The culture ministry permitted the publication of the second edition of novelist Ebrahim Golestan's anti-Shah book "The Secrets of the Haunted Valley" after a 24-year ban, which started under the Shah. (Shayan Jaberi, Tehran)
* Ebrahim Golestan, who lives in exile near London, told <b>Radio Farda</b> that he had agreed to the reprint only if it could come out without any censorship. (Shahran Tabari, London)
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علي سجادي (راديوفردا) تهران بار ديگر ادعاهاي آمريكا را مبني بر فعاليت ايران در زمينه سلاح هاي هسته اي رد كرد. حميدرضا آصفي، سخنگوي وزارت امور خارجه جمهوري اسلامي، روز دوشنبه گفت: برنامه هستهاي ايران شفاف و مسالمتآميز است. وي آمريكا را به تلاش براي خراب كردن روابط ايران و سازمان انرژي هستهاي متهم كرد. روز يكشنبه وزير امور خارجه آمريكا گفت: ايران بيش از آنكه سازمان انرژي اتمي فكر ميكند به توليد سلاح هاي هسته اي نزديك شده. محمد البرادعي، رئيس سازمان انرژي اتمي در ديدار خود از فعاليت هاي هسته اي ايران، شفافيت ايران را در مورد فعاليت هاي هسته اي مورد تحسين قرار داد. هنري سوكولسكي كارشناس انرژي هستهاي و از مقامات سابق وزارت دفاع آمريكا و مارك گوازدكي، سخنگوي سازمان بينالمللي انرژي هستهاي درمصاحبه با راديو فردا شرکت کردند.
مهتاب فريد (راديوفردا): هنري سوكولسكي، از مقامات وزارت دفاع آمريکا در زمان جرج بوش پدر، معتقد است كه سازمان بينالمللي انرژي اتمي اختيارات در زمينه جلوگيري از منع گسترش سلاحهاي هستهاي را بسيار محدود مي داند. وي ميگويد: با تفسيري هرچه محدودتر از منشور خود كه اجازه مي دهد حداكثر ميزان فعاليت هسته اي كه در خطرناك بودنش ترديدي نيست، دست به يك بازي قانون گرايانه زده است. اما مارك گوازدكي، سخنگوي سازمان انرژي اتمي مي گويد: حقيقت اين است كه اعضاي ما به ما اختياراتي دادهاند و ما تعدادي توافقنامههاي متفاوت داريم. موافقتنامههاي استاندارد ايمني، حقيقتا محدوديتهايي دارند، به ما و به بازرسان ما اجازه ميدهند به بعضي از تاسيسات سر بزنيم اما نه به همه آنها. وي اضافه كرد آقاي البرادعي يكي دو هفته پيش نخستين سفر خود را به ايران انجام داد و ما تيمهاي بيشتري طي هفتهها و ماههاي آينده خواهيم فرستاد. هنري سوكولسكي ميگويد: ايران از نظر فني ايمني را زير پا گذاشت، چون مقادير فراوان هگزا فلورايد اورانيوم كه به آن كشور وارد شده، را گزارش نكردهاند. در حاليكه ايران عضو ميثاق منع گسترش سلاحهاي هستهاي و عضو سازمان بينالمللي انرژي اتمي است وميبايست ورود اين مواد را گزارش ميداد. و چون چنين نکرده، به همين دليل در معرض اين بدگماني قرار دارد كه جدا برنامه غنيكردن اورانيوم را به پيش ميبرد. اما سخنگوي سازمان بينالمللي انرژي اتمي مي گويد: براي اعتماد هر چه بيشتر لازم است همه كشورها موافقتنامه الحاقي را امضا كنند. اين موافقتنامه به سازمان اجازه مي دهد مكانهاي بيشتري را مورد بازرسي قرار دهد و اطلاعات بيشتري را كسب كند. در آن صورت سازمان ميتواند بگويد برنامه هستهاي فلان كشور براي برنامه هاي صلح انگيز است يا نه . مقامهاي آمريكايي در مورد برنامه هاي اتمي ايران ابراز نگراني مي كنند اما سازمان انرژي اتمي مي گويد دليلي در دست ندارد كه نشان دهد ايران از انرژي هسته اي براي مقاصد غير صلح آميز استفاده مي كند هنري سوكولسكي كارشناس انرژي هستهاي و از مقامات سابق وزارت دفاع آمريكا، در مصاحبه با راديوفردا مي گويد سازمان بينالمللي انرژي اتمي تفسيري محدود از منشور خود دارد. مارك گوازدكي، سخنگوي سازمان انرژي اتمي مي گويد: موافقتنامههاي استاندارد ايمني، حقيقتا محدوديتهايي دارند، به ما و به بازرسان ما اجازه ميدهند به بعضي از تاسيسات سر بزنيم اما نه به همه آنها. تهران بار ديگر ادعاهاي آمريكا را مبني بر فعاليت ايران در زمينه سلاح هاي هسته اي رد كرد. حميدرضا آصفي، سخنگوي وزارت امور خارجه جمهوري اسلامي، روز دوشنبه گفت: برنامه هستهاي ايران شفاف و مسالمتآميز است. وي آمريكا را به تلاش براي خراب كردن روابط ايران و سازمان انرژي هستهاي متهم كرد.
